Cre8tive Quilter

1600 Quilt

2012-01-26T21:49:00.000-06:00

I've been hearing a lot about "1600" quilts recently and thought they were odd until my friend Linda made one and then put some large applique's on top of it. Then, I was intrigued. Add making the sewing process into a race and I was hooked!!

I have some bright batiks that I'm making into a split nine patch for Maddie. The squares have been done for a few months but I haven't taken the time to lay it out and get it sewn together partly because I didn't know what to use for the backing. I wanted to use something I had versus purchasing something new. When this 1600 quilt idea came around I decided I'd cut some strips, do the 1600 race and use it as a back. Problem is...I now like the back far more than the front!!

For those of you not familiar with the 1600 quilt concept, Heirloom Creations has a great blog post and video about it. Basically you sew 40, 2-1/2" strips together end to end. This equals roughly 1600 inches. I decided to sew mine straight on instead of on the diagonal. I also opted to cut all of my strips in half so that I'd have more variety through out the quilt. I really like how it came out...and now I'm addicted and can't wait to make a few more.

The time clock for the "race" doesn't start until you have all of your strips joined together. It starts once you're ready to sit down and start sewing your 1600 inches and stops when you sew your last seam - this is when you iron it. From start to finish mine took 1 hour and 15 minutes. I'll admit, somehow in my ironing of my 1600" I got all twisted and knotted up. Thankfully, Linda became my "pit crew" and helped untangle while I sewed.

I think Maddie looks quite spiffy on the back of her new quilt!

Nook Tablet Cover

2012-01-15T19:22:00.001-06:00

I just finished making a cover for my Nook using Nancy Zieman's Trace and Create template set. I LOVE it! Right now she's doing a designer blog hop so if you're considering making one you might want to check it out for some inspiration.

http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/quick-sewing-projects/sew-a-tablet-keeper%E2%80%944-hours-and-done/
http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/quick-sewing-projects/tablet-keeper-blog-tour/

I decided to use Cat in the Hat fabric since its book fabric. Boy did it turn out cute!!

Instead of using elastic I cut apart a headband that has a silicone non slip grip on the back. I also used Craft Fuse Interfacing, Fast 2 Fuse Stabilizer & Nancy's Tablet Keeper Shapers...it's WELL PROTECTED!

I originally cut the binding at 2-1/2" as the pattern indicated but that was far too much binding for such a thin project. I took it off and went with a 2" binding. I tried to hand sew the binding but it's so nice and rigid that it was a losing battle. I opted to machine sew it to the front using monofilament thread.

The only thing that could make my book cover better would be a "this book belongs to" book plate like I had when I was a kid!

Winner: Birthday Week Giveaway

2011-12-12T08:48:00.001-06:00

KT is our winner!!

Thanks for playing!

Birthday Week GIVEAWAY!

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000-06:00

In honor of my birthday week, I'm giving away one dog collar from my Etsy shop.

To enter check out my Etsy Shop and comment with the LINK of the Dog Collar YOU like best.

Open to residents of the USA only. If your comment does not have an email address attached to it your entry will be discarded. One entry per person, please.

Registration for the Dog Collar Giveaway will conclude at 12:00AM CST on 12/12/11. Winner will be selected using a Random Number Generator and will be contacted on 12/12/11. Winner will get to choose the dog collar of their choice from my Etsy Shop.

Please consider becoming a fan on Facebook.

Good Luck!

The Ghastlies

2011-11-26T01:14:00.001-06:00

I know, I know...Halloween is long over but my quilt is finally finished. I just put in the last few binding stitches. I've been working on it little by little for what seems like weeks.

I just loved this Ghastlies fabric from the moment I saw it. The details are so fun that I just didn't want to cut it up. I also love that I could make a Halloween quilt without a speck of orange.

-Jen

http://www.etsy.com/shop/cre8tivequilter

Etsy Treasuries

2011-11-03T17:54:00.002-05:00

I've been remiss on my posting lately. Not for lack of sewing, but lack of time! I just wanted to share a few Etsy Treasuries that I've been featured in. To me, it's an honor to be chosen! Treasuries are groupings of items that random people put together. It's also a neat way to check out new items on Etsy.

Plaid Christmas Treasury

Peppermint Cravings Treasury

Blue Christmas Treasury

Snowy Winter Treasury

Peppermint Fun & Fresh Treasury

Frightful Fuzzies

Save the Boobies Treasury

I've also created a few that can be found here: Cre8tive Quilter's Treasuries

Lanyards for Id Badges, Keys & Scissors

2011-10-18T10:05:00.000-05:00

That's what I've been working on. I currently have 15 listed in my Etsy shop; another 10 are made and just need to be listed.

And some additional wristlets.

I've also been working away on some custom orders. All in all, staying busy!

Quick change camera strap

2011-10-09T13:30:00.001-05:00

Brewers are in the playoffs - NLCS, so I needed a new camera strap. I couldn't have a pink and lime camera strap and at some point expect Mike to carry it...right?

I've been checking out straps on Etsy trying to figure out why the Minky backed straps are going for around $45. I now have my answer - they're a pain in the ass to make! Don't get me wrong, I like my strap. I'll take it apart when I get a chance and put new ends on it but for today's game it will be just fine.

Play ball!! Go Brewers Go!

-Jen

Wristlet Key Fobs

2011-09-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

I just finished listing 20 Wristlet Keyfobs in my Etsy Shop. The Key Fobs are my second item category added to my shop; I currently have 10 items planned.

Dog Collar Test Model

2011-09-10T01:37:00.000-05:00

What can I say? I wore my Test Model out at Think Pawsitive's Large Breed Puppy Social. I may not have gotten animated shots, but at least she stayed still while I snapped my pictures. You can find these and other great collars in my Etsy Shop.

Purple Paperweights

Stars and Stripes

Halloween Boo in Orange

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Green & Gold Packer and Blue & Yellow Brewer collars are examples of custom pieced collars. Available in any two or three color combination for your favorite sports team. You name the colors.

**Pieced collars do take more fabric and time so they are priced a little bit different than my standard collars.**

If you have an idea for a custom collar that you would like made, please let me know.

Dog Collars

2011-08-27T20:04:00.001-05:00

It's almost hard for me to believe at this point in time that a mere 13 days ago I got the whim to make a few dog collars to sell on Etsy. The problem with a few is, it quickly grew into MANY. In for a penny, in for a pound I guess. I did some research on collar sizes and every time I thought I had a few sizes selected, it kept turning into more. In the end, I had 11 sizes...

~Crickets chirping~

Well, how do I know what's popular unless I make them...RIGHT??

The fabric pulling quickly became addictive because if there's one thing I do have in my fabric stash, it's BRIGHT BATIKS. I've been collecting them for the last 4 years in varying amounts - Fat Quarters, 1/4's and 1/3's. I realized that even if I made 5 quilts, I'd have left over fabric. What am I saving it for exactly? Am I saving fabric like my Grandma has saved everything her whole 92 years...for good? Am I waiting for this mysterious "For Good" to come along? What date is "for good" exactly? Surely, I wasn't going to miss a few inches from some of them...right? Each batik that I put up against Maddie, made me giddy. Next thing I knew I was making 5 collars for each size. Sigh. And then Mike said, "What about Halloween?" Yep, that made a few more collars....there went fabric from my Halloween Quilt.

SIXTY COLLARS and 13 days later....they are all made and I have them listed on Etsy. Gasp...yeah that's right, I said 60. Hangs my head. SIX ZERO. No matter how I say 60 it doesn't sound any better but they're all freakishly sitting here in a pretty box. God forbid I do anything small.

These babies are awesome! I just love them, they look yummy. You and your Pooch can check the whole collection out by clicking here: www.cre8tivequilter.etsy.com.

Gone to the Dogs

2011-08-16T07:13:00.003-05:00

I made Maddie 1 collar and 2 leashes and then I realized how much I liked making them. I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on the ones I’ve made so I decided to make a bunch of them. I’m going to list them on Etsy and hope to sell some by word of mouth so I’ll update again when I get that far…it’s a process. Worst case scenario, no one wants a collar and I donate them all to Elm Brook Humane Society. Really, that’s not exactly a bad scenario either!!

First off, I had to wash and Retayne my Batiks. What does one do when they need to dry a LOT of 1/8 yard cuts of fabric? Why, they use the dogs kennel as a drying rack OF COURSE!!

