Color: Favorites and Leasts

 I'm combining the prompts for Days 12 and 13 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge into one: 

Favorite and Least Favorite Colors

Favorite is easy - teal specifically, followed by anything in the cool palette--blues, greens turquoises

This quilt was made using my teal scraps. Didn't have to purchase a thing. 

Least favorite, I'd probably say brown, pink, and peach. 

And if I look at my bins of scraps, they wholeheartedly support these statements. 

Just for fun, I did the Year of Colour assessment to see if it matched my favorites. I have to laugh at the brown and pink that shows up fairly prominently. Oh well...

What are your favorite and least favorite colors? 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

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Machine Quilting: Knowing My Limits

 Today's prompt for the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is Skills I Wish I had. Since time travel and the ability to clone myself seem a little far fetched, I'm going to go with machine quilting. 

The smaller the quilt and the simpler the design, the better I do. I have aspirations of fancy swirls and point-perfect echo quilting, and sometimes even perfectly straight lines, but for the moment I tailor my quilting plans to designs I think I can successfully achieve. 

Hello, stipple, straight lines, and curvy lines. :) 

                                          

It is fun to branch out and practice, particularly on smaller quilts that are easier to maneuver. 

Here are a few of my quilting highlights:

Lots of logs on Echo:

And on ZuZu Squares:

And Rainbow Star Crossing:

Do you see a theme? Confined spaces, mostly strips. I need boundaries!

I also spend plenty of time admiring other people's quilting skills and if I want a quilt to look really fabulous, I send it to Diane, my machine quilter. :) 

She quilted by first Wonk Around the Block quilt: 

I love the swirls she put in the background of my wonky star center.

And all the different details here:

And ZuZu Squares:

And the rainbow version of Opposite Directions. Simple straight lines, but stunning! (and way straighter than mine would have been!)

I'm getting ready to quilt a new version of Wonk Around the Block. Any suggestions on how I should quilt it? Let me know in the comments.

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

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Oh UFO, Where Are You?

How many UFOs do you have? I have a fair number, but I think I have more UFOs that are quilt tops waiting to be quilted than semi-pieced projects. That's definitely where I get clogged up in the project pipeline. 

Today's prompt in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is "Oldest UFO." My oldest UFO is a textbook example of why you should start a BOM when you purchase it and not put it off. It's a New York Beauty BOM from 2006. I think I'm about 12 blocks in ? With 18 and a heck of a pieced border still to go. 

And...drumroll...I can't even find the blocks I have finished. I spent more time than I'd care to admit looking for them today. And.I.still.can't.find.them. When I do, my plan is to use the blocks I have done in some type of Gwen Marston-inspired improv medallion quilt because I'm kind of over the full NYB quilt. :) 

So that BOM you signed up for last month? Start it now so it's not staring at you 14 years later.

But until I find my blocks, here are two other old-ish UFOs on my to-do list.

First, some years ago for my birthday, a good friend bought me a beautiful blue batik jelly roll. I started making log cabin blocks based on a quilt I saw in American Patchwork & Quilting. I need to get back to these! 

Second, my Opposite Directions quilt is made using quick corners. Which means plenty of paired triangles (aka future HSTs) left over to play with. 

Like these:

For a while I sewed these HSTs as leaders and enders, but as you can see above, I still have plenty to sew. Look at all the potential with these HSTs! So many ways to lay these out...

So I'm thinking after the holidays, I'll move these two up the to-do list. Right? I hope so. I'm sure there won't be any new quilts distracting me by then. :) 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

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My First Quilt (or Three)

Every so often, it's fun to look back at where your quilting journey began. I'm doing that today--with a trifecta for today's 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge prompt! 

My 1st Quilt

Technically this was my first quilt. I made it when I was a kid--maybe 10 or so?  It's about 8" square. And no, it wasn't a doll quilt--I used it to cover up the glowing red numbers on my digital alarm clock! 

What I like about this quilt (besides that it's an early nod toward my future hobby and career) is that most of the fabrics in it hold memories. The lavender rosebud and peach floral were also used for doll clothes my mom made for my doll; my mom used the tan check for cones in appliqued bibs she used to sew for craft fairs; the white with rose geometric and blue mottled in the bottom row were from my mom's first quilt, made for my rose and country blue childhood bedroom.

My 2nd Quilt

I made my first quilt the year after I graduated from college. I didn't know enough to realize that on-point quilt patterns were maybe not the best choice for a first quilt. :) I also didn't know that I should be aiming for the half-square triangles to have points that weren't cut off--and considering that, I did pretty well! 

