Ironing out the wrinkles . . .

Hi again! I had the most amazing idea: since I have a blog, I might actually blog regularly! Really! Total epiphany, right? As I'm sure y'all can appreciate, the challenge for me of blogging is not so much finding the time to blog, but finding something to blog about. Because really, my life is just not that exciting!!

So, in keeping with the "gearing up for the retreat" theme, I finally tackled a project that I've had in mind for months: a traveling ironing pad! April has the most amazing one that I totally coveted, and it inspired me to try my hand at it. I've been loving the paper piecing that I've done for my sewing machine cover and sewing machine "placemat," so I came up with a design for a paper pieced iron.

I was surprised at how simple this design turned out to be--really simple angles! It took me about an hour, start to finish! I'll post a tutorial for the iron tomorrow.

And here's the back:

I know, it's pretty exciting, eh? But oh so functional! I'm so happy to have knocked this off my "to do" list in time for the retreat next month.

Retreat Planning

So to continue on the retreat wagon . . . here's what I'm thinking about working on during the retreat:

1) Pieced Scrap Border Quilt

I found this great tutorial on Red Pepper Quilts' blog. It calls for 20 different fabrics, but only in small, 1.5 x 5.5 inch strips, so you can totally use fat quarters (or less) for this project. I'm using rainbow-ish colors (yes, I'm still on the rainbow kick!): aqua blue, dark blue, green, red, and orange, and I'm using 4 fabrics for each color.

The tutorial is for a 45.5 x 45.5 inch quilt. Perfect for a snuggly baby gift! I'm thinking, however, I might try to make this a full-sized quilt. I had insomnia last night and spent several hours cutting out 228 strips--enough for the original size. I'm not relishing the thought of going back to the cutting board, but I really do want this a bit larger!

2) Christmas Tree Skirt

I also want to work on a Christmas tree skirt. Last year I made a Christmas pillow for my mother, using a paper-pieced tree and gifts and an appliquéd rendition of my puppy Sophie. I want to build on this idea and turn it into a tree skirt. This picture is what first inspired my project:

Isn't this card so sweet?! So, here's my plan for the skirt: I'm going to have the tree and gifts in one corner, with one of our pups on top of the packages and the other sitting at the base of the gifts looking up. In the opposing corner of the skirt I'm going to put our two pups and a friend cruising down a snowy hill on an old-fashioned sled. I got the idea from Stephen Huneck's fabulous dog print.

Aren't these three so cute! Sophie (our black lab mix) and Zoey (our brown border collie-lab mix) have a little friend, Teddy, who is a yellow lab mix, so this is a great image of the trio! I even found some great wood-grained brown fabric that will be perfect for the sled! I'm kinda dreading the appliqué for Zoey, however . . . she has a wonderful border collie coat (unlike Sophie who has the more typical lab coat shown in the woodcut image above), and as a result she has all this wispy, feathery fur that flows off her. It's beautiful, but the shagginess is much harder to capture neatly in appliqué!

I'm still sorting out what to do with the two remaining corners. Paper pieced trees? Houses? Suggestions are welcome!

3) Ruby & Camille Scrap Quilt

Last year I won some great Ruby & Camille fat quarters and pre-cut strips in Film in the Fridge's giveaway. She has a great tutorial for her Ruby Strings quilt. It's a whole lot of paper-piecing of the strips, but I love the finished look! This one will be a gift for someone very special to me who is currently going through a tough, tough time.

This project is made more appealing because most of the strips are already cut. Phew!



4) Ana White Work Apron

At her book tour appearance the other day, Ana White (see prior blog post) was giving away a few of her great work aprons. I didn't happen to win one, so I want to make one for Karen. In addition to all the fabulous furniture plans she provides on her blog, Ana White has also shared a tutorial for the apron. Hopefully this will be a quick project!

I know, I know! Too much to accomplish, but there is so much I want to do! Project mania!

Gearing up!

I know, I know!! Two days of blogging in a row!

In a few weeks I'm headed to the Utah Valley Quilt Guild retreat in Park City. Yay! High altitude quilting! I'm starting to pull my projects together and I am, of course, planning to accomplish in 3.5 days way more than is humanly possible! 

