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At the March guild meeting we announced a new swap . A swap like no other swap. It’s all or nothing ya’ll. It’s risky, I know…and typically, I’m not lucky.
I’m participating in the CLMQG block lottery.
- The block lottery has rules and rules must be followed!
- The block must be a 12-1/2″ unfinished.
- It needs to be a star. Not just any star.
- A polka dot star with a low volume background.
Any polka dot. Any low volume.
If I make 2 star blocks, I get two chances to win. If I make three blocks, I get three chances. And I bet, even if I made 10, I still probably wouldn’t win…like I said…not lucky. But I’m doing it anyway, because it’s fun!
My first block pattern was a freebie from Craftsy and I had enough different Kaffe dots to make it scrappy. Scrappy dots. One low volume print.
My second block was a really good tutorial from LaineyBugDesigns. This time I used a variety of orange dots for the star and mixed up all of my fun, low volume prints. I fussy cut the little “good works” birdie. Cute, huh? Orange dots. Scrappy low volume.
If you’re a member and need some quilty star inspiration to join in on the fun, check out my Pinterest board! I’ve collected a few for the girlies in the group.
I’m going to take my chances…are you?
The March guild meeting was all a Buzz with excitement! Our first UFO prize was this awesome fat quarter stack of chevrons sponsored by Riley Blake. I would’ve died to win this and it looked so cute on my fabric shelf but sadly I had to part with it. It went to a good home and not to worry…there’s plenty more goodies to be had at our next UFO drawing this June. If you’re putting off finishing up one of those forgotten projects, you have three months to get your rear in gear…get it done!
Are you ready to Bee wowed by the cuteness factor of our March door prize? I used an orphaned dresden block, Ring a Ring a Roses Candlemat dresden, from one of my demos and whipped up this little bit-o-honey.
I’m kinda obsessed with small projects lately.
Just a few matching fabric scraps, trim and some embroidery.
TBT..I didn’t wanna part with this either:) But that’s what it’s all about right? Whether I’m making projects, participating in swaps or giveaways, I always strive for my best work. After all, it’s a reflection of myself in each project. My goal is to make something I don’t want to give away. Because if I love it, so will someone else!
Bee your best. Bee-lieve in yourself. Bee Creative!
Disclaimer: feelin’ sassy
Project: CLMQG March swap using decorative sewing stitches.
I struggle with this name..mug rug. Why does my mug need a rug and why for heavens sake would I spend all day making something this adorable to potentially spill coffee on it!?!
It’s not something your beverage should have the pleasure of resting its little ass on top of.
The idea of your buttery bits of morning toast falling all over this cuteness makes me shudder.
I even thought about adding washing instructions to the back, with just a simple “don’t”…because why would it ever get dirty!
Let’s call it “My Sweet Ride”.
Lorrie’s
Let’s call it quilt art.
Lorrie’s backing
Let’s call it a personality project because I see us in each one of them.
Paige’s
Let’s call it a mini reflection of our style…all in a teeny size of approximately 7″x 9″.
Wendy’s
But don’t call it a mug rug!
I have to say I’m pretty excited for our upcoming March Guild meeting! March will be our first quarterly drawing for our UFO prizes. Now while I cannot, and will not, tell you what the prize will be until after our meeting, I am certain our members will be pleased! Our sponsors for the guild this year have been extremely generous and we are so thankful for their gracious donations.
Not only is the Guild hosting a UFO Challenge, we have lots of other ideas, projects & guest speakers planned this year!
Keeping the Guild running smoothly is a team effort. Not just by the executive board, but also the members. So one of the fun things we do monthly is thank our members for all the wonderful things they do by passing out tickets.
For example, volunteering for a demo, bringing a friend or a treat, helping to clean up, and wearing a name tag will earn you tickets! Each ticket increases one Lucky member the chance to win a door prize.
The door prizes are typically handmade items from either myself or Shelley. January’s prize was a Henrietta Turtle kit with a handmade crochet flower.
February was the coffee cozy..
And March?… It’ll have to bee a secret for now! But I’ll be showing all the fun door prizes for the year so stay tuned each month.
We have a guest speaker in March. Lynn from A Different Box Of Crayons is coming! Lynn continues to inspire us with her use of mixed media into her designs. She incorporates alternative fabrics into her work such as silk, wool, embroidery, and decors. Her newest BOM is Cathedral Doves. Is that a beauty, or what?
She recently moved her studio to 121 West Wesley in Wheaton, IL . If you happen to be down there, check it out. I’m going to make a special trip to Wheaton just to see it. How can you resist!? The studio has regular, but not typical hours. Thursday & Friday 10 – 4, & ODD NUMBERED Saturdays are 10 – 2 during the winter. Head over to her FB page, give her a ‘like’ to check for studio updates and see what she’s up too.
March is also our first swap for the year…the Mug Rug Swap. We’ve posted a couple of sneak peaks on the guild FB page. If you’re already a guild member, I hope you’re planning on participating. The ones I’ve seen so far that are finished, are swaptastic! Lol, yes, I said that.
