Packing Away Christmas

My husband started taking Christmas down yesterday. I on the other hand retreated to the sewing machine and pretended that he wasn’t taking it down. I sure love Christmas and all the Christmas lights and Christmas trees, but I’m ready for what’s next. 

In 38 days our doors open, and we celebrate our grand opening. I am ecstatic… And a little nervous. There’s so much to do, so much stuff to finish, so many new things to learn, and I’m sure there are items that haven’t even made it on the list yet.  I’m ready to tackle it all.

Yesterday while at the machine I finished three more quilts. They were all customer quilts and they were gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoy looking at each customer’s quilt and the different techniques  they use and styles that they have. There’s an endless possibility for every quilt made, and I love seeing what different people bring to the table.

The first quilt one of my sisters made. We settled on a damask pattern and it looks lovely.

The other two quilts for a sweet lady. They were each panel quilts with cute borders for babies. We quilted a meandering, stipple pattern on both of them and it’s just subtle enough that it doesn’t take away from the panel. I love the bright colors of the fun animals and cars on each of these. 

With every quilt we quilt, my to-make list grows. I think I’m set for a lifetime with quilts to make, and I’m sure that list will just keep on growing.  I sure hope I’m not the only one with this problem. How do you keep up with making the quilts you want to make and getting them all done?
I’ve been off work for a long weekend and I have another long weekend coming up, so the quilt shop is high priority. We had another quick trip to IKEA to pick up a few last minute things and will be building those soon. 

We have lists and phone calls to make this week and fabric is almost on its way which is very very exciting. I’ll be sure to share when the first box comes in. 

Our website guy keeps asking me if I’ve done any YouTube videos or live videos on Facebook, but I’m so nervous and I don’t know where to begin with that. I might be adventurous and try some type of video when we unboxed our first box of fabric. Would you be interested in seeing a sneak peek of what we will be offering? 

We love, love all of your ideas and we cannot wait to get our doors open and welcome you into our place. We hope that you’ll share your likes, dislikes, and wants so that we can fully become everything you all are expecting. This is a new path for us and we are beyond thankful to be walking it with such sweet friends. 

We hope you each had a magnificent Christmas, and we look forward to celebrating the New Year soon! 

Now, I guess I better re-focus and help repack some of our Christmas decorations. Here is one last Christmas picture-a quilt I made years ago. I’m sure dragging my feet on getting everything packed away. 

Sew you at the machine, 

•Care

A Quilter’s Stocking Stuffer Guide

 Christmas is FOUR days away! 

Have you finished your shopping? What about wrapping?

Our shopping is almost finished, but I haven’t even started wrapping anything. I did, however, make it to the post office today to send a few things. 

This year has flown by and I kept thinking we had more time. Now, Christmas is here and I am frantically trying to wrap things up at work, for the shop, gifts… pretty much everything.

 

Growing up my mom always had cookie decorating parties, and this was my first year to host a party. I gathered a group of the sweetest ladies, made over 100 cookies, and even cleaned the house a little.

 

We had a blast. 
 

As I was thinking over the past few days, I thought I would share my last minute, go-to quilter’s gifts. These are tried and true, things I love, and things I have even used for Christmas gifts in the past. Although this list could be miles long, I am going to focus on my top five favorite stocking stuffer gifts.

 

• First on my list are these scissors.  They are perfect for cutting little threads that always appear out of nowhere. I have several pairs and I never sew without them. 

• Secondly, these clips are life savers. Okay, they might not be able to save a life but they are great at saving your fingers from holding the binding down as you sew your binding on. 

 

• Another great go-to gift are these seam allowance bumpers. I always need bumpers when I go bowling, and sewing is no exception. Ever since I put one on each of my machines, I have been able to hold a true scant-quarter inch seam and my points finally turn out perfectly pointed.  I also use this seam allowance guide to make sure my bumpers get placed in just the right spot. 

 

• This seam ripper is another one of my favorite things. I’ve mentioned it in the past, but I have many dates with my seam ripper so I want it to be durable, sharp, and easy to use. 

 

• Best Press is another must have. I like the unscented option the most. If I had to pick another scent it would be the lavender, the other options are just too strong for my liking. This product is extremely helpful when pressing blocks and helps them to hold their shape. It is a great starch alternative for quilting. 

 

If I were to continue sharing, quilt rulers, a great iron, an extension table for your machine, and quilt patterns would follow. Some of these are larger/more expensive items, but also make sewing more pleasant in my opinion. 

