January Do.Good.Stitches Block

Well looking at the last time I posted I am the worst blogger ever!!! I have a list of excuses I can provide if you would like. I have been sewing a lot in an effort to get some projects done. Old man winter was keeping me from photographing them. I was able to get some indoor pictures of some of the projects that am kinda happy with. I am hoping to be able to post more regularly in the coming months. 

Below are the picture of the first block for do.good.stitches this year, I had the chance to go and sew at the blanket workshop in Columbus for My Very Own Blanket. They have moved into a new fantastic location. If you have projects or materials this is a great charity to donate to. 

This month we did a quilt as you go block. It was a pretty large block but a good way to use up some scraps. I have way to many scraps and am always looking for a way to squash my stash. The how to link is here if you want to follow along and make your own.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Just Give It Away......

A winner has been selected in the monthly Blogger Block of the Month give away.........

Drumroll Please........#6 Rhonda!!!

"We are newly retired, so we watch our income more than we used to. I went through all my fabrics and rearranged them so I know exactly what fabrics I have. I plan projects accordingly. I also enter a

lot of blog giveaways. I have been lucky to win some great fabrics and even some thread. I have only

bought some muslin that I needed for my last quilt. Thanks for the chance to win!"

Rhonda will be receiving a yard of this fun bar code fabric!!!!

I will be emailing her and letting her know she is a big winner. 

Just a reminder that we only have 2 months of Bloggers BOM left. July is Nicole from Mama Love Quilts and August is lil ole me. I am still struggling to pick which block I want to do. I am almost caught up on my blocks. I was hoping to get some sewing done this weekend but I need to go and buy a car since my husband got the bright idea to sell mine. Good times in the house of Peach. 

I've been strong on my fabric diet. Serious temptation though as the National Quilting Association show starts today in Columbus.....Guess where I am working this week???  And we got a surprize overpayment check from our escrow account yesterday.......

Must be a responsible adult and buy a car not a long arm.....

I'm trying to be strong but I feel like the universe is poking me with a stick......

Happy Thursday!!!

Bad Bad Blogger - Finish It Up Friday

     I have been pretty quiet as of late. I wish I had some awesome excuse. I wasn't traveling in the south of France. I wasn't building homes for the poor of Guatemala. I wasn't off saving the world/living an exotic life of leisure/curing cancer/saving babies. I was cleaning/traveling to Columbus/making green smoothies/and going to the gym. I started healthing up my life at the beginning of the year. A new years resolution that has stuck around for at least half of the year. Thus far I am down 50 plus pounds and I feel great!

     I am in for another long long stretch in Columbus. I feel like this is my summer home! There is a great charity in Columbus called My Very Own Blanket. I had come across them when I was in Columbus last year. The founder loaded me up with a huge bag of scraps and some pre-cut 8 1/2 inch squares. I happily carted my loot back home. I knew it wasn't for me but I still get excited about having new fabric to play with. I would like to mention that Connecting Threads donates alot of scraps of fabric and batting to MVOB. If you aren't familiar with Connecting Threads do yourself a favor by going to their site. They have awesome prices on thread and fabric. I only found out that the distribution center was located in Columbus when my ordered arrived at my house. The scraps I received from MVOB looked like alot of fabrics I was familiar with so I asked the next time I was at MVOB. As it happens all the ends/scraps/unsellables get tossed into bins. They donate these to MVOB  who uses them through volunteers and some inmates to create quilts for kids in foster care.

I have a couple tops that I finished up for MVOB.

Many more quilts to come, I am considering these "finished" as I have already returned them to MVOB.
Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday.

Don't forget about the give away here..... until 5/25.....

Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind ?

        Today we wrap up the holiday season. I run pretty hard from Halloween until now and am ready to pack up the stockings. Many birthdays and holiday to celebrate. I got some lovely sewing related gifts this year, a new 12 pound box of mystery fabric from the fat quarter shop, which is always a treat. I also got a new Rowenta iron which was much needed as my old one was leaking like a sieve. I got a rolling bag for my sewing machine and a promise of a design wall from my hubby. While I was in Columbus for work after Christmas I bought myself this fat quarter pack as a late present from Santa. I don't normally buy fat quarter bundles. But this one was half off since it was "Christmas" fabric. I found it to be pretty neutral but wasn't going to argue. I also bought a yard of the zig zag and a yard of a grey snow flake print.

