Looking for a fabric dyeing tutorial~how to

I want to have a fabric dyeing day this spring at my B&Mortar store and need to give it a whirl on my own first to have the process & experience under my belt.

Any links, help, resources that have been sucessful for you (you have used) would be a HUGE help. I'll even send contributors a free FQ of your choice from my etsy store for the help!

New Moda Fabric and MORE just listed on Etsy

I have finished listing 7 new moda fabrics from the London Lawns II line. They are so beautiful! If you are looking for a romantic, feminine, Victorian-looking floral collection, this one is for you!

I also listed a great collection of charms called Funny Babies by Amy Bradley. It is really cute & perfect for quick baby quilts! Remember, our charm packs are always $7.50 or less!

And if you haven't been lulled & warmed by the Kashmir collections, here is your chance to snap up a fat quarter bundle at $25.00 below retail!

More great new fabrics now on Etsy

I have been hard at it again today adding more fabric to the http://www.fabricsnquilts.etsy.com/

Check out great prints from Westminster, David Textiles, Free Spririt, and more.

2 quilt binding tutorials added to fabricsnquilts.net

Spurred on by an online discussion earlier today, I combed the web to find tutorials on quilt binding.

Ready for your review! Hope they help!

Another Superior Threads giveaway!

In honor of Bob's Birthday this month, Superior Threads is offering a GIVE AWAY! Adding another birthday candle on the cake must agree with him, because Bob is feeling pretty generous. For this GIVE AWAY you have an opportunity to win a $100.00 (retail value) Gift Certificate!
http://superiorthreads.blogspot.com/2009/02/bobs-birthday-to-you.html

Happy Monday!

What a great start to the new week!

Almost all the items in my destash sale are finding new homes. The items that didn't sell are really ones I don't mind keeping (embroidered linen napkins). I spent this morning wrapping & boxing up the goodies to go to their next forever home. I also sold a tablerunner over the weekend, and those that read often, know how giddy I get when I sell a creation!

DH-FNQ & I spent most of the day Sunday doing the deep spring cleaning. Yes, there was snow falling, but it was great to get those "almost never clean" things spiffied up. You know, wash & press curtains, pull out the furniture, etc. I even recycled our spent candles into some new ones.

My black & white quilt is ready for a trip across town to the long-armer. I also decided how I would use my scrap squares from the falling stars quilt. I got all those trimmed up & laid out too. even got one stitched up. These will be 7" blocks and I will have 13 blocks from the scraps. I love piecing! It is true that I still have to figure out what to do with the 13 blocks after I get them all pieced...but that is the fun of scrappy quilts to me!

Sewing Saturday & Sunday~Preparing for a busy one!

I am pinning my inner border to the quilt now & hope to get all the borders on tonight. I hope to have a big reveal of the finished quilt here soon. I will call the local lady who I want to quilt it next week & set up a drop off time with her. Hopefully, it won't take too long to get it back. There is always hope! So a sneak peak at the pieced inner border is all I can show you! I was inspired by Bonnie @ www.quiltville.com 's Prairie Braided Border. I decided this would be a better match for the quilt and the amount of fabric I had left (always a good decision factor) than the folded flying geese I mentioned in the prior posts.

I am going to press & trim my collection of half square triangle blocks left over from the falling stars quilt tomorrow & see if that inspires me into the next scrap bag quilt. I am holding my feet to the fire to a quilt from new & quilt from scraps plan for 2009. I get a little boost, since the white in the black & white quilt is from remnants and the black I got at an auction 18 months ago for a song. You just never know what you will find at a country auction!

Don't forget to check out the eBay destash auctions listed by me & my quilting group. They end this weekend or early next week! Great deals to be found!

New Fabrics listed on Etsy

I am listing some wonderfully romantic & feminine quilt fabric today on Etsy! These are all 1 yard cuts. I am busily adding away today & have a few dozen to add. Convo me and let me know you saw it on the blog & I will ship your order for free until 2/28 !

(only fabric listings qualify for the free shipping-US & Canada only, but I will make WONDERFUL discounts on all other destinations!)

YIPPEE!

I have finished the center part of the black & white pinwheel stars! I am going to start cutting pieces today for the borders. Of course, I am already starting to plan the next quilt in my mind. I have company coming soon, so that will keep my planning "mental" (that sounds funny) for at least a week.

I was so excited, I hung another wall quilt rack on my wall in the store to display it while I am working on the flying geese. Of course you can only see a couple rows once it's folded, but this way I get to look at it all day. Giddy, you know me...