We're doing a pin cushion exchange, and I tackled one this last week:

There are so many great, free tutorials out there that it took forever to decide what to do! I especially loved the ones that Darling Adventures' blog shared! I have no idea what the other retreat ladies are making, so I hope mine is good enough! 

We're also doing a secret sister exchange of goodies over the course of the retreat. There's a $2 limit per day, so I have to be creative. I'm trusting that they're not assigning me to Sue, my roomie, and since I don't know anyone else at the retreat (and seriously doubt they follow my wee blog!), I'm spilling the beans . . . In addition to a few fat quarters, I decided to make a few things. First, I made one of Keyka Lou's great little clutches. It fits a cell phone, a credit card or two, and some cash. These have become my go-to gifts of late.

I also made this mug rug with a paper pieced spool:

I used selvedges for the spool's "thread." Thankfully, my free motion quilting is continuing to improve! Now if I can just manage to figure out how to FMQ on a large quilt and not just tiny mug rugs!

If I had a hammer . . .

Long time no see, my friends! I know we returned fairly recently from a whirlwind, cross-country, LONG trip, but I headed out of town again! Visited New York City for a weekend and then crossed the mighty Hudson into New Jersey to visit family. A great visit--minus the fender bender I was in. Crunch! I was unfortunately driving my mom's car, so I feel guilty returning to Utah to my functioning car while hers is still in the shop. Sigh. Fortunately, no one was injured (the cars notwithstanding)!

So, back to brighter news . . .  yesterday we went to see Ana White at The Home Depot. Are y'all familiar with her great blog? Her site has tons (and I mean TONS) of free DIY plans for every imaginable constructable project: tables, Adirondack chairs, bookcases, armoires, beds, children's furniture, etc. She provides great plans, easy to follow instructions, super tips, and fabulous ideas! The Home Depot was "giving away" (er, selling?) her fabulous book with any $20 purchase.

The book is so great!! I loved literally every project in the book. She even had plans for making a children's play kitchen (stove and counter-top). So cute!

Thankfully, Karen is really handy with the power tools, so I think we're going to have some new furniture in our future! I was actually given an Ana White welcome home surprise last week--a gorgeous farm bed headboard (I've never actually been to a farm that has had these headboards, but that is what they're called!).

Doesn't this look fabulous?! Weird colors, though . . .  the quilt on the bed is actually a sea foam blue/green color and here it just looks a dingy brown. Yikes! Karen also made a headboard for my mother over the summer. So handy! I think the next project on the block is going to be matching bedside tables. Yay!

Giveaway Winner!

Before I make my big announcement, first an update on things here . . . Since I refurbished my old sewing table with this great red paint, I've been a little worried about the sewing machine scratching the new paint. I decided to make a large mug rug of sorts, or a sewing machine placemat. I wanted it to fit in with the sewing machine cover and the pincushion I had made, so to continue the paper piecing I started with the cover, I used Charise Creates' fabulous pattern for a sewing machine. I just fell in love with her design when I first saw it on her blog, and I was thrilled that shared the pattern. Although I love the full design of Charise's, which includes an ironing board and dress mannequin, I kept it simple with only a sewing machine.

This is the first time I've used someone else's pattern for paper piecing, and it was a challenge, but if I can do it . . .  anyone can!

Now, onto the big announcement . . . the big winner of a copy of Springtime in the Rockies is, by random draw, #23: Joan and Kevin. Congratulations!! I don't have your email address, so can you send me an email at shortcookie16@gmail.com with your snail mail address, and then the book will be on its way to you! And for those who didn't win but would like to purchase the book, you can find a link to the book here. 

Thanks to everyone who left a comment and/or became a follower. Welcome to Shortcookie--it's great to know I'm not blogging to myself! ;-)

Springtime in the Rockies: A Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to part of the Springtime in the Rockies Blog Tour! Konda Luckau and eight fabulous other designers have all contributed their amazing quilting designs in this great, must-have book! There are 15 projects, including quilts, a pillow, and a handbag. 

