Itty Bitty Whacky Wonky Christmas Trees

Been working on Christmas gifts the past couple weeks.  Here's one all done.  I call it "Itty Bitty Whacky Wonky Christmas Trees."  It measures 16" square and is such a fun little quilt.

Christmas is right around the corner,
Suzy

A "Mini" Retreat

There once were 25 quilters who gathered for a four-day quilt retreat at a camp . . . And what happens at the Quilt Retreat stays at the Quilt Retreat.  LOL! 😜

But I CAN show you one of the results from my fun and productive four days...

This is "Sunset Flight", at least that's what I'm calling it for now.  After working on it on and off for about a year and a half (or more), I managed to finish it up at the Retreat.  And get this . . . it measures 17" square!  Yes, those are itty bitty geese -- made out of teeny tiny scraps of batik fabrics.  Yes, I know.  I'm crazy.

Now to quilt it. 

Retreat happiness,
Suzy

If Friends Were Flowers . . .

Our Guild recently had a challenge where we swapped 5" charm squares and were challenged to make a one-patch quilt.  We cut 50 5" charm squares from yardage (all the same fabric), and then brought those 50 charms in to swap with other participants and went home with 50 different charm squares.  I chose to do two, for a total of 100 charm squares.  I figured I wouldn't be able to do too much with just 50 squares without adding too much of my own stash, so 100 it was.

This is the result of my challenge:

I used all 100 squares and cut them into a tumbler shape (using my Accuquilt GO!) and half of them I made into dresden "petals" and the other half I used as the border.  The finished quilt measures 34" square.  I had made a "test" dresden flower to see how wide the center would be and if it would even work.  I used my scraps for the test flower because I didn't want to take a chance with the swapped charms.  I actually had an Accuquilt GO! die big enough to use for the centers, so that made my life easier.  I put the "test" dresden on the back as the label.  :o)  

As a bonus, the backing fabric I used was one of the two yardages I used when I swapped my charms.  I named my quilt "If Friends Were Flowers..." because it reminds me of all my quilty Guild friends each time I see their fabric in the quilt.  I quilted this one myself, as it was on the smaller side and manageable.  :o)

If Friends Were Flowers . . . I'd Pick You!
Suzy

Petal Play

It's been awhile, huh?  Trust me, I've been keeping very busy.  I wanted to share a quilt I recently designed and finished for a class I will be teaching in February.  I'm currently working on writing the pattern/directions.  I call it "Petal Play."  The petals and center circles are made using Accuquilt GO! dies and my students will be able to use them in the class if they choose not to use the pattern templates to cut their petals and circles by hand prior to class.  I think it will be a fun, fun class. 

The quilt measures approximately 30" and I actually quilted this one myself.

More quiltiness to come,
Suzy 

Back In Business!!!

Finally getting around to posting some pics of my two new sewing areas (separated by a Jack and Jill bath).  Except for hanging some small quilts on some of the bare walls and paring down my five large boxes of quilting magazines, I can say it is relatively done and ready for business!  To say I'm excited is putting it mildly!  And yes, there is already a charity quilt designed, fabric selected and ready to get started on my cutting table.  Woot woot!

Get ready to be inundated with pictures...

 

 

So very blessed,
Suzy

MIA and Serious Sewing Withdrawals

I realize it's been quite awhile since I've blogged, but didn't realize it's been almost 4-1/2 months worth of awhile!  Time is flying -- fun or no fun.

Fun - choosing new master bath shower reno stuff, flooring, paint, furniture.

Not Fun - The mess involved in the removal and installation of said master bath shower, flooring and dealing with lazy painters and roofers who are always late and leave early, thus not putting in a full days work and doubling the time needed to paint or roof.

Fun - Arrival of said furniture and adding decor items to make my house a home.

Not Fun (Torture Even) - Not being able to sew a stitch (FOR THE PAST 5 MONTHS!) as everything sewing-related is still packed away and I still need to decide on new furniture for the sewing room(s).  Am leaning toward actually getting a Koala sewing cabinet for my monster Baby Lock Ellisimo Gold, as well as white shelving units (open and enclosed) and a large design wall.  Plus am trying find something like a half-shelving unit that can house my multitude of Accuquilt dies and my Electric GO on top of it so I don't have to set it up when I want to use it - it will always be there ready for me.

