Quilting Sisters of Leesburg - Lollipops Workshop Sept 2011

I am so very proud of the girls at Quilting Sisters in Leesburg, FL - the quilts they made from the Flower Garden Quilt kits were AWESOME!  After my lecture (I Love Quilting, But I am a Little Biased) we had a workshop using the precut kits I sell and my pattern for the Flower Garden version of the Drunkards Path...some LOVED the batiks - not the traditional fabrics I originally made the quilt with - and the results are spectacular!

I also made up a Halloween version of the kit - it was equally popular...and sPOOky!

This darling fabric is called Tea for Two and has tea cups and flowers on it - I love what the black bias does to pop the colors!

The girls have a fantastic room for workshops!  lots of space and lots of good working light!

I mean, they were FOCUSED!!!  look at that concentration!

I marvel that anything Kaffe Fassett comes out looking gorgeous - look at these prints!  and just like with strip piecing, you can continuously sew the bias strips onto the curved edges in a quick sew style...!

The contrast of the red and black batik with these new Moda Precut all black charm packs is stunning!

laying out the quilt is in progress here with the more traditional colors!

My good buddy Claudia Schumacher - professional long armer extraordinaire - and her quiltin' buddies!   I hardly heard a peep from these girls they were so busy!

Sweet Lura had a time getting me there but I thank her from the bottom of my heart!  We had such a great day, Lura!

Once again, the two tone batik quilt kits with a high contrast bias made for some spectacular color combinations!

I had the quilters make the center two rows first - and look at the Kaffe Fassett!  oh how YUMMY!  This quilter had just come from the dentist and wasn't sure she wanted to stay - but I think she was glad she did!

A close up of her meticulous work

Look at the variegated thread on this Halloween quilt!  Spook TACular!

There is no doubt that the black and red bicolor quilt with just a hint of grey makes for a very unusual and striking quilt combination - I cannot wait to see the final version!

Great job, ladies!  You were AWESOME and I am so proud of you for working so hard to get these done! Thanks for coming and hope to come and teach again with the Quilting Sisters of Leesburg, FL!

The Accidental Quilter in Vermont

Made in Vermont has a whole new meaning for me!

This week I have been travelling with my husband, Rick, to one of his forestry association meetings.  We got really lucky this time because it is in Stowe, VT.  Boy is this state ever beautiful!  It has a new European feel to it and guess what?  I haven't seen a Walmart or Target or Joann's Fabrics ANYWHERE!  They must have a no big box store rule here or something...I HAVE had some of the best chocolate EVER, the best MILK ever and been amazed by the beautiful views of the farms, the mountains and the small cities scattered about the countryside.

A picture at every corner - look at the patterns on the side of this building in the granite district in Middleberry - this city is so picturesque!  and the college there is just gorgeous!

I am sure you all have heard about all the rain in Vermont - it kept us off of most of the roads in the south part of the state - but check out this mini Niagara Falls right in the heart of Middleberry!  amazing...

We heard of so many bridges being blown out by the flood waters - thank goodness this is intact!

Christmas Trees!  We don't have these in Florida!  Can you imagine this full of snow? 

The granite buildings just make such a cool exterior - I see quilt patterns everywhere I turn!

Hard to see this antique Singer sewing machine in the window!  drool......

Ok - so everything is local in Vermont - people by their bread and cakes and goodies from the local bakers and farmers markets - the goodies in this bakery made me drool!  so we stopped in for a bite...

Dogs are citizens too!  aren't these little guys so cute just waiting patiently for their master who is inside?  of course, they liked Rick and said hello to him...

In case you are ever in Middleberry, VT check out the Otter Creek Bakery...well worth the stop.

Oh the flowers are so pretty in all the main street pots!  does your mainstreet look like this?  wonderful!

I see a future quilt in this colorful painted sunflower!  isn't it great?

These overflowing window boxes of flowers were everywhere - reminds me of Victoria, BC - they scream out paint me!  quilt me!

This shop had all products Made In Vermont!  the cow theme is pretty funny and we picked up a few Christmas presents...the staff were uber friendly and fun!

My Favorite reads  "Vermonter Looking for Mate - Must have Chain Saw.  Send Picture of Chainsaw"...who said they have no sense of humor!

Travelling north on SR 7 (also called Ethan Allen HWY) what did we find but a quilt and yarn shop called Knits & Bolts in New Haven, VT!   Look at the side of the building - simply says - Yarn  Fabric...ahhhhh the universal language...and inside?  what a little gem of a shop!  yummy yarns - and good brands, too - to pick and choose from not to mention great project books and samples to entice you...and a SALE wall!  yeah!   just what I needed - more yarn!  and then to the quilting side of things.... a NICE collection of batiks along with more of the traditional fabrics for quilters.   I loved talking to one of the staff who designed the recent Shop Hop Quilt - which she proudly showed me -

Here she is on the right - isn't that a great smile?  and a wonderful quilting talent - we put together some batiks for me to make a keepsake project from out trip to Vermont.  The lady on the left is the gal who told me about which MILK to drink - Mansfields - so we promptly went across the street to the quick mart and got some milk.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  my gooodness is it good - even the 1%!!!  thanks Girls!  I did ask if they had ever heard of Lollipops - but no...its okay - these girls are so thrifty not sure that store bought bias would be their thing...but they are so cute!

