Brenda's Cross Body Phone Bag

I love the video that Brenda Miller did on this cute little bag.She puts the entire bag together in about 30 minutes.

With Brenda's permission, we decided to have a class here at the shop.

Set up of our "Brenda" table

Some of the ladies hard at work

Mary used shoe laces for her strap and embellishment

Mary's bag

Black and White and Teal All Over

In the summer of 2104, I decided to make my friend Mary a small quilt. Her husband had just passed away after a battle with cancer. I chose "Mini Radio Way" from Jaybird Quilts and used a charm pack that Mary had given me. The background was black and as I worked on it, I noticed that I was having vision problems which progressively got worse.

Mary's quilt (top), 2014

Then I heard the dreaded words from my doctor, "You have a cancer. There's a tumor behind your eye pressing on your optic nerve." I had to give the little quilt to Mary, unfinished when it became impossible for me to work on it. I am happy to say that after receiving treatment at Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, I am in remission and feel great!

When I saw that my friend Sonja Zastow was involved in the teal mini exchange to promote awareness of ovarian cancer, I knew that I wanted to make the quilt again, this time using white fabric I already had in my stash. My friend Mary helped me pick out the back fabric when I visited her in Seattle.

Before

After

By now, you have seen all the mini quilt my local friends (and customers) made. How about seeing them holding their creations before they were mailed off? Each lady got a free pattern (thank you, Beth Helfter from Eva Paige Quilt Designs) and a chance to win a goodie bag valued at $75.00!

Sonja Zastrow

Mary Burke

Becky Alexander

Timmie Sue Edgerley

Me

We can't wait for next year!

Closet Treasure

I absolutely am the world's worst housekeeper. So..... I decided to take half an hour every weekday night to do some cleaning. I set the alarm on my cell phone and go to work! I decided to tackle the bedroom closet. I found this crumpled up in a ball in the back corner.

"Hmmmm," I thought and perhaps said out loud to Jinx, my cat. "Wonder what this is?"

It took a few minutes and then I remembered I made this at the Fort Wainwright quilting retreat when I first moved here in 1995! It's hand quilted and all I need to do is hand sew the binding on! There's even a hanging sleeve! Wonder what I'll find next time I clean!

Disappearing Pinwheel from Missouri Star Quilt Comapny

I was super excited to get the first issue of MSQC's first magazine, BLOCK. The magazine is more like a book and has ten quilt patterns. All the patterns are featured on youtube. I was intrigued with the Disappearing Pinwheel block. You start with 2 layer cakes right sides together, sew around the edge, cut apart diagonally, trim, and then slice into 9 pieces. The result is either a shoo fly block or a churn dash block. Both have a pinwheel in the center. It was super easy to do. The only drawback is that the edges are bias so you need to be really careful when handling it.

The great thing is that the  magazine is only $5.99!

Sew around the edge with a 1/4 inch seam

 

 

 

Cut diagonally

Make a pinwheel

After you trim the pinwheel to the current size, cut into 9 equal pieces

Churn dash

Shoo fly

Scrap Buster

Recently I have been following Pat Sloan and she has motivated me to start using up fabrics I have on hand and not run to the local quilt shop for every project. The way I look at it, if I use up some of my fabric this year, I will make room for more in 2015!

My latest project uses the Straight out of Line Ruler by Creative Grids. (Click here to watch a video on how to use the ruler.) I started out with 5 inch squares and followed the directions on the ruler package to make the blocks. The quilt top is approximately 21 inches square.

Here's my top!

Sealed With A Stitch: APP-ealing Apps for the Sewist

 Great blog by Sue O'Very. I just downloaded the app for the Missouri Star Quilting Company.

Sealed With A Stitch: APP-ealing Apps for the Sewist: Technology just keeps getting better and easier for the sewist. We have irons that lift themselves up when not in use, embroidery ma...

Globetrotting:Washington D.C.

This year we are doing a free mystery block of the month with designer Pat Sloan.

Here's what she says:

Inspiration from Our Nation's Capital
I wanted to create a block inspired by history. I found this old map of DC and used it as my inspiration. Visit my blog to learn more about the creation of my first block in Globetrotting.  Here is the map:

Mary is using yummy reds!

I did mine with a sea theme.

 

Marie went with green and purple.

If you're interested in the pattern, please send me an email and I'll send you the pdf file!
Please email me free pattern!