NQA Quilt Sighting!

One of my customers entered her Glacier Star into the NQA Show! It looked amazing and it felt great for me too to be represented as a quilter in such a show.

 You may recognize this quilt from posts I've done about it before like here and here.

I had to take a picture of the information sheet seeing as how it's the first time my name is mentioned! Mary did a great job and it looked amazing hanging amongst sooooo many gorgeous quilts.

I took way too many pictures at the show and I plan to share some of them with you, but I need to sort through them first and get some rhyme or reason to posting them. Right now it's just a jumble of inspiration!

Alright, gotta go quilt before these storms roll through and the chances of the power going out increase!

All Set!

Mom and I are all set up and ready for the NQA Show in Columbus. 

Come visit us at booth #422! We have several Judy Niemeyer patterns as well as my patterns to sell and many copies of my book, Seamingly Scrappy. I will be signing books all weekend, even if you bring your copy that you've already purchased. Come stop by and say hi!!!

Retreat Recap

Sorry for the delay in this post. I swear time is flying by at warp speed and I'm already packing for the next show. I just got home, but this should be the last travel plans for awhile.

 These are some of the projects I finished while at retreat. What I will show you here are the projects I can show now, the others will have to wait. This first one was a side project from a few of the Moda Candy Bars. This box contained three or four lines (I think, it's been awhile) and I just added some white on white paisleys that I had in my stash for this simple pattern. It's a decent size and I'm still trying to figure out what to do with this one.

 If three wasn't enough, a fourth Aura should do the trick. This quilt is completely scrappy and reversed in color. I used a mixture of shirtings for the blocks and various Civil War red-ish prints for the background. I'm thinking I may try to hand quilt this one, but we'll see. (See the other versions of Aura by clicking here)

 This last quilt is a more primitive version of Roll of Stamps, also from my book, Seamingly Scrappy. I used a jelly roll of Harvest Moon by Kansas Troubles and some of the new Primitive Muslins for the sashing. I know it's kinda weird, but I have this cowboy print in my stash that will work great for the backing. My Mom got it when I got my horse, and we never got around to making anything out of it. It'll be a fun little surprise on the back.

Now I did finish these three tops as well as two other tops and their coordinating backings and bindings while at retreat. Now, I did have some of the blocks premade before I left. No tops were together, but I had an amazing time and still was able to work on my Bali Wedding Star too! I still have a long way to go, but I'm getting closer!

Now, it's the last time I have to say bye to this little guy and his chickens (which he waits to play with until I get home!), but if you're in the area, come see Mom and I at our booth at the NQA Show in Columbus this weekend. I'll take pictures and try to post when I can!

The Recap...

Is anyone else completely baffled that tonight is the end of 2011? This year was wonderful and more than I ever could have imagined, but even though I'm sad to see it go, I'm excited for 2012 to come.

So, this year was full of wonerful things, here's a list of highlights:

I started off the year posting on the Moda Bake Shop with a recipe for scarves, and added a few more tutorials later on.

Sew As You Go Scarves

 Layered Valance

Dueling Personalities

I went to some new places:

Ben and I went to Paris for the first time!

 I went to Shipshewana a time or two

 I went to the NQA Show for the first time

 Ben and I went to the Western Caribbean with some friends!

And Mom and I made the trek to Holmes County, Ohio for a couple days

I was featured in a couple magazines:

 June 2011 Issue - turn it over to find:

 My quilt!!!!!

And the back cover of Perfect for Precuts had the Moda Bake Shop ad that included my quilt!

I made some new quilt patterns:

 Charmed Living Casaba

 Charmed Living Tote

 Sciuridae

 Cake Topper

 Alphabet Stitchery: Farm Animals

 Alphabet Stitchery: Bugs Bugs Bugs

Alphabet Stitchery: Noah's Ark

I was entertained by some critters in my tree:

Even these three little ones
Currently nobody is residing in the tree, but winter hasn't truly hit yet...

I did some quilting:

 And I started a new feature to the blog:

Back to Basics!!!

