My latest project is on the Moda Bake Shop today. It’s called Color Pop Pillow and its a modern disappearing nine-patch. It’s a simple project with lots of wow factor. My husband said it was his favorite thing I’ve made so far. 
Check out the tutorial {here}.
Hello! Welcome to my stop on the Meet My Sewing Machine blog hop. I’m glad you’re here!
I own a Bernina 440QE (quilter’s edition) that I purchased in 2011. It was my upgraded-upgrade machine (meaning it was my second good machine since I started quilting.) I tested Berninas when I bought my first nice machine (a Pfaff Creative Expression) in 2010 but decided they were too pricey. Then in 2010, I met a few women at the Dallas MQG who had Berninas and brought them to our Saturday Sews. That was fine. I was still happy with my Pfaff. And then our guild started meeting at the Bernina store and that was the end of it. That machine had to come home and live with me! At that point, I felt like I knew enough about quilting and sewing machines to deserve such a fancy Rolls Royce of a sewing machine.
There are two aspects of the Bernina that I ADORE. First, is the BSR – Bernina Stitch Regulator. I couldn’t free motion worth a swear word on my Brother, but was decent on my Pfaff. With the BSR, I can pretty much do any design I set my mind to and it looks pretty profesh. (You know, professional.)
The second thing I love about my Bernina is what they call the Barbie case and all of those Swiss-made all-metal presser feet inside. Droooool.
The foot I love most is #37, the 1/4″ foot. It sews a perfect scant 1/4″ seam. It was very smart of Bernina to make the foot numbers so prominent on each foot. None of my previous sewing machines were so user-friendly. There is one feature I would love to have – an automatic thread cutter. The Berninas are also kinda noisy compared to many other sewing machines. Maybe that’s due to the all-metal feet and parts. Even so, I would recommend this machine to a friend. In fact, most of my friends have one. At retreat, we sit at the Bernina Table. It’s the cool kids table.
The Bernina is a majah (said like a Spice Girl, specifically Victoria Beckham) upgrade from my first beginner baby machine, a Brother something-or-other. It was a $200 super basic machine that quickly fell apart when I started making a quilt every other week (no joke. I did that.) I also own a Brother serger that is rarely used, and I do have have a few other dream machines I’d like to own if I had the space.
Janome Horizon MC7700-QCP
These machines were in all of the workshops at QuiltCon so I spent an entire day sewing on one. And it was a dream. Super quiet, all of the bells and whistles. This would definitely be a delight to sew on every day.
Juki TL-2000Qi FS
I’ve never even tested this machine, but I’ve heard good things. It would be my quilting machine and I’d use my Bernina mostly for piecing.
Long-arm of Some Variety
I’ve gotten to play on a long-arm a couple of times, and I would LOVE to own one. That would necessitate a MUCH larger sewing room, but a girl can dream.
Speaking of sewing rooms, mine is jammed full of stuff very nice. I have three windows so I get lots of natural light and hardwood floors that make it easy to sweep up sewing messes (charm pack dust, thread explosions, etc). I keep most of my fabric stashed away in the closet, but I like to display pre-cuts and neatly folded fat quarters because they just look so pretty.
{Moda fat quarter bundles in aqua DVD holders from the Container Store}
{My cutting table from Martha Stewart’s collection for Home Decorators}
{Vintage shelf with pre-cuts. I store a lot of stuff in various glass jars like these
{My sewing chair – a vintage one that I painted and reupholstered}
{CD storage unit from Pottery Barn filled with fat quarters}
That’s my machine and my sewing space all in one. Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to visit the others stops and sign up for the linky party.
SUNDAY, MARCH 17
Erin @ Sew at Home Mummy
Angela @ Heart of Charnwood
Shannon @ Crafty Turtle
Amy @ Stitchery Dickory Dock
MONDAY, MARCH 18
Ebony @ Love Bug Studios
Jaclyn @ Jaclyn Quilts
Amy @ Diary of a Quilter
TUESDAY, MARCH 19
Kara@ Me and Elna
Nerissa @ Nissa Made
Elizabeth @ Don’t Call Me Betsy
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
Carly @ Citric Sugar
Celine @ Espritpatch
Patti @ A Yankee in Queen Liz’s Court
THURSDAY, MARCH 21
Stacey @ The Tilted Quilt
The Jolly Jabber Staff (Chelsey, Kimberly, Debbie)
Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After!
