Wonky Quilt Finished!

My first wonky quilt is done, quilted and with its new owner!  I am so totally over the moon with how it turned out and so excited that I was able to hand deliver it to one of the most awesome friends a girl could have.  It was a surprise...of course for her early retirement and another co-worker told me what colors and style would be best for her house.  Let's just say with the information I received, this quilt knocked it out of the park!  I have to give credit to Jacquie from Tallgrass Prairie quilts for her tutorial http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/...I love her style and I hope I did her tutorial justice. It measured out at about 75x75, made with Kona white and the solid colors were from Connecting Threads.  It was quilted by my SIL on her new long arm. Karen and her hubby loved it as much as I loved making it for them.  Ride off into the sunset 'Butch', 'Sundance' will miss you dearly!  Thank you for stopping by

I'm baaack..

Hi to anyone who stops by occasionally, I know it has been a long time between posts but I have really been busy with family, work and even some great quilting time!  I will leave you today with pictures of what I have been working on. Still have some more pictures to add but not sure where they are all saved! 
Until then, Lisa
P.S. if someone out there wants to offer a pharmacist an opportunity to change careers to be able to play with fabric and quilt full-time, just give me a holler.....I am your gal!

Accuquilt Go! How I love thee!

In February, I finally broke down and bought an Accuquilt Go! and I must say I do luv it!  The wonderful team at Accuquilt sent me an email that I had been selected to choose 2 dies and blog about them...this all happened about the same time that I had my back surgery...so finally I am able to blog about the time-saving, super fun Go!  In addition to the 2 dies I received, I have also purchased a few  many dies that have made cutting out quilt pieces a breeze.  Two that I will show you pics of below are the 2 1/2" strip die which cuts 3 x 2 1/2" at at time and the 5"x5" charm die.  These dies alone are a necessity if you like Charms and Jelly Rolls like I do!  The most important lesson I learned this week is to position your fabric with the straight of grain vertically on the die....I cut out 80+ solid 5"x5" not on the grain only to find out that they measured at 5"x4 7/8" when I tried piecing my blocks and they didn't match up with my Moda Charm pack. The gals at Accuquilt were so friendly when I called to express my concern that my die was not perfect...I was advised to cut on the straight grain and 'test' the die with a piece of paper..did that and it cut a perfect 5"x5" square..thanks Michelle!
Now on to the pictures..the first ones are for a quilt I am making using Moda French General La Petite Ecole and I needed a lot of 2 1/2" strips...the Accuquilt made this a breeze...along with my new Bernina 57 1/4" foot..the seam guide makes all the difference for me!  The second set of pictures are going to be a wonky star Countdown to Christmas quilt....another Moda line I just love! 

For anyone that might have missed me??

Hi...I'm back after a long summer break...well break from blogging...still worked, took care of the kiddos and moved!  I have been quilting as much as time has allowed which is never enough for me, but it is what it is and I make the most of it!
I will share my completed projects.  I finished my Max & Whiskers quilt and a Woodland Bloom 'stepping stone'-type quilt....I spray basted both as kneeling on the floor, hunched over pin basting just wasn't going to happen!  The basting was easy and quilted very smoothly, but I did get some gumming on my needle and I did make sure to vacuum out my machine frequently.  I also found out that I won a lovely give away from Don't Look Now...for those of you that have visited here before, you know I am a huge fan, so this was super fab!  Now I just need the courage to try out the pattern...her work is so beautiful, I am scared I will not do it justice!  Now for the pictures...they are more fun than my rambling...Wait...one more picture of the super, deeduper wonderful Ruby pillow cover I won from Kristyne at Pretty by Hand...she is just finishing up her quilting through Simplify by Camille..take a look-see over there, she is a doll and my first blogging friend! http://prettybyhand.com/

The day I have been waiting for...

Remember the Moda Progressive Dinner from earlier this year?  Well I was the lucky winner from Jenny Garland's blog http://jennygarland.com/...I won the Fresh Fabric Treats book and get this...a fat quarter bundle of Jovial by Basic Grey...yes, a whole big stinkin' bundle of 39 fat quarters!!!  I have been patiently waiting for the day for the book to be released.....and tonight was the night...I was watching TV and there was a knock on the door...only the UPS man knocks on the door at my house...then I started thinking hmmmmm I have not ordered any fabric recently that is coming by UPS so I hestitantly opened the front door.  What to my wondering eyes should appear but a big brown box with a United Notions Dallas, Tx. return address!!  My heart went pitter patter and I jumped for joy...this is just what I needed to make an otherwise crazy day the best...day....ever...(thanks Sponge Bob for that quote)
Here is what I found in my box:

I just want to say Thank You again to Moda and Jenny for making a little girl like me super happy!

Max & Whiskers update....finally!

Wow, didn't realize returning to work after 7 weeks off would be so rough...I guess life did go on without me there!  Needless to say I have not have much time for sewing.  I finally finished my Max & Whiskers top last night and really love it!  I used Camille's Coming Home pattern from her super fab book Simplify.  I made it larger by using two charm packs.  This is a super fast patern with a lot of impact.  I, being a fan of Camille's recommend it for anyone.  Enough of the chit chat...here is the finished top...now for the backing, batting and quilting!

Max & Whiskers and Camille...what a fun combination!

I bought Camille's book last fall and have been ohhing and ahhing over it ever since.  I have a long-distance friend who is undergoing chemo and I wanted to make her something to help keep her warm, snuggly and wrapped in love during her long chemo treatments.  Because my quilting time is very limited due to surgery I needed to find something that I could do and make it a little more creative than straight blocks...which is what I usually do in a pinch...not saying that is bad, but sometimes I like to think I can do more.  Enter Camille's book Simplify and the pattern Coming Home...easy peasy, one charm pack, some Kona white and the blocks were cut, sewed and ironed in less than 4 hours!  I haven't selected the outer boarder yet, want to wait until all the blocks are sewn to decide what I want to do.  Although this pattern is a topper size, I think it will be perfect to cover her while she sits and waits to have that horrible  life saving medication enter her body.  I will post final pictures when done, but for today, this was a huge accomplishment for me.  I go back to work on Thursday so I am cherishing these last few days.