Belts and Buckles!

Wow!  It has been way too long since I have written a blog post!  I have a lot to catch up on but for now I will stick to what motivated me to write today.  In February I was chosen to be a pattern tester for a new pattern written by Melissa Kirk (@tensionissues on Instagram).  She is working with Rebel Craft Media to release her new pattern and it is now available in PDF format through Rebel Craft Media’s website.  When they put a call out to testers for this pattern I feel like it really spoke to me.  I am originally a Wyoming girl and anything that reminds me of home speaks to my heart and the title of this quilt, Belts and Buckles surely did that.  AND, secondly when I read that this pattern is jelly roll friendly I was ALL in!  I have three kids and stay at home right now and if I can get a pre-cut bundle of fabrics that are chosen for me and whip it out then I am all for that!

Belts and Buckles by Melissa Kirk for Rebel Craft Media

The pattern was fun and easy to make while the end result looks a bit more complicated then it is with its offset layout of the “buckles”.  Since the quilt pattern title made me think of cowboys I stuck with a manly theme and chose fabrics that might appeal to a man.  I chose “numbers” by Zen Chic for Moda for the belts and buckles and the background is this really great blue on blue sort of crosshatch print that I was sure to write down and now can’t find that scrap of paper anywhere… you’ll just have to trust me.

I changed the layout just a bit so I could add length to the quilt to make it the right size for a twin XL bed in hopes that a soon-to-be high school graduate will want this quilt for his dorm room.  The project deadlines snuck up on me and so I decided to quilt this one with an all over square meander and I really like the crispness that the squares add to the overall look of the quilt.

It was a fun quilt to make and I highly reccommend the pattern, it was well written and well tested if I do say so myself!  Enjoy and please send me photos of your quilt when you finish them.  You can also read the blog post about my quilt on the Rebel Craft Media blog, here.  And thanks to my husband, who is the best quilt holder ever at 6 foot 5 inches, we got some really great shots of this one (on the day it was due of course).

items in common?

What does rubbing alcohol, q-tips, car-wax, and chocolate bark have in common?  I’ll give you a moment, it’s a hard one… Did you guess it?  SEWING MACHINE MAINTENANCE DAY! I am a very lucky girl and I get to leave …

from concept to finished

I did it! I designed another quilt from scratch and finished it! I was hired by someone my husband works with to make a quilt for his wife for an anniversary present. AAAAAAWWWWWW so sweet. They are runners and have been running races together for awhile now. What a fun project to work on.

the concept drawing

I thought that piecing together and quilting on a tech shirt was going to be Hard with a capital H! BUt it wasn’t, I used a fusible made by pellon (SF101) to stabilize each shirt and it made it a breeze.
The back is pieced with all the left over strips and it made a nice fun colorful back for the quilt.

the pieced back

Of course I got exactly zero photos of the quilt after I had finished quilting and binding it because I was on a time crunch and I was so excited with the way it turned out that I just couldn’t wait to give it to the groom! So here is what I have for photos:

Behind, as usual

I read the blogs. I follow the blogs. I try to stay current on ongoings in the quilting world but am often overwhelmed. Then I fall behind in my own work and writing just keeping up in general. Why do I put the pressure on myself? I have no idea. So I’m not going to anymore. I’m done trying to be in front of the pack. I recently gave some advice to someone to “give yourself a break and remember why you started quilting in the first place, because it was fun and you liked it.” I need to take my own advice and remember that I quilt for my sanity and that I do enjoy it and that it isn’t all about deadlines and finished products.
Wow, this post is going a completely different direction than I thought it would this morning. I had planned to tell you all why I have been absent for pretty much the entire summer. Well, it has something to do with this…

my new toy!

I got a new to me long arm this summer and I stripped all the black paint off of it and decided to paint it a bright fun color, RED! It actually has been a little bit of a labor of love to get it up and running smoothly. I have had many ups and downs already with it but overall I couldn’t be happier. I also have been focusing on getting better and better at the skills I have and have started quilting for others and have been able to help my household income so that my oldest son can go to full day kindergarden.

that’s how we roll

That’s right, he got to go to his first day of school in style! This is abrupt but I have to go for now. A friend talked me into 5:30am spin class… It might be a few days before I recover enough to post again but I feel like I am going to post with some more frequency for awhile. If you are following, thanks for hanging in there and hopefully you haven’t fallen off your chairs, because I know you were all just sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for the next post 😉

Ahhhhh, back home.

I got to go back to the place that makes me smile and allows me to breath just a little deeper and makes me feel calm and serene, Wyoming. This past weekend I had the chance to teach at Quilt Wyoming 2014. It is the annual state wide quilt convention and this was my second year teaching at this event.  Last year I taught a class utilizing 2 1/2 inch strips and found that I am not the only one who loves the pre-cuts.  One of my students sent me a photo of her finished project and I just have to share because who doesn’t want a little visual and virtual recognition for their work.  Here is Betty with her quilt.