Vermonters are very proud of their local made and they are pretty darn good at what they make!  We stopped in at this chocolate shop - the Daily Chocolate - again, in a quaint little town called Vergennes along SR 7 heading north to Burlington, and bought some very expensive but very yummy chocolate to go with our milk, of course!  the chocolate was so rich, you only need a small piece to satisfy - loaded with pistachios, dried cherries, a touch of cayenne (yes, cayenne) and coconut in dark chocolate - yes, check them out if you ever come to VT!  Doesn't their logo remind you of Starbucks?  you never know...

Now, if you know me, you know I LOVE flowers...and these hydrangea bushes are like none I have ever seen!  look at how full and lush they are!  When I retire, I have to learn to paint so I can paint these in water color - the trees and bushes are so full the look like they will break off! 

and check this out...kids walking home from school...WALKING!!!  ok - so we saw busses, too but I was just thrilled to see kids walking home like we used to do - wonderful...things are slower here and it is so impressive to see the simplicity.

More Christmas Trees!  I just love these evergreens - wish we could grow them back home!  I would make wreaths every season...

More from Stowe tomorrow!

Easy Drunkard's Path Method using Lollipops Bindings!

Well, I have never added a video to a blog before - so let's see how this goes!  Many of you have asked me for 'how-to' videos...so here one is!  I know there needs to be more...but for now, in TWO videos I explain how to do the Drunkards Path block the Lollipops way...you will save time, lower your frustration level and won't waste a bit of fabric! 

One thing I will note is that this method is in essence, an applique method - you are sewing the quarter circle to the background square and covering the raw edge with the binding (enveloping it actually).  That being said, if your quarter square is LIGHT colored fabric and your background square is DARK, then you should cut away the background portion so it won't be visible through the lighter colored top fabric.  You will see what I mean after watching this video!  ask me questions PLEASE! 

Lucky Winner of Week 1 of our August FabShop Hop Drawing!

And the lucky winner of our FIRST prize for Week 1 of the FabShop Network August Shop Hop is............. Carrie Donohoe!!!! Congratulations Carrie -   she won a Charm Pack of the NEW (not yet available in stores) Cosmo Cricket Fabric line from Moda!  The good news is we have these in stock now - so if you love Cosmo, click Cosmo Cricket Charm Pack!

Aloha...Hawaiian Quilting is Easier Than You Might Think!

You know, there are a few unrecognized geniuses out there in the quilting/sewing world...people who have great products but never quite hit the Eleanor Burns/Ricky Tims/Alex Anderson Style headlines...one such person is Stacy Michell...owner of Shades Textiles, daughter of Marti (the wunderfrau of template quilting) and a celebrity in her own right in Japan. Her new product, Soft Fuse, is by far the best fusible product on the market for applique! It is wonderfully pliable, can be used for hand applique and works remarkably well with Stacy's Hawaiian style dies developed for Accuquilt. She is best known for her gorgeous softly shaded hand dyed fabrics which, when coupled with Soft Fuse and one of her Accuquilt templates, make easy Hawaiian style quilts that even a novice would enjoy doing. Here she explains what the 2 for 1 Hawaiian applique is...I also make these for resale but with beautiful batiks instead - the results are truly exceptional - and as you will see in the video - really easy to create...the Floating Sea Turtles is a design unique to Lollipops...you can see more on our website...

H-A-N-D is not a four letter word...

I know nowadays we are all so busy and finding time to sew on our MACHINES is hard enough BUT...a few new patterns that sprung up at Spring Market caught my eye and they are so irresistable I just had to try them...Meg Hawkey of Crabapple Hill Studio (from somewhere in Washington State where it DOESN'T rain) is reknown not only for her beautiful hand stitchery designs but also her incredible booths at Market! When you step into her world, you leave the real one behind and I often marvel at her ability to translate me into her world so easily...Her recent Fall patterns are so adorable I had to share them with you and to show you my first efforts at recreating her ideas using my own handiwork...I simply could not wait to start this pillowcase...undaunted by never having done redwork by hand before, no light table - not even the fancy pen you are supposed to use - I wanted to start this right away - of course, it was sold out of the distribution houses I buy from and I had to wait an extra WEEK to get it - here are my first efforts...you can see I do not even have a normal embroidery hoop - I used one of my machine embroidery hoops - and it works great! While my hand work isn't perfect - I love the way this is coming along...

Another of her patterns has me doing something I have NEVER done before as well - working with beads and making jewelry...Quilters, myself included, LOVE jewelry specific and personalized to our beloved hobby...so when I saw these button bracelets - I went nutz! Meg's designs are shown here - she of course hand stitched her buttons and filled in the 'betweener' spaces with beautiful beads...The first thing I did was visit our local beads store - Beadlemania - and got some tips on how to bead (and of course a supply of stuff I had never seen or heard of before...NO NEW HOBBIES - I swore and here I was buying up a storm!)...I already had some embroidered buttons (machine embroidered - yeah!) to use on my bracelet - I fussy cut some nautical fabrics and covered some smaller buttons using Dritz' easy button covers and wallah! I have a Nautical Look bracelet. Making the beads required a short learning curve but YouTube has some great online tutorials and I just Googled them and learned quickly online...already made a second bracelet - with an African theme and am already working on a Halloween one! It is easier than I thought and I love the results...Look for me to demo these at the Jacksonville Show in September 2011! Patterns, threads and kits are available on my website - www.popsbindings.com