Erin Underwood Quilts

I was in Bear’s Paw Quilt Shop this morning and was awestruck by their rendition of this free pattern by Moda. The trees are sewn into the seams and the pinwheels are also folded into the seams making everything 3-D. Cheryl, who created the Bear’s Paw version, also added little beaded rosettes at the pinwheel centers for a little sparkle. (It also hides a myriad of piecing snafus!) – not that Cheryl had any but I’m just saying…

Any way, I located a site for the free patterns – its Hancock’s of Paducah! Click HERE to get a copy for yourself. The picture really doesn’t do it justice.

It suffices to say I really was inspired by this lovely quilt and plan to make one for myself. It would also be great quilt for an block exchange!

As I sit here in my slightly chilly house this morning, I think about all the things I have to do this week and all the things that are going to get in the way of doing those things.  I’m multi-tasking right now – updating my blog and printing patterns! Its not as easy as it sounds…

And I’m prepping for a class this morning – teaching Fusible Machine Applique with my Maryland on My Mind Pattern at My Favorite Quilt Shop here in Elkton.

Then there is the green and black quilt hanging over my shoulder that just keeps going on and on. Not to mention that I trimmed one of them wrong and have to remake at least a portion if not all of the block!!! Don’t you just hate when that happens! I could have sworn I measured two or even three times but still messed up. I’m blaming it on the ruler slipping! However, it is my plan to have all the blocks ready to go by this evening or tomorrow evening – see how I give myself some slack… last week the deadline was Friday evening. I’m flexible.

Note the organized and dust free workspace – I added “rearranging and cleaning my studio” to my list last week and was able to get it done on Sunday with the help of my handy and ever patient husband who can re-wire and re-hang on a moments notice! I’m still struggling with getting everything to fit into this space and provide enough storage and work space to be productive – or so I tell myself. It could just be all the rain making me sluggish and unproductive. I’d like to think that I am being VERY productive – its just taking longer than I thought!

After the Green and Black Geese are finished, there’s pattern writing and quilting and more piecing of more tops! All of this is leading up to a big debut! But more about that later.

I really meant to just blog about another Art Quilt Show with the Fiber Artisans Group I belong to. We are displaying is a Physical Therapy Office for their grand opening next week. I’ve attached the announcement and am pleased to see my Serene Green Quilt is one of the highlighted quilts. Its open to the public so hopefully I’ll see some of you local quilt lovers there!

Physio Art Opening flyer

The Hayloft in Morgantown, PA, has been forced to close its doors. Alas, this is my favorite quilt shop in the “Lancaster” shopping circuit. Its just on the fringes of Amish country located above Martin’s Grocery store. So not only do you get to feast on and fondle fabric but you can enjoy the fresh bread and and hot coffee aromas emanating from the deli below. I have always said that if we lived near that store, our grocery bill would be heavily inflated by the yard or two or fabric I would pick up on every grocery store run.

Apparently the building they are located in has been sold and the fabric store and the two other businesses housed there must be out by Nov 7th.  As of now, the Hayloft has no plans to relocate and will sell, sell, sell to reduce its inventory. Currently, everything is 25% off but I wouldn’t wait much longer as I understand that the store will invite “liquidators” to come in and scarf up the inventory so a lot of it may go in big lots! They have a online store but none of this information is mentioned on their website. I first got wind of it last night at a guild meeting then did a little Internet searching this morning to get more details. So Hurry, Hurry if you need/want/wish for good quality fabric that was already at a good price and now even at a better price! I suspect it will go fast!

One of my students in my Saturday class shared an interesting little bit of “buyer beware” knowledge which was actually confirmed by another student. Both of these ladies get their replacement blades for their rotary cutters from Harbor Freight Tools. There are stores here in the Delaware area but you can also buy them online! Click on the link! You can get two blades for your 44mm cutter for $1.49! Joann’s sells a pack of 5 for $34.99! Even with a coupon, its still can not compare. Somebody is not playing nice in the price wars! Taking advantage of those of us not in the know about every little tool that crosses over into the quilting world. I, for one, am not amused and from here on out, will be cutting all my fabric with carpet cutter rotary blades!

Literally!

This represents 6 hours of work just at the sewing machine – not the planning, cutting,  trimming and tweaking of the construction process.  I am so excited to have come up with a “Geese in a Circle” block with no curved piecing or applique! This pattern will debut in 2012. I’ll tell ya more about it later. Right now, I’ve got a lot of paper-piecing to do!