Here’s the color selection I have made so far. With all the different sizes I’ve created, that’s about 36 collars.

These are the fabrics that I need to iron and top stitch. That’s another 26 collars.

Next up, ordering hardware!

SBS Blocks

2011-08-09T06:42:00.001-05:00

I’m way ahead of the game!! They are all written up, changes saved. I’m D.O.N.E. for the year!!

September

October

November

December

Moneik’s Friendship Swap Block

2011-08-01T11:07:00.000-05:00

Still working on Swap blocks. This is Moneik’s that is due in August. I believe it’s called Lover’s Lane.

Comfort Quilt for Art

2011-07-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I shared two quilts that are going to be in the C.U.R.E. 54 Auction in August. Today I show you the quilt that I made for Art who is who the auction is setting out to cure!

The last of my crazy fat quarter scrappy backs.

Snap Happier Tote - Review

2011-07-31T10:55:00.001-05:00

Wow, another bag that I would make again! That says a lot about the way the pattern was written. The only thing I didn’t like about this pattern was that the purse and tote directions were co-mingled together. Perhaps a bold font for the purse and a non bold font for the tote or even bullet points would have made a difference. During the cutting I found myself cutting parts for both. The directions for the bag were pretty straight forward…you make one simple, straight forward tote you’ve pretty much made them all. The only thing I changed was the method of putting the handles together. I’m not a fan of smushy fusible fleece handles. I prefer ironing on interfacing, ironing in half and ironing the raw edges to the center.

A close up of my fabric. I was in a smaller specialty shop one day and they had organic batiks. I guess I don’t care if my fabric is organic or not, if I like it and it’s in my price range, I buy it. I had bought a 1/2 yard and finally had the right project for it. What I think is neat is the fabric is actually a little textured. It has a cross hatch pattern in the weave so I quilted along those same lines.

It had a really slick way of adding the tape measure into the casing. You sew everything shut and then later on you seam rip along one of the inside casings, slide the tape measures in and then hand sew up that 1” section.

Love it! Will make another sometime soon.

Make it Snappy! Review

2011-07-30T08:05:00.004-05:00

I had fun making this project but of course I always have to do my own thing...God forbid I actually follow a pattern to the letter.

With the inside bags I decided to use some scrappy orange, pink and purple strips that I had leftover from a different project.

I had a hard time getting my snap bags to snap. The pattern said to use a 1" tape measure but I had a 3/4" one that I had already cut into. At the top you fold it over 1-1/2" so I had a lot of movement in the casing. I did some additional top stitching to bring that casing down to 1".

The pattern also suggests you do your French seam with a 1/8" & generous 1/4" combo. Again, too much play/no snap. Instead of trimming the bag to be more narrow in case I was wrong, I went with a 1/4" followed by 3/8". Things were much more snappy at this point.

I find all the layers of fleece to be bulky and unnecessary. I used peltex for the outside cover and fleece for the snappy bags. If I do this again, I'll keep the outer peltex but switch the snappy bags to Decor Bond.

I'm happy with the finished product and look forward to making it again which is not something I typically say after a bag project!

-Jen

August Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Blocks

2011-07-25T12:39:00.001-05:00

Rambler

Grandmother’s Flower Garden

Milky Way

Crown of Thorns

CURE 54 Auction/Raffle

2011-07-25T10:39:00.003-05:00

These are two quilts that I have made for the Cure 54 Auction/Raffle on August 12th. Please come out to this great event benefiting Art Guiterrez and show your support to this awesome Pius XI & UW Whitewater Alum!!

Green Bay Packer Auction Quilt – Measures 60X80

Urban Cabin Auction Quilt – Measures 55X75

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

2011-07-15T00:02:00.001-05:00

I mentioned earlier in the week that I teamed up with my friend Jacque to make two comfort quilts for children that recently lost a parent.

Jacque made a Batman quilt top that I quilted.

I made a Wizard of Oz quilt and quilted it. (I really need to start standing directly in front of quilts when I take their picture, not off to the side.)

Both quilts have now moved onto Jacque for binding and giving.

On Monday, Miss Maddie went to the vet. They were finally able to stitch up her bedsore. Of course this meant she had to wear a plastic cone.

Being a puppy, and being uncoordinated like her Mama, she was bouncing off of things so I decided to trace her cone and made her two out of Timex. Surely there is a special place in hell for me.

It was more comfortable for both her and us. All I did was iron fabric to each side of the Timex, cut out the shape, satin stitched the edges so I didn’t have to bind them. Put 4 elastic loops at the top for her collar to weave through (her plastic cone had the same thing) and added Velcro to close it.

Of course, licking at the stitches is less of an issue than her rear leg scratching at that AND the cone. The vet suggested we get her a baby t-shirt. Here Mike and I sat – two very non-kid people wondering what kind of size to even entertain. Then I remembered…they sell T-shirts for dogs. Wouldn’t that be a better idea? Then the arm holes would be in the right place. So here you have it, my dog is wearing a cute pink t-shirt.

Again, there’s a special place in hell reserved especially for me!

Comfort Quilt #562?

2011-07-12T07:44:00.002-05:00

Years ago I lost track on how many quilts I've made. It's been a big year for comfort quilts and I've already lost track of how many. I LOVE making them, I love somehow maybe being able to offer some comfort. It's just my thing. =) That being said, this quilt is for my dear friend Jacque. It's a bit late but I know she understands. I gifted her with the quilt top and a few days later Holly died. I think it was the Holly component that kept me from finishing it in a more timely fashion. When we were at quilt retreat and I was in Comfort Quilt making mode, she jokingly said this particular quilt was hers and I could put purple borders on it. Then life happened and there was a reason to gift a comfort quilt. We bantered back and forth a bit because she felt like I was giving her the quilt because she had 'called it' when that wasn't the case at all. I never have and never will give a quilt just because a person feels they should get it just because they want it or are owed it. I give because I want to and that's that...and it has purple borders.

And here's it's crazy fat quarter backing.

Now, I need to go grab it out of the washer and toss it in the dryer but I have this cute fuzzy puppy on my lap.

What I’m up to

2011-07-10T08:26:00.002-05:00

So far this week I’ve put borders on a quilt (no quilt holder handy) and pieced a back for it out of 16 fat quarters. It was the fat quarter backing that had me putting this off. As cost effective and cool as it comes out looking, and it’s really not a big deal to put together but I kept putting it off. No clue why. Hoping to get it quilted this weekend.

I was talking to my friend Jacque ON THE PHONE the other night (those who know me in real life will crack up at this) and she was telling me about a classmate of her daughters who just lost a parent. She was tossing around the idea of making the two kids comfort quilts. I offered up some fabric from my stash. We decided Wizard of Oz could work for a little girl. So far, this is what I’ve come up with.

I still need to re-arrange the blocks but I think it will work out.
Today I have high hopes to get a quilt quilted on the frame and this yellow brick road quilt top put together. We also have a Brewer Game to go to and I hear it’s humid out. I’m sort of thinking anything that I intend to get done will have to be done before the game because after I’ll probably just be done for.
Maddie is just growing like a weed. I took these pictures earlier in the week. Monday we go to the Humane Society for a Parvo re-check and then to the Vet for her next set of booster shots. Hopefully one of them will take a look at her super disgusting bed sore.

Camera Accessories

2011-07-06T09:10:00.008-05:00

I recently had a can of Coke Zero rip open in my tote bag…effectively drenching my camera. Quick thinking, a 10 pound box of rice and a zip lock bag, I tossed my camera in so the rice could pull the liquid out of very nook and cranny. I realized it was time to finally make the time to cre8te a pouch for my camera using the PUL water proof lining. I couldn't find my Lazy Girl pattern for Take Along Bags so I just measured the one I had and modified the size to what I needed. If I were to use the PUL lining again, I wouldn't take it all the way up to the drawstring area because it is thick and makes it difficult to lupp the drawstrings tight.

That day I also lost my camera strap. I couldn't get it off my camera quick enough so I just cut it free. The pictures below show the new strap I made.

4th of July is a quilting day!

2011-07-05T06:23:00.001-05:00

Since Mike and I are staying close to home with a new puppy that has flipped the switch from “on my deathbed” to “crazy happy zipping around” that means the 4th of July was spent sewing in the kitchen while Maddie alternated sleep and play.

