Sunday Stash: Major Investment

Flashback to March of 2014, when I was Getting my Sew-Jo at the Quilting Expo, [you could literally flashback with me by clicking to the previous link!] where Seark and I had our first hands-on experience with a long arm quilting machine. We've pondered and dreamed about making an investment that could propel my creative quilting experiences forward and to build a small business ever since. 

This year the Original Quilting and Sewing Expo made it's return to Lakeland, FL and so did we. Seark, my one day husband, and I had decided that if an opportunity should present itself to take home a machine then we should jump on it and make it work. Then we met Susan and Tabby from Susan's Heirloom & Quilters Fabrics who sell Tin Lizzie. There were many brands of long arm represented at the expo, each with their own-stand out features. While we pondered the state of the art aesthetics of Bernina, the flashy computing system of the HandiQuilter, the industrial nature of Nolting and Gammill, the Tin Lizzy stood out for affordability and personality of the representatives. Needless to say, that same evening Tabby and Susan were delivering a show model to our garage! 

Introducing Louise, my new TinLizzie18 ESP!

I think I'll call her Louise after my grandmother who is the first in the family that I think of when I think of quilts. I know Louise will be good to me, she already produced some fun practice doodles.

 I put some sad looking fabrics on the frame and drew out some boxes to play and draw in. I tried some feathers, some stippling, some circles, leaves, and some zig-zags, creating a happy and playful test piece.

I really like the little tropical leaf that I drew with the strange circles within a circle fruit.

I have lots to learn. I am going to jump in, make some mistakes and get to learning! Wish me luck, and if you have any suggestions or tips that might benefit a novice long arm or free motion quilter like myself, please leave me a note! 

I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles and the Sunday Stash with my new addition.

Sunday Stash: Fabric Shop Tour 4

On my summer vacation to Michigan recently the usual visits with family and friends took an unexpected turn, fabric shopping! In this Sunday Stash: Fabric Shop Tour stop I visited Everlasting Stitches. This is another shop that came with high recommendations from my mom. I can see why the shop was so appealing to her, one the staples of this shop is a selection of Civil War reproduction fabrics. My mom loves the darker and muted colors and the small motifs of the patterns. While those are not the fabrics I tend to gravitate towards, I can appreciate their appeal. During this shopping adventure, I couldn't help but think different locations make different colors and different patterns come to life. The reproduction fabrics make sense in Michigan. 

I chose some of the Wee Wander fabrics by Sara Jane for Michael Miller Fabrics. There is Nature Walk Pink, and Woods Petal. Then I picked up some text based fabric with a news paper print and one with numbers that could be a variety of dates and a little dashed red print. Unfortunately I put the three of those to use before recording any of the makers details. 

I also got this Aspen Frost print called Tin Solider from Moda. It was on clearance so I bought the end of the bolt. I thought this one would go well with the Alexander Henry Christmas fabric I picked up earlier on the trip.

Finished Purse String Blocks in red and white.

The red and white fabrics were combined with others from my stash for these Purse String Blocks for the WERQ Bee bee leader. The pattern was easy to follow with Kelly's tutorial on My Quilt Infatuation. My favorite part is how easily it is to re-purpose some of the trimmed pieces into sweet little pinwheels.

Pretty pinwheels from the left over pieces.

 Once again I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles and his Sunday Stash. What colors would you use for a purse string block?

Jan-Micael

Sunday Stash: Fabric Shop Tour 3

While visiting with my family in Michigan this summer I went a little over the deep end with fabric purchases. Welcome to the third stop on my tour of fabric shops from my recent vacation. I have been drawn to bright colors, clean designs or loud patterns. I found some fabrics to fit my current state of mind at Country Stitches in East Lansing. The store is massive, it takes up three, or is it five bays of a strip mall. They have amazing sewing equipment (which if I had worked a second summer job I may have brought something shiny and expensive home with me that has the initials BL.) Since I didn't have the funds for a new power tool, I opted for fabric instead.   

I picked up some Chandelier Lace and Bird Cage Quiet both by Tina Givens for Westminster Fibers.

Opal Owl Bark also by Tina Givens for Westminster Fibers

 I didn't realize until typing this now that the three fabrics had the same designer! I guess I was just drawn to the colors and the line quality of the illustrations. The top two fabrics I chose for the colors. I have been on this pink, fuchsia, purple kind of kick and can't shake it, so I indulge my whimsy. Besides I couldn't pass these up, they were all super on sale, clearance racked with additional percentages off. I think the Opal Owl will make a great backing to some future project.

As I stated before, I have been drawn to brighter, cleaner, louder fabrics, but there is something about Michigan, or home, or an aesthetic of the mid-West that makes these earthier fabrics appealing as well. I'm not sure they fit with my style, but I can appreciate the colors and I love the little animals. These will become part of a gift quilt for someone special, and I'm looking forward to the thinking, memories, and love that will be poured into that project. 

A few for my next gifty project. Read about my first here.

All I know about the stripe is that it is "Not intended and not suitable for children's sleepwear." It was on the sales wall, along with the floral on the bottom of the pile. The floral is a Dear Stella Design and I think it's called Stella. I thought it would be a lovely light contrast to the stripes and the darker Forest Friends by Moda. Forest Friends, by the way has the most adorable selvage! 

Finally, there is a little something that I knew Seark would appreciate. I've been collecting some of the Alexander Henry male pin-ups. Hurry Down the Chimney is my favorite so far, but I would like to get some of the camping fabric. 

I've heard fabric described as 'yummy,' now I understand.

This is going to go into a project for Seark, but I have to find appropriate complementing fabrics. I'm leaning towards selecting fabrics to pull out some of the pinks, blues, and green... I'm thinking the overall quilt should have a festive theme. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks again for stopping by. I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles for the Sunday Stash. Be sure to stop back and visit the Groves. I plan to share more stops on my Fabric Shop Tour, some quilt stories that heard on my journey and more. Plus I have updates coming on the WerqBee! 