So, whew, I'm exhausted. Looking back I can't believe I got all that accomplished!

I'm looking forward to some exciting things in 2012 including more topics in the Back to Basics tutorials, a new Moda Bake Shop recipe (coming very soon!), more travels, new patterns, and who knows what else!

But I could not have done it without all of you. The encouragement and support I get from all of those that comment, e-mail, follow my blog, or I meet when I'm out and about make this so much more rewarding than I ever thought possible! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!

So here's a farewell to 2011 and hello to 2012! See you in the new year!

Back Home

Well, I made it to Indiana and back all in one piece. We had a couple hiccups on our way out that weren't so fun like the highway being completely shut down due to an accident and massive rainstorms and wind. But we made it, we had a blast as usual and I came home with more fabric - big shocker there :)

So, I have one last post for you on some of the quilts at the NQA Show and then (you'll be so proud of me) I took several pictures while in Indiana and I even have some from the program at the Quilt Festival to share (thanks Mom!)

 There were inventive color and shape combinations...

 pictorial quilts...

 I'm still not quite sure how she did this and how it laid so flat!!!

 Alright, I want to go play in this woman's stash for a while, don't you?

 There were some odd shaped quilts (how do you bind that?)

 And embellished quilts

 If you click on the picture above to make it larger, you can see all the detail she embroidered into each and every piece...

 And this one was really neat, looks great as is, right?

 She continued the applique design into the setting corners with her quilting... Now why didn't I think of that???

 And if you subscribe to any magazines I'm sure you've seen pictures of this one before, it's a while cloth with black fabric and colored thread - lots and lots and lots of thread. But it's gorgeous!

So that's the last from the NQA Show and I'll be back soon with pictures from Shipshewana and a few other stops we made on our way home...Now I'm off to play with a bug bunch of fabrics that just arrived for my next Moda Bake Shop project... Today is going to be a fun day. What are you planning for today?

NQA Part 2

Simply Beautiful. That's the only way I can describe this batch of quilts...

Have I ever mentioned how much I want to make a wholecloth quilt??? I love the idea of simple beauty and showing off quilting in this way. There's also great ideas on using your favorite lap quilts as an accent to rooms that have wholecloth quilts on beds - by switching the smaller quilt and a couple accessories you can change the look of a room in minutes!

 There were small ones...

 And colored ones...

 Look at the feathers on that one! I wish I could make mine look like that... I guess I have to practice some more...

 There were different styles used, sometimes all in one quilt...

 And scalloped edges on larger quilts (you'll have to click on this one to make it bigger to see the details)

 And the biggest shocker of all - this is a wholecloth quilt with a pieced back - as in the quilt top is on the back... but the quilting is stunning, no wonder she entered it this way!

 I love the idea on this one and I plan on using it soon - this is a wholecloth quilt. I promise. It's quilted with a darker thread in sections that give it a look similar to applique - minus the applique. This was definitely a moment for me of "Why didn't I think of that?!"

 And this one... oh, the micro (REALLY micro) stippling that made the bigger quilted pieces and vines stand out even more.

Do it, I dare you - click on this one to see that stippling. Oh, and did you notice the beads in the flowers. I wonder how many yards of thread are in this quilt? Probably too many to count.

So, that's my inspiration for today. I plan on working on my own wholecloth quilt this winter - okay maybe two. One hand quilted and one machine quilted. And maybe if that goes well I might do more. I'll let you know when I start working on those...

I'll be back soon with the last post about the NQA Show with some of the other show stoppers hanging there. They're good, really good. They were hanging at a National Quilt Show for goodness sakes!

Tomorrow I'm off to Shipshewana for the Shipshewana Quilt Festival. Don't forget - I will be at the Moda Bake Shop's 'Come Bake With Us' program at the Farmstead Inn. Stop on by and say hi! Oh, and another thing I'm super excited for - I'll be making my first trip to The Doormouse Quilt Shop in Bettesville, OH on my way home. 5,000 bolts - yep bolts - of fabric calling my name. I think I might be able to find some goodies there. Wish me luck and I'll have pictures to show you when I get home!