Spring Water Designs

Finished My February DJ Block :)

2012-02-20T20:26:00.000-05:00

This is my A-7 block finished and posted to the Janiac's Unite Blog. It's nice to get a little hand work done in the hustle and bustle of the rest of the day :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little Inspiration and a Blog Hop!

2012-02-19T20:29:00.001-05:00

So this weekend I've been enjoying my new book, Baltimore Garden Quilt, reading it from cover to cover! It's written by my Baltimore Applique Society friend, Barbara Burnham, and has full color pictures of her beautiful reproduction Baltimore Garden quilt, and the antique quilt from 1848 that inspired it.
I love that she includes full color tutorial pictures of many techniques she used in making the quilt!

...And the book comes with a CD of full size patterns! I've already picked out the first blocks that I'm going to make from this book, I just need to figure out a color scheme and pull some fabrics :)

...And this weekend I cut up this old shrunken wool sweater that I had, and played with it and some other wool scraps. Come back later this week, and I'll show you what I'm doing with it :)

It'll be part of my blog post for the Girls in the Garden Blog Hop that I'm doing with Pat Sloan and some other blog friends! Each designer will be using some of Pat's new patterns from her Girls in the Garden series and making it their own. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with from the same patterns!

Here's the line up for the Blog Hop:
Tues Feb 21 Michele of Quilting Gallery http://quiltinggallery.com/
Wed Feb 22 Heather of Olive and Ollie http://www.oliveandollie.com/
***Thurs Feb 23 Me!! Dawn of Spring Water Designs http://springwaterdesigns.blogspot.com/
Fri Feb 24 Amy of Amy's Creative Side http://amyscreativeside.com/
Sat Feb 25 Heather of a La Mode Fabric http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/

Check out Pat's blog each day for her take on how she designed the Girls in the Garden patterns http://blog.patsloan.com

And of course there will be prizes! Check out the Fat Quarter Shops kick off post for today and join in on the fun! http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Bee Blocks Finished Early

2012-02-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

So my Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild meeting was on Sunday, and for some reason I had it in my head that our Bee blocks were due at the February meeting...you got it, they're not due until March! Then when at the last minute Hubby and I decided to head over to Delaware for an unexpected needed visit with my mother-in-law, I dutifully contacted a friend and dropped off my blocks (along with Round Robin, BOM block, and other stuff) ~ Thanks Maria :) But of course, I confused everyone, because not only did I include in my bag Bee blocks that weren't due, my Heart block for the BOM (which was due) was rolled up inside the Bee blocks so they didn't see it. (...I'll see that you get my heart block too Heather, Congrats on the drawing win!)

So anyway, the above block is the one I made in my colors. I figured since I'm finished with them, I'll go ahead and show my Bee Blocks ~ But Warning: if you're in my Bee group and want to be surprised in March, don't read past this paragraph :)

Our Round Robin for the month had dealt with squares and rectangles, so I was still playing with that theme when I picked this block to make, I wanted to make them look woven together. I made one first in Maria's colors of blue, yellow and white, but I didn't like how I had all of the blues and yellows all parallel. So I made another one, changed out a yellow for another shade of blue and made sure the darker blues were perpendicular to each other, it's just a personal choice but I liked that one better...so Maria gets two blocks this month to do with what she will :)

So here are all of the blocks for the gals in their different color choices. Now I can't wait for the March meeting to get all my blocks, and put them together with the ones from the last round :)

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Love is in the Air

2012-02-14T19:24:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day! Since Love is in the air, and several blogs are sharing their Valentine's theme quilts, I thought I'd show mine :) This is called Soft Hearts (a 62"x 62" generous throw sized quilt). I made it originally for publication in Quilt Almanac 2010 and it showcases this lovely vintage feel Valentine fabric collection that was designed by Faye Burgess for Marcus Brothers fabrics...

...And now it's finally available as a pattern Here on my website!

These are the bonus coordinating pillows that I've included in the pattern with the quilt. (Even the little fabric postcard in the heart pocket!) The quilt's really quick and easy to make up, so I've made it in several different fabrics now, but this sweet little Valentine one is my favorite, and comes out as an accent on the guest room bed every February :)

Btw, this is my Scrappy Heart Mug Rug. The pattern for it is available as a Free Download on my Free Patterns Page. Just a little Valentine from me to you :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Bit of Heart Nostalgia

2012-02-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

It's the month of the heart, so the Block of the Month challenge at the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild is to make a 10" block with a heart of any color on a white background. So I got out some fabric scraps (including this funky 70's looking print), my Accuquilt Go! cutter, and my Heart Die (#55029) and I started to play.

...Here's what I came up with:

I started with four 5" squares of white background, 1" wide yellow and red strips, and two of the largest 4" hearts on the die and five of the smallest 2" hearts (I had applied fusible web to the back of the heart fabrics before I ran them through the cutter). I sewed yellow or red strip borders to two sides of each background square, sewed them all together, fused and blanket stitched all, and she's done!

It's a simple little thing but it makes me smile ~ it kind of makes me nostalgic for my Brady Bunch days :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Little Accomplishments

2012-02-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

I'm participating in my first ever Round Robin with the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild. We all provided an 8 1/2" center block, and this first round was to add a 2" border with squares and rectangles. (It's supposed to be a surprise, so I'm just showing a sneak peak of the one I worked on this month.)

I'm happy to have this little project ready to pass on, sometimes you just have to settle for little accomplishments. Starting January off being away from home for my daughter's surgery + It progressing into me fighting Bronchitis for the rest of the month = Not much getting accomplished around here! I'm just now getting back into full swing with my sewing machine (And boy does that feel good!) ...So I've decided I want a do-over, and I'll begin 2012 in February ~ New goals, New Start :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Finished UFO for January

2012-01-31T19:44:00.000-05:00

At the beginning of the month I decided to participate in the 2012 UFO Challenge over on the Patchwork Times blog, and I made my list of 12 unfinished projects that I'd like to bring to completion this year. Judy chooses a number each month, and that is the project that we work on.

January was #5, and on my list that was to quilt my Autumn Schnibbles quilt top. I got it quilted and bound...and on time by the end of January! That's one finished UFO for 2012 :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Quick & Easy Block Keeper

2012-01-20T21:38:00.002-05:00

While working on my Bee exchange blocks for the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild, I decided that I needed a little block keeper to hold/transport my collection of blocks. Nothing elaborate, my only requirements were that it had to be quick, easy and cheap.

So I cut a 20" square from this felt backed tablecloth that I had found at Target. (I started with 20" to give me plenty of room to house 12" finished blocks, if you'd like to make one, you can adjust your measurements up or down for larger or smaller blocks). You can get several block keepers out of a felt backed tablecloth too, so make them in whatever different sizes you need!

Fold under the edge about a half inch and top stitch to elevate the raw edges. The felt backed table cloth finger presses pretty well (definitely do not use a hot iron, it would melt pretty quick I think).

(Do that all the way around all four sides.)

Fold one side in wrong sides together about 2 1/2" and use a pin or two to hold it in place.

Then fold in the opposite side wrong sides together 2 1/2" as well.