I remember picking out the two border fabrics first and then choosing coordinates for the blocks. I also remember--and this was in 2000--wanting to use a lot more white on white in this quilt and being talked out of it in the quilt shop--this was before modern quilting hit its heyday! 

This quilt is our family picnic quilt--it has gone to countless baseball games, fireworks, snack dinners in the yard, playgrounds, and more. Considering it's 22 years old, it's holding up pretty well! 
 

My 1st Modern Quilt

And last, here's my first modern quilt, made in 2012. It uses lots of white, because that's what modern quilts do, right? :) It's a wonky log cabin quilt, which over the years has become one of my favorite styles of quilts. I talk about this quilt in my Road to Improv lecture and how it got me started on my improv journey.

What does your first quilt look like? When did you make it? 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

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It's the Little Things (and the lights!)

Welcome to Day 4 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge! 

Today's prompt is favorite tools. I'm pretty simple--I don't have a bunch of super fancy tools, but below are some of my basic favorites.  

1. Cord locks - My new favorite accessory for mask making

2. Needle threader - I constantly rip out the wires on those little silver needle threaders. I bought these online--still need to watch the video to figure out how to use them. Hopefully once I do, they'll deserve a spot on this list! 

3. Seam pressing bar - I bought this at QuiltCon a few years ago. It makes all the difference for pressing seams open!

4. Scissors - This little guy came with my needle threaders. I like it!

5. Rotary cutter (and mat) - I appreciate having bright, cheerful colors for my most-used tools.

6. Mini Seam Ripper - The little rubber knob on the end makes this the best $1 (or $2?) I ever spent.

7. Binding clips - Little workhorses who bring order to the last step of the quilting process!

Here are a couple newer additions to my toolbox that I suddenly can't quilt without!

This overhead phone holder offers so much flexibility for videoing. I love the top-down workstation views it provides from up high.

And the lights. Oh, the lights! I bought them for doing videos and virtual presentations, but now I turn them on every time I saw. So beautifully bright and clean. :) 

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A quick heads up: I've been playing around in my head with a holiday project idea this week, and today I made it happen and I like it! 

I'm still working out the details, but I plan to share a video tutorial for how to make these next week. Stay tuned for details, either here on the blog or in my newsletter (sign up in the right hand sidebar...I'm a 2x per month kind of girl, so I won't deluge your inbox, I promise!)

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

Find me on Facebook here.

Meet the Secret to My Success

The Day 3 prompt of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is sewing machines. 

Where would you be without your sewing machine? I wouldn't be much of a sewer or quilter; I'm not a huge fan of hand stitching beyond the occasional embroidery work and finishing bindings. 

I bought a Janome 6600 back in 2006ish, and it's been my primary workhorse since then. It's more machine than I need, but I've gotten very comfortable with its many perks. 

The biggest drawback is that it's H-E-A-V-Y. When I went to workshops or sew-ins, I'd be lugging it in and cursing its weight. 

What prompted me to purchase a second machine? I neglected mine (don't skip those annual servicings!) and it needed a tune-up right while I was finishing up three quilts for Quilt Market, totally under the wire. Whoops. 

Shortly after that, I bought a second machine. I know a lot of people are machine collectors, but that's not me--I'd rather buy fabric! 😊 

After some research, I purchased the Janome Jem Gold Plus. Why? I knew I wanted a Janome because I liked what I had, I liked the idea of interchangeable feet, and it had my #1 requirement--an automatic needle threader. Plus, it's lightweight! So much easier to carry around.

In fact, I'm in charge of virtual school this week, and I moved this machine (and a cutting board and small ironing board) into the dining room. It's hard to get computer work done during virtual kindergarten, but I can definitely make some sewing progress instead!

This picture below illustrates the other reason I bought a second machine. I love sewing with my kids. I love that they're starting to be able to sew on their own. But I don't love sharing my machine. Plus, there are three of them. By having two machines, at least two of us can sew at the same time! 

What do you sew on? What's your favorite sewing machine feature?
 

If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

Find me on IG here.

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Sign up for my newsletter in the righthand sidebar and receive this free pattern.

Come Visit My Studio!

It's Day 2 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge and I'm still going strong! 😀 (Psst...click here for a link of everyone involved in this challenge.)

I'm happy I have these clean studio photos to share, because my sewing space has gotten a little (ok, a lot) messy again. Oops. 

