a quilter's best friend...

Quilters, you will know this, when your iron is in danger of dying you start to panic! at least that is what I did.

I've had this Sunbeam Steam Master (model 4228) for about 5 years and used it heavily during that time. It actually did break a year or so ago (the cord at the base became loose and wires weren't connecting) but my super hubby fixed it. It has been a great iron! I'll be honest, I didn't treat it the best either. I always left water in the tank and only used tap water (distilled is always recommended). But aside from a bit of drippiness now and then I was very happy with the steam it made and the heat it produced. But sadly, we all know that irons don't last forever...

My son was kind enough to label it "shut down" for me.

So last month I started researching irons. Luckily, my Sunbeam was still working but I didn't want to take the chance of being without and iron (because no iron, no quilting!).
What I concluded is that picking an iron is basically a crapshoot. It's hit or miss! There are good and bad reviews for every iron out there (if you've ever shopped for irons on Amazon and read the reviews you'll know what I'm talking about.

I settled on a Reliable Velocity V50 and ordered it from Aamzon.
I'll be honest. This thing is really different from my other iron. It has a little motor that produces continuous steam and it makes a loud humming sound when you have it on (kind of unnerving at first). The good part is that you can turn the steam off and on at the easy touch of a button. So I just turn the steam on when I'm actually ironing something and then turn it off when I set the iron back down. And this sucker gets nice and hot too!

I've been using it for almost a month now and at first I didn't like it but after a short while I started getting used to it because this thing really works great!
When you iron a seam, it stays ironed FLAT! Case in point:
The picture is not as impressive as in real life but that center seam is so flat and crisp! It's awesome.

A little warning though, the steam it produces is some serious steam! watch those fingers, ouch! Oh and, I'm trying my best to treat this iron well so I'm using only distilled water. This thing is a water hog! It goes through a TON of water to make all that steam. But for me, the most important thing is that it irons seams nice and flat. So, with that, I'm really happy with it!

Quilts of 2014

Since this year felt like it just flew by, I was curious to see all the quilts I had made. My mosaic turned out really tiny for some reason but I spent all that time on it and didn't want to redo it. All the original pictures are on Flickr if you want a larger look at them. :)
Turns out, I made more than I had thought! In fact, I think about 8 of these never made it to the blog.

I don't think I was as creative this year with my patterns. As you can see, I repeated a lot! Two "Love" quilts (Tula Pink pattern), 2 Tango quilts (a Cluck Cluck Sew pattern), 5! Optimism quilts (3 baby size, 2 throw size) and 2 Archaeology quilts. But I really loved making all of these and sometimes keeping it simple can be so enjoyable and rewarding!

My only goal for this year quilting-wise is to keep making things I love! Oh and try to take better pictures.
So here's to 2015! I hope the new year brings you much creative joy!

sampler blocks

Happy New Year's Eve!

We had a lovely Christmas, I hope you did too.
This past week I've been blissfully working on my Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt.

You can click the pictures to see the block names and numbers on Flickr.


I've got 36 blocks now!

I started these blocks exactly 3 years ago. I've still got a ways to go but it would be really cool to try to finish it by the end of this coming new year.
Have a happy new year!

Postage Stamp Quilt

This is most probably my last quilt to be finished in 2014 and boy, it's got to be one of my favorites! As a gift for my sister I'm happy that I'll get to see it often :) It's also a surprise for her, she has no idea I've been making a quilt for her.

I used the Snapshots pattern from the book The Practical Guide to Patchwork. It's just a basic postage stamp quilt but I used a lot of different fabrics to give it a scrappy-ish look.

I used so many fabrics in this quilt! I was going for a color scheme of navy, coral, turquoise, yellow, gray and lots of low volume prints.

My favorite quilting ever! overlapping scallops.

The back is a large piece from Leah Duncan's Meadow collection plus some random scraps.

I know my sister is going to love it! Christmas is just a few days away, can't wait!

12-Patch Quilt

Happy Friday before Christmas!!!
I'm working on one last gift item that I'll show you in a few days. How about you? all ready or still scrambling? I'm usually scrambling with last minute gift making at this point but this year I took it easy and am only making one thing.

Anyway, I have a super cute finish to show.

I was completely inspired by this little mini quilt I saw on Flickr. These blocks are perfect for digging into those scraps! And they are SUPER quick to boot. Love them, I could totally make another quilts worth of these blocks.

