Thursday, December 14, 2023

Benartex 4th Quarter Fun

 Welcome back for some Benartex fun!
For my 4th quarter project, I have
been playing with the American Spirit 

American Spirit

These were the fabrics I chose
to work with for this project
but there are many others 
to choose from.

If you saw my Ohio remix
in the Fat Quarterly in October, 
then you may know where this
is going:)
I took that block along with
another arrangement and
combined them with a
sweet and simple border applique'.

In January this new design,
'In Gratitude', will be available 
for purchase through my ETSY shop.
I love that it is simple to assemble
to help those creating quilts for QOVF!

In the meantime there are the holidays to 
enjoy with all my sweeties, more blocks
to finish, a new long arm quilter to find 
since I have moved:)

I hope you find a way to make the 
holidays special for you!
Thank you all for being a part of
my life see you in the new year!





Wednesday, November 1, 2023

New home-New Studio

AUTUMN AGAIN! 

Being in the north again means
I get to be surrounded by 
the beautiful Fall colors!


View from one of my 
studio windows...
Our fur baby being 
walked along the pond.


We are in northern Ill.
this time vs all the time
we spent in St. Louis 
years ago.
This move was to be near
some family but, of course,
I am missing a major part 
of my family even here.
Guess we can't have it all.

The new house offers me
a studio space I never 
thought I would have!
Look for more pictures
over on my FB & IG accounts.

Right now it feels like the old tile
games where you moved a square
to move a different square then
moved the first square back, etc!!! 

I was able to go trick or treating
with my bobbin and that was a joy.

Of course, being in the north again also
means SNOW-YUCK!
This happened waaaay too early
for our liking.

Beautiful to look at as long
as you don't have to go out
in it for any reason!


The gratefulness in my heart
is a great way to start November.
Thank you for being a part
of my journey!!



 

Friday, July 21, 2023

Benartex Christmas in July 2023

 Jackie Robinson has 
done it again!
a lovely array of 
holiday touchstones from 
holly to Christmas ornaments.

I used techniques from
to adorn this sweet and 
simple table runner
with lovely amaryllis 
flower bouquets.

I am in love with 
these sweet flowers and the 
cute star negative space 
at their centers!

The pattern can be found
in my ETSY shop
Fun quilting 
suggestions included.



Come join the designers
and ambassadors on 
July 25th for a peek
at all the upcoming
fabrics.
You can register HERE.

Come see how I used this
line in another project HERE 
to create a matching set!

Monday, July 10, 2023

Benartex Ambassador Project #3

 Christmas in July is celebrated by 
lots of quilters to get a jump on
their Christmas gift lists, so
I am going to offer 2
Christmas in July patterns
for my Benartex projects!

For project #3 I chose
to work with the new
arriving in shops now.
This line has a lovely
silky feel to it and there
are lots of cute
prints to choose from.
White makes me think of 
snowflakes though and how 
fun are those little
paper cut ones from 
our childhood.

In all honesty, I was never 
much good at getting them 
to look pretty, and I 
have worked very hard
to make the ones
pattern easy and cute!


The designs can be single
or layered as shown and
explained in the 
pattern instructions
found HERE.



These will become
timeless family gifts,
used every year.
Use them for pillows,
tote bags, candle mats,
mug rugs, Santa's
cookie mat....
The list is endless!
Come join the fun
July 25th
to get a peek at all the 
upcoming fabrics!
Register HERE.

Come see how I used this
line in another project HERE 
to create a matching set!






Monday, June 26, 2023

QUILTVILLE 2023

 
I have been wanting to share
this with you all and now I 
have the time to sit and 
reminisce about the wonderful
week spent in Quiltville:)

Our friend, Tara Miller of the 
Quilt District, started this
new tradition in 2022 
and somehow I was one 
of the lucky invites!!

We arrive at this idyllic location
in the mountains with enough 
space for 12 women to gather
but also have alone time when
needed. The sewing room/ tables
are perfectly set up with light
and space enough to spread 
out and you have a design wall area too.
The kitchen has ALL the amenities to 
feed us day or night:)

This year we celebrated our
fearless leader's birthday.
A Quilt was made in her honor:)

There were presents!!
I made the muffin bags and a friend 
made these cool phone stands ...just what
I have always wanted!!

We revisited the old
wool mill again and wandered
into one of the buildings this time.
Look at this awesome old 
machinery still sitting there.

Then there were the hikes
full of gorgeous cinematic
views everywhere!
Last year it was cold and 
snowed so there wasn't 
much outdoor activity.

Bonnie took us up to the 
Grayson Highlands 
to see the ponies.