I got my swap blocks for July done.

This is Colleen’s:

This is Regina’s:

We’re having a PJ party at the Quilt Shop next week so we each got to pick a fabric and make a pair of long pj pants or a pair of Capri pj pants. I went with Capri's. They’re a cutesy print full of dog toys. I’m not at all a ‘wear pj’s out in public’ kind of person so mine will just get displayed at the shop somewhere. Even at quilt retreats I’m a ‘get dressed and put on real clothes’ type of person. All I needed to do to finish these was roll the top edge, make a casing and put the elastic in.

A new apron for wearing at the shop. It’s cute, but I think I liked the fabric better when I bought it than I do today. Aaaaand, I was bummed that I forgot to purchase a fabric to use for the front mini pocket that goes on top of the long pocket. I searched through my stash but found nothing in those colors. It is what it is, we’ll see how long I actually wear it for before moving on to something new.

I needed a new lanyard for my work keys because the clip broke on my old Dr. Seuss one. Originally I thought I’d make one to match my new apron. But again, not enough fabric. In the future, I think I need 3 coordinating fat quarters and a 1/3 of a yard of the binding/tie fabric. I had 2 fat quarters and a 1/4 yard. Anyway, not like it really needs to match, it’s very rare that I actually wear my keys BUT it’s nice that there’s something long to grab when I’m searching my purse for them.

All that and 3 of the 4 Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler blocks that I posted yesterday were also made on the 4th.

Ohhhh, and I put the binding on my Brewer quilt finally. Now I just need to find a spare moment to hand sew that down.

July’s Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Blocks

2011-07-04T11:28:00.001-05:00

Wow, we’re officially HALF WAY!!

Card Trick

Trip Around the World

Puss in the Corner

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

72/140 blocks!!

Blocks Galore

2011-07-04T07:52:00.001-05:00

Our friendship swap didn’t start out at a very good time for me, one thing lead to another and before you know it, it’s July. Yesterday I was able to get caught up; today I’ll get a month ahead. I’ve set up shop in the kitchen so I can hang out with Maddie and get things done at the same time.

These are blocks for a group project. I think I have 20 of them.

This is Trish’s block. She was May. In my defense, her post office in Canada on strike, they just re-opened…so I kinda figured, why rush??

This one is Gaila’s

Parvo–Day 10

2011-07-03T11:52:00.001-05:00

We are officially on day 10. She's starting have enough energy to act like a puppy. This includes nibbling, pawing, needing to chew on a bone, being silly...it's good stuff. =) Because she's still considered contagious, we're doing potty training differently than I've ever done before...indoors and on puppy potty pads. I just don't want to take the risk of infecting any of the neighbors dogs. The neighbors we're friends with know she has parvo and we've confirmed they all (their animals) have their shots. The rest of the people I'm not so sure about so while she's contagious we're just going to use these pads indoors. I'd say she gets it about 70-80% of the time (we have about 5 around the kitchen). Then we have 10 % of the time where she thinks she's on the pad and isn't. So as she moves from being sick to healthy we'll start moving them closer and closer to the patio door for when she eventually can potty outside without making anyone ill.

Two nights ago we noticed a sore above her front leg joint. I attacked it with hydrogen peroxide and said some very not nice words. I mean, it's huge. Like between quarter and half dollar huge. Mike took her to the vet yesterday. Sigh, not only have both of us now been in the room we had to put Holly to sleep in but both visits were with the one vet we do not like. But, she needed to be seen yesterday so there was no way around it. Mike's a better person than I. I don't know if I would have made it through that visit without saying, "LOOK, LOOK AT THIS DOG THAT YOU SAID WASN'T GOING TO MAKE IT. LOOK AT THIS DOG THAT YOU TOLD ME TO TAKE BACK. LOOK AT HER AND ADMIT YOU WERE WRONG." See, this is why it was better for me to go to work and Mike to take her in. What can I say, don't mess with my fur kid. Turns out, Chicken Little has a Bed Sore from laying around being so sick. If you're squeamish, look away and scroll down. Now, you might ask WHY I would put a picture like this online and that's a very valid question. I've found through this experience there aren't many stories online about the dogs that have lived and made it through parvo or what recovery is like after. So if me posting these things comes up in someone elses' Google search when they have this happen to them, then it's done it's job.

So this bedsore…typically they’d put the dog under and stitch it up. But, with her being through so much lately we’re going to try ointment on it first. If that doesn’t improve in a week, then they’ll put her under. They also gave her an antibiotic and a dropper of goo to give her to stave off bacteria.

Here’s her July slideshow so far:

Ohhhh and….last but not least my Mom counted her “toes” and guess who has 21? 4 toes and a dew claw on each of her four paws. Then there’s one of her rear feet that actually has four toes and two dew claws. Soooo, this whole parvo thing and living through it, it’s because she’s Lucky 21!!

Friendship Swap

2011-07-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

A group of us are participating in a friendship block swap. My month to get blocks was June and I chose for them to make the Cre8tive Quilter block that I designed. Here's the blocks I received:

Milwaukee Brewers Quilt

2011-06-30T10:21:00.001-05:00

So what if I keep using it and the binding isn’t even on yet…I love it! When it does go on, it’s blue.

I put blue Minky on the back. It wasn’t wide enough so I decided to add a stripe of yellow. Now, when you load Minky on the frame the stretch has to go side to side. With the blue, that was true. The yellow on the other hand, I cut two strips and sewed them end to end, the stretch of those was up and down. In theory, how big of a deal was this 9” strip going to make?

Well…

Even though it was pinned straight to the leaders it came out a bit crooked. In retrospect I could have avoided this by using the side clamps. BUT, I never use the side clamps because I couldn’t get used to them. On the other hand, this is a quilt that is meant to be used. It’s not destined for any quilt shows so really, does it matter? I’m happy with it, that’s all that matters!

The last time I worked with Minky it was a nightmare. I had all sorts of thread skips. This time, I had no issues what so ever.

I’ll definitely be using Minky again!!

Parvo - Day 6

2011-06-29T23:59:00.000-05:00

On day 5 at 11:35PM I received a text from Karen that said, "It's too late to call but Maddie is Drinking and Eating REAL canned food on her own right now!!"

Day 6 - 6:55am the text from Karen read, "3:25AM Maddie pooped. I think you can take her home tonight to finish her recovery. She is again eating full strength canned food and drinking on her own."

Around Noon I got the call that there was nothing more they could do for Maddie at the humane society that we couldn't do at home...it was time to go get my girl. =)

I think we got home around 2, my Mom brought "It's a Girl" and "Welcome Baby" balloons along with fresh flowers some cute polka dot pink bowls to use while she's tiny and a "Larry the Llama." Her first presents because I’ve been so afraid to buy her anything.

Here she is with her Grammy.

It’s not the best picture, but I love this one.

So here we sit on day 6. It’s hard not to get excited, but realistically we need to get to day 14.

Parvo - day 5

2011-06-28T20:35:00.001-05:00

Jen didn't get to EBHS to see Maddie girl today but Mike did. Last night she barked a bit. Hopefully it's a good sign because if she's willing to expend the energy things may be looking up.

She started drinking on her own last night too, but then she vomited.

Today she started going to the food bowl to eat on her own. This is huge. Now it's a wait and see game...food that goes in needs to come out. Beyond coming out, the hurdle is are her intestines ok or have they telescoped inside themselves? I believe this is our next major hurdle.

Thank you all for the continued prayers, she surely needs them!!

-Jen & Mike

Maddie Jane - one sick puppy. =(

2011-06-27T16:55:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to update everyone. On Thursday we adopted Maddie Jane from our local humane society. She was a quiet little girl. When we brought her home, I couldn't get her to eat and she wouldn't drink much. I chalked it up to a new enviornment. The next morning she started throwing up. I was concerned with a small puppy and the amount of fluids coming out of her - I mean really, just how much fluids can one expel before they're dehydrated??? I ran her to our vet where after a few tests they said it could be Parvo. I called the humane society and left a message because I knew they'd need to test the rest of their animals. I left Maddie at the vet. The humane society called me back a few minutes later asking me to go get her from the vet and take her out there for treatment since they were a bit better situated to quarantine an animal. They tested her and definitely parvo. So now, we're still crossing our fingers and hoping she's going to make it. She's been at the humane society and doing home with the director every night. They've been pumping her full of fluids and everything else they need to do to get her better. They've never lost a dog to parvo so we're hoping their streak continues.

