Thank You Note From Heather Ross

I have just a few minutes before I run off to the gym but thought I would share the amazing thank you card I received from Heather Ross.  Most of you know that Heather is an amazing artist and fabric designer.  If you are unfamiliar with her work, I'm happy to introduce you!  I have written about Heather before when I got the chance to meet her in person in NCY last year.  I think most of you know about the amazing improv style quilt a group of Flickr friends put together for Heather's first baby, who is now born!!  Here is a pic of the quilt for those of you that didn't see it.

Everyone involved did an amazing job with this quilt. So I heard via Flickr that everyone was receiving a beautiful, hand made card from Heather where she drew and colored a version of the quilt! Each card was signed and numbered. Just amazing!!
Here is mine and the note she wrote me also.

EEP!! I hope we can cross paths soon too. It looks like DH will be heading off to NYC sometime in October so maybe we will be able to meet up again and maybe I will get to meet the new wee one too. How cool would that be? I will let you know as things unfold, so keep your fingers crossed.

Heather is such a sweet person and I am so thrilled that I got to be a part of that amazing quilt! ~XOP~

Exciting Times

I have way too much to put into one post but I am afraid I am going to forget something.  I also like to have things to say every day so I am going to just do some talking and the rest will have to wait till tomorrow, *sigh*.
First my friend Craig has entered the McCall's design star contest.  He made it into the first challenge round and now needs people to go and vote for his amazing quilt.  Voting is here, and you can vote once a day for the next 2 weeks.  So what are you waiting for?  Go, NOW!!  Just make sure you come back because I have more stuff to tell you about, k?

Next up, remember that incredible improv quilt I had the opportunity to put together? 

Well, it has finally arrived at it's new home and the proud owner is...

HEATHER ROSS!!!

Yes, she is expecting her first baby in July and this amazing quilt was done for her new baby by a group of Flickr friends.  She sent a note today to the person that facilitated the quilt and let us know that she had received it and was so thrilled!  I guess she cried when she saw it and especially when she read the label we had done. 

 

 She said the quote we used (one of hers) was especially dear to her.  How amazing is that?  Faith (in charge of our group) put together a book that had each block and a note from each person to her, as well as photos of the quilt etc.  I am thrilled that I got to be a part of something so incredible.  Everyone in the group did an amazing job with their block, PTM did her usual fantastic job embroidering the label and doing the binding and LTW's quilting was great!!  So now you know who the quilt was for!!

I still want to tell you about my nephew's wedding reception on Sat but that is going to have to wait for a little bit.  Hope you are all having a great Tuesday, ~XOP~

Project Special Delivery Quilt Finished!! (And a Giveaway!!)

You may remember the Project Special Delivery quilt that a group of people from Flickr had made improv blocks for. It is for a very special person that we all admire and that is expecting her first baby in July. I got the top put together and sent it off to LTW to work her magic on, and then off to PTM to do her amazing binding. Well, this quilt is all finished and is she ever a BEAUTY! Wanna see her??

Seriously people, I could not be happier with it! Look at that amazing circle quilting! I wanted something to soften the geometric look and not be too dense since it is for a baby. You can really see this on the back.

PTM did the embroidery on the label. Her work is always amazing!! I designed the label and did the improv work and she did all the hand embroidery.

Here are a few random close ups, more over in my Flickr.

I will have to make a quilt like this one for myself. I am in LOVE with this style now that I have done it. Here is my block and PTM's block too.

When I was outside trying to photograph the quilt my cat, Autumn decided she needed to "help". She told me the quilt looked yummy!

Then she was rolling and rolling on the grass being a complete attention whore and wanting her belly scratched. Now how could I resist this face??

One last thing, my friend Cori, Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop, is doing a giveaway over on her blog of a Jelly Roll of Hullabaloo by Urban Chicks. She and PTM show you how to make a couple of little quilts using the same jelly roll and there are even directions for one of them. All you need to do is leave her a comment! After you do that, you should go and check out her shop. Her prices are amazing and her customer service is the BEST!! (and I am not just saying that b/c we are friends either!!) She is drawing for the JR on Monday the 13th so hurry on over and tell her Mama Spark sent you!! ~XOP~

Forward Progress

Yes, yes, I am making forward progress on this Improv quilt.  I had to decide what color to use for the backing and for the binding too.  I thought I wanted to use a purple of some sort, but you never know what you will find at the store and I had something in my mind's eye of how I thought it should look.  Then I had to consider what the backing would be.  The last 2 blocks to come in will be on the back and they will be one purple and one green.  I had traced the label on Kona Snow and also had to consider the color of floss to use for the embroidery of that label and what color I will use to build that block.  So off to the shop I went in search of the perfect combination!

I was trying to decide between Kona Eggplant and Kona Berry for the binding.  How did they look with the top, both were good.  How did they look with the back, oh wait I had to choose the back, LOL.
Eggplant                                             Berry

So I laid them both out on the floor and placed the top on them.  I liked them both.  This made me decide that I had to choose a color for the back and maybe that would make the choice easier.  I himmed and hawwed and but finally I chose Kona Baby Pink and you know what?  I loved the Berry with that so here is what I got.

The pink is a really soft pink and when I put some of the purple blocks and some of the green ones on it they looked so nice!  The baby is going to be a little girl so pink is perfect.  I think I am going to leave the label in snow and surround it in pinks and purples.  The floss (no pic sorry) is a variation on the Kona Berry that I will use for the binding. 

