Things That Are Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  In honor of this special day, I'd like to share a few favorite green things: 

My new letter "S" that my friend Pam made for me.  She's been following along with Moda's Spell It With Fabric blog hop.  Pam, our friend Linda and I get together once a month to sew and chat, and she surprised us with our own letters.  It's now hanging in my sewing area.  

Not having very many St. Patrick's Day decorations, I started this embroidery project.  When it's done, I'll put it in a little pillow to decorate with {next year}.  

A green pinwheel from a current project.

Lovely green pine trees at our cabin, which we visited this weekend.  We could only get there by 4-wheeler because of the snow and mud, which we didn't mind so much. 

 

Hopefully I can get some time in tonight sewing on that pinwheel project I mentioned earlier.  I only have a few blocks to go and then I can start sewing them together.  Can't wait to share that!

Linking to:  Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party

                     Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday

Fall Quilt Market & a Sidetrip to Galveston

I attended the Fall Quilt Market, held in Houston, two weekends ago.  I LOVE Quilt Market!  So much inspiration and excitement.  Always a great way to see what's up and coming, and what's here to stay (at least for awhile).  As I walked the aisles with my friend Linda, these were some of the trends that I noticed: 

Simple Shapes, Large Designs and Vibrant Color -

Robert Kaufman Kona solids booth

Robert Kaufman booth

 

sorry, didn't get the name on this booth

 

Ella Blue booth

 

Quilt at the In The Beginning booth

 

Quilt at the Riley Blake booth

I love these quilts at the Franklin Quilt Co. booth

Christa Watson's Charming Chevron
 (Christa is my good friend and she had no idea her quilt would be at Market.  Boy was she delighted when I emailed her this picture! Hop on over to her blog and read all about it.)

Younger Designers - 

Vanessa Christenson of V & Co.

Jeni Baker of In Color Order

Camille Roskelley (that's her husband minding the store)

Free-Motion Quilting & Modern Quilts

Lots of books on these subjects

Retro -

Quilting Treasure's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

April Showers by Bonnie & Camille/Moda

Bags -

London City Bag by Pink Sand Beach

 Scrap Happy Purse  by Crazy Mom Quilts

 

Ombre bag by V & Co. (to be in a future magazine)

Zipper bags at the Riley Blake booth

Colors that are hot right now - navy, aqua, emerald, gray, hot pink and orange.  Love the way designers are mixing navy with aqua, navy with emerald, and even emerald with lime greens.  Solids continue to be popular.  Using dark blue, gray, green, yellow and other solid colors for backgrounds give a project a modern, yet vintage look.  (What's old is new again...)  Other notables - dense machine quilting, solids woven with shades of the same color, ombre, chevrons and denim.  Something for everyone.  

My husband came with me this time and we snuck (sneaked?) in a visit to the Gulf.  We rented a car and drove to Galveston, which is only about 45 minutes south of Houston.

On one of the piers

We had beautiful weather that day.  One of things we did was ride the ferry to Port Bolivar and back.  Such a fun little ride - we saw dolphins playing along side and in front of the boat.  (Sorry, no pics of them.)

The only decent picture of both of us.

  

One of the ferries coming in

This girl from the desert southwest isn't used to the humidity and my hair was a mess the whole weekend.  : /  

Linking to: Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday
                    Share Your Cup Thursday

Quilt Retreat & A Binding Question

Me and my project for the weekend

Last weekend I attended our local quilt guild's annual retreat with my quilt-y girlfriends.  I had a blast!  It's something that I look forward to all year long.  We talk, share, learn, eat, make new friends, and sew until we're exhausted. 

Christa working on her famous chevron blocks

Linda working on her oh-so-pretty 25-patch blocks

We had lots of room this year for all who wanted to attend - I think the number was around 130.  We were set up in a HUGE event tent outside of the hotel where we stayed.  Everything for the event was in there - sewing, eating, shopping and classes.   The lighting was not great, but we were allowed to bring our own lighting, so problem solved.  It was also cooler than usual that weekend, 70's instead of 90's, so it got a bit chilly in the evenings.  I doubt that will happen again, though, we live in the desert.