 
Knick-knacks are not required for sewing. I know friends who only have a machine and a pair of scissors and are able to create masterpieces. I also know friends who have every ruler and magic tool ever created and they make the same level products. As long as you enjoy whatever you use, that is all that matters. You do not need the next fancy thing on the market, sometimes it just provides a shortcut or a more enjoyable way to make something. 

 

I hope you enjoy your holidays. I need this little one to wake up and get to wrapping… 

 

See you at the machine,

•Care
 
 

44 days until our Grand Opening.

{I am not affiliated with any product or link mentioned above. I am just sharing what I like to use.}

Santa & Sew Parties

Do you have any fun Christmas or holiday traditions? I thought I would share a few of the fun things we did this weekend and a little about how WIP Week wrapped up. 



Over the weekend we had our good friends come over and we went to see Santa, ate dinner together, and even made it to see Christmas lights. There is a place in town that decorates with thousands of Christmas lights, and it is a common tradition to go walk through the lights some time in December. Of course, we picked a pretty cold night. A and I quickly learned it was warmer if we piggy-backed than if we walked alone. 









Having a best friend who doesn’t live in the same town is rough. Recently we have both been so busy that this was our first visit in quite a while. Thankfully, we have planned a longer get together around the New Year with movies, fort-building, and popcorn. I’m looking forward to it. 



After they left to head home, I scurried off to the sewing room desperate to finish up a couple projects. I knew my Saturday was booked, so my only chance to get things knocked off the list was late Friday night. Thankfully, I got quite a bit done burning the midnight oil, and I was able to wake up early and finish it the rest of the way on Saturday morning.





Earlier in the week an SOS had been issued. A friend needed to get a t-shirt quilt done fairly quickly and a group had pulled together to help. I told you I might show up and help you finish projects during WIP Week. You never know, you might be next!



Anyways, Saturday I knew would be filled with her t-shirt quilt and it was. We were able to cut, sew, and quilt it all in one day. I even heard that the binding was sewn on and it had been through the wash before the weekend ended. That is a pretty successful sewing party. 





It was too funny. Two were sewing frantically, two were pressing, and one was handing pieces out to sew and cutting away at the sashing, borders, blocks, and binding. Things were crazy. We kept the quilt laid out on the dining room table, but there were times where pieces were at each station and nothing was on the table. Sewing started around noon and by 5pm we were loading it on Millie. A simple meandering pattern was chosen and Millie got to work. 







Be careful when you issue an SOS, things will start flying and projects will get finished. 





After quilting and attaching the binding, they left to start sewing down the binding, and I got to work on another quilt. I was determined to quilt the quilt I had finished that morning. I couldn’t decide on a pattern, but Mom said I should go with Meandering Feathers to help smooth out the geometric pattern in the quilt. I wasn’t sure at first, but I have been loving Meandering Feathers, so I went with it. The quilt turned out perfect. I really like this one and might have to remake one for myself. 

I’m a huge fan of half square triangles and all the things you can do with them. I think they have been appearing in every quilt I have sewn this year with few exceptions. Do you ever get caught up on one specific pattern or block?

Although last week was WIP Week, I think this will be another week of finishing up a few Christmas projects before I drag out anything new. There will be plenty of quilting, sewing, and rambling in the near future. Stick around.

See you at the machine,

•Care

Sewing Saturday

Saturday was all about getting things done with the help of Millie.

I had several projects that needed finished up and Sunday will be a busy day (Its my husband’s birthday!) so that left Saturday.

I started with a beautiful, scrappy quilt made by a sweet lady.

 

Up next was a table runner I made this week. I used double batting and I could not be happier with the outcome. It took forever to finish due to the dense and detailed pattern but the snowflakes were the perfect addition. The cream fabric has a very light snowflake pattern on it that worked well together with the quilting. All it needs is a tiny red binding then to be rolled up and packaged.

 

Next up is a baby quilt I made earlier this year. I used the magic ruler and showed how to make each block on previous posts. I finally had the chance to quilt it. I wasn’t sure how to quilt it at first, but we had played with this ribbon quilting previously and I really liked it. The decision was made and now it is all quilted.  Another quilt ready for binding.

 

 

While Millie was handling her business and quilting away I sat next to her and worked on more planes. Three more finished, three left to go. Hopefully they will fly away this week and I can get that quilt wrapped up soon.

By the time I finished the baby quilt it was late and I needed to pack up and head out. A pretty successful Saturday in my sewing world.

 

We are nearing towards Christmas and this is the first full week of December. You know what that means? It’s WIP WEEK! Find a project that needs worked on or finished and let’s get them completed together.