I see Stars!

I found my fabric! All else fails look where it is supposed to be! I had folded it all up nice & pretty & put it away in its place in the stash/fabric cabinet. I must have thought I was done with it (for some odd reason). So, the good news is that the stars are all done. I am pressing & squaring them up this morning & hope to get the rest of the top all assembled tonight. Then, it is on to the borders.

The more I think about it, the more I think I will go with the folded flying geese for the inner border. These were so much faster to do than traditional piecing and since I think I will send this top out to be long arm quilted, the extra layers won't matter as much as it would if I was going to hand quilt.

Now, do I really want to calculate how many flying geese units I will need, or just start sewing some & not be daunted by the number....

Like most of my quilting journey, I bet I just charge ahead & figure out the details (and quantity) later.

Progress Report - Quilt Tops in Progress

I have my black & white quilt top 1/2 assembled finally! I am 9 4" squares of white fabric away from being able to finish. WHY 9 4" squares, you ask? well, because I can't seem to put my hand on my white fabric. It is here somewhere...of course! I just need to knuckle down & find it.

I have also received 15 9 patch blocks for my charity block swap. I am excited & ecstatic to get started designing that quilt. I thought I would let the fabric talk to me & guide me to a plan. I have started to cut strips from my stash to make some of the 9 patches too.

I am also working on a promotion we will do in our brick & mortar store. This will be an ongoing event and I am very excited to roll that out next week.

I was on the Front Page of Etsy yesterday!

Ok, I wasn't, but my newest rag quilt darling was! I unfortunately missed seeing it live, as I was slowly sipping my morning Sunday coffee and lazily getting up.

When I had convo's and Quiltsy Team congrats on this totally unexpected achievement, however, I sprung to life in a hurry!

Many MANY thanks to beyeler for including me in her curation!

Also, many thanks to those that took a look and gave me a heart :)

Superior Thread Giveaway! HURRY Ends Today

Found this scanning my blogs I follow today...hurry offer for $50 Gift Certificate ends at midnight tonight!

http://superiorthreads.blogspot.com/2009/02/give-away.html

Happy Day Giveaway~Spring Basket of Goodies

I am turning over a new leaf!

It's the old leaves of fall! They are getting all raked up & put to compost. Ecological Repurposing!

So carrying this over into the indoors...how can I get that spring feeling here at FNQ?

I am offering a Quilter's Dream Basket for my March Giveaway. Just look at that scrumtious basket of quilting goodness! Retail value of the basket is $ 32.25

Here are the rules

(don't you just hate that part?)

Jump over to my website http://www.fabricsnquilts.net/ and check out all the pages.


Come back here & post a link to either:

• a quilting charity (not yet listed )
• or a link to a website (not yet listed) offering free quilting patterns or tutorials.

AND in your post, tell us your absolute most favorite quilting notion

I will draw at random from all the entries on March 17th and post here so you can all be jealous

FabricsNQuilts.net Free Pattern List Eclipses 35

www.fabricsnquilts.net has a goal!

Our goal is to be the best one place resource to find inspiration!

To this end, I am trying to grab up all the resources of the web into one handy-dandy list of free patterns! I have exceeded 35 links to patterns, tutorials & tools. Great for an afternoon of surfing. I am always looking for more to help you cross promote your site! Just use the contact us form!

Looking for a way to give back? Check out our list of charity projects you can contribute to!

We hope to meet all the needs of the quilter and be your one stop for fabricsnquilts!

Happy Friday! New Fabric listed on Etsy!

I had all good intentions of working the rake again today, but got caught up listing new fat quarter bundles on Etsy. Will get some more fabric listed tomorrow, I hope. I am woefully behind letting you all get your eyes on all this pretty fabric!

I am also preparing some listings for a big blow out sale of destashing next week on eBay. This is a group project, so I will share more about that as the listings get closer to being active.

Have a super weekend!

Another sign of spring

I did a little more yard clean up today and look what I found peeking up at me! It's late in the day, or I bet they would be wide open.

More Great updates on www.fabricsnquilts.net

I have added a page to our website, http://www.fabricsnquilts.net/ , for charity projects you may want to check out. Some are just sending blocks, and others are completed quilts. Something for everyone. If you know of a charity to add, just let me know!

I also added some new free pattern websites & tutorial links!

WOW it's Wednesday

I have been in a creative slide this week for me. I am working on just 1 project! It's very unlike me, but I have enjoyed hand quilting. It has been too long.

