November

Hello Friends!

The last few months have been very busy.  I wish I could say it's all been fun and a lot of sewing has happened, but that is not the case.  My father got very ill again in September and had to have surgery.  He is doing much better but still not where he was.  And mom tore a tendon in her rotator cuff.  She had surgery a couple weeks ago.  I have been busy helping them.

Whenever a had a free minute at home I was sewing though.  I am working on multiple things and I need to just do one at a time.  I have sewing ADD.  I just get bored too easily and move on to the next project.  One of my goals for the new year is to finish all projects before I start anything new.  I will really try.  Is there something you do to motivate you to finish as you go?

Last time we talked I mentioned my Etsy store.  Well, on Friday I received an email from Etsy congratulating me on my first sale.  It's been 2 months with the store open with nothing so I did not believe my email.  But when I opened it and discovered I actually had sold on of my quilts, it will so exciting!  My friends and family have been so supportive and I can't thank them enough.  My son says I need to sew every moment I can and fill my shop with quilts to sell.  I wish I had more time to do just that.  So I will work on them as much as I can and we will see what happens.  Below is a picture of the quilt that sold.

I am trying to decide what to make for my coworkers for Christmas.  I have a couple ideas just not sure what I should do.  Do you have any fun easy sewing ideas?

I have joined a few IG quilt a longs or QAL.  I am working on some Union flag blocks now and hope to start a quilt from the book Sunday Morning Quilts.  My friend Izzy and I are going to work on Missing U from the book.  Anyone else want to join along?

Blessings
Amy

November

Hello Friends!

The last few months have been very busy.  I wish I could say it's all been fun and a lot of sewing has happened, but that is not the case.  My father got very ill again in September and had to have surgery.  He is doing much better but still not where he was.  And mom tore a tendon in her rotator cuff.  She had surgery a couple weeks ago.  I have been busy helping them.

Whenever a had a free minute at home I was sewing though.  I am working on multiple things and I need to just do one at a time.  I have sewing ADD.  I just get bored to easily and move on to the next project.  One of my goals for the new year is to finish all projects before I start anything new.  I will really try.  Is there something you do to motivate you to finish as you go?

Last time we talked I mentioned my Etsy store.  Well, on Friday I received an email from Etsy congratulating me on my first sale.  It's been 2 months with the store open with nothing so I did not believe my email.  But when I opened it and discovered I actually had sold on of my quilts, it will so exciting!  My friends and family have been so supportive and I can't thank them enough.  My son says I need to sew every moment I can and fill my shop with quilts to sell.  I wish I had more time to do just that.  So I will work on them as much as I can and we will see what happens.  Below is a picture of the quilt that sold.

I am trying to decide what to make for my coworkers for Christmas.  I have a couple ideas just not sure what I should do.  Do you have any fun easy sewing ideas?

I have joined a few IG quilt a longs or QAL.  I am working on some Union flag blocks now and hope to start a quilt from the book Sunday Morning Quilts.  My friend Izzy and I are going to work on Missing U from the book.  Anyone else want to join along?

Blessings
Amy

New and exciting things

Hello Friends!

A lot has happened since my last post.  Let me try to catch you up.  First of all, my sister got married August 20.  It was a cold and rainy day for an outdoor wedding.  But we must have someone looking out for us because the skies cleared and the day was beautiful!  It was colder than we had planned but we made do.  Here is a picture of my sister Lisa and her new husband Austin.

 

August also brought changes in my life again.  My son Sam went back to college.  He is in his second year at UW-Milwaukee.  He is a film studies major.  I think college has been great for him.  But I do miss him.  The house is so quiet.  I have been able to do some sewing though.

 

September 3rd my Godchild Sara got married.  I made her and Pedro this quilt.

 This is a quilt pattern from Jeni Baker's book-Half Square Triangles.  I used 6 inch squares and 84 different fabrics.  It was a great stash buster.  I see a few more of these quilts in my future.
This month has also brought the Wisconsin Quilt Expo.  The quilt I made for my cousin's housewarming party was selected to be shown.  Here is a picture of it hanging there.

This is Birch Bark by Hunter Designs.  If you recall, I made this in a class that my friend Trisha taught.  I was not going to take the class because I can read a pattern and could just make it myself.  I am so glad I took the class.  I learned a few things that I would have missed by not taking the class.  It was great to sit with the other students and learn from them also. I have made two of these quilts now and I am considering making another.