Remember, that if you’re in the ChicagoLand area and would like to join us for a meeting and give it a test run, we’d love to meet you! We are a welcoming, friendly group and we encourage you to come have some fun too. The CLMQG typically meets the 2nd Sunday of every month at the Crystal Lake Mortgage Center on Rt. 14 but check the CLMQG blog before attending for any updates. Guests fees are $5. I hope we see you there!
Who knows? Maybe you’ll get Lucky!
…or tea…or coffee. Whatever your favorite winter drink is, I’m sure it could use a little ‘glamming up’.
Or how about making a little something for your Sweetie Sewistas? 💕💕
If you’d like to surprise someone this Valentines, all it takes is the pattern, 2 pieces of scraps, a piece of batting, a button, and an elastic tie. You can find the colored elastic (hair)ties at Target. They’re the tiny, skinny ones in the girls section where the barrettes are found.
Follow the directions on the ‘Handmade Holidays‘ blog post found here. I eliminated the patchwork and embroidery this time. I simplified.
Finish up with your handmade fabric labels for a personal touch. Grab a gift card from Starbucks and toss some candy hearts inside your disposable cup! Yes. Starbucks will give you a free, unused cup if you ask sweetly!
I made these cozys for the CLMQG board members and one lucky girlie from the guild meeting gets to walk away with the one filled with goodies as a door prize for February. It’s not only filled with sweets, I added embellishments too, like cute buttons and sweet crocheted hearts(thanks mom)! Personalize your cup to suit your Valentine! ❤️
LollyGagging that is…-verb 1.Procrastination in its fullest. 2.Purposely finding other things to do other than what you should be doing.
The CLMQG is having a UFO contest from January-October. The idea is for members to register their forgotten loves for $2/project…unlimited. All the money collected goes towards prizes. Once a project is completed, you get a stamp of approval and your registered quilt/sewing item goes into a quarterly drawing with a chance for a grand prize in October!
I’m going to register 5….and 3 of these are doozies. They’re going to be time intensive. Lots of handwork/applique. I’ll need to be disciplined in scheduling time for them, which sometimes can be a problem. I already sew for SewMod and there’s only ‘sew’ much time in the day!
Dare I estimate how much time I’ll need for each completion?
Susan’s Dresden Garden. (8weeks) A CrabApple Hill embroidered bluework quilt. I’ve had all the fabrics and finished over half of my embroidery work so far. I’ve even made some of the pieced Dresdens. It takes a lot of commitment to stitch the same Dresden, with the same color floss 12 times y’all. What can I say..even though it’s going to be positively beautiful when completed, it’s boring the hell outta me!!
Batik Spools from the book by Edyta Sitar Friendship Strips And Scraps (2weeks)
I started this quilt about 3 years ago with Shelley right before my move and didn’t find the time or the actual project until about a month ago. I’d really like to finish this one up. I just need to work on applying the applique to the borders, then it’s off to the quilter.
SewMod Halloween Row Quilt (2weeks)
My row quilt has been on and off of my design board so many times I’ve lost count. It was up there as recently as two weeks ago. I want it to be spooktackular and I think it’s paralyzing me creatively. I have a few ideas I’m playing around with. It’s just a matter of conjuring the right spell.
The last two are basically just about crossing something off my list and freeing that space up in my closet and my brain.
Batik Tuffet (1week)
The foundation pieced tuffet is almost completed. I have one more section and I’d like to also write an accompanying blog post with tips and tricks to making and finishing a tuffet. After the top is completed, it’s just a matter of assembly.
This one pictured is Paige’s Batik Tuffet…
And lastly, 2 Bindings (1week)
Just waiting for these to come back from the quilter. I’m considering these 2 as one finish.
My time estimates are assuming I’m not wasting time lollygagging around on Pinterest or whatever Netflix series I might be binging on that week. Also..3 out of the 5 projects requires them being sent to the quilter and that alone can take 4-6 weeks.
What I wouldn’t give for just 2 extra hours in a day…Who am I kidding? I’d probably just end up doing more lollygagging…
This week, Susan and I made cupcakes. Pumpkin Spice Latte cupcakes. These turned out as beautiful as they tasted with homemade whipped cream & caramel, displayed with a fall theme. You want one, don’t you? We’ve made a plan to bake at least once a month. My diet’s gone to hell in a hand basket cause it’s all downhill from here with the holidays coming up.
After my visit to northern Minnesota, I wanted to work on a little Scandinavian Christmas project, especially after seeing that cute Scandinavian cottage on my trip!
I signed up for an October holiday block swap for the CLMQG guild. We need (3) 12-1/2″ blocks for the upcoming holidays. With halloween at my heels, I decided to focus on Christmas. I had started a bom from Shabby Fabrics a while ago, which I never finished. I didn’t even make it to block two. And guess what?… It’s a little Scandinavian cottage! When I rediscovered this I knew it was going to perfect…perfectly adorable!
I found this demo from Northern Deb Quilts, headed to Joann’s to get my Tri-Rec ruler, and made 2 tree blocks to accompany the cottage. The fabrics used for the blocks was Flora by Laura & Jessie Jung from my personal stash.
I hope my swap partner loves it! Just don’t look too closely at my work…I was also working on a bottle of wine at the time.
