Two Peas in a Pod Trunk Show

Carol Adams and Connie Cawley of "Two Peas in a Pod" are one of my many favorite quilt designers. They both came to our Quilt Retreat and did a trunk show. It was so much fun seeing the quilts close up and personal.

Both Rae Ann and Lori have posted pictures from the same trunk show so I decided to show the close up shots that I took of a few of the quilts that they brought to the show.

The picture above is a quilt I made using their pattern called "Hopscotch"

Pincushion Exchange

One of the fun classes I took at American Quilting's Retreat was a Pincushion Exchange. I was surprised that not many people took the class. It was really fun and informative not to mention the fact that we all got a new pattern to make a darling pincushion.

Here are some of the examples that Melinda (teacher also Amy's oldest daughter) brought to inspire us. Each pincushion had a story. Notice the chicken in the top right hand corner of the picture, well, she's been around for 25+ years. Melinda remembers playing with the chicken when she and her sisters were younger. They especially loved poking her with pins. lol.


The strawberry wrist pincushion is made using a large covered button and has a magnet sewn inside to catch your pins and needles. This pattern is an ORIGINAL design that Amy gave to us at last years retreat (I think).


I'm pretty sure this is another original design by Amy but I didn't see a pattern on her website. I just love the cording around the outside edge and wool yarn that she used to sew the vines.


I really love this bunny pincushion and the pattern is called Cottontail by Under the Garden Moon (Amy's design) and can be found here.


For the Exchange we each had to make a pincushion. I just realized that I didn't take a picture of mine but you'll see it in the group shot below. I used a pattern called BABY CAKES by Cindy Taylor Oates. You can find the pattern here.

In the pictures below you will see all of the pincushions wrapped and ready to trade. We used a one die and each time you rolled a 1 or a 6 you could either pick a package or take a pincushion from someone that had already unwrapped it. It was crazy. I have to say that I was really happy to get the one I had my eye on. It was close and I was able to trade for it in the very last seconds of the game.


Here is a picture of the pincushions that everyone made and brought to trade. I ended up with the sweet turtle made by Amy (American Quilting). Isn't he sweet? You may recognize the pattern made by Heather Bailey called Henrietta Turtle.

Purse Frenzy

Amy introduced my newest obsession in a late night purse class. I decided to take the class at the very last minute. I hadn't really had a chance to take a close look at the samples prior to the leaving for the retreat so when I saw them I went a bit CRAZY and bought lots handles to make lots of purses. It was so exciting and you could feel the frenzy from all the ladies waiting anxiously to get the right handle in the right color.

Amy assured all of us that she had plenty of handle choices and she felt like everyone would get at least one of their choices and then she'd open it up to get a second, third or fourth handle. I can hardly explain how much FUN it was!!!! I was practically hyper-ventilating I was so excited!

It was definitely one of my favorite classes! On the last day I dropped everything I was doing just to make my purse. I was really happy to finish two and a half purses before I came home.

This is the purse I made for myself. It is made using black wool with a cotton red paisley fabric on the inside. The rose and leaves are also made out of wool. Everyone was having a hard time sewing with the clear mono-filament thread so I decided to try sewing with black thread and it worked out great. I was happy with how it turned out. I doubled the thread and took it through each set of two holes 3 times. I think the thread adds another bit of texture to the purse. If you click on the above picture you can get a better look at the stitching.

You all know how much I love RED so I wanted to put a red fabric on the inside. I had this beautiful red and white paisley in my possession so I decided to use it. I really like how it turned out. You may also notice the chain. It's a long chain that hooks to the purse and allows you to put it over your shoulder for a "hands free" experience. I love going "hands free" when I'm shopping.

This is the mini purse I made for Kenna. It's the perfect size for her money, lip gloss, and any other small items like her iPod or future cell phone.

The inside green coordinates with the fabric on the outside. I also used light green thread to attach the handle to the fabric. This size worked up really fast.

The larger purse handle is to make another type of handbag. I just need to decide on the fabric I want to use before I make it.. There are so many choices that it might be difficult to decide. The smaller handle is what I used for Kenna's Large Coin purse.

Here are two of the 4-5 color options.
I can't remember every color but there were several choices.

There are some patterns on the market for the fabric purses and I'm sure that Amy will, at some point, have patterns available to purchase. For those that live locally, Amy will be offering a Purse class in her store. So, keep an eye out for her upcoming classes. I'm sure you could call the store (American Quilting in Orem, Utah) and ask for more information.

American Quilting Retreat

I just back from a 3 day quilting vacation late on Friday night and I'm here to tell you that it was a real treat for me to attend American Quilting's Retreat this year. I had so much fun with my friends both old and new.

I have to admit though, that I spent more time attending classes, lots of trunk shows, laughing, taking pictures, and eating than I did sewing. I made progress on one quilt and finished two other smaller projects. I also acquired a few new projects, all of which I will share with you over the next several days.

I thought I'd share some pictures of the friends that came with me to Amy's Retreat.

L to R: Diana, Me, Rae Ann, Lori, and Susann

Lori is working on her purse.

I love this picture of Susann.
We were having fun taking pictures of each other.

Here's Rae Ann busy working on her Valentine quilt.

I missed getting a good picture of Diana but I'm sure Rae Ann will be posting pictures from our quilting adventures really soon. We all had a wonderful time together and look forward to next years retreat.

Free Sewing Day

This is the first Free Sewing Day that I've had in a very very long time. No phones. No work. No kids. No questions. No whining. No cooking. No cleaning. Just time hanging out with my bestest friend, Rae Ann. Go check out Rae Ann's blog Cutie Pinwheel. You'll love it!

First we went to the quilt store (one of my most favorite and most dangerous things to do). Rae Ann was looking for a birthday gift for her sister-in-law. I was looking for a couple skirt patterns for Kenna and material to go with the patterns. We both found what we wanted and then we headed over to the post office to mail her sister-in-law, Bonnie's birthday package. After that we went to lunch at Chili's and finished our day sewing.

It was a wonderful day for me and I was able to get a few things done.

Right now, I have a big deadline to finish the quilt I'm teaching for American Quilting's quilt retreat in 11 days and counting. YIKES. I'm a bit worried but whatever happens. . . happens. I'm not too stressed because I do have the project done I just wanted to have a quilt to show too. I'm teaching my Moda Bakeshop Project called Plates for Your Table. So, my students can either make the single plate charger, the table runner, or the quilt.

I also made this sweet Dresden Plate Name Tag for myself. I thought they were so cute that I decided to make a few kits for my students so that they can make one in class or sometime during the retreat. The spokes are 1 3/4" in length and the dresden plate finishes at 4 1/2 inches in diameter.


I also bought these two cute skirt patterns and the fabric is from one of Moda's newest fabric collections called "Boutique" by Chez Moi. I'm using the skirt pattern called Butterfly Kisses by my friend Jina Barney (go check out her blog Jina Barney Designz) for the skirt. Jina is a very very talented lady and works for a company called Riley Blake Designs. You'll want to check out their newest fabric lines and keep an eye out for some of their upcoming lines, too.

In the word's of Sponge Bob. . . "It's the Best Day Ever!!!!"

I'm leaving you with this goofy Sponge Bob Video
made to the Song "The Best Day Ever"

Sorry, I removed the video.