Back From the Quilt Festival

Oh my!  I learned one thing from going to the quilt festival today...I have a long way to go to really consider myself a quilter!  Oh I know I'm new at it and I've made a couple basic quilts, so I get the concept.  But wow!  The quilts I saw today were amazing!  I wish I took pictures but my phone was out of memory so I couldn't take any.  But take my word for it...they were amazing.  It was overwhelming, the number of quilts, the colors, the designs.  Go to their facebook page to look at some of the quilts:  KCRQF 

I got to play with the long arms they had set up and boy were they fun!  I'm hooked and want one...the price will hold me back, but a girl can always dream, right?  My friend Sara and I talked about buying one together and starting a little business when we retire in a few years.  Oh it's fun to have dreams!

I came away feeling overwhelmed and in awe.  But I also came away inspired.  I am so pumped to finish the quilts I have started and can't wait to try new things. Sara and I are already talking about going back next year.  We've also decided to take a twilling class from one of our local quilt shops.

But for tonight I have to finish up four more table runners and make an ITH makeup bag for my best friend's daughter's wedding next weekend.

Happy Sewing,
Lori

Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival

The Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival is this weekend!  It's June 19-21, 2015 and will be held at the Overland Park Convention Center, 6000 College Boulevard in Overland Park, Kansas.  Several months ago I looked through the website Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival and found a bunch of classes I wanted to take.  But of course I didn't take the time to register and by the time I remembered most of the classes were filled and the online registration time had passed.  Oh well, I've wrangled a friend into going with me on Saturday.  We'll look at all the beautiful quilts being displayed and browse the vendors.  I'll try to remember to take pics and post them later.  Maybe I'll get inspired from some of the quilts being displayed!

In the meantime, I'm a very new quilter, but I'm already hooked.  It's kind of a funny story how this came about...I wanted to make something for my granddaughter for Christmas so I started looking through patterns.

 I came across Simplicity pattern # 2493

Her room is done in turtles so I thought this would be perfect!

What I didn't realize when I bought the pattern was that it was actually a quilting pattern in disguise!

Yes there were pattern pieces, lots of them and yes I had to pin them on the fabric and cut them out, but it's still a quilt! I don't know how many times during the making of this turtle, I told my hubby that I was never doing this again, it was just too much...there were over 30 pieces!   They were all quilted individually before being sewn all together.  I guess I was actually doing a quilt as you go (QAYG) quilt.  I didn't know there was such a thing.  Anyway, I was determined to finish it and a funny thing happened as I got closer to the end.  I found I was enjoying myself, this was actually fun, watching it come together.   So here's the finished quilt:

It's not the greatest picture, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out.  My granddaughter loves it and it looks great in her room.

So that's what got me started quilting again. I jumped in with both feet once I found out about Missouri Star Quilting Company MSQC  Jenny does great tutorials and makes it so even a beginner can understand.   I have 3 quilts in varying stages of completion.  And lots more on my to do list!

That's all for now:)

Lori

Pics of past projects

Ok, I'm going try to add pictures of several past projects I've done.

This is a hooded towel I made for my granddaughter.  I made several for her and my grandson, but I forgot to get pictures before I gave them for Christmas. I made a Ninja Turtle, Olaf, a giraffe and a couple others I can't remember.

I love embroidering towels for gifts  They make wonderful wedding gifts.  I think I'm probably going to become known as the Towel Lady because I give them to every couple I know that gets married! I've done several styles, I'll try to see if I can find pictures of other ones I've done.

This is a handkerchief I did for a wedding this past weekend.  I was so nervous because it was her grandfather's and the bride was giving it to her mother.  I practiced several times before I got confident enough to embroider on the real thing.  I was so relieved when it came out fine.  This picture is before I finished trimming, so it does look better! 

A little about me!

I decided to start a blog, more for me than anything else.   I wanted a place I could post my creations so I can remember what all I've made!  Over the next few weeks I will be adding pictures of things I've made.  Hopefully I will continue to post new items and keep this blog going.

Now to introduce myself.  I'm a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. I have a wonderful hubby who has put up with me for over 25 years.  I have great kids, family and friends.

Since my kids are all grown and starting to have families of their own, I have rediscovered time for me.  I had forgotten how much I like to sew.  I learned how to sew when I was in 4H, then only sewed once or twice a year once we started a family.  While the kids were little sewing happened once a year...for Halloween!  I loved making those costumes.  I made everything from princesses and dinosaurs to puppies and tigers.

Now I sew all sorts of things, including Halloween costumes (made a pink monster for my first granddaughter last year).  I purchased an embroidery machine a couple years ago and last year I got a serger.  Plus of course I have my handy sewing machine that I inherited from my mom.

My great grandmother quilted.  I remember visiting her and being fascinated by all her fabrics and her huge quilting frame in her small living room.  I still have several of the quilts she made and they are truly treasured.  I think she passed on her love of quilting to me.  I made one quilt when I was younger and boy has quilting changed since then!  More on that in my next post.