I officially broke my fabric fast Thursday night. What had happened was, I lost my seam ripper on Wednesday night. I couldn't find it anywhere and had given my backup to my sis a few weeks ago. I decided it was a good time to finally visit the new local quilt shop, Sew Much for Quilting, that opened up near me in the Goodyear AZ. I'd previously met Trish the owner, who is also a member of QA, but I'd never been to the shop. Well...I couldn't very well walk into this HUGE shop, with rows and rows of fabrics and other goodies and ONLY buy a seam ripper!!!
So...I bought a few yards of fabric, which I know most of y'all will find boring. I didn't have a lot of time to spend in the store and since I don't really need fabric, I chose a couple of solids and one w/print for a friend, 2 seam rippers, and some clips that should work for binding (though I'm not sure they were designed for that). If you are local or visiting the West Valley of Phoenix/Goodyear area and have time to browse an extensive selection of quality fabric and other goods, stop on by Sew Much for Quilting. They also have a spacious classroom and offer several quilting classes for all levels of quilters. It is definitely a 1-stop quilt shop!
I can't remember where/when I first saw this Tessellation Pattern by Alison glass, but it was love at first sight! I absolutely had to have the pattern and ordered it immediately. When I got it and opened it, the excitement faded a little. It's a paper piecing pattern and I've never done paper piecing. It can't be too hard, right? I found this post encouraging and will follow the sew along when I am ready. I shall make mine scrappy.
At this month's QA meeting a new friend gave me all these wonderful magazines. I just LOVE free stuff! I've added at least 10 more quilts to my To Make list. I'm a maniac maniac oh yeah!
Outlander Update
Outlander is everything I thought it would be and more! I don't have cable, but a dear friend subscribed to Starz so we could watch It. I'm very grateful and looking forward to watching episodes 2 and 3 this evening.
My Quilty Updates
As you will see, I have a few tops done and really need to start quilting.
Red Chevy Crush is pin basted and ready for quilting. I really like how this turned out. I used a strip/bricks technique seen here.
Diamonds and Purples quilt top is complete.I won this kit at a QA raffle and a handful of the diamonds were already constructed. Since I didn't use setting triangles, I'm thinking about just trimming off the sides and leaving the top and bottom points and making it a quilt w/o binding or a flip or whatever you call it. What do you call it?
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In other Quilty News
I am the lucky winner of triangles and squares giveaway! Yay me!! Thank you Christine.
I was planning on visiting my new friend and fellow quilter/blogger Greta of Material Detachment in Iowa this month until I saw the Dream Studio Giveaway. I read that the AQS Quilt Week is in Des Moines in October, so I'm making plans to visit then. I'm looking forward to hanging out w/Greta and going to a quilt show in another state! It'll be a grand time!
And lastly, it's almost GIVEAWAY time! I'll be having a giveaway for my blog's 1st birthday on Aug 29th. I am also working on a scrap buster tutorial.
Stay Tuned and Happy Quilting!
A Thread for Life
Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God. - Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest
I will definitely be going to that shop on my next trip to Phoenix! I haven't tried paper piecing yet either. That pattern is awesome! I'm loving that Red Chevy Crush! Lucky you to go to Iowa! I love that place and all my best friends are there :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine.
DeleteHi Zenia, I am really looking forward to a week of quilty things with you in Oct. Not sure what you are saying about "flip" on the purple. Are you thinking of cutting off the triangle tips on, say, the bottom and left-hand side, and tucking them into the gaps on the top and right-hand side, respectively? That might be what I would do. Then maybe add a small border all around to hold it all in. Congratulations on a long fabric fast! (what was it, 6 months?) I cannot believe how expensive fabric is these days. You are making beautiful quilts with what you have, the "old fashioned" way!
ReplyDeleteGreta what I mean by flip is sewing the quilt top to batting & backing, leaving an opening, then "flipping" it and sewing up the closing. I'm not sure what the true term is. Do you? I thought about cutting off the tips and filling in the gaps...but I would've had to do that before sewing it together. I definitely want to keeps the points on top and bottom but will trim the sides straight. You can't really see the points on the sides in the pic, but there are points. My fast lasted almost 8 mos! Thank you!
DeleteI too love the Red Chevy Crush!! You just go, go, go with these quilts!! Have fun at Outlander! I am sorry to miss it but will try to get caught up so I can watch the next one with you all!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sis. I am a busy quilting bee!
DeleteNext year you need to go to our quilting Retreat in Overgard,AZ. It is from Thursday -Sunday and is only $280 which includes food and a room that is shared. I just love all your quilts...and I saw a web page a while back that you might be interested in. It was a lady who made quilts out of the little pieces of scrap fabric. I will find it and send it to you.
ReplyDeleteThe retreat sounds fun. What time of year is it? Thank you for thinking of me. I look forward to seeing the page you are talking about.
DeleteI have a crush on Red Chevy Crush Zenia! I love red and the way you combined it with black and grey fabrics it looks phenomenal! Don't be afraid of paper piecing - it is actually a really cool technique and makes complicated blocks much easier.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen anyone leave diamond points free like that but I love the way it looks!
Red Chevy is one of my all time favorites. Thank you! I'm going to leave the points on top & bottom only...not the sides.
DeleteI can see why you're excited about that Alison Glass quilt, what a beauty! It will be the perfect introduction to paper piecing, I think once you start you wont find it hard to do. Your Red Chevy Crush quilt is really striking and fun! What a great idea to leave the diamond points as points.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement. I appreciate it.
DeleteHi, Zenia! I love your chevron quilt and your sawtooth stars. Don't be afraid of the paper piecing! It is SO much easier than the sawtooth stars, trust me! I'm alternating right now between some sawtooth stars for one quilt and paper pieced pineapple log cabin blocks for another quilt. My sawtooth stars have me grumbling and reaching for the seam ripper, and then I REWARD myself with the pineapple paper piecing. It doesn't get easier than sewing along printed lines. You can totally do this, I promise! Congratulations on your Blogaversary, BTW. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you Rebecca for the encouragement and the compliment. =) I'm now looking forward to doing the paper piecing.
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