Sunday Stash: Fabric Shop Tour 2

My summer travels to Michigan allowed me an opportunity to explore several fabric shops. While I am quite excited about the new additions to my collection of fabric, my greatest joy came from spending time with my mom. One day was devoted completely to sharing time with my mom and my aunt. After a late breakfast we headed to JoAnn's. While this is not my favorite choice to purchase quilting fabric, I had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket. My mom was looking forward to making some apple coasters that she had bookmarked in one of her many quilting magazines. We loaded up on fat quarters to represent a variety of apples; granny smith, cinnamon apple, candy apple, red delicious. . . additionally we found some fun sale fabrics.  

Will there be pillows in my future? 

 The stripey orange and grey fabrics reminded me of Libs Elliot, whom I follow on Instagram. I imagine those crazy lines chopped up and mixed with solids to create some very busy and possibly dizzying designs. The yellow and white print was also on sale. It is a heavier weight out door fabric that Seark liked for some pillows. At this point mom was already questioning if there was going to be enough room to haul all of my goodies back to Florida. I kept the rest of my hoarding shopping experiences hush hush, I didn't want mom to freak out! 

This is going to become a great mini quilt wall hanging to remind me of my trip!

Next stop was Kean's Store. If you ever find yourself in Mason, Michigan, please stop at Kean's. This store is amazing! It's been around for ages. I used to go with my grandmother on special occasions, and my mom talks about going when she was a child too. The aroma of freshly popped and buttery popcorn greets you at the door, mixed with the sweet fragrances of the candy counter. The store is difficult to describe, as they carry a little bit of everything; fabric, candles, greeting cards, home decor, toys, school supplies, and seasonal items. Here I could not help dipping my toes into the Row by Row experience. (If you've not heard of this, you can read about it here.) The folks at Kean's designed a row that was the perfect quilty souvenir for my trip to Michigan. They chose great traditional blocks that remind me of summers in the mitten state and complemented them with spectacular fabric in an outdoorsy camping forest nature theme. I can't wait to create this row, but first I have to get the instructions which I accidentally left as a bookmark in one of the many quilting magazines that I found myself reading at my parents house!  

Mom is cutting fabric for apple coasters.

 I really enjoyed working on a project with my mom. While we didn't finish the coasters, we made a really great start, and now my mom has another project to add to her stash of works in progress. Somewhere during this vacation I came to the realization that my life is full of memories and more recently (read since I moved to Florida) those memories haven't included my family as much as I would like. I will cherish half made apple coasters and add that memory to a file that is growing at a much slower pace than it once did.

The magazine said we could make them in one day. A two week vacation and they are still a WIP.

You can read more about the beginning of my Fabric Shop Tour adventures here. I'm linking up with Molli Sparkles and his Sunday Stash. If you haven't already, check out his No Value Does Not Equal Free post! Wowza! Gorgeous quilt, and thought provoking read.

Sunday Stash: Fabric Shop Tour 1

I recently returned from an end of summer vacation to the mitten state Michigan. It's a go to place for people who live in vacation destinations like central Florida. Seark and I packed up our Smart car and zoomed through five states, some mountains, several large cities and miles of corn fields to reach my hometown! Now I know that my last Sunday Stash questioned the ethics of stashing fabric, but I could not find restraint on this trip. Hence piles of fabric that look like they are going to topple over and smash someone. 

The spoils of a two week vacation/road trip!

Of course the two week vacation was not all about fabric shopping, though one might think otherwise if they only looked at the first photo in this post. Rest assured there were further adventures. We went to the county fair and feasted on fried goodies, meandered the midway and examined the exhibits.

The Ferris Wheel reminded me of the groves with the orange and green color scheme. 

We stopped in Kalamazoo to visit my alma mater, Western Michigan University, which has changed and grown to become even more beautiful than I remember. 

Miller Fountain Plaza (I may or may not have gone for a late night swim in that fountain.)

 We drove to Saugatuck and the west coast of Michigan to see the 'beach' and take in the sights and sound of the Great Lake Michigan. The water was really cold and I did not go swimming here, though we did get our feet wet.

The water has a gentler sound, lapping against the shore rather than the crashing waves of Florida beaches.

Not only did I bring home fabric, but also zesty homemade pickles, tart strawberry and rhubarb jam, childhood quilts, and the gem pictured below. This is the sewing cabinet that sat at the end of the hallway in front of a closet door at my grandmother's house. I remember rolling it aside every December to retrieve the Christmas decorations stored in the closet behind it. It contains some treasures that I may write about in a future post, the fondest of which is scent that brings memories flooding back of my childhood.

Now since this is Sunday Stash and you may have noticed that I've subtitled this Fabric Shop Tour, I will share a little more specific information about the fabrics I purchased on this trip and where I stopped along the way. The first quilting stop on this adventure was in Kentucky. Just north of Barea, KY in Richmond we stopped at Heirlooms Quilt Shoppe. Don't let the name fool you, this store was full of bright, modern prints. The staff was energetic and knowledgeable.  I picked up Citrus Slices, a Michael Miller fabric, and this other great metallic print that I bought in a fat quarter and did not get the selvage with the information about the maker. :( Sorry.  

Beautiful fabrics found at Heirlooms Quilt Shoppe.

There you have it, the first stop of many on a grand quilty adventure. Check back to find out where I went next. I also plan to share some quilt stories that found along the way. If you have any suggestions of information that might be helpful to you to share, please leave a comment. I'm linking up, once again with the fabulous Molli Sparkles and his Sunday Stash and the fantastic Lorna McMahon with Let's Bee Social.