AQS Show ~ Daytona Beach 2016 and sooo much more!!!

I was soooo excited this week.. I went to the AQS Quilt Show ~ Daytona Beach 🙂

The AQS Show was held in the Ocean Center just across the street (A1A) from the beach!!!

I was lucky enough to go with my honey to the show on Wednesday the 24th…

We prepurchased our tickets in January and saved a few bucks… I also joined AQS for 1 year… see what I think of their mag and got a great discount on the 1 class I also chose to take …

Ya’ll this was my first quilt show!!!! lol

I had NO IDEA what to expect and was so happy my honey was going with me for this little adventure!!!  Here are some of our faves from the show…

Here is a quilt done by my friend on facebook in Germany.. Andrea Stracke!  I had my honey take this shot of her flowery wholecloth.. it was so pretty and bright!  Here hand quilting stitches are so tiny and precise too!

This quilt won BEST OF SHOW….

It had sparkles all over it too!

This one was machine quilted but look at the lovely piecing!!! It is totally fab in person!!!!

Here is a cute quilt I saw in a vendor shop… what a cute baby quilt this would make!!!

Speaking of quilts I wanna make… this kind of DWR is def on the list if I am able to learn applique well enough…

This quilt had some cool quilting that really made the quilt pop to me… can you see the texture???

And last but not least was our personal favorite aside from Andrea’s wholecloth…

Can you tell we enjoyed the show??? lol!

Thursday I braved the show by myself to go to the class I had chosen to take…

 Mary Sorensen is an EXCELLENT teacher too!  Boy was I glad I took this class… it helped me to like applique and look forward to my next attempt at it too 🙂  I identified my fears, tackled my troubling spots all during her 3 hour class… then bought the DVD for beginners that she offered at a discount to those in her class!!!!

She provided needle, thread, and green fabric for the leaves as well as a neutral background fabric to eventually be the block pictured in her class announcement above!  The red bird will be the focus of the DVD… I am very excited to listen and watch this DVD and give applique a true try again!!!

I also have 2 machine quilted finished… this was my trial run bib for my granddaughter Kaydence…

 And here is the second one I made… a bit larger than the first as I felt she needed one a bit larger too 😉  My 301a Gloria did all the piecing on these patchwork bibs… but Zena my 401a warrior princess did all the quilting and bulky sewing jobs!

 I quilted them each a bit differently… the first one is straight line stitching and the second is organic wavy line quilting… can you see the difference???

 Here are both bibs… now you should be able to see the second one (on the right) is a bit wider and longer than the first… I think this is the PERFECT size too!

 The backing on both is Kaydence’s mom’s fave print… PINK CAMO!!!!

I used velcro at the neck opening and really like the way these turned out!!!   The pattern was an online class I got for free and I have modified the pattern a bit to make the second one… will keep that pattern for future bigger baby bibs for sure!!!

I plan to mail these out to Kaydence this week… so I hopefully will have a pic of her with one on in coming weeks 😉

Finally, my ongoing project this week is complete!  The marking on Brandi’s quilt is finished!!!!

I spent 11 days marking this quilt for hand quilting… my daughter chose this stencil for all the background white fabric areas and the rest I used ruler and white ceramic lead to mark the stars… will be a fun quilt with detailed quilting that should show quite nicely when done… but I have NEVER yet spent 11 days premarking a quilt before layering and starting the quilting on it!!! lol

I marked these lightly with graphite… each square is unique to the area I found the stencil fit best on the space… here above you can see an odd shaped white area I am filling in with graphite.

Here is a close up of the design and stencil I used…

Here is that same area once I have marked it with the stencil…

Once marked the legs are still blank spots all over so the design is not contiguous lines… so I fill in the “legs” and whalaah!!!

Now the design looks like it should and when I am stitching I won’t have to figure out what goes where… I can just zenly stitch the motif on the white… in black thread 🙂  The white lines on the dark grey and black will be stitched in white thread… and each star on the quilt will be outlined in big stitched dark red thread… it actually coordinates well with the backing and binding I am getting ready to iron….

The backing was my daughter’s choosing… as this is her graduation quilt… for now this quilt is “Brandi’s Carpenter Wheel quilt 2016”.  She actually will graduate high school next May (2017)… but I have a bug in my bonnet to get this quilt done!

