Shop Girl Bag Challenge

I teach classes at Quilting Bits and Pieces quilt shop in Eudora, KS.  The gals in the shop came up with a fun holiday project.  All the "shop girls" who work or teach there are invited to make a bag using a shop pattern and fabric.  I chose the Harmony Handag by Studio Kat designs.  I thought it looked fast and easy.   YEA RIGHT! 

Ok, back to the story. . . On December 5 the shop is having their annual Christmas sale and everyone who comes in and brings a canned good or food item (for the Eudora food pantry) gets to vote on their favorite bag.  The shop girl with the bag with the most votes gets a shop gift certificate!

Being competitive, I was all over the Shop Girl Bag Challenge, and picked out a great bag (or so I thought) and some wonderful new batik fab with ducks and cat tails.  Then I opened the pattern envelope.  GULP!  Thankfully there were illustrations in the pattern because it was so hard to follow that I had to read each step about 6 times.  Then all the pieces have patterns and notches and interfacing, and fusible fleece, and peltex and zippers and ties, and flaps, and. . . .more like a prom dress than a quilt bag.  I can usually whip up a bag in a few hours, but it took me a day to cut everything out and 2 days to stitch this baby up.  It came out just as pictured, but not without a good bit of "unsewing" on my part and a few choice words directed at no one in particular.

So. . ta da. . here is my version of the Harmony Handbag!  Instead of a button in the front I found this cool old buckle from the 40's.  I made two lined rectangles and threaded them thru the buckle to create a bow ornament.  I thought it contrasted well with the fabric, and made the lining color sparkle a bit.  I stitched it on invisibly from the inside and liked the way it looks with the pink inset in the front.

The pink lining shows in the front inset and in both sides where the ties are located.

So now I need all my friends to go to the shop on December 5 and vote for my bag.  It may not be the best looking but it sure was the most difficult!  LOL  Thanks for checking out my baggy saga!

Midnight Posies Block 11 – Pinwheel Posies

I can hardly believe the year is almost gone and the Midnight Posies quilt is nearly complete.  Yes there is still one more block to go after this as well as the sashing and borders.  The Pinwheel Posies block is a bit more challenging, and brings into play the skills you have learned in the preceding 10 blocks.  It is made up of combinations of simple units: half square triangles, quarter square triangles, and flying geese.  The center section of the block is made like a 4-patch, and the rest of the block is assembled like a 9-patch

Click here to download block

The challenges with this block is to get all 8 seams coming together in the center to lay nice and flat (pressing seams open will help) and getting the point of the flying geese block to match the points of the pinwheel.  Making each unit slightly larger than needed and cutting them down to size really helps increase your accuracy when matching seams and aligning points.
Now, what have I been working on in the meantime??  Yipes, I have completed 2 t-shirt quilts, and did five more blocks in my Sylvia’s Bridal Sampler quilt.  I just completed the first three rows and joined them with sashing.  Here is what part of them look like.
I am also working on a bag, which has to be the most difficult bag I have ever sewn.  When I get it to a point that it looks like a bag I will take a picture and post it.  For now, it looks like “parts”.  I like to think of myself as an accomplished sewer, but this one is really kicking my butt!!  hehe
So, what are you working on?

You Said WHAT!?!?!?! or How Quilters Communicate

Quilters I need your help!!

I am working on a new guild lecture that combines my experience as a teacher, lecturer and guild member with my 30+ years as a professor of communication studies.  I wanted to find out what kind of experiences quilters have with each other, so I developed a survey to gather some data about what good and bad experiences quilters have in their relationships with each other.

I would love to know what you think.  Would you please take my simple online survey?  It is only 10 questions and all results are completely anonymous and confidential.  If you are interested in the results, I will post a brief summary of the results after the first of the year.  That will allow plenty of time to gather a variety of responses. 

Take our Online Survey

Thanks so much for helping out.  Quilters are the best!