       Today I was spending my day off making resolutions and sewing some blogger block of the month blocks. I caught up with my blocks and decided on the quilting front my resolution would be to complete 13 quilts in 2013. I have several in progress so I may be able to finish them up to boost the total. I don't know if it can be done but we will see this time next year.
       Here are my November and December Blogger BOM blocks. Novembers post can be found here. Decembers post over here. These are my second group of Novembers blocks. I used all the same fabric for the non-fussy cut pieces. My blocks were a touch short. My seem allowances always require a little extra. December's block might be my favorite yet! It was so much fun to make.

November Blogger's BOM Blocks - Big N Little

December Blogger's BOM Blocks 

Last order of business is picking the winner of December's BOM winner. Gill is the winner of this prize pack.    

Thanks to all who entered. Let's rock out 2013!!!

Quilting In The USA - Columbus, OH Part 2

I'm back in Columbus, Ohio this week (Week 7!) I am proud to say that there is an exit strategy in place and I should be done here by the end of the month. I am pretty pumped. I have a couple trips to Missouri planned for later this month and next. I have never been to Missouri and am excited to cross another state off my list, I am also excited to locate some shops in the Kansas City, MO, and St. Joseph, MO area.

Last night I went to two more Columbus quilt shops. I think I have exhausted the available quilt resources in Columbus but if i have missed any let me know. I have also added a quilt shop map to the blog so you can see where I have been if you want to check them out yourself.

The first shop I visited yesterday was Sew To Speak in Clintonville. If you look at the map you will see that Clintonville is in the North central part of Columbus. It is a cute suburb with lots of boutique shops, restaurants and such. A place where a girl like me could lose track of time and money. I had read many reviews about this shop and was scared/fascinated at the prospect. The general opinion of this shop in everything I read was that they have the cutest designer fabrics that are hard to find anywhere else, also that you are going to pay dearly for them. I headed out expecting to look at all the store had to offer but leave empty handed as I am cheap cheap cheap. Initially I missed this shop, twice, and had to keep turning around to find it. The signage is not the best on this place. The store itself is small but does have a lot of less common designers as well as some old favorites. The prices i found to be fair for quilt shop fabrics. Moda and Robert Kaufmann were starting at $9 and $10 a yard. They did have some local designers and imports that were significantly more (up to $21.50 a yard). Some of these higher priced fabrics do make their way to the 20% discount rack. I did end up grabbing some 1/8 yard chunks of fabric for my on going 6 point star project and I found some more owl cuties. I am not sure if these will go with my current owlets but I haven't seen these before and am willing to risk it. I like to call them "how now brown owl".

Owls In Retro - Robert Kaufmann - Suzanne Ultman

Overall I would say that Sew To Speak is worth a look. The prices were pretty fair, they do have some designers you just won't see elsewhere, the store is on the small side and you have to be looking for it. They have reasonably priced fat quarters ($2.75) and some of the most unique notions that I have never seen in a quilt shop before (leather squirrel zipper pulls!!!). If you are looking to take a class they have a pretty wide variety from kids to adults, skirts to quilts. They also sell oilcloth and patterns for some oil cloth projects.

From Sew to Speak I continued down the street to The Glass Thimble. I have been in Columbus for some time and haven't been to this shop yet. Their website did not inspire me to hop in my car and head over there. I gave in last night since they were open until 8pm and it was only 2 miles from the other shop I had planned on visiting. The store itself is not hard to find, finding the entrance is another story. The store front is on N High Street but the entrance and parking is in the rear which can only be reached by turning on East North Broadway Street and then turning onto Broadway Place which is a one way street. Once you find the parking lot there is plenty of parking to go around. The shop itself appears to be two houses that have been conjoined by a pass through. As a result the store is somewhat of a maze. It seems to go on forever and there is a lot to take in. The fabric selection is pretty good, fat quarters are $3.19 and fat eights are $1.69. This store has many many patterns and most of them have a quilt top example made and displayed in the store. Who ever is doing the quilting for this store has an amazing eye for color and is a very adept quilter. The displays are amazing. The Glass Thimble also offers classes and a long arm service. Overall a very nice shop, worth the maze to get in there.

