Who, Me?

That's what I said when Pat Sloan invited me to be a

guest on American Patchwork & Quilting Radio. 

 

I hope you'll join us on May 20 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern for the live broadcast.

Just click HERE to get there.  If you miss the broadcast, you can listen later

on your computer, by subscribing to iTunes (search American

Patchwork & Quilting), or by downloading to a player. 

 

 

I met Pat last year in Birmingham where we taught classes at the Quilt Symposium

of Alabama.  She's every bit as cute and energetic as I thought she would be.

Before I left for Birmingham, my husband asked if I would be the only

teacher there.  I told him there were lots of others, and started running down

the list.  When I got to Pat's name, he interrupted me to ask, "THE Pat Sloan?"

 He doesn't know a lot about quilting, but he knows that Pat rocks!

Hope you'll join us while I chat with THE Pat Sloan on May 20!  

 

 

Cutting Party

My rotary cutter needs a break.  So do I. 

I've been cutting scraps for a new project using leftover jelly rolls, charm squares, and other bits of this and that.  To make sure there's enough contrast, I like to "audition" the fabrics by placing them side by side.

Sometimes it's helpful to see the fabrics without color, so I converted the photo to black and white. 

This helps identify any problems before it's necessary to un-sew! 

 

Time to wake up my machine and get these pieces put together.  Hope you have a great week. 

 

Kim

Book Signing at A&E

Last weekend, A&E Fabric, Variety & Craft Store helped me celebrate the release of my new book by hosting a book signing and trunk show.  I wish all of you could have been there becaue we had so much fun.  Since you couldn't make it, I'm sharing lots of pictures. 

 

I had a lot of help with the quilts in Scrap-Basket Beauties.  My friend Karen pieced and quilted two quilts for the book, and my friend Nancy quilted ten of the quilts that I pieced.  As if all they did wasn't enough, I also forced asked them to sign books, too.  Apparently, they couldn't find anything better to do on a Saturday morning, so they agreed.  Here we are with Rhonda, pretending to be hard at work. 

 

 

A&E is closer to where I work than to where I live, so I like to shop and hang out there during my lunch hour.  If you go there around noon, you'll likely see me walking around mesmerized and running over people with my shopping cart.  These are the people who cut my fabric, help me choose borders, know exactly where to find everything, and make me laugh.  Tovah, Martha, Ollie, and Veronica.   

 

 

And here's Liz (pink blouse) sitting with Nancy, Karen, and me.  Liz makes the others behave (or tries her best) and orders everything for the fabric department. 

 

 

Here's my friend Karen (a/k/a Nana Girl).  

 

 

I can't remember if I've ever told you how I know Karen.  (If I have, feel free to skip past this part!)  Karen and I worked at the same law firm for 12 years.  Most days, instead of going out for lunch, we would work on quilts together.  After four years or so, our firm moved to a different building.  There was an empty office, so we filled it with quilting tools, sewing machines, a design wall, an iron, an ironing board, and even a small stash of fabric.  We had so much fun together working on projects, cutting, pressing, and sewing.  Our firm's telephone directory listed a telephone extension for the "Sewing Room."  We accomplished a lot, an hour at a time.  We no longer work at the same firm, but she's only a couple of blocks away. 

 

And here's Nancy. 

 

 

I met Nancy when she set up her longarm business at A&E.  She has a machine at work and a machine at home.  I think she has separation anxiety when she leaves one behind.  Nancy saved my life.  Maybe literally.  I was extremely behind in finishing the sample quilts for the book.  Nancy agreed to quilt "a few" of the sample quilts, and ended up quilting ten!  I would pick up one quilt and deliver another quilt top to her every few days.  I still can't believe she didn't run like the wind when she saw me coming.  I'm so glad she didn't, because she did a fabulous job on my quilts.  If you're anywhere near Pensacola and need a quilter, please let me know and I'll be happy to give you her contact information.  She's really good at choosing quilting designs that enhance the design of the quilt.  Like this one.

 

  

This is the back of Perpetual Motion.  I'm crazy about this free-hand modified Baptist Fan design.  Just too cool. 

 

A sweet lady named Wanda had made a few quilts from my first two books, and she brought them to hang in the store.  You'll see them mixed in with some of the sample quilts in these pictures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so very much, Rhonda, Liz, Tovah, Martha, Ollie, Veronica, Wanda, Karen, and Nancy.  And thank you to all of you who sacrificed your Saturday to come by and visit.  It means so much to me.  Hope to run into you at A&E soon.  But hopefully not with my shopping cart. 

 

Kim

Happy National Quilting Day!

How are you celebrating?

 

Me?  More of the same.  Working on another Courthouse Steps quilt.

I think this is my favorite block ever. 

 And growing my stash a little. 

 

I have a serious dot problem.

 

I'm also gathering up quilts for a book signing/trunk show/play day at A & E Fabric, Variety & Craft Store in Pensacola next Saturday.  I'll be there from 10:00 to 1:00, or until they kick me out.  Don't laugh -- it's happened before.  I blogged about this magical place a long time ago here.  If you're within driving distance (or maybe have your own helicopter), I'd love for you to drop by and hang out with us.  The quilts from my new book will be on display, and I could use a little help deciding which fabrics to use for my next project.  Hope to see you there!

