To Market...

Oh my has it been a busy couple of months! I started designing a new quilt on our vacation back in August. I am a beginner quilter and really wanted to design a challenge quilt that would be a skill builder. While I was sketching and trying to come up with some ideas I drove by this lovely building in Princeton, NJ.

Sorry for the poor photo. We were driving and I apparently didn't even roll down the window to take it.

The building inspired some sketches that I was very excited about. I incorporated several techniques I have never used before.  Anyhow,  I was given the amazing opportunity to team up with Andover Fabrics and the wonderful Alison Glass on a quilt project and I chose to go forward with this design. 

And as if this wasn't exciting enough...these are the fabrics I was lucky enough to work with!

Umm, squeeeee! Aren't they gorgeous! It's Alison Glass's Clover Sunshine (go get it!)

So I made a quilt...

I had never designed a quilt that has so many things going on. I have made 10 quilts (now 11), seven of which were patchwork and the others were either log cabin or some variation of that...so basically squares and rectangles. I really needed to branch out. My quilting was getting stale. This was the ultimate challenge piece for me. It felt like it took forever but was worth every moment! I couldn't be more please with the outcome. I quilted it with straight, close lines that reflected the feather like angles on the front of the quilt (okay, not so straight lines but I tried).

I just love how vibrant the colors are! I used Andover Fabrics Chambray in Natural to pull everything together. I love the Chambray as well...so soft! 

So off to Quilt Market it went...without me (so rude of it! I heard it had a great time too). But really I am so honored and grateful for the opportunity I've been given. To have one of my quilts displayed at Market is so crazy! And even more fun was using the Clover Sunshine collection. 

My quilt at Market! Eeeek! Photo courtesy of Bryanhousequilts

And the greatest part....I am creating a pattern! It will be shipping early to mid- december, and it is already available for pre-order in my shop! Yay!

Quilts for babes

So the NMQG's current philanthropic project is making sweet little quilts for the NICU unit at Baystate Hospital here in MA. I had visions of making like 6 little quilts but life happened and I only found the time to make two little ones. It was so wonderful though, to see our guild members come together on this project. I believe we collected around 16 quilts, which is a mighty fine number since that is about how many members we have total and not all of them chose to participate in this project.

I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I didn't even take a picture of the little blue chevron one I made, and I never took a finished picture of the pink one I made. Kind of sad! This is the one picture I did take.

I wish I took a shot of the back of this one, it came out so nice! Okay, lesson learned. Do not quilt without camera in hand (which sounds pretty tricky).

jamie

For the shop...maybe

I have had a few fun projects going over the summer that I had intentions of sharing in this space. If you follow my instagram, you have likely already seen much of what I am going to be posting in the next week or two. So, sorry. But bear with me and we'll get to some stuff that is new for all.

Back at the end of the school year Ro and I made some little zippered clutches for her to give as teacher gifts. I wasn't sure if her teachers knew that they were handmade but I didn't want to sound braggy and make a big deal of how I made them and they took forever (cause everything does with children around). But a couple of weeks ago we ran into one of her teachers and she was carrying the clutch that we gifted her. So yay! they liked them! Well at least one of them did. And she noted that she knew that I had made it. Great!

This led to the grand idea that I should make some more clutches, in varying sizes, to sell in an etsy shop which I would actually have to create. So I got started, made some clutches, created a shop, designed a mediocre banner and cut more fabric. And, then, stopped.

Now, I could get into how long my to-do list is and how I have two kids and yadayadayada. But really, I just haven't made the time to finish things up. So by posting this I am hoping to create the pressure I need to get back to it. Being that I do not have a single reader at this point (hahaha) it may not work...but it's out there! We'll see.

Here are several images that I have gotten so far

Maybe I will even get a tutorial up...

-Jamie

Nice to meet you!

Hello and welcome! I thought for my first little post I would just introduce myself to you. Yes, you've read my profile, it's all there, what you need to know anyway, but I just want to get a little more in depth. I'll still keep it brief...promise!

I began blogging in 2009 over at My Lazy Apples. It was very enjoyable, I started it while pregnant for my first child and continued until two things happened; As it turns out, having children is very time consuming and there became more and more space between posts as I started back at work and was juggling school (yoga teacher training) and a toddler. And the other thing that happened is that my blog began to take on a life of its own. I think that I let my blogger envy get the best of me and in my efforts to publish what I thought my readers would like, I lost the true meaning of my purpose. So I stopped.

Since then I have played with the idea of blogging again so many times. I have some fun projects and experiences that I really want to share. So, at last, I am back, in a new space with only the intentions of sharing what I love with the hopes that you enjoy it too.

I've been sewing for about 10 years now. I always seem to gravitate towards it. Over the years there have been times my hobby was been placed on the back burner for whatever the reason at the time was, but I always come back to it. In recent years I've really stuck to it. I find it to be therapeutic and a completely satisfying hobby (or addiction depending on your point of view). Several years ago I sewed my first quilt. It was ugly as hell but it sparked an interest which has grown into a passion to learn to quilt. Only several months ago did I learn that I can actually quilt my own quilts on my machine. Duh! I don't know why it took me so long to figure that one out but I am so glad that I did because I LOVE it. I absolutely consider myself a beginner...I think I always will as there are so many methods and new things to try. I have made the choice to commit to my sewing and to make every effort to create a career out of my passion. You will find that these pages are mostly filled with sewing, some tutorials and DIY's and maybe some fun family adventures. It's so nice to have you here!

Thank you for visiting!
Jamie