FRIDAY, MARCH 22
Erika @ Sews it All (Bernina)
Lisa @ Vintage Modern Quilts (Bernina) {ME!}
Adrianne @ On the Windy Side (Bernina)
That doesn’t sound bad at all, does it? I am taking part in the funny and silly notions month happening on Moda’s Cutting Table blog all month long. Hop on over to read about my favorite notions.
{P.S. Ryan Gosling is on the island, too.}
This quilt is made almost entirely of Moda Candy – those cute 2.5″ squares that now come in almost every new line. I’ve been stashing them for years, before they were ever sold in quilt stores. I had quite a collection of Summer in the City by Urban Chiks that came as freebies in a pattern I found on clearance (yeah, I bought them all. Sorry if you are new to fabrics because that line is awesome but long out of print). I mixed in some others I got at quilt market as samples or freebies at guild meetings. I also added a charm pack or two of Plume by Tula Pink to make the quilt a useable size.
This is a basic disappearing 9-patch pattern. I used a bright pink as my centers, but I kinda wish I’d gone for something softer. Next time.
It’s quilted with my favorite Aurifil thread and it’s a dream. I swear by that light gray color (#2600). It really does go with everything. The quilting pattern is free motion swirls, which is something new for me. This quilt needed lots of quilting and a playful pattern that offered a little more excitement than the basic stipple.
My favorite part of this quilt is the binding. I just love that polka dot print! The colors really are like candy. One day I will make a quilt in that color palette (any excuse to use that binding again.)
I have to share a photo shoot outtake…
Ben is always drawn to the quilts in our house. I find it very endearing since I made all of them. 
.
Dimensions: 54″ x 54″
Fabrics: Summer in the City, Dream On, and Hullabaloo by Urban Chiks; It’s a Hoot by MoMo, Central Park by Kate Spain, Plume by Tula Pink, Breakfast at Tiffany’s at Fig Tree and Co.; Snippets by American Jane, Funky Monkey by Erin Michael (binding & backing)
Quilting Thread: Aurifil 50 wt #2600
Started: July 2011
Completed: March 2013
I whipped up a little pincushion last week, and the recipe is now available on the Moda Bake Shop. It’s a simple pincushion that uses Moda Candy (2.5″ squares). I’m already using mine as part of my applique kit for Sweet Tea and Green Beans.
Go check out the {recipe} and make one this weekend!
Moda Fabrics has a series of free patterns designed for solids called the 12-Pack. You can see the last released set {here}. I’m working on a pattern from the new set using the lovely stack of Bella Solids above. I like to name my fabric stacks because I’m a nerd like that so this one is called Retro Whimsy. The colors are sort of dreamy and cupcake-like. I’m seeing strawberry cake and chocolate frosting. Mmmm.
The Bella Solids shown (from top to bottom) are:
Pale Pink | 9900-26
Sisters Pink | 9900-145
Pink | 9900-9900-61
Popsicle | 9900-143
Citrine | 9900-211
Pesto| 9900-233
Gray | 9900-83
Stone | 9900-128
Betty’s Brown | 9900-125
Robin’s Egg | 9900-85
Seafoam | 9900-191
Turquoise | 9900-107
(shown twice, one piece is for the binding)
So that’s what I’m working on today. And now I need a cupcake.
I’m sharing this with a simultaneous squee (excitement) and eek (anxiety). My demo from QuiltCon is live on the internet! I watched it on mute. Anyone who has ever heard their own recorded voice knows why. I demonstrated the improv curve blocks shown above as well as the new Moda pre-cut, the Honeycomb. I love being able to share my love of quilting and it’s a huge honor to represent Moda Fabrics at a major event like QuiltCon (who am I fooling? It’s a huge honor to represent Moda Fabrics when I’m working from home in my PJs!) I hope you enjoy it!
QuiltCon is over. There was so much build-up and excitement, and now I’m having post-awesomeness withdrawal. It was so cool to meet people that I’ve corresponded with or followed online for years now. And, of course, I had an awesome time with the my group of quilty girlfriends. The event itself was very professionally pulled together – great signage, variety of vendors and exhibitors, an impressive line-up of lecturers and teachers. I was able to attend many lectures and a full-day workshop with the incredibly inspiring Anna Maria Horner.