Fun - Yes, ROOMSSSS!  I will now have two designated sewing rooms for my creative pleasure!  They are right next to each other with a jack and jill bath in between.

My house is coming along.  All the repairs are done - new roof, new floors, entire interior painted.  Now I am in the middle of putting things together.  Some rooms are more put together than others, and I am patiently (impatiently?) awaiting my new Plantation Shutters.  Oh, I can hardly wait for those!  I'm so sick of nothing, nada, zip on my windows.

I have completely changed the color-scheme in my home.  Instead of reds, oranges, golds and browns (with builder beige walls and tan carpet/tile) , I have gone to teals, yellows, whites, grays and browns (with yellow walls and waterproof luxury vinyl plank flooring throughout the whole house).

Here are some pics of where I'm at so far...

And, this!  This is my favorite purchase!  It holds ALL my quilts.  All 30+ of them!  Well, except for two oversized queen quilts that I sometimes use on cold Florida nights in the winter.  Those are in my master closet.  But there is still room in there for a few MORE!  Woohoo!

Still have my Office to finish decorating, and of course, the two sewing rooms, as well as the J&J Bath, my Dad's bath and his bedroom.

Can't wait to get back to normal,
Suzy

Quilting Through The Year

Happy New Year everyone!  Hope it's a great one!

Just thought I'd share my past year of quilt finishes.  Not as many as the previous year, but it is what it is.  I will say there were many more starts than finishes.  LOL!

Well, here they are...

Six quilts that fall into the "Finished in 2017" category.  

Three were charity quilts, one is a donation quilt for our Guild's upcoming Quilt Show's small quilt raffle, one was the Opportunity Quilt for our upcoming Quilt Show that is currently being raffled off, and then there's my published quilt.

Maybe next year I'll be more productive ... especially if I concentrate on finishing some of my UFOs instead of creating new ones.  *grin*

Fingers crossed,
Suzy

Some Designing Fun in EQ8

Just wanted to share some designing fun I've been having in my EQ8 program.  Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Ho, Ho, Ho,
Suzy

Sewing Time

Yay!  I finally got in some sewing/quilting among all the chaos here.  I've finished sewing the center of the Mystery Quilt that I designed for my Guild.  Unfortunately, I can't show you that here (yet).  *grin*

But I can show you what I just finished quilting and binding.  I made this cute little quilt (15" square) for our Guild's Small Quilt Raffle that will be held at our Quilt Show in late February. 

Feels good to finally get some quality time with my machine!

Suzy

Hurricane Woes

I must apologize for neglecting my blog for so long.  I have had some damage from Hurricane Irma and have been working behind the scenes with insurance companies, claims adjusters, repair peeps, etc.  It has been an ongoing cycle.  Sometimes I feel I'm running around in circles, and then other times I feel like a manatee out of water.  But I refuse to complain too much because there are so many others who fared much, much worse than I did.

To top it all off, I'm still trying to keep up with my Guild's Mystery Quilt/Clue of the Month that I committed to spearheading.  Clue 5 goes live next week, and I've just finished putting my center together, not including borders.  I really needed to get it to that point so that I knew for sure all my Clue instructions were correct.  Even though I had a friend do the same, I wanted to be certain first-hand.  I can breathe much easier now knowing that all is well and everything is as it should be.  Now to assemble the borders and get the entire top complete before my house is torn apart and repairs begin and I won't be able to sew for who knows how long.

No, don't worry -- my sewing room is intact.  However, I had water damage in my master bedroom, my office, as well as a front bedroom and bathroom.  Lots of drywall work, carpet removal, flooring replacement, painting and a new roof will make for a new "hurricane," with boxing up ALL rooms, and furniture being moved and re-moved hither and yon.

To top it all off, I had previous plans to attend the Houston Quilt Festival with several friends, so I won't be home for a week from 10/30-11/6.  So things have been on hold for a bit until I return and the upheaval can commence.  Meanwhile, I have had my bedroom dresser, nightstand and jewelry chest in the living room, and my office stuff has taken over the dining room since the storm hit in early September.  But the current chaos is nothing compared to what's to come.  LOL.

At least I can kinda laugh about it now.  At the time, I was a wreck.  Thank heavens for insurance.

