Serger Pieced Frolic Top

I attended a Babylock demo recently and I know I've seen it before probably at my Bernina dealer Sew This - a serger created quilt top. So I had this pile of Moda Frolic line sitting around that I just had to have when I saw it at Denise's cute new quilt shop in New Orleans, Mes Ami Quilts. I decided I wanted to serge piece the top --- I know, not exactly a 1/4 inch but with this technique, it's all about speed but accuracy is still easily achieved as long as you take your time and don't rush it. I was able to whip this top and pieced backing together in an afternoon. I will let you know about the quilting --- I have a feeling it might be a little difficult with all that thread in there from the serger... we shall see.

Fall Quilt

This is a quilt I started at retreat in August and then completed when I got back home. It's a quilt-as-you-go technique where you sandwich your pieced block/batting/backing - the backing is cut an inch larger all the way around the block size. This will be used later to bind each block basically after you sew all the sandwiches together as a quilt. You make your sandwiches and then free motion quilt each block.

After you've free motioned all your blocks, you take two blocks with backs (right sides together) and stitch them along the edge of the top block.

You'll keep stitching your quilted blocks together.

I used a glue stick to help me with folding over the edges to cover the block's raw edge and then you stitch it all down.

and bam - you have a completed, quilted quilt! All done!

My first retreat - recap

I know it's been forever since I last posted on my blog - life just takes us on so many different adventures and time slips away so quickly when you are having so much fun! I am being sarcastic here folks! The last half of the year is just flying by and in just a short couple of weeks will be Quilt Festival in Houston -- Mom is coming in to town later this week and I've been busy cleaning every nook and cranny of the house which has been neglected just like my blog! LOL

I attended my first ever quilter's retreat this past August! Being my first retreat, I had no clue how much stuff I should bring - as it turned out, I should not have packed as much stuff as I did -- I was afraid I would run out of thing to do but I might also have some sort of ADD thing going because I was planning to do so many different projects and I wanted to get a major jump on the holiday projects. I can tell you one thing, not an inch of holiday fabric made it out of the van -- they stay packed up in the big rubbermaid tub they came in and back to the sewing room they went after the 4 1/2 day retreat was over!

Here is the sewing space I was assigned - an entire 8ft table - we had shared cutting/ironing tables setup so we didn't have to take up room on our tables for that. It was great spreading things out. Next time, I'll be packing and taking MUCH LESS with me, trust me.

I got to a slow start when I got there because I realized I had left all my rulers, iron, extension cords etc at home in my mad rush to pack everything else in the van that morning. My wonderful partner Jody was so nice to drive up the rest of my supplies to me --- he got to drive the 2 hours which was OK because he made it a business trip anyways. The gals thought it was so sweet of him to do that. I thought so too. Anyways, we all arrived on Monday morning - I got there around 11am - unpacked the van and got things setup up and then realized what I had left behind. After lunch I was still setting things up and then Jody arrived and I could finish my setup. Then some gals wanted to go on a road trip to the local pharmacy that just so happens to sell fabric and notions too. Well, we never made it - on the way there, there was car troubles after Theresa ran over fallen tree limb in the street. Glad we stopped because she killed her transmission pan with that limb - and we would never have made it past the first town. We got back and things got into motion to create my first project a blue/silver kaleidoscope quilt - paper pieced. I got through some cutting - got some stitching done and by nightfall I was ready to burn it all --- I don't think my mind was in the right place to stitch an tear the paper that night --- I am leaving the project for another time.

This little nap sack was one of the projects I completed at the retreat. Used Connecting Threads "cheap talk" fabrics.

I decided to show a quick project I whipped up on the serger. These little 4x6 notebook covers came together very quickly. I whipped up 3 of them in no time - gave away 2 and kept one for myself.

And finally I started an entire quilt project by time day 2 1/2 or 3 rolled around. Quick and easy with no seams to match up and it's a quilt-as-you-go project. More on this in another post coming soon.

I also whipped up a journal cover too --- I was very much into the fall colors that week!

All in all I had such a great time at this retreat. I met some wonderful quilters. I got to know some friends even better and it was relaxing to be away from life for a few days in the middle of the Louisiana woods with no TV and no distractions. We stayed up late every night - well, some of us did, and I even surprised myself that I woke so early most mornings - I guess I was just too excited and needed to get some sewing done.

Looking forward to next year's retreat already.

Beep Beep on the Highway!

I have been neglecting my blog for months now with regards to posting anythign new. Lots has been going on around here in south Louisiana since my last post in, can it be, April? WOW - I should never have let it go so long. Anyways, I have not been stitching all too much since April so there proably would not be much to post anyways. My months have been filled with so many other activites that include changing the name of my business to Studio504 Photography and creating a new website, trying to stay afloat and get new business in a slow market, attending some photography workshops, teaching photography workshops, a couple of conventions and association meetings, some traveling here and there and most recently just this past week returning from New England where is was cool and wonderful compared to steamy and balmy New Orleans.

So, I am back and plan to share again --- this is a recent creation of mine - a new tote bag with a southwestern travel theme.

Up next is a 4-day quilting retreat, my first ever -- i'll be the only 'guy' there --- I think out of 20 or so --- what did I sign myself up for this time!! oh my! It will be fun -- I have chosen to only work on holiday projects and gift making the whole time I am there! More to come soon.

Quilts for Kids

Just yesterday I completed this cute bunch of singing kids quilt for the Quilts for Kids organization. If you have not visited their website and ordered your quilt kit, now's the time to do it and get stitching for a worthy cause.

Incredible Give Away

Would you like to win a fabulous give away?? How about an AccuQuilt Go. Go right now and check it out http://ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/2010/04/5-days-left-in-ihan-30-days-of_11.html Be sure to check out more information on their blog and website too!

Blog Link:: http/www.ihaveanotion.blogspot.com/
Website Link : http://ihavea-notion.com/store/

Polish Quilters

So my heritage is 100% Polish -- I am a first generation Polish-American, I love cabbage, sauerkraut, kelbasa and peirogi! Both my mother and father were born in Poland and immigrated to the states back in the early/mid 1960s. My sewing skills come directly from my mother and her side of the family although my father's side of the family was just as skilled. So, I have always had an interest in finding Polish quilters, which there are few or few that I am aware of because I don't think quilting in the sense as we know it in the states is something they do in eastern Europe, but I could be very wrong. So over at Quilting Bloggers website, they have lists of bloggers by country --- guess what, they have three quilt bloggers in Poland -- very neat! I use Google Chrome for browsing the Internet, so it translates the websites for you -- although at some point in my life, I could read and speak Polish very well, I no longer can. I think Mom could do it.

Anyways - here is the list of the three blogs from Polish quilters -and one quilt shop!!!

http://rusticnook.blogspot.com/

http://szmatkalatka.blox.pl/html

http://szmatkalatka.pl

http://www.textilecuisine.blogspot.com/

Enjoy the trip abroad!

EDIT: Look over to the right in my sidebar, I've added a growing list of Polish bloggers that quilt and/or sew!

GSQA Seminar

I attended my first GSQA Seminar this past month and of course I just had to take Patchwork Time's very own Judy Laquidara's class when I found out she was heading in this direction and would be teaching. I only had one day to devote to seminar and I wanted to make the most of it and I think I accomplished that. Judy's class was wonderful, I learned a few things along the way, met and sewed with some wonderful ladies and most importantly, got to meet Judy in person! Here's a photo of us -- not my best side but it'll do!


I had a great time Judy! It was great meeting your Mom and your friends!

Scaling Back and Concentrating

I recently had to make some hard decision about my time management and prioritization of tasks at hand, especially with my business which is priority number one all the time, at least that is what it should have been. I was taking on too many 'other' projects and tasks that didn't have anything to do with growing my photography business and thusly, I was suffering from those decisions. I made the decision to scale back on my teaching, sewing, quilting and classes so that I can focus and be much more present in my day to day growth of my business which is very important to keeping any sort of quilting or sewing hobby in check and fabric stash funded! So, with that, I am probably not going to be very productive with projects over the new several months but I am not giving it up - I am just scaling back. I am still planning to have Saturday afternoons/evening and all day Sundays to sew and quilt and embroider --- it will be my sanity check unless a bottle of wine has my name on it first!

March Stash Report

OK - I had every intention of at least doing this Judy L. Stash Report update monthly but I am already a month behind --- so here's the update through the end of march. I did donate 8 yards of fabric for the million pillow case project over at AllPeopleQuilt.com Our guild made 103 pillowcases one Sunday morning a few weeks back -- read more about that on our guild blog here.

Used Feb/March: 13.5 yards
Used year to Date: 26.125 yards
Added Feb/March: 12.5 yards
Added Year to Date: 59.675 yards
Net Used for 2010: 33.55 yards

A Saints Tribue

I will admit that I am not the biggest football fan out there but when our beloved Saints kept on winning this past season, the momentum of enthusiasm and spirit took over this town like the storm that hit us in 2005. We are all so proud and we just finished one of the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in history along with a historical Saints Victory parade that estimated over 800,000 people in attendance. So with that said, I've been inspired to make some Saints related items - I found some of this fabric at Joann's a couple weeks ago and thought, I'll make some coasters for game day --- they remain on the coffee table still. I've been remiss in updating my blog lately, I hope to change that but I think I need an intervention of something to make that happen a bit more often!

Stash Report January 2010

OK - so I had every intention of doing a weekly stash report but stuff just got in the way of a weekly report so I've promised to make monthly reports and I'll keep my database updated on a weekly basis the best I can so that I can make those monthly reports. Wish me luck with that.

I've done some purchasing lately, no surprise there huh. But sometimes the bargains are too good to pass up. I've busted a few yards this month - most went to swaps so i'll have to add that yardage back in since I'll be getting some back eventually. But I did make a few things too, but not enough so that plan is to keep stitching - and with Mardi Gras just around the corner, I'll some extra time to get some additional stitching done.

Bought this month:47.175

Bought YTD: 47.175

Used this month: 12.625

Used YTD: 12.625

Net YTD: 34.55

Winning in more ways than one! Geux Saints!! Superbowl bound!

Isn't it great - the New Orleans Saints will be in their first ever Superbowl in a couple weeks! Yeah! Geux Saints!!! Who Dat!!!! Well, in celebration I created this machine embroidered (applique in the hoop) apron yesterday. I am also working on some towels and such to add a little more black and gold in the home!

Oh, and the winning part in more ways than one, I was also a recent winner of one of Ryan's blog contests at I'm Just a Guy Who Quilts - isn't it great - a wonderful barn quilt calendar, a great jellyroll of wonderful fabric and a great christmas collection of fat quarters and a charm pack!!! I also love Ryan's business card!!! Yipee!!

Embroidery Workshop at Sew This!

I had the best time last weekend teaching an embroidery workshop at my local Bernina dealer, Sew This! is Abita Springs, LA. The room was full of machine embroidery enthusiasts and we all had a grand time learning and sharing the day of stitching. We covered some basics of stabilizer selection and hooping techniques and we were all off and running on several projects. Some of these gals had never even used their embroidery modules (can you believe that!) but within the first hour they were all embroidering!!!! Thanks to Mona and Deba at Sew This! for inviting me to teach this great workshop. Looking forward to the next workshop on March 6th!

Mexican Inspirations

Over the Christmas holiday week we went on a quick 5 day cruise to Cozumel and Progresso Mexico from New Orleans. It was a great trip, nice warm weather, tropical breezes and a relaxing theme the entire time. On our stop in Progresso, we decided to take a trip to historic Merida, Mexico -- wow - what a great old city with lots to see and do. We did a historic downtown tour and shopping - certainly not enough time to see and do it all but I was very inspired by what I saw, particularly this tile detail in the old cathedral downtown.

On our walking tour near the city center, we stopped at a small shopping village that had some some great textiles hanging about --- there were great examples of patchwork and some incredible hand embroidered textiles that depicted mayan calendars and other stories. The embroidery appeared to be wool yarns and the vivid colors were just so eye catching. It was way above my budget so I went home empty handed but full of inspiration for future projects. Enjoy my pictoral inspirations.