Fabric Love #17: FABRIC SALE!

Celebrate 4th of July with a ... SALE :)  Come check out JAQS Fabrics and enjoy a nice 15% off your entire order with this coupon code: JAQSFABRICLOVE15 (now through July 5th)

 Large selection of fabrics from Alexander Henry, Henry Glass, Michael Miller, Riley Blake, Studio E and much more:

And fabric bundles:

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone!

-Q

Weekend Wrapup: Seeing Circles

Busy busy weekend. Besides from hanging out with my energetic family with chalk full of activities, there was plenty of room for some sewing room activities as well :) (YEH!)

So this is a peak at the next quilt on my cutting table:

Venturing into the world of circles for the first time. So far so good. Pretty fun, though a bit tedious to hand cut.

I am also on the finish line of completing the Zig Zag quilt - finish photos to come soon. This is the first of TWO big quilts and I also have to smaller ones too waiting to be pieced:

Working on this zig zag quilts as been FUN :)

This I am also putting together more cloth napkins for my JAQS Studio Etsy store.  I need some more for our kitchen as well so I'll try to make enough for both ;).

Have a great and productive week everyone :)

-Q

Framed Blossoms Quilt Completed!

A sprinkle of applique, pretty florals, fun borders and a combination of quilting techniques later I am proud to say that Framed Blossoms is now COMPLETE :)



The front of the quilt features 6 frames of raw-edged applique flowers. Each of flower petals are individual appliqued onto the quilt and quilted around the edges. Bordered around the blossoms are coordinating solids and prints to show off the blooms.

Please excuse the outdoors shots - I need to find a less spotty (shade, sun, shade, sun) in my yard for these pics.

A close-up of the blossoms:

The borders are quilted with a straight edge quilting technique and the blossom itself is quilted around the edges and interior. In the blossom and frame area I quilted a meandering leave design with a matching thread.

The quilting created a very nice design against the simple background:

I just love the way the quilt puckers a little when washed. The design from the quilting really makes the washed quilt pop.

Since we're on the topic of the back of the quilt - I kept it nice and simple.  It has the same brown as the front and features 2 of the fabrics from the front as well:

I absolutely love the way the back goes so well with the front.

One of my favorite elements is the leaf quilting pattern throughout the back of the blossoms and along the borders:

Sitting pretty :)

So that is my newest addition to my personal quilt closet...the one that is getting a little crowded. My husband is beginning to wonder what I'm going to do with all these quilts ;). This one I am hanging onto - a girl can never have enough quilts right :)?



I am sharing Framed Blossoms at these wonderful linking parties.

Quilt Information:
Framed Blossoms (Red Daisies)
Front: 100% Cotton Prints and Solids.
Batting: Warm & Natural 100% cotton
Backing: 100% Cotton Solid & Prints
Completed Dimension: ~76" x 52"
Quilting Method: Straight line & Free-style leaf design
Binding: 100% cotton solid - Machine sewn

Pattern to come... Yes I am WAY behind with the pattern.

-Q

Fabric Giveaway WINNER: Kelsey!

Congratulations Kelsey - you are the winner for this week's JAQS Fabric Giveaway:

Fat quarter for each of the fabrics above :)

 Kelsey said... 14

I don't think I have ever seen such cute halloween fabric! This is my first time ever entering a 'giveaway' So I hope I am doing it right! Looks like fun! Thanks!

June 18, 2011 9:04 PM

Thank you to everyone who joined in. There was some great ideas passed around on what to do with these cute Halloween prints :).  

Remember that all of JAQS Fabric Love fabrics are available here:

Have a GREAT week everyone!

-Q

Fabric Love #16 & Fabric GIVEAWAY: Gearing up For Holidays Already?

Holidays are always on my mind and this year is no different.  In the near future I'll be stocking up on Christmas and winter items, but now it is the Halloween fun fabrics :).  Usually I don't think too much about Halloween fabrics but this year a couple of fabrics from Riley Blake caught my eye.

Boo To You!

 Super cute little spiders, mummies, cat, bat, witch hat, etc etc.  Need to come up with a project for this pronto!  I LOVE the little vampire too - Is Halloween suppose to be this adorable? ;)

Boo To You!  also in BLACK :)

The black on this isn't a deep black - it's more of a ultra dark gray color...and you know how I feel about grays? :)  **hint: check out my blog banner ;)  I will definitely be saving some of these for my personal stash collection.

Boo To You also have a coordinating DOT collection.  This dot fabric is awesome - goes well with both the previous prints, but I think it's neutral enough to use with a lot of other projects that isn't so...Halloween:

Boo To You!  DOTS - Light Gray Dots against almost Black solid

As usual you can find Fabric Love fabrics @ JAQS Fabric over at Etsy.

So...on to this week's Fabric Giveaway.  Can you guess what it is? :)

Leave a comment for a chance to win all THREE of these fabrics (FAT quarters).  Comment must be posted by 9pm Pacific Time by Monday 6/20/2011.

Thanks!

-Q

Mini Bean Bags

I love working on little projects for the kids. With all the outdoor activities going on, I thought it would be nice to introduce them to a game of hopscotch. As a quilter and fabric enthusiast ;) I can't resist making my own little bean bags for their new outdoor game:



Simple instructions:

-cut 2 pieces of fabric: 4.5" x 4.5"
-place fabrics right side together and sew together 3 of the 4 edges - 1/4" seam allowances
-flip right side out and fill about half way with beans (I used black eyed, but anything will do)
-fold down 1/4" inward along the un-sewn edge and sew shut -about 1/8" away from edge
-press along the other 3 sewn edges and sew about 1/8" away from edge for those as well

When complete it should look like a little pillow with matching edges :). Told you it was simple. I made a dozen for my boys in no time.



Since I made them a few days ago, my boys have used them as attended - hopscotch. And some unattended purposes as well: throwing bags, stacked up as 'building' blocks, we have invented a few outdoor throwing games with it and now they are sitting in their play area as mini pillows for their action figures.

Try some :). They are super easy and fun to make. I'll be making a few extras as blanket weights. Take them along for a picnic so your blanket doesn't fly away :).



I'll be sharing at these lovely linky parties.

-Q

Weekend Wrapup: CATCHUP!

Yes I know - projects around here was taken a back burner lately.  We are FINALLY getting some California sunshine around here so a lot of outdoor time with the little ones are in order :).  I am also making it my priority these next couple of weeks to work on some much neglected sewing projects.

On the plate:

-finish up pattern for Pretty Blocks

-Work on Zig Zag Quilts

-Finish Framed Blossoms

-Add new fabrics to JAQS Fabrics

-work on some smaller projects

Got a kick start over the weekend :)

-Zig Zag Quilt #2 final piecing and almost ready for basting

-Framed Blossoms all quilted and machine binding here I come!

Here's to a great and productive week.

-Q

MIA

Sorry this blog is been a little sparse lately. I've been spending some time here:

Click for larger image - the photo is gorgeous!  My husband took it from a top a parking lot on the edge of town.  Beautiful :)

 

It's was a half work and half vacation with the hubby type of trip.  Do you recognize this skyline??

AUSTIN - TEXAS!

This was my 3rd trip and my husband's 1st.  I have grown to really love this little city.  It's alive with wonderful food, great music and a LOT of character.  Despite it's wacky weather (ie: super thunder storms, humidity, HEAT, super cold weathers, rolling storms, etc) this is actually an awesome place to visit....and live ;).

Promise I'll be back in the Studio with more project updates soon :)

-Q