Holiday Quilts

I just love making and seeing holiday quilts. I thought I would share a few of mine. I just entered two of them in Quilting Gallery’s Holiday Traditions quilt Contest.  I hope you will vote for my quilts. . .or at least go look and enjoy all the wonderful Holiday Quilts!
Here are a few of my quilts for Falls.
This is a table runner called Autumn Spice I found in a magazine a few years ago.  I just loved it and have made several of these.
I love Halloween and this table runner was a kit I purchased from a shop in Council Grove, KS.  I think the shop was sold and moved to Emporia, KS but Tony, the lady who designed this pattern, does wonderfully creative holiday designs.
This big Halloween sampler quilt was the result of a block swap I did a few years ago on my Yahoo Group – Sew Many Swaps. We swapped Halloween blocks and then they sat in a bag in my sewing room for a while until the next BOB swap came around.  If you read my blog you know what a BOB is. (Note:  BOB stands for Bag O Blocks, and a BOB swap is when someone else puts together a top using your BOB, and of course you do the same for them).
Jeannie Welch pieced this incredible top for me and even made up the multli-color binding from all the sashing fabrics!  I just love this quilt and this year we took it camping with us over Halloween!  It sure kept us warm in the trailer!
Early in my quilting career I made this great Turkey quilt!  I fell in love with this pattern and made two of them at the same time!  I kept one for my door and gave the other one to our guild for our annual mini quilt auction.  A friend bought it and now we both hang up our matching quilts on our front doors at Thanksgiving time.  I just put mine up today!
These are a few of the Christmas quilts I have made over the years.  This is the first one.  I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought this pattern at a quilt shop in Branson, MO, but the quilt was hanging up and I just thought it was gorgeous.  Little did I know that when I opened the package there would be –100 PAGES – of printed foundation patterns!!!I worked for weeks paper piecing this thing and finally when the sections started going together and I got a glimpse of how the finished quilt would look I was just thrilled.  My friend Brenda Weien, an incredible long arm machine quilter, did the quilting for me.  The radiating lines of quilting really make the composition stand out.  And that whole white background is crazy pieced!!  I had 8 or 10 white on white fabrics for that background alone.  Sheesh.  I loved making the quilt but I don’t think I will tackle something that big again.  The finished quilt is 40 x 72”!!!!!
I learned how to use the square-in-a-square ruler a few years ago and went wild making storm at sea quilts and Christmas tree quilts.  Here is one that I kept. Brenda quilted this one for me too, and the background has pine branches and there are gifts quilted in under the tree.  She did the whole thing in gold metallic thread on her long arm.  Wow, she deserved a medal for that alone!
This Santa quilt was another BOB.  Becky in North Dakota pieced the top for me from these Santa blocks that were part of a SMS block swap.  I just love the setting she chose for these blocks.  Kathi in Lawrence quilted it for me.
Nina in Wisconsin gave me this pattern and I have made several of these Santa quilts called “Midnight Trip”.  It is a trip around the world pattern with a Santa worked into the piecing.  I just that that was such a clever Holiday themed pattern!
I changed the stars in this quilt from 8-pointed stars to friendship stars just to make it easier to piece.  You know me, if I can change a pattern to make it easier, I’ll do it!  hehehe
This last quilt is my Charming Botanicals December Poinsettia and Holly quilt.  The pattern for this quilt is available on my website and on ETSY.  It has probably been my best selling pattern so far and when my local quilt shop kitted it, they sold out of the kits very quickly!Hope you have enjoyed my Holiday Quilt Tour!!  Well, yes, there are more, but I will save those for the next post.  In the mean time, be sure and go vote for your favorite holiday quilts. 

As If Quilting isn’t Enough – Another Collection

Yes, I started collecting when I was very young.  I am sure it started with pretty rocks.  Then I started amassing tea pots, and then anything that looked like corn.  I love those old Mc Coy corn dishes.  Jewelry, especially old costume jewelry, has always been a passion and I collected that for a long time – um, well I guess I still do.  Then I collected china that looked like cottages.  That was quite a long phase and still have many lovely old pieces.  Perhaps my biggest collecting passion was beaded purses. . . those lovely old Victorian, art nuveau and art deco bags with exquisite floral motifs, pictures, or designs in beads that shimmer.  Others are made of metal mesh.  I have most of them packed away but the other day I dug out a few of my old favorites.  I really must do something with this collection.  Here are a few of the ones I unearthed.  There are about 200 more still packed away. 

Quilters never tire of beautiful things.  These lovely old pieces of the past have always been an inspiration to me to continue creating beautiful things. What do you collect?  How do they inspire you?

Midnight Posies – Block 10

The Teal Tulip is block number 10 in the Midnight Posies Quilt. It was time to add a new color to the quilt just to keep thing lively. A bright teal or aqua really adds some zing. As we begin row 4 the block become a bit more challenging, but the directions will get you through them with ease.

Download pdf file here.

I know I love having my patterns in color and I think it really makes it easier to see them and understand the various units of these more complex blocks. I hope you enjoy them too. My publisher told me that this pattern would be too expensive to print in full color, so you really are getting a treat if you are printing out these patterns. At the end of the year when I publish this pattern, there will not be near as much color!

When you make this block – all squares and half square triangles – be sure to keep your color straight! And if you would prefer to use a different color scheme in this block. . how about pink or salmon or peach?

In the center of this block where 8 seams come together, press the seam open. Use steam and get it real flat. It was lay nicely if you distribute the bulk of the center seam in both directions.

I would love to see pictures of your blocks. Everyone who sends me a picture of their block or blocks from this series will receive a chance to win a free pattern!!! Send your pics to reezehanson [at] hotmail.com. I will select the winning submission at random on November 15 and post all the submissions. I can’t wait! Thanks!!!

Fall Retreat – Winslow, Arkansas

How I love to go to retreat. I seem to get more work done there than at home. Ok, so its not really work. . . its fun to finish projects, start new ones and pal around with my quilting buddies. It gets my creative juices flowing. Here are a few of the projects I did at retreat.