Now fold up the bottom about 1". Sew down the stitching line that you already made when you first turned the raw edge over, and then topstitch about 1/4" from the folded edge.

Repeat this step on the remaining side with one exception...

In the top stitching, stitch down a piece of ribbon (approximately 20" long and folded in half). This will become the ties for the roll.

The blocks tuck nicely into the flaps created by the 2 1/2" folded sides (These are the blocks I received from round one of our block exchange ~ I can't reveal the ones I'm making for round two just yet).

Then starting from the side without the ribbon, roll up the block keeper, wrap the ties around it, and tie it shut. Easy, quick, and surprisingly durable!

...And ready to go to my next guild meeting :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

This One's For Me

2012-01-17T14:32:00.001-05:00

Not much blogging here lately ~ I spent last week babysitting the grand kids at my daughter Lisa's house. She had to spend some time in the hospital having a heart procedure (Yea I know ~ it shocked us all that she needed it, but she got through like a trooper and is recovering well, and all is fine now! Our first big blessing of 2012). However, after spending a few days wiping the noses of the little ones, I'm back home battling a huge head cold that has now decided to settle in my chest ~ not a pretty sight. So I'm not getting any sewing done that requires actual focus, but in between coughing up a lung or two I've been knitting and I finished this scarf.

I had started it back in December when I had my recliner time after my oral surgery, so I took it with me to work on at my daughter's house. So now it's gotten me through two medical issues (that's a whole lot of bargain therapy), and it even survived Elsie pulling out my knitting needles to conduct her pretend orchestra when I wasn't looking (I'm so proud I'm finally getting good enough to pick up drop stitches!). So far I've given away most of the things I've knitted, but this baby is staying with me :)

PS ~ I'm blocking it right now as you can see from the photo. I basically just wet it down, spun it in the washer (in a little mesh bag) to remove extra water and pinned it out on a towel on the guest bed. I'm new at this, so let me know if you have any tips on blocking knitted work, I'd love to hear!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

One Little Word...

2012-01-08T20:24:00.002-05:00

Do you choose One Little Word to be your theme word for the year? Last year my word was Simplicity ~ with all that was going on in 2011 with taking care of my dad and his affairs, working my "job that pays", and trying to grow Spring Water Designs, that word was a very appropriate thing for me to strive for.

This year I've chosen the word Enjoy as my word of inspiration. I like to make an effort to do something that I enjoy every day, even if it's just a little thing. I'm realizing how short and precious life really is (Ack ~ is that a symptom of old age?), and want to focus on enjoying all of my blessings. So don't be surprised if you hear about a gillion little things that I enjoy this year...consider this your advanced warning :)

The Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild issued a challenge for us to make a small project or block using our theme word to help us keep it in focus throughout the year. So I made this happy little Enjoy quiltlet using the Summer Song fabric collection from Riley Blake Designs (my all-time favorite bright fabrics), and it will hang in my sewing room and make me smile every time I walk in. (Even when it's messy!) I tried something new to me with the free motion quilting ~ I'm getting better at just "doodling" and filling in an area with quilting stitches without planning it all out ahead of time and marking everything :)

Here are a few of the other Word quilts that were shared at our meeting today. (More are in the works and will be shown at next month's meeting). I was impressed and inspired by the thought that everyone put into their chosen words, and as always love the fabrics that were used!

Daniela chose the word Balance, a word that I actually pondered for my theme word and I can so relate to. I loooove her border fabric and it's so perfect with her black/white letters!

Laura chose Grow, and did this lovely tree quilt (How cool are those different colored leaves!).

Lainey chose Journey as her word for multiple reasons that fit her life this year. You can see a better picture of her quilt and read about it here. She paper pieced her letters, and the little wonky stars are a perfect touch...I always love the colors and fabrics that Lainey uses!

Heather made this little sweetie and will be "sewing seeds" in 2012 :) You can read more about her project here on her blog. Her chosen fabric was just perfect for this project, and don't you just love the font that she used for the word!

Finally, Maria made a larger quilt. She chose the word Improve, and set out on a hunt for fabrics that represent things she wanted to improve on in 2012, and her quilt just kept growing. I love how she has a significance to each focus fabric in the quilt making it a very personal keepsake to her.

Have you chosen a theme word for 2012? I'd love to hear

Got UFOs?

2012-01-03T21:40:00.000-05:00

Do you have quilt tops that are sitting around just waiting to be quilted?

...Or piles of carefully chosen fabrics just waiting to become quilt tops?

...Or that Christmas quilt from 2010 that just needs the binding put on it for petes sake...

Well I do! So I'm going to jump in and take part in the 2012 UFO Challenge. I'm always moving on to new projects, and that's what keeps quilting fresh for me, but this year I'm going to go back and finish up some of my old projects in progress. I figure that even if I can work around my current deadlines and bring an older project one step closer to finished that would be good.

So in the spirit of commitment, here's my list of things I'd like to move forward in 2012:

1. Bind/finish that Christmas quilt darnit!
2. Bind/finish my Thimbleberries Spring quilt
3. Sew my friendship Swap Blocks together
4. Quilt Jo Morton Patriotic Strippy quilt top
5. Quilt Autumn Schnibble Quilt top
6. Finish Blanket Stitching Walk in the Moonlight Quilt
7. Quilt Harvest Moon Quilt top
8. Quilt Snowman Quilt top
9. Quilt Jo Morton Club Mini Baskets Quilt
10. Finish blocks for Jo Morton Warm Wishes quilt
11. Quilt Jo Morton Second Hand Rose Quilt top
12. Quilt Winding Ways Quilt top

(There's a lot of quilting on that list, and since I know me and my moods, my alternate project to work on for each month is to complete A Tisket A Tasket applique block ~ I have 5 more to make).

So each month over on Patchwork Times Blog a number will be chosen and my challenge will be to work on the UFO on my list that corresponds to the chosen number. These are all side projects that I've started just for fun, not related to my Spring Water Designs business, so we'll see how I do...

What do you have in the wings to re-visit in 2012?

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Here's to a Delightful 2012!

2012-01-03T07:57:00.002-05:00

I've taken my annual holiday sabbatical from the computer (and it was glorious!), but I'm back now with a little snapshot of some of my favorite projects from 2011 and I'm fresh and ready to take on 2012!

I did hop on the computer to do quick little things, and read some of my favorite blogs, (and I have been working, sewing, and doing a little planning), but I've spent most of my time this last month with family preparing, worshiping, celebrating, re-fueling, and generally enjoying moments like this...

Abby and I want to say thank you to all of my blog friends for your support, friendship, and sweet comments in 2011, and wish you all a 2012 full of moments to delight in!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

My Christmas Wish

2011-12-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

My wish is that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy & Healthy 2012!

Keep it Simple & Enjoy the Day!