 

 

 

Share what you are working on and feel free to tag us in pictures. It’s the last push to get things finished up in time for Christmas. Let’s do this!

 

See you at the machine,

•Care

Can You Watch TV & Sew?

Fun fact: I sew in silence. Occasionally I’ll listen to music, but mostly I sew without any noise except for the sewing machine. It’s my favorite way of losing myself and diving into a project. 

Last night while working on finishing up a table runner, My Love decided I needed to watch a movie, the new Dolly movie, on the tv. It wasn’t even 5 minutes later before I found myself sitting on the floor staring at the tv. Not much of anything was accomplished as soon as the tv was turned on. 
Now I know why I sew in silence, without distractions. 

Thankfully I only get this reaction with the tv. I can sew with friends and have music playing but goodness there is something up with the tv. 

I have come to the realization that it is DECEMBER first. Is anyone else freaking out? How can this be? 

My to do list is a mile long, but I’m chugging onwards and slowly marking things off. The problem is, I mark one thing off and add three more. 

Is anyone else in the same place? Piled high with Christmas projects and always adding more. I wouldn’t want it any other way though. I love making handmade gifts and there is nothing like laying on the couch under a quilt. 

Well, I better get back to sewing. Soon we will be having sew nights and parties at QH where all we will be able to hear is chatter and machines. It will be lovely, I cannot wait! 

See you at the machine, 

• Care

Quilter’s Hideaway Has Furniture!

Hi there everyone! It is raining outside and we are supposed to be decorating our house for Christmas, but instead I am sitting here with a half-assembled tree thinking about how wonderful this past weekend was and writing this blog. I sure hope no one realizes I’m slacking ;).

 

Did you have a fantastic Thanksgiving? We had everyone at our house for a late lunch/early dinner that was yummy. There was more food than we could finish, lots of laughter, and the kitchen was clean by the end of the day. I couldn’t ask for anything more. I love how both of our families (my husband’s and mine) get along so well.  It makes holidays easier and life greater.

After dinner we went out to a few shops to see what the big sales were. We didn’t purchase much at all, but we saw quite a few baskets piled high.

 

 

Friday morning I went to one store and spent over an hour in line. After that, I decided I was finished with Black Fridayshopping, and we headed to IKEA with an empty trailer.

 

We spent about an hour walking through the store seeking out different items and options. Then, we found a spot to sit and regroup. We wrote down what we needed to look for in the self service area.  We realized a few of our items were not in the self service area, and there were a couple things we wanted to look at again.

 

With our list organized and our plan set we marched through the showcase floor once more and found a lady named Rachel to help with our items that were not in the self-service area. She turned out to be an amazing help and organized our entire list for us based on aisles and checked inventory. This is when we realized a few things were out of stock. She walked with us to find other options and once again helped us to get a plan in place. She was fantastic!

 

This time, with our list in hand we scooted down to the first floor-the self service area. If you have never been to IKEA, almost all of their items come in flat packs. When you arrive at the store you walk around the second floor to see different rooms assembled with their furniture. Each item has a tag with an aisle number and bin number. You write down the information and when you finish you head down to the first floor and pull all of the furniture yourself. There are few exceptions where the staff will have items pulled for you to pick up after checking out (Rachel did this for us).

 

 

So with our LONG list, we found the elevator and headed downstairs. My parents laughed when I told them we would each need a cart, but it turns out we needed a total of 5 carts. It was crazy, but so fun and exciting.

 

We stuck to plan until we got to the chair aisle and my dad decided to mix it up. A last minute decision meant we had three different chairs on our cart. We also couldn’t find three of our originally planned chairs but it worked out for the best and we found an even better chair (in my opinion).

 

Loaded down and struggling to push the carts we headed to check out.

 

 

 

**I just got caught!! A certain someone just walked in and realized my tree is still only half assembled.**

 

After checking out, we waited on the last two carts with 11 more boxes then we headed for the elevator.

 

My dad decided we could fit everything into the elevator at once so it became a game and we won! We loaded the trailer and headed home.

 

When we arrived back in Bartlesville my husband and his family met us to help unload and start building. It was pretty late but we couldn’t wait.

 

Saturday morning I finished quilting another quilt just in time to head to the shop and finish assembling all of our IKEA items.

The shop is coming together and we cannot wait. It won’t be long before our doors will be open.

Remember, if you want to be the first with a calendar of classes, come see us at Gifts Marketplace on December 6th at Tri County Technology (Bartlesville, OK).