The chevron striped fabric above will be the bias cut binding for this quilt which will put all these cute zig zags on a 45 angle… will add a festive finish to this quilt I think!

I will be using my fave batting… Hobbs Tuscany Cotton/Wool blend… it is 80% cotton and 20% wool so it still crinkles when washed and dried but also gets puffier thanks to that wool and is very breathable so not too much in the Florida weather either! 🙂

So this week I will be quilting on this… and thanks to the marking shots I took… I think this will be fun to link up to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday here!  (Also, the applique she is showing is very similar to the method I learned this week! 🙂 )  I hope to take my first hand quilting stitches in this quilt much later today or tomorrow … after the pinning is finally done that is! lol  I also hope to get a full-sized shot of this quilt while it is laid out for pinning 🙂

This week… also brought the 31st birthday of my oldest child…  This was one of the pics I sent him… a little walk down memory lane… he is a HUGE history buff… Do you remember the song from the mid 80’s??? I didn’t until I listened to it on youtube! lol  Then it was VERY familiar to me … just never knew the name! lol

 Sorry this post is so long and I haven’t made time to share all this with you before the end of the week… but better late than never!  I hope you enjoyed the eye candy I had to share this week from the quilt show… I am MEGA inspired by that show!

Remember… no matter what twists and turns come your way this week…  Life is always precious and…

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Fun Sunday Stitching … How about you??

Are you doing any fun Sunday stitching??  Maybe a tad of slow stitching today to enjoy ?!!  Well I surely am 🙂  And I am linking this post to Kathy’s Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching post HERE!

Kathy talks about taking time on Sunday to relax and recuperate… I am planning on focusing on this today… and maybe a guilty pleasure Netflix watching too! lol

I woke early this morning as I went to bed a bit early last night… but I have had several VERY productive days and I am excited to share lots of stuff with you today! 🙂

While waking up today I finished the maple leaf quilting 🙂  This quilts makes me happy!  I am looking forward to this coming fall to show it off for sure!

 And once I finish these 4 blocks I will have about 30 blocks done.. that is HALF the center of the quilt… and the borders will be fun and go quickly as well! 🙂

I really thought I would put this down once we were ready to focus on my daughters quilt she got for Christmas… the stencils came late Saturday afternoon and she is happy with them so that is good… 1 she chose and 1 I chose… pics to come next Sunday 🙂 lol!

And I have all the thread and the batting I want to use for this quilt… I am very excited to start it but it is a big quilt and requires a LOT of marking!  My daughter and I were chatting yesterday over the stencils that came in… she is VERY excited for me to start work on it and she wants to HELP!!! 🙂

Yep.. you heard right.. I will teach my daughter of 17 1/2 years old how to hand quilt this year!!!!  Yay 🙂

I will teach her on this beauty we found on eBay already a flimsy with a border and all!

I was already excited to start on this quilt… but to know she will carry this through highs and lows as she learns how to be an adult she is proud of and to teach her how to hand quilt on this quilt… makes it even more special to work on for sure!!!

So more on that next Sunday too! lol  In the meantime me and my daughter will mark at least the center today and this week… maybe the for little stars around he center wheel/star too! 🙂

Remember me asking about this tshirt my daughter can’t wear but wants to keep ??!!!

Well after pondering it with my daughter.. we are gonna make it a pillow with black fabric surrounding the Superman symbol! 🙂

Okay… now life is sounding busy in this post.. and I surely didn’t plan that.. and there is even more going on I haven’t shared yet!!!

Here is 1 of the 2 BOM’s I am doing this year…

It isn’t sewn yet… just cut and waiting for me on my ironing board… but so happy to have chosen the fabrics as I sorted fabrics… the white fabric with little light pink hearts as well as the center square of this 9 patch block is in memory of Kimber’s memory quilt which was my big project last year… the blue “cornerstones” and a fabric I couldn’t work into her quilt but had pulled and just loved it so before storing it away in my fabric chest… I cut 4 squares of it for my first BOM!!!!  Want to know more about this BOM??  Not to late to join.. the goal is to pull fabric from your stash too!  Check out Wendy’s link about it HERE if interested… she is an excellent teacher and I can’t wait to see what all the year holds in the fun BoM!

