Fall market 2016 - Part 1

Hey everyone, I'm back and had a marvelous time. I left extremely early on Thursday morning, so early that I was able to photograph - Sun Rise over New York City!

First thing I did once I set foot in Houston was officiate the beginning of market by enjoy my first margarita ... Cheers!

The Moda theme for market was "quilters are super heroes in disguise" and what an appropriate theme it was, for me anyway. It was at this market that I finally had the opportunity to meet my Quilting Hero, Lynette Jensen of Thimbleberries.

I have always wanted to meet her. She was/is so such a part of my quilting experience. Last night I counted the number of Thimbleberries books I own and the total is ... 14 books. Although I have cleaned out my quilting library numerous times, I could not part with her books. For me, her books are a connection to my quilting past ... besides ... I still like her style!

Lynette is back designing her traditional Thimbleberries fabrics with RJR. She also has a new book coming out in January 2017 - Thimbleberries with an Attitude. I love the title! In her new book she takes her traditional quilt patterns and gives it a modern spin by using fabrics designed by Cotton + Steel.

Another schoolhouse I enjoyed tremendously was hosted by Martingale and Moda All-Stars Mini Marvels. The theme was Super Heroes! What fun it was to see the Moda designers dressed as Super Hero Quilters.

I actually won the book as a prize! I just couldn't believe it! I so rarely win! You can just imagine how excited I was.

That's it for now! Stay tune for part 2!

Thanks for stopping by! Catch you later! Cheers!

This little blogger is going to market ...!

Quilt market that is!

They say the road to .... is paved with good intentions .... I so had the intension of writing a blog post a few Mondays ago ... We are now Wednesday and the post I wanted to write is still on my "do list". I'll save it for another time.  For now ....

It's quilt market time! So looking forward to Mexican food and margaritas! Oh yea, and looking at new fabrics! lol

If you want to see pictures of Market and/or what I'm up to, be sure to follow @fibrejunction on Instagram and/or Twitter!

I'm off to bed. I have an early flight to catch tomorrow morning! Cheers!

Pumpkinferno ... Boo!

Last weekend was super busy. My little Pumpkin came home for the fall break. It was great catching up.

On Monday we went on a road trip to visit Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario for ....

They used over 7,000 carved pumpkins. What a sight it was, walking in the Upper Canada Village viewing these magnificent exhibits.

Here are a few of my favourites ... check out the dragon!

That is some serious pumpkin carving! Oh I loved the Witches brew!

I've always wanted to see the Mona Lisa...

We were well guided by Mr. Pumpkin ... always there to show us the way ....

Of course no pumpkin exhibit would be complete without ....!

That is just a sneak peak!

What a great time we had! Well worth the visit! Catch you later! Cheers!

It can happen to anyone .... !

Well, it finally happened to me. After 20 years of quilting, I've had my first semi serious quilting accident ... all because I wanted to push my 60mm rotary blade to its max ...

I pressed so hard on the fabric that the rotary cutter flew off the edge of my ruler and hit my index finger ... OUCH! ... It's a deep cut, but not deep enough for stitches! I lost a pint of blood!!!! Ok, I'm exaggerating but ..... Change that dull rotary blade!!!

Seriously, I was lucky this time .... it could have been worse!

On a happy note, since I was having so much fun stitching My Little Home, I decided to start on the next one .....

It's called My Little Year ..... I have just a few more blocked to stitches and it's onward to the piecing of the quilt!

It's going to be a busy weekend for me. I'm not sure I'll get the change to finish the blocks ... we'll see ... Miracles do happen! ;)

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to change that dull rotary blade!!!!

Catch you later!

We have a partial finish .....!

I had way to much fun stitching out My Little Home quilt.  So much so, that we have a finish! Check this out!

I'd like to share with you how easy the stitched blocks were to make using a new to me ruler.  It's a Creative Grid ruler and is called Quick Trim Ruler . It allows you to cut a 45 degree angle which includes the seam allowance. You would use the Quick Trim Ruler to make any block that requires stitching from one corner to another such as flying geese, binding etc....

You align the 45 degree white lines as such:

The black dashed line is your quarter inch seam allowance. Using the white 45 degree lines (aligned with the top of the block and the side of the square) as well as the dashed black line (making sure that it lines up with the corners of your square), you are now ready to cut the excess.

Take the block to your sewing machine.  You are now using your Patchwork foot (1/4" foot) as a seam guide.

All stitched up from corner to corner.

Iron and voila! How easy is that?

Repeat for the remaining three (3) corners and your have your block.

You are now ready to piece your quilt together. In case you are curious about the green fabric, Kim Diehl - Heritage Hollow.

I just love the Quick Trim Ruler for these types of block. The ruler works with any block requiring a 45 degree sewing line from corner to corner. It's much easier to use your patchwork foot as a guide. Of course there other methods for making these types of block, but this one is my favourite.

Guess what I'll be doing tonight? Machine quilting this little gem! Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!