I am lucky to have the bonus room over our garage as my office and sewing space. It's a huge room (20' x 30'), which is fantastic, but it has a few challenges (skylights instead of windows, short, hard-to-access closets...limited wall space). 

After organizing and rearranging my space last April, I made some adjustments in September because I found myself doing more video demos and virtual lectures/classes (find details here).
I needed my sewing table to be closer to my design wall, and I invested in these large and wonderful lights (plus I signed up for Cheryl Sleboda's Video Basics class!). So this is the view in the middle of my studio these days. With piles out of camera view, of course! 

This was my mom's sewing table when i was growing up. It's a treadle machine table, but she had an electric machine in it (though my kids love the foot action!). I love having this in my space.

My biggest challenge in the studio was accessibility. Digging through plastic totes to find the fabric I wanted was not good. Right now my best scraps* are organized, rainbow-order, in these plastic drawers. They're not folded--that's not my jam. At all. I still need a few more drawers. 

 *Yes, I said best scraps. :) I have several (cough, cough...6 or 7?) more totes of scraps safely hidden in those short closets you see in the photo above. I still need to sort and donate the fabrics in them, but that'll be after stay at home ends. 

Moving on, this corner of my office doubles as a guest room. Under the Ebb & Flow quilt is a futon, currently laying flat for mid-day naps. Just kidding! I did add one of my favorite improv quilts to the wall for a little extra color!

Here's where I spend the majority of each day, at my desk doing computer quilting work. I was lucky enough to bring this desk home from Florida--my friend Sarah gave it to me. It's wonderfully deep and gives me plenty of work space besides my monitor and printer. 

To the left is my ironing board. I have one of those big boards, and I couldn't quilt without it. I've created a little mini gallery above it, and it's so much more pleasant to stand at the ironing board with all this eye candy. 

These bins used to be my scrap storage. My scraps have outgrown them, and frankly, I got used to using these handy little cubicles to hold projects in progress over the last eight months. This weekend I put the canvas bins in place, making it look a bit neater. I need to decide if I want to label the boxes, or just play "grab bag" when looking for a project. 

Those are all the clean parts of my studio! I hope you enjoyed the photo album tour. If videos are more your style, see below:
Back in the spring, I was part of the Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop and I took this video. I'm reposting it here. :) 

     

Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you'll browse around my blog while you're here and come back often! 
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If you like what you've seen here, you can also find me:

To find all of my quilt patterns, visit my Etsy shop. 

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Hello + NEW Ribbit Pattern!

December is starting off packed to the gills! I'm joining Cheryl of Muppin.com in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge, which starts today, and I'm launching a new quilt pattern (which is 20% off...keep reading for details!). 

So if you're new here, hello and welcome! Thanks for stopping by. My name is Lisa and I'm a quilter. 😁

I'm also a:

• quilt pattern editor
• pattern designer
• fabri-holic
• virtual lecturer/teacher
• mom of 3 kids currently doing virtual schooling
• chocolate lover
• baker
• huge fan of outdoor activities

If we were meeting in person in a quilting group, maybe we'd do an ice breaker like 2 Truths and a Lie. It's a cheesy game, but I enjoy it because you learn such interesting yet random things about people. 

I'll put mine here; leave a comment with yours and a guess about which of mine is the lie. 😁

1. I despise bananas.

2. I once ran a marathon.

3. I once skinny dipped in a glacier lake.

If you'd like to see some of my work, click on the Patterns link up above or visit my Etsy shop and/or use the links at the bottom of this post to follow me on IG, FB or to receive my newsletter. I love making new quilting friends!

 And now on to Ribbit!

This quilt pattern has been in my "to-do" folder for several years. It was just waiting for the right fabric line. And let's be honest, time. If I had time to make every quilt I wanted to, well, I'd need a bigger house. 

When I saw Cheryl Lynch's Mosaic Masterpiece collection for Hoffman Fabrics, I knew it was time for Ribbit to come to life! The cool multi-colored tile pieces in the fabrics perfectly echoed the style of my frog quilt design. Find out more about Cheryl here.

I like them all, but I am IN LOVE with the light mosaic print. It's the perfect low-volume print, with all those fun pops of color. See the full range of colors here.

I took the Freddy the Frog out to my neighbor's dock on a blustery November day. 

The Ribbit pattern is 20% off to celebrate launch week! Purchase the pattern in my Etsy shop using coupon code RIBBIT.

Is there a frog lover in your life? Make them a Ribbit quilt! 

Click here to purchase the Ribbit quilt pattern.

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