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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Renew, Inspire, Create

Something new

I wanted to share a little bit about a person I have fun following and chatting with
on Instagram.
You can finder @ etericson

I asked her a few questions so you could have a chance to get to know her also...
(if you don't know her already)!


She claims that she can't survive without piecing vintage inspired 
quilts, embroidery, or applique on a daily basis. 
She says: 
... "as many can relate, it's my ticket to quilty sanity"... 

Erica says that IG has been a great influence: the sharing of so many creative makers
 and enjoying all the different styles/techniques...
it makes her heart triple beat!!!



She calls her sewing room, affectionately  the "Ivory Tower", 

When I asked Erica to share a little bit about herself she said that 

she is a Californian (since 1955) i.e. beach girl and a hiker.
 She is a mom to 4 amazing boy-men and she is a retired ultrasound tech. 
She is a fabric hoarder and a quiltaholic, adores stitcheries and vintage fabric with a passion.
At one point in the 70's she even made a  "meager" living selling clothing made from vintage fabrics!

Her home is in Fallbrook CA. with her family and four dogs.


Here is a photo of her and her DIL.
She lives a outdoorsy lifestyle... which is a nice balance to her
indoorsy creative life.




I can relate to this all too well!

But when she recently popped up
announcing that she is going to be holding a
quilters getaway... I was super impressed.
The woman is fearless... 
she jumped in and has created not just a retreat...
but something new, and fresh...

I have been hosting a quilt retreat for over 10 years... so again, I can relate all too well
with the time and effort she is putting into creating, in her words,  

"not just a retreat, but a refreshment of spirit so that we can focus on renewing ourselves, be inspired by like minded friends, and create to our hearts content".

The first of her camps will be held in Sonoma, California.

It will be next year, in September of 2017, the 7th thru the 10th.



Erica said that after attending many retreats and 
feeling a bit wrung out at the end, she felt compelled to offer something different and fresh...
more of a holistic approach to quilt "retreats".

I want to quote Erica here...

"Quilters Revival is about just that... Not a retreat, but a refreshment of spirit so that we can focus on renewing ourselves, be inspired by like minded friends, and create to our hears content".

Please take a look at her beautiful website to read more about the 





And today there is an exciting newsflash to share!

Lori Holt, yes, THEE Lori Holt, aka Bee In My Bonnet, aka Farmgirl-Vintage-Lori
will be coming to teach at the retreat!

So, let me see,
that's 3 nights
4 days
a gorgeous location
delicious and healthy meals
luxurious accommodations
beautiful views

all in one very reasonable price.




Erica told me that she is planning these
Quilters Revival camps to be nomadic in nature 
and will include many different locations in the future.

"The goal of each one is to pamper, refresh, encourage, and delight in our creativity", she says.

You can see why
Renew, Inspire, Create is her mantra!
Screen Shot 2016-05-17 at 9.09.53 AM.jpg





Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The Waiting Begins

I am just crazy over several of the new fabric lines and new designers
I have seen in the photographs from Spring Market!
I have pinned several to my Fabric Frenzy board on Pinterest.

But what I am really over the moon about is this quilt...

Here is what I read about the book:

In Modern Heritage Quilts, Amy takes traditional 
piecing methods and traditional blocks 
and combines those, while giving great tips on 
how to make your project feel modern.


(photos by B. Kane for Martingale publications)

I can not wait to get my hands on a copy of 

It doesn't get released until June 7th... 
so I have to wait a couple of weeks.

That might give me some time to finish up 
a couple of other fabrics...
and maybe start  playing with some 
fabrics from my stash.

There are several other quilts in the book
that I am also smitten with this quilt.
I think that traditionally
 it's called a Canoe block/



Here are some other photos of the quilts.



I'm sure I need this book in my collection...
just to enjoy!


and I am sure Amy has a lot more


to share about her new book over on her blog.


Hopefully there will be a blog hop when the book does get released!




Monday, May 23, 2016

Post Postponed

I saw this as a draft post! It was suppose to have posted on Friday, darn it!


I had been working on my Pot Luck quilt...
I have been sharing photos on Instagram but here they all are
grouped together.


The pattern is by A Quilting Life.
Just super fun and easy to put together!





(photo from A Quilting Life)


I used the new collection of holiday fabric from the
Sweetwater girls.

The fabric is brand new and it's called
the Cookie Exchange.



All you need is a sprinkle of these blocks...


And a dash of these blocks....



A cup or two of squares...
and this is how it starts coming together!


This is where I'm at with it right now.

I am nearly ready to send this one to my LAQ.


Here is a quilt pattern using the fabric that I thought would be fun also!


christmas-in-the-village


Did I ever share the Farm Girl quilt that I made for
Elsea's birthday party?

(I blogged about her first birthday last week)




It went along so nicely with the birthday theme!









Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Snowballs and Celebrations

I think I have lost all sence of time!