The designs are all inspired by, you guessed it . . .  Springtime in the Rockies! And you can see the influence of the gorgeous landscapes and wildlife in their work!

Take a look at "Fresh Cut Flowers," by Rebecca Morganson. I just love the sweet mountain flowers!

And one of my favorites, "The Hills are Alive", by April Mazzoleni. Thanks, April, for sticking that song from "The Sound of Music" in my head. I've been humming it for days now!

And with Machelle Preston's "Stepping into Spring" I can almost smell the fresh mountain air and cornflowers!

And just look at "Scrambled Eggs" by Emily Herrick--Love the whimsy!

Don't you just love Amy Smart's "Spring Baskets?" They'd be perfect for collecting Emily's scrambled eggs! ;-)

And these are just a few of the 15 projects in the book. I can't wait to dig in and get started on these great designs!

I'm sure you're itching to play with these great quilt designs too! I'm giving away a free copy of this book. All you have to do is to post a comment telling me about your favorite must-see place in the Rockies, or wherever you have loved being in nature! Yes, I know, I just got back from a long trip, but I'm always looking for the next adventure! Extra entries for those who follow my blog -- and new followers are always welcome! I'll announce a winner on Monday, September 24th.

And if you don't want to wait, you can purchase the book here.

Good luck!

Back from the blog grave!

Thanks to all who haven't given up on me (Yes, April, I do still have a blog) during my prolonged absence. We went on a long cross-country road trip to visit family -- 43 days, 21 states, and more than 7,400 miles. Whew! And let me give a grateful shout-out to www.doggoes.com, a fabulous app that provides detailed information about dog parks nationwide. Wherever we were in our drive across the country, we could easily find a dog park for the girls--some even had ponds and lakes! It helped ensure that Sophie and Zoey were happy little travelers (okay, not so little!).

We started our trip in Boston with a wedding celebration for Trisha and Nino, dear old friends from my days working at a prep school in Cambridge. They've been together for more than 20 years and have finally tied the knot! Sending them much love and best wishes for decades more of adventure, laughter, joy, and romance! I haven't seen many of the BB&N folks for ten years or more, and it was so great to have the old gang together!! My brother and his wife live in Boston, so we were able to stay with with them for several days. We were also able to catch up with my oldest childhood friend Jill (she's 91, ha! Sorry, terrible, old joke) and my great college friend Julie and their great kiddos. So fabulous to spend time with them!!

We then headed south to New Jersey. I gave my mom her Lilly Pulitzer quilt, which was a hit . . . despite the intense heat and humidity she kept snuggling up with it! We got busy at my mom's house and painted the first floor of her condo. She had gone out of town for part of the time we were there, so we wanted to surprise her by repainting her place. Looks great! Karen then got inspired and made a headboard for my mother's bed! This was definitely not a typical restful vacation! While in New Jersey, we also visited my uncle and aunt at the beach. Overall, during our NJ stay, we had lots of lobster, clams, fish, and great Jersey corn!

We then headed west to visit Karen's family in Kansas and Texas. And man was it hot!! We pulled out our paintbrushes again in Kansas at Karen's parent's house--yes, we actually traveled with our own paintbrushes and tools! There Karen discovered a wonderful old cedar chest of her mother's and she restored and distressed it using chalk paint. Looks so great!

While in Kansas, Karen's mom and I hit a few quilt shops where I added a bit to my stash. Karen's mom also very generously opened up her stash to me--yay!! We spent some time sewing while we were there. I made a little zippy pouch, although it is a mad, mad mess!

I used Ayumi's pattern, although any errors are clearly my own!! I love the fabric choices, I just am frustrated that I didn't catch all the fabric when I was sewing the zipper. Drat!

I also worked on my Denyse Schmidt charm square quilt. I got the charm squares through a charm swap that Made with Moxie organized a few months ago, and I've been itching to put them to use ever since!  I'm using the same pattern I used for my Rainbow Sprout quilt, which I got from Hooked on Needles' great rainbow quilt tutorial.

That's it for now friends, but stay tuned . . .  I smell a giveaway in the air!! Check back in tomorrow folks!