 

I am currently working on some Wild and Goosey blocks.  It is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.  I worked for 6 hours on Sunday and only finished 16 blocks.  I have 30 done but need almost 300 for the quilt.  This might end up being my lifetime project.

 

My friend Gael is opening a new modern quilt store in Middleton Wi.  It will be called Blue Bar Quilts.  Look for it online and on Facebook.  I have offered to help her set up and be there for any function she might need help with.  She will be renting time on a long arm machine also.  I think I might have to give that a try.

 

In other news, I have decided to start an Etsy store.  I have a bag of quilts just sitting around and I would like to give them homes.  You can find me here-Theturquoisebutton/Etsy.

I will be adding more things soon.  I know I have some table runners and other small items to list.  It has really motivated me to create more.  I am working on a quilt for my step son and his wife for their new home.  Then I will work on patterns I have always wanted to try.

 

Hope you are sewing this month as it is National Sewing Month!

Blessings

Amy

 

 

 

Made it in again!

Hello Friends!

I am so excited to tell you that my quilt was accepted to the Wisconsin Quilt Expo.  This is the second year I have entered a quilt and its been accepted.  I am going to my cousin's house tonight to pick it up.

I have to make a hanging sleeve and probably put a label on it.

I was shocked to get in this year but so happy.

 

Are you a fast sewist?  Do you create items in record time due to deadlines?  Or do you enjoy sewing so much that easy gifts don't take long at all?  I made this baby quilt for a friend in 2 1/2 hours.  It wasn't a race I just was able to finish it fast.

 

It's not too fancy but it is all flannel with a white with pink and green dot backing.

Only 16 days until my sister gets married. I will post a picture of the quilt I made for her soon.  Now I need to finish my other cousins quilt!

Happy sewing!

Blessings

Amy

 

2 updates in a week?

Hello!!!

Well, I have another quilt top to show you.  My Godchild is getting married Sept 3.  I am buying a gift but I thought a quilt would be special too.  I was 15 when she was born.  I can't believe she is getting married.  So excited! 
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Jeni Baker at one of her fabric launch parties.  She is a great girl. So sweet.  I just loved all of her fabrics.  She has decided not to create fabric any longer but is big into making patterns.  Last year she came out with a book, Patchwork Essentials-The Half Square Triangle.  I just love this book.  Sometimes it is hard to decide on a pattern.  And I am always looking for easy!  I started this quilt on Friday.  It's her pattern Opposites Attract.

I found 84 different fabrics to make 168 blocks.  Sara was born in 1985 so I will use a different color for the back to give me 85 fabrics in this quilt.

I was able to finish this last night.  It was a great process and I will be making more just like it.  Is it sad that I have 85 different fabric scraps?  I could probably make 5 of these quilts and still not run out of fabric. 
I will be quilting this on my home sewing machine.  Wish me luck!

Blessings
Amy

 

Not very good at this Blogging thing

Hello friends

I am sorry I am not very good at this.  Many times I have wanted to delete everything and just pretend I was never on here.  Life sometimes gets in the way of creativity.  I am not complaining at all.  I have been blessed so much to have my parents still here.  With my father in the nursing home and my mother not driving my family has had to do a lot of running.  Thankfully my son is home from college and is taking a lot if not all of the appointments and shopping for mom and visiting dad.
I have tried to be creative and get in my sewing room to sew, but my son has all of his dorm room items in my sewing space at the moment.  Again, not complaining.  Glad he is home for the summer.  I was able to do some fast sewing in June.  My friend got married in the middle of June so of course 2 weeks before the wedding I decided I should make her a quilt.  This quilt took 31/2 hours to put together.  My longarmer finished it in record time too.  I was finishing the binding on the Friday night before the wedding.  This is another Birch Bark Quilt. Pattern by Sam Hunter.

 

I actually put a border in this one.  The brides colors where black and purple so I went with a Bali pop in those colors.

 

I also made another quilt during the making of this one.  I can not show you it yet though because it is a wedding gift for my sister.  She will be married a month from today!  So excited for them!

 

Hope you are having a great summer!

Blessings

Amy

Purge update and some finishes

I did really good with part of the purge.  I will show a picture once I am done.  Right now it's an organized mess.  I have been trying to put everything in it's place.  But I had to stop and do some sewing.  My friend has a store in Rockton Il called Gracie's Nest.  You can find her on facebook.  I like to make things for her to sell.  I had made a bunch of these drawstring bags but my dad is in the nursing home right now and wanted them to give to the nurses.

I also made 12 jewelry rolls for her to sell.

That's what I have been doing.  More about the purge later.

Blessings

Amy