Thanks for understanding,
Suzy

And The Winner Is . . .

The giveaway winner of the magazine is...

#6 - Ady!

Yay, Ady!

If you could contact me via my email, I'll get it right off to you!

Thanks everyone, for reading my blog and for entering!

Happy Quilting!
Suzy

Giveaway! Giveaway! Giveaway!

As previously mentioned, I am giving away the extra copy of McCall's Quilting Magazine - Nov/Dec 2017 issue that they sent me featuring my quilt.

If you would like an opportunity to win, just leave me a comment below.  I would also be tickled if you hit the "Follow" button for my blog, located on the right sidebar.  It's not mandatory to win or anything, just hoping to reach that elusive 100 Followers mark.  I'm so close...  :o)

I will draw a name around 7pm EST tomorrow evening (Sunday), and the giveaway is open to all my blog readers, not just the US.  Be sure to check back around then, because if you're the winner, I will need a way to contact you to mail you the magazine.

Good luck and thanks for reading my blog!

Suzy

Amanda Jean Nyberg - aka Crazy Mom Quilts

Amanda Jean Nyberg (aka Crazy Mom Quilts), gave a lecture and trunk show at our Guild on Wednesday.  Not only is she talented, she is so very sweet, pleasant and friendly.  I was quite happy to finally meet her after following her blog pretty much since I started my own in 2008.  You all know how much I love me my scrappy quilts!  :o)

I was also lucky enough to take her full-day class on Thursday.  We were able to work on whichever quilt we chose from her most recent book "No Scrap Left Behind."  There are so many that I want to make, it was difficult to choose.  But rather than going through all my scraps just to schlep them to class and back again, I saw my solid stack staring at me, and ran with it.  I'm sure there will be more quilts made from her book in the future -- especially the string rail fence one called "Scrap Happy Rails."  That one really tugs at my heartstrings.

"Scrap Happy Rails" Quilt

I'm working on the quilt "Ring Me," but will likely rework it and make it my own.  I also doubt it will be as large as the one in her book, as I have so many quilts already in the works that need completing. *grin*

"Ring Me" Quilt

In between socializing and lunch, I was able to finish 5 blocks in class before my back really started to bother me.  The chairs where the class was held (a church) certainly weren't made for sewing -- especially for 7 hours.

I feel I really got to know quite a bit about her, as a few of us went to dinner together both Wednesday and Thursday evening.  It was a ton of fun.

Here's to making new quilty friends,

Suzy

The Excitement Continues...!!!

Have you ever Googled your name?  Well, I don't know what possessed me to do so this morning, but guess what I found?!?!

Keepsake Quilting has made my quilt design, "The Night Before Christmas," into a pattern for sale on their website!

 The Night Before Christmas - Downloadable Pattern

My life is unreal right now,
Suzy

"The Night Before Christmas"

I have some more exciting news that I can now share.  A quilt I designed is featured in the November/December 2017 issue of McCall's Quilting Magazine.  It officially hits newsstands on September 26, but mailed subscriptions are already arriving in mailboxes.  I can hardly contain myself!!!

I called the quilt "Christmas Sparkle," but they named it "The Night Before Christmas" in the magazine.

I will have a giveaway here on my blog sometime next week and the winner will receive a copy of the magazine.  Stay tuned!

Visions of sugarplums are dancing in my head,
Suzy

Our Guild's Opportunity Quilt

I know I've been MIA for a bit, but I've been working on a lot of things behind the scenes that I haven't been able to share with you all.  Finally, I can share one thing; and hopefully there will be more soon.  

The Opportunity Quilt for my Guild, Seaside Piecemakers, is finally complete and was up for display at our Guild meeting today.  I did all the piecing and assembly, another member, Priscilla, did the applique, and another member and close friend, Laurel, did the quilting.  I'm so proud of the finished product.  We used a Linda Hahn design from her book "Rock That Quilt Block - Hourglass" (with her permission -- she is also a member of our Guild), but I was asked to change up the border by the Quilt Committee, as they wanted to go in a bit different route.  So I played around in my trusty EQ7 program for awhile, and this is the result.  I sure hope we sell lots of raffle tickets.  Our charity this year is Deveraux.

Tickled purple,
Suzy