I heart Quilt Market!

Hey Friends,

I hate to brag, but.. I'm going to! :P 

Quilt Market was AWESOME! We got to meet and chat with SO MANY wonderful people from the Quilting & Sewing industry! And of course, our encounters were well documented so I could brag when I got home! 

Check it out..

Us with Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts

Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness - she just released a fabric line!

The wonderful ladies of Cotton & Steel - P.S: We ordered from their lines!

Faith Jones & Lee Heinrich - Authors of Vintage Quilt Revival

Leah Day - She is so nice & an amazing Quilter

OMG this wonderful gal is Lee Chappell, she has wonderful
patterns and will be stopping by SLH this summer! Stay tuned for details!

Fellow Twins, Kim & Kris of Kimberbell Designs & My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe

OMG yes this is Angela Walters - My Quilty Hero and such a nice gal!

So, despite the fact that I didn't get much sewing done this last week, I am still marking it down as a pretty successful week! I even managed to get a few books signed by their amazing authors, not to mention scoring some great fabric related goodies! 

Here is some eye candy for you..

Tula Pink Schoolhouse

Can't even remember what booth this was in..but it was just so pretty!

OMG Awesomeness.. this beauty is from Elizabeth Hartman for Kaufman.
Check out her blog www.ohfransson.com for more info! 

Told you all I loved Kona Cottons and this beauty was in their booth.
I could've spent the whole week in the Kona section of the booth!

I wanted to just sit down on that bench and never leave!

AHHHH.. Moda Modern Building Blocks Quilt...
If you LOVE Solids, you had better stay tuned on this beauty because..
OH MAN.. all I'm going to say is that the info will be in the shop sometime in September! :) 

Paper Pieced Beauty! This pattern is COMING SOON!

Eeekk.. This quilt is the Quilt from the Cover of
Elizabeth Hartman's new book, Patchwork City, which should be out November 1st!
 

Ok, so this isn't a quilt, but Michael Miller had a working fountain in their booth!
I just thought it was cool! :P 

PHEW... okay now that you are super jealous... here is what I have actually managed to get done since I've been home!

Gert and I have been working on the Park Bench Quilt (from Jaybird Quilts) for the last few months. We are sewing up the last few blocks today and tomorrow!

Keep an eye out at Seams Like Home for this Quilt to show up in some shape or form next class session! That's all I'm saying for now! :) 

Happy Drooling Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

Headed to Spring Quilt Market

We're headed to Spring Quilt Market!

 (well just me, Mom and sis, not Gert.. poor girl doesn't fly well!) 

It seems that right before every work trip I get this "great idea" to make myself a new travel bag! And every year I'm rushing the week before the trip to get it done in time! (This year is no different!) 

So, this year, in preparation for Spring Quilt Market I am making a Mini Professional Tote. Actually, I'm totally blaming this one on my sister.. she got me started on wanting to make this bag!

I have had this great fox fabric for awhile now just waiting for the right project. 

I couldn't bear to use the other two fabrics somewhere you couldn't see them so the bow ties are side pockets and I'm just going to have to find something else to do with the glasses. Maybe a new wallet?!

I got most of my cutting done while the Twins were napping. Once they wake up though all bets are off and I have to move my pieces up to our bar so they can't reach them! This was my progress yesterday afternoon and last night I got my interfacing cut and fused! I'm ready to start sewing! 

Since this weekend is Mothers Day, my hubby has graciously taken Friday off of work to be with the kiddos so I can go sew this bag up at my sisters house! Gotta get my sister time in, plus, she is going to make sure I don't screw anything up! :) 

So, we leave for Market next Wednesday which means I had better be done with it by then! Hopefully I'll post a picture of me using it at Market next week! 

Hope you all have a great week and a Happy Mothers Day! 

Be sure to stop by the blog next week for Market updates!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude)

Night Sky Sew-Along

Hey All,

So since Gertrude and I have been on a Jaybird Quilt binge we figured that you all should join us! Last week I showed you my huge pile of Jaybird projects "to-do" which included a pattern called "Night Sky". I have been itching to buy Vanessa Christensens new line "Color Me Happy" by Moda, which we have in the shop now, so I figured why not create my Night Sky with those. At the very least it gave me an excuse to buy the fabric (not that I usually need one)!

So, here is what you need to "Sew-Along":

- Night Sky Pattern + Fabric for whichever size you want to do

- Sidekick Ruler (you will be cutting diamonds and half triangles)

- Small Rotary Mat & Cutter

And last... speedy cutting skills because next week we'll start sewing blocks together! :P

Here is a peak at mine:

I am using the dark charcoal for my background. I have pink, gray, teal and blue for my colors (you need four color families for Lap size and up). I am doing the lap size version of the quilt.

