Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Life is Suite Again!

It's officially been exactly three months to the day since I blogged. Many of you have given up on me, I am sure, and I do apologize for the long delay. Here are my reasons, in no particular order:

1. The holidays kill me yearly.
2. Got new computer, which is always a fun learning curve for me.
3. Literally took me six weeks, working on trouble shooting for at least a few minutes almost daily, to sign into this blog again on new computer. I was minutes away from calling Blogger and freaking out on them.
4. Yes, I am a computer disaster, still.

Okay, so that's actually all perfectly in the right order, from holidays to computer horror. But this morning it all, for no reason I can figure, ACTUALLY WORKED WHEN I TRIED TO SIGN IN! So while I should be organizing the rest of my taxes, I'm seizing the moment!

So here's what I can't believe - I haven't even told you all about my Suite Life pattern here! Based on the popularity of when I ran it as a Mystery in the fall, I am thinking many of you know about it already. But in case you missed it, it's my first pattern finish of 2017!

I know, I know, you are all thinking you are over Christmas and who wants a Christmas pattern now? Maybe true. But I'm a rebel. And I'd rather get this one done now and photographed with snow on the ground (see that snow?) than wait until August. Plus here's hoping Checker can sell a few at Spring Market, when believe it or not, the Christmas stuff is everywhere you turn.

In any case, I'm not totally wrong. And how can I be wrong when this is SO DARN CUTE??? Slight bias showing.

The pattern started life as my Jingle Jumble Mini Mystery last fall, with five clues released over five weeks, plus a bonus clue on finishing ideas. Everyone who participated ended up with a cute table runner, and believe it or not I know of at least five that were given as Christmas gifts! That's how quick and finish-able the runner version is!

Maybe you find the fact that three of my soldiers are upside down in this photo offensive. Or maybe you find it simply curious, but figure I'm weird and somehow that makes it make sense. Or maybe you instantly get exactly why I did that, which was because when this is on a table, I can either choose to include both sides of the table in the joy of the cuteness, or I can have all the soldier guys facing only one side of the table. Which to me seems a bit unnecessarily rude. So there you go. Don't like the upside down effect? Just turn the blocks around. As with everything, the end product is YOUR quilt. I want you to be happy. I want me to be happy. Answering emails from customers upset that their soldiers are upside down and their dinner party was ruined because of it (hasn't happened, thankfully) would not make me happy.

A little photo session halfie. It was a little windy.

Currently the "Suite Life" pattern is available as a pdf only, and can be found either on Craftsy or my website.
So what else have I been up to in three months? Well, here's a quick pictorial rundown to get you back up to date and me totally fluent in posting photos from this new computer.

1 - 


Like the photo says, I'm an Instructor at AQS QuiltWeek Lancaster! HOW CRAZY IS THAT? I'm so excited to bring my "Now YOU Give it a Scrap Slap" color and design class to the national (ack!) stage on the afternoon of March 30. You'll find it listed in the catalog for the show as "Hands On Scrap Slapping," but same thing; AQS had a five word maximum for class title, thus the change of name just for this event. Heading to the show? Dying to meet me? I'm dying to meet you, too! So sign up! http://www.quiltweek.com/workshops/25504-hands-on-scrap-slapping/



It's time again for Drop and Give Me Twenty! In fact, it started last week, but it's truly not too late to join in at any point in February. Well, maybe the last day or two, because by then what's the point, but now is still plenty of time to join in, get in the habit of sewing 20 minutes a day, and amazing yourself and all the rest of us with all that you can accomplish this month! Come on over and join us at Drop and Give Me Twenty 2017 on Facebook.

3. Other people's patterns


Sometimes you just need or want to have fun with another designer's ideas. I had such fun "VFW-ing" my orphan blocks into a Victoria Findlay Wolfe inspired "15 Minutes of Play" type quilt. It was a study in partial seaming and more than once had me tearing my hair out for lack of another 1/2" on a block, but in the end it's for sure a totally unique quilt no one else could claim as their own.

I finished Blue Nickel Studios's "Painted Forest" pattern last week, and I cannot tell you how in love with it I am. The colors and fabrics were WAY too much fun to put together and I cannot wait to quilt it. What shocks me the most is how close to Scott Hansen's original colors I stayed. That is testament to his awesomeness for sure; I NEVER seem to go with what has been presented to me, but this time I did. And made a complete disastrous upheaval of my entire studio in the process; why is it that no matter what scrap I'm working with, I know I have another one somewhere that could be even better.

That should catch you up on a few highlights. Here's hoping next time I try to blog in a week or so I can get back in here to do it!





1 comment:

MissPat said...

Glad to hear from you again. I'm not on Facebook so I've missed your sassiness.

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