2.27.2010

Quilting Feathers

This is one of the quilts  that I machine quilted for one of my customers this week.
When I look at a quilt like this the first thing that comes to mind is feathers. So I quilted feathers. I really enjoy quilting feathers when they are appropriate. I think they turned out really pretty on this one. 
 What do you think?
Do you like feathers?
Check out the feathers on this quilt. I really enjoyed quilting these feathers also.

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~Natalia

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2.25.2010

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.

If you're like me you might just need ten months to get ready for Christmas! The new Moda fabrics don't actually come out until May but you can get a few of your favorite pre-cuts right now!

Are you wondering where I've been. Well.... I promise next week I'll share some pictures of what I've been up to. I've been super busy machine quilting. As of right now. 10:59pm on Thursday night I've machine quilted 9 quilts since Monday. I have been helping Amy get all of the quilting done for her book. I've also quilted some really beautiful quilts for my customers that I can't wait to share with you!

Hope all is well! Have a happy weekend!

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~Natalia

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Something is Wrong Here!

My husband told me last night that something is wrong with me! I was ecstatic when the UPS man came and delivered Christmas! Literally, I've got some of Moda's new Christmas fabric.
 Yes, it's only February, but who cares, there is still lots of snow on the ground here! Tomorrow some of these Christmas precuts will be available for you to purchase too!
The picture above shows two Adoring Charm Packs by Sandy Gervais for Moda fabrics and one Fruitcake Jelly Roll by Basic Grey for Moda fabrics.
Do you think I'm crazy?
Is it too early to start thinking about Christmas?

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~Natalia

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2.24.2010

Discounts @ Piece N Quilt

I love saving! Isn't it the best feeling knowing that you got a deal! So today I'm sharing a couple of secrets. If you want to save a few dollars here at Piece N Quilt you need discount codes. Where do you get those discount codes?
1- Our newsletter. Today's newsletter has a great discount code. Click here to sign up.
2- Twitter. Are you following us on Twitter? We are frequently posting discount codes over on Twitter. Click her to follow us on Twitter.
3- Facebook. If you're not following us on Facebook you're also missing out on great discount codes. Click here to follow us on facebook.
Last but not least. Become a follower here on our blog. Did you know that every time we hit a milestone with our followers we host a give away! You must be a follower to be eligible for those drawings.

Hope everyone is having a happy day. I have to tell you that I machine quilted 3.5 quilts yesterday. It was a long day but they all turned out beautifully. I will share pictures soon!

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~Natalia

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2.23.2010

I Love the Olympics!

I have had so much fun watching the Olympics! I hope you, wherever in the world you are have too! My husband and I keep telling each other that it makes us both sick to our stomach to think that 8 years ago the Olympics were right here in our town... and we didn't attend any events. 
(Literally! Both of our parents had families from other countries staying at their homes.) I will rephrase that, we did go to a couple of medals ceremonies in Salt Lake City but we didn't actually go and watch any athletes compete. I am sure this is something I will always regret! I do have a disclaimer. We were young and he was working three jobs and I was working two, one of my jobs was at the hotel where all of the nordic athletes stayed so that was fun.
ANYWAYS! Last week Moda-United Notions put on their facebook status the funnest thing. They asked the question. "Which  Quilting Olympic event would you medal in and why?? Be creative. There were some funny answers.
I have determined that I would win the gold in the category of getting the least amount of sleep at night / being the most creative while I should be sleeping!
If you were in the Quilting Olympics what would you win a medal in?
Be creative!

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~Natalia

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2.22.2010

I want this quilt on my wall!

 
I machine quilted this little wall hanging for one of the ladies at my LQS this week. 
I AM IN LOVE!
I don't know the name of this pattern but I do know she used Oz materials and I want to make the same quilt for myself!
She even appliqued the flower on by hand!
 
I had fun quilting it! So cute!
How was your weekend?
Did you do anything super fun or productive?

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~Natalia

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2.20.2010

A Visit to the Material Girls!

For quite some time now I've been hearing about this darling quilt shop in South Jordan, UT. I've been hearing how darling it is and I just haven't had a spare minute to get down there. 
Well yesterday just worked out. I have to tell you that I definitely was not let down. The store is darling and everyone working in there was super sweet as well. So just image the excitement when I saw this hanging on the wall!
 
Again..... I'm Blushing! Thanks Nadine & the girls at Material Girls you are awesome, I'll be back!
Check out the complete tutorial here.

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~Natalia

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2.19.2010

What is your favorite THREAD?

