Apr
11

Easter weekend hoppin'

Another crazy day of shop hopping! Because I can participate in the hop only on weekends, I have to visit shops in bunches…AND, due to personal commitments (Easter, my husband’s birthday, etc.), I have only a handful of weekend days to work with.

Today, we visited SEVEN shops. Holy moly! They were:
Mystic Maine Quilts
Whippersnappers
Yardgoods Center
Stitches Fabric and Yarns
Cotton Cupboard Quilt Shop
Pine Tree Country Quilts
A Straight Stitch

This is pretty much the entirety of the I-95 corridor (for liberal interpretations of “corridor”) from Gardiner to Old Town, and it brings my “shops visited” total to 17! I have just 9 more to visit by 4/30.

I have updated the map to include purple markers for today’s shops. I figure the I can complete the journey in two more trips.


View Maine Shop Hop locations in a larger map

I’m sticking to my promise to purchase something at each shop. Today’s haul was mostly patterns of the kind to help me use up some of my stash. Now, all I really need is the time to work on them!

Apr
05

Hoppin' on Sunday

Today, I continued the Shop Hop endeavor. My original goal was to visit the four shops that I had planned to visit but did not get to yesterday, but I also decided to visit the two closest to my home.

And I did it! Between 11:30a and 3:00p, I visited:
Nancy’s Sewing Center
Sarah Johnson Quilts
Quilt Divas
Country Creations
Maine-ly Sewing
Alewives Fabrics

This brings me to a total of 10 shops already, which means I qualify for the first level of all-hoppers drawings! (I’ve already outdone my total from last year’s hop, when I visited just eight shops.) I have a plan to visit the remaining 16 shops by 4/30.

I have updated the map to show the shops I have visited so far. The yellow markers are for shops visited on 4/4, and the green markers are for the shops visited on 4/5.


View Larger Map

And, do I have lots of goodies already–everything from free patterns to a tape measure to chocolate! (I also have one very wrinkly end-of-bolt piece of fabric that I’m not terribly impressed by, but when it’s a free item, can you really complain?) I’ve made good on my promise to buy something at each shop, although I’ve already used all of my intended budget for this year’s hop. :)

In the week or so, I will have write-ups of my experiences at each of the shops, but for now, I’m off to revel in all the new stuff!

Apr
04

Early hoppin'…

We set out early this morning to visit some of the shops that are farthest away from our house. Due to a variety of things–ranging from enjoying a lovely day for driving to having to reroute due to an accident on the interstate–we managed to visit only four shops today:

Sanford Sewing Machines
Sew Portland
Cotton Weeds Quilt Shop
Mariner’s Compass Quilt Shop

Tomorrow, I’m setting out to visit the remaining shops on the Midcoast!

[Edited 4/5 to add map]


View Larger Map

Mar
21

2009 Shop Hop!

This year’s edition of the State of Maine Quilt Shop Hop begins on April 1 and runs through April 30. Twenty-six shops are involved, and participants will receive one charm square (which I assume means a 5×5-inch square) from this hop’s selected fabric line, Bonnie Blue Basics and Backgrounds from Marcus Brothers. The shops will also have door prizes (I won one drawing at Quilt Divas in Rockland last year), and there are some “big ticket” prizes, if you will, for those participants who visit all 26 stores, as well as prize drawings for hoppers who visit 10, 15, and 20 shops. Many shops also have little gift bags for hoppers, just for stopping by!

I participated in last year’s Hop to the extent that my time allowed. I learned about it late, and I had plans on various weekends that precluded me from going both hither and yon. I think I managed to visit 10-12 shops. It was a pleasant enough experience, but as with many activities, the first time was weird and I felt like I didn’t know exactly what I should be doing. Now that I know the ropes, the Hop should be a lot more fun.

