Arizona meets Calgary

January of this year, Chef Murphy and I went to Arizona. He took me on a FART (Fabric Aquisition Road Trip)! We had a great time, however with my back and being off work, I didn't touch the new sewing machine I got for my birthday until the beginning of June of this year! YIKES! The fabric is from 3 Dudes Quilting -- the pattern is courtesy of Ray Steeves. His pattern "Majestic Mountain Quilt" is his own. I used 2 1/2" strips of Bali fabric (which I love!) The pattern is super easy and has a great dramatic effect!

Ray has kindly shared his pattern for FREE and has given permission to use it at my quilt guild. Check out their website: www.3dudesquilting.com , you will find a great collection of free quilt patterns! They also offer on-line orders as well. The website is growing, so stay tuned. If you are in the area of Phoenix, stop by and say "hi". They are a great bunch of guys! Chef Murphy even got in on a lesson and he said it was the ONLY quilt shop where he felt he wasn't shunned and ushered out the door! He seems to feel that quilt shops are very unwelcoming to men -- even though I think he's got a great eye for fabric and colors! He's a great person to have amongst bolts and bolts of fabric and will find the "one" that's just perfect! (Thanks honey! ;-)

The lovely quilting is courtesy of Karen Morrison of Queen B Quilting Designs. The both of us will be working on yet another quilt with this pattern that will be donated for a United Way Raffle! We picked a tighter design as this is my living room quilt that will be in and out of the washing machine. You'll note that I have some reds in this quilt. I used Retayne in the wash estimating how much yardage there is in the total quilt. I put approx 1 tsp. per yard into the wash with HOT -- yes, HOT water and a cold rinse. It was then tossed in the dryer for 30 minutes on medium heat (cause I love the puckers the heat brings out) This is what it looks like now:

Now before you all GASP... I toss my quilts in and out of the washing machine. I don't panic and I don't worry about it. I don't lecture any recipient of my quilts on how to take care of them. If they ask, I tell them to gently wash and toss in a cool dryer for about 20 minutes to get most of the water out, then lay flat IF POSSIBLE to totally dry it. Reality is, people will toss it in with their regular laundry and toss it in the dryer. So what? I want my quilts to live life! If it's THAT important, it's not going to be used. The biggest compliment that I can have is someone telling me that they have worn the quilt to pieces. Then I know it was "much loved".

I buy good cottons and use decent batting and good cotton for the back. My quilting stitches are within reason (meaning that once it's ready to quilt, I read the directions to the batting to determine what the maximum distance is to quilt). I haven't had a problem. I find the more it goes in the wash and dryer, the more cozy and soft it gets! Happy stitching! Margo