4.29.2013

Boxes of quilts.....

Have you been wondering why things have been a little quiet around here lately???
Well, here's the reason... quilt market!
Even though I'm not going to be attending spring quilt market a little part of me will be there, lots and lots of quilts that I've machine quilted.
I've been putting in a lot of hours here at the studio machine quilting and I wish I could share photos of every quilt as I finish them, but they are top secret.... for a couple more weeks. :)
Last Friday I'm pretty sure the UPS man decided he hated me..... well, not really, but the boxes in the photo above all arrived the same day. Inside were 26 quilts!
After I shared the photo of the boxes over on instagram a few of you were a little worried about me, not to be too alarmed, 21 of the quilts that arrived I had already machine quilted, whew!

Hope everyone is having a great start to the week! I cannot believe it's already almost MAY! Where has the last month gone?

4.27.2013

Little Tools

When I bought my long-arm quilting machine 6 years ago I never imagined that I'd have to learn to become a mechanic as well as a machine quilter
I can't complain, my machine has been awesome and for as much abuse as it deals with every single day, and some nights, it's an awesome machine.
However, last night I had decided to stay late and work, planning to get a lot done and try to catch up on some quilt market quilting. After about an hour of quilting in silence, meaning with no kids, my machine quit, just quit, it was doing all sorts of crazy things, like stitching when I wasn't even near it and not stitching when I wanted it to. I was so stressed out, and of course it was after the dealer had closed. I went home and didn't sleep well because I was so stressed about the machine. So, this morning I called the dealer, of course they were busy, so I waited a while. Finally I was able to talk to them and they easily could tell what was the problem. The start button had broken and so my machine thought that I was holding down on it. I am so proud of myself, the tools and parts for the long-arm are tiny, but I replaced the button all by myself! 
Maybe I was born to be a mechanic......okay, never-mind, I'll just stick with machine quitling. :)

Have a great weekend!

4.26.2013

Flower Girl Quilt

Darcy pieced this darling Flower Girl quilt as a gift for her mother. I love the bright happy fabrics that she used.
Darcy sent me the quilt and asked me to machine quilt an all over flower type pattern.
I love the final result. So dang cute!
Thanks for letting me machine quilt another darling quilt Darcy.

Pattern for this quilt is Flower Girl by Thimble Blossoms and can be purchased at Fat Quarter Shop.

4.24.2013

Quilts and More - Summer 2013

This morning I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few items before I started the day. When I was there I decided to pick up a copy of the Summer 2013 issue of Quilts and More.
When I opened it up I was super duper excited to see the Moda Bake Shop ad right inside the cover, squee! I love Moda Bake Shop!
Then I flipped through a couple more pages and was so excited to see Kimberly of Main Street Market Desings, Circus, Circus quilt pattern featured inside!
Last spring I was able to machine quilt this darling quilt for Kimberly featuring her pattern and her darling fabric.
It's always such a huge honor to see your name in print.

4.23.2013

Patchwork Life - Quilt

Have you stopped by Moda Bake Shop recently? Of course there is always something fun going on over there, and yes, I'm in the process of "baking" up something new as well.
Yesterday Sara of It's Sew Emma shared a darling new free tutorial, the quilt is called Patchwork Life and I machine quilted the darling quilt for her.

4.22.2013

Large-Block Quilts - by Vickie Eapen

Today I get to take part in Vickie Eapen's blog tour and help introduce her new book, Large-Block Quilts, 16 Quick and Easy Quilt Patterns... 
.... and I'm super excited to share a couple quilts in particular in this new book!
So, not only does Vickie's book have 16 super cute quick quilt patterns I machine quilted a few of those quilts for her.
Thanks for letting me be in tinsy part of your book journey Vickie!
If you haven't already make sure to hop on over to Vickie's blog and visit all of the stops on her blog tour.


4.19.2013

Dresden Plate

Yesterday I spent most of my day machine quilting a darling quilt for Karen of Nellie's Needles, for her quilt market booth. 
Since the quilt is for quilt market I can't share the whole quilt, but it turned out fabulous, and my very favorite part was the machine quilting on the dresden plates.
I just love how they turned out....so I had to share!
Hope you all have a great weekend!

4.18.2013

All Night Sewing - Finally Complete!

Well, about 3 years ago... gasp... I pieced this darling little quilt in an all night sewing class. It was super fun to make and I really love how bright and happy the little quilt is. For some crazy reason, like life in general... this quilt got pushed to the back of the line and I've never gotten around to machine quilting this quilt.
Last week when my friends from Fat Quarter Shop were here filming me in action we needed a little quilt to show machine quilting on. Well, this little beauty finally got it's day to shine!
Now it just needs a binding and I can finally enjoy it!
YAY!!

I'm back from a 3 day workshop and getting caught up on machine quilting. Hope you're all having a fabulous day!

4.15.2013

Learn

2013 will be the year I learn!