I am inspired to make a ton of things, but having a hard time motivating myself to do them. Maybe it is the warm week we have had. I spent Sunday raking the yard of a winter's full of debris and today we had a harsh storm pass through. Oh the limbs that fell!

As I was walking around, assessing storm damage to the trees, I found these tulips starting to come out of their shell. Maybe spring will be here before we know it!

Piecing & Quilting away!

Not much to show & tell this week, unless we get another snow day, which is highly unlikely. I am playing with the plaids today. At night I have been handquilting the sampler. That is just about all that is going on with me this week. just one project or another...

In other news, my local guild has announced some of the details for our June quilt show.
Check it out here: www.sewsweetquilters.com

Sewing Saturday & Sunday

What a gorgeous weekend here!

Yesterday at work, I prepared some pieced blocks for thier next step in the black & white quilt & found a cool freebie for folded flying geese that I may use for a border. I may go traditional, but these are much easier! I will cross that bridge when I come to it!

Also yesterday, I sandwiched up a long-folded top & got it ready for hand quilting. I got very little quilting done, but it was great to have a hand work project to work on again with TV time.

Today...well, it is just too pretty outside to sew! I have been playing & dreaming of the summer garden. I may do a little patchwork this afternoon, but only if my back tells me to stop playing with the rake.

Enjoy your weekend!

2009 Projects~#8 Denim & Floral Rag Quilted Bullet Backpack

The first edition of my original design! This bullet-shaped backpack had been in my head for a couple years and I finally decided to get it out of there :)

I used Fig & Plum charm squares by Fig Tree Quilts by moda for the exterior. Playing on a color in several of the fabrics, I batted the bag with a deep maroon flannel and lined the purse with upcycled black denim. The back cinches up at the top and that cording is also the strap. I have added a sleeve over the cording on the strap to give it a finished look.

I am VERY tempted to keep this cutie, but have listed it for sale on Etsy.

Now there is new room in my head for a new idea. I can hear the rattle from the now empty space...

2009 Projects~#7 Queen Denim & Flannel Rag Quilt

This quilt came to me as I organized the studio. Using a good portion of my denim stash is always good, but this project was really a way to utilize my collection of plaid flannels and flannel remnants left from other projects.

Using the remnants for my batting, I was able to almost able wipe out that remnant/scrap bin (big Snoopy dance!) The remnants also add a ton of character to the frayed seams putting pops of color here & there, but I love that none of them really stand out & scream, look at me!

This quilt is for sale on Etsy, as I kept the last queen sized rag quilt I made just a couple months ago. Sleeping under these quilts is like being wrapped in warmth & really make it hard to get out of the bed on snowy mornings!

2009 Projects~#6 Pink & Brown Rag purse & wallet set

This set was custom made for a local lady. She is a repeat customer with my handbags and can always find a new look. The brown corduroy really sets off the warm pinks in very fun prints. The brown tulip and polka dot print are from "flea market fancy" by free spirit and the print on the wallet is from "woodland blooms" by moda.

Always great to work with a customer who knows here stuff!

So Much progress made today!

First, I stitched up this block, just cuz it appealed to me. I am thinking of a scrappy quilt with the green floral being consistent in each block & using my scraps to make up the contrast. The green floral is the challenge fabric for my quilt guild's block challenge this year at our show. It is so diverse! My block pic is a bit blurry...forgive me!

Second, I got the strips started on the black & white quilt.

I snapped this pic quickly, and you can see that I am not quite done :) The nice white hole of the design wall will be filled, I promise, with a black square. I decided that putting the squares on point gave so much more movement to the pinwheels in the block than a straight set (see this blog post for comparison if you wish). I am currently leaning toward hand quilting this top, but may send it to a long armer. I have another quilt top in that same state of limbo too....ah, decisions!

I tend to work backwards with scrappy quilts. I get what I can out of the scraps & let that tell me how big the quilt will be. It's like an extra surprise when I get all the blocks done & run out of fabric! So, I started marking & sewing my scrappy plaids today & did a little easy math in my head. WHEW! I will need 2500 of these little gems. Now, if that's not scrappy (& crazy) I don't know what is! Anyone who points out where my points don't match...is a dead man. That is fair warning! :)

The snow is still coming down, so tomorrow may be another Happy Stitchin' Day!

Website Just Updated!

I just did a little revamp of www.fabricsnquilts.net I had something different in mind when I started, but this works better I think.

