Quiltcon 2022

I've always wanted to go to an international quilt show, and my dreams were realized this past weekend.  Quiltcon is a quilt show where people come from all over the world to attend, see their quilts displayed, and teach classes. 

I live 30 minutes south of Phoenix, so to get to the Phoenix Convention Center, it was a 45 minute drive.  I signed up for one class, "Photographing your quilt from every angle" by Kitty Wilkin.  It was a 3 hour class and I learned a lot about quilt photography.  

I also signed up to volunteer, which I did for about 6 hours.  My first shift was  "white glove", if someone wanted to look at the back of a quilt, I could hold it with my white gloves on and show them.  A couple of ladies wanted to see how the binding was done, others wanted to see the quilting, and others wanted to know what kind of fabric was used. I kept taking off my gloves to take some photos.  There were so many beautiful quilts, I just took a few photos because it was annoying taking my gloves off and put them on again, each time, lol!  I would suggest going to Instagram and looking up #quiltcon2022

I thought this alphabet quilt was incredible!

This one really touched my heart.  It was honoring all the Indigenous children who were taken from their families to live in residential schools.  They suffered terrible abuse and even death. It happened between the 1830's and the 1990's.  Unbearably sad....

I also walked around, enjoying the vendors booths.  I bought some cute little Japanese prints.  I wanted to buy so much more but resisted the temptation!

I learned that you should go to these shows with a friend, it would be so much more fun!  I also learned not to volunteer for so many hours, they seemed to have plenty of people :). It was a lot of time driving time since I was stuck in traffic twice and $15 to park each day was a lot since I was just volunteering.

Next year Quiltcon will be in Atlanta and in 2024, it will be in Raleigh, North Carolina.  I would take more classes the next time too.

Hope you enjoyed reading about my little experience at Quiltcon.

Happy Valentine's Day ❤️

 That's a lot of bags!  14 to be exact...15 grandchildren but one is a baby so I didn't have to make her one because she wouldn't know the difference 😂

Here's the tutorial for this darling little bag.

I received photos for the above grandchildren :)

Jacob is 5

Ben is 9

Maisie is 11

I received a wonderful video from the grandchildren above as they opened the box and each saw their bags.  Bridger on the left is 16 and it's always so difficult to think what I'm going to get him.  I thought he would love the Dwight fabric from "The Office" as he dressed up as Dwight one year for Halloween.

These girls live a couple of short blocks away from me, so it was easy to get their photos!

Neo (11) Izzy (6) and Kylie (9)

Each bag holds a small heart box of chocolates, a heart bracelet and a squishy ❤️💕

You can bet that this little cutie will get my holiday gifts when she is old enough to know.  

Happy Quilting ❤️

Riley Blake Design Block Challenge

 I just can't refuse a "sew along"!  Lori Holt designed the first block called Daisy Chain and that just melted my heart ❤️ 

I'm tempted to make a whole quilt out of this block, it's 10" square.

I changed my color scheme.  I'm still going to use Tasha Noel fabric but it won't be as scrappy.  With my previous blocks, I just chose the Tasha Noel prints and colors that I thought would look good in the block.  Now, I chose 5 colors, 2 prints of each.  

(The polka dot isn't Tasha Noel, don't know if I'll use it yet)

I think it will have a much more uniform look.  

This is my previous Sweetheart block, when I just chose cute colors :)

This is my current block with the new color scheme, 

a selection of five colors.

This is the leaf block which I totally love and may still use...

This is my new leaf block which I love also!

Block #4 is the tulip block.

Here are all four of my blocks with the new color scheme, just 5 colors.  I love Tasha Noel fabric and I know this quilt will be so pretty when it's finished.  The background I'm using is called pink posy by Lori Holt.

Happy Quilting everyone ❤️❤️❤️

Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge

 I wasn't going to join the Riley Blake Designs Block Challenge, but when I saw this beautiful block that Lori Holt designed, I couldn't resist!  It's called the Daisy Chain block. I went to my stash and thought it would be fun to use some of my Tasha Noel fabric.  Little flowers, toadstools and geese, just love all of it!

I made a mistake, but it was easy to correct :). Instead of just choosing colors and prints that I love for each block, I should have chosen the fabric for all of my blocks first.  I love these colors together in this Sweetheart block designed by Beverly McCullough.  