It's been a whole week since I blogged...
but on the other hand... it's only been a week.
But let me tell you... these weeks have been flying by for me...
with good reason.

I usually post about quilting...
but more and more...
there is so much family things going on.
Which is a good thing!

I will try to balance this post with a little of each.. or a lot of each!


First of all... I did some catching up with my Bees Knees Quilting Bee 
blocks!
The one above is called Sunny Skies and it's actually a 
Missouri Star Quilt Company tutorial.


This one is a flowering snowball block...
and the fabrics were sent precut from one of the members of the B.K.Q.B.
who has an Accucut machine... and I have to say I loved
making this block! 

Which is kind of funny, because at the same time I was doing some pattern testing

for a giant sized flowering snowball quilt! 
It started like this...

and then went like this...

and finally became this size!
This pattern is now available from 
Whole Circle Studios!
I love her instructions... very clear and concise! 


Then there was the finish of the wedding quilt.
I ended up adding (at the very last minute... as in during my lunch hour before
handing this off to the quilter) a border to the quilt.
It made it more versital for either bed quilt or sofa.

Now, in the last month...  we had something like 7 birthdays and
a bridal shower... and a wedding.
This was a photo taken while  I was watching Evie and Elsea...
on my way to work while mom went to the Dr.

Elsea had a Farm Girl theme for her first birthday.

The kids had bandanas and cowboy hats to wear. 

I made an attempt at cookies for the occasion.


But let me share a little bit of the wedding with you.

I have been waiting for some photos to come in from the photographer...
but let me share what I do have.



This is a quick shot of the wedding cake... in progress.

It's a naked cake... so the intention is to not frost around the cake but
to just dust with a little powdered sugar.

It's really an action shot...
because while I was grabbing the fruit and flowers to add to the cake...
the weight on the bottom layer was just too much...
you can see it starting to give way... 
I didn't see it 
 until the last second as it started to fall over.
Yes, My worst nightmare is starting to come true!

I spent the next 3 hours dismantling the cake and rebuilding it...
but of course after losing one of the 3 bottom layers completely,
the dowels that were in it had to be re-cut..
one thing snowballed into another.

And even though I don't have a final photo of the cake...
this is what it more or less (uh-hum) looked like in the end.

Naked to chocolate, we take a look at the most popular wedding cake designs for this year: http://www.weddingsite.co.uk/articles/top-10-wedding-cake-trend-for-2015?utm_content=buffer3b90e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=buffer#.VUiUJPxVhBc:
Well, let me believe that anyway, won't you?

So, instead of 3 hours to get ready for the wedding...
I had 10 minutes. 
My phone and I were covered in frosting.
I had a sweatshirt on...

no shower.

I had my dress and shoes brought to me!
I threw them on and put on makeup in the car.

Somehow I made it in time!
The cake was still standing after the ceremony!

The bride and groom never knew until the next day that anything went 
array. 



Here is a photo of the sweet couple.




The next day we had something else to celebrate!
My oldest son had some news to share!

Looks like another grand baby will be 
here before the end of the year!



Here is a photo of me and my sister.
I look only a little worse for the wear!

(I'm taller... but she had shoes on)! 




Monday, May 9, 2016

A Spooky Good Time!

Happy Monday!

It's Week #3!

SpookyDelights-SM



It's the final week of Spooky Delights Quilt Along from
Fat Quarter Shop!
Have you been having fun with this table runner pattern?

The pattern was designed by Bunny Hill
Have you seen the new fabric line by Anne?
Super cute Halloween theme!


I have had fun playing along!


Here are my bats flying at night!




I tried out "inverted color" option on my photo.
Which has me thinking...
I could make another table runner...
this time with a white pumpkin and
a raven instead of bats!

Check out the other blogs that are participating in
They all have fun little twists!

Kathryn of Kathryn Jones Quilts
Amanda of Jedi Craft Girl
Elizabeth of In the Boon Docks
Sinta of Pink Pin Cushion (you are here!)
 

Monday, May 2, 2016

Spooky Delights with Fat Quarter Shop

I was burning the candles this morning working on this 


Week 2 is ready for you if you are joining the Spooky Delights QA!

The details are right here at the Jolly Jabber blog!

Last week was easy... just pick out the fabrics you want to use for the table runner.

Or... pick out 2 sets of fabric because you know you will want to make one as
a gift for someone!

Bunny Hill designed the pattern and she has a super cute line of
Halloween fabrics available right now too. 



I had a little fun with the fabrics I chose. 
This is the window section.
With creepy spiders!



I had to have a plaid moon... it just spoke to me!



Kathryn of Kathryn Jones Quilts
Amanda of Jedi Craft Girl
Elizabeth of In the Boon Docks


Here are the links to the other bloggers playing along.
I have already seen who's I want to copy for my second runner! 

SpookyDelights-SM2


Here is my other pumplin... bats are flying!

If you want to find out more...
the link for the first week is here.

Next week is the addition of borders.
Then poof! You"re done!