Tag Archives: quilting

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I got my groove back!

For right now, anyway.

For some reason, I haven’t felt very creative at all the past two weeks or so. I was in a bad rut of work, go home, eat, watch tv. Hmmm….

I’m not sure all of the reasons, but I’m feeling so much better now. Here is a random list of five things I think are contributing to my good mood:

1) It finally feels like spring! WITH more daylight! AND flowers blooming!

2) I am getting back to cleaning my house more regularly (following the FlyLady method, which really works for me…when I do it.)

3) Along with have a generally cleaner house, I have temporarily put away all of the creative projects I was working on. It feels great to not have the guilt of unfinished projects staring at me! When I get excited to work on them, I know exactly where they are.

4) I am getting back into my exercise routine. I am especially enjoying running and biking outside, since the weather is so nice.

5) Spending time with people who inspire me. I forget what an extrovert I am, and I really do love to hang out with people who “get” me.

Whenever I feel like I’m in a funk, I find it helps to just strip things back to the basics and re-build. Clean house, exercise, good company. It really is that easy.

What do you do to get out of a funk?

Postscript I am making a version of this quilt for a secret special project. I can’t wait to share it with you!

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Show & Tell 3/17/2011

Oh – I should be posting something green or orange for St. Patty’s Day. Oops!

Here is what I have been working on. Obviously it isn’t a completed baby quilt. In fact, it is actually a sampler that I am putting together as a study to make a final version. This particular sampler is going to be practice for the free motion quilting class that I am taking. I am making an alternate version with blue fabrics. I am going to practice on one sampler before the next class and then bring the other one to quilt in class.  I want to hear what other quilters’s ideas would be for the design.

In addition to practicing my free motion quilting skillz, this is also a chance for me to test different colors combinations – focusing on pattern scale and color value. I like how this one came out and can’t wait to share the blue one. I am inspired to try some sort of gradient (light to dark) color pattern for the final quilt.

I am working on another secret project that I hope to have done for next weekend. I have been working on a few medium-sized projects lately, so they take a little longer. But I enjoy sharing them with you hear.

I also enjoy hearing what you have finished! Please share in the comments.

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The Locals

I realized, as I was writing my post about the yarn shops I had found in Ireland, that I had never talked about my local yarn shops.  As I would like them to stay in business, I thought that I would share them with you here. 

InDetail Studio is truly my local yarn shop.  The shop is split between yarn supplies and beading supplies.  It is a small shop, but I have never left empty-handed!  They have a great selection of yarns.  They also offer open knitting sessions and knitting classes; check their website for dates & times.

Marji’s Yarncrafts is incredibly charming.  It has a lot of yarn tucked in two rooms.  Their selection is amazing and really inspiring.  They offer a lot of patterns, a lot of needles, and, if I remember correctly, a lot of finishing pieces such as buttons, etc. 

Creative Fibers is really a mecca of wooly wonder.  This is the largest local yarn shop I have found in central Connecticut.  Really, if they haven’t got it, you don’t need it.  They also offer knitting classes and retreats.  I haven’t attended them yet, but as I learned with quilting, it really pays to learn from an expert.  So I am keeping my eyes open for a great opportunity.

Also I want to give a shout out to my local fabric stores:

My local quilt shop Sew Inspired is amazing.  The staff is friendly and helpful.  Their classes are very informational and educational.  (They literally changed my life.)  It’s a great shop if you’re looking for fabric or anything quilt related.

Osgood’s Textiles is a little bit of a drive for me, but it’s the closest, decent, independent fabric store in the area.  And its selection is exhaustive.  I bought all of the fabric for my Spring Palette Challenge there. 

So that’s my little tour of local shops.  Trust me – they aren’t paying me to say this.  I don’t get any discounts from them or anything.  They don’t even know I have a blog.  I just appreciate that I have these resources in my community.  When I support them, they support my area by creating jobs, providing valuable goods and services, and generally making the world a better place to live. 

Do you have a local shop you love?  Give it a shout out in the comments.

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Show & Tell 12/9/2010

I have been scheming about the best way to show off all of the stuff that I make.  Rather than just slap my stuff up here, I thought we could all share the things that we have created.  So here it is – my first ever weekly Show & Tell.

I decided to make my 10-month old niece a quilted Christmas stocking.  I hope it will become a treasured keepsake for her, knowing that her loving aunt toiled tirelessly to make it beautiful and amazing.  But who knows.  Regardless, I had fun making it.

Here is the tutorial that I followed.  I was smitten the moment that I saw it.  Luckily I had some scraps on hand and was able to beg, borrow, and steal enough the finish the mini-quilt for the front.  In the end, I only had to pay for fabric for the back.  All in, it cost me $2.75.

Here’s what the mini-quilt looked like before I cut it:  (BTW those were 1.5″ inch squares sewn together – so finished size = 1″ each.  PITA!  But totally worth it.)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it before I gave it to my niece, but I will try to get my lovely SIL to snag a photo for me.  I will let you guys know when this post gets updated.

So what have you guys been creating lately?  Any beautiful gifts for loved ones?  Or party gear for yourself?  Written anything amazing?  Knitting anything warm for the long winter ahead?  Please include your links in the comments!