I don't want to hear any negatives because I'm trying to stay positive but I'm hoping if anyone has any recovery stories or words of wisdom for us they'll leave a comment.

In the mean time, here's a slide show and add my little pup to your prayer list please!!

Brewer Quilt & Packer Quilt

2011-06-13T21:25:00.001-05:00

Today I spent the day with Jacque, Gracie & Connor. In keeping with my theme to try and tie up projects that I’ve been working on for a while I was able to get two quilt tops assembled today.

My Brewer Quilt. I’m going to quilt and bind it in blue to make it less yellow. I need to decide on a backing. I’m quilting it myself so I should just go with regular cotton BUT I’d really like to go with Minkee. On the other hand, if I buy the Minkee and then can’t quilt through it (my last try was years ago, it didn’t go well) then I’ve made a really expensive mistake.

Mike’s Packer Quilt. Sigh, I asked him to hold it up and this is what I got…

Seriously though…it’s a giant quilt (80X100 and defined as a “lap” quilt).

June’s Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Blocks

2011-06-13T20:44:00.001-05:00

I forgot to post these!

Just a ‘few’ things…

2011-06-12T20:45:00.001-05:00

I’ve got a few too many projects going at one time. I’ve been working fast and furiously on my Glace Flower Garden that I’m hand piecing. Fast is a joke because I’m English Paper Piecing and each hexagon needs to be basted before it can be whip stitched to another one. I’ve got a Milwaukee Brewers Quilt going for myself and a Green Bay Packer Quilt going for Mike, a Halloween Quilt made out of Riley Blake fabrics rolling around in my head just waiting to be cut out. I’ve got a few more comfort quilts that just need backings assembled so they can be quilted. But, I’ve got pictures of the three that I’ve played with today…

Yesterday I quilted the Quilt of Valor quilt that I made for my friend Ruth’s twin brother Adam. Today I finished hand sewing the binding.

When Ruth turned 30 I made her a quilt. Her brother asked what it was going to take to get me to make him a quilt. I laughed it off because up until that point, no one really had the guts to just come right out and ask that question. It’s stuck with me all these years because if anyone is quilt worthy; it’s Adam - He’s protecting our freedom. You can’t get more worthy than that!!

Last night I also made a Halloween Quilt out of Alexander Henry’s ‘The Ghastlies’ fabric line. I took my inspiration from the pattern Boxtrot. I measured my Ghastlie scenes and used the largest ruler I owned to fussy cut the long strips. Luckily, 5 strips out of my largest ruler gave me a decent length quilt. I based the size of my boxes on how wide I wanted the finished quilt to be. Other than that, I just winged it; designing as I went. It was a fun project that I finished within a few hours time.

This fabric just makes me laugh!! AND since orange scares the crap out of me, it’s pretty cool that I was able to make a Halloween quilt without any orange!!

A week or so ago I finished the Green Bay Packer quilt top that I’m making for the C.U.R.E 54 auction later this summer (I’m actually making a larger version of this quilt for Mike). The brown fabric is Andover’s Dimples which actually look like the texture on a football.

I received an awesome care package in the mail from Moneik. She sent me about 8 yards of fabric that I “won” for completing projects at quilt retreat. She also made me a table runner and a table topper that I just love.

Oh, and while I’ve been working on all these things I’ve been listening to audio books. I just finished the Hunger Games trilogy which was much better than I anticipated! LOVED IT!!

Between Friends Jr.–Comfort Quilt

2011-05-13T17:45:00.000-05:00

Another comfort quilt is complete. I really love how this one came out. It looks so much richer in person; the border looks like leather. I just need to get it washed and then sent onto its new home. This is the first one completed from the four quilts that I was able to cut out of one box of batiks.

The backing is very out of the box for me. I’m not a scrappy back person but I was persuaded to buy a bunch of batik fat quarters during our Fat Quarter Frenzy sale at work so that I could make some inexpensive backs to go on my comfort quilts. I hated it at first; but it’s starting to grow on me. I won’t be as intimidated when I piece the next one.

The wind was picking up so it was impossible to get a decent shot!!

2 Weeks Ago

2011-05-10T09:12:00.001-05:00

My best friend lost her battle with cancer. Yesterday Mike and I took a Fire Hydrant to vet. It can be there in her honor for all dogs to love.

I miss her more and more every day.

Holly Berry

11-5-1999 – 04-26-2011

It was storming when we were on our way home from the vet on the 26th, but a friend of ours unknowingly took a picture of a rainbow. I’m confident she was running across it.

It’s Done!

2011-05-08T23:20:00.001-05:00

Woo hoo! The binding on Hugh’s Urban Cabin Quilt is finished and it’s currently in the wash. I’ll mail it out tomorrow.

Tomorrow I’ll finish piecing the backing for TH’s Comfort Quilt. That’s the next one to be quilted on the frame.

It sure didn’t start out well…

2011-05-08T14:13:00.001-05:00

I was beginning to believe this quilt just wasn’t meant to be quilted. It had a horrible start and finally I decided I was going to rip out the two rows I had quilted and start over with an entirely different thread. Only I forgot my needle was DOWN and ripped a hole in the quilt. To make matters worse, I opened the fray check to dab onto the hole and since the top was clogged I brilliantly decided to cut a bit off and proceeded to have about a tablespoon of the crap dump onto the quilt. Let’s just forget about that and be happy that it’s now quilted!!!

This quilt is a replacement for a quilt that went missing in shipping. Regina sent a quilt to Moneik’s dad and it never made it. We kept hoping it would show up but now that it hasn’t; it was time to get rolling on a replacement. Hopefully I can get it bound between today and tomorrow and get it shipped off.

Popsicle Sticks QOV

2011-05-05T18:58:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I started a QOV quilt for my friend Ruth's brother Adam. I finished the block assembly this morning and was able to put the top together before leaving for work. Now it will go into the "needs a back & to be quilted" pile.

-Jen

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

These little buggers are addictive!!

2011-05-03T09:13:00.001-05:00

I now have a gaggle!!

Here’s my stack of awesome hand dyes from Dye Candy that I’m working from:

Mini Paper Piecing

2011-05-03T07:18:00.000-05:00

I bought some gorgeous Fat 16th’s from Dye Candy while at the quilt show this past weekend. I decided I wanted to make some teeny tiny paper pieced squares. Not sure quite yet what I want to do with them but they sure are fun! Each one is 1-1-1/2” Finished.

May Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Blocks

2011-05-02T23:33:00.001-05:00

Queen Charlotte’s Crown

Orange Peel – Quick Turn Machine Applique

Orange Peel – Raw Edge Machine Applique

Birds in the Air

Contrary Husband

2011 Crazy Quilters Quilt Show

2011-05-01T22:57:00.001-05:00

I just got home from the Crazy Quilters Quilt Show. It’s my very favorite show. I entered 3 quilts.

Berry Burst

Here’s what the judges had to say:

-Graphic presentation with great movement.

-Curved quilting complimented geometric piecing.

-Generally good piecing technique.

- Flange is well handled.

-Corners should be 90 degrees. (This has me scratching my head)

- Minor tension problems noted on top. (This has me scratching my head too)

Quadruple Block Plan

Here’s what the judges had to say:

- “I sure do like this quilt”

- Good Corners

- Love the texture and consistency of black

- Good workmanship

Just a 1/4 Insane

I seriously LOVE how the ribbon is almost larger than the piece!

Here’s what the judges had to say:

Like the quilting in keeping with asymmetrical design.

My friend Diane took home two ribbons as well.

1st place

3rd place. I’m pretty sure her 3rd place win was in the same category as my Quadruple Block Plan Honorable mention. =)

And, it was fun to see a quilt in the show that Diane wrote the pattern for.

I didn’t take many pictures because well…I forgot my memory card. Luckily Mike came to see my quilts hanging and brought it with him.