The views were
Spectacular!
This trail was my favorite
due the foliage and 
rock formations.


We saw many ponies
but got the closest to 
this cutie:)


Occasionally Jim and I 
have had a discussion about
how cool it would be to 
hike the Appalachian Trail...
LOLOLOLOLOL!
Now I can say I have!!

The weather permitted
us to enjoy a lovely firepit
one evening with
many many laughs:)


I have never seen a 
Trillium in real life...
How cool are they?!?!
IF you click the pic, it 
will take you to a wiki
description.
Here is the funny bit....

"Trillium erectum, the red trillium, 
also known as wake robin, 
purple trillium, bethroot, 
or stinking Benjamin ., 
is a species of flowering plant 
in the family Melanthiaceae. 
The plant takes its common name 
"wake robin" by analogy with 
the European robin, which 
has a red breast heralding spring.
HAHAHAHA.

I can't wait to find a way
to make a ROBIN quilt~


Quiltville in Bloom

Thanks for coming along
on my adventures.
If you would like to read
about last year's visit, 
go HERE!






Sunday, May 28, 2023

Twist & Turn Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to the 
Twist & Turn Blog Hop
featuring a new book
by Cinzia White. 


Twist & Turn Quilts by Cinzia White, 

published by C&T Publishing, is 

landing in stores this month. 


I have joined with a group of exciting 

original designers to bring more 

ideas on how to meld different designs to 

make your own original quilt. 

These innovative designers are showing 

us a variety of their own circle designs 

using the latest fabrics to highlight the 

versatility of Cinzia’s Twist & Turn Quilts. 


First let's take a peek at a couple

of designs directly from the book!


This simple layout
makes a great table runner
and the center can be anything!
You can make it as
simple or difficult as you like...
embroidery or applique' or
fussy cut as in this next
example from Cinzia's book!


Cinzia reached out to me after I 
had posted my Benartex Ambassador
January group project, a tote.
She really liked this 
flower for the center 
of her block & she 
was right!!
Here is her mock up...
HOW Cool is this!!
It is mocked up
in the 

I have assembled the 
templates in 3 sizes
as a PDF download
in my ETSY shop.

SO many opportunities
for personalized design
with these templates
and Cinzia's book!

Please be sure to pop
over to the other 
designers' sites
during the HOP Dates
of May 25th-31st
for some FAB ideas
and a giveaway or 2:)




Thursday 25th: Monika Henry https://www.pennyspoolquilts.com/blogs/blog/twist-turn-blog-hop 

Friday 26th: Tammy Silvers

https://tamarinis.typepad.com/tamarinis/2023/03/twist-and-turns-blog-hop.html  

https://www.tamarinis.com/ 


Saturday 27th: Swan Sheridan

https://www.swanamity.com/ 


Sunday 28th: Laura Piland https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/2023/05/twist-turn.html 


Monday 29th: Robin Koehler YOU ARE HERE:) https://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/ 


Tuesday 30th: Terri Vanden Bosch 

http://www.lizardcreekquilting.com/ 


Wednesday 31st: Cinzia White 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cinziawhitedesigns


Saturday, April 15, 2023

Benartex Project #2- Peacock Petals

 We round up the first quarter of the year
with my second Benartex project....
Peacock Petals using fabrics
It hit store shelves in January so
keep an eye out for it.

Deep rich colors and 
a spring vibe kept niggling at 
the back of my mind.

I thought about 2 particular 
design workshops that I
adore teaching, Scrapplique'
and Fabric Collaborations.
Both concepts along with these
two fabrics inspired
my work for this challenge.
Thankfully the style of the fabric
goes beautifully with my own 
aesthetic of swirls and dots!


Admittedly, I got a bit carried away
with my design work.
It was only supposed to be
one small wall hanging.
THEN, I got excited about working
in lights vs. darks and so only
one of four blocks is done...
Now you will be intrigued enough to 
come back and see how it goes:)


HOW CUTE IS THIS?!!!?

I cannot wait to finish the 
whole quilt now!
My ambition thought I would
do it all by hand-LOLOLOL!!
SO many little circles.
Then I saw the work of 
Kyra Reps at Daytona...WOW!
So, I tried the prepared edge
applique' method using apliquick
bars that my friend,
Susan Marth, has been prodding 
me to try for years.
I am so resistant to change!
It did make my circles a bit
better but I really do loathe 
all that prep work.

So far this piece has 3 applique' 
methods on it:
Needle turn hand applique'
Prepared edge applique'
and fusible raw edge applique'.

Whatever gets it done right?

So, keep stitching in whatever
way makes your heart happy:)