Marianna's quilt

Marianna came to me with a beautiful bright baby quilt.  She wanted a simple design, but nothing too dense, so that the quilt would still be nice and soft.

She decided on a basic swirl design to cover the whole quilt.

Here is a photo of the backing. These cars are adorable!

 

Thanks so much Marianna for letting me quilt your beautiful little baby quilt!

Success at the Bloom Craft Fair!

The wait is finally over. After months of sewing like mad, the Bloom Craft Fair is done and I had a wonderful time! I've had boxes of quilts and crayon keepers and bags lined up against the wall in my bedroom and it is so nice to have them out of the way.

I got up bright and early on Saturday morning so I could get the right table. As you can see, I had loads of stuff! Last April, the tables were a lot closer together and I had trouble fitting everything in my space. This time was great. The tables were more spaced out and I had plenty of room to put my coat rack and even the quilt rack that usually lives in my bathroom. There I am above, half hidden by all the hats and the Christmas tree!

I was so busy getting everything just right that I totally forgot about pictures. My mom obliged me by taking some for me. Thanks Mom! I had all my iPhone covers laid out with 4 different belt clips to choose from. Thanks Amy Friend at QuringQuietTime.blogspot.com for your wonderful pattern and permission to sell them.

I had burp cloths and crayon keepers and hats, both knitted and sewn. I thought it was a great time of year to sell Christmas ornaments, but I didn't have much luck there. I did sell a few wall quilts though.

I brought my quilt rack just in case and there was plenty of room for it. I didn't sell any baby quilts, but the coffee cup quilt was purchased.

All of my scarves and owl bags fit nicely on the coat rack, with room for the Christmas stockings in the middle. Again I was surprised that the stockings didn't sell well. I'll list the ones that are left on Etsy and refrain from stocking making in the future:) I prefer quilting!

All in all, it was a fun day out. Since I go to that church, I knew a lot of the people that came through and it was nice to just get out and chat. The added bonus was a big stock reduction and lots of sales, yay! Thanks so much to the Bloom organizers. You did a great job!

Starry Night quilt

After seeing my Winter Scene, my neighbor was thinking the snowy swirls reminded him of Van Gogh's Starry Night.

 

Then he asked if I could make a quilt to look like the painting. He thought his son might like one for Christmas. It was a little daunting, what with all those brushstrokes, but I love a challenge:)

So I have found what I think is a great sky fabric and started cutting out pieces. Here is what I've got so far.

It has some really nice swirls. I've cut out some 'stars' and fused them on. Really, it will be the quilting in yellows and whites that make the difference.

The only problem is the village. Having fussy cut some light blue houses and a church, I put them on the quilt to see how it might look. Unfortunately they stand out too much. There is a lot going on on the ground in this painting. I'm starting to think more in the direction of fabric paint. Has anyone else tried this? If I can paint the dark blue ground as busy as the painting, the village won't stand out as badly. Might actually paint the village as well and then quilt the swirls around it. I'm also thinking a solid black border, maybe 3 inches?

Next stop: Joann fabrics. At least if I can remove myself from quarantine for long enough. It has been two weeks of sick kids and the cupboards are bare. Really looking forward to the Bloom Craft Fair this Saturday at Redeemer Presbyterian from 10-4. Should be a nice day out.

My first quilting job as Tanderwen Crafts

Better late than never:) I finished my first quilting job as Tanderwen Crafts the first week in Oct and since I have been sewing like mad trying to get ready for my next craft fair, I'm a little behind on posting this. This is Carrie P.'s quilt. She has been really generous in 'sponsoring' me in my endeavor to get a quilting business going. She made a beautiful little quilt that she calls Hearts of Imagination and asked me to quilt it.

Here is the quilt unbound. Carrie has some more close ups on her blog.

I love these little pearl centered on the darker pink border.

I found a picture of this feathered scroll work on Pinterest, which is probably my main source of quilting ideas. I have a board that is dedicated to quilting motifs that interest me.



I tried without success to find some closer photos of the lady's work. Her blog is called leanneharvey.blogspot.com. So using only this photo, I drew the center curved line on the outer border with water soluble marker and drew the swirls freehand.

I found the swirly pattern for the pink sashing using a Google search. It was an image that popped up, and of course, now that I am looking for it again, I can't seem to find it.

Thanks so much Carrie for letting me quilt your beautiful quilt!

Big sale in my Etsy shop!

Hi all, I'm running a big sale in my Etsy shop for the next week. 20% off for all my Facebook and blogging friends. Use coupon code OFF20 at the checkout. The link to my shop is on the right hand side of the page. Thanks and happy shopping!

iPhone cases

This is yet another amazing Pinterest find. Amy Friend has a blog called During Quiet Time and she has posted a great iPhone cover tutorial. It is very simple to make, but super stylish and has a nicer feel than the hard covers you buy in stores.

This tutorial is for personal use only, but I contacted her and received permission to make some covers for the next craft fair I am participating in.

This is the one I made for myself:

The beige fabric is linen and is very soft. The purple fabric I got from a child's dress that I bought at a second hand store. It was too small for my daughter, but I couldn't bear to get rid of that gorgeous fabric. The dark blue loop on the side was cut from a fabric belt that came with a pair of shorts I bought. I managed to scrounge up a key ring and then appropriated one of the clips from my child's water bottle, and voila! I LOVE this cover. I just hook it to the belt buckle on my jeans and then head off to the bus stop with my son and my little dog.

 

Here are some of the covers I made with my scrap fabric today. They will be available at the Bloom Craft Fair at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem on November 10th from 10-4.

 

Thanks so much Amy for your wonderful pattern!

Little owl handbags

I found these adorable little handbags on Pinterest and decided to take advantage of my daughter's sick day. Normally my busiest day of the week, it has been relatively quiet. It is amazing how much sewing/laundry/dishes/cleaning you can get done when you have a few uninterrupted hours.

I bought the denim like fabric a while ago, but could never figure out what to do with it. I think I'm going to have to build up my 'pink' stash. It has dwindled considerably, ergo, these bags are not too girly. I ended up borrowing my mom's sewing machine for the zig zag.

If anyone is interested in making these bags, you can find the pattern on the Gingercake website.

And in case you are wondering, the white backing for the owl bag photo is the back of the quilt I hand quilted for my bed. The front is alternating blue and white strips. It needed to be washed, and today is the perfect day for air drying.