Steve was my driver (mostly because I batted my eyes and said “please” imploringly), and I have to say that we encountered some shopkeepers and/or other people working at the stores who did not treat him as nicely as they should have. I was, quite obviously, the quilter of our duo, but that should not prevent the people working in the stores from also being pleasant to him. I supplied this feedback on my Hop Passport, and I am hopeful that it was treated seriously and the Hop will be a much better experience for him this year, should he choose to accompany me again.

I’ve also set some pennies aside for purchases at the shops. I think it’s rude to go to a quilt shop, get them to stamp or sign my passport and give me my charm square and maybe a gift for visiting, sign up for their drawings, and then leave right away. The shopkeepers put a lot of effort into the Hop (granted, some do more than others), so I do my part to make their extra efforts and extra business hours worth it.

In hopes of making it to all 26 shops this year, I have plotted their locations on a map. Use it, if you’d like.


View Larger Map

Next up, I’m dividing them into regions of shops that I can get to in a single day, then planning out my travel days. It’ll be some work, but it will be worth it in the end!

Mar
02

A bag named Miranda

Last week, while my husband was away on business, I ventured of the quilting path and into the world of bag making.

A few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of the Miranda Day Bag pattern by Lazy Girl Designs. I also gathered up the required yardages and other materials that day. It became a matter of having both the motivation and the time to create the bag.

I was very pleased with the written instructions and the diagrams in this pattern, and I would totally recommend it to anyone who is intimidated by the idea of making a bag. (I like it so much that I’m making at least two more.) The final product is just the right size for toting around a knitting project.

Check out the photos of my first Miranda bag, which I’ve made for my friend Jess:

Bag for Jess
The finished bag

Up-close of fabrics
Zoom of fabrics

Top view
View inside the bag

Total work time: 9 hours

Mar
02

Baby Quilt #4

I have two baby quilts in progress. Baby Quilt #3 is a surprise (and at this rate, it might become a first birthday gift), so I can’t really post about it yet.

Baby Quilt #4 is for my friends Chris and Amy, who are expecting their first child this month! I spent yesterday starting the assembly of the top and finished about 60% of it during my work session. I finished the assembly this evening, and I’m really quite pleased with the results.

Now I have “just” the squaring up (and I so love squaring up quilt tops set on point), quilting, and binding left to do. The challenge is to finish it up in the next three weeks, in hopes of the quilt arriving before the baby!

I finally have a name for the quilt, too. I’ll save that for the unveiling of the pictures, which will take place after Chris and Amy have the quilt in hand.

The fabric is the Butterfly Fling collection by Me & My Sister Designs for Moda, and the pattern is 2 Charm Packs, 1 Jelly Roll from French Fantasy Designs. I’ll let you mull that over, and soon you’ll see how your idea compares to mine. :)

Jan
25

Adventures in Jelly Rolls and Charm Packs

I am not a trendy person. I never have been and probably never will be. I saw these “jelly roll” and “charm pack” things at a quilt show a couple of years ago, kind of scoffed to myself, and carried on. (A jelly roll is a collection of forty or so 2.5″ strips, stacked up and rolled up. The resulting flat spiral looks somewhat like a jelly roll pastry. A charm pack is a collection of forty 5″ squares. Moda offers jelly rolls and charm packs for many of their fabric collections.) I figured that, given the size of my stash, I would be able to whip up a bunch of 2.5″ strips or 5″ squares. I suppose that idea was good in theory, but I haven’t had the time or inclination to follow through on it.

Recently, I found a fun and easy pattern designed just for two charm packs and one jelly roll. Right now, it is the only quilt pattern available from French Fantasy Designs, and it’s called “1 Jelly Roll, 2 Charm Packs…”.

