Woodland QAL - the FINISH!

How many quilters out there find themselves wowed and awed when admiring the work of a really, really, and I mean really good free motion quilter? After all the ohhhhing and awwwing, the progression of things seems to shift to start comparing it to your own work, often self confidence is too quickly washed down the drain. I know that practice makes perfect, but I have come to the conclusion, that I really don't like freem motion quilting... that is to do it myself. My grand ideas to practice some free motion on a smaller quilt, quickly came to a halt when I finished the first row of leaves on my Woodland quilt. Quick, quick, I've got a pressing deadline on this one resulted in shifting...

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Hot Off The Press Finish!

Can you feel the steam radiating out of your computer screen? When I say that this quilt top is literally hot off the press, I really am not exaggerating! I had planned to have this top finished early in the week, but a weekend cold that just doesn't want to leave has been tagging along way longer than is should have! I decided to add two more reverse applique leaf sets, which was a nice on-the-couch-with-a-cold project. It felt like it added more interest and a certain balance to the quilt.  I really dug deep into my scrap bins on this quilt and essentially let my scraps dictate the layout of this quilt. It was a challenge working with so many different sizes and shapes, but also...

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Design Wall Shuffle

I'm busy checking things off my goals list, and while I really like to add things to that list, I think I like it even better to check things off. One major check mark this week was finishing my Jeweled Mystery quilt top... can you believe that I've finished a whole quilt top, sent it off to be quilted, and really have shared practically little to nothing here?!? All in time... all in time. But my next deadline is lurking, and now I'm wanting to go a direction that I've never really been before with the blocks that I shared last week... and that is to finish a baby quilt with a lot of negative space.  Negative Space... there's that scary word that makes me cringe all the way to my...

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Pulling A 180

Sometimes you find necessary that you just have to make something right then and there because inspiration hits you like a ton of bricks. To hesitate, means that it's too late... somehow if you don't jump at just the right moment, then the window of opportunity is gone. I've been working almost exclusively on my Jeweled Mystery quilt, and working so intensely on a project it's sometimes difficult to stay on task. I even have a deadline of when the quilt top needs to be sent out, but sometimes having a creative "breather" is the best thing to re-group before a final push. You may remember these sweet paper pieced Forest Floor mushrooms that I pattern tested for Lillyella's World a while...

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Secrets Come In Two's

When I said that I was doing a lot of secret sewing, I really wasn't kidding!?! My Jeweled Mystery quilt top is almost finished and will go out soon to be longarm quilted - my first quilt to be finished by someone else! If you don't know Iva's work, then you really need to check her out here... just amazing!  Well, now that the cat's out of the bag that I'm working on writing quilt patterns, I can let you in on a few behind the scenes in the works. The second pattern that I am working on really is a little bit of everything - traditional piecing, paper piecing, applique, and curved piecing... is there anything that I left out?!? ... and what's a good quilt block without a little...

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