Still At "The Lake"

I'm still making progress on my On Ringo Lake project.

The photo above is of my progress on Clue 3. I have some of Clue 4 made too. I had planned to use my Deb Tucker Corner Pop ruler for clue 3, but I wasn't thinking and cut out my neutral squares for a different method! Oh well, it will work. I did use the Essential Triangle Tool ruler for clue 4. I must say that I am impressed. It was easy to use and my units are coming out great!

On Ringo Lake Clue 2

I'm surprised that I've been able to keep up somewhat.

This photo was take a few days ago but I'm just now able to write something to go with it. I now have all of my flying geese sewn, but only three are trimmed to size. I've got a lot of trimming to do! I hope to be able to get at least some of clue 3 cut out today. I plan to use the Corner Pop ruler method for it.

The reason I have been unable to post much here lately is that my shop is in the midst of Stuff My Stocking (also known as 12 Days of Christmas in other areas). It's one of those promotions where the shop offers a deal on one item a day for 12 days. It takes a lot of time (before, during and after) to do it well. If you are interested we do ship. You have to be signed up for our newsletter to participate. Go to our website, click here - Alamosa Quilt Company, and click on the "subscribe to our newsletter" button located on the header image below our logo. Today is the ninth day of the event but on the 12th I will be allowing folks to go back and take advantage of previous days. So if you sign up now you can still get in on all of the deals, provided we still have items left, which at this point we have at least a few of every item.

Gift Sewing

I've been making some gifts for Christmas this year.

26 napkins and 2 pillowcases!

On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt

I really don't have time for this but I'm doing it anyway! Our guest bed needs a new quilt.

I have no illusions that I will be able to keep up. My goal is to make 12 of each clue each week. Then I will make the rest as time allows.

The details of this mystery quilt can be found by clicking here. The next clue will be revealed tomorrow sometime.

Ornament Progress

They aren't all completed but I do have some finished.

Panel Quilt Series :: First One

I'm working on a series of simple patterns for panels. This is the first one.

The quilt top is made. Now I'm working on writing the pattern so we can kit this up.

Back from Market

I left Thursday morning and got back late Monday night (actually I got back early Tuesday morning since it was after midnight when I arrived back in Alamosa) from Market. 

Before I became a shop owner I thought about how much fun it must be to get to go to Market. Seeing all the quilting celebrities, 

Alex Anderson and me

Sue Spargo and me

getting free swag, seeing all the new stuff, ... And yes, all that is fun. 

But really it is a trade show. I'm there for work. I don't own a shop because "it seemed like a fun job." It is WORK. I don't go to Market to buy stuff at wholesale price to put in my personal stash. Everything I buy is for the shop in some way. It will either be a product that I put out on the shop floor for sale or something I want to test myself before purchasing in large quantities for the shop or to make a sample for shop so that when the stuff arrives I already have the sample done. 

My income from the shop helps to pay bills for my family, buy groceries for my family, pay our mortgage, ... you get the idea. Going to Market is work and something I need to do for my business.

My mission for this Market was to seek out new products. I went with a list. I wanted to talk with the designer, see the items in person, learn how they work directly from the source and decide if it is something I think my customers would like.

I can't show you what I bought because most of it is either being shipped later (lots of Market purchases are pre-order situations) or being shipped to me later this week in the box I sent myself so I wouldn't have to pay extra to the airlines to bring it home with me.

I took lots of photos of various booths, mainly getting display ideas I might be able to use in my shop or just because they were so colorful or cool or creative. I've only shared a few here.

And I think I found my new motto too:

"Be a pineapple. Wear a crown. Stand tall and be sweet on the inside." I love that!

Market Tote

I made this last week as a store sample.

The pattern has been around for a while but it's a new one for in the shop. I only ordered black mesh to start with to try out the pattern. I like the pattern so as the budget allows I will order the mesh in more colors. This was easy to make and it stands up nicely on its own thanks to the sturdy vinyl mesh. I wish I had had black cotton webbing when making this but we were out. The natural looks good with the fabrics I used, but I still wish it were black. We have black back in stock but I'm not changing them out now!

Ornament Progress

I'm making progress on my ornaments for this year.

I have two appliqued and embroidered, the top two. I have 16 more that are appliqued and ready for embroidery. Not shown, I have about 10 more that are pinned waiting to be appliqued.

I'm planning to take these with me to Fall Market at the end of the month to work on in my hotel room at night.

Fabric Basket

I found a new basket pattern.

I put the spool of thread in the photo for scale.

Unfortunately, I didn't really like the pattern. It wasn't particularly difficult, but the results were less than stellar. This side looks okay, but the other side ... not so much. Oh well! Sometimes that's what you get with a free pattern. At least I didn't spend any money a pattern I don't like.

Wool Swiss Cheese

Yesterday's project: my baggie of tiny wool scraps is full so it's time to punch circles out of them.

I use my Accuquilt cutter with the Rose of Sharon die to cut small flowers, leaves and 1", 3/4", 1/2" circles from my small scraps of wool. I use my 1/4" circle and 3/8" circle punches to whack little circles from the rest. It's kind of a noisy task and I use ear plugs so I don't give myself a headache or damage my hearing. I have a jar or tin for each size/shape.

I needed to do this yesterday because I was home alone, except for the cat. This project is too loud to do with others in the house!

These will be used for my 2017 ornaments.

Updated Rose of Sharon Bag :: A Finish

The new bag is done!

This is side one

And side two

The pattern is written and the kits are being cut.