~ Dawn

A Little Show and Tell During This Busy Month

2011-12-20T19:34:00.000-05:00

Wow, I just looked at the date of my last blog post ~ time is flying by this month! I have been busy designing, and I've done some more repair work, but other than that I've been mostly busy with shopping...decorating...wrapping...shopping...baking...(did I mention shopping)... I've even had some doctors appointments and a little oral surgery thrown in the mix :( But I wanted to take the time and stop in for a little show and tell. This is my Jungle Buddies Quilt made with the cute Jungle Buddies fabric collection from Wilmington Prints. On top of being made of the cutest kid fabric I've seen in a while, the design makes up really quick and easy using a panel as the main focus with some borders and simple piecing, so it's perfect for a quick kiddie quilt :)

The pattern for the quilt can be found in the current issue of Quilt Magazine on news stands now, and I have kits available for it Here! I also have the fabrics available as yardage on bolts Here (While supplies last.)

I pieced the sample quilt, and my good friend Sheri Thompson of Pieceful Completion machine quilted it for me with a really cute all over swirl pattern that I thought was the perfect touch :)

And I made this bonus coordinating pillow that's large sized and just right for TV watching. You can get the pattern for the pillow as a free download Here from the Quilt Magazine website!

I love the modern look of this cute kid fabric, and I combined it with some traditional block piecing ~ I love combining the old with the new :) I think it makes a great gift quilt for a favorite little guy (works for girls too, but I had little boys in mind when I designed it because it's harder to find cute quilts for the little guys). Hurry to buy any kits and fabrics though if you're interested, they are selling out quick!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

What's Been Keeping Me Busy...

2011-12-09T08:12:00.000-05:00

This baby has lived on my dining room table for months now. I've been repairing her for a customer off and on between other projects ~ I had to do it that way to keep it affordable for the customer, and to keep my sanity :)

The old girl needed lots of work. Where it had been folded in storage is very evident. Take that as a lesson for anyone with quilts in storage ~ make sure the folds are "soft" and not sharp folds by making rolls using wadded up archival tissue paper* and placing them inside the folds of the quilt...and rotate the quilt every now and then: Take it out of it's storage box, let it spread out on a bed for a while and "breath", and then when you are ready to re-store it make sure the folds fall on different areas of the quilt.

*Also, fold rolls can be made by cutting a foam pool noodle (floating device) to the lengths that you want, and wrapping them with archival tissue paper or batting and placing them in the folds of the stored quilt.

...And it's a good idea to make a "pillow case" for the quilt out of muslin to protect the outsides of the quilt. At the very least, use scrap batting to lay between the quilt and the vessel it's being stored in.
...Ok, I'll hop off the soap box now :)

Some of the damage on this quilt is just from really thinning fabric. Some areas are just shredding.

Since all of the fabrics are so thin, it was decided that I would try to preserve the quilt by adding tulle netting over the worst areas to minimize future tearing. But first I hand stitched some stabilizing stitches on the torn areas. (You can click on the pictures to get a better view of what I'm talking about.)

Then, where I could I appliqued new fabrics over patches that were completely gone. (All of my work is "removable" and the original quilt wasn't permanently altered to maintain any value it may have as an antique heirloom.)

So after (probably millions of) stabilizing stitches, replacing missing patches in the rings, and applying tulle netting over the major damaged areas, and around all the edges she is finally ready to head home to her owner. Even though she has some wear, I think she's still sweet :)

Then I shifted gears and spent some time this week quilting this little Chirstmasy wall hanging for a customer.

This one was a quick, short and sweet project :) I love the colors in this one ~ it's put me right in the Christmas spirit, so I think I'll take some time today to "deck some halls" at the Stewart house :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Quick Little Project for the Holidays

2011-12-07T06:34:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited, I got my Create & Decorate Magazine in the mail yesterday, and look what's on page 40! It's my Baltimore Applique Tablemat ~ and it looks so cool in the magazine's photography :)

I designed it in a Folksy Baltimore Applique style, and used wool on a homespun background. The shapes were machine appliqued, as I like to do, over a little doily, and in this picture I was previewing little accent medallions for the center ~ this is the one that won out.

The little medallion is nice and flat, so I can still set a candle on it on my table :) The mat has some sturdiness to it because instead of using batting, I used Timtex stiff interfacing in the center.

It makes up quick and easy ~ so it can be made to decorate for Christmas, and with the little hearts and doily it's still appropriate through Valentines Day :)

The pattern can be found in this issue of Create & Decorate Magazine on news stands now...and how stinkin cute is that cover snowgal! It's so adorable, I'm using the magazine as a Christmas decoration on my coffee table :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little Down Time = A Finished DJ Block!

2011-12-06T06:15:00.000-05:00

I was able to capture a few minutes for myself this weekend for little hand stitching, and I finished a Dear Jane block! This is my version of B-3. This can be pieced, but you know me...I appliqued mine. (I just made two Four-patch blocks, and used one of them to applique a circle on top of the other.)

That makes block number 13 for me on my Dear Jane Quilt. I'm not moving at lightning speed, just fitting it in when I have the down time, and keeping it stress free. I have two doctor appointments this week, so who knows ~ with all that waiting room time, I just may get another one done :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little TLC and a Bunch of Spray Paint

2011-12-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

This is my "new" Hoosier Cabinet base that I picked up through my local Freecycle group this summer. She's sitting pretty in an upstairs bedroom now, but needed a little TLC to get here.

This is how it looked when we hauled it home in July...

Inside there was no bottom, but there were plenty of spider webs.

A little scraping was in order. After removing contact paper, at least four distinct layers of paint, and a bit of rust it was time for the spray painting to commence.

The original color of the cabinet was Ivory, so that's what I decided to go with for the cabinet, and I used white appliance spray paint on the porcelain top. I re-used the original hardware, but because it was so marred up after removing the layers of paint, I painted that black.

Hubby took pity on me and put a bottom in it so now I can actually use it to store things, and he even fashioned this cool shelf that pulls out :) He did do a bit of joint repairing and tightening up too...because he's the best :)

All in all I'm happy with how it turned out. It only cost me a bit of elbow grease and the price of some stripper and spray paint. Now I have to keep an eye out for a Hoosier Cabinet Hutch to go on top!

While I had the spray paint out I painted this little shelf that I had in a closet to match it. I think it all looks good with this old mini quilt that I made years ago ~ I knew I was saving it for something :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Grateful

2011-11-30T09:40:00.000-05:00

Wow, I realized how long it's been since I posted to the blog! I am here, and busy. I'll have some new projects to show soon, I promise ~ And by the way, how do you like the new look here on my blog?

So you see there have been quilty things going on here, but this past week was all about family and friends. There was about a week of preparation leading up to Thanksgiving, and then the big weekend. It took us two Thanksgiving dinners to get to see everyone this year...and the best part ~ I didn't have to cook either one of them! How cool is that :)

First we spent Thanksgiving Day at Grandma Betty's in Delaware, and then Heather and Luke deep fried a turkey here at my house on Friday. I had never had the deep fried turkey and it was wonderful, it made the whole neighborhood smell so good!

The kids told us to take it easy and they did all of the cooking! It was like it was my birthday :) I just spent the days playing with the little ones and snapping pictures.

