Stithcer's Angel and Heart Challenge

This past week I received a very special parcel! A while back I had joined Helen's Stitcher's Angel swap. I made and sent my gift but for some reason never received one back. My Angel (according to her blog) had some personal issues that prevented her from following through. My name was put on a list on Helen's blog and a very gracious lady became my new Angel! I do not think she has a blog but I know she reads them. Her name is Cristina and she lives in Milan Italy. She sent me the most awesome stitching portfolio (personalized- how cool is that!). Complete with matching button bag and pin cushion. Oh ya and, that's right I said and, she included an Italian stitching magazine, some gorgeous buttons and rick rack and the cutest little zippers in wonderful spring colors!

Close-up of the portfolio

...and the inside-too cute!

I have already moved my applique and stitchery projects to the portfolio! Thanks so much Cristina! You truly are an angel and made my week with your wonderful gifts!

On Thursday, we had our Guild meeting and since it was the month of February tonight was the judging night for our guilds heart challenge. Unfortunately I had not been to a meeting in a while (life just got in the way) so I only found out about it last month and could not get a finish in time. I will however show it as one of my pattern line once it is finished!

Back to the guild meeting- below are the pics of some wonderfully beautiful show and tells and also some of the heart challenge entries. Our guild has some very truly talented ladies in it!!

This is Barbara's paper pieced quilt- stunning!

Sue's Beautiful hand appliqued Baltimore Album- WOW!

Then here some of the heart challenge entries...

...the picture may not reflect it, but this quilt had a lot of texture to it that made you want to touch it to see if it was real or just the fabric- cool!

oh and this quilt is smaller than it looks- about 15 inches probably- such tiny applique and hand quilted! Fabulous!

This quilt was hand quilted and I know for a fact that it was their first quilt! Wow!

...and last but certainly not least...the winner voted by our members

again not bigger than about 15 inches but very intricate hand work- those bullion's were perfect! The hand quilting- just stunning!

Well I am going to go now but I wanted to leave you with the coolest link that I found while searching through some blog sites. Apparently this guild decided to create a unique exhibit for Breast Cancer Awareness and made a bunch of OOAK quilted bras! Yep, you read it correctly Quilted bras! It is so cool! Some of my faves: the political bra, the nurse bra and being a military wife I loved the support our troops bra. Go and check it out! http://www.quiltersofsc.org/artfullbras/artfullbras.htm%20make-make sure you are doing your self breast examinations!

Cara

Stitcher's Angel received her gift!

Well, I got a lovely comment/email from Cici letting me know that she received her parcel in Sweden safe and sound! If you remember , in my last post, I gave a sneak peak of what I was making....here are the finished products....

I used a tutorial over here for this awesome collapsible bucket that is made out of canvas. I did not want to use canvas so instead I lined it with Timtex. The pin cushion is from my Quilts and More mag and is by Heather Bailey. I pieced the top piece of fabric though for a matchy look. And last but not least the Stitching folder is from this pattern by Renee Plains. Instead of the wool I used an angel applique from Nancy Halvorsen's book Angels Among Us and added my own stitchery touches. Most of the fabric is Moda and some is from my long stashed away Robyn Pandolph fabs (from when she was with Moda). All in all I had a great time both finding these gifts and then making them. So.....

...I am glad that they arrived to you safely! I also must say thanks to my accomplice, Stina, who was gracious enough to answer some questions for me so that I could make sure I was choosing things that Cici would like! Of course I would like to extend a BIG thanks to Helen for hosting this really cool swap!

Also, I found a great giveaway the other day...if you have not been to Camille's blog lately, hop on over there quickly and enter to win-get this- a quilt made by Camille!!! Isn't she just awesome to do this?! There is not much time left for this though so get and move on! There are also some great ways to get extra entries if you want to increase your chances! Thanks Camille- you are the coolest!

Well, I am off to see if I can get some of my Etsy stocked up and of course to do some work on my numerous WIPS! I will hopefully have something to show soon and maybe a sneak peak of the pattern I am working on!

Cara

P.S. A while back our guild had a sew in day for ConKerr Cancer and I have learned recently that Cindy Kerr, the founder of this awesome charity, has been chosen as one of 10 women to receive the 2008 Women Of Worth award. This is a wonderful charity and this is our chance to help out once again. Please go to http://www.womenofworth.com/ and vote for Cindy and if she is selected, ConKerr Cancer will receive $25 000! Hurry on over and vote as it ends November 24th! You can also help by making these pillow cases and donating them. Thanks for supporting this cause.

