Rotogravure...

 Recently, I took a class at My Girlfriend's Attic where we were making the blocks from the pattern, Rotogravure...It has 16 blocks total with labor intensive sashings and is a great fall quilt...

 When our time was over, I actually thought about taking pictures and documenting this fun day we spent together...that's pretty much my life lately--day late, dollar short...however, I did manage to snap a few pictures on my way out...

 We had a total of 12 people participating, so we each made 12 blocks and will exchange with one another...I haven't picked up my exchange blocks yet...I will make the remaining 4 blocks on my own for a complete quilt...

 Another fabulous block...I really enjoyed seeing what people put together as far as fabric and I loved every one of them...

 All the ladies that came were delightful and we really enjoyed each other's company!!!

 We joked and laughed and visited the time away and managed to work in some sewing as well...the joke was that we were sewing in a sweat shop as these blocks were extremely labor intensive...

 It took place at one of my favorite meeting places...My Girlfriend's Attic...more pictures to come when I get my exchange blocks...

Last but not least is my handsome little grandson who recently turned 1.  He is such a good little boy and so fun and as you can see, really gets into eating...he gets that from Grandma...I love food!!!

Christmas Favorites...

 Christmas Favorites is Nancy Halverson's latest Christmas book and fabric line....

 The fabric was a pure joy to work with...such vivid bright colors-- the mix of traditional with a modern twist...

 The pattern was designed with a BOM in mind...If you were to take and do a block of the month, it would be a really enjoyable sew...

 There is a button kit you can order for embellishments, however, I opted to make yo-yos instead.  I feel that they really add a touch of whimsy...

 The poinsettia block has gathered leaves for embellishment which really look darling...

 There is a mix of piecing as well as applique with a touch of embroidery...

This is quite possibly my favorite block in the quilt...I have always told my children...If you don't believe, you don't receive...

Miniature Ups and Downs...

 I really love the movement in the Ups and Downs pattern by Sarah Fielke...when I ordered her pattern, the instructions were word only with the only picture on the outside of the pattern.  I am a visual quilter and need a few pictures along the way...so I tested the pattern out in miniature using my 2" squares and leftover browns that were used in backings...to my amazement, it is a split 9 patch block...really fun to sew up...

 I chose this yummy pink minky for the back and it makes for a comfy quilty baby quilt...

 I just randomly sewed the squares up and then laid them out and sewed together the quilt...

For being a tester, I fell in love with it.  Can't wait to do the bed size quilt...The background will be a kiwi solid with 3 1/2" squares all from my scrappy stash..Should be a fun quilt!!!

Floyd Family 2nd Annual Retreat

My friend, Alissa, had a family sewing retreat yesterday...I had the honor of being invited to go and sew at the Girlfriend's Attic...I was having so much fun sewing, shopping and such that I only got these 2 pictures of the actual retreat...Alissa's parents are serving a full time LDS mission in the Phillipines.  There is a lady there who found out she was pregnant at age 42 and is having a hard time.  Alissa's mother felt that if someone would sew her a baby quilt to show that people cared, it would really help this woman.  The floors over there are all concrete, and with cultural preferences to take into consideration, Alissa felt this monkey quilt would be fun...

 The monkey fabric is a vintage brown pin whale corduroy and for the body of the monkey, sashings and borders, she has gone to her stash for this little quilt.  It is fun, quirky and very textural with the corduroy.  It really makes my heart smile and I'm sure the mother will adore this!!

Here is a close up of one of the monkeys...too cute.  If I were a baby, I would love this...

Petal Pop...

 Petal Pop is one of Nancy Halverson's newest designs in her book Curiosities....

 The blocks in this quilt are 18 inches and have a lot of layered applique...

 Her fabrics are beautiful and I "sew" enjoyed working with them...

 This quilt is a twin, but would easily make into a queen size by adding 3 more blocks...

I chose this for the backing and really like it...on a side note, this is a very labor intensive project so just know you cannot crank this out overnight...

Sew Day...

 Today we had sew day...two of my sisters were there, my mom and my nieces and nephew...Rose worked on her pin wale corduroy  jacket...it is full lined and coming together beautifully...

 I am making Lori Holt's spool quilt, so I cut out the blocks while I decide how I want to do the borders...

 There are a lot of spool quilts out there right now...I have not got Camille Roskelley's spool quilt pattern yet, but I will cause I love it...but right now, I am making Lori's spool quilt and loving it...

 My mom brought her embroidered Hocus Pocus blocks to trim up, so I helped her with that.  This is a CrabApple Hill pattern and they suggest using freezer paper and give some tips on how to center your embroidery for a real professional result....love that tip!!!

 My sister, Carolyn worked on cutting out Swoon.  Swoon is one of my most favorite patterns right now...just love those big blocks and the impact...

I laid out all of my postage stamp star blocks...yes the blocks are all made!!!  I made it super duper scrappy and just used what I had on hand.  It has been really fun to put together.  It will have yet another scrappy element with a piano keys border...The pops of color just make my heart sing...

My niece, Kristi, sewed a pair of pillowcases...She tries to really avoid sewing if at all possible, so this was a really great thing and they looked great!!!

Scrappy Postage Stamp Star...

 Awhile back on Em's Scrapbag's blog, I saw this quilt made up and decided it would be a great way to use up my 1 1/2" squares....So about a year ago, I started sewing the postage stamps together...

 It is interesting how the center pulls out the color of the star points...

 You can find her tutorial here

 This is Lady, the last of the puppies.  All the puppies have homes now and we are dog sitting Lady until my son and his wife can pick her up in August...my how she has grown...

My Girlfriend's Attic...

 We are very fortunate to have My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe so close by...

 

Not only do they have a fabulous fabric store and fun classes and mystery quilts....

They also have My Girlfriend's Attic...a retreat center complete with just about everything you would ever need from a full service quilt shop to beautiful surroundings, friends and fun times.  If you are going to be in the area, you should maybe look into booking the attic for your fun getaway!!!

Spring Finger Puppets...

 I came across this darling pattern for little finger puppets...I thought this would be great for a Grandma bag when we need quiet moments with the little ones...

 The puppets are made of felt and have hand stitching...the pattern is entirely sewn by hand, but I opted to stitch around the puppets by machine for durability...

 The pattern also had little pink buttons for the cheeks and buttons for embellishments, but I opted to do mine out of felt to avoid choking hazards...

 This weekend, we went camping and I took this project for a craft that my girlfriends and I could work on while enjoying mother nature....

I finished up all my hand sewing at camping and brought them home and stitched around them and made the little cover...If you are a young mommy or a grandma and need something to keep little ones quiet for a few minutes, this pattern has been really fun.  You can find the pattern here

10th Annual Barrett Quilt Retreat...

 This was our group for this year's annual quilt retreat...

 We each helped sew blocks for the Swoon quilt. Rose was the winner of the blocks... We chose solids and 30's reproductions for the blocks...

 Carolyn dutifully sewing on swoon...

 Heather sewing as well...

 Carolyn's twister quilt...

 Carolyn's Butter Up Buttercup...

 Cousin Eileen....

 Rebekah...

 Carolyn's log cabin from sew and share...

Cousin Eileen's pink scrap quilt...delicious..We all enjoyed each other's company and show and share.  The food was fantabulous...We got all 9 blocks completed on Swoon and Rose is one happy camper....Looking forward to next year's quilt retreat!!