I've been machine quilting for about three years now. When I bought my long arm machine I received a whole bunch of thread with my machine. I was never totally happy with the look and the feel of the thread. About six months later I decided to start exploring other thread choices. I bought cone after cone, spent way more money than I should have on thread and finally I ran across So Fine by Superior Threads. I FELL IN LOVE! I love the way that this thread blends as I quilt. I love that there is a huge variety in the color choices and I LOVE that I don't have issues with breaking thread!
 
I love this thread so much I also piece & bind everything with it!
So, do you use So Fine!?
If not what is your favorite type of thread and why?
(P.S. I was not paid to say this.)


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~Natalia

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2.17.2010

Deep Blue Sea on Moda Bake Shop

 
Head on over to Moda Bake Shop today to see what I've been up to!

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~Natalia

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2.16.2010

Limeade Quilt

My sweet customer Erin is stuck in those major storms that have been hitting the east. So she finished her darling Limeade Quilt. She purchased the material from us so it's so much fun to see finished quilts!!
Erin also used all of her scraps to make this darling baby blanket.
Thanks for sharing these Erin. I love to see what others are up to!
Both of these quilts are made using Authentic materials.

What have you been up to? Have you made any fun quilts during these crazy storms?

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~Natalia

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2.15.2010

Baby Boy Quilt

I machine quilted this darling baby boy quilt last week for my sweet customer Tracey
I love the colors. I especially love the brown sashing.
You can check out more of Tracey's darling work over on her blog.


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~Natalia

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2.14.2010

Happy Valentines Day!

 
Hugs & Kisses from us to you!
Free Hugs & Kisses tutorial here.
Get your L'Amour fabric here.
 Get your free L'Amore E'Bello tutorial here.
Don't forget all Blush material is on sale today.

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~Natalia

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2.12.2010

You know I don't sew points....right?

My next Moda Bake Shop quilt is on the quilting machine and I think I've got about 4 more hours of quilting and I'll have it finished! WAHOO! 
 So, I have to tell you, if you've been following my blog for a while you've probably realized that I don't sew points. Reason being..... I can't ever get them to line up right. I always end up with squares rather than points. Well, maybe it has been my cutting this whole time! My next quilt has A LOT of points and they are almost all perfect! Reason for this. I used turnovers!
Just wait. You'll probably be just as shocked as me!
This quilt will be on Moda Bake Shop on February 17th.
The fabric for the project is Nautical & Nice by Sandy Gervais.


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~Natalia

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{Creative Guest} Meet Debbie

I asked Debbie a few questions. It was really fun to learn more about her and her beautiful work.
1- How did you get started in sewing/working with wool?
 I guess the answer to that question is that things come full circle in life and with me, that could not be truer.
My grandmother was an artisan who also hooked rugs and quilted. She would make wool quilts from my grandfather's clothing.
They were basically crazy quilts, with hand embroidered seams, and a few designs, but they were basically primitive in style.

Years later when I found myself creating, I became interested in applique art, using felt products. I loved being able to create pictures and art with hand stitching. Over the years I dabbled in different mediums and lost sight of my quilting enthusiasm. It was when I began to rug hook, that I fell in love with wools. An online rug hooking friend was also a quilter and got me thinking about quilting again. She sent me books and fabrics and I started quilting with fabrics.

Most of the patterns I used were primitive and wools were used in some. That got me to thinking about all of the wonderful wools I had in my stash and how fun it would be to create using wools and fabrics in my pieces. I found I loved working with wools and the naive look it gives. I also enjoy the ease of sewing smaller pieces compared to needle turn. It is more of a creative outlet for me, than a pursuit of perfection.

2- What inspires you?
Life inspires me, everything I see and do, each day, is a future idea to create. I am always taking pictures when we go out. I enjoy taking photographs of historic buildings and churches that inspire me and graveyards are a wonderful place to find folk art motifs. I also love sayings and verses and using them in my pieces. I often build a piece around a saying or verse. I also appreciate historical folk art and enjoy using the designs, in new ways.


3- What is your favorite project that you've ever made?
People have asked me that and usually it is the last piece I made. I always love what I am working on at the moment, even if it doesn't come out the way I envisioned. I guess the best way, is to show you some of the pieces I have made and what I loved about creating them.

This is my one of my first pieces. I based it on an antique quilt piece and used elements that I liked and made it my own. I love cats and I love antique cat pieces, so this one is definitely a favorite that I have hanging in my quilt room.
 A group that I belong to had a challenge, that definitely lived up to it's name. We each had a partner and we sent each other, fabrics, wool, embellishments and whatever we could think of, for the recipient to use in a quilt. This was a real challenge for me, I had to use materials, I had never thought, to put into a quilt. I basically worked from the rooster block and went from there. It taught me that anything can be used in a quilt, and the use of materials like chenille and lace are things I still use in my new pieces.
 
