Moved Back In!

Well all, I am happy to say that Gertrude and I have moved back into our small but wonderful sewing room! It is now totally dedicated to our creative adventures and not hindered by pesky dressers and hangers getting in the way.

I have actually had some time to sew, and I think Gertrude is happy to be "working" again! 

So far, we have:

- sewn bean bags for a friends kids' birthday party

- sewn background and the first row of the Park Bench project 

Ok, so it seemed like the list would be longer, but we (and by "we", I mean "I") have been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing.. Gertrude just sits and watches, she doesn't even offer to help.. seems unfair.. oh well!

So, here you go.. my (ok "our") new and improved sewing room:

I am so in love with the painted door! The color just makes me smile and welcomes me into my Happy Place!

So, as you can see, there is still a little organizing to be done, but I think I've figured out where everything is supposed to go now.. though that ironing board has me stumped! 

So LOVE that cube! It can hold my mini ironing board plus some of my fabric and books! The tower next to it is super convenient for holding my little notions items (elastic, cording, zippers, buttons, etc.). The cabinet on the far left was a total Salvation Army score, I got it for $15 and it is just perfect for holding my interfacing, see below!

Isn't it just perfect?! Plus the top is just the right size for my small rotary mat! YAY!

I'm not going to lie, I really don't want to ever leave this room again! :P  Alas, someone has to make sure the kids don't destroy the rest of the house! 

Any who.. here is a peak at a few of my favorite things in this room:

Ahhh.. my precut stash..actually this isn't all of it.. I do love me some precuts though!

Best Iron ever, but really I love the little key rack for holding scissors!

Recognize that Fat Quarter Pack?! It is the one I scored at Spring Quilt Market! Still can't bear to take it apart! Just have to find the right project!

One of my little helpers, guarding the books!

Okay, I'm not going to lie.. I thought this was pretty genius! The hook I used to hold my handmade bags is actually a curtain tie back! :P I put it on a stud and it is SUPER strong to hold my handmade stash!

 So, this concludes the Sewing Room Tour,  any Questions?! :) I had such a blast working on the floor and getting everything set back up.. though I have to say that getting to sew in the room again is AWESOME! 

Speaking of.. here is that photo I promised of my progress on our Park Bench project!

I'm not going to lie, as much as I have LOVED working on this.. I can't wait to give it to my Mom to quilt! She does some pretty amazing things and it is going to be stunning! 

Keep an eye out for it at the shop in the next month or so! :) 

Happy Sewing,

Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

Gertrude's Room Re-do

It seems that whenever I get an idea for a "home improvement" project, it is always during a period of our life that is particularly crazy! Maybe it's because I feel like, "It's already hectic, so why not throw a bit more craziness into the mix?!" Or maybe it was because I was coming down from my disappointment with our recent camping trip (which will now be referred to as "the trip that must not be named"). 

Any way, I decided that instead of using my walk-in-closet to house clothes (two small dressers and some hangers) I wanted to convert it to be entirely used as my sewing room! And by I, I of course mean, my husband! I had in my head the idea that I didn't want carpet anymore, but a wood laminate or something that looked more "studio-like"! Who knows where I get these ideas in my head from?! 

Knowing that my hubby had Friday off, I broke the news to him on Monday. He had all week to prepare himself! :P Surprisingly he didn't object that much! Probably because he got to move the cars out of the garage and break out all his toys! 

So, here is what we did to Gertrude's room: 

Laying "Cabinet Grade" Plywood Floor.

Now to stencil!

Starting to look good!

Polyurethane coating and trim are on!

Time to put everything back!

Clearly I need to do some cleaning and organizing!

I was getting so anxious to get the room back together because I had a Father's Day project to get done. I had to move Gertrude downstairs to the dining room table to work; I think she enjoyed her time in the natural light though! I'm hoping that now that I have this "little home-improvement" project out of the way, I can get some actual sewing done! :P I miss the hum that Gert makes when she is happily working!

Hope you're all enjoying the sun (and getting a bit of sewing done!),

Enjoli (and Gertrude) 

Camping, Kids & Hexies!

It started out well enough...

I even had a few moments of peace in which to stitch up a some hexies in the evening sunlight!

Captured a few moments of play..

Unfortunately these beautifully captured moments are NOT AT ALL the reality of our weekend! 

Mommy & Daddy came back exhausted, kids came back cranky ... and we all slept for 3 hours upon arriving home. 

In hopes of recovering the weekend we stopped at Bearly Threaded Quilting in Cooper Landing so I could partake in a bit of retail therapy .. what do you think? I think it really helped! :) 

Hopefully I will be fully recovered by the middle of the week and can let you all in on a few projects that are close to completion! 

Have a great week!

Enjoli (and a Gertrude in desperate need of attention!) 

Jealous Gertrude

So I spent about half of May traveling. The second week of May was spent in Pittsburgh at Quilt Market (which was awesome) and the last week 

was spent in Denver training on the new Bernina E16 (which was awesome-er!). 

So, Sis and I got to Denver at 10:30 am on Tuesday morning (on a red eye from Anchorage.. ehh). Since we had the day and were hopped up on coffee we decided that we should check out the Denver Zoo, which was AMAZING! We saw so many animals, Zebra, Giraffes (real ones), Lions, Hyenas, tons of different types of Birds & Monkeys and even a Rhinoceros! 

Of course, in my excitement I forgot to take pictures.. this was the only one I got! 

Needless to say, our first day in Denver was busy and fun!

But the training was definitely the best part! For anyone who likes embroidery, the E16 will blow you away! In all honesty, I've never really seen a multi-needle machine up close, but Bernina has really outdone themselves with this one!

So this is our beauty! We were trying to figure out what to name her..if you have any ideas let us know!

This is the user interface for the machine. You can put in all your thread colors. The list of thread choices is endless! It will color in the design as you go. None of this is "new" for embroidery, but the fact that you can see it really BIG is cool! That and you can add effects to your design all in the program! 

I think my favorite part of the machine though was the hat attachment! OH MAN!! SO COOL!

I really wanted to steal the hat, but there were so many witnesses!

Seriously, how cool is that?! 

I asked my hubby which of the kids I had to get rid of so I could get an E16. 

He said: Gertrude.  :( 

Looks like I won't be getting one just yet..though I'm holding out for Bernina's Long arm machine! :P 

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