Christa giving a free-motion quilting demo during her Charming Chevrons class

We each had our own table, which was really nice for free-motion quilting, and that is what I did most of the weekend.  I quilted wavy diagonal lines on my scrappy-trip-around-the-world, and got it almost finished at the retreat.  (I finished quilting it a few days later at home and am now getting ready to bind it.)

  

My retreat neighbor Linda, worked on her pinwheel quilt, from the book Scrap Basket Beauties by Kim Brackett.  Coincidentally, I've been wanting to make the same quilt from that book, using my leftover American Jane fabrics (seen above) with a dark blue background.  She said it went together really nicely.  Can't wait to start that one. 

 

All the meal tables were nicely decorated with quilted table toppers and fun handmade dolls, and were given away after lunch on the final day.  Christa was thrilled to win this pinwheel topper made by a longtime guild member. 

Can't wait 'til next year! 

Now for the question -- have you ever used 2" strips for your binding? I have a dark blue stripe that is perfect for the binding on the scrappy trips quilt, but only have enough for 2" strips. (I usually use 2 1/4" strips.)  I'd love to hear what you use.  

Linking to:  Anything Goes Mondays

                  Fabric Tuesday

                  WIP Wednesday

                  From The Farm Blog 

                  Really Random Thursdays 

                  I Quilt 

Whirlwind trip to Quilt Market

I got on the plane at 7 am here in Las Vegas on Thursday, May 23, landed in Portland at 9:15 am, and quickly got on the train which took me right to the convention center.  I met up with my friend Linda, and jumped right into Schoolhouse, which is a series of short classes that change every 30 minutes or so (there are many to choose from each session).   It was a fun and inspiring day. Here are a couple of shots from one of the classes:

Look for some of these patterns in the shop soon. 

The next day was Quilt Market, where hundreds of vendors show their newest offerings.  I only got to spend one day; I had to fly home that night to attend our annual Boy Scout Family Campout.  But I took LOTS of pictures.  I'll group them together so you can get an idea of what was trending.

First up - selvage edge piecing was everywhere, in bags, pillows, i-device covers, fabric baskets and even clothing:

sorry, i'm covering up some of the items : /

Next, chevrons were everywhere:

Tasha Noel/Riley Blake booth

Sweet Treasures booth

adorable little chevron sundress by Jilily 

Vanessa of V & Co.  See her chevron bags on the left?

 Combining hand-embroidery and crayon-coloring was popular:

Favorite designer/manufacturer booths were inspiring as well:

Sitting down with Pam Kitty to look over new new collection Pam Kitty Picnic - sew stinkin' cute!  It'll be here at the end of the year.  Oh and she's funny and adorable.  : )

Riley Blake booth.  Just got in Bake Sale - sew fun!

Camille of Bonnie & Camille.  Just got in her latest - Happy Go Lucky

Joanna of Fig Tree - love her new patterns

Sandy Klop of American Jane - I'm a big fan

Bags continue to be very popular and apparel-sewing is back in a big way:

Around the Bobbin booth

Kati Cupcake booth

Sew Serendipity booth - notice more chevrons

  Random stuff:

My good friend and Market buddy, Linda

The Kimberbell booth - love the whimsical designs in red, lime and brown

Raw-edge applique is still going strong

Quilting Treasures is bringing back Irma Harding, who I believe was the fictional spokeswoman for International Harvester.  Anyone remember her?

It was a whirlwind trip and I loved every moment of it.  I'll be ordering several new lines and patterns.  I would love your thoughts and input!

Linking to:  Sunny Simple Mondays
                  Quilt Story: Fabric Tuesday 
                  Share Your Cup Thursday