Lastly, is the maple leaf block designed by Kristy Lea.  I just had to make it in red, because in Canada, all of the maple trees turn a brilliant red in the fall.  I saw some scrappy leaves on Instagram that people created and really liked them too. Maybe I'll try a scrappy leaf and see how it plays in the quilt when it's finished.  I could use one of them on the back.

After I made the first three blocks, I decided to pull the fabrics I'm using in the quilt.  The blush pinks are a little off from the rest of the color tones but I think they'll still look really good in the quilt.  Everything can't be matchy matchy, or it won't be interesting.

Oh, and the background fabric is by Lori Holt, I think it's called posy.

The RBD Block Challenge is every Tuesday except for the last Tuesday of each month.  There will be 16 - 10" finished blocks. 

Block #16 will be posted on May 17.  Each block is designed by an amazing Riley Blake designer.  Even though I'm trying some new things this year, I can't stop quilting.  The possibilities are endless and so is my fabric!

Thanks for following along ;)

A Quilting Life, block of the month 2021

 My first finish of 2022!  

Since I had my quilt giveaway with my grandchildren and children,  I haven't been sewing as much.  I'm spending time on other things.  I still love to sew, but not as much :). 

 I made the sashing just like Lori Holt's quilt in her Spelling Bee book, as in this photo.

Here's my quilt!  My goal was to use pastel colors, for a more soft look.  Of course it will look better when I machine quilt it.  I used scraps for the blocks and luckily I had some pretty pink for the borders in my stash.  

Do you follow "all people quilt"?  Every year in January, they post a UFO Challenge.  It's a printout from 1-12.  Beside each number, you put the name of a quilt or a project that you want to complete.  The first day of every month, All People Quilt will post the number that they have randomly chosen.  You are then challenged to finish the project beside that number.  It's really fun, challenging and helps you finish projects.  Here is a link to the download, so you can print your UFO 2022 sheet.  They've already chosen the number for this month. 

Have a great week and I'll check back with you :) 

Taylor's Tooth Fairy Envelope

Recently, I've realized that I have quite a few traditions that I do with and for my grandchildren.

• heirloom blessing gown and bonnet
• new baby quilt when they're born
• wall hangings for baby ( this tradition ended, as my children said they don't have room on the walls anymore, lol!)
• birthday banner when they turn 1 or 2
• tooth fairy envelope when they get their first loose tooth!

I have more traditions that I/we do at Christmas, but that's for another day.

Taylor is 5, and she lost her first tooth!

It turns out that Taylor is very creative, she drew the most beautiful and colorful picture of the toothfairy!

Often, I trace the picture on my lightbox, but Taylor's picture was pretty big so I just drew it by eye.  

I think this picture is awesome for a Kindergartner!  Taylor colored within the lines, used different colors, didn't scribble, and drew little details like wings and a heart and a bow on the waist, in a different color!

 I embroidered Taylor's picture and trimmed it in pink because Taylor loves PINK 💕 (so do I...) I purposely used fabrics that I used in quilts/baskets/dolls/bags that I've made for Taylor and her sisters.  It can be a scavenger hunt Taylor, hunt for the fabric that I used in your tooth fairy envelope.  

The pink button is from a "Simon Chang" designer outfit my mother gave me years ago from her dress boutique :)

The backing is another fabric that Taylor can look for on her scavenger fabric hunt!  The little pocket is where Taylor can put her tooth for the tooth fairy to build her castle.  The dogs look like Taylor's dog, Charlie.

I lined the envelope, that's where Taylor can put her note to the tooth fairy.  Every one writes to the tooth fairy, don't they?  

Dear Tooth Fairy, are you really real?  Where do you live?  What do you look like?  What do you do with all the teeth?

This project definately made my heart happy!  I love Taylor and was so happy that I could make something special for her, especially since we don't live very close to each other.

Taylor's mom made this beautiful vinyl for my sewing machine.

Here's another quote that I really like and only found out about a few days ago!

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."  by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Each toothfairy envelope that I made is different btw, so each grandchild can have an original :)

You can see some of my others Kylie, Maisie, Reagan, Neo, Paisley, Izzy, Kennedy, and Lucy :)

A Quilting Life block of the month 2021

I've been making Sherri's block of the month blocks this year, in 12" size.  It has been really enjoyable, I've been using soft pastel colored prints.  Here are the blocks on my design wall.

I won't be able to finish it before Christmas, I'll be busy enjoying the season.  

Have a very Merry Christmas!