I also prepped for the clutch demo on Sunday’s meeting by writing a tutorial for the blog so that y’all can follow along too and I finished up Paige’s clutch.
Don’t you just love it? Of course I’ll make anything I can attach one of moms crochet flowers to:)
The surprise is the purple polka dot I used for the lining and the brooch is something special from Paige’s collection.
Look for that tutorial coming next week and pics from the demo. If you’d like to order the clutch frames, they can be found at UpStyle. A seriously easy clutch that can be used for a classy holiday get together or a night out with the girls. You can design your clutch with the fabrics you choose! I think my next one will be more whimsy. Maybe some novelty prints from Michael Miller.
And today, I’m hanging at Starbucks. Getting computer work wrapped up for the week while I enjoy my coffee.
So tell me girls… How did you spend the week? Did you make progress on a quilt? Work on any Halloween costumes for the little Zombies? Or maybe you could share your favorite cupcake recipe!
For the October CLMQG meeting, Wendy and I will be doing a demo on how to make this super cute and easy clutch.
Now I know that y’all have someone that would really enjoy recieving something this pretty…for christmas maybe, bridesmaids gifts, or a birthday coming up?
If you’re in the Chicagoland area, join us on October 12th, from 11-4 for the Crystal Lake Modern Quilt Guild meeting where several demos will be taking place. We meet at the Home State Mortgage center on route 14. Guests are certainly welcome!
Shelley has posted a supply list on the CLMQG blog and on Facebook. We must have a confirmed number of attendees who would like to participate in the clutch demo by October 1st. An order will be placed for the frame handles in advance and to ensure you receive one, please RSVP on the MQG site or you can leave a comment here on this blog posting. The cost is only $5 for the frame which can be paid at the time of the class.
Here are the other supplies needed:
The deadline for ordering a handle set is
Wednesday October 1
Supply List:
ONE FQ Non-directional Decorative fabric for outside of clutch. (Cotton may be used)
ONE FQ Cotton fabric for lining.
1/2 yard Heavy weight fusible stabilizer Pellon 808
1/2 yard Fusible fleece Pellon TP971F
Please prep before demo:
Pre-cut your outer clutch fabric and lining to 13″ x 13-1/2″
Pre-cut your fusible stabilizer to 12-7/8 x 13-3/8″. (Your stabilizer should be 1/8″ smaller than your outer clutch fabric)
Pre-cut your fusible fleece to a 13″ x 10″ piece.
Basic supplies:
Sewing machine and standard foot. We will not be sewing 1/4″ seams.
Rotary cutter
Ruler
Coordinating thread
SewMod will bring additional supplies including iron, transparent tape, mat, glue and your pre-ordered clutch frame.
Don’t forget to bring any embellishments that you might want to ‘bling up‘ your clutch with!
We will be making a clutch that is not pieced. Piecing the clutch results in too many seams to work around. So please, for your first one, bring the supplies stated and prepped before class.
It’s so simple, you will be leaving with a finished gift! Thanks so much and we look forward to showing you something new!
I worked on a birthday present for my nephew. Another Minecraft Creeper…sSSSSsss BOOM! This time I used a variety of greens instead of solids. I like it. It looks more like grass:)
I drooled over a Janome Hello Kitty machine..in turquoise:)
I worked. I did some blogging, cut some fabrics and prepped for a guild meeting. My embroidery demo is all ready to go. Can’t wait to see everyone again. Wow the months are just flying by! I’m starting to feel a bit pinched for time with the holidays creeping up on me…sSSSSsss BOOM!
There are a few things I’d like to check off my list before the end of the year… 2 t-shirt quilts and our CLMQG BOM, not including other crafty things that I want to do too! So I need to get busy…
We had a sewin/sleepover on Saturday and we made some good progress on the BOM.
I only have 1 block left to complete and my printer is unable to print the template…figures…
Paige is working on the layout and, hopefully soon, I’ll be able to get it ready for quilting.
Then, us girls went out to celebrate and unwind at the Blues Bar for dinner. The Bluesmobile is actually in the bar y’all! Very cool place with some tasty BBQ.
So tell me, …what projects would you like to complete before the holidays roll in? Christmas will sneak up on us before we know it! sSSSSsss BOOM!
We will be at the Crystal Lake Modern Quilt Guild this Sunday, September 14th. If you’re in the area come see us! I will be giving a demo on a few hand embroidery techniques and I will also be vending so everyone locally can take advantage of all the great sale prices we have going on.
I will be bringing all of the half yards, which are just $3/each.
Samples of all the new arrivals and kits are coming along too!
And we have a little shop game for everyone to participate in and win some fat quarters.
If you are coming and see something on the shop site, like extra yardage, just convo me and I’ll be happy to bring it with me. No one will blame you…I mean who can resist yardage at just $6/yard and new arrival fabrics at $7.20!
So bring a friend and make a list and expect to have a fun time on Sunday! Meeting is from 1-4 p.m. A few of the member techniques include..embroidery, half square triangles, machine binding.
Guests are also welcome for a nominal charge..$5.
We hope to see you there!
SewMod