Bohemian Bird Pattern

I made my first Bohemian Bird several years ago. Long before owning a quilt shop was even on my radar.

When I opened my shop I needed things to display and on a whim hung up my little Bohemian Birds. I only had two at the time. When I started carrying Sue Spargo merchandise I made a third. Then the requests for the pattern began.

I started working on a pattern a few months ago. I realized that in order to write a good pattern I needed to make another one. Here she is:

I have named them all thus far. Her name is Isabella. The pattern is currently being tested by a few friends. As soon as I get their feedback I will make the pattern available for purchase. If you are interested in a copy of the pattern, leave a comment. Make sure that your comment includes an active email address so I can contact you when the pattern is available.

These little birds finish at 10" by 10". Besides a small wall hanging, you could make these into a pillow, notebook cover, bag or anything else you can dream up. The pattern will sell for $10.99 and will only be available through my shop, Alamosa Quilt Company. The shop does not yet have an online store as I am only one person and just don't have the infrastructure required to run a brick and mortar shop and an online shop, and do a good job with both, at the moment. It is on the list to open an online shop, but I'm just not there yet.

Aunt Sue's Cross Stitch Quilt :: A Finish

This one is going in the mail today back to it's owner so now I can share it with you.

So ... here is the story: My aunt's MIL passed away a couple months ago. She was a quilter. Like most of us, she had several unfinished projects. My aunt, who doesn't sew at all, asked if I would finish a few of them as they were for her girls (my cousins). Those quilts were already to the finished top stage. They only needed quilting, binding and a label. I had my local long arm quilter do the quilting. All I did was bind and label them.

Then she included a bag of 31 of these cross-stitched blocks and asked me to put them together into a quilt. When squared up these blocks finish at about 16.5", so they are pretty big. And as you probably know, there is no easy way to put 31 identical blocks into a quilt. My original plan was to put 30 of them on the front, with the other on the back. However, with sashing and borders that quilt would have been HUGE! Too big to even be quilted by my long arm quilter! So on to plan B. I ended up making two quilts from the blocks. The smaller of the two is shown above using 9 of the blocks. It is 66.5" by 66.5". The other quilt is exactly the same, except it uses 20 of the blocks. It is still pretty big, too big to fit well on my fence for photography. 

The remaining two blocks I'm just returning to my aunt. I was going to border them and have them quilted but they are stained. I decided not to fool with trying to wash unfinished blocks to see if I could get the stains out.

Honestly, when I first saw these blocks I was not inspired. In fact, I made a big *SIGH* and just shook my head. Now that the two quilts with these blocks are finished, I love them! These are not my style at all, but they are so sweet and pretty all the same.

All Aboard :: A Finish

This one was another shop sample that we are done with.

This one is pretty big finishing at 78" by 85". Check out the back.

This one is now in the "Ready Made" section of my shop. Occasionally we have folks come in and ask if we have any finished items for sale so I started selling finished samples that we are no longer using. Admittedly, we don't sell a lot of finished items throughout the year, but October, November and December we sell quite a few.

Unbridled :: A Finish

This one was a digital sample for a fabric line I had in my shop the first summer we were open.

I had it long arm quilted and I really love the pattern she used.

I'm not sure how well the quilting design shows up since she quilted it with invisible thread. However, the design is a boot, cowboy hat, star and loops. It really is adorable!

And I am happy to report that this one already has a "forever home". I sent it to someone effected by the Camp Fire through the organization Layers of Hope, Quilting 911. If you are on Facebook you can look them up. They only have a Facebook page, no website.

Corky Wallet

I am enjoying sewing with cork. Have you tried it yet? I found a great little pattern for a wallet made from cork. 

What I really like about this little pattern is that all you need is cork, thread and your machine. There is no zipper, button, magnetic snap or anything else needed.

The pattern I used is called "Corky Wallet".

In case you are wondering, this is what the cork I used looks like in sheet form. It is pretty cool stuff!