2011 Mukwonago Quilt Show

Sudoku Twister

2011-04-30T22:16:00.001-05:00

While we were at retreat I got the brilliant idea that we should have a Sudoku swap. I really couldn’t tell you if I made this idea up after lack of sleep or if I’ve heard of it somewhere. I mean I know there’s Sudoku quilts out there and Sudoku Quilt books so that idea wasn’t new…but a swap? The idea was that with 9 swappers we could each make a Sudoku quilt. 7 of us went to Stitcher’s Crossing and I’m sad to say I became the type of shopper that annoys me. You know, pulling out bolts at random and sticking them back in with reckless abandon. That aside, the 7 of us set about to pick out 9 fabrics.

Each person needed to cut Eighty One, 5” squares so that they could put them into piles of 9 so each swapper would get a stack. This meant everyone purchased 1-5/8ths yards. Here’s the Nine Luscious batiks that we started out with.

Now, really, since I pulled this whole Sudoku quilt swap concept out of my ass I was still taken aback when people asked…what next? I think I stared pretty blankly and went to Google.

Ohhhh yeah, thank you Google, that’s where I recently saw Sudoku Quilts…Moda.

Oh yeah, now what? My response was, “This just gives everybody a chance to be realllllly cre8tive.” I was met with BLANK STARES if you can believe it. I’m not quite sure why…shrug.

Meanwhile back at the ranch…

My friend Susie became enamored with Twister Quilts and since I go by the “Choose your own adventure” when you quilt philosophy I was thinking…what about a Sudoku Twister quilt???? Wouldn’t that look more interesting than Nine 9-patches?? Hmmmmmmmm????

Now, even though I came up with this brilliant idea I’ve never done a Sudoku game in my life. I tried…quite a few times in the last few weeks. But every time I got 1/2 way through, I accidentally hit the back button and cleared out my game. I’ve now decided to give up and just go looking for one with the answers already filled in.

Which I then translated into EQ.

So I put it together (Forgive the awful iPhone picture).

And then, I started chopping it back up using the Twister Tool method.. Isn’t this 4 patch block cute??

Here’s the finished but un-quilted product.

The coolest thing is that 5 of my 8 other Sudoku Swap buddies got to see it in person today and now I’m hoping they’re all excited about doing something with their charms!

Quilts on Barns–#216 Indian Trail

2011-04-28T06:01:00.000-05:00

Indian Trail is located at 1226 E Hwy. 59 in Milton.

Quilts on Barns–#215 Heaven Ablaze

2011-04-27T06:47:00.000-05:00

Heaven Ablaze is located at 3328 E County Road N in Milton.

I quilt without obligation…

2011-04-27T06:04:00.001-05:00

What does that mean for me?

I quilt because I want to; because the spirit moves me. I GIVE quilts because I want to; because the spirit moves me.

It’s been 10 years since I last gave a quilt because I felt obligated to – after three bad “giving's” in a row the term “Quilt Worthy” was born. I vowed I never would give a quilt out of obligation again…and I haven’t; and I won’t.

What does quilting without obligation mean to you?

Quilts on Barns–#214 Clover Blossom

2011-04-26T06:39:00.000-05:00

Clover Blossom is located at 3920 E Jacobs Drive in Milton.

Quilts on Barns–#213 Hen & Chicks

2011-04-25T06:37:00.000-05:00

Hen and Chicks is located at the Old Junction Mill – 613 W Madison Avenue in Milton.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T08:49:00.001-05:00

11 years ago when Holly was 4 months old we took her to have her picture taken and the girls thought she was so adorable that they thought we needed to stick some ears on her. That I thought was funny and I was on board but I’ve never been a fan of the whole Anne Geddes photography so when they wanted to stick my fur kid in a flower pot I was not amused. My husband on the other hand thought it was freaking hilarious and dropped her in.

Yesterday I made two cell phone bags using a Quiltsmart panel. I think this little pattern is pretty genius and made in about 20 minutes. It’s just big enough to hold a cell phone and some cash and be worn cross body. The first one is for Julie and the blue one is for me.

Quilts on Barns–#212 County Village

2011-04-24T06:23:00.000-05:00

County Village is located at Dave’s Ace Hardware – 430 S John Paul Road in Milton.

Quilts on Barns–#209 Thistle Bloom, #210 Amish Star & #211 Mariners Compass

2011-04-23T06:59:00.000-05:00

These three blocks are located at Loose Threads Quilt Shop – 8005 N Hwy 26 in Milton.

I’m guessing which block is which; they aren’t listed anywhere.

Thistle Bloom

Amish Star

Mariners Compass

Quilts on Barns–#208 Silver & Gold

2011-04-22T06:49:00.000-05:00

Silver & Gold is located at 8209 Vickerman Road in Milton.

Quilts on Barns–#207 Housewife

2011-04-21T06:46:00.000-05:00

Housewife is located at 4026 N Henke Road in Milton.

246

2011-04-20T08:56:00.001-05:00

That’s the number of 2-1/2” Strips I’ve cut and sewn this week. Wait, to be honest, 80 of them were pre-cut but the rest were all from my stash.

Here’s what I’m working on:

Popsicle Sticks by Atkinson Designs. I re-colored it in EQ to get an idea what it would look like in Red, White & Blue. I’m making a Quilt of Valor quilt for my friend Ruth’s brother Adam. This took 72 of the strips that have now all been sewn together and cut up into sections. I’m finally ready to put blocks together.

The second two are quilts by Kim Schaefer based off her Zoo Parade pattern. I’ve sewn together 110 Yellow and Green strips to make two Packer quilts. One set 8X10 for Mike and one set 6X8 for the C.U.R.E. 54 silent auction. Now I can finally start sewing the 64 strips of football textured fabric to the strip sets to make blocks.

I feel like I’m in the home stretch with all three quilts when in reality; I’ve only just begun!!

Quilts on Barns–#205 FFA Rising Star & #206 4H Variation

2011-04-20T06:39:00.000-05:00

FFA Rising Star & 4H Variation are located at the Rock County Fairgrounds – 1301 Craig Avenue in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–#204 Country Decision

2011-04-19T06:35:00.000-05:00

Country Decision is located at 7410 W County Road A in Evansville.

Quilts on Barns–#203 Fox & Goose

2011-04-18T06:27:00.000-05:00

Fox & Goose is located at 9301 W Townsend Road in Janesville.

To Be Named…

2011-04-17T19:45:00.001-05:00

I need your help, I have a few quilts that I’m putting into a quilt show in a few weeks; two of which need names. I think I’ve looked at them too long to come up with something Cre8tive.

Quilt #1 needing a name. Quilt is 68X82. Started out from the pattern Strip Twist which I never bothered to open. I ‘Chose my own Adventure’ by looking at the picture and a few wrong turns later came up with something that I liked a LOT better!

Quilt #2 needing a name. 16 Diamond Shaped Hexagons. These are teeny tiny (see the picture with the dime). The hexagons are considered 1/4” because each outside edge is 1/4”. This whole piece is 14” Square.

Quilt #3 is Braided Starburst. It doesn’t need a name but I just finished so I wanted to show it. It’s square…honest! The wind just decided to kick up!

Special thanks to Quilt Holder Mike who indulges my insanity…

Quilts on Barns–#202 North Star

2011-04-17T06:22:00.000-05:00

North Star is located at 1806 N Hwy. 213 in Evansville.

Quilts on Barns–#201 Peony

2011-04-16T06:50:00.000-05:00

Peony is located at 10919 W Mineral Point Road in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–#200 Flying Swallows

2011-04-15T06:44:00.000-05:00

Flying Swallows is located at 466 Galena Street in Footville.

Quilts on Barns–#199 Fire Flyer

2011-04-14T06:41:00.000-05:00

Fire Flyer is located at 1257 Old Hwy. 11 in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–# 198 Crazy Quilt

2011-04-13T06:38:00.000-05:00

Crazy Quilt is located at 1629 S Crosby Avenue in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–#197 Feathered Star

2011-04-12T06:29:00.000-05:00

Feathered Star is located at 104 S Crosby Avenue in Janesville

Quilts on Barns–#196 Carpenter’s Wheel

2011-04-11T06:19:00.000-05:00

Carpenters Wheel is located at 2231 S County Road J in Janesville.

Weekend of Quilting

2011-04-10T22:54:00.001-05:00

It may be beautiful out but between the humidity and the wind blowing the pollen around my eyes are burning and my lungs are tight. Of course, this isn’t stopping me from having the windows WIDE OPEN and enjoying the weather!!

I worked a little on a LOT of projects this weekend.

