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I Had No Idea!

Thank You Ladies for all of your comments on my post about the cost of fabric. I had no idea that fabric could be sooo expensive! You must all think I was whining. Well, I was just a bit but, that won't stop me from buying fabric any time soon. It may slow me down a bitty bit and cause me to think twice about needing it or wanting it but, I love fabric too much to totally stop buying some of the great fabric that we see coming to our local quilt shops.

I have great admiration for those of you who have to pay nearly $20.00 a yard and in some places more than that. You are truly committed to your craft! Your comments give me a greater appreciation for what I have and I wanted to thank you for that! Let's hope that the cost of fabric doesn't get so expensive that we can't afford it anymore. Keep quilting and inspiring each other!

Must be GOLD!!!

Well, it's official. . .

I actually paid $10 dollars and $.40 cents a yard for a PIECE of FABRIC!!!
I can't BELIEVE it!!!

I don't want to BELIEVE it!!!

I just never thought it would happen so quickly!

It seems like yesterday you could buy Aunt Gracie Fabrics for around $6.00 a yard and now it's in the $8's and other fabric was around $8.00 a yard and now it's quickly approaching $10.00 a yard. YIKES! My pocketbook hurts!

Have any of you paid over $10 a yard for fabric from a quilt store, yet?

I'd love to see pictures of the fabric you were willing to pay that much for. Just leave me a link in comments if you're interested in playing along.

Thanks!

I just thought it'd be fun to see the fabrics that talk us into taking them home with us!

Here's the fabric GOLD I HAD to have.
It's a great background print and besides it has RED in it, too!!

My New Favorite Apron

I was sooo excited to make this apron that I bought the fabric 10 minutes before the quilt shop closed on Friday and had it made by early afternoon on Saturday! It's sooo cute and easy to wear. It's also flattering and comfortable.

Me in my cute new apron.
If you know me, you know it's sooo me.

Here's a view of the back or reverse of the apron.

I don't know if it's meant to be reversible but I made sure that the back of the apron coordinated as well as the front and you really could wear it both ways. I tried it on and it works both ways. The reverse side of the apron is more plain with no pockets or quilt block and the front is more decorative with a 9" finished quilt block on the bib. You could use any 9" finished quilt block for the bib. If you're smaller and want to size the bib down you could make an 8" or 7" finished block and add appropriate sized borders.


Please note: I changed the size of the bib to finish at 11 1/4" x 11 1/4" from the original pattern measurement of 8 1/2" x 12"

For the bib as pictured above: I cut one 1 3/4" strip and then sub-cut 2 pieces for the sides measuring 1 3/4" x 9 1/2" and 2 pieces for the top and bottom of the block that measured 1 3/4" x 11 1/2" then I sewed the borders on using a 1/4" seam.

I just couldn't follow the pattern and leave the bib sooo plain sooo I jazzed it up with one of my favorite blocks. Some of you might recognize the block from the Omigosh Pattern that I showed in a much earlier post. The block can also be found in a book by Marsha McCloskey called "Block Party" this is a must have book and I've used it quite a bit. You can buy it on sale at Amazon for $14.93 .

Here's a picture of the book and apron pattern.
You can also find the apron pattern here at Nellie's Needle.

The block I used is called Aunt Vina's Favorite.

Front View

Closer View

Close up of the skirt.
Aren't the pleats just darling?

It was sunny today but windy.

Wear your apron while picking up after the kids and you can use the skirt to hold toys and books. Wear it while doing laundry and you can use it as a makeshift laundry basket to carry clean clothes to the couch for the kids to fold. I just love this apron and I'm going to have to make another one with a different 9" block. I'm thinking it would make a cute Halloween and Christmas apron. I'm going to have to look through my stash.

I think I'm going to have to make a new apron every month. Wouldn't that be fun?

If I've inspired you to go and make an apron this month make sure to send me pictures. I'd love to see your aprons.

What's Black & White and Red Allover?

It's my NEWEST favorite fabric!

The Collection is called. . .



"Black, White and Red Allover"



Made by Windham Fabrics.

I fell in love the minute I saw it and just knew I needed to make an apron with it. I got a new pattern from my recent quilt retreat. It's a pattern by Nellie's Needle and can be found HERE on her website.

Oooh!

I made a big mistake. . .

and now I'm in big trouble. . .

You may be wondering what kind of trouble I'm in. . .

Well, here it is. . .

I made the mistake of doing a search for the fabric line on the internet and found it at the Fat Quarter Shop. It's a much BIGGER collection than I thought and it comes in a light collection and a dark collection as seen in the pics below.

Oooh! I'm in LOVE!

I just gotta have it ALL!

Where's my credit card?

LOL!

What kind of fabrics make you look for your credit card?

Well, I'm off to make my apron and will post pictures when I'm done.

Quilt Retreat Part 3

Today, I will be featuring Valerie Marsh.

Valerie is a wonderful local quilter and I loved every one of her quilts. Of all of the ladies who brought quilts to show I felt the most inspired by hers. We have similar taste in color and design.

One of the interesting things she shared with us is how she came to quilt for a famous quilt designer. Here's the story in a nutshell: Joanna Figueroa, the owner and designer of Fig Tree Quilts was asking for quilters to sew and quilt some of her designs and Valerie decided to answer the call. She submitted her work and the rest is history. She showed us some of the quilts she's made for herself and for Fig Tree quilts along with the patterns. It was great seeing her name on the patterns as the person who made the quilt.

Valerie is showing us some of the more recent Fig Tree Quilt Patterns that she's made for the designer.

Valerie made this quilt using the new Moda line called Patisserie and you can read about the new fabric line on Joanne's blog at Fresh Figs.

This is the quilt that Valerie taught at the quilt retreat.
It's called Square Dance.

Lots of appliqued circles.

I love this applique quilt and the next two quilts. The lighting in the conference room doesn't do them justice. They are stunning quilts and the workmanship is out of this world. Click on the pictures to get a closer look.

One of my favorites of the show!
I need to make this one some day!

This is one of my favorite Buggy Barn quilts and now that I've seen it I'm reminded that I wanted to make it. I definitely have a never ending list of quilts I'd like to make and after the quilt retreat and seeing all of the trunk shows my list is even longer now!!!

I love love love this log cabin quilt.

I loved the RED quilt.
I know a lot of us quilters love our RED!

This quilt is a quilt as you go quilt and when you're done the quilt is ready for binding. I've never done one of these so I can't help you at all. Sorry! I'd like to know myself, but I don't have the time right now. I'm just going to appreciate the quilt.

I hope you enjoyed Valerie's Trunk Show. Wasn't it awesome?

Quilt Retreat Part 2

I thought I would post some more pictures from the trunk shows that were done by local quilters and designers. This is Mary from Mary's Cottage Quilts. She has a blog too! You can visit her by clicking here. You can also purchase her patterns here too.

This is an attractive quilt. I loved the colors.

Cottage Charm Quilt

Here's a close-up of this quilt.

This was one of my favorite quilts that she showed us.
It's called Tapestry and can be purchased here.

Here's a close-up of this quilt.

Easy Charms Quilt Pattern done using two different charm collections.

Stones in the Road

Girl's Best Friend

Starlight Quilt

Close-up of Starlight Quilt

Carnival Ride Quilt

Aunt Anne's Garden

This one is called Scrap Happy.