Something new

So I caved. I began something new. In preparation for baby’s birth and the quiet hours I will have at the hospital, I did all the prep for a needle turn appliqué project. This is my first try, and so far… Not too bad.

I was a little challenged at the deep inner curve on the other side of the leaf you see there in the picture, but I’m hoping it gets better with practice… Anybody know?? Or have awesome tutorials they’d be willing to share?

To stay with my FINISH theme , I am also bringing my grape colored scarf, a knitting project I began ages ago. Just for a little variety you know?

Thinking baby won’t be much longer now, and will be sure to post pics once the wee one arrives.

Quilty Hugs,
Bradie

Two Hour Valentine’s Runner Tutorial Announcement – Today!

Hi all!
Just a quick little post to announce I will be having a live tutorial about how to piece a quilt on a longarm today.

This is my Two Hour Valentine’s Table Runner. I will broadcast live at 11am PST with a tutorial on how to make it. (of course this can also be done with your domestic machine as well!) I hope you will tune in to watch and learn!
Here is where you can find us…
http://ustream.tv/channel/long-arm-quilting
See you there!

Quilty Hugs,
Bradie

PS. While you are here be sure to enter my Accuquilt GO cutter giveaway below… Good luck!

Bradie’s GO Cutter Giveaway!

Hi everyone!!
I am so excited to share today’s post with you. Let’s jump right in k?

Again this week I broke up my tasks to make the job less daunting. Monday, I pressed the white background fabric so the cutting would be easier. Tuesday I cut the 15 inch squares and marked them for centering the Dresden plates. Wednesday, I laid out the plates and pinned them in place. Lastly, on Thursday, I stitched the first one in place. Being guild night, I had to cut it short, but I am pleased with finishing one.

Oh! Look there it is!

As you know from my earlier posts, the initial stage of this quilt was made much easier through the use of an Accuquilt GO cutter. I am very pleased with my GO cutter and if it is a purchase you are considering, I would truly recommend it. It is especially useful for odd and unusually shaped patches due to the accuracy and speed. That is why I am so thrilled to be offering you, the opportunity to win one of these great quilting tools!!

To enter, here is what you need to do. First, subscribe to this blog if you haven’t already. Next leave a comment, on this post answering the two following questions…

1. Visit the Accuquilt website and decide which is the #1 GO cutter die you would like to own AND if you could design a die, what would it be?

2. Tell me about the UFO you would like to finish the most, and tell what is keeping you from the FINISH? Binding, quilting, what??

Once you have done that, you are entered! Only one comment per person please. The comments will close on Monday at midnight MST and the winner will be announced Wednesday.

I would be very grateful if you took a sec to share this on FB, twitter, or your blogs. thanks my quilty peeps! Best of luck to you all.

Quilty hugs,
Bradie

Chipping away at Dresden Plates

I began a Dresden Plate quilt earlier this year. Using a line of 30′s repro prints by Chloe’s Closet for Moda, the plate petals were all cut with an Accuquilt Go Cutter. Since that initial effort, this small Dresden plate runner has sat, untouched by quilty hands.

I began so ambitiously, sure I would end up with a queen size quilt. It didn’t take long to see I was limited by fabric and well to be honest, patience! Lol however, I have chosen to see the sunlight at the end of the tunnel, and I am chipping away at this lovely little quilt.

Day one, I took all the pointy tip petals and pinned them all in half with right sides of fabric facing each other.

Day two, I stitched the tips of each individual petal.

Day three, I turned each petal right side out.

Day Four, I pressed each petal flat. This prepared them for attaching to each other.

Day Five, I pinned them in pairs.

Day Six, I splurged time wise and spent a little over an hour to piece them all into their finished plates.
This was when I realized that what initially looked like zillions of petals actually amounted to 3 blocks. LOL funny right??

So there it is! One of my Dresden plates. Now to finish up with some background and a center. I hope to accomplish that by Friday so I will have a picture to share. I’d like to invite you back for Friday’s post which will be the beginning of my Accuquilt GO cutter giveaway! I’m super excited about this one. It will be fabulous to cross this project and giveaway off my UFO list.

Quilty Hugs,
Bradie

With a little help from my friends

I have another finished quilt to share with you today! This one has been so patient. It began in Feb. 2010 as a mystery challenge for an upcoming guild retreat. Our friend, Joan E. (quilt)Smith, designed the beginning pattern, which consists of the inner four blocks. I pieced these ahead of time and added the first inner border.

The next step was to take the quilt to retreat where another quilter would add the next border, you know, round robin style. Joan added the prairie point border next. Then the quilt went to Brenda who added the block type border. Lastly, my very own Mommy, Marilyn added the outer chevron or braid type border. I love the borders these fabulous ladies put on my quilt!!

