An Army of Frogs

 I learned something new today.  I didn't know that a group of frogs was called an army.  I guess I have made an army of frogs this week.

The "pillow pet" or stuffed owl that I made for my 12 year old daughter to give to her friend a couple months ago:

http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/2011/03/pillow-pet.html

turned out to be a big hit.  Two friends asked for frogs and one asked for a horse.  Since they aren't very difficult to make, and it isn't as often that what I do is "cool" so I obliged.  Here's the two frogs I made for her friends.

The backs are purple.  The mouth of the one is too low, and the eyes looked cuter before they were stuffed, but the girls really liked them.  So did my daughters teacher.  She asked if I sold them!  Ha!  My daughter and I have both really liked her teacher this year.  So making one for her was a no brainer.  I took the leftover from the backs of the other too.  Maybe frogs were meant to be purple.  I turned one leg so you can see the fun back.

Always fun to make something for someone you appreciate that you know they will appreciate.  Tomorrow is the last day of school, so perfect timing for a teacher gift!  Who knew a large (I used a fat quarter for the front and another for the back) stuffed frog would be the perfect teacher gift!

One Last Market Post

I wanted to introduce you to Edie, my moose!

I was at Ikea getting some of those random things for my booth, and Edie and 6 of her little friends just jumped into my shopping cart!

There was nothing I could do.  They had to come home with me.  I named her Edie -- pronounced E.D. not Eddy -- because I wanted to name my last three girls that, but when they got here, they wanted other names.  Now that I have named something Edie, my life is complete!  Okay, not quite, but I am pleased.

My friend Machelle made the cute pillow that Edie is sitting on.  She had two extra blocks from the Zip a Dee Do Dah quilt she made for my book that you can see hanging behind Edie.  Being the resourceful person that she is, she made them into pillows.

I thought that was a fun idea, so I did the same thing with three other quilts.  So in my booth were 4 pillows made from blocks of some of the quilts in my new book, Simply Charming Modern.  I was going to post pictures, but I don't have any except as part of my booth.  I will take some pictures so you can see them!

Market Report #2

Welcome to my Spring Market Booth!

I need to take a couple close ups I think.  I brought some fun friends with me that you can't see too well.

Here is my quilt from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks hanging in Quiltmaker's Booth!

Here is my quilt hanging in Northcott's Booth!

This is partially my quilt.  I designed the border.  This is one of two quilts that are being given away to those who get their paper stamped by a group of Utah designers at Market.  I am so glad I did the border instead of one of the blocks.  The blocks are to die for cute!

This is the other quilt being given away that I had nothing to do with.  If you look, the sashing is exactly the same, but the quilt looks very different with a blue border instead of a pink border.

As I was leaving today I took a couple pictures down the aisles.  This is taken turing right.

This was taken turning to the left.

Gives you a little idea of how many booths are there.  Sensory overload!!!

Market Report #1

I tried posting these late last night, but Blogger wasn't working, so I guess I am a day behind.

Yesterday was Schoolhouse.  I LOVE schoolhouse!  I took my little camera which doesn't take good picture in this setting.  Here is one that was okay.  This is Lizzie House presenting her new fabric 1001 Peeps.  She told us the story of how the 1001 Arabian Nights came to be which was the inspiration of her new line.  She was so fun!

I taught one Schoolhouse Session on ways that shop owners can appeal to modern quilters.  It was great!  When Schoolhouse ended, I went to pick up my box and it was gone!  I was afraid the cleaning crew threw it away!

My friend and I frantically checked three different lost and found areas throughout the building while the cleaning crew was being located.  45 minutes later we found out that a kind gentleman with Andover Fabric had taken it to my booth.  Whew!

Then waiting in line for a while before going to Sample Spree.  Sample Spree is an opportunity to buy fat quarter bundles and patterns etc.  Here is a picture of the swarm at the Moda tables.

Here is a picture of Elenor Burns in a NASA uniform of some sort.  I didn't catch why.  She has an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm!

Today Quilt Market actually started.  I will post pictures of booths tomorrow.

Modern Quilt Blogs and Websites

I got my booth set up at Quilt Market today -- except for the 4 or 5 things I forgot -- like chairs!  Thanks to my friend Machelle, the booth came together pretty well. 