1. This round robin is a project i procrastinated on and finally finished. Someone else was supposed to complete this border and didn’t have time, so I took over the task. I had the whole thing together, and realized it didn’t fit perfectly, so I took it all out, remade it, and just as I was to put it back together I got distracted and never touched it again for a year! (really red face for being so bad!) At least this time the outer border fits and I gave her enough of the purple fabric to do the binding.
2. In addition to finishing my Sweet Pea table runner, I started on my March Daffodil table runner. It really is going to be bright and cheerful. Here is sneak peak of some of the blocks. These daffodil blocks dance down the middle of the quilt. Don’t you love the rick rack for the trumpet ruffles? hehe
3. Then I had fun playing with the Easy Striped Table Runner pattern by Karen Montgomery (see Timeless Treasures website for the pattern). Wow, do these ever make up quick. Here are a few of the tops I whipped up with this pattern:

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I also purchased an incredible basket from the art co-op across the street from the place where we stay. And the view from the windows of our retreat is spectacular. My pictures are through a screen but you can still see the incredible Arkansas Boston Mountains.Now that I am back to Kansas, and the cold, wind, and rain. . . I so wish I was back in the sunshine and warm weather of Arkansas. So, what have you been up to?

New Pattern!! April Sweat Pea Table Runner

Finally, I have finished the sample for my next Charming Botanical quilt: April Sweet Peas!

I have had the design complete and the fabric picked out for some time. I even had the runner background done last Spring (at a retreat). Well it seams the only time I get things done anymore is at retreats, and last week I completed the quilt at my Fall retreat. At last. I am working on writing up the pattern now and should have it out to my publisher and distributor as soon as my pattern tester is done with it.This quilt was so fun to make! I just love the 1930’s reproductions, and if you have a stash of 30’s scraps you could make this quilt from stash! Of course there are so many adorable new 30’s prints out this season that you could have fun shopping for this one also. Since you need very small quantities of LOTS of different fabrics, you might want to look for charm packs or trade charms or scraps with friends or small group members to get all the different colors you need.

• There are 95 different fabrics in the center.
• There are 24 flowers, each consisting of 2 or 3 different shades of one color in each flower. I repeated some of the fabrics from the center in the flowers, but tried not to repeat any colors from flower to flower.
• There are 32 small leaves made from 3 different fabrics
• There is 130” of bias vine, which is the same fabric as the inner border and the binding.
• There is 120” of pink piping, and 84” of white/pink print piping.

I stitched in the ditch in the center of the quilt, then micro-stippled on one side of the vine and cross-hatched on the other side of the vine in the border – just for fun!

I just love the little piping in the borders and around the binding. I think it adds a sweet framing element that keeps all the chaos of fabrics contained! hehe

The pattern will be available on my Etsy site and my web site in the next week or two.

If anyone is interested in being a pattern tester for this patter, I could use one more person (with experience as a pattern tester) to make the pattern and provide feedback on the instructions before I release the pattern. Let me know if you are interested at reezehanson (at) hotmail.com. Thanks!!!

Finished Nina’s BOB

Tonight I finished the blanket stitching around the border of Nina’s BOB – that is “Bag O Blocks.” I came up with the idea of swapping BOBs a few years ago after many of the people in my swapping group had an excess of blocks accumulating in bags and tubs and not much time or incentive to get them made into tops. Ok. . . I was one of those procrastinators. I had more that 50+ bags of blocks in my sewing room and wanted to get tops made. So the idea came to me in a flash. Swap bags of blocks with someone else and get a top back out of blocks that you didn’t know what to do with. I will stop short of calling it genius, he-he, but it was a darn good idea. And since that time my group has done many of these exchanges.

• Return of BOB -- ROB
• Son of BOB -- SOB
• Bride of BOB -- BBOB
• Mother of BOB -- MOB
• BOB, Carol, Ted and Alice
• Return of the Son of BOB

well you get the idea. So the most recent BOB we hosted was this summer. I took my time finishing this BOB since I knew I would be hand delivering it to my friend in October at a retreat we both attend. Ok, so I drug my feet a bit. . .ok, a lot. But its done.

She sent me a stack of red pinwheel blocks. I set them on point, added an applique center block, some blue and white paper pieced setting triangles, and a vine and leaf appliqué border.

This shows the blocks up on my design wall with the center block in place and the first of the setting triangles. I wanted to change the tone of the quilt from being all red and white, to being red white and blue whimsical.

Here is a picture of the finished top once I got all the setting triangles made and inserted and the borders put on and stitched down.

Do you think it needs another border or is it done? Well it is going home to its Mama next weeks so I still have time to take it apart and redo it if you think it looks bad!! LOL

PS. Nina loved her BOB!!!! Yippeee

Roses in Moonlight

roses in moonlight
Originally uploaded by Morning Glory Designs

I have posted more free vintage embroidery patterns on my Flickr site. I hope you enjoy these. I would love to see projects made from this wonderful old vintage patterns.

Thanks for stopping by, Reeze