Market, Retreat and a Sneak...

Whew! I have had a busy couple of weeks, as mentioned in my last post...I attended my first market then we had a retreat to attend and then unfortunately my littlest one has been sick so this is the first chance I have gotten to download allll those pics and share with you!

First, Market was a huge success! Stefanie and I met a ton of wonderful people, saw a ton of beautiful new fabrics and of course got the inside scoop of this wonderful industry. It was overwhelming but exciting and at times so daunting, but overall I am energized and excited about venturing into this amazing world!

The first night we attended Sample Spree which, to say the least, is crazy! We met some wonderful people in line from all over the country and of course met up with Sharon from Red Geranium Cottage and briefly met her friends Nancy and Karen. Then the next 2 days were spent looking through the booths and meeting some of our favorite designers- it was so hard to not be completely star struck, I tell you! Some of our fave's were Joanna and Eric Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts fame...one booth I really wanted to take a pic of( go here to check out Joanna's pics) ...both Joanna and her husband are wonderful and nice and I am so excited for her new line Patisserie to come out! It is gorgeous! We met Barb Adams and briefly Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs fame. Very beautiful booth that one an award for Best single booth. They also have a really awesome book coming out that had this amazing cross stitch pillow to make! You can go here to check out pics of their booth. We also met Cyndi Walker of Wishful Stitches as well- her patterns are just wonderful. Oh there were so many others and we enjoyed meeting every single one and to see all of their newest designs- very inspiring! Unfortunately I did not realize that I had only taken a couple of photos....Stefanie, I believe took more. I am hoping to be a little better about the camera next time around!

One of my faves to meet was Lynette Anderson and her son Eddie at her booth Lynette Anderson's designs. She is the sweetest and talked with us a while even offering me some good tidbits of what it is like to design (thanks Lynette!). She is coming out with her first line of fabric in June from Henry Glass. Go to her blog and check out her sneak peaks- too cute! If you have not been working on her cute Noak's Ark Stitchery, then pop over and check that out too! I am hoping to have some of her paterns and books on my Etsy shortly so keep checking back if any one is interested.




We also bumped into Melly and Rosie from Melly and Me and Rosalie Quinlan Designs fame on the shuttle to the convention center! They were so sweet and so we made a point of stopping by their cute booth and they obliged us with a photo op! Their designs are just darling!

Like I said, Market is a bag of feelings but mostly it shows a wonderful example of our industry and I can't wait to be part of it someday!

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Last weekend, my bestest Quilt Buddy Stefanie came to visit for a wonderful 5 days! The reason was to attend the Lil Country Shoppe's third annual Quilt Retreat in Rehoboth Beach Delaware. She flew in on Thursday and we began immediately to catch up and of course pack our bags for a weekend of quilty bliss! I of course was way to ambitious and packed several projects of which are still untouched. Instead I pick an intricate wall hanging called 'Snowmen on Parade'. It is adorable and I cannot wait to finish it and show you! I will see if I have a pic from the shoppe. It involves applique and paper piecing and the prep from that alone kept me busy! Stefanie managed to get one quilt top pieced and 2 others almost completely pieced. This year we sat with the wonderful sisters that I sat with last year (guess I did not talk too much since they invited me again! : ) ) Here is the group sitting at our table getting some work done. From the back to front: Susan's sisters Charlane, Nancy and Susan (no blog-yet) and on the right is Stef. I of course am taking the pic so managed to stay out of it! LOL!

Here is a picture of the strip club quilt that was done this weekend and Doris graciously presented it to those members that were at the retreat! WOW! I am not sure what it is called but I will edit when I find out! Doris made this one out of the jelly roll Harvest Home from Blackbird Designs! I cannot wait to make this one!

All in all we had a blast! I am so ready for next years to come already! Doris and Susan did a great job as usual! Unfortunately it did not seem to last long enough before Stefanie was jetting back to her coast : (....

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I also manged in the past couple of weeks to send off my Stitcher's Angel present to fly across the big blue ocean to somewhere in Europe! I have included a sneak peak of what I made, just in case ---- reads my blog....I cannot wait to hear she has received it and I hope she loves it!

