Back to Winter...goodbye Nevada!

Well Chef Murphy and I took a break to go to Phoenix, Nevada on a FART (Fabric Acquisition Road Trip!). Of course anything to do with fabric is a blessing and Chef Murphy found a place for cheese making supplies! Both of us were thrilled! This is what we left:

After arriving in beautiful Phoenix we went here:

We went to Flagstaff this time (WTF = Welcome to Flagstaff!)

At the stroke of midnight in Flagstaff, the giant acorn drops to bring in the New Year! Wonder if they have insurance on that thing in case it bonks someone on the head? ha ha! Then we continued our trip to Sedona for sunset:

The pictures are never as nice as they are in person! We tried to get to the top of the airport vortex area to feel the "spirits" but there was no parking at all! Maybe the next visit we will make it! We continued our trip to Jerome -- now you gotta see this place! It's an old mining town that's built on the side of the mountain top. We stayed at The Connor Hotel -- the original one that is true to it's roots. I'll give you a peek at the room. This is an amazing little town to visit if you are in the area. Very touristy, thus the prices of everything is reflected the same. The food was fantastic and we were very happy with our stay. Take a look at the great tin ceiling and the remnants of one of the older buildings.

When we left Jerome, we headed toward Prescott and on our drive found an interesting area that was advertised for home sales. We decided to take a little drive in and see what it was all about. Take a look at this house! How would you like to live here?

Our final stop was Prescott and then off to Phoenix where we would shop some more! In the middle of no where look what we found!

so on to some fabrics! Take a look at the new additions that I found to add to my stash!

Some of the larger pieces of Christmas fabric is for some tree skirts that I have planned. I hope to get to those in the next week. I also picked up a new book on Free Motion Quilting! What a wonderful resource! Hope I can become as great as all of you out there!

Now I don't pay much attention to buying all coordinating fabrics when I am adding to my stash. If I love the fabric, I buy it! I don't stick to any one designer as I believe they all have their gifts and choices of colours. I love batiks and I've found some great "cheapo" fabrics that were 100% cotton that fit in quite nicely. I "feel" the fabric. You can tell some grades of fabrics are not as "sturdy" as others. I don't wash my fabrics and have not had trouble with it. I do use a colour catch when I wash and I personally love the puckering that takes place once it's washed. In my early quilting days I was told that you HAD to wash, and you HAD to press and you HAD to use templates! Well first of all I hate being told what I HAVE to do and secondly, the easier, the better. Personally I can't see the difference between quilts that had pre-washed fabric to quilts that did not have pre-washed fabric. It's all a choice. If you have reds in your quilt, watch how you wash it. You wouldn't put a red blouse in with your white blouse now would you? If you like pink, then take the risk. So again -- it's choices!

My favorite shop of course in Arizona is 3 Dude's Quilting. Ray has a new pattern out (like my Arizona quilt that I did earlier this year). He is in the process of writing the pattern now and it will be available on line for purchase. Well worth every penny I am sure. He was kind to offer his first pattern for free, and it's still free if you visit their website. Check it out! www.3dudesquilting.com Here's one of Ray's patterns that I picked up this past week:

One of the classes that you can find in the shop is this one: (of course I had to bring the pattern home!)

I hope that I've inspired you to dig out those fabrics and get sewing! I've been busy with my free-motion quilting of a baby blanket. I'm hand-stitching the binding and it will be photo-ready before it hits the post office! I'm not so afraid anymore and hope that this opens up the doors to more free-motion! Though, Karen, my long arm quilter is NOT off the hook! haha! I'll be still bringing her my bigger projects to do! I have some that are being worked on now but won't be posted as they are surprises for some people! Happy Quilting everyone!

Donation quilt - United Way

A co-worker and I were talking "quilts" last year and decided that this year we would do a quilt together to donate to United Way to generate much needed donations! It's an easy pattern, which I am sure you recognize! What a versatile pattern! You can make it any size you want, depending on the number of 2.5" strips you sew together.

The quilting of course was superb! I just love what Karen can do with the quilts! She makes them into works of art! Thanks Karen!

Many thanks to Jolene who generously donated the back and worked Thanksgiving weekend putting together the giant blocks and working in the beautiful piano border.

I wish you all could see this in person -- the photo's do not do it justice! Here's hoping that the lucky winner will love it as much as I do! If you are interested in this pattern -- head over to http://www.3dudesquilting.com/free_patterns.html Take a tour of their website! The pattern is easy to follow and one that I will make again! Happy Quilting Everyone!

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

Motivation

Friendship Star quilt was finally done the beginning of February. Off it went to my sister-in-law. Hopefully she loved it as much as I did making it for her.

I'm working on "motivation". I've organized my quilt studio and added more shelves. Chef bought me a beautiful TV and Blue Ray DVD player to coax me in. He's amazing! He is so supportive in my quilting efforts!

My birthday was in January and Chef surprised me with a beautiful new sewing machine. My Babylock Symphony is too good to be true! Who knew what I was missing all these years?

He took me for the weekend to Phoenix, Arizona in January. The man drove me to quilt shops and fingered fabrics beside me. Did I tell you he's an amazing man? We went to 3 Dudes Quilting where the two of us got a one-on-one quilting lesson from Ray, one of the owner's. Ray is infectious with his enthusiasm for creativity. I did bring home some fabulous batiks and Chef chose a couple of fabrics for a BBQ apron that I will be making him.

So what are you all creating?