Matty totally rocked the quilting with some gorgeous teeny tiny feathers and neat block designs too. This quilt is truly one of a kind!

I had gotten the binding half ass attached in November, but gave it a final push and finished it up new years day. It is hanging in our son Tash’s room where the colors work perfectly.

I really enjoyed doing this style of quilt, with the center blocks and adding varied borders. I will certainly do something like this again. Have you participated in round robin quilt making? Let’s see some pics or blog posts! Feel free to leave a comment and share about your own round robin experience.

Quilty hugs,
b.

A word to quilt by

My motto lately has been very simple. It’s one word.
Finish.
Simple right??
In times of temptation, when I’m certain that I need to rip into a whole new project, I remind myself.
Finish.
I have to admit, it feels good to finish a project! Here is a runner which I made Christmas 2011. Matt quilted it early 2011, and it waited patiently until October for binding. I’m happy to say I finished it a couple of days before Christmas. The fabric in this runner is Rouenneries, by French General for Moda. I really like this block and think I will do more of these through 2012 in Xmas fabrics. What do you think?

Quilty hugs,
b.

Seizing the Opportunity

I am so happy to have this piece quilted, I just had to come a blog about it! I pieced these jelly roll strips together quite a while ago, and they have been patiently waiting to become a diaper bag ever since.

I was at the studio today and about to leave when my sister called. She had to drop something off and would be over in half an hour….

Suddenly I realized, I had a few minutes to waste! I seized the opportunity and loaded this little piece on the frame.

Quick and easy was my plan, so this is what I quilted…

Twenty minutes later I was done! Hopefully the actual bag construction will go quickly too.

Quilty hugs,
Bradie

A Fun Indulgence

A couple of Saturdays ago, Matty and I were at the Studio and he impulsively says “Let’s go for a drive!”. The next thing I know, we are on the other side of the city, heading into a quilt shop. I had no issues with that destination at all! The shop was Quiltessentials in St Albert and they claim to carry the biggest selection of precuts in Western Canada. I am sure that Moda would be proud, because they really do have A LOT of precuts!

The picture shows the goodies we escaped with, though I’m confident we could have done WAY more damage. Oh well, maybe next time.

Quilty Hugs,
Bradie

Little Baby Booties

<table><tr><td>If you have any babies, one thing you’ve likely noticed is how FREEZING cold their wee feet ALWAYS are. I decided to make my wee Chayle some booties to keep his little toesies nice and toasty.</td></tr>

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<tr><td>It seemed like a lot of pieces for some little booties! I used a pattern from an Amy Butler book called Little Stitches for Little Ones. (Such a beautiful book… I highly recommend it!) The cutting took about an hour. For this job I used my good old vintage scissors which I had just dug out from storage. Those good ole’ scissors were still sharp as can be!</td></tr>

<tr><td></td></tr>

<tr><td>The stitching of the booties did not take long at all. I’d say these booties took about three hours in total. Not to bad, I say!</td></tr>

<tr><td></td></tr>

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<tr><td>Next time, I’m planning to make a few pairs at once. This pattern comes in several sizes, and I just love the way they fit, and stay on his wee feet. I have never found a pair of store bought booties that stay on like these little suckers!<br>The fabric in these bootie is nuts and robolts. The black contrast fabric is plain muslin. <br>What do you think? Would you make these for the wee one in your life? Maybe with a matching little quilt?? </td></tr></table>

Bracelets, quilts and a little man.

I can’t wait to write about the studioz and how exciting things have been. Hugs to you all, Bradie

I took a beading class last week. Joan Smith, taught a bracelet class called Sparkling Swarkovski Crystals and it is just so pretty, I couldn’t resist. Our two oldest daughters came with me too, and we all had a lot of fun beading. I’m sure Joan did most of my bracelet, as I had brought Baby Boy Sucky Face with me. Of course he wanted to be cuddled the whole evening. I’ll be sure to get some pics this week, I need to get that camera battery charged! While the girls and I were beading the night away, Big Daddy was at home overseeing the little ones. It turns out, that Zigs was due for a haircut, so Daddy got to work.

There was no other choice. It was all or nothing.

Here is the wee man after. It took him a few days to realize his long hair was gone but it has made him suddenly seem so BIG. My little baby Zigs has turned into a big boy. Now onto POTTY TRAINING! YIPEEEEE!

On the quilty front, I’ve gotten a lot done lately. I’ve made progress on a hand project, the wool applique runner I showed you all before. I’m now up to 8 finished stars, officially past half way!! haha. I’ve got a Whirly Wheels almost finished, in Thimbleberries Play Date Fabrics. I’m loving how it looks. Plus I just longarmed my last Windowpanes quilt, squared it up, and the binding is ready to go on. I’m feeling really productive!