Here we are at Grandma Betty's dinner, and I got a picture of Elsie taking a picture of me taking a picture of her ~ it's non-stop action at our get-togethers, what can I say :)

...so much action that I think every picture I snapped of the kiddos was blurry! (I'm obviously used to photographing stationary items, and have to work on my "action shots"). I think they're budding rock stars, they really do get into their "music" :)

We're so blessed that we could get together and celebrate with family and even some new friends this year. I'm thankful for each and every one of them, and also the friends that I've met here on the blog and through Spring Water Designs throughout 2011. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

An Amazing Museum Trip

2011-11-20T22:53:00.003-05:00

Last week I ventured down to Richmond, Virginia for a trip with the Baltimore Applique Society to visit the Museum of the Confederacy for what I thought was going to be a little tour of a museum and a chance to view a couple of antique quilts. Talk about an understatement!

We started out touring the White House of the Confederacy with a tour guide that was nothing short of amazing! Abdul was a retired Seargent-Major of the Army who was born and raised in the Richmond area, and knew his history like no one I've met before. The House has been restored to as it was when Jefferson Davis and his family lived there, and our guide shared facts and told us stories that brought it to life for us. It was a fascinating tour.

Then we went next door to the Museum where we had been pre-scheduled to meet with Cathy Wright the curator in charge of the textile collection, and go behind the scenes to view some of the antique quilts in the museum's collection.

We were asked not to publish any pictures of the quilts, so here you can't see the quilt, but you can see how we all gathered around and viewed several wonderful Civil War era quilts in two different conservation rooms of the museum that included some gorgeous embroidery, a really cool hexi quilt, some beautiful pieced quilts, a couple of wonderfully preserved crazy quilts, and a down right amazing hand-quilted trapunto whole cloth quilt. Cathy was so gracious, and was very knowledgeable sharing the history of the quilts.

If you want to view the quilts in the Museum of the Confederacy's collection, they have a great feature on their website were they've photographed the quilt collection, and you can even zoom in to see the fabrics up close. Go to www.mocquilts.org , sit back with a cup of tea and enjoy :)

Then after we walked through the museum's exhibits, we got a totally un-scheduled treat. Teresa Roane who is in charge of the Archives at the Museum invited our group upstairs to tour their library and collection of wonderful letters and documents. Teresa showed us some original letters from Civil War soldiers and Generals. I was amazed at how people 150 years ago, even though we write a bit differently and have totally different life experiences, are so similar to people of today in their thoughts to their loved ones, rantings to their superiors, and even shared jokes between cousins.

The picture above shows us in our grand finale of the day after Teresa unscrolled the original Provisional Articles of the Confederacy for us to look over!

It was amazing to see history so up close and personal, and Teresa's enthusiasm was catching. I was blown away at the hospitality of the people who run this museum and how much they thoroughly enjoyed sharing the history with us. If you are ever visiting the Richmond area, I highly recommend a trip to the Museum of the Confederacy! Don't you just love it when a little trip turns into such a delightful day!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Need a Quick Autumn Hostess Gift?

2011-11-18T06:16:00.000-05:00

Do you need a quick project for Thanksgiving? Not making pies this week and want to whip up a quick hostess gift? Well my Acorn Penny Runner pattern is now available as a downloadable pattern at AccuQuilt's website!

It makes up super fast using the AccuQuilt Go! Cutter to cut out your applique shapes ~ but the pattern includes templates for all shapes if you want to cut them out the traditional way with scissors too.

I made mine from wool, but it would make up cute with cottons too! Use scraps that you already have on hand in your stash :)

It's super easy and quick, and the pattern is at a discounted price...plus since it's downloadable you get it instantly and with no shipping!

So hop on over to This Link and get your pattern, but hurry if you want it for Thanksgiving Dinner :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

The Big Mystery Reveal!

2011-11-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

Here it is ~ the final installment of my Quick Mystery BOM Runner for those of you that are playing along. This month you get the instructions for the setting triangles and corners to finish the project off in plenty of time before the holidays hit!

The instructions are easy, I promise! you just piece some framed squares, and then slice them up to make the triangles. (I know, that sounds scary, but it's really easy and I put pictures in the pattern download, so don't be afraid to slice away!) ...Once you finish one, you can whip up a couple more for quick gifties :)

Here's my no-applique version of the runner that I made. This one, with it's little quilt motif fabric will live in my sewing room :)

So head on over to the Free Pattern Page of my Website to download your Mystery BOM Pattern (and you can get the patterns for Months One and Two as well if you haven't made them yet). The patterns will be available free for a limited time, so hurry!

Don't forget to post pictures of your version of the runner on our Flickr Group (I'm getting a little lonely in there by myself), or email me photos ~ we'd love to see what you've made!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Are You a Janiac?

2011-11-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

This is my A-1 block in my budding little Dear Jane collection. I had started my Baby Jane several years ago, but tend to put it aside for long periods of time. I have twelve blocks completed that I've done in my "spare time" ~ that means it's kind of slow going, because spare time is pretty scarce around here lately!

I'm excited because I found this cool blog group that will help to motivate me to keep preparing blocks that I can work on in my little stolen "spare" moments. I shared a few of my finished Dear Jane Blocks on the Janiac's Blog in This Post. Keep following for some great Dear Jane inspirations from all of the members of the Janiac's Unite blog group!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Habitat Challenge Revealed

2011-11-08T07:00:00.017-05:00

We had our big reveal on Thursday for our Habitat fabric challenge at the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild. The first part of the challenge was to make a 12-1/2" block using some Habitat fabrics designed by Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit fabrics. This is my block and it'll go into a charity quilt with other blocks from the guild members.

These were the fabrics we started with. We all received 6 fat eighths from the collection that Free Spirit donated for the cause. They were quite diverse, and interesting to work with because they are not what I would normally pick for a project, although I did like all the dots...and hey it's free fabric right!

The second part of the challenge after we made our block, was to use the remaining fabrics and make a project of our choosing. I added a bit of Kona Bone and purple, and here is the little quilt I made :)

It's basically my Chutes & Ladders quilt design, only made smaller. I used the leftover fabrics in scrappy strips to accent the sashing bars and to create a scrappy binding. Then I quilted it with circles in multiple sizes.

I even used up more scraps of the challenge fabrics on the back :)

And since it was a challenge, and I was challenging myself to use up all of this free fabric, this is a pincushion that I made out of the cut away center of the circle that I appliqued on my block and offered up as a little door prize at the meeting. I literally only had a few strings left of the free fabric when all was said and done...Challenge complete :)

You can check out more Habitat Challenge projects at this Flickr Group ~ they are all so diverse!

PS ~ Stay tuned later this week for the final installment (setting) for the Quick Mystery BOM Runner project (I'm running a little behind getting everything written and up after all of my traveling lately).

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

The Show Quilts!

2011-11-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

There were beauties around every corner, it was so overwhelming...Enjoy!

A Time Between Times, by Sara Madson

Hexagons!

All the quilting was amazing!

There were dolls...

...and doll quilts too :)

My friend Polly Mello's amazing applique quilt called A Memory of Texas. It was quilted by Illona Hull.