Melted Cat

I've been working on things but I don't have any photos yet. I've haven't shared a Ms. Spooky Boo photo with you recently so I thought I'd share this one which was taken Sunday afternoon.

She had been napping on the bed all afternoon and moving with the sun! When the nap started she was curled up in a ball, but as the afternoon progressed and the sun warmed her she started sprawling. 

The quilt was a wedding gift from my mom.

For A Friend

As a quilt shop owner I get asked the question fairly often, "Will you make a quilt for me?" My standard answer is, "I'm sorry, no. I sell the supplies to make quilts.  I'd be happy to set up a class for you to teach you how to make a quilt, but I don't make quilts for people." However, occasionally circumstances are such that I say yes. This is one of those times.

To protect her privacy I will not reveal details, but I'm making this for a friend. The fabric is hers purchased years ago from the previous quilt shop in town. She has saved this fabric all this time planning to make herself a quilt with it. The quilt is finally getting made, although by me instead of her. The pattern is an oldie but goodie called Bundle of 10. You need 10 fat quarters for the center plus some sashing and border fabric. I've had the pattern for years but never had the right fabric collection and time to make it. 

There isn't enough fabric left for a backing so I need to pick something from the shop. I'm sure we've got something that will be perfect. There is enough fabric left from the center for a scrappy binding using some of the fabrics from the center. I'm not sure if that is what I want though. If not, I'm sure the perfect binding fabric is also in the shop somewhere.

New Pattern

I'm making a new bag pattern for the wool applique and hand embroidery class I teach at my shop. Here is what it looks like so far.

The applique on the left hand section is done. I'm just getting started with the applique on the right hand section. Both sections will have lots of hand embroidery added once the applique is done.

When finished it will be lined (I haven't picked lining fabric yet), will have a turquoise zipper at the top that matches the ribbons and will measure about 12" wide by 8" tall by 2" deep.

The plan is to kit this up with everything you'll need to make one and all of the appliques already cut. Hopefully I can get the sample made up by the end of September.

2017 Ornament Testing

I have settled on an ornament design for this year. Here is my test ornament.

This one is two 2" circles of wool with embroidery on both sides. I whipstitched them together with a 1 1/2" circle of Soft & Stable in between then added a hanging loop. I've decided that 2 1/2" circles would be better and plan to add some more wool elements in addition to some embroidery. I've started on my first "real" ornaments but haven't gotten far enough with any of them to photograph them yet.

Unexpected Sewing Time

Two things happened last week that provided me with some unexpected sewing time on Friday morning. 

First, some ladies wanted to take a class that is taught by one of my employees. This employee was not scheduled to work on Friday, but agreed to teach the class to these ladies on Friday since that is what worked best for them. The easiest thing to do was to change the schedule so that the teacher worked on Friday instead of me. So I ended up with an unplanned day away from the store. My plan was to get caught up and ahead on some computer work for the shop.

Second, Thursday afternoon internet access went out for much of Alamosa. Some cable was damaged along the Front Range but it effected us too. We were without internet for almost 24 hours! Which meant that I couldn't do any of the work I had planned to do on Friday morning.

I was frustrated at first, but then quickly realized that this could be a good thing. So ... I sewed all morning!

I made these two Whatcha Got Bags.

The big one in the back is for a gift exchange I'm participating in later this week. The front one will be a Christmas gift.

The internet was restored around noon on Friday and my sewing time ended. It was fun while it lasted!

Jiffy Jelly Roll Grunge Dots Quilt :: A Finish

I managed to get this one finished!

This was a really fun quilt to make and used up the entire jelly roll. Seriously, I have no scraps left over. Love that!

It makes a nice size too, 48" by 60". For the back I used a Carrie Bloomston print.

It doesn't really "go" with the front but I like this fabric and wanted to use it in something. The label is one of last year's Row by Row license plates from my shop. I've been using these for labels on shop samples.

You can read my previous post about this project by clicking here.

Fat Quarter Project

This will be the project my scrap groups will be working on for the next few months.

It finishes at 37" by 48" which is the perfect size for my guild's quilts for oncology project. All of the fabrics I used in this are from my friend Judy who passed away last year. She had good taste in fabric! This would also have been a project that appealed to her. The pattern calls for scrappy binding cut from the fat quarters used in the top. This is already cut. I also have a piece from Judy that is large enough for the back. So except for the batting, the whole thing is made from Judy's stash! I think she would approve.

Jelly Roll Bag

I saw this tutorial from Man Sewing about how to make a bag using only a jelly roll. I was intrigued and decided to try it.

It took a long time to press all the strips. Easily the most time-consuming part of this project.

I opted to cover my side seams with a leftover strip. Next time I will not do this and use the extra strips in the body of the bag instead.

For this one I used 32 strips for the body, 2 strips to cover the side seams, four strips for the handle and one for the top edge. I had one strip leftover. Next time I will use, four strips for the handle and the rest for the body. I also found the 4" boxed corner recommended in the tutorial to be way too large. I used a 2.5" measurement instead. 

Kitty RunAround Bag

The boy is a pacer. He likes to listen to music and such and paces back and forth while listening. Lately he has been using his new Kindle to listen through but it doesn't fit nicely in a pocket. He has been using one of my RunAround Bags to put his Kindle in. It isn't made from "manly" fabrics. So on Saturday I let him pick out two fabrics from the shop for me to make one just for him. This is what he chose.

He does love our kitty and she him. I believe she approves of his choices.