Some of you may know (remember) that I am a long-time member of the Bear Patch Bits Club.  This club is part of Bear Patch Quilt Company, located near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.  SisterStitches is the manager there.  I've made several visits to the store, when I've visited family and friends in the midwest, and it is a really, really nice store.  Lots of wonderful fabric, classes enough to choke a, well, a bear, coffee and cookies, nice quilt samples all around.

Now to the Bear Patch Bits Club.  For a mere $40.00 for a whole year (I think that's what it was), I receive a package in the mail every month.  Containing twenty (yes, 20!) 5-inch squares of new fabric that the store has  recently gotten into stock.  Accompanied by a nice letter (written by SisterStitches!), usually containing a quilt pattern using 5" squares, and also a yummy recipe.  

I have to tell you that these packages have become like Christmas every month for me!!!  I see that oversize white envelope in my mailbox, and I know that there are 20 pieces of joy inside!  Really, each one makes me very, very happy.  This happy relationship has been going on for many years.

Bear Patch Quilt Company is going to close within a few months from now.  I know.  It's very sad.  And I certainly don't begrudge the owner and employees a nice retirement.  But that also means that my little white envelopes will no longer be coming in the mail.

Well, MisterStitches has often been the spectator to my opening said envelopes, and he knows how happy they make me.  So, he really stepped up.   He asked me if he could provide a similar thing for me.   After I picked myself up off the floor, I said, yes I think you can!!  So I pointed him to Missouri Star Quilt Company, and told him that getting a charm pack in the mail would definitely mean the world to me.  

So last week he presented me with the first box.  I opened it and this was inside.  A beautiful, beautiful charm pack of "island print" batiks.  Oh so beautiful!

Just look at them all!

Such luscious colors!!

Aren't these blues gorgeous!!

And the reds/purples!

See what I mean!!??!!

As you can see, MisterStitches really hit it out of the ball park with this idea!  

I think I'll keep him around.

A friend witnessed me opening the box and going through all the colors.  Oh my, it was so much fun!

Alphabet Embroidery

My friend,Jenny, over at Jenny of Elefantz, has designed some beautiful embroidery designs for the whole alphabet.  And she is sharing them by email from her blog one or two at a time.  I thought that maybe this was a "make-along" that I might be able to keep up with, as they are small, so I'm working at turning out lots of pretty little letters.

So far I've done a through f, and am currently working on g.  Once I get the fabric ready and the threads collected, these only take about an hour each to make.

I'm pinning them up on my design wall to keep track of the finished ones.

And now for a few close-ups.  I have to admit that I am more eager to show close-ups of some of them, and a little reluctant to show others, the ones which aren't as nicely done.  But, as DaughterStitches is fond of saying, "It is what it is."  Or "C'est la vie!"

Jenny's idea and instructions call for making 26 little pin cushions with our embroideries.  (Each letter is around 2-3" tall.)  So I added some pretty lavender print to the sides of the "b" for that reason.  But I'm not sure that I want to make pincushions, so now I'm leaving them as just little squares.  Maybe I'll put them into a sampler wall hanging.  Or maybe they will be Christmas ornaments.  Who knows?!?  And some of them might even turn into pin cushions!

Aren't they such cute little designs?!?

I decided to streamline things a little bit, and prepared several squares ahead of time.  I found pieces of appropriate fabric, cut them to size, and ironed a stabilizer onto the back.  I even went through my Bear Patch Bits and found some little squares in there to use.

I have to admit that I have changed the colors a few times from what Jenny has called out.  Sometimes I can't find the right color, and sometimes I just feel like doing it a little differently.  Or, I've chosen a blue background, and she calls for light blue thread.  It's fun because they are such cute little things when they're done.  Go on over to her blog and check them out!

English Paper Piecing Class

In March I taught an English Paper Piecing (EPP) class.  This was in anticipation of a class we had scheduled for Diane Miller, who was teaching a class that used EPP.  We had a class of 15, which is a very nice size of group.  

I learned most of my English Paper Piecing either from reading things on my own,or from SisterStitches, who teaches EPP at her quilt shop in Minnesota.  It seems like she's always working on an EPP project.  

One of the table groups for the class.

To prepare for the class I did some EPP and took lots of photos of the process.  Then I chose photos, made them black and white, and put them into a many-paged handout for the students.  Above is one of the photos.

I put together the above hexagons and put them onto this green background before making it into a pot holder.  Strange, but I can't find a photo of the finished pot holder!  This was the project everyone worked on.  

* * * * *

The photo below shows some more complicated EPP that I did for a class I took five years ago.  You can see the post here.  In this class (which I took via snail mail) we used smaller shapes to build larger hexagons.  

Here is a close-up of some of these hexagons.  One can tell from the above photo that this is an unfinished project.  I still need to make a few more "engineered" hexagons, then make "fill-in" pieces for the sides.