Tomorrow though, I am giving a presentation on ways that quilt shops can appeal to the new modern quilter.  I am making a list here of modern quilt blogs and websites (in no particular order) as a resource for these shop owners, and anyone else who is interested.  I am sure I have forgotten someone.  It isn't intentional.  I just forget things sometimes.  So if you have a modern quilt blog or website that you would like to add in the comments, please do!

http://themodernquiltguild.com/
http://www.ohfransson.com/
http://www.filminthefridge.com/
http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/
http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/
http://www.handmadebyalissa.com/
http://sewkatiedid.wordpress.com/
http://www.psiquilt.com/
http://www.thequiltengineer.com/
http://fatquarterly.com/blog
http://www.quiltdad.com/
http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/
http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/
http://www.cluckclucksew.com/
http://www.redpepperquilts.com/
http://www.fromthebluechair.com/
http://moderndayquilts.tumblr.com/
http://www.freshlemonsquilts.com/
http://www.freckledwhimsy.com/
http://happymodernquilts.blogspot.com/
http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/
http://www.vanessachristenson.com/
http://www.genxquilters.com/
http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog/

The list really could go on and on.  In fact, start with those and go blog hopping -- see what they link to and see what they link to and see what they link to . . . . Yes, blog hopping can be a black hole.  If you are really worried about it taking 6 weeks to see it all, set a timer on yourself and see what you can see in an hour or two.  Because 6 weeks isn't enough either!

Going Coastal Quilt

Thought I would show you what I came up with for Going Coastal.  I started cutting late Friday night and got 7 blocks made.  Saturday was a little crazy, but I got all 56 blocks done.  Today I finished it!  I even washed and dried it!  Of course, it has been raining ALL day here (we aren't use to that in Utah), so I didn't get a great picture.  You can see that it's fun though!

I paired the fabric with Kona Tangerine.  The pattern is one of mine called Scattered Sunshine.  Since I am sometimes a little lame, my website is messed up and I don't have my patterns on it.  However, I found it here if you are interested:

http://www.pinkchalkfabrics.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5204

Fun to see how a quilt looks in different fabric, huh!?!

The crabs started looking a little too realistic as I was sewing it together, but they were my kids' favorite part.  Even the baby loved the crabs! I loved the bottlecaps.  I would have loved the use that as a backing.

Want to win a fat quarter bundle?  Emily is giving one away on her blog!  Here's the link:

http://crazyoldladiesquilts.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-know-you-want-some.html

A fat quarter bundle just happens to be exactly what you need to make this quilt of mine!  And 1 2/3 yards of a solid -- that includes the binding.  I had 2 fat quarters left over. 

One more day of sewing left before Market!  I need to make a pillow or two.  I hope that is all.  I usually forget something.  I just hope it isn't something important!

NEW Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Winner!

That's right!  We have a new winner!  It turns out that Nancy has won 4 times!  She is a lucky one this go around.  She is also generous and asked me to pick a new winner.

So our new winner is:  just4bees

who said...

can"t wait to get a copy, nice job
May 6, 2011 7:42 PM

I don't have your email address, so send your mailing address to kluckau@moosequilts.com and I will have that sent right out to you.

Thanks!

Going Coastal Preview

Got a call from a friend last night -- UPS had made a delivery!  So I rushed over to pick up a bundle of her new fabric line:

http://crazyoldladiesquilts.blogspot.com/2011/05/introducing.html

Couldn't even wait until morning.  I had to start playing with it right away!  I paired it with a bright orange solid print.  Yummy!!!

Orange has really been growing on me lately.  I can't see it being my favorite, but I am glad I have found uses for it.

I hope to have a quilt to show you by Monday out of this new fabric!  FUN!

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Winner!

The winner of the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks magazine is Nancy!!!

Nancy said...

Great block - and thanks for the giveaway!
May 4, 2011 10:10 PM

Congratulations Nancy!  Email me (kluckau@moosequits.com) with your mailing address so we can get that to you.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello!

HMQS -- Home Machine Quilting Show

Yesterday I went to the Home Machine Quilting Show here in Utah.  Because it's only an hour away, I have made sure to go every year.  It is always a great show.  This year and last year I haven't been able to stay too long, but it is always worth the trip.  I have a few pictures to give you a taste.

The first thing I saw when I went was a special exhibit of chocolate quilts.  Oh my were they fun!

Then there was an alphabet exhibit.  These were miniatures representing every letter of the alphabet.  I made sure the piece of paper was in the picture to give a size reference.  I would guess these quilts are 16" x 20." 

I couldn't believe the detail in these two.  Others were detailed as well.  These just caught my eye.  I think the nine patches in the quilt below are 3/4" finished.