Where is your favorite quilt shop????

Quilting In The USA - Columbus, OH

I travel quite extensively for my job. Monday through Friday I am on the road throughout most of the central United States. I don't get to see my husband or beagles nearly enough. I am on a first name basis with most TSA agents at the Milwaukee airport. However when I travel I seek out local fabric and quilt shops to entertain myself and add to my stash. I have been in Columbus, Ohio now for about 6 weeks......(sigh)

Columbus, Ohio....Looking Snazzy

I have found a couple great quilt shops here in town.

Here are the highlights.....

Red Rooster Quilts- Located in Dublin, Oh (North-West of downtown). This is a great store with a nice selection of quilting fabrics and wool. They offer classes in the back studio which is also where they have a selection of bolts that are 40% off. They have a lot of quilt kits, pre-cuts, patterns, and finished display tops. The are an authorized Janome dealer and have a longarm quilting service. They aren't the cheapest store I have ever been too, the fat quarters are $3.25, which is a little rich for my blood, but I did find the cutest owl print here.

Ten Little Things - Yellow Owls - By Moda

The fabric is Ten Little Things by Moda in yellow. I just want to squeeze that little green owl until his eyes pop out. They have this print in a number of colors. I am proud to say that I bought the green and the yellow. This fabric was the inspiration for my friend Megan's baby quilt. They aren't going to find the gender of the baby until its born and I was looking for a neutral fabric. This is not an easy task if you have ever spent any time looking at children's fabrics. They are all pink or blue!!! I plan on making a version of the quilt below (New Wave Quilt) using this pattern I found at Oh, Fransson!.

New Wave Quilt by Oh, Fransson!

Hopefully my quilt will look half as nice as her's when I'm finished. If you haven't been to Oh, Fransson! stop what you are doing and click the link. I love every one of her quilts more than the last. Her tutorials are very very easy to understand. She does great work and this pattern is available for download from her website for free!. She also has a number of beautiful quilt patterns available for sale on her website.

Back to the task at hand. The next shop I found here in Columbus was Quilt Beginnings, they have two locations to the north or east of the city. I first went to the store to find Quilt Patis templates after watching this video on how to make a six point star. As I mentioned before I travel a whole bunch and my sewing machine stays at home. So i was looking for a project that would be portable and airplane friendly. I started searching and found Quilt Patis which happens to be a product created by someone who lives in Columbus. I took this as a sign and went out to buy said Patis. I found Quilt Beginnings on Quilt Patis website and went to the North side location one day after work.

The North side location does not have the Quilt Patis but they have a lot of other great stuff. Large selection of quilting fabric, sewing machines, many fat quarter bundles, and a classroom in the back. The fat quarter here are $3.00 each which is a little pricey, but they have a selection of $5.00 a yard bolts (minimum cut of 1 yard) and often have fat quarter bundles of 12 for $18.00. So there are some bargains to be found.

The east side location is very close to the Columbus airport, which works out great for me. If I am looking to kill some time before my flight this is where I will be. This store has a different selection of items than the north side store. They do have a bargain area with $5.00 per yard bolts (1 yard minimum) and fat quarter bundles of 12 for $18.00. This location does carry several type of the Quilt Patis templates. I use the 1.5" diamond which come 60 to a pack and are $20.00. At first I thought why spend $20.00 when i could make my own. Then I did some math and figured I didn't want to go through the trouble to make them to save a couple cents each. They are reusable and very handy. I will be posting a tutorial on using the Quilt Patis and showing what I have made with mine.

Hope you have enjoyed this trip through the quilt shops of Columbus. Let me know if you have any other gems I need to check out.