-Squared up, made a hanging sleeve, sewed on binding to my Braided Starburst Wall Hanging. All that’s left is hand sewing the binding down.

-Made the back for Flowers for Kashmir.

-Put narrow inner borders on Between Friends Jr & Yellow Brick Road.

-Put outer borders and made bindings for two Urban Cabin Quilts.

-Made backing for Tweed Twist AND pieced enough black batting together to be able to get it loaded onto the quilt frame. I took 6 scraps of black batting and turned them into one 80” X 92” piece that I’m calling Franken-Batting. Was able to quilt half of it with a really small stipple.

- Worked on blocks for Mike’s Green Bay Packer Quilt & the Baby Quilt version. The baby quilt version will be donated to C.U.R.E. 54’s Silent Auction at the end of July.

-Put a bright colored flange on a small hexagon wall hanging, attached binding and hand sewed it down. It’s only 14” Square so the question is, does it need the regulation 8” hanging sleeve for a quilt show?

Quilts on Barns–#195 IH Square-dance

2011-04-10T06:13:00.000-05:00

IH Square-dance is located at 2231 S County Road J in Janesville. This block is listed as an original design and based off the International Harvester logo.

Painting A Barn Block

2011-04-09T16:51:00.001-05:00

I had the opportunity to join the Crazy Quilters Guild today and paint a barn block. I was excited when they invited me along because of my Barn Quilt addiction AND it’s nice to get to see and socialize with these wonderful women outside of work.

I designed my own block. I went with an 8 pointed star to go with “Cre8tive" and a Spool to go with “Quilter.” I think it needs to become part of a new logo.

The colors that we had to work with were Red, Yellow, Blue, Green and White. I ended up mixing Yellow and Red into a pale orange and then added Blue until I got a brownish color to resemble a wooden spool. I painted a 2’ block. I don’t know where it’s headed, maybe on the wall in my sewing room? I LOVE how it turned out.

Barn Quilt Painting

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Quilts on Barns–#194 Farmer’s Daughter

2011-04-09T06:06:00.000-05:00

Farmer’s Daughter is located at 2232 S La Prairie Townhall Road in Janesville. I’ve shot this location twice now and both times were bad. The sun is always at a bad angle.

Quilts on Barns–#192 The Basket & #193 Love in a Mist

2011-04-08T06:54:00.000-05:00

The Basket & Love in a Mist are both hung at Life’s A Stitch Quilt Shoppe located at 5130 E Hwy. 14 in Janesville.

The Basket

Love in a Mist

Quilts on Barns–#191 Patriotic Star

2011-04-07T06:53:00.000-05:00

Patriotic Star is located at 1812 S Van Allen Road in Janesville.

Need for Votes!! “I Back Jack Foundation, Inc.”

2011-04-06T21:38:00.001-05:00

Please, vote HERE for “I Back Jack Foundation, Inc.”

Back in 2007 I made a comfort quilt for a little boy by the name of Jack. You can read about his story & quilt HERE.

Now, a local bank is celebrating their 90th year with a charity competition. We need votes for Jack. Quoting Jack's Mom: "So, here it is, I am putting my heart on the line and asking for your help. Please vote. Honestly, if you choose to support another organization, it is your choice and philanthropy is still winning - a goal we all have in common. I never dreamed that I would be put in a position of trying to overcome schools trying to educate children, a marching band wanting to buy new uniforms and have the opportunity to participate in parades and performances, or a skateboard park aimed at giving kids a place to play; but here is the thing, I need to have Jack in order to allow him the chance to receive an education, march in the band, and ask for a skateboard so he can join his friends. If this contest were measured in tears, hope and love, I would have us in the lead."

90th Anniversary Competition
WaterStone Bank is celebrating 90 years of service to its communities this year.
Contest Details: To celebrate WaterStone’s 90th anniversary, the Bank is giving away a total of $90,000 to a few lucky local charities or schools during the month of April...and the community gets to choose! The $90,000 will be donated based on the votes submitted by the general public from April 1 through April 30, 2011.
The lucky charity or school that receives the most votes during April will receive $30,000! The four charities or schools with the next highest number of votes will each receive $15,000.

So please, vote HERE for “I Back Jack Foundation, Inc.”

Quilts on Barns–#190 Diamond Star

2011-04-06T06:52:00.000-05:00

Diamond Star is located at 3010 S Milton-Shopiere Road in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–#189 Celtic Morning

2011-04-05T06:49:00.000-05:00

Celtic Morning is located at 3634 S Van Allen Road in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–#188 Eight Hands All Around

2011-04-04T06:39:00.000-05:00

Eight Hands All Around is located at 4410 S County Road J in Janesville.

Quilt Retreat–Day 4

2011-04-03T21:52:00.002-05:00

The final day of retreat is here. I was up by 7 and worked on the last two projects that were on my scheduled list. Now everything else I work on is just cake!

Urban Cabin. Quilt #5

Urban Cabin. Quilt #6

Then as time was coming to a close I made two little projects. A bandanna for Holly and a wallet for Mike’s golf id cards.

Once home, exhaustion hit. I crashed on the couch. Holly laid on the other end and Mike covered us both up.

The weekend was nice, the retreat place was awesome, I had a great time, but, I’m glad to be home with my little family.

Quilt Retreat–Day 3

2011-04-03T07:46:00.002-05:00

Day 3 started with a bang…as in I went to bed at 5:30AM on Saturday morning and was woken up at 7:30AM by an emergency phone call from my husband. Now, in his defense; I DID say if anything came up with Holly, I needed to know. I could be on the road within minutes and get home.

Phone rings. I assume if it’s Mike and it’s that early it’s something serious. I bolt out of bed and I accidentally decline the call. Then I can’t get service. I go charging down a flight of stairs tripping on my PJ pants and almost careening into the front door at the bottom of the stairs all WHILE trying to redial Mike and get to a point on the property where I can get a good signal. My heart has dropped, it’s racing a hundred miles a minute because I’m not ready for her to be this sick yet.
I’m connected, I frantically ask what’s wrong with my girl, he tells me and our conversation went something like this:

Mike: Holly stepped on a fake fingernail outside and I can’t get it off her paw.
Jen: So she’s ok?
M: No she’s not ok, she’s got this fingernail hooked on her foot.
J: But she’s ok? Are you EFFING KIDDING ME? <INSERT CRAZY IRRATIONAL STRING OF NOT AT ALL POLITE WORDS HERE AND I’M NOT AT ALL QUIET AT THIS MOMENT…>_____ ______ ______ ______ _____ ______ ______ ______ ________. I GOT TWO HOURS OF SLEEP AND THINK YOU’RE CALLING BECAUSE SHE’S ON DEATHS DOOR AND SHE HAS A FINGERNAIL ATTACHED TO HER PAW????
Mike the ‘ever rational’ deadpans: Well, I can’t get it off, I figured you’re with a group of creative women and you’d be able to come up with a way to get it off.
J: Ok, that makes sense but you scared the hell out of me. I need a picture.

J: Just pull it off.
M: No, it’s really stuck there, I’m afraid of hurting her.

So in the end, we didn’t have any nail polish remover with acetone and since I wasn’t home to give an assist he ran her over to the vet for some help. It all ended well but I’m sitting here, still laughing about it.

Now you’d think since I was up so early I would have gotten a TON done yesterday. I spent a lot of hours sewing but all I finished was the Flowers for Kashmir quilt. That last row, the assembly and the borders really took much more time than I anticipated. It turned out nice, I’m impressed with my ability to piece 60 degree triangles together but, I’m still not in love with this quilt. Once it’s quilted it’s going to need to find itself a new home. I’m sure that won’t be a problem!

We made a trip out to the store after deciding to do a group Sudoku quilt. During the outing I bought a 12 pack of Mt. Dew Live Wire and I’m pretty sure I’ve already consumed half of them. Caffeine…gotta love it!!

It was our groups night to make dinner and although my lasagna came out tasting good in the end it was an EPIC FAIL! Epic seems to be my new phrase of the weekend. I don’t know where I picked THAT up but whatever. Shrug. Back to the Epic Fail… I couldn’t get the oven hot enough for long enough. It never truly got bubbly. I’m disappointed. I think over the next year I need to devise a way to make a lasagna type dish in a crock pot. At least if I bring mine from home, I’d know what to expect from it.