It's complete with lots of Texas critters,

Including a big hairy spider :)

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

My Little Market Trending Report

2011-11-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

I went to Schoolhouse sessions all day Friday at Quilt Market. I hit mostly business related topics that gave info on running my website and other such stuff (invaluable info to me, but boring to report to you about). But my favorite quilty sessions were all from Andover Fabrics, at least that's were I seemed to snap the most pictures.

From Jo Morton's new book Prairie Flowers Encore.

...I loved the red & white bird toile from the Jo's Variety fabric collection :)

I went to Gail Kessler's Schoolhouse session where they show lots of different Andover designers' fabrics, and here are a few of my other favorite new collection quilts...

Batiks from Andover!

Everyone's perspective is different at Market, but here's my take: There were plenty of traditional fabrics at Market (among others Marcus had some beautiful collections), but the trends were definitely leaning toward Modern. Which is cool when you're a quilter like me who likes both styles :) Lots of bright, clean looks ~ I loved collections from Basic Gray & Cosmo Cricket for Moda, just about everything from Riley Blake Designs, and a cute new fabric company called Dear Stella...keep an eye out for them! Licensed novelty fabrics were popular too, I remember seeing Cat in a Hat, Hello Kitty, Yo Gabba Gabba characters, Berenstain Bears, Peanuts (keep an eye out in Quilt Magazine for an upcoming design by me using the Peanuts collection), and of course Clifford (I showed you my sell sheet yesterday).

I find it really interesting that some of the "modern fabrics" I saw are prints very similar to some found in the vintage quilts I own :) Hexagons were very popular at this Market too...everything old is new again! There were lots of fun ribbons and trims, and cottons are still being featured in clothing, but I do think there were less booths showing childrens clothing than in the past couple of Markets that I've attended. Handbags are still very popular, and Clover had a new template from Nancy Zieman for making ipod/tablet covers that was very well thought out. I thought the new cool gadgets were a camera for the long-armers to be able to view their quilt backs while they worked, and a neat lighted and magnified seam ripper (I can see great value in this as I get older!)

So that's my "Off the Top of My Head" report from Market. There are so many more things that I didn't mention, it's mind boggling. Tomorrow I'll show you some of the show quilts that I could photograph :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Back Home From Quilt Market

2011-11-02T22:39:00.000-04:00

Well I'm back home and finally catching up from my whirlwind trip to Houston. I didn't take my camera (I know, I'm a bad, bad blogger), but I did manage to snap a few pictures on my cell phone. This is looking down on the middle of the amazing Market floor. I never tire of this view.

This is a picture of Houston while I was walking to the Convention Center. It was a warm day with a beautiful blue sky, and back home they were getting the first snow of the season (They didn't get very much here in central Maryland, and I have to confess, I'm a little bummed that I missed the first snow ~ after all everyone knows the first snow is magical right?)...however, I'm sorry for you people in the Northeast who got blasted and are still without electricity :(

I did manage to snap this quick picture of Laurie & Polly (of Minik & Simpson fame) in their booth (I had to take the picture because I never catch the two of them together!)

I made it to the Modern Quilt Guild Meet Up on Saturday night, and met so many wonderful people! This is a picture of Robin Woods and me. Robin is an online friend of mine, one of the leaders of our Quiltsy Group on Etsy, and one of the coordinators of the evening's event from the Houston Modern Quilt Guild. It was so nice to meet Robin in person for the first time, and we even attended a class together the night before this event.

Even though I didn't get a lot of photos, I did manage to snap this little picture while visiting the Quilting Treasures booth. I'm now doing some free lance work for Quilting Treasures and this is the Clifford Fabric sell sheet of the sample quilt that I designed for them! It's so new that they're just showing the line on paper, no fabric yet (and I just got the finishing touches on the design to them a few days before Market!). ~ Yes, I was that silly person taking a picture of her first sell sheet, and they were all nice and humored me :)

Market for me this year was about meeting up with a lot of people. I made a bunch of connections (I'm definitely getting better at that), and spoke to several people about some upcoming work, and I did do a little shopping too :) Even though I'm not good at taking booth pictures, I did take some quilt photos, but I'm still pulling pictures off of my phone. I'll post some School House pictures tomorrow :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Jumping on the Hexi Bandwagon

2011-10-24T07:10:00.002-04:00

I've been working on little hexis in my down time. I'm sewing along with the Jo Morton Stitchers Yahoo Group as they are having a year long hexi challenge. These of course will be all done in Jo fabrics, so it will be a warm rich quilt. I'm not sure yet how I'm going to set them, but I did decide on making the flowers. My next one (yes, they're kind of addicting and I'm already thinking of a next quilt), will be done in lighter fabrics ~ possibly some 30s prints, or even modern.

I already own a Hexi quilt that my mother made years ago that I blogged about in This Post. As you can see it's a lot brighter, made all from scraps and that wow pink ~ I'm thinking after the current cozier one I'm making, I'll need to make one with pops of bright yellow :)

My hexis are large by the standards of some of the other gals in the group. My papers measure 1" on the sides. Some of the gals are making 1/2" hexagons! I might tackle that on my next project, but with this one, I'm using my AccuQuilt Go! cutter to cut the papers and the fabric. I use the smallest hexagon on the Hexagon Die (which is 1" on the sides and 2" point to point) to cut the papers (I'm using a thin cardstock that I had on hand), and then I cut my fabrics from the medium hexagon shape on the die (which is 3" point to point, and 1-1/2" on the sides). This makes the cutting quick and easy, and I don't have to purchase the papers :) I cut a whole bunch at one time, I've even listed some hexagons in Jo fabrics in my Etsy Shop in two sizes ~ the medium and small hexis (I'm not cutting papers to sell at this time though, they can be obtained in large packs in many sizes from Paper Pieces).

This is the back side of one of my flowers. There is a good amount of seam allowance by cutting these sizes and that makes for low stress in basting my shape edges. I'm going for low stress here ~ I'm taking some of these, along with an applique block in progress on my trip to Quilt Market. This is going to be a crazy busy week for me, so you might not see me online until I get back.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Christmasy Thoughts

2011-10-20T09:15:00.000-04:00

Are you thinking Christmasy thoughts yet? Well we are ~ Lisa and I have decided to do a local craft show the first weekend in November. I haven't worked a craft show in years, and never with my daughter, so we should have a blast!

We'll be taking Quilts and quilted items of course, Infinity Scarves by Lisa...and Christmas items! So that means among my customer orders I'm working on, and multiple deadlines before heading off to Quilt Market next week, Lisa came up for the weekend and we made Christmas ornaments and gifts. Here's a little sampling of what we did all weekend...

(These wool trees were cut out with my AccuQuilt GO! cutter Holiday Medley Die and layers were fused to make them sturdy)

Dad cut up some wood for us ~ We're capitalizing on some of that hurricane damage that we sustained back in August :)

We put together some little dittys that I've been planning to make for a long time.

And Lisa brought me this neat idea. These little post-it holders will make great affordable teacher and co-worker gifts!

We got out the scrapbook papers, ribbons and embellishments (I have a bunch of all of that stuff, because my scrapbooks are yet to be made).