Another challenge was hosted by Sue Spargo. She gave us the tree and leaves motif to start with and we had to design a quilt around those elements. I decided that I wanted mine to be based on my fraktur designs, so I used my own designs and some new ones in unique ways. I loved working on this piece, it was fun to experiment with different mediums. I have also been experimenting with wool roving, so it was fun to use it in this piece.
 I enjoy making gifts for my friends too and have made pieces based on their likes and decorating styles. A friend had just purchased an old school desk, so I decided to make a piece to hang on the wall. This piece was fun because I used a material called tula, that is soft like cotton, but has large holes for needlework. It was not easy to sew the pieces on, but it was wonderful material for adding cross stitch to the background.
 Thank you for visiting Natalia's blog and reading about my wool adventures.
Debbie St. Germain 

Thanks again Debbie! Someday I when I have a little more time on my hands I really want to get into working with wool. Debbie you have inspired me! Now I want to start today!!  You can also purchase some of Debbies patterns over on her website. Don't forget to head over to Debbies blog to see what she's up to!


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~Natalia

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2.11.2010

Macine Quilting Finishes

 I've been busy at the long arm machine again this week.
Here are a few darling quilts that I've machine quilted.
 
This cute Mary Engelbreit wall hanging will be displayed at Quilt Fest this fall.
 
I think this quilt is really fun. She made the whole top using just scraps!
Fun alphabet baby quilt.
Last but not least a Valentines day quilt.
I've also quilted 5 quilts for Amy so far, but she's made me swear to secrecy on those quilts. :)

Can you believe that Valentines day is this Sunday?
Have you gotten anything for that special someone?
I haven't. I better get thinking about it! :)

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~Natalia

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2.10.2010

To Wash or Not To Wash?

Last year Kathleen & I designed this quilt for a design challenge. The theme was "Pump up the Color,"  so we took it as pump up the color on a bike. The quilt, well it's actually a wall hanging turned out really darling. If you look really close you can see the tiny embroidery detail that Kathleen did. The bike is all wool applique and those are miniature bolts of fabric in the basket and yes, they even have the name of the fabric on the end of the bolt.
Well, this quilt has a little secret behind it. After it was all quilted, bound and ready to be judged we had to get a little bit of blue pen out of it, we drew on where we wanted the embroidery. So we decided just to get it wet in a few places. Little did we know, the wool blead like crazy! Luckily we found some Rit undie and were able to remove all of the bleeding. WHEW!!
(This quilt was to be judged and then auctioned off.)

Generally I like to wash my quilts, I really like the old look that washing gives to them. Like this quilt.
After having a quilt bleed that bad I am really nervous to wash my quilts.
So, do you wash all of your quilts?
Do you pre-wash your fabrics?
I know that the high quality materials should not bleed but I'm just a little gun shy now.

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~Natalia

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2.09.2010

WINNER! WINNER! WINNER!

Remember yesterday when I told you that I was going to randomly choose one AWESOME follower to win a $20.00 gift certificate!
Well, the winner is......drum roll please......... Mandy from Seams Sew Together! Congratulations Mandy, please e-mail me and I will get  you the info for the gift certificate!

Also, thank you to all of you for your sweet comments yesterday. You all make me feel so special! I really appreciate all of you!

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~Natalia

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2.08.2010

Followers are Sew AWESOME!!

We've hit another milestone with our AWESOME followers so it's time for another giveaway!!!
First I have to tell all of you thank you so much for stopping by my blog and for your kind comments. Some days your comments are the one thing that keep me going and I am so grateful for you!
I am going to give away two gifts to you!
The first gift is 20% off any purchase today only! Simply use discount code 'follower' and 20% will be deducted from your total purchase!
The second gift is a $20.00 gift certificate! I will randomly choose one follower tomorrow to win!

Thanks again! You are all truly SEW AWESOME!!!

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~Natalia

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2.06.2010

Mitered Corner

I just can't seem to ever get a great mitered corner. 
My next Moda Bake Shop project has stripes for the border so in my mind the corners must be mitered.
Last night I was able to recruit some help from Kathleen, my sewing expert and look at what she did!
 
I am so thankful for her and her sewing help!

So, do you like mitered corners?
Do you miter your corners?

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~Natalia

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