I know you are all probably bored to tears about this quilt and I am sorry but it is consuming so much of my thoughts right now!  As is going to market!  QQ and I have gone through the gamut of events all to get there.  First we were staying with a friend, and she was going to drive us around.  Then we were going to rent a car and now we are staying at a hotel downtown SLC (Little America, if anyone wants to meet up with us or happens to be staying there too).  Staying a few blocks away gives us the flexibility to walk wherever we want and come and go as we want.  It was nice for our friend to volunteer to have us but I feel like it would have been a HUGE imposition on her and her family.  I want the FULL market experience and if that means late nights and early mornings it is better to be close by! (Thanks for understanding my weird control freakish personality, Ms Annie!)

I should be getting the layer cake quilt (now known as "Jessie's quilt") back from LTW the LAQ today and I could not be more excited to see how it turned out.  I went to her farm last week and chose the design elements for each of the blocks, with Acanthus butterflies as the theme.  I found an amazing deal on a pattern pack that had 42 quilting patterns in it at One Song Needle Arts and it was on sale!! 
WOO HOO!!  If you are interested in butterflies you should check it out!  GREAT price!!!!
Anyway, I am hoping to make the binding tonight and square up the quilt and maybe hand it off to QQ for binding later tonight.  I guess I need to think about a label for that one too, *sigh*.  Although, the back is Kona Celery so I may lazy out and just write on the actual quilt (I really HATE sewing on a label)  How do you like to label your quilts??

Some Clarification and An Amazing New Top Finished

OK, OK, lest you all think I am some kind of smarty I am not!  I get the feeling from some of the comments that you all think I *use* that formula to do my borders.  HAHAHAHA!!!  NO!  What I was trying (apparently not all that successfully) to point out is that most of us probably lay our borders out until it is pleasing to our eye.  (Or at least I do) and what I wanted you to know/learn is that oddly enough that is probably the Golden Ratio at work!!!  It was an interesting fun fact to know and tell, that's all!!  Thanks for thinking me so smart!  I chortled as I read the comments.

Some of you told me that you just use a predetermined border for a variety of reasons.  I find that
I am happier when I *listen* to my quilts.  Say what??  Yes I look at the quilt, really listen with my whole being and believe it or not, the quilt will *tell* me what it needs to have done to be the best quilt it can be!  No I am not the Quilt Whisperer and you can stop laughing at me now!!  Sheesh.  For instance, I can tell you about it with the top I just put together last night.

I joined a group of people that wanted to make a baby quilt for a special woman having her first baby.  The block style chosen was an improv style and with 30 people participating, using rainbow colors we got 5 blocks in 6 colors.  I volunteered to put the quilt together.  But how?  I tried many layouts.  With each one I stood back and looked at it.  I tried out different sashing colors, but no, didn't like any of them.  Finally I settled on a layout that I loved!!  It reminded me of like when you go to the eye doctor and they put those lens machines in front of you and keep changing it and ask you "Better 1 or 2?" "3 or 4?"  I kept changing it up and asking "better like this? or that?"  I settled on this one:

It's funny though, whenever I have to work with rainbow anything I *have to* put it in rainbow order. Do you do that?? You know ROYGBIV? But I switched it up by choosing which blocks I wanted down the center, I think it makes the more obvious ROYGBIV less obvious.I am totally in love with this quilt top.  I am waiting for two more blocks for the back, and will make the label into an improv block too.  I am a little nervous about making this back (this entire quilt if the truth be told actually).  I can't say who it is for yet but when it is finished and I know it has been received you will understand why I feel so much pressure about how this quilt will turn out.

So there you have it.  Keepin it real and tellin you how I struggle to find the best look for each and every one of my quilts!  This is another reason I love reading other's blogs.  I may see something I can use that I had not thought of before!  I hope you find things here that give you those same "Aha" moments too.  Well, off to make some binding, I understand my LCQAL quilt is done and will be coming to me tomorrow.  Have a great night!  ~XOP~

Easter Fun

I took a great video of my cat Jack "Marking" (aka rubbing his face) all over the Easter baskets and the chocolate as if to say "This is mine, if you need/want candy go and get your own!"  I will try to insert the video when I get home.  The new blogger editor doesn't like to upload with my Mac here at work so you will have to view the photos instead!
He loved him some Easter candy (No, I didn't actually give him any chocolate, it's not good for his kitty digestion!)

My daughters brought me this beautiful flowering Hyacinth plant.  I LOVE the smell!  That was the cake we bought for dessert, a strawberry short cake type thing from Sam's club.  Normally I would bake but still not feeling well has some advantages = )  Also the lazy Easter bunny just put all the candy into a bowl instead of hiding the filled eggs like he usually does.  I guess he figured that since all the kids are over 20 maybe they didn't need to find hidden eggs anymore?  What do you think?

We had a wonderful day, all three kids were home and DD1 with her boyfriend.  We ate good food, and watched a lot of movies.  I even got the two rows of tumblers for the back of the tumbler quilt sewn together.  That means I could package up all the left over fabrics and the left over tumblers and get them ready to go to their new home with Katy in the UK. (all except for the brown).
 
I even got the label traced onto fabric to be embroidered for Project Special Delivery!   So QQ it will be coming your way soon!!!
 
I was in a quandry how to do this and make it neat, then I though, "hey, why not print it out from the computer and then trace it?"  BRILLIANT!!  (and neat), so this is what I ended up with.  Once it is embroidered I will put it into an improv type block and combine it with 2 more on the back.  Next up is to finish the actual PSD improv quilt top.

I'm finally beginning to feel like myself although I am still horribly congested.  I bought a Nettie pot and tried it, (gross) but it cleans out the sinuses.  And did I tell you how much I love Nyquil??  I used it for the first time last night and slept like a baby!  Amazing.  Now I need my head to drain and all will be back to normal!  How was your weekend??