 

 

See you at the machine (but first I must finish this tree),

 

•Care

It Isn’t Too Early For a Little Christmas, Right?

I asked my Love if I could put one of the Christmas Trees up last week. I thought it was a simple question, but it was most definitely met with a stern (but loving), “No.” Well okay then, I guess I will go sew on my Christmas quilt while I wait for the world to get on my level.  
Christmas decorations for Halloween should be a thing; although, I really do love fall and Thanksgiving. Having Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving would not take away from the holiday, but instead it would just add to it. This is all how I felt before I realized putting Christmas decorations up now would mean they would be up for over three months, and at that point they would need dusted. I’m not a fan of dusting, so I will wait until a more applicable time to start decorating. Say, right after the dishes are finished from Thanksgiving dinner. Sounds like a fabulous time to me, only 96 more days to impatiently wait. 

Until then, I will have Christmas cheer with my snowman quilt where nothing needs dusted and no one can tell me “No” to decorating early. Plus, French General fabric is not Christmas fabric and these shapes could be confused for anything. They just look somewhat like snowmen, but that can be our little secret. 

Last weekend I was able to finish sewing the details onto this quilt and the snowmen (or blobs or interesting shapes if we are hiding that this is a Christmas quilt) really came to life. Deciding borders has been a small challenge. After all the time and work it took to complete this quilt, I thought we were for sure working with something King-size or larger. However, I was mistaken and my finished quilt sans borders was about 50” x 54”. My goal is to have a “couch quilt”; I want all of my quilts to be used often and loved well, so this little guy needed a few borders.

About these borders; I picked one fabric, a feather-like design with hints of red and tan, that I loved so I knew it would make an appearance. I also liked the light green that was speckled throughout the quilt and the red with tiny white polka-dot fabric held a place in my heart. Three fabrics—should I use them all?… One?… Two?… Time for an audition. 

I think I have settled with varying sizes of all three fabrics for a pretty good sized border. I believe they will finish the quilt well, and then I will be off to rent the longarm and finish this in time for Christmas. As a procrastinator of epic proportions, I cannot believe this quilt is actually close to finished. Someone remember this because it won’t happen ever again often. 

Hopefully I haven’t spoken too soon…

See you at the machine,

•Care

If you missed working through my appliqué journey for this quilt, check out the last blog post.  It was a journey alright… 🙂 

Also, if you would like to purchase this Bunny Hill Designs pattern (which I love!). You may do so here. 

An Applique Journey

You know the A word?  The one quilters either have a love or hate relationship with but not often anywhere in between.

You guessed it– Appliqué.

Let’s just get this out in the open.  I did not know how to applique before taking a class recently. I have only heard nightmare stories, and I based my opinions on what I had heard.  Some days my opinion is the same, other days I actually enjoy appliqué (…did I just say that?).

I should have started with something simple, but instead I decided to jump into the deep end with a straight jacket on.  Okay, I’m being a little (or a lot) dramatic.  This quilt was a challenge though.

Bunny Hill Designs- Merry, Merry Snowmen

I can’t even remember when we started it, but I have had this quilt by Bunny Hill Designs on and off my design wall too many weeks months to count.  It is time to finish it up seeing as how we only have 99 days until Christmas (!!).  Let’s strap on a jet pack and finish a few things!

Back to the A word… I now know how to applique.  Not only do I know how, I have used the techniques I learned in the class to make THE J QUILT.

For the next few days I am going to work block-by-block to finish this quilt.  Stick around, we might learn something together.

I’ll start with my least finished block.  I am pulling fabric and making decisions on how to construct this one. I was taught how to appliqué using freezer paper and spray adhesive.  I know now that there are other ways which include fusible interfacing.  I will be venturing that direction next time.

I find using the spray adhesive makes my entire sewing room like one of those fly trap sticky ribbons.  Everything sticks to me, I stick to everything, and nothing actually sticks to my block where is it supposed to go—not cool.

However, I have already traced every single piece onto freezer paper and I do not want to spend even longer trying to retrace everything.  I have one block left to place and I will be using spray adhesive.  Wish me luck.

Now that everything is stuck down onto the block (a miracle) I use a satin stitch setting on my machine to sew around the edges.  Nothing too complicated; however, you do want to go slow and pay attention. I also tried different stitch widths and lengths until I reached something I thought looked proportionate for the pieces I was working with.

After gluing everything down, changing threads is probably the most tedious part.  I wanted my thread to match what it was stitching down so there were quite a few color changes happening.

See you at the machine,

•Care

{If you like this pattern and would like to make it yourself you can purchase it here.}