For the back I finally used up a yard of Denyse Schmidt plaid I'd been saving for a long time.

The finished size of this quilt came out to about 39"x52".

Have a great weekend everyone!

2 quilts for 2 little boys

Oh my! where have I been? just busy I guess!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family up in Colorado last week, the weather was beautiful! And part of the reason I was able to enjoy it so much was I had just completed an order for 2 lap quilts.

The customer requested quilts for her 2 young sons and the amazing part is she provided all the fabrics (the really good stuff too!) so all I had to do was sew it up. She said her sons each picked their own fabrics. These boys have quite the eye for color!

These were a lot of fun to work on!
I'm cutting into fabrics a Christmas gift quilt today so I'll share more on that soon! Anyone else making a quilt for a Christmas gift?

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2014

I am woefully behind showing you quilts that I've finished recently but thankfully the fall Blogger's Quilt Festival is going on so I was motivated to post one up for you.

I'm entering this quilt into the Original Designs category. Thanks to a low volume background and a mix of bright triangles, this quilt has quite a different look than my original Archaeology Quilt I made.
Back in August I had just gotten a few of the new Cotton + Steel fabrics and was inspired to cut into them right away. I added a few other fabrics that really compliment them (from Denyse Schmidt, Joel Dewberry, Lizzy House and Carolyn Friedlander).

I love the funky vibe the back has. I was sad to use the last of my Anna Maria Horner Field Study fabric but it was perfect.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

talk about long term project...

So, Carla and I have been lamenting our lack of progress on our Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks lately. I started mine in December of 2011. I just checked and the last block I made was in December 2013! yikes!
I've wanted to work on it but have just had too many other pressing projects going on. And I'd kind of forgotten about it. I was determined to make a block or two today.

This is the poor little block made nearly 10 months ago but never documented. #92 Streak of Lightning


Today, I went for the first easy block I flipped to in the book. #48 Homeward Bound

And #111 Wrench

Boy, I feel so much better having made a little progress. I really, really want to finish this quilt someday soon.
Okay, Carla, your turn now!

this week

Well I seem to be in a bit of a blogging slump. Sewing is happening though!
I've got some cell phone pics of what I've been working on this week.

Mr. Scotty Dog came together surprisingly quick! A birthday gift for my niece. Free pattern from Denyse Schmidt.


After some deliberation and calculations I've decided to make both a Vintage Nine-Patch quilt and a Bowtie quilt with my Hadley fabrics. I'm going to make both quilts a smallish lap size and with a few additional fabrics it should be no problem.
These vintage nine patch blocks are small for me (6" finshed) and I was hoping there was going to be some quick method of sewing them up but no such luck. These could be time consuming but I think the result will be worth it.

I'm going with the 7" finished blocks for the bowties. These are pretty fun to make!


And today I'm going to finish the back and baste up this Double Plus quilt for a customer. The day is slipping by so I'd better hop to it!

dreaming of my next quilt....

Look at this bundle of goodness! Last week my mom took me birthday shopping and I came home with these FQs from Denyse Schmidt's Hadley collection.

I really want to make a vintage style quilt with these and I've been mulling over pattern options.
A postage stamp quilt like this one or this one?
This Vintage Nine Patch pattern maybe?
Or a truly vintage bow-tie pattern like this one?

What do you all think?

do. Good Stitches {finished quilt}

Well howdy! I have lots to show off these days I just haven't managed to get it up on the blog.

I'll start with this quilt I just finished yesterday. Thanks to the ladies in the Heal Circle of do. Good Stitches this quilt came together beautifully (our circle supports hospice)!
June was my month to pick a pattern and put together the quilt. I choose the Square Deal pattern from the book, Block Party (it's more of a recipe than a quilt pattern).

I hope it will put a smile on someone's face!

Arizona Market Street Quilt

After making my Arizona Cargo Duffle the minute the fabrics came in the mail, I started planning a quilt. I needed something quick and easy so I went with my tried and true Market Street pattern. I finished this quilt about 3 weeks ago but it took me a while to get some decent pictures of it.

I really love how the Essex Linen (flax color) breaks up the color and gives it an earthy feel.

Love this fabric line! I'm sooooooo sad that I'm almost out of that Field Study in mustard fabric that goes so well with this line. I've searched high and low and it is no where to be found online. I guess that's how it goes.