If you haven't tried sewing with cork yet, give it a try. You don't need anything special - no special machine, thread, needle or anything. It cuts easily with a regular rotary cutter or scissors.

Adventures Quilt :: A Finish

I made up this top over a year ago. After it was finished I found out that it is too big for the organization I planned to donate it to. Thus it has sat unquilted.

Recently I have gotten into quilting with template rulers. I ordered some of the Creative Grids ones designed by Angela Walters and used one of them, Squiggy, to quilt this up. Now that it is finished I'm sure I will be able to find someone for which this one is perfect. Here is what the back looks like.

Scrappy Chevrons :: A Finish

This one was a scrap group project from before I opened my shop.

The project was to make a quilt using only half-square triangles. I think I passed out a couple pages worth of layout ideas. I believe I made two quilts and still had half-square triangles left over. I turned the leftovers into this quilt. I really like how it turned out! 

This one measures 49" by 62".

Thinking Outside the Kit :: A Finish

I have no idea how long this one has been a completed top!

These fabrics were included in a kit I purchased on clearance from my LQS years ago. I didn't like the pattern included with the kit so I used the fabric to make something else. Actually, I ended up buying multiples of this kit and I believe I made three quilts from the two kits. 

I'm pretty sure I gave the other two quilts away and will most likely do the same with this one.

The finished quilt size is 64" by 80". It was machine quilted by a local long arm quilter. I did not use a pattern. All fabrics except the solid black and the binding were included in the kit I purchased.

Abacus :: A Finish

Another Sew Kind of Wonderful pattern finish. I completed the top for this one back in March 2013! Click here to read that post.

I still have four more quilts waiting for binding! But I am making progress. Now I'm starting to worry about where I'm going to put all these completed tops. Some may go to charity or be given as gifts.

Batik Urban Birthday :: A Finish

I'm still in the midst of my binding marathon! I'm very glad to be finished with the second and last of the batik quilts as hand sewing with batik fabric is not my favorite.

The top was completed back in May 2015. Click here for that blog post. I really like this pattern and have made two versions of it. This batik one and one using a French General layer cake. This pattern is a great one for a beginner to curved piecing so I'll be teaching it soon again, but this time at my shop.

Granny Squares :: A Finish

My mom pieced this one and sent it to me to finish.

It has been patiently waiting to be quilted for several years. I sent it to a local long arm quilter with the rest of the quilts I have been showing lately to be quilted.

I will probably donate this one to charity. Not sure which charity just yet but I will find it a good home.

Modern Gratitude :: A Finish

The top was completed back in January 2017. It was a one of the scrap group projects at my shop that year. Click here to read that post.

I really like this one and I'm glad that it is finally finished so I can enjoy it. Once I started pulling out completed tops to take to the quilter I began finding them every where! I had lots more completed tops than I realized. I've emptied one storage area of completed tops but they keep turning up! Now instead of just putting them back I'm pulling backing fabric, batting and sending them to a local long arm quilter. I'm determined that my son will not inherit a bunch of completed tops. He may inherit a bunch of completed, unused quilts - but I'm fine with that.

Colorful Death Stars :: A Finish

My original name for this quilt was Circle Dance. I completed the top back in March of 2014. Click here to read that post. I made it as a class sample which I taught at my old LQS, before I opened my store.

When I pulled this one out to send it to the quilter my husband said, "I remember that one. It looks like colorful Death Stars." So that is now it's name. This one is currently hanging in our dining room.

Metro Rings :: A Finish

Another finish. The pattern is Metro Rings by Sew Kind of Wonderful. If you've ever wanted to make a double wedding ring quilt but haven't yet because it's a hard pattern, I highly recommend this pattern instead. The rings are strip pieced and then the rings are cut from the strip sets using the Quick Curve Ruler.

I completed the top in October 2015 but just recently got it quilted and finished. Click here to read the post where I shared the completed top. I've actually been getting a lot of things quilted lately. So stayed tuned ... the snow finally cleared enough in the backyard so I can get to the fence to take better quilt photos.