I had a quilt in this exhibit.  It looks like there were 20 of us who made the exact same quilt and quilted it different ways.

This quilt really looked like a child's quilt so I quilted it accordingly.  I quilted it with a sock monkey design of mine.  Here's a close up.

One of my favorite exhibits was this glow in the dark exhibit!  I have never seen this before! 

It's hard to catch on camera, but you can almost tell in this one.  The quilt straight back was black and white with lime green accents.  The lights are black lights.  The quilts on the left and right were quilted in glow in the dark thread.  It was so cool!

Of course, there were quilts by the masters there as well.  My favorite was this one by Sue McCarty.  No surprise that she came up with a masterpiece, but amazing none the less!

I think if you click on the pictures they may enlarge for you.  Here are a couple close up pictures.  It was embellished fabulously with a gazillion crystals.

There are pearls in the border.  I don't even know how anyone has the patience to do all of that background stitching!  Amazing!

Of course, the vendor mall is always fun.  I didn't think I needed anything this year and came home with a bag full.  Here is a friend of mine who has started designing fabric for Henry Glass.  Kari Ramsey with Fresh Cut Quilts also designed for one or two of our quilt a longs.  The quilt behind Kari is made from fabric from her first line and is a free download from Henry Glass.

But the skirt has fabric from her new line that she will be showcasing at Market next week.  So fun!

If you are in the area, the show runs until tomorrow, or plan to come next year.  It's usually the first part of May.

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Blog Tour

 Today is my day on the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Blog Tour! 

I'm excited to finally get to show you my block!  I used Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow along with some gray solid fabrics.  It is Block #285.

Some of you who did the Jelly Roll Quilt Along may think it looks vagely familiar.  That's because the block I designed for the JRQA was the inspiration for this block.  Here is my Jelly Roll block:

I added some cornerstones in the nine patch to add a repetative element.  I made a quilt using sashing between the blocks to echo that repetative element one additional time.  You can see another picture of my quilt on page 21 of the same magazine in the Designer's Gallery!

You can create your own sampler quilt from this magazine.  It will be in quilt shops next week.

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of this fun magazine!

And check out others on the tour today:

Susan Guzman

Scott Hansen

Bonnie Hunter

Toby Lischko

Sharon Pederson

Heidi Pridemore

Gina Reddin

Monica Solorio-Snow

Debra Taylor

Jenny Foltz

Toni Kay Steere

Thanks for stopping by!

Final Layer Cake Winners

We have three final winners!  What do they win?  They each will receive a layer cake, of course!

Two of these winners each made two quilts.  Making two quilts must have increased their odds.  All three of these lucky winners are extra lucky because this is the second time all of them have won.  What are the odd of that???  Just an FYI, it was random.org that picked the winners.  Sometimes completely random works that way.

So who are the winners?

First, Lismar02!

Second, VickiM35!

and third, Wilma's Craft Corner!

Her quilt was one of the bright ones.  She used the Lollipop fabric line by Sandy Gervais and had her quilt quilted and bound!  Wilma, I still couldn't grab your picture.  It says you have disabled downloading. 

I know I should have your contact information, but please send it to me again so I know you are expecting your layer cake in the mail.  

Thanks everyone for quilting along!  I welcome your feedback and comments on this quilt along.  I appreciate how willing everyone is to share on the flickr site.  I love how the sharing helps us all feel part of this wonderful quilting community.  

Happy Quilting!

A Couple Updates

As I was sitting down to write this post, I almost forgot what I was doing because I got side tracked looking at the fun quilts in our flickr group! 

Tomorrow is the last day to post a finished quilt on flickr!

At least to get in the drawing.  I have THREE layer cakes waiting to see where their new home will be!

In non-quilting news, I though I should give an update on my half-marathon.  My sister took this picture for me.  This is what the morning looked like:

Fortunately, it just got better from there, and it was actually a nice day to be out running.  A little cool, but no wind -- that's a good thing.  I use to think people who ran half-marathons were crazy.  Now I know they are!  I did just exactly as I expected I would.  I, of course, was hoping for better, but oh well.  That was one of the hardest things I have ever done.  My sister-in-law who ran it with me was almost half an hour ahead of me!  She is already trying to talk me into another one.  I'm not so sure.

Then, in other quilting news, the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour has started.

I will have a post up on Wednesday.  They are giving away a bunch of stuff if you are interested!