Once I know she has received and opened it I will post the other pics! I had so much fun doing this and anxiously await my own Stitcher's angel parcel to come! Thanks Helen for organizing this awesome swap!

Well, I have rambled on for too long and have to go hit the drawing board! Too many ideas in my head! LOL!

Enjoy your weekend!

Well, after a very busy couple of weeks I am finally back in the blogosphere! A lot has been happening and not a lot of work unfortunately- although I have managed to get my stitcher's angel stuff done in the nick of time! They will be winging their way across the pond to their new home! As soon as I have my pics downloaded I will give a sneak of them and once they have arrived I will reveal who she is!

On a different note, I am not sure how many of you knew that I have started a business. I started making custom memory quilts and other types as well and it has been a lot of fun! Well, since I was doing a lot of designing for these quilts I realized that in reality that is where my heart is- design. So I have started working on a pattern line for The Quilt Nook and had a very exciting opportunity to go to Quilt Market in Houston last weekend. All I have to say is WOW! It is definitely an exciting event but at the same time, as it was my first, it was very overwhelming! I did however get to meet a lot of wonderful people, designers and others as well as be able to get a peak at the up and coming fabrics that are coming out. I have taken pictures but have not downloaded them as of yet so I will have to share them in my next post.

The best part was I brought along my bestest Quilt Buddy and I must say we had a blast! We were totally exhausted though as we covered the whole market in 2 days!!! Can you believe it! Let me tell you, if you have not ever been to one - it is HUGE! We did meet up with some fellow bloggers- Sharon ( of Red Geranium Cottage Fame) and Nancy (of Nancy no-blogs fame) and quite a few others! It definitely was a weekend to remember and let me tell you I came back totally inspired and with plenty of knowledge to help me with my new endeavor (thanks Doris and Lynette!).

I will leave you with pics of a beautiful fall mini quilt that Stefanie made for me...it goes perfect on my kitchen table in the sun room! Thanks Stef! More to come about market and all the goodies we found there!

Stefanie's Fall Mini Quilt

More to follow...
Cara
P.S. Happy Halloween!

I think fall has arrived!

Wow! It has been a while! Well I have managed to get my Stars Around the Garden top pieced...I just have to do the applique in the border and I can add it to the To Be Quilted pile! Yahoo! I decided I loved the look of the applique in the border of this pattern, but not the plain border and I also still was partial to the squares but did not like that they were so small...so I altered it and used larger squares in the darker fabrics and in 2 of the corners I did cream squares for some applique- the best of both worlds! I really love how it has turned out! Hopefully I will be showing it completed very soon! The other project that I worked on was not really quilting related but part of an update to the Quilt Nook itself. I was finding my tiny wipe off board was not big enough to hold all the magnets and papers/notes that I would like so I decided to start a new project to make it more efficient. Here are the results...

As you can see I decided to use this awesome paint by Rust-o-leum that basically makes your wall a magnetic surface. After it cures you can leave it as is or paint over it with the wall color making it totally hidden. I have not decided yet if I am going to cover it or frame it out some how. Any thoughts? I also was sitting in my nook yesterday cutting out my freezer paper templates for the Stars applique, and I happened to notice that fall is definitely upon us...so I thought I would share the view I have from the Nook's window with you.

I also have been tagged by Lenora over at Lenora Jenkins Designs! Thanks Lenora- sorry it has taken a while for me to post it so here goes...

To come up with seven random things...Hmmm...

1. I LOVE Starbucks lattes, cappuccinos and such but absolutely do not like straight up coffee.

2. I am a Canadian Registered Nurse who has worked in England and worked in a Neonatal ICU.

3. I used to ride horses (jumpers -hope to ride again soon) as did my mum when she was a teen.

4. I would love to go to Tahiti some day and stay in one of those over the water private huts.

5. I love playing games- such as word games, Sudoku and board games.

6. I used to love writing letters and was good at it-not so much now but I wish to someday get back to it- nothing like receiving a hand written note in the mail.

7. I would love to be a fabric designer one day for Moda...

Well I am supposed to tag 7 people...this part I am not so good at but I guess I will tag Stefanie, Dawn, Sharon and if you are someone who comments on my blog consider yourself tagged- let me know and I'll come check you out! : )

Well, that is it for now...I have to finish up my stitcher's angel prezzies and ship them across the pond to ....well now that would be a spoiler! I can't wait to finish and send the parcel!

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Cara