You can see I have mine bagged. I do this so that I don't lose any pieces and everything stays together nice and neat. The cutting is actually pretty fast once you have your first set of strips cut. If you have a TV show to catch up on, that is a great way to pass the cutting time! 

I hope you will join us for this fun sew-along! And don't be afraid of the weird shapes, Julie (Jaybird creator) makes sewing everything together very easy! 

Happy Cutting,

Enjoli & Gertrude

 OH I almost forgot.. I promised you a preview of the Park Bench Blocks!

Do you like my "design wall"?! :P 

I Heart Jaybird Quilts!

For those of you who haven't heard of or seen the patterns, rulers and all around goodness of Jaybird Quilts, stop everything you are doing and check her out! 

Here is where you can find her: www.jaybirdquilts.com 

I LOVE everything she puts out! You cannot go wrong with any of her patterns or rulers, they RULE! 

I've had my eye on the Seaside Runner and Rock Candy patterns for a bit now. And when we got the Roll-Ups of the new Tula Pink line, Fox Field.. Light Bulb! (I know you are all thinking about Despicable Me now!) 

So, here is what I set out to do.. Make as many Jaybird patterns as I can with ONE Tula Pink Roll-Up! Oh YES!!

Here is what I've done so far:

Seaside Table Runner: 

(using just the greens & grays from Fox Field)

Rock Candy Table Topper:

(using the purples & corals from Fox Field)

Now of course you can see in both projects I used solids for the backgrounds. I pulled both of those out of my stash! Aren't you proud of me?!

And, if you can believe it, this is what I have left still to make a few other patterns from Jaybird:

I think I may have enough green/gray diamonds left to make another Rock Candy!

The reflection you see there is off of the ruler that you use for both of these projects! Her rulers are seriously AWESOME! 

The one you use for Seaside & Rock Candy is called the Sidekick Ruler and you can cut triangles, diamonds, and half triangles with it, in four different sizes! 

Here are a few of her other projects I am planning/have in the works right now: 

So, Park Bench is actually a booklet and can be used as a Block of the Month (BOM). You get 8 different block patterns in this one! (Almost done with the blocks for that one!)

Night Sky has been one of her most popular patterns I think. There is a beautiful version of it floating around Pinterest done with Tula Pink fabrics.. I think it may have been in my "Pinterest" post a while back! :P  I am scheming it with the new Vanessa Christensen line "Color Me Happy", I may be stopping by Seams Like Home tomorrow to get my supplies!

You can also see the booklets that come with the Rulers. I have the Sidekick Ruler & the Hex N More Ruler. With the Hex N More you can cut hexagons, half hexagons, triangles and jewels. The possibilities are endless; think about all of the awesome triangle and hexagon quilts that are floating around on Pinterest.. (Ahhh .. lost in project-land!). 

Anywhoo.. in case you are wondering.. No she is not paying me to say nice things about her products.. I just really really like them! :) 

Go check her out if you haven't seen her stuff yet.. and if you have, well, head over to her site anyway because she has an awesome project going right now that you can be involved in!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli & Gertrude (who is very tired from whipping out the above projects!)

Operation "Make the Baskets" is (Almost) Complete

Hey All,

As I promised last week, I have a quick and easy basket pattern for you to make into Easter Baskets. This pattern is AWESOME! I absolutely love how it turned out. I did end up adding a little more interfacing and stabilizer to the bag, to help it keep its shape.

And of course, since Gertrude is such a rock-star, I added embroidered names to each of the girls baskets! (the Twins baskets are "coming soon" because I procrastinated tonight and worked on another project! shhh don't tell!) 

This basket pattern is very well written and has lots of great pictures to follow. I think I completed this basket in about 3 hours from start to finish (including embroidery) which is fairly quick.

Here is where you can get the pattern: Noodle-head (Divided Basket)

And, last but not least .. (drumroll)

Perfect size for her "Hoppy Floppy Bunny"

Big enough for lots of goodies

Peek-a-boo!

As you can see, I may be an overachiever with "making the Easter stuff", but I am not with the filling the basket part! I have yet to get items to fill the baskets with. I'm jumping on the band wagon with the whole "no-candy" basket idea this year! I mean really, who wants sugar high kids in the early morning hours?! Not me! 

I hope you all give it a try. Even if you don't get to making it an Easter Basket, it is a great Sewing Notions Basket, or Diaper Basket. It really is a versatile bag! 

I'm off to shop for basket goodies! 