We made a bunch in different sizes, colors and styles ~ they were actually quite addictive, and we got a little carried away :)

And we didn't forget the Dad's either, they need cool stuff on the desk at work too!

To really make some progress we had to do most of our creating after the little ones went to bed at night. Then we got out the snacks, turned on the TV and played ~ one night we got carried away and "played" until after mid-night. Even if we don't sell a thing at the actual event, I've already enjoyed this craft show...play on :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

And the Winner Is...

2011-10-14T07:37:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all of your sweet comments on my blog and my Winter Friends quilt! I used the magic Random Number Generator to pick the winner of the Snow Days fat quarter bundle...

...and the winner is number 24...Kris! I'm emailing you Kris to get your information to mail out your bundle :)

If you're not Kris today, and you want a little Snow Days bundle ~ don't fret!...they're available in my Etsy Shop...and I have even more Snow Days on the bolt on my Website, and of course I have kits for the Winter Friends quilt Here on my Website ~ but hurry, it'll be gone before you know it!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

500th Post Give Away!

2011-10-11T06:46:00.000-04:00

Yes, this is my 500th post here on the blog! I feel a little like Seinfeld ~ only not as witty (a whole lot of talk about not much). Anyway, I thought that post number 500 was worth a little Give Away. So in honor of the publication of my Winter Friends Quilt, I'm giving away this little fat quarter bundle of five fabrics from the Snow Days collection.

These sweet prints are designed by Teresa Kogut for Marcus Brothers Fabrics ~ and by the way, I think that's my all-time favorite snowflake fabric. Anyway, we'll keep this short and sweet, leave a comment on this post, and on Friday I'll pick one random winner :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Snow Days are Ahead!

2011-10-10T06:00:00.004-04:00

Even though we just enjoyed a nice Autumn weekend here, Winter is on the way, and what's more cuddly than a cute Snowman quilt!

This is my Winter Friends quilt as seen in the Dec/Jan 2012 issue of Quilt Magazine, on new stands now! I made it to be a quick and easy, generously sized throw quilt (measures 70" square) that can be made in a weekend and used all winter long ~ mine will be right on the couch by the fireplace for those cozy winter nights :) It's made from the cute Snow Days fabric collection from Marcus Fabrics, and you can get a Kit for it Here on our Website! (While supplies last...)

As you can see, back when I made this quilt and snapped the photo it was Springtime, and getting warm here in Maryland (see our window open in the background), so I had to really rush to get it finished for the photographer and shipped off to Colorado in time for the photo shoot while there was still snow on the ground there (...so I can attest to the fact that it can be made up quickly) ~ I'm still getting used to working half a year ahead of myself!

You can find this issue of Quilt Magazine on most news stands (I found mine at the grocery store), and I know that Walmart, Joann's and Barnes & Noble usually carry it too...And I just love the scrap quilt on the cover this month made by Paula Barnes ~ it may just have to become my new "sew offs" project :)

PS ~ Don't forget to snag the Free Pattern for Month Two of our Quick Mystery BOM Runner!!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Quick Mystery BOM Runner Month Two!

2011-10-07T06:00:00.061-04:00

Yes, it's that time (Is it really October already?) ~ Month Two Instructions are now up for the Quick Mystery BOM Runner! You can get them Here from the Free Patterns Page on our website. This month you will make 2 identical blocks, that are very similar to last month's block, but instead of a nine patch block in the center, you'll have a plain background block...

...with some fun applique :) My pattern instructions have the holly and berry templates included, or you can cut them using the AccuQuilt GO! Cutter Die #55043 Holiday Medley. As you can see in the picture, I used wool and the fusible applique method with machine blanket stitch around the edges. (But you can use any fabric you want and whatever applique method you like.)

So this is what I have so far ~ (1) Block One block, and (2) Block Two blocks. It's coming together!

Don't despair, if you don't particularly want a Christmas themed table runner, there are other options.

I'm also making this one in a bright and happy colorway for my sewing room ~ see the little quilting blocks in the focus fabric ~ aren't they cute :) This is also Block Two, but I decided not to do applique on this one. If you don't want to do any applique you can leave the center square blank (which makes for a great place to sit your candle sticks on your table runner), or you can do like this block and substitute any 6" quilt block. Make it your own way!

And here's my Block One in my bright colors. Don't forget to show us your block progress, we'd love to see some of the colors that others are coming up with! You can email me pictures, or post on our Facebook Page, or our Flickr Group. These blocks aren't difficult, you can jump on in anytime!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little Finish & A Day at the Museum

2011-10-06T08:09:00.001-04:00

I finally got this little applique block finished. It was made for Cathy Marciano in appreciation for her first year of service as the President of the Baltimore Applique Society. It was due last June, but I got side tracked with family stuff this summer, so I'm just now getting it done ~ better late than never, right? BTW, the pattern is one of the bird blocks from the Margaret Potts Quilt.

On Sunday I volunteered with some ladies from the Baltimore Applique Society at the Maryland Historical Society Museum in Baltimore. The museum was having a Women in the Civil War weekend (as a part of their wonderful Civil War exhibit that's going on right now), and we set up an applique display and shared some hands on demos and tips.

And of course there were quilts! We were allowed some photos as long as we didn't use flash.

Some of the quilting was simply amazing...

This orangey one was my personal favorite :)

...Plus the museum has areas that I could not photograph like a wonderful portrait collection, an extensive Civil War exhibit that includes clothing, and of course the original Star Spangled Banner manuscript that lives there. Definitely worth a visit if you're in the Baltimore area!

And I scored this out of print book! The museum store found a long lost box of 50 of them, so I spent a good part of my October fun-money allowance on the second day of October because it just had to be added to my collection :)

If your interested in Baltimore Applique and you're on Facebook, the Baltimore Applique Society now has a Facebook Page ~ you can click Here to "Like" them :)

Remember to come back tomorrow for Block Two of our Quick Mystery BOM Runner!!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Winners!

2011-10-03T20:24:00.001-04:00

First I want to announce that my DD Lisa who is super creative, and has been since she was a little bitty, has officially joined Heather and I on the Spring Water Designs team! I'm so excited that she'll be sewing with us, and bringing her ideas and sense of style to our little endeavor here on Spring Water Path ~ it just makes it so much more fun to be working with my girls :)

Lisa's first offerings are her Infinity Scarves that she's been busy trying to keep in stock in our Etsy Shop. They are made of cozy flannel and are perfect for the cooler weather that seems to have arrived here in the Mid-Atlantic all of a sudden. Check out our Etsy Shop for colors and descriptions ~ they are very reasonably priced so they make great gifts for family, friends, co-workers & teachers!

...And we have winners from the Sullivan's Cutting Edge Ruler Blog Hop! There are actually Twenty winners combined from all the blogs on the hop!! My two winners from here are:
Darlene
Karen in Tucson
Congratulations!! Pat Sloan will be emailing you for your information, or you can contact her at pat@patsloan.com.

