Fun Happenings

Posted in Other by StaceyinStitches

Ahhh, there is nothing like the smell of a freshly opened mail order of fabric. And the feel. And the sight…..I love fabric….

I do realize the irony of this post, being as that my last post was all about the purge of an overflowing fabric collection. But in my defense……it was pretty! Aaaand it may have been the fabric order that pushed me over the edge into what was I thinking I have so much!

Ha ha, well, it is, but really I did purchase for a purpose. Many of the prints are going to be my go-to bindings. I have been browsing though a lot of Maureen Cracknell’s gallery of quilts. She made a calendar, how cool is that? Anywho, I loved the fabrics she was using for binding. I have always been a little hesitant to use a fabric for binding that was not part of the main quilts. She pulls it off so well that I have been inspired to try. I actually purchased some of the same fabrics that she uses. I absolutely adore the look of Anna Maria Horners Loulouthi in Hugs and Kisses in Wine as a binding.

I also got an email notice that my Long Road Home quilt has been put up in the EQ7 Quilt Gallery as the feature quilt! I submitted the design and the finished quilt last week. Its an amazing, inspiring gallery. You can see my quilt and many others here at doyoueq.com/quilt-gallery.

I am picking up a secret quilt from the long arm tomorrow. I can’t wait to share it with you. Here is a little sneaky peeky to get you excited! And yes, I did use my EQ7 for this one =)

Happy Stitching!!

Stacey

Many Happy Changes….and some fun ideas to share!

After a couple months of tweaking and sorting my finished quilts I have finally opened up my Etsy shop. I am very excited and currently have 2 of my original quilts posted for sale. I hate to let them go but I do not have the space to display everything. I would rather have them somewhere they can be appreciated and loved than sitting in my closet only to be pulled out to refold. It makes me feel like Gollum from Lord of the Rings my precioussssssss….

That was just for you Katy!

I am also going through all of my fabric. In an amazing act of kindness and pay-it-forwardness one of the moms on the mom group gave me an Ikea bookcase. It is awesome! It has 20 cubes that are 15″square. I am able to take *almost* all my fabric out of the bins and put them into the shelves. So far I have emptied 9 small bins, 2 bags, and 4 large bins. I have 4 more large ins to go. Over the next few months I will be organizing it all by color and refolding it all into a standard size. I do have 2 organized shelves, one of backing and one of backgrounds in white-black.
I will also be de-stashing. I have some fabric that has been hanging around forever that I am not quite sure what to make with, or larger scraps but I am not much for scrappy quilts. My plan is to thin the herd by stuffing some zip baggies full of fabrics and then selling them as grab bags in my Etsy store. Each bag can hold 1/2-1 full yard of fabric scraps, strips, and fat quarters.

Now onto the fun stuff! TUTORIALS!!!

I have not had much time lately, but I am working on a fabric bin tutorial. In the meantime Maureen Cracknell of Maureen Cracknell Handmade has a wonderful post for organizing her scraps from way back in September. I think this is a great way to keep those pesky scraps in line and organized!

I have to say that her blog is chock full of super fun and inspiring projects and idea. I love reading her blog and following her facebook page . I want to make everything she does!

Until next time,

Happy Quilting!

4Oct2012

Bottled Rainbows Quilt by Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Posted in Other by StaceyinStitches

Today I would like to share a quilt from Maureen Cracknell Handmade. Maureen’s blog is one of my favorites. She always has something creative, fun and inspiring to share with us. That she does it with 3 children makes it even more amazing!

Image courtesy of Maureen Cracknell Handmade

The Bottled Rainbows tutorial is one that many modern quilters know. It inspired one of our VMQG Challenges last year, and the resulting quilts are always beautiful and colorful. Maureen took Bottled Rainbows to the next level by using shapes and motifs instead of just squares and rectangles. You can read more about Maureen and her Bottled Rainbows Quilt here : Maureen Cracknell Handmade: My Bottled Rainbows Quilt : :. I love her construction techniques. You can also find the original Bottles Rainbows Post and Tutorial here.

Thank you Maureen for allowing me to share your work!