Before bed I was able to get the blocks almost completed for my last two Urban Cabin quilt kits so undoubtedly those will get finished on Sunday with time to spare before check out.

Quilts on Barns–#187 Entwining Star

2011-04-03T06:32:00.000-05:00

Entwining Star is located at 5432 S County Road J in Janesville.

Quilts on Barns–#186 Interwoven Star

2011-04-02T06:29:00.000-05:00

Interwoven Star is located at 2731 E. L-T Townline Road in Beloit.

Quilt Retreat–Day 2–It’s 5PM Somewhere…

2011-04-02T05:08:00.002-05:00

What a productive day it was! You realize, I’m writing this at 5am and I haven’t been to bed yet. Actually I’m thinking now would be a good time to have a drink because it’s 5PM somewhere…

Without further ado…here’s today’s finishes.

First up, Yellow Brick Road.

Next up I finished the Tweed Twist quilt top. Wow, lot’s of pinning. Very glad to be done!!

Then I was starting to feel a time crunch. How was I going to get my entire days list completed?? It was time to kick my ass in gear and go to town. Yeah, I started this around 11pm. It’s a Between Friends Jr.

Annnnnd, then I went back to my Flowers for Kashmir quilt. Thankfully as of this post I have 1 row left to make; borders and it’s done. I’m pretty punchy at this point so it’s on the floor and that’s the end of it.

Oh, and I laughed…A LOT. We didn’t even drink today; we forgot. We’ll be having a shot before bed because it’s 5PM somewhere…
Adios!

Quilt Retreat–Day 1

2011-04-01T07:38:00.001-05:00

Thursday was the first day of our Quilt Retreat at Blooming Escapes. I’m thrilled to be spending the weekend with 10 of my friends but a total of 22 women.

I came to retreat with a list of things to accomplish for each day. At the end of day one I’m still on track.

Modified Urban Cabin quilt top. There will actually be 3 of these; but 2 in similar colors. These will go into my stash for when I need a comfort quilt. I’ll add the borders when I know who they are going to.

Next up was to work finish the assembly of 1/4 of my Modified Strip Twist quilt. Modified…that seems to be my buzz word! God forbid I do anything exactly following the instructions that a pattern gives. This quilt top requires a LOT of pinning so it’s slow going. The good news is, I think I have only about 5 more rows to add and the top is done. Would you believe I actually started making this quilt to go in my car? Yeah, I don’t think it’s destined to hang out in my trunk for when I need a quilt.

Last project of the night was to work on a few rows of my Flowers for Kashmir quilt. This quilt is totally NOT my thing. But I’m working my way through it because I own the borders and backing as well. I have 3 more rows to add.

It’s now 2 am…time for bed!

Quilts on Barns–#185 Harvest Star 2

2011-04-01T06:22:00.000-05:00

Harvest Star 2 is located at 4137 E Hwy. 67 in Beloit.

Quilts on Barns–#184 Chisholm Trail

2011-03-31T06:18:00.000-05:00

Chisholm Trail is located at 8367 Butterfly Road in Beloit.

Quilts on Barns–#183 Variable Star

2011-03-30T06:07:00.000-05:00

Variable Star is located at 6615 E County Road J in Clinton.

Quilts on Barns–#182 Grandpa’s Delight

2011-03-29T06:55:00.000-05:00

Grandpa’s Delight is located at 7647 S Summerville Road in Clinton.

Quilts on Barns–#181 Hole in the Barn Door

2011-03-28T06:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my Evil Twin Vogues and I made a trip out to Rock County to make a dent in their new barn quilt trail. I’ve been corresponding with Jean who is a large part of the Rock County project for almost a year now; she’s been very kind to keep me up to date on all of the new Barn Quilts. I think we hit about half of them today thanks to the list and map that Jean sent. They really did their research because we had very few problems between the map and the list. My new updated GPS really made a huge difference over my 4 year old model. I do miss the Yoda GPS voice but actually making it to 40 destinations without fail is much more important!

Hole in the Barn Door is located at 7148 S Summerville Road in Clinton.

A Comfort Quilt for my dear sweet Holly

2011-03-27T11:10:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago Holly had an episode that required some testing and the bottom line is that she has cancer. =( Tumors in her Liver and Spleen. I don’t know how much time we have left so we’re making the most of it. I started making her a quilt and then I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it until some of my friends kicked me in the ass.

It’s just a split nine patch made out of Make Life by Sweetwater.

I found this goofy dog print in my stash and used it for the backing.

Here she is, chilling on the couch with her quilt on top of her, Mike’s quilt under her and Mine next to her. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE HER!!

April’s Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Blocks

2011-03-26T01:23:00.002-05:00

Wide awake

2011-03-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

We had thunderstorms this evening so Holly the 95 pound lab wanted to be right on me. After she wedged herself between me and my dry erase board (erasing it with her body I might add) I decided what we could both use was some snuggle time on the bed. Of course she decided to lay the wrong direction so I joined her.

I woke up 5-ish hours later around 3am forgetting why I was laying the wrong direction. As I laid there with her still snuggled into me the realization that our time together is drawing to a close was overwhelming. I couldn't fall back asleep so I decided to get up and sew. 3 pillow cases and two scrap bags later I'm going to give sleep another try. I could still get another 2-1/2 hours of sleep if I'm lucky.

-Jen

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

9 Days Till Quilt Retreat!

2011-03-22T06:17:00.004-05:00

Spring quilt retreat time is here again. I was chatting yesterday with friends about what projects I was going to be bringing along. All of a sudden I'm worried about not having enough cut up to bring along. I may have to re-think things. Going with my new mantra of working on easy quilts so that I can enjoy myself; that's great and all but they don't take very long. Here's my current line up with pictures of 'like' quilts since my cronies need to know what I'm working on. They want to make sure it's not itty bitty items that will take me 5 minutes. Yeah, unless it's a challenge to put as many pieces as possible into a 6" block, I'm all about large quilts.

For all 5 of these comfort quilts I will not be putting on the outer borders at retreat. I will wait for borders until I know who they are going to and then I'll buy border/binding/backing to suit that person. The exciting thing about these comfort quilts is with the exception of background fabric they came entirely from my stash. I had a box of batiks that I went through and cut up into 2-1/2, 3-1/2, 5-1/2 & 6-1/2 strips.

Quilts 1, 2 & 3 - Modified Urban Cabin quilts cut up and ready to go. The finished size with border is something like 55X77.

Quilt 4 - Yellow Brick Road Quilt kit. The cool thing about this one is that all 36 of the 3-1/2" strips are different. Also finishes with outer border at around 55X75.

Quilt 5 - Between Friends Jr. Kit - Also finishes with outer border at around 55X75.

Quilt 6 - Modified Strip Twist. The quilt top just needs to be assembled. I last worked on it in November at retreat. Not really sure how far I got with assembly. Will finish 66 X 88.

Quilt 7 - Flowers for Kashmir. Will measure 71 X 82. This will be the 4th retreat this quilt has gone on. It's been cut up the entire time. It's time to make this sucker; it's not going on a 5th retreat. Moneik and I were discussing I should probably make a few rows first so that I've got the piecing of triangles thing down. Yeah, I'm 2 rows of 14 into it and I'm not amused! This was a good idea. I can see this quilt and I parting company once it's finished!!

Ok, Ok, now that I SEE this list I believe that I have enough to keep busy for 4 days. Oh and they've placed wagers on me...whether or not I can accomplish these tasks. I think they're fools for placing a bet because once I hear something like that you better believe I'll do everything to get it done. Moneik is putting up a yard of fabric from her stash for every top I finish. Muhahahaha...I intend to leave retreat 7 yards of fabric richer.

It’s been a while…

2011-03-21T13:07:00.001-05:00

Since I’ve blogged; my last post with quilty content was back in October. That’s almost a 6 month hiatus and I have to say; I haven’t missed blogging. Quite a few people have been asking lately if I’m ever going to post again - so here I am. I don’t know if I’ll ever return to blogging on a regular basis. I would like to continue my Barn Quilt pattern series but it won’t be on a schedule like it was in the past. You just may wake up one day and see a ton of new patterns – stranger things have happened!