I wish I could have answered each and every one of the comments that I received, but I wasn't home all weekend ~ but I want to thank everyone for all your fun remarks, and even the helpful tips that some gave me when my blog was acting kind of hinkey (I think I broke my blog with that incredibly long post on Friday!). It was a super fun week :)

Make sure you check all the participating blogs to see if you're a winner! In case you didn't win a ruler, you can get one in my Web Store, Joann's online or check your local quilt shop.

...Oh, and as a final bonus, Pat has compiled all of the recipes that everyone shared on our hop (plus two bonus recipes) in one handy dandy booklet! You can go to Pat's Blog to download that PDF file :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Last Day of the Blog Hop ~ And It's Our Day!!!

2011-09-30T05:50:00.006-04:00

All week we’ve been sharing about the Sullivan’s Cutting Edge Ruler, and hopping around to other fun blogs for cool tidbits and give aways…and today is our day here at Spring Water Designs! Thanks to Pat Sloan for hosting this hop and inviting us to participate :) First, we wanted to share our favorite Sullivan’s rulers:

Heather’s favorite feature of the Sullivan’s Ruler is the frosted non-skid back. Besides that, she likes the 6-1/2” x 12-1/2” size because she travels with her projects and it fits really well in a tote bag, and as you can see in the above picture mine stands up great in my rolling cart with my small mat.

My favorite feature of the Sullivan's ruler is of course the diamond incrusted cutting edge (which does seem to work at removing those annoying small burrs on the rotary blade that causes little individual threads to go un-cut periodically), thus extending the life of the blade. I have several of these rulers, but my favorite is the little 4-1/2" x 8-1/2" rectangle that fits perfectly in my hand piecing travel clutch that I carry along everywhere. It's small enough for easy travel, but large enough to work with!

Look for the Sullivan's Cutting Edge rulers at your local quilt shop, Joann's, or you can find them in my Web Store. (Click Show All to see ones that we have in stock.)

So as part of the blog hop we were asked to share a favorite recipe, and late September in the Stewart house means Football Seaso...and Football season in our house means Taco Soup! Mmm...Taco Soup is one of my favorite things about football :) It's quick and easy ~ the perfect recipe for a quilter!

Click Here and scroll to the bottom of the page for our Taco Soup recipe :)

And just for fun, Pat asked us to answer a few random question:

Question 1. If I take a look inside your refrigerator what would I find?

...Oh my. Well you will always find three types of Pepsi (I have a son who like regular Pepsi, Hubby likes Diet Cherry, and I like Caffine Free), Gaterade (son, remember), and my new thing is Bread Starter that I got from a friend...Any you'll usually find some beer and leftover pizza.

And you'll always find chocolate in our butter compartment :)

Question 2. What is your favorite TV show of All Time andwhy?

Heather’s favorite show offorever is X-files because she loves anything creepy, and she watched thisshow from it’s inception back in 1993.

My favorite show is NCIS because I like crime dramas…and Michael Weatherly…enough said.

Question 3. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whomwould you like to see play the lead role as you?

Ok, this one made us laugh outloud! Heather picked Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly) just because she likes her. I came up with Mariska Hargitay from Law & Order SVU, because I think she's a cool chick, and hey...we're dreaming here right!

Ok, now that we've dispensed with the silliness, let's get down to the Nitty Gritty! Leave a comment here on this post (tell us what's in your fridge right now), for a chance to win a Sullivan's Cutting Edge Ruler of your choice ~ Yes you get to pick the size that you want! ...And if you've gotten through to the end of this ridiculously long blog post, you deserve that! We'll pick one random winner on Monday morning.

Hop on over to Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog who is the other featured blogger of the day! And go back and read all of the bloggers from earlier this week and make sure you comment!

Sept 27 (tues) Rachel http://www.psiquilt.com/ Allison http://www.cluckclucksew.comSept 28 (wed) Erin's http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time/ Victoria http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/ Sept 29 (thurs) LizzieB Liz and Beth http://dreamlaughcreate.blogspot.com/ Sarah http://www.thelastpiece.net/Sept 30 (fri) Me http://springwaterdesigns.blogspot.com/Emily http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/

Oct 1 (Sat) – http://blog.patsloan.com

If you're new to our blog, you can scroll back to earlier posts this week for other tips and information on the Cutting Edge rulers, and don't forget our Quick Mystery BOM Runner. You can click Here for the post with information, and get the Free pattern download ~ we just started with Block One this month, so it's not too late to jump in. But hurry, Block Two comes out on October 7th, and it only goes for three months, so you'll have a finished table runner in time for the holidays!

And don't forget to upload your Block One blocks to our Flickr Group, or email them to me ~ we want to see the different colors everyone uses!

Enjoy the day!~ Dawn

Hoppin Right Along

2011-09-29T07:00:00.028-04:00

We're hoppin' right along to Day 3 of the Sullivan's Cutting Edge Ruler Blog Hop!

Another Sullivan's ruler that I have in my repertoire is the 16-1/2" square. I love this one ~ I got it especially for trimming and squaring my Baltimore Album Blocks :)

16-1/2" is a nice size for a large variety of blocks (and a surprisingly hard ruler size to find). Trimming and squaring is so easy with the clear lines on this ruler, and the non-skid frosted back helps to keep it from shifting.

All trimmed and squared and ready to be pieced in to my future Baltimore Album quilt...someday ~ Yes, I'm optimistic :)

Now Hop on over to the featured blogs for Day 3: Liz & Beth Hawkins, and Sarah Fielke and leave a comment to be included in their give aways! And of course, our hostess Pat Sloan's Blog :)
Here is the schedule of all the blogs ~ don't forget to stop back again for my day tomorrow!!

Tuesday:

Pat Sloan http://blog.patsloan.com

Rachel Griffith http://psiquilt.com

Allison Harris http://www.cluckclucksew.com

Wednesday:

Erin Russek http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time

Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com

Thursday:

Liz & Beth Hawkins http://dreamlaughcreate.blogspot.com

Sarah Fielke http://www.thelastpiece.net/

Friday:

Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog

...And Me http://springwaterdesigns.blogspot.com

Look for Sullivan's Cutting Edge Rulers at your local quilt shop, or you can find them in our Web Store (click View All to see all the sizes that we have in stock).

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Blog Hoppin Day 2!

2011-09-28T07:00:00.025-04:00

Welcome to Day 2 of the Cutting Edge Ruler Blog Hop! How about a little tip of the day:

I think the most versatile size of all the rulers in the Sullivans collection is the 6-1/2" x 24-1/2" ruler ~ especially if you'll be cutting yardage. But if you're traveling and want the ease of the shorter 6-1/2" x 12-1/2" ruler (or maybe you're a beginner and only have the one 12-1/2" long ruler), there is still a way to cut the full width of fabric yardage very easily.

1. Lay your fabric out in front of you with the selvages together, and away from you, and the fold towards you.

2. Then fold the fabric again (taking the fold up 1" shy of the selvages). Now your fabric is four layers thick. Make sure that both of the folds, and the selvages all line up with lines on your cutting mat to ensure that everything is straight.

3. Now you can lay your 12-1/2" long ruler across the width of fabric and cut! Trim a small amount (to the first line on the cutting mat) off of the left side to square everything up and give you a fresh edge to cut from ~ and you're ready to go!

