FMQ Friday and a Whoop Whoop! - Fabric Postcards for Christmas

Today is Free Motion Quilting Friday over at Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project.

The rules are simple:

1. Link up with a post that features something about Free Motion Quilting (FMQ). 
2. Somewhere in your post, you must link back to Leah's site, or you can just post the FMQF button in your sidebar. 
3. Comment on at least a few of the other FMQF links. Share your love of free motion quilting and make this weekly link up a fun way to connect!  

I'm so excited to finally show you the fabric postcard I made for Carol for the postcard swap over at Quilt Cabana Corner.

I had bought this fabric at Sew Main Street over a year ago, but couldn't quite bring myself to cut into it yet.  When I saw the postcard swap, I knew immediately what I was going to do.

I started off by fusing a 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" piece of fabric onto a 4" x 6" piece of Peltex.  Then I lightly marked the path of my letters and pinned my cording into place. 

Using a narrow zig zag stitch, I couched the cording into the word "Joy."

Then I held my breath and FMQed all around the design with Sulky Sliver, a beautiful but sometimes challenging thread to sew with.  I used it on the snowflake quilt with a lot of cursing and breakage.  This time I turned the tension WAY down and went a little slower.  Voila!  No breakage or nesting at all!

I trimmed the top fabric to the 4" x 6" size of the Peltex.  Then I cut a 4" x 6" piece of white muslin for the back.  I drew a line vertically down the center and wrote POSTCARD at the top with a Pigma pen.   I drew horizontal lines on the right side for the address and filled that in.  Then I added my message to the left side. 

I used my Tulip Tool to add a little extra sparkle to the front. I love how this looks!  Last, I layered the back onto my quilt sandwich and stitched around the edge with a tight zig zag stitch twice.

I ended up mailing mine in an envelope because the line at the post office was insane, but I have had good results sending these through the mail.  Carol sent me this beauty, and it arrived perfectly with no envelope to protect it.  She also used metallic thread and did gorgeous FMQing.  I will be bringing this to work to show off and adorn my desk.

Thanks so much to Sandi for organizing and to Carol for my lovely postcard!  This was such fun.  If you want to see the others, you can visit the Flickr group Sandi set up.


Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?  My big boy will be home tonight.  Nothing makes me happier than having all my chicks in the nest.  I hope you are surrounded by people you love this month.



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#TBT - Throwback Thursday - His Cabin in the Woods

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It's Throwback Thursday here at Quiltin' Jenny, and I hope you'll link up and share your own creative adventures from your pre-blogging days.

It's The Pit Boss's birthday on Sunday, so I thought I'd share the only quilt I ever made just for him. Which is sad, now that I think about it, because there is no one more important to me!

I found this flannel panel and the coordinating fabrics at a wonderful shop in Dahlonega, Georgia called Magical Threads.  (They have knitting supplies as well.)  I took it all on retreat with me one year around 2002 when my BQF Pam and I went to the Quilter's Rescue Mission, now called Quilting in Toccoa.

It was super simple - just borders around the panel.  I did some of my earliest FMQing in the gold border and in the panel.  I wasn't sure how to quilt the sky, so I chose an imaginary point behind the house where I pictured the setting sun and quilted radiating lines out from there. 

TPB has always dreamed of living out the country on a lot of land with fewer people around.  That is not exactly how our life has turned out!  I called this quilt His Cabin in the Woods since it is looking less and less like he will ever get a real one.  Sorry, Honey!

I love the three little bears and the smoke drifting from the chimney.  Even though our life is more suburban than he'd like, I hope TPB and our kids feel like they come home to a cozy house every night.

This quilt still lives on the back of our couch and is the go-to quilt when someone is feeling sick, grouchy, or otherwise pitiful and needs comfort. 

Now I want to see your blast from the past.  Link up and let us all see!









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#TBT - Throwback Thursday - Radiant Star

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It's Throwback Thursday here at Quiltin' Jenny, and I hope you'll link up and share your own creative adventures from your pre-blogging days.

It's my wonderful MiL's birthday this week, so I thought I'd show you the quilt I made for her in 1998.

I took a Radiant Star class with Sami Koenig at Calico Quilter in Roswell, the shop where I took my beginning quilting class and several others.  In both my beginner class and this class, we used the book Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! The Complete Guide to Quiltmaking by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes. 

This was the class where I learned about bias edges and Y seams. 

I was only hand quilting at this point, and found a pretty shape to quilt in the corner squares and setting triangles. 

Here you can see the quilt hanging in their old house, above Mabel. 

Now I want to see your blast from the past.  Link up and let us all see!







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#TBT Throwback Thursday - The Mother-in-Law Quilt

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It's Throwback Thursday here at Quiltin' Jenny, and I hope you'll link up and share your own creative adventures from your pre-blogging days.

Picking my first quilt for the first week of this meme was a no brainer, but picking the second?  More challenging.  For one thing, I can't even say for sure which was my second quilt.

So I decided to feature the quilt in my button (up there!  You can grab it for your blog!).  It was my first mystery quilt, and the one I call my mother-in-law quilt.

I learned to quilt at a shop in Roswell called Calico Quilter, which closed several years ago.  After my beginning quilting class, I took a few others.  I know I took a machine quilting class, and I also took a mystery class called Plain Vanilla. This was supposed to introduce us to the beauty of neutral fabrics, and we knew it would be a lap/baby sized quilt that could easily be made bigger.  I'm pretty sure there was a kit, because I can't imagine picking all of these out by myself at that point.

We started by cutting strips and then equilateral triangles in two sizes (I think about 2 1/2" and 5") with this "specialty" ruler.  Once we figured out how they go together, the quilt went quickly and we had a large chunk of it done by the time we left that evening.

It took a long time to quilt this, because I knew I wanted to do a clamshell pattern and we had been advised not to hand quilt these quilts because of the many seams that come together.  I eventually used a roll of Quilting Made Easy that you stick on for one of my very earliest attempts at machine quilting.  I'm actually quite happy with it, and the clamshell is still one of my favorite quilting motifs.

Why do I call it my mother-in-law quilt?  Back when The Pit Boss and I were engaged, someone jokingly told my wonderful MiL to be that her only jobs were to "show up, shut up, and wear beige."  Although her role was so much greater than that, I have thought to myself many times that it's not terrible advice for any MiL, especially the mother of the groom.  In a way, it's advice that my MiL has taken and made me treasure our relationship.  How?

• Show up:  She's always there for us.  She's there to celebrate - most recently by hosting Deuce's going away dinner and making his favorite country fried steak and gravy with a side of fried corn for a ridiculous number of people.  When he was a baby, she would often "stop by" when the weather was bad and watch him so I didn't have to haul him to the grocery store or hair appointment.  She's given us advice - when asked! - about everything from buying our first house to grout color in the bathroom remodel and everything in between.  She and my equally beloved father-in-law are wonderful sports about coming to my parents' house at Thanksgiving when the hordes descend so that we aren't juggling multiple houses or balancing many meals on one chaotic day.  

• Shut up:  In some ways I am like my MiL; in so many more I am the opposite.  I can never manage to keep my mouth shut, even when it would be so much easier and more pleasant to do so.  I'm working on it, but I have a problem keeping my opinions to myself.  There are times - hopefully less recently than in the past - when I'm certain that the way I was doing things was making my organized and logical MiL absolutely crazy, but she bit her tongue and let me figure it out.  She was always happy to help when I ask, and I am more likely to ask because I never feel judged or looked down on.  

• Wear beige:  Okay, this one is a stretch, but my MiL has never been one to create her own drama or try to upstage anyone.  She's not entirely comfortable being the center of attention, and accepts gifts and compliments with humor and humility.  She loves celebrating other people, and opens her home to whomever would like to come to dinner or just to fish off the dock for a bit.

All of these things make it so easy to want my MiL around more and to value her opinion.  We have so much fun, and I know how lucky we are to celebrate with both sides of the family together. I hope that when the day comes - not now, but not so far away - when I am a MiL myself, I can remember these bits of wisdom and have as positive a relationship with my own daughters- and son-in-law.  This quilt is a reminder of that for me.  I may have to use it as a gag when my daughter-in-law lets the grandchildren run wild or my son-in-law plays too much golf, but it will be there!

Link up below and let's see one of your blasts from the past.







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Design Date

Today was the Wanna Bees' firm date for sort of making a semi-permanent decision about our next project.

After an hour of discussion, we were no closer to a consensus than when we started, so we all put our favorite idea in a hat and drew one.  Which, naturally, meant that some of us were more excited than others.  

Still, we forged ahead with our plan to visit Intown Quilters together to pick the unifying fabric.  If we thought picking a theme was hard, you should have seen us pulling bolts of fabric off the wall!

We had a stowaway who came home "sick" from school and had to tag along.  She shall remain nameless to protect the not-so-innocent.  I wanted to hide under the table with her during part of the discussion.

The good news is that I was able to pick up the thread and Kona Snow I needed for Greer's sister's quilt that you all helped me design. 

Also, spotted in the wild...

Anna Maria Horner's patterns and thread.  So yummy that they make me want to do more embroidery!  But I resisted.  Maybe over Spring Break when I'm looking for handwork to take in the car. 

Maybe.



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Don't Forget to Vote!

No, I'm not three months overdue for the presidential election...you have to visit SewCalGal and vote in the Golden Quilter Awards!

Some of our favorite people are on multiple lists. Voting is open through February 28 and there are prizes galore!  

I found this to be incredibly challenging.  Leave a comment telling me which category was the hardest to vote in (you don't have to say who you voted for).  Which category was the easiest?




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Jo-Ann App Review

Is everyone taking advantage of the free apps on your smart phone? There are so many new ones just for quilters, in addition to the Quilt Shop finder app I reviewed back in September.

Most of you are probably already aware of the Jo-Ann Fabrics iPhone app, but just in case you aren't, I thought I'd let you know.  It's also available on Android, although I have not used that one.  Are they generally the same? 

This is a free and very simple app that packs a big punch.   Maybe I'm the only one, but I can't tell you how many times I save my Jo-Ann flier only to forget it when I make it to the store.  Or I forget to use it before the coupons expire.  Anyone else?

This app is great because it is always with me.  My favorite feature, of course, is the coupons.  They are right on my phone, and the expired ones magically vanish instead of cluttering up my purse or car. 

The second best feature is the store locator.  If you are on a retreat, vacation, business trip, or just across town at the optometrist (whom you love but whose office is over the river and through the woods) in an area you don't frequent, you can find the closest Jo-Ann's. 

But, you say, you like flipping through the pages to see what's on sale.  No worries!  You can still look through the fliers - the direct mail and the newspaper insert - and view them the traditional way OR (even better, IMHO) as a list.  You can do this right in the store to make sure you stock up on basic sale items while you're there. 

I can't think of a single negative to this app.  When it first came out there was a bit of a learning curve with some of the staff, but my last few visits have found that issue to have been resolved. 

Do you use this app?   What do you think?  What other apps have you found helpful?



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Quilt Shops App Review

For the past year we've been traveling more than usual. My oldest child is a senior in high school, so college visits have been on the agenda.

I learned from Sandy over at Quilting for the Rest of Us that the emotional toll of sending your child to college can be slightly tempered by the proximity of a local quilt shop, so I've been keeping an eye out for the university with just the right balance.

On our rounds I have been testing out one of the smartphone apps for finding a fabric fix, aptly named Quilt Shops.  It was developed by Quilter's Club of America and the publisher of Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting Magazine.  It's a good starting place if you are looking for a quilt shop near you.

For example, when we visited Auburn University (War Eagle!), I did a quick search for shops near me and found this:

It looks like there are a few shops right on my way back to Atlanta!  Awesome.

But wait...one of them turns out to be a fabric manufacturer.  (And not even quilting cotton.  How'd that get in there?)

Hmmm...this one looks good...but there's no website listed.  Luckily there's a phone number.  I call and find out that they are open and are an actual quilt shop.  Jackpot!

Likewise, when we visited Florida State University (Go 'Noles!), my search turned up a shop that looked perfect.  There was a live website, although it hadn't been updated in awhile.  Luckily I called before I drove out there, because this shop is now closed.  Bummer.

I don't have screen shots of the Tallahassee shop because it has already been removed from the app.  There is a feeback button so you can report shops that are closed and add locations that haven't been listed in their database yet.

As I said, a good starting place, but be sure to call before you go out of your way.  Send feedback when you find information that needs to be updated; the more we all help fine tune the data, the better it will be for all of us quilters when we're on the road again!

Have you tried any of the quilting apps for your smartphone? Which ones are your favorites?



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Sew Main Street

Tea Leaves and Thyme in Woodstock, GA

Last week Mom and I took a little field trip to a new quilt shop just little bit of a hike from home. The Bear helped out by needing a ride to a friend's house who lives in that direction, which we took as an excuse to go and have lunch, too.

On Main Street in Woodstock is a tea room called Tea Leaves and Thyme that is not only charming but also has fantastic food. 

 Seriously?  The salad trio is to die for.  Try the lavender lemonade if it's too hot for tea.

Finally we made our way just a few blocks down to the new quilt shop, Sew Main Street.

Debi has been the owner of the knitting shop next door (see pics below) since 2005, and decided to open a fabric store.  The shop is gorgeous, with lots of sewing samples and thoroughly modern fabrics. 

There's a whole room of holiday fabrics which, of course, was my downfall.  The whole shop is so light and roomy - not a cramped aisle of Civil War repros in sight. 

In fact, the only spot that felt crowded was the classroom where the UPS man was bringing in boxes of new fabric!

It was only polite to walk next door to their sister shop, The Whole Nine Yarns.   While I have never actually completed a knitting project, I like the idea of it.  Mom can knit and crochet beautifully.

We didn't do any damage here, but the shop was inviting and interesting.  They had a cozy seating area where two women sat knitting and chatting together, and a kitchen where someone was hand dyeing yarn.  You could grab a cup of coffee and check out this month's book club book, or get advice on a project.  It really makes me wish I knit!

If you find yourself in or near Woodstock, be sure to visit all three places.  They make for a perfect afternoon!
 


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