We had a good time during our class.  I showed them how to baste the fabric to the paper shapes with needle and thread, and also how to do it using fabric glue.  Different methods appeal to different people.

Here I am demonstrating the stitching to a student.

The students really enjoyed learning this method, and everyone was very successful.  People were especially happy about how portable this sewing method is.  So it can be easily taken when traveling or when going to a weekly quilting get-together.

Since then, we have formed an EPP interest group which will meet monthly.  That way we can share what we are doing, exchange ideas, and learn from each other.

I'll share some photos of their wonderful work in another post.

Row By Row

Or

My Own Little Shop Hop

I am home now, from a trip back to Iowa and Minnesota to visit my family.  I had a great time visiting with people, and I even got to work in a little more "quilt business" than I usually do.

My own LQS, The Loft, is participating in the Row By Row Experience.  This was the first I'd heard about this, but RxR has been around for several years.  The idea is to visit participating quilt shops and receive a free pattern from each one.  This year's theme is Home Sweet Home.  The patterns depict something about this theme, usually mixing in something about that particular quilt shop.  The shops also offer (for sale) special fabrics that have been chosen for this year's theme.  Also available are fabric personalized license plates.  

Now, back to my trip to the Midwest.  Before I left home I looked up participating quilt shops on the route I would be driving.  I ended up stopping at Calico Hutch in Hayward, Minnesota; Quilt Cove in Eagan, Minnesota; Quilting by the Hearth in Lonsdale, Minnesota; Michele's Quilting and Sewing Center in Blue Earth, Minnesota; Old Alley Quilt Shop LLP in Sherburn, MN, and Bear Patch Quilting Company in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  One day we drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to visit my niece and her husband, and I was able to visit Quilters Headquarters there.

At each shop I picked up the free pattern, did some looking around, sometimes bought some fabric (like I need any more!!), and at most of the shops I also bought the fabric license plate.

Notice the cute license patch fabric under the patterns.

Before I left on my trip, I had also collected RxR patterns from The Loft in Gualala, California and Eddie's Quilting Bee in Sunnyvale, California.

It happened to be that the Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop was going on at the same time.  So there were many shoppers who were also participating in that.

Now I have my work cut out for me--to sew up all these cute rows into a happy quilt!

For MisterStitches

MisterStitches had a birthday recently.  As I was thinking about what to give him, I had an idea.  We really don't give each other birthday presents in a big way any more, as we don't need any more "stuff."  We do make a special point to go out to dinner to celebrate, though.

But I wanted to give him a little something.  So I decided to make him some baseball-themed fabric coasters.  He always uses a coaster at his desk.  And here is what I came up with.

I used some nice baseball fabric that I ordered from Bear Patch Quilting Company, in Minnesota.  The baseballs on this fabric have a used, rather old look to them.  And I paired it with some of my brown grunge fabric by Moda to make a little bit larger mug rug. 

You can see that I also used some San Francisco Giants fabric, too, his favorite team.

MisterStitches was very happy with his present, and told me it was one of the best presents he's gotten.  (Really--he was serious!)

A Half-Square Triangle Quilt From Bear Patch Bits

Some of you may know that I am a long-time subscriber to Bear Patch Bits.  Clicking on the link will tell you how to receive 20 five-inch squares in the mail each month.  Since I've been receiving them for so long, I have Quite A Few Squares.  My plastic shoe box gets more and more crowded each month.  Finally I said, "Enough!"  (Not "enough" bear patch bits--I can never get too many of them!)  But I knew that I had to finally do something to use all of these fabric squares (or at least a good chunk of them).

I am quite a fan of the half square triangle (HST) and have made a few baby quilts with them.  Like here, here, and here.  I like the process of sewing them, and how I get "two for the price of one."  Because when I'm done sewing I have two identical squares.

So I started off by going through my squares and pairing up a light and dark value of the same color. I used my nifty Fons & Porter quarter inch seam marker, which made marking the squares pretty quick and easy.  It has a center line to line up with the diagonal corners, and both edges of the ruler are 1/4 inch away from the center.

I used either a Frixion pen or a chalk pencil to mark the seam lines, depending on how light or dark the fabric was.  

Here you can see a stack of squares which are all marked, just waiting to be chain pieced together.  (I also love chain piecing!)

And here is one stack, all sewn, cut apart, and pressed.

This photo shows that the stack is as tall as this pill bottle.

And now I have finally stopped sewing squares together.  {pant, pant}  Then I counted them all.  That was a big job, too!  Do you want to guess the number of triangle squares I have?

590

Yes, five hundred ninety half square triangles.  I couldn't believe it either.  I think that should be enough to make a quilt.  Maybe a big one!!

And at this point, my plastic shoe box looks like it went on a huge diet!  Instead of being bursting to overflow status, it looks rather sad and empty.  I didn't intend to use every single square, but I only left a few unsewn.  Fortunately, my Bear Patch Bits continue to arrive, so my box is slowly building up another supply.