The other BOM I am planning will start on the 19th… so I will have more to share on that next Sunday 🙂

I got my new labels in on Friday… I had just ordered them from Etsy HERE on Wednesday with my personalized choices she shows in her shop ad… and they came ready for 30 more quilted items to be branded forever with my name… I usually will add the year to the tag as well with a permanent marker and set with my hot iron 🙂

Hope you check out her shop!  She has excellent customer service and labeling your quilt is so easy when you add this while sewing on the binding 🙂

Saturday’s mail brought not only stencils for Brandi’s quilt I told you about but another surprises too!  I got this cool pin and my membership card from AQS!!!! (American Quilters Society)

 I shared in my last post that I joined AQS to get the magazine and discounts on my class and entry for me and my honey to the quilt show and vendors…  Well in 3 days they managed to send to me all my welcome stuff… and membership INCLUDES 10% VIP discount card good at Joanne’s!!!!  How fun.. so you get a magazine every other month (6 issues a year)… this cool pin…

and discounts on all they sell/do!  I am liking this money spent .. I was hoping I was spending money wisely.. I surely think I have.. and the quilt show isn’t til the end of NEXT month! lol  So much for PATIENTLY waiting ! lol

I have more to share but that will include some finishes too… so I will save that all for another day… Here is a pic my son James posted of his “Bubbles” … we know her as Kaydence but he loves her nickname a LOT!

and check out what is laying out in the floor behind and to the left in this shot!!!!  Yipeee 🙂  The quilt I made her is getting used!!!!

I love seeing my work in action!  Do you like seeing your quilts caught in shots or in real life being enjoyed??

Until my next action filled post remember…

Life is Precious &

Fall Progress and some EXCITING news too!

I have made it my habit on purpose to keep my hoop close to my computer… I sit here a few times a day to rest between activities that are going on…

And on days when I don’t feel as good… this chair provides me comfort and relaxation! 🙂

 The table I use to set my quilt on was made by my honey to my specifications and is on rollers that are very nice!  They work well on the tile floor we have out here in our Florida room too! 🙂

I think the parrots really liven up my space… and that lamp is invaluable to me as well!  All in all a cozy space surrounded by pics and momentos from loved ones too!  but this space is also my messy spot as you can tell! lol  We keep the house fairly orderly… but this space is where we do our brainstorming and therefore it tends to stay messy…

Do you have a place in your home that stays a mess to provide you with inspiration?? 

Linking this quilty post to Kelly for NTT (Needle and Thread Thursday)… check out her fun linky HERE!

So as I wake up this morning and start stitching on this oak leaf… I am giddy with excitement as well!

I am going to AQS Daytona Beach quilt week!!!!

Can you believe I have NEVER been to a real quilt show??!!!!  I am mega excited about this too!

My plan is that my honey is going with me… he is equally as excited as we know a few with pieces displayed in this show and they are yummy for sure!  I plan to take lots of pictures with my phone… will be clearing it off closer to time so I have PLENTY of room!!!  I plan to share highlights of my 2 DAYS at the show with you 🙂

Have you been to a big quilt show??  What did you think??

Then next week I go back and take a class… I have signed up for it already as well and have my name badges for me and my honey to enter the show.. it wounds up saving me the membership price almost entirely to join AQS for 1 year… which also includes a mag I hear is really a good one!!!

The class I am taking the next day is on NEEDLETURN APPLIQUE!!!  Just what I really want to learn and I love teal and orange together… this is a lovely piece for sure!  I am VERY excited about this class too!

The class was a bit pricey so I looked on youtube before making the decision to take the class and watched a couple vids to see if I could understand her well… and I could!  So hopefully the class ( max size is only 24 students) should be good at one on one time if I need it! 🙂

This class coincides with a quilt with appliqued parts in it I wanted to do via traditional needleturn… if I master this piece from this class… I will be able to do it!!!  Yippee!!!!

In the last couple days I have been going through and organizing my scrap user system I use… I keep 5″ blocks, 2 1/2″ strips, 1 1/2″ strips, as well as bits & pieces that would be fun for crumb piecing if I ever try that … or for the applique maybe too!

Anyway, this is my 2 1/2″ strip bin… I had to go through the WHOLE shoe box sized bin and sort them as this bin was OVERFLOWING!! lol

 My honey went to the everything a dollar store for me and picked up some blue and orange boxes that were the same size as the clear boxes I already had… just now in my fave colours! lol

 Now doesn’t that look nice… Shout out to my bestie Connie for organizing me to start with last summer!!!

Until my next post please remember Life if Precious … handle with care ~