I wasn’t quilting as much as I normal and it took me quite a while to figure out what the problem was. I went through a couple of years where I made sure each new project taught me something, challenged me or was something that I designed. While I LOVE the designing aspect, by the time I work my way through it I decide I no longer want to make that project. I recently re-discovered my love for making comfort quilts and I think this is what I’m going to focus on for a while. I just need to sew, and not think about patterns; just enjoy the process. If that means making quilts from patterns that I could do in my sleep; then that’s what it takes.

Here’s what I have worked on that you haven’t seen…

Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler Blocks (Some of the colors are off; I took all these with my camera phone).

Quilts I currently have in progress or have recently finished…

This next one I can’t take credit for making. It was made by my friend Patti; I just quilted it and sent it on it’s way.

Miscellaneous things I’ve made:

I’m sure I’ve missed a few things along the way! This doesn’t even begin to cover the things I’ve sewn while at work…but I’m not about to post all of those pictures.

Block of the Week – Block #49 – Windblown Square–Green County

2010-12-08T06:32:00.001-06:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #49 – Windblown Square – Green County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.
Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:
(2) 4-1/4” Square – White, sub-cut into 4 pieces – A5, B5, C5, D4
(2) 2” X 2-3/4” Rectangle – Red - B2, D2
(2 3-1/2” Square – Red, sub-cut into 4 pieces – A1, A4, C1, C4
(2) 2” X 2-3/4” Rectangle – Black - A2, C2
(2) 3-1/2” Square – Black, sub-cut into 4 pieces – B3, B4, D1, D3
(2) 2-1/2” Squares – Grey, sub-cut into 4 pieces – A3, B1, C3, D5
Click HERE to print a clean Windblown Square instruction sheet.
Click HERE to print a Windblown Square foundation pattern.
**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100% Take a moment to measure. The solid line on the bottom edge of section A should measure 3". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Block of the Week – Block #48 – Sawtooth Star–Green County

2010-12-01T22:05:00.001-06:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #48 – Sawtooth Star – Green County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.
Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:

(4) 2-1/2” Squares – Black – A1, A5, B1, B5
(1) 4-3/4” Square – Black, sub-cut into 4 pieces – A3, B3, C1, F1
(2) 2-3/4” Squares – Yellow, sub-cut into 4 pieces – D2, D4, E2, E3
(2) 2-3/4” Squares – Blue, sub-cut into 4 pieces – D1, D3, E1, E4
(4) 2-3/4” Squares – Red, sub-cut into 8 pieces – A2, A4, B2, B4, C2, C3, F2, F3
Click HERE to print a clean Sawtooth Star instruction sheet.
Click HERE to print a Sawtooth Star foundation pattern.
**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100% Take a moment to measure. The solid line on the bottom edge of section A should measure 6". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Block of the Week – Block #47 – Dove At My Door–Green County

2010-11-24T21:42:00.001-06:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #47 – Dove at my Door – Green County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.
Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:

(2) 3-1/4” Squares – White, sub-cut into 4 pieces – B5, B7, C5, C7
(8) 1-1/2” X 2-3/4” Rectangles – White – A1, A3, A5, A7, B1, B3, C1, C3
(2) 3-1/4” Squares – Black, sub-cut into 4 pieces – B4, B6, C4, C6
(1) 2-3/4” Square – Black – A4
(4) 1-1/2” X 2-3/4” Rectangles – Black – A2, A6, B2, C2
Click HERE to print a clean Dove At My Door instruction sheet.
Click HERE to print a Dove At My Door foundation pattern.
**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100% Take a moment to measure. The solid line on the bottom edge of section A should measure 2". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Block of the Week – Block #46 – Grandpa’s Delight – Green County

2010-11-17T07:49:00.001-06:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #46 – Grandpa’s Delight – Green County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.

Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:

(2) 1-3/4” X 2-3/4” Rectangles, White – C3, D6

(4) 2” Squares, White – E1, E7, F1, F7

(2) 2-1/2” Squares, White, sub-cut into 4 pieces - A4, B6, C5, D4

(10) 2-1/2” Squares, Blue, sub-cut into 20 pieces – A1, A3, A5, A7, A9, B1, B3, B4, B5, B9, C2, C7, D2, D7, E2, E4, E6, F2, F4, F6

(2) 1-3/4” X 2-3/4” Rectangles, Brown – C6, D3

(2) 2-1/2” Squares, Brown, sub-cut into 4 pieces – A6, B4, C4, D5

(8) 1-3/4” X 2-3/4” Rectangles, Green – A2, A8, B2, B8, E3, E5, F3, F5

(2) 2-1/2” Squares, Green, sub-cut into 4 pieces - C1, C8, D1, D8

Click HERE to print a clean Grandpa’s Delight instruction sheet.

Click HERE to print a Grandpa’s Delight foundation pattern.

**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100%. Take a moment to measure. The Solid Line along the bottom edge of section F should measure 3". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Block of the Week – Block #45 – Old Glory Star – Walworth County

2010-11-10T07:14:00.000-06:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #45 – Old Glory Star – Walworth County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.

Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:

(4) 2-1/2” Squares – White – A4, A5, B4, B5

(1) 4-3/4” Square – White, sub-cut in 4 pieces – A1, B1, C1, D1

(4) 2-3/4” Squares – Red, sub-cut into 8 pieces – A2, A3, B2, B3, C2, C3, D2, D3

(1) 4” Square – Navy – C4

(1) 4” Square – White - Trace 5 stars onto fusible web, iron fusible web onto the back side of your white square. Cut out 5 stars. Position and iron the stars onto the blue background square after the block is assembled. Use stabilizer on the backside of the blue and zig-zag stitch the white stars.

Click HERE to print a clean Old Glory Star instruction sheet.

Click HERE to print a Old Glory Star foundation pattern.

**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100%. Take a moment to measure. The Solid Line along the side edge of section B should measure 6". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Block of the Week – Block #44 – No Place Like Home - Walworth

2010-11-03T14:14:00.000-05:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #44 – No Place Like Home – Walworth County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.

Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:

(8) 2-1/4” X 5” Rectangles – Green – A3, A5, B2, B4, C1, E1, G1, I1

(1) 3-1/4” Square – Green, sub-cut into 4 pieces – D2, F2, H2, J2

(8) 2-1/4” X 5” Rectangles – Yellow – A2, A6, B3, B6, D1, F1, H1, J1

(1) 3-1/4” Square – Yellow, sub-cut into 4 pieces – C2, E2, G2, I2

(4) 2-1/2” X 4-1/2” Rectangles – Blue – A1, A4, B1, B5

Click HERE to print a clean No Place Like Home instruction sheet.

Click HERE to print a No Place Like Home foundation pattern.

**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100% Take a moment to measure. The bottom edge solid line on section H should measure 3". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Please click to add your link once you’ve finished your block. I’d love to see it!!

Block of the Week – Block #43 – Cake Stand – Walworth County

2010-10-27T14:06:00.000-05:00

Jen Buettner – Cre8tive Quilter

Wisconsin Quilt Blocks on Barns - Block of the Week

Block #43 – Cake Stand – Walworth County

Your block will finish to 6”. This means that it will physically measure 6-1/2” X 6-1/2” before it is sewn to other blocks.

Cutting Instructions & Piecing Locations for 6” Paper Pieced Block:

(1) 2-1/2” Square – Orange – A1

(3) 2-1/2” Squares – Orange, sub-cut into 6 pieces – A3, A5, A7, B1, B4, B6

(3) 2-1/2” Squares – Yellow, sub-cut into 6 pieces – A2, A4, A6, B2, B3, B5

(2) 2-1/4” X 4-1/2” Rectangles – Blue – C1, D1

(1) 3-3/4” Square – Blue, sub-cut into 2 pieces – 1 Pieced

(1) 5” Square – Purple, sub-cut into 2 pieces – B7

(1) 5” Square – Brown, sub-cut into 2 pieces – B8

Sub-cut remaining into 2 pieces – C2, D2

Click HERE to print a clean Cake Stand Instruction Sheet.

Click HERE to print a clean Cake Stand Foundation Pattern.

**You will want to Download the file and then print the .pdf file. When you print, make sure that scaling is turned off enabling the document to print at 100% Take a moment to measure. The side edge solid line on section A should measure 4-3/4". If you print directly from the Google Docs screen you might come out with a slightly smaller sized block.**

Please click to add your link once you’ve finished your block. I’d love to see it!!