GranddaughterStitches Making a Quilt

GranddaughterStitches was visiting this summer (oh, we had so much fun!) and one day I asked her if she would like to make a quilt.  Boy, was she excited about that!

So I gave her 20 5" squares and told her to arrange them however she wanted to on my design wall.  Below is the result.

These squares came from the Bear Patch Bits Club at Bear Patch Quilt Company.

Then I sewed them all together for her.  I think she really liked the result.

We both worked on sandwiching the quilt.  She worked hard on it, and did a good job.  One safety pin in the middle of each square.

Basting all completed!

Here is a photo of GranddaughterStitches with her completed quilt.  She was very happy to have a quilt for her doll.   (You can also see the potholder she wove.  That was another fun thing to do.)

Don't you just love the backing fabric she chose?  Very pretty.

I told her that every quilt needed to have a label, but every label doesn't need to be square on the back of the quilt.

"Made by Aurora and Nana
August 2014
Sea Ranch, CA"

Pretty good for her first quilt, don't you think?!?  I'm sure she and I will make more.  It's a lot of fun to sew with GranddaughterStitches.

Guild Quilt Show 2014 "Quilt The Music"

Our guild's annual challenge show (PPQG) was on exhibit last month.  The challenge this year was to take a piece of music and make a quilt to somehow illustrate it.  I entered three quilts.

This first one is small, about 11" square.  I belong to a small group and we all decided to make small wonky houses and use the "Little Boxes" song as our theme.  We had ten quilts to enter, and the lower right hand piece in the photo above has the words to the song printed on it.

I was assigned the color pink, so thats my little house right in the center.  It was fun to make--totally free form, no pattern.  It's not very visible, but I embroidered a little flower at the lower left, and that's a button green watering can near it. 

We all agreed to price our little quilt-lets at the same price ($25.00).  Several of them sold, including mine.  We'll be rolling in the money now!

The next quilt I entered was a baby quilt.  I blogged about this quilt here.  It is one of my favorite designs:  half-square triangles made from Bear Patch Bits fabric squares.

For the challenge I chose the song "Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry," and titled the quilt 

"Go To Sleep."

And my third quilt was a Quilt of Valor that I recently completed.  Since I had it available, I decided to enter it into the challenge using the song "Stars and Stripes Forever."  I named the quilt "Brave and True."

I'm afraid I don't have a "whole quilt" photo to show you right now, but here are some process photos.  Trust me, it really is finished!  I blogged about it previously here, while I was working on the quilting.  The top was made by the mother of a friend of my SisterStitches.  The mother passed away before she had the chance to finish this quilt.  I ended up with the quilt top and feel honored to finish it for her.

Quilt Retreat 2014

Our guild's annual quilt retreat was held in February.  This is truly one of the high points of the year for me!  We go away for three nights to a hotel.  We set up all our sewing machines and irons in one of the conference rooms.  Then we sew away!  All day and sometimes all night.  We do, however, take breaks for food, happy hour, and hot tubbing.

Here are a couple shots of our little sweat shop, with people busy, busy, busy.  It's really a treat for us to be away for 3+ days with no cooking and no bed making.

One of the projects I worked on this year was quilting a Quilt of Valor.  These are quilts that are given away to wounded veterans to help comfort them in their recovery.  I was actually given this quilt top already pieced, so I can't take credit for its beauty.

I'm happy I was able to get this quilt sandwiched at home before I went to retreat.  I like to use a quilt like this as a way to practice my free motion quilting.  I used a variety of quilting patterns on different areas of the quilt.  I did simple loopy lines down these red stripes (below).

Here I have marked a removable line down the center of a border strip and am quilting a different design.

Unfortunately it doesn't show up real well, but I found a cute design to use in the square star centers. It is called "circuit board" and is made by making random square-cornered meanderings.

* * * * *

After I had all that quilting done, I started on a baby quilt.  This one is made from 5" charm squares that I received from Bear Patch Quilt Company.  I belong to their Bear Patch Bits club, where I receive 20 charm squares every month.

I chose 72 of my blue squares for this quilt.  Then I sewed them into half-square-triangles.  This is a photo of all the half-square triangles placed on my design wall, before I sewed them together into rows.

Then, of course, there is always a tremendous amount of inspiration to be found at our retreats.  Everywhere I looked I saw beautiful quilts in different stages of completion.  And I always want to 

make each one for myself!

My friend Gail's beautiful color combinations coming together.

This is Dee's quilt, pieced from very small bright scraps that she stores up.
 I just love the brightness of it!

I just adore the beautiful colors--and the color combinations--in this
quilt started on a design wall.

These small squares were appliquéd on, rather than pieced in, in order to preserve
the beautiful prints in the background fabrics.

Isn't this amazing!?!  Circles appliquéd to small white squares.