Now Hop on over to the featured blogs for today: Erin of One Piece at a Time, and Victoria of Bumblebeans and leave a comment to be included in their give aways! And make sure you check out Pat Sloan's Blog as she just may have some hostess goodies there!
Here is the schedule of all the blogs ~ don't forget to stop back again tomorrow, and come back for my day on Friday!!

Tuesday:

Pat Sloan http://blog.patsloan.com

Rachel Griffith http://psiquilt.com

Allison Harris http://www.cluckclucksew.com

Wednesday:

Erin Russek http://erinrussek.typepad.com/one-piece-at-a-time

Victoria Findlay Wolfe http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com

Thursday:

Liz & Beth Hawkins http://dreamlaughcreate.blogspot.com

Sarah Fielke http://www.thelastpiece.net/

Friday:

Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog

...And Me http://springwaterdesigns.blogspot.com

Look for Sullivan's Cutting Edge Rulers at your local quilt shop, or you can find them in our Web Store (click View All to see all the sizes that we have in stock).

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Trying Out a New Ruler

2011-09-27T07:20:00.001-04:00

Day 1 is here for the Sullivan's Cutting Edge Ruler Blog Hop! Every day there will be two Bloggers who will share about their experiences with the rulers, some fun stuff about themselves, a recipe for you, and of course some free give aways!

Heather came over and spent a day in my sewing room, and wanted to try out these new rulers that she's been hearing so much about for herself. This one is now hers :)

As a beginning quilter, her favorite feature of the ruler was the non-skid frosting, even more than the diamond incrusted edge that sharpens your rotary blades as you cut ~ although that may be because I provide her with the rotary blades :) She did have to get used to the extra half inch on the edge of the ruler (this one is 6-1/2" x 12-1/2"), but once she adjusted to that, she really liked that better than her old 6" wide ruler.

These are the fabrics that Heather cut for her Quick Mystery Block of the Month Runner ~ she just couldn't resist jumping in! I'll show you her progress on the Block One later in the week.

Click on the above Button for more information and the free pattern for the Spring Water Designs Quick Mystery BOM Runner, and sew along with us!

Look for Sullivan's Cutting Edge Rulers at your local quilt shop, or you can find them in our Web Store (click View All to see all the sizes that we have in stock).

Hop on over to today's two Bloggers for the Sullivan's Cutting Edge Ruler Hop, and leave a comment to get in on the give aways!
Rachel Griffith http://psiquilt.com
Allison Harris http://cluckclucksew.com

And don't forget our Blog Hop Hostest with the Mostest, Pat Sloan who is always full of fun surprises!
http://blog.patsloan.com

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Have You Seen These Yet?

2011-09-26T06:00:00.043-04:00

Have you seen these rulers? This is the Sullivan's Cutting Edge ruler. I love these, for several reasons. They were developed by a quilter ~ Pat Sloan (waving at you Pat!!). I like the frosting on the back that helps both with reading the ruler, and is added protection against sliding when you are cutting. I really like how clear and easy to read they are with the black, white and red hash marks.

...And there's a bonus: this added diamond powder incrusted edge that helps to keep your rotary blade sharper longer ~ how cool is that! I liked these rulers so much when I first saw them at Quilt Market that I stock some of them in my web store (click view all, or scroll to page 2 & 3 of the Notions section to see all the rulers I have in stock).

Join us starting tomorrow for a fun blog hop where you can travel to 8 different bloggers, learn some tips, share some recipes, have a few laughs, and maybe win yourself a ruler! See you tomorrow!!!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Trying a New Craft ~ Just For Fun :)

2011-09-24T20:48:00.001-04:00

When the kiddos come to Grandma's and Grandpa's for a visit, it's never a dull moment. It's like one big party all day long. But when Little Sister goes down for a nap, it's time for the older girls to play.

On this last visit Elsie, Mommy, Aunt Heather & Grandma all went out and tried our hands at painting pottery one afternoon. We had never done that before, and we had a great time ~ Lisa snapped this picture of Elsie & I looking like we're taking our pottery very seriously...but there really was much laughing and chatting going on!

After leaving our pieces to be fired, we went back about a week later to pick them up. Lisa made the large mug and etched words into it, Elsie and I made pumpkins, and Heather made the three-toned blue creamer. We had a lot of fun, and were very happy with our first time ceramic projects.

Here is Elsie handling hers with much care after getting it back from firing ~ because, "It's very breakable" (and she knows from personal experience how hard Grandma's porcelain tiled kitchen floor is).

Definitely a craft that we'll enjoy again on another visit :)

I hope to get into the sewing room tomorrow and work on another block from the Quick Mystery BOM Runner. Make sure you get your Block One done soon, the October Block will be out before you know it!

And check back on Monday, for an announcement of a fun blog hop I'll be participating in next week. There'll be lots of fun, probably some silliness, and I'm sure there will be give aways!!!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Sneak Peek and a Feature :)

2011-09-22T20:25:00.002-04:00

I'm binding tonight. Curled up in my recliner...finally...after a long crazy day. I made sure that earlier in my busy day, I took the time to get the binding sewn around this quilt, and now I'm savoring every comfy moment of needle and thread in my hand as I turn the binding to the back. (This is a tiny sneak peek of my next one being sent out for publication, so this is all I can get away with showing right now.) It was nice to get to work with some really traditional fabrics this time ~ and I'll have them on the bolt in my web store any day now! The quilting on it was done by my good friend, Mary Nielsen of Keep Me In Quilts :)

In the "Other Exciting News" category, I am featured in the Blogger Spotlight at AccuQuilt this week! You can subscribe to AccuQuilt's emails by clicking on the link over on the right sidebar of my blog (the one for the 22 free patterns) to get all of these Guest Blogger posts each week. My post was sent out today, so in case you missed it you can click Here to go read my Blogger Spotlight Post on the Winding Ways block. It was so Awesome when I was asked to write a post that I of course said Yes! right away...but then I had to figure out what I was going to say that someone might care about. I've included some design ideas in the post using the Winding Ways block...Let me know which ones you like best :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Some Friday Progress ~ Kind of a Finish...

2011-09-16T21:52:00.001-04:00

I don't have a quilt top for my Friday Finish, but I finished some Red/Green blocks for a swap that I'm participating in with the Quiltsy Team on Etsy. Getting them completed and mailed out was kind of a finish, so I'll count it!

I had to make Twelve 8" blocks (any block of my choice) using predominantly Red & Green fabrics.

I challenged myself to use all fabrics that I already had in my scrap drawers, so all twelve blocks are not the same fabrics, I made two of six different combinations.

...And I was able to cut all of the blocks using my AccuQuilt Go! Cutter. I used the Value Die & the 2-1/2" strip cutter. That was a real time saver bonus!

Speaking of AccuQuilt, I'm told my Blogger Spotlight feature on the Winding Ways block will be showing up next week ~ probably around Thursday-ish.

So make sure you are signed up to get emails from AccuQuilt so that you don't miss it! You can subscribe to their email list by clicking the above button, and you'll also get 22 free patterns that you can download at the same time if you want!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn