The work is done and it is playtime!

I finished up the weeks work a few hours early yesterday so I got to play!!!  

First the work...

More purses done and listed in my Etsy shop

Using my design this is #3 and #4 of the 6 I cut out a couple weeks ago.

I won't bore you with the details again. But if you missed the details on this you can find more info on this HERE

I also finished up my Island Batik April challenge quilt which I will show you on Monday!!  Just had to let you know that so you wouldn't think all I did all week were these 2 purses!  I also worked on some fall runners for the craft shows-never too soon to start on those.

So now the play begins. Yesterday I finally decided to try out the Creative Grids Pineapple ruler I picked up at the Quilt Expo in Madison WI last fall.  I recently saw a You Tube video from Jenny at Missouri star using this ruler.  Her excitement is very contagious!  I got mine out yesterday along with my pile of 30's scraps and made this block and got started on 2 more. 

All the while making it I felt like Jenny-I understood her excitement over making this block!! They are just so cute.  Mine finished at a 10" block.  My goal is to make 9 blocks and border it for a neonatal quilt or perhaps 12 for a little bigger one.  We'll see.  I hope to do a couple more today.

Linking with UFO Busting and Oh Scrap

Hippity Hop

Down the bunny trail I go...
I needed something in my Etsy shop for Easter. I got to looking in EQ8 for inspiration and there was this paper pieced bunny.  I enlarged it a bit and whipped him up.  He is as cute as a real bunny!  Maybe not quite as cuddly though, since he is for a table runner.

Thoughts of adding an applique funky flower in the middle had been there until I was all done with it.  I think most people have a centerpiece in the middle, so anything I put there would get covered up anyway.



















The outer border I quilted with an oval template to represent Easter eggs.  Simple allover meander in the center and some outline quilting for the bunny.  The whiskers were done while he was still on the longarm, easy peasy.

He hopped right out of my Etsy shop, along with his identical twin!   BUT...

















This cutie pie has replaced him.  I am so glad the fabric store is close to me as I am over there a lot!!














 This week I'll be making another color of this one, and much longer.  My customer wants it 65" long.  I made her a long shamrock one and when she got it she loved it so much she wants this Easter one.

 We had some leftover meat sauce from spaghetti last weekend so I cooked more pasta to go with it.    I used a small pan so I broke the pasta in half before cooking it.  When I took off the lid this is what it looked like.  A spaghetti donut!!

 Linking with MCM, Linky Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss,Midweek makers,Let's Bee Social

Are you ready for snowmen?

No, no, no I didn't mean for the real thing, I meant the quilted kind!!  Personally the real thing can hold off for many many months:)

These are made from my very own pattern that I have for sale in my Craftsy shop that you can find HERE.

How could you resist these cutie pies, I am in love with them!  This time I used Tsukineko ink to stencil on the snowflakes, then I heat set them so the table runner can be washed. 

I was able to get a batch of these guys all done for the fall craft shows and also I put one on Etsy. So if you don't want to make your own you can find one already to go HERE

They are all backed with the same red and black polka dot.  When I have several runners that can use the same backing, I load my quilting frame with a long piece which saves me some time.

I hope you all have a productive quilty week-I am hoping to as well.

Linking with MCM, Monday Making, Linky Tuesday

Christmas table toppers

I, literally, bring you Christmas in July!  Those that follow me might have seen me do these table toppers before. But, I assure you these are indeed new ones, made this year.

Holly leaves all around.  On this one, after piecing the black center background, I machine stitched on the green bias stem.  After adding the borders, I quilted it and then machine appliqued on the green wool felt leaves.  Also machine stitched on were the buttons for the holly. 

These runners are from a tutorial found on Freemotion by the River blog HERE.  But instead of the hearts I used holly leaves, which I appliqued on with green felt after the quilting was done.

 These are from my Around and Around We Go pattern found in my Craftsy shop HERE.  I am going to list one of these in my Etsy shop soon, which you can find HERE

And Christmas in July continues next week as we begin the 12 Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop hosted by Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  There are 34 of us participating-that is a lot of Christmas inspiration to check out!  My day is Saturday July 15th, so be sure to plan on stopping by. There will be a list with links for all of our blogs published.  I will be releasing a new snowman pattern!

Linking with several of the linky parties on my side bar.

Vacation + Fantastic News!

If you thought my blog was quiet his past week it was because we were vacationing up at Itasca State Park in the NW part of MN.  My DH and I visited/stayed there twice some thirty five + years ago. We have wanted to go back for a long time.  We stayed at Douglas Lodge cabins when we were there before, this time we had our camper and stayed at Bear Paw Campground-a very nice place right next to Lake Itasca.

However, we wanted to go back to the Douglas Lodge area to see it again, it has changed a lot over the years. We thought we would immediately recognize the cabins we had stayed in, nope, didn't happen.



We did enjoy our time there so much last week, camping, kayaking, biking, hiking, and just driving around.  While kayaking one day near the headwaters of the Mississippi we saw a bald eagle.

DH walking over the Headwaters of the Mississippi. The left is Lake Itasca and the right the Head of the Mississippi.  We waded a ways downstream, even though it was a bit cold.






















These guys were plentiful all week long!  I couldn't resist, just look at his color!














This pair of Trumpeter swans were on nearby Mary Lake.




While kayaking on Ozawindib lake we spotted the largest turtle swimming that I have ever seen(except for sea turtles).  I thought it was a big rock in the shallows and then it moved right toward me,  he had to be the granddaddy!  At about 18" across, big old wrinkly neck and head.  Of course it all happened to fast for a picture.

While taking a hike we ran across several of these precious lady slipper. I have never seen one in person before, so pretty!

 The wilderness drive through Itasca State Park.  A much needed vacation for both of us. And now back to work on Monday morning. 

But first my fantastic news...I sold my first Etsy product-a quilt!!  So we left last Sunday for vaca and we get to camp that evening and I decided to see if the campground WIFI would actually work and I was pleasantly surprised it did!  So I am reading my email and I see Etsy sent me a congrats on my first sale!!  I was so excited that I could barely tell DH what happened, all I could get out was OMG, OMG!  Then I really wanted to do a happy dance, but thought the other campers might have thought I was a bit nutty, LOL  So I did an internal dance that lasted for hours! 

My dilemma was that I didn't have the quilt with me to ship, so after I remembered my Etsy password I sent my customer a note and hoped it would actually send(I've had problems in the past with that). So I fretted about it until I heard back from her and she was so kind and understanding and said no worries, enjoy my vaca and send when I got home.  What a sweetheart. And she only lives an hour from me. Thanks Darci!  So today off it went. This is the one she bought.

It has spurred me on and this week I am going to try to get a couple more listings out there. I need some beautiful sunny, windless days to do a photo shoot. 

I also visited a couple quilt shops up north, I will tell you about them in another post later this week.

Linking with Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, and Linky Tuesday.

Purse finishes to share with you

These five purses actually got finished last weekend and I have been waiting for outside weather to clear up to get better pictures!

They are made from my own pattern (which hasn't been written yet).  I have made and sold many at craft shows over the last six years.  But two of these are now listed in my Etsy shop with hopes of adding a couple more soon. 

The outside as two side pockets and one front and center pocket.  The handles are each 21" long from end to end.  The two ties on the side of the purse are easily untied for expansion of the purse.  

A view of the backside.  These are made with cotton fabrics and both the outside and inside of the purse are quilted.

Inside you will find 8 more pockets-see how organized you can be with this purse!   The magnetic closure will help keep your contents secure. To make the purse more sturdy, I have added a covered foam core board in the bottom.  To wash the purse, remove the foam core board, and wash with cool water and air dry. 

A close up of another.  If you would like to see the others close up, please stop by my Etsy shop

Linking with a few linky parties on my left side bar.

A Cobblestone finish-OMG

This is my second Cobblestone Path quilt I have made.  I love the fun modern look of it and I loved the red aqua fabrics, so together they made for an awesome quilt!  You can see the first one here.

Edited to say: When I post this today I forgot to say it is also my OMG this month!!!!!!  So I'll be linking up at Elm Street Quilts when it goes live.

                

All custom quilted on my Nolting Funquilter 17".  Two different feather sprays go the length of the print fabric columns.  Wishbones are quilted in the white sashings between the feather columns, and the white border all the way around the quilt.

The backing is pieced with some of the leftover prints.  I love print backings and I love pieced backings-a win win;)  They just add so much character to a quilt.

Hobbs 80/20 batting with Glide Thread.  This quilt is now in my Etsy shop.

Linking with-

Whoop Whoop

Finished or Not

Inquiring Quilter

Treble and Bass

Last week I finished up this quilt called Treble and Bass in the book All About Strips by Susan Guzman.  A fun quilt to use a variety of prints in. I am really stuck on this color combination of blue, aqua and lime green. Using white as the background really makes it pop.

This quilt is listed in my Etsy shop now.

 I longarm quilted it on my Nolting Funquilter with a freehand allover pattern I call fan blades. Glide thread in a light aqua and Hobbs 80/20 were used.

Here you can see the 'in progress' work while it is on the frame.

We must not forget a look at the pieced backing. I so love print backings and I love pieced ones that add more interest to our quilt.

I hope everyone has a great week planned and are very productive!

Linking with several of the fun parties on my left side bar.  Grab a cup of coffee and grab some inspiration= multi tasking!

Ebb Tide

My recent finish is called Ebb Tide, the pattern is by Villa Rosa Designs. I won the print fabrics from Shabby Fabric's last year and recently found the perfect Kona solid to go with it-Blue Jay. The prints are Paradiso in Lagoon Blue by Kate Spain.  This is a simple pattern, would be great for a new quilter, or someone just wanting a quick finish!  It measures in at 46x60.

Hobbs 80/20 batting, Glide thread in a blue on top and So fine in bobbin. I love how the wishbone quilting on the solid blue beams out at you. The diagonal quilting lines in the prints don't show real well but I had fun deciding which direction they should go.   I found the perfect wide backing for it at JoAnn's.

I have listed this quilt in my Etsy shop which I just started up again. I hope to get a few more things listed later this week.

Editing yet again-I don't know where my head is as I forgot to say this is my OMG for January finish also!  So I will be linking there when it becomes live at the end of the month.

I had a really hard time capturing the true color of the blue. I think the top two pictures are the best.

 Linking with FreeMotion by the River, Let's Bee Social and Fabric Tuesday.
Edited to say...And since I broke my camera and can't post anything else until I get my new one I will join in on Thursday Needle and Thread too.