Hope you all have a Happy Easter!

:) Enjoli & Gertrude

OH! P.S: I almost forgot ... here is my Army of Bunnies! 

They only look sweet and docile.. they're actually trained Ninja Bunnies! :P 

Hoppy Floppy Bunny

It's almost Easter! At our house that means Bunnies, baskets and ridiculous amounts of that easter grass that you find all over the house for weeks to follow!

This year, since the Twins are old enough for Easter Baskets, I decided that I should put my creative mom skills to work and make the Bunnies & the Baskets. Actually, I'm going to go ahead and blame the whole "make the bunnies" thing on my girlfriend who showed me this bunny pattern!

So, here is this super easy, very cute pattern called Sweet Floppy Bunny. You can find the pattern and template over at The Sewing Loft.

 

I feel like I am making an army of them.. one for each of the girls..and one for me of course! I spent about an hour the other night doing the embroidery on their faces. I used a Frixion pen to draw their faces on and then did a simple back stitch by hand to complete them. I used French knots to secure the tail to the body!

Is it creepy just looking at floating faces?!

Legs & Arms

I have bodies and body parts everywhere! 

I have to say, this really is a fun pattern. It is quick to cut and even faster to sew! Once you've got your bunny all together, you just turn him and stuff him and Ta-Da, you have yourself a cute Easter Bunny! 

I'd better get back to it, have to finish up these three and get started on the baskets. 

Check back next week to see the baskets (also a very quick project)!

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli & Gertrude!

Lazy Days are for Pinterest Favorites

This afternoon was one of those rare occasions when I have a few hours to myself at home! The twins are with my in-laws and Alia is with GG (Arlene as most of you know her). When I find these rare moments I tend to try and cram in a hundred things to make the most of my time. 

Today I decided that instead of trying to finish ALL of the projects in my sewing area, I would do the next best thing: Plan More! And where better to plan more projects than Pinterest! OH Pinterest, how I love thee and how I hate thee! 

I discovered Pinterest after I had the twins and was up all hours of the night feeding them. Some nights I would realize that whichever baby I was feeding had fallen asleep, yet I was still up perusing Pinterest! 

So I figured, since I was taking a break from all the sewing action, I'd give you all a break too and share with you a couple favorites from my Pinterest "To-Do" list! 

(I'm not going to lie, I have like 14 "boards" and probably half of them are sewing/quilting/crafting related! In fact my biggest board is called "Quilty Crap"!) 

Ok, so here you go: 

1) Rainbow Hexie Quilt - uses the Hex 'N More Ruler from Jaybird Quilts

OH MY! I just love it so much. It reminds me of summer and sun and warmth! :) Can you tell I'm ready for Summer?! Plus it is just a happy project! 

And seriously, it is made with half hexies (that means none of that crazy hexagon piecing.. blehh!)

Check it out!

2) Aurifil Spool Quilt  - Who doesn't love Auriful Thread?!

Ok, you can't tell me that this is not one of the coolest quilts you've ever seen! I love this project so much! Plus the story behind the project is pretty cool! I think one of these should hang in my dream studio one day!

Check it out! 

3) Night Sky in Tula Pink Fabrics - Need I say more?

I feel like the picture is self explanatory. I mean who wouldn't want to make this project with this fabric?! Ahhhh I LOVE IT!! This one is pretty close to the top of my list! Maybe only second to the next project! 

Check it out!

4) Fire Island Hosta- NEW Judy Neimeyer

OMG OMG OMG!! This one is pretty darn close to being #1 on my To-do list! Want to know a secret? We have this background fabric at the shop! Yep I bought what I needed for this project already! 

Check it out! 

5) Anything Zen Chic - Love it All 

Nope, not going to lie... I love it all! I want to make everything she does! Part of the appeal is that she does a great job picking colors! I think just by changing the colors of some of her quilts, you could easily make them baby quilts, grad gifts, etc. 

P.S: As I type, I'm also adding her patterns to an upcoming order! :P 

Check it out! 

Okay, so now that I've sucked you in .. 

I know you have another browser window open and are procrastinating your housework!

It's okay me too!

For those of you who have tried to stay away from Pinterest or have genuinely not heard of it .. I am going to apologize now and beg forgiveness for the huge amount of time you will spend looking, pinning and wondering where your time went! 

Grab a cup of coffee, sit on the couch and of course send me some of your ideas you've found on Pinterest! As you can tell, I'm always looking for more projects! 

Happy (Not) Sewing,

Enjoli 

(and a begrudging Gertrude.. I think she is afraid of all the work I will be making her do with my long list of projects)