I've been spending lots of nights so far this year learning.... learning to create in ways I've never before done.
Today, and the next few days Kathleen and I are spending in the beautiful Handi Quilter offices.... learning..and my brain is currently mush!
Their classroom is awesome, I cannot believe how beautiful it is!
This is the first "real" digital design I created today! I was actually surprised how cute it turned out!

Hope everyone is having a great day!

4.14.2013

Coming soon!!!

Yesterday was a great day! I was able to spend the whole day with my mom, Kimberly & Chelsey from Fat Quarter Shop!

First of all, when Kimberly asked me if she could come to my studio and film me in action I was beyond flattered! She's the owner of the Fat Quarter Shop!!!! :)
I should have taken more pictures during the day, but we were busy having fun! This is Chelsey getting ready to film me in action!
Kimberly posted a few other pictures throught the day on the Fat Quarter Shop's Facebook page.

We filmed a few different videos, and as soon as they are available I'll be sure to share!
Thanks for coming to visit my studio Kimberly & Chelsey!!!

4.10.2013

A Tribute To Abe Lincoln - Made by Liz

Liz pieced this AMAZING quilt, she calls the quilt, A Tribute to Abe Lincoln.
She sent it to me for some custom machine quilting. It was a really fun quilt to machine quilt, there are no 2 blocks alike and Liz tried to not repeat fabric in any block throughout the quilt, giving it a ton of interest.
I machine quilted a lot of little details, including a lot of stitch-in-the-ditch.
A little picture of the back. Turned out pretty cool.
A few fun facts about this quilt.
Every single block is paper pieced and all 121 blocks are 8" square.

Thanks for letting me machine quilt this fabulous quilt Liz!

Thank you to everyone who shared well wishes for my FIL, he had a second surgery today and if all goes well he will be able to come home tomorrow. Modern medicine is amazing!

4.09.2013

In the works.....thinking about what's important..

photo via instagram
Were to start.......
Last week my family and I took a little vacation to Disneyland, it was a great time, we had so much fun being together as a family and enjoying some warm weather.
Yesterday morning we arrived home quite early just to find that the airline lost one of our bags. All day I machine quilted this amazing quilt that Liz made (I'll share more of her beautiful quilt in a few days) while trying to figure out where our luggage was. I felt so frustrated by that. My husband and I went home at around 5 and were ready to just take it easy. Brad quickly got a phone call from his family telling us that his dad was in the ambulance on his way to a larger hospital, he was suffering from a heart-attack and was going to have surgery. 
We immediately fed our kids and headed to the hospital. Now I'm sure we'll be spending several days making trips to the hospital and saying prayers for my father-in-law. 
It's amazing how life can change so quickly..... make us realize what's really important.

4.05.2013

Maple Leaf Quilt

Reneva pieced this beautiful maple leaf quilt for one of her grandchildren.
She pieced the whole quilt top from her stash, pretty impressive!
She brought the quilt to me and asked that I machine quilt it with an all over pattern that keeps the quilt soft. 
We chose a maple leaf pattern, I think it turned out beautiful.
Thanks for letting me machine quilt your beautiful quilt Reneva!

4.04.2013

Crab Apple Hill Quilt

Kristy sent me this beautiful quilt that her mom pieced a few years back, her mom had never had it machine quilted so Kristy decided she wanted to have me custom machine quilt it for her. How kind is that!
The quilt is beautiful with some amazing hand work.
When I machine quilted it I did a lot of outlining and small detail work, to really make her hand work pop!
I love how it turned out.
Thanks Kristy for sending this beautiful quilt.

4.03.2013

Wool Quilt - Sampler Block of the Month

MaryAnn made this fantastic wool applique quilt as a block of the month through a local quilt shop, American Quilting.
The quilt is so happy! 
If you know the name of the pattern fell free to let me know.
I custom machine quilted this one for MaryAnn, I mentioned a couple days ago how much I love to  machine quilt sampler quilts, so yes, I had a lot of fun machine quilting this darling quilt.
Thanks again for letting me machine quilt another one of your cute quilts MaryAnn!

4.02.2013

Baby Girl Burp Cloths

Another one of our friends recently had a baby girl.
So, of course we wanted to make her a fun gift.
Kathleen spent a few hours last week and made these darling cloth diaper burp cloths. I LOVE how fresh and happy these turned out!

Here is a free tutorial showing how we make cloth diaper burp cloths.

4.01.2013

Wool Quilt - Block of the Month

Over the past year Susan pieced this darling wool applique quilt as a block of the month through American Quilting.
I'm not sure the name of the pattern, if you know feel free to share. :)
She brought it to me for some custom machine quilting, I love machine quilting sampler type quilts, it's always fun to machine quilt something different in each block.
Lots of little details, and look how cute the applique is!
Thanks for letting me machine quilt another one of your darling quilts Susan!