You will see from my website that I have started to list our antiques online in Etsy store VintageYouWant. I am starting with antique paper and other unbreakables. I will try to get a few new things on every couple of days. I am currently working through my collection of World War I era postcards & greeting cards. I hope to get some more of those listed this week, including some that were signed from Europe during the war. Great stuff, if you like that stuff!

I have also collected several new pattern websites and have added many to www.fabricsnquilts.net. I have more to go, but this list is really growing!

Enjoy browsing!

Best Stiches...

Feeling Romantic?

Then this is the collection for you. It just sings garden walks with the one you love!

Penelope is a warm collection from Sentimental Studios for moda. There are 15 fabrics in the collection in hues of teal, brown and burgandy. Warm & luscious prints!

You can find Penelope in my Etsy shop!

Its a SNOW DAY! Or should I say SEW day

Yup, at least 3 inches so far & it's still coming down. It was around 18 degrees when I got up on the dial. brrrr!

So, I jumped right into the studio & started pressing quilt blocks. I pinned my layout on the design wall for the black & white quilt and settled on a design. Now to make more Pieced Star blocks!

I also hope to quilt up several more squares on the Civil War Layer Cake top today too. It takes about an hour a block, so I try to do one block, then set aside for a little while, then pick it back up.

Hope you are all safe, warm & stitchin'!

Charity Block Swap~Easy 9 Patch

I have been inspired by one of my online quilting buds this week. So as to not "call her out", I will tell you how she inspired me. She has been teaching her daughter how to quilt and her daughter decided, after having a few quilts under her belt, that she wanted to participate in Soldiers Angels. My friend, asked our online group if we could send some blocks to help out. Her goal was to make TWO rag quilts AND TWO traditional quilts.

That was inspiring in itself.

Then she posted a few days later about a quilt she was finishing for her husband. Once done, she let us take a look. It was a gorgeous pieced Red, White & Blue quilt. So, I was inspired again...

Yesterday morning I sat staring into the semi-organized room I call my studio (or my Rooum (like Inspector Clouseau)) and got to thinking of yet another project I could start. I remembered that I had found several 9 patch blocks last week when I did a round of organizing in the studio. The idea of a swap came into my mind, but I couldn't wrap my hands around the total plan.


Then I remember the quilt she made for her husband...and it all made sense!

I would like to make a quilt to donate to my local American Legion. My local Legion is in the process of building a facility in our small town. I believe that the newly returned & vets of older conflicts need a place to go, socialize, and find the kind of empathy only those who have seen the ravages of war can provide. I want to help and this is my way.

Here's what I propose...

I will either (you include a note with your blocks to tell me which you choose):

**Send you a fat quarter of quilt shop quality fabric for each three 6.5" (so that they will finish to 6" for me) 9 patch blocks

OR

**I will do a one for one swap (each block you send me, I will send you one back) 6.5" 9 patch blocks.

Blocks must be white muslin or white tone on tone fabric in the X of the nine patch and EITHER red or blue as shown in this diagram. The red & blue can be any quilt shop quality prewashed (I would hate for the reds to run on us) cotton fabric, print or solid.

You can sign your block with permanent ink, if you so choose. I will provide a list of contributors when I present them with the quilt. If you wish to remain anonymous, just let me know.

*The blocks you receive back will be in various colors and prints (unlike what you will send me). *The blocks will be 100% cotton quilt shop quality fabrics. If you are planning a project and have a special request for colors, I will gladly take that into account as I sew up your blocks.

You can find my address here to mail your blocks. You do not need to include return postage.

In advance, I would like to express my thanks for considering my request and helping me fulfill my wish. I would like to get started on the quilt in March if possible, so will set that as a timeline. If all goes well, we'll do this again!

Time to learn something NEW!

I have wanted to use my embroidery machine to do applique, but have been intimidated. Today I found a great tutorial! (I love the internet!)

http://www.sewswell.com/applique_instructions01.html

So, now it is time to look for designs & get inspired on incorporating this form of applique into a quilt. (you can all start wishing me luck now) :)

Off to start another UFO!

I have never had so many as I do now!

Monday Madness~60 yesterday, snow today

You have heard it...."If you don't like the weather, just wait!"

Yesterday was gorgeous. Sunny, 60, little wind...beautiful! We were supposed to see some sprinkles this morning & then a few flakes this afternoon. I guess the man upstairs decided otherwise! Ground covered in white this morning, but the roads are clear since they had that nice warm day yesterday to soak up the heat.

It feels like a lazy day to me. I love those! I may do some listing...unless I stay lazy!