 

Kim

Crush

I have a giant one on my UPS dude, and this bundle of happiness he left at my door. 

I'm digging the camera prints.  How fun!

 

 

 

2WENTY-THR3E, by Eric and Julie Comstock (a/k/a Cosmo Cricket) for Moda. 

 

Have a great week!

Scrap-Basket Beauties

I'm thrilled to tell you that it's available today!  Like right now!  If you visit Martingale's blog today, you could win your very own copy.  While you're there, you can see a special slide show of all the quilts in the book, and maybe pick up a few tips for cutting 2 1/2" strips to make your own Scrap-Basket Beauties.  And if you don't have copies of my first two books, you can pick them up at 40% off until March 11.  Isn't Martingale the best?

 

You're still here?  You should be HERE instead.

 

Have a super week!

 

Kim

 

On the Fly

We're well into February, and I'm still not finished with 2012.  As I visited my favorite blogs last month, many people were sharing their New Year's resolutions, and some had even chosen a single word to define their expectations and goals for 2013.  If I had a word, I'm afraid it would have to be something like "unpredictable" or "chaos," so I'll pass on the word thing.  If I had made any resolutions, I'm sure I would have already failed to follow them, so I'm happy to have not spent time thinking about it.  I'll just keep doing it on the fly and hope it all works out. 

And today, on the fly, I'm sharing pictures of Courthouse Steps, my first finished quilt of 2013, as well as a little about my process.  Sometimes I work on projects that I'm not able to share along the way, so I'd like to be better about doing that when I can.  That isn't a resolution, mind you.  It's just a thought. :-)

This is part of the fabric "audition."  Some of these fabrics made it; some didn't.  I gathered every fabric that I hoped would work -- yardage and scraps alike -- and sorted them by value (light and dark).  There were more baskets and more auditions, and eventually I settled on a huge pile of fabrics that I pressed and cut into 1 1/2" strips, one strip from each fabric.

For some of you, cutting is just a necessary task that gets you to the fun part.  I kind of enjoy it.  Probably too much.  I like to cut every piece, plus a few extra, before sewing the blocks together.

Had I thought ahead about discussing my "process,"  I would have taken more pictures of the block construction.  I like to sew in an assembly-line fashion, constructing at least five or six blocks at a time.  Check out the picture of my design wall, and you'll see that I'm a little fussy neurotic about arranging all the pieces before sewing them together.   

Do you do this, too?  (Just say yes, even if you don't.)  I like to spread out the large-scale prints and the bold "screamers" so they're not in the same area of the quilt.  If I arrange the pieces before sewing the blocks willy-nilly, I'm always happier with the arrangement, and I don't have to think about it any more.  And while I'm not thinking about it, I can simultaneously watch (or half watch, half listen to) an entire season of Homeland.  For the second time. 

Part of my process includes moving the cat around the room until we find a place where he's content to sleep while I quilt the layers together.  It's hard enough dragging a quilt through the little opening in the sewing machine.  When there's a 12-pound cat sitting on the quilt, it gets a little dangerous for both of us.  Cat hair in the lint filter isn't so bad, but having to explain to the vet how I managed to sew his tail to the quilt would just be embarrassing.   

The stats:
Blocks:  11" finished
Size:  55 1/2" x 66 1/2"
Batting:  Warm & Natural, 100% cotton
Quilting Design:  Free-motion paisley

Do you enjoy hand-stitching the binding?  I enjoy doing it, but I love the feel of it even more.  Once the binding is on the edge, it begins to feel like a quilt.       

This one now lives with a dear man who has promised to use and enjoy it.  And for me, that's just the best part of making a quilt. 

I hope you all have a terrific week and find plenty of time to play.  

Kim 





Perfect Zip Bags

Don't you just love all the zipper bags floating around on Pinterest and Flickr?  I haven't seen one yet that I didn't like.  When I decided to make one, I knew I wanted it to be pieced and quilted.  But I wanted it to be flat instead of "poofy," and I didn't want to fuss with interfacing.  So when I saw Elizabeth Hartman's post here, I was intrigued.  There was the zipper bag I had been looking for.  And a tutorial showing how she made her Weekender bag by quilting all of the sections separately.  So I ordered her Perfect Zip Bags pattern and used the tutorial to put it together (without interfacing).  The pattern has instructions for three different styles of bags in two sizes each, with options for handles.  If you're interested, you can order the instant download .pdf pattern here and start sewing your own bag now.

This one is made from scraps of Aviary by 3 Sisters for Moda.

And this one is made from tiny scraps of bright fabrics. 

Hope you're having a nice weekend.

 

Kim

50

Yep.  50.  That's how old I am now.  I recently celebrated yet another birthday.  It wasn't so bad, except for the voice mail messages from a company selling safety alert buttons.  Because people my age tend to fall frequently.  My husband couldn't wait to show me the mail when I received not one, but two, mailers from AARP.  I told him my next husband is going to be a lot nicer. 

My friend Karen surprised me with the most beautiful quilt.  Here's a picture of Mini Trail Mix. 

 

And a few closeup pictures of the fabrics and quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

I really love the Baptist Fan quilting in the border.   

 

Thank you so much, Karen.  You made turning 50 a little easier.  I treasure your friendship. 

 

Kim