And also Lyn with her quilt from 2013.

I am from Wyoming originally and being back in that state just brings me a sense of warmth and support that I can’t describe.  Being there around the ladies that supported me when I first started quilting has given me the confidence to break into the teaching realm of quilting and I’m not looking back.  I submitted class proposals for a couple of years before being accepted and even still this year I had one of my classes that was canceled due to lack of participants, but I will keep trying because of the support that I have now not only in Wyoming but here too with my quilting friends in Colorado.  

The class this past weekend brought a little bit of a modern feel to it but was rooted in traditional piecing and construction.  We worked on a hexagon quilt and despite a major pattern mess-up progress was made, fun was had, a few tips were learned.  I just got a new phone and I forgot my camera (again big surprise) so these are just the very few photos that I could figure out how to take.

The Glenrock Girls

I am now back in Colorado and filled to the brim with motivation and inspiration from my home state and my home girls!  See you all again next year at QW 2015!

 

 

 

Free-motional.

Originally posted on Team Mama:
I am obsessing over fabric. And quilt patterns. Circles and Drunkard’s Paths. Things that have nothing at all to do with running, or physical fitness. Mental fitness? Possibly. NPR says yes, and I’m a fervent…

May SNOW! May What?!?

It’s snowing.  Yes it is May.  Yes it is snowing, and snowing, and snowing.  No. I am not happy about it.  My Mother’s Day mood was ruined by the weather even though it provided me the excuse to stay inside and finish up a modern quilt that I have been working on.  Snow in May makes me grumpy.  I have closed all the shades and curtains and forbid my kids from opening them until the sun comes out again.  I refuse to acknowledge that the snow is still falling like wet heavy boogies from the sky.  It is just gross.

My plan instead?  Retreat to the basement like a mole and sew, sew, sew.  My kids are loving it because they get to watch movie after movie (except Frozen, it has been banned temporarily due to the cold theme revolving around ice and snow).  It has worked out alright, I have finished a few things and in my normal style I have forgotten to take pictures of two of my projects… I am pathetic.  I made a really cute apron for a friend of mine using this pattern.

I also made a fabric bowl that looks similar to these:  for her eggs from her backyard chickens.

The final thing that I worked on and finished is really the most exciting.  I am a member of the Front Range Modern Quilt Guild in Denver area.  We have been given a modern quilt challenge.  Using at least the four fabrics that were chosen for us we must make a modern quilt that measures at least 40 inches x 40 inches and demonstrates the modern quilting aesthetic.

I only added the white background color and the gray for binding.  It was a fun challenge and when I got the colors I was not digging the challenge, but it turns out I kinda like the end result.

I free motion quilted it on a Pfaff long-arm and as always really enjoyed that process.  I decided to machine bind the whole thing because I wanted to stick to modern techniques and because I wanted to finish it faster…

The guild is collecting quilts from Front Range Modern Quilt Guild and a few other modern quilt guilds in Colorado and hoping to show a collection of quilts at various different shows throughout the state to introduce people to modern quilting.  Even though I really like modern quilting I still love the traditional crinkly look of a quilt when you pull it out of the dryer for the fist time, it is so cozy.  How about your?  Are you a traditionalist or a modern quilter?  OR do you just call yourself a quilter, like I do.

 

 

Customers?

It turns out that I am not very good at remembering to take pictures…  In the last week I have completed two customer quilts and I made two really cute nightgowns too.  I gave one to my daughter Yellow EM …

Phat Bobbin Girl is OPEN!

It’s official!  I’m official!  This week I registered my business with the secretary of state.  I am now open for business!  I am offering long arm quilting services and if you are interested just send me a message and I’ll get back to you.  Here are a few pictures of projects finished and some in progress.  Enjoy your weekend.

Updates

I’m sorry it has been so long since I have written a blog post, I go through phases where I think that I don’t really have anything to say and then when I sit down to write, well, look out!

Updates:  I did not win the Pantone Challenge.  I was a little sad because I had three chances to win and I won nothing.  But a HUGE congratulations goes out to my friend Gail who not only introduced me to this challenge but she won second place with this quilt.

 

She has got me wanting to work with linen and triangles!  In fact, I have started collecting a stack of fabrics to do this same quilt just in different colors.  

 

I plan on putting this aqua and sunshine yellow quilt in our camper.  I will share more about that later.

I did not win the Pantone Challenge but I did have a major success in organizing and hosting the first Phat Bobbin Girl sewing retreat!  Of course I forgot my camera so I have no pictures but by the powers of Facebook I have a very small sampling of photos of projects worked on.

 

The weekend was very inspiring and collaborative.  There was quilting, garment sewing, zipper sewing and something very dear to my heart, free-motion quilting.  Almost everyone there tried free motion quilting, four girls tried it for the very first time!  The weekend has even got me thinking that I am going to sew a few clothes for my small pack of M&M’s…  I will be sure to share the trials and hopefully the successes.  Thanks for coming to my party retreat girls!