Long time gone......

I'm back and I missed you guys!!!!

           In my defense I haven't been slacking and I have good reasons for not posting. At the last time I posted my husband had gotten a new job and we were moving from Wisconsin (cold) to Ohio (also cold). I have been working in Minnesota (so bitterly cold) the last couple months and trying to settle into the new casa. This is our new house. Stop by we can sew something.

         
         All my sewing shwag was loaded up in totes and until recently I haven't been able to get to it. I had stashed my stash pretty well and my husband had no clue how much fabric there was until it all was toted. Needless to say I am not to buy any fabric until my husbands back heals from lugging all the totes to the sewing room. He sweetly painted one of the bedrooms for me and brought up my machine and fabric. This weekend I am off to Ikea to buy some storage units for the room. I have plans to convert old vanities into sewing tables and refinish my current cutting table. Many projects in the works. Pictures to come as the project evolves.
      Since I have been able to sew I started working on a charity quilt that I promised to make for Carin at Margaret's Hope Chest. I'm glad I volunteered to make a quilt for A Mother's Hope or I might have never gotten off my duff and unpacked my sewing stuff.
        Here is the project I started after looking at many many many quilt patterns during my sewing hiatus. It is effectively a large bento box. Here are some of the sites I drew inspiration from. #2 is my absolute favorite and I think mine is going to pay homage to that quilt.

http://filminthefridge.com/2009/06/24/quartered-squares-a-modified-bento-box-block-tutorial/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/julineb/12057740466/in/faves-jenib/

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-big-bento.htm

      And here are my pretties. 

Before Slashing

All chopped up and ready for reassembly

First few blocks coming together

I can't wait to get my sewing room all put together and my design wall back up. I imagine it is going to be many moons until the room is complete. I am linking up to WIP wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Scraps so blue

Well it's been quite some time since I sat down and had much of a chance to post, mostly because I haven't had much of a chance to sew. So much has been going on in the last month.
Every year we try to go on a trip with my mother in October. Last year it was the Grand Canyon, this year it was Myrtle Beach. The day before we were leaving to soak up what was left of the sun we found out that my husband was offered a job in Ohio. So vacation turned to a good time to start planning a move. It was good to be able to relax and see family even if it wasn't very warm. I was able to hit up a few quilt shops and learn that my mother is an enabler. She is not going to help me buy less fabric, she is going to be picking bolts and egging me on.

 Relaxing at Huntington Beach State Park

 Enjoying the beach

 Selling my mother into hammock slavery

 Reducing the crab population

Last day before returning to reality

We came back and started house hunting. After seeing many houses we are in the process of buying this one. We both love it. The family that built it has loved in it for the past 45 years. We are excited to do some updating and put our personal touches on it. And Aaron promised to buy me a shiny new crow bar!

So after we put the offer on this house I promptly went into buy nothing spend nothing mode. I don't want to move it and I can't afford it. That lasted a good hour before I bought this quilt. I have got to stop going into antique malls. It was too beautiful to pass up. The stars are amazing and its all hand pieced and quilted. Pretty huge, it easily would cover a queen bed and its a completed antique quilt with minimal damage. Just needs a little soak in linen wash.

Last but not least I finished a couple blocks for Margaret's Hope chest. You can read Carin's post here. I hoped to be able to make many many blocks but I got 4 finished. And that is pretty much all the sewing i've done this month.

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!!!

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.