{Things I loved: Arriving at QuiltCon. Staying so close to the convention center that I could see it from my bed in our hotel. Hamming it up in my Dallas MQG t-shirt. Having Moda Fabrics on my name tag. The absolutely wonderful handmade ribbons for the winning quilts. }
The show was smaller than I expected, but there were still a dangerous amount of vendor booths. I tried to exhibit self-control because fabric is THE LAST THING I need but there were so many, many lovely things that wanted to come home with me.
{My pile of QuiltCon goodies minus a few last-minute Sunday afternoon purchases.}
I fell in love with the Green Tea and Sweet Beans pattern when I first saw it a few weeks ago (at Quilt Asylum in McKinney) and one of the vendors at QuiltCon had a kit! They had the finished top on display and then one kit below it. Of course, I snatched it up and went immediately to the check out to make it mine. I was already imagining myself in the hotel room, opening the kit, and fondling the fabric. I was literally laying my head on it like a pillow and telling my friends how much I loved it when the woman in the booth said (very kindly) “That’s a pre-order. You can’t actually take that one home.” It was difficult (and kinda embarrassing!) but I did manage to hand it back. Hope mine comes in the mail soon.
{Green Tea and Sweet Beans kit from Sewing Party}
I spent some time in the Moda booth, and it was super fun to be on the other side of the counter. I loved meeting people who read the Moda Bake Shop, and telling others what it’s all about. All of the quilts you see on display are free patterns from the Bake Shop.
{Hello, Moda Bake Shop}
Moda had a super fun photo booth and a variety of signs and props to spice up your photos. This is one of my more tame pictures.
{Love you, Moda Fabrics!}
I was lucky enough to be asked to demonstrate some modern quilt blocks using Moda pre-cuts, and I had a blast. Quilting is probably the only thing I’d feel so comfortable talking about in front of an audience and a camera.
{See more of my demo HERE}
{Yeah, that’s me.}
The highlight of the weekend was probably hearing Denyse Schmidt speak. She is such an icon in the modern quilting world, but she’s also someone that has a relatively small online presence – no blog, no Twitter, etc. I knew almost nothing about her personally so I was blown away by her graciousness and eloquence. She is truly an artist, and her love of fabric and quilting is so inspiring. One of the things that endeared her to me is that she sketches each quilt design as it would look on a bed. Given the high price of her couture quilts and the fact that many of her pieces hang in museums, I was delighted to know that she obviously wants them to be used. And many of the quilts in the Denyse Schmidt exhibit had been washed, which is something I haven’t really seen in other quilt shows. It made me smile.
The next QuiltCon is in 2015, and I am already thinking about how I can maximize those four days. So. Much. Fun.
We keep it pretty low-key for Valentine’s Day around here. Flowers, champagne, usually humorous rather than romantic or sappy cards. And this year I made sugar cookies, one of my favorite things to bake.
My mother-in-law gave me the best tip for rolling them out: Pastry Cloth. Add a a smattering of flour and nothing sticks.
I sewed a lot for WIP Wednesday (yesterday)…a new WIP that you will get to see more of if you will be at QuiltCon next week:
So for yesterday’s WIP Wednesday project, I tackled a quilt I’d named “Urban Cowgirl Around the World” and it turned into a completely different project. I had a trip around the world quilt in mind, combining an Urban Cowgirl jelly roll with a Bella Solids {warm} jelly roll. The color palettes aren’t an exact match, but they’re close enough to look good together. I’m not into matching anyway…I prefer coordinating palettes.
Instead, I decided to try the Jelly Roll Race (also called Jelly Roll 1600) method.
It’s a fast and easy method to whip up a lap-sized quilt in about two hours. Some tutorials say one hour, but two hours is more realistic. Still, how many other quilts can be made in two hours?
I can imagine all sorts of variations with this pattern. Given my considerable stash of jelly rolls, it’s very likely that I will be making one (or several) of these again.
As for this quilt top, I have half of each jelly roll remaining and I will probably use a similar method to create some borders (and save a few strips for a scrappy binding). And I’m going to have to rename the quilt. Jelly Roll Cowgirl? Urban Barrel Race? Urban Jelly Roll sounds like a city dweller’s muffin top, which makes me kinda like it best of all.