You might says I worked on broadening my horizons yesterday – on several levels…

I started out the day by attended a BJ Titus class. She is an incredibly talented, award winning Art Quilter from Pennsylvania. It was such a treat to get up close and personal with her style.  She also  presented a lecture at the LadyBugs Quilt Guild in Newark DE on “Inspiration”. She was very informative as well as entertaining and her hand-dyed fabrics were absolutely breathtaking! But I think she only sells them at workshops and lectures since they don’t seem to be  on her website.

After class, since I was already in Wilmington, I trekked up the road to Chadds Ford, PA to check out a bead store. Too bad it was Monday since the quilt shop right next door was closed! However, I am pretty inspired by the beads I found at The BeadScope. Their website doesn’t seem to be working but its well worth the drive to check out their incredible inventory of beads! I’m sure there’s a quilt already growing around this selection I purchased. I wish I could have afforded some of the other beads that really spoke to me  – I’ll get them some day…

Now topping off my day of enlightenment, I stopped by Bed, Bath and Beyond and found a good folding stool for my husband to use while performing in the local bars – he’s a most talented singer  but likes to sit for some of his songs – I don’t know why, maybe it makes playing the guitar a  little easier. So not only did I score brownie points with him but got my stool back for my long-arm! I was really getting tired of having to fetch back from his music arena every time I wanted to quilt!

Then it was off to kill some more time at assorted stores – you would be surprised how many of us middle-aged ladies were shopping for underwear at Target yesterday!  But its what I found at Trader Joe’s that I am really looking forward too – Wasabi Mayonnaise – its what’s for lunch today!! I hope it is a good as it sounds!

I’ll let ya knowhow it turns out!

This is going around the quilting community – its a wonderful motion graphic using all the geometric patterns we quilters have loved throughout history. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.nfb.ca/film/quilt

I was just in Walmart this morning – and for those of you who know me, know that I had sworn off Walmart in the past years but since moving to Elkton, its the only game in town! – but I digress… Let me start over…

I was in Walmart this morning and low and behold as I am scooting through the electronic section (needed canned air for the long-arm) on my way to laundry detergent when I spied the crafts isle. Only something looking different. There seemed to be batting on a roll there and my first thought was that must be left-overs. How are they gonna sell that without being able to measure and cut it? But as I got nearer, I noticed more and more bolts of good ol’ Walmart fabric. So I turned up the row and at the very end was the beginnings of a cutting table… Yep! Its Official! Walmart is back in the fabric selling business again… and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

As I worked all week on all the class samples I need for the fall – it really felt like I was getting no where! Little progress is noted when you’re doing 12″ quilts – UNTIL you put them all together! Now to bang out the quilting… Got to get these done and move onto Feather-ology!  – a new quilting class I am offering. Its a Machine Quilting 102 class that moves past the Machine Quilting 101 to play with feathers of all shapes and sizes. The class sample has been living in my head for quite a while now and I hope to have it down on fabric in a week or two. I’ll keep ya posted!

Just got back from a weekend of teaching and quilting with Mid-Appalachian Quilters. This wonderful event is put on by a group of dedicated volunteers and held at Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmittsburg Maryland every year. I had lots of fun meeting new friends and spending time with old ones!  If you are on Facebook, check them out. New photos are up with all the weekend shenanigans!

There was a myriad of national teachers there  with all sorts of great new techniques and patterns. Loved Linda Hahn’s ( Frog Hollow Designs) New York Beauty.Check out her  book “New York Beauty Simplified” and see what I mean.

Then there was Michele Scott – the Pieceful Quilter, who taught bobbin quilting.   Her Sunday fabric painting class spent the day outside and when we had lunch together, she had a red streak running through her blond hair that wasn’t there at breakfast. Now there’s a woman who really gets into her work!

And I’m not sure that Linda M Poole ever slept! If she wasn’t teaching, she was cutting up fabric orders from her latest fabric line. Check out her blog to get a glimmer into how her mind creates such beautiful fabrics and quilts.

Paula Golden presented a lecture on Color – How to Make Your Quilts Sing and well as taught the mathematically endowed how to draft there very own mariner’s compass! We slipped away for bit of Chinese food one night and enjoyed it by the fountain – much more peaceful than braving the busy cafeteria!

Deloa Jones dragged her long arms all the way from Michigan to offer long arm classes. Check out her talents and inventive mind on You-Tube. She’s got a great array of videos demonstrating some of her new tools that really make long-arm quilting a bit more successful! If you would like a little quilt show, click here. Her work is absolutely outstanding!

The list goes on… Merry May and her Mystery Quilts, Jeannette Pie of Easy as Pie Designs. You may know her Talking Quilts. The list goes on and on. I’ll try to tell you more about who was there later. Right now, with all these links, you’ll be so deeply woven into the internet wonderland you may not get anything else done today!!