So far, I have started one top (blocks are done and the setting triangles are cut, but the top is not assembled), and purchased fabric for a second interpretation of this pattern. It should be pretty clear that I like the end result of this pattern. Of course, that doesn’t keep me from having some opinions about it…

  • I had some difficulty with this pattern at first because I’m really not much of a scrap quilter. Truth be told, I tend to feel upset and/or stressed if I work on a quilt that has dozens of different fabrics in it. (The end result is usually too chaotic for my taste.) The layout of the blocks is similar to other quilts I’ve made, though, so I decided to give this pattern a try.
  • The instructions themselves are pretty well done. I was pleasantly surprised to find information for cutting your own fabric as a substitute for using the jelly roll and charm packs. Later, I discovered that this information (sans cutting instructions) appears on the pattern’s back cover. So much for RTFM!
  • The cutting instructions themselves are presented in text only. Given how visual an activity that quilting is, I am surprised that there were not also diagrams.
  • The assembly instructions are also presented only as text. Even though I am a good reader, I like to have pictures included with the written instructions, especially for pressing and assembly. (In the end, the pressing of the blocks’ seams did not matter, as long as the orientation of the blocks in the assembled top alternated between a vertical orientation and a horizontal orientation.)

If I were to do it all over again, knowing the above items ahead of time, would I still buy the pattern? Possibly. Not long before finding, purchasing, and using this pattern, I created a similar pattern on my own. It’s not a stretch to think that, if I were sitting around and wondering how to use jelly rolls and charm packs, that I would have eventually determined the measurements provided in the pattern. However, I do recommend the pattern for beginning quilters and for quilters who are not prone to designing their own patterns.

(Note that I am not in any way associated with French Fantasy Designs or any other company or individual who creates, designs, or publishes quilt patterns. I’m just an opinionated quilter.)

Jan
25

Mystery quilt!

In the last several months, I’ve started a new job, had a major car accident, recovered from that, and helped my husband find a new job. Suffice it to say that while all of life was happening, my quilting projects took a back seat to everything else. Now that I’m finally getting life back in balance, I’m getting back to the fun stuff of life, including my quilting.

On Saturday, I decided that I would join in a mystery quilt at my local quilt shop (Cotton Cupboard Quilt Shop in Bangor, ME). Between now and April 11, I’m making a quilt! I don’t know much except for how many fabrics are used and the yardage of each. (I’m usually not much for giving up control over my quilts, but there’s a first time for everything!!) I hope it turns out pretty.

I’m not posting the name of this mystery quilt or the patterns (either would be a big no-no), but I will post pictures of the final project.

Sep
01

Oh so out of date..

I had the best of intentions when I restarted this blog, and for me, I kept up with my production of new projects and reporting out on them here. Life has happened since then, not the least events being starting a new job in July and being a car accident on 8/26/08. (Regarding the latter, I’m okay although shaken.)

By way of catching up some, I’ve completed another three or four quilt tops and have another two in progress. I have lots of photos to take, upload, and document here, and I will endeavor to get to those soon.

One thing that I’m very pleased to report is that I have delivered Baby Boo’s quilt to my friends Jess and Chris, who had their second baby in June. (You might recall the planning from this post and the preview from this post.) Here is a photo of the final product:

Front of C's quilt

I’m really quite pleased with it, as are Jess and Chris. I’m seriously considering publishing the pattern (with measurements and construction instructions) at some point.

Jul
03

Updates galore!

I completed a lap-sized quilt top based on the Tile Tango pattern from Atkinson Designs. Mine is in darker shades of red, gold, and an off-white marble. This top took about 12 hours to assemble.

I finished (i.e., quilted and bound!) the quilt for J&C’s second child, Baby C, who was born last week. Final photos after the quilt is received.

My husband and I visited Mom and Dad back in April. At that time, I shared with them plans for their quilt, pictured below:

MomDadQuilt.jpg
Pattern for Mom and Dad’s Quilt

This one is taking quite a while to finish, in part because of how many pieces there are! It’s boggling to me just how many pieces there are to assemble.

I had a stack of 10″ squares from the Old Sturbridge Village collection from Judie Rothermel that I turned into a large lap quilt using the Take 5 Goes to Charm School pattern from The Teacher’s Pet. The blocks–and, really, the whole quilt top–went together very quickly and easily. I think this top took 15 hours.

Photos of all my recent tops are coming as soon as I find a place to take pictures of them!

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