Changing Blogs....

Today I am leaving ZanyQuilter and moving to my new blog, LogCabinQuiltery.blogspot.com

I didn't want to lose all of my old content, but I did need the change...my semi-regular postings will continue at the new blog site starting today.  Tune in...hopefully there will be some great stuff coming soon!!

Happy Quilting!

Steph Don't Read....Awesome Stuff!!!

**STEPH, look away....Don't peek...

I'm putting in a picture of some Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabric that I pulled for my next pattern.  Though I've made it two other times, I still think I want a different cover quilt...And this pic takes up space so Steph can LOOK AWAY and not have the surprise spoiled...

I mentioned that I've been working on some stuff for a friend's baby shower.  She went with the Fawn fabric collection from Hawthorne Threads.  Steph is into modern quilts so I made her a triangle baby quilt--and had enough leftover fabric for an adorable pillow.  But I'm confessing that I stole the idea for the pillow from Hawthorne Threads and tried to copy it exactly.... This is my version...

Having never sewed with pom pom balls, it made for an interesting morning.  And I've only made one other pillow before (for Maria), so it's a wonder it turned out at all.  LOL....But I love it!

I quilted the quilt with a new panto called Blooming Love by Irene Steele from Quilts Complete.  I love how the word "love" is quilted right into the quilt top.  Steph will adore it.... ;-)

Here is an up close shot...

And the "love".... so sweet!

Anyhow, that is all for now.  We are in the middle of renovating my son's bathroom so everything is messsy and out of whack.  But it should be done soon--no worries.  And remember, the blog will move to LogCabinQuiltery.blogspot.com on August 1st!!  Tune in for more quilty stuff!

Happy Quilting!

New Pattern...and a blog change....

Hello there!  I've been working on this pattern for months now.  Due to distractions, and quilter's ADD, I haven't been able to write it....I have two samples made and quilted, but the pattern was just dragging.  Here is a little preview pic...

This one was made using the Ellis and Higgs "Bloom and Bliss" fabric line.  It is just adorable.

But now I am remaking it yet again in Soul Blossoms by Amy Butler.  We'll see what kind of look I get with a different fabric...There is more to come in this story....

Next order of business:  Switching blogs...

I've been thinking about this change for years, and now is the time to do it.  You see, I've been ZanyQuilter since 2004--prior to my nasty split from my unworthy ex.  Unfortunately, every time I see the name I want to vomit.  I don't want to be associated with it at all, honestly, and it has been gnawing at me for 12 years.

My quilting/pattern writing business is done through Log Cabin Quiltery--a much more appealing name to me.  I've already got the blog going and will split from this one August 1, 2016.  All of the material for this blog will remain, but new content will start to show up in LogCabinQuiltery.blogspot.com  I hope that if you like what I post, you will follow me there... Since I only have one more year left in teaching, I will have a lot more time in retirement to "work" on quilting related endeavors.  When I do the official switch, I will post a link to the new blog and possibly set up a giveaway (or something fun) to encourage you to make the change.

That's it for today.  Happy Quilting!

Nerd Project...

Honestly, I'm going to finish something someday...maybe.  The first two weeks of June I was trapped upstairs in my sewing room while the downstairs floors were removed/replaced. I say trapped because my family was up there with me too....much family time.  And they all got a good look at my "stash" and I think Ryan realized that his college fund might be a little light due to my stash being a little heavy...LOL.

Somehow, during that time, I came across the brilliant idea to make a Nevada mini quilt.  I had plenty of time to cut out little states of Nevada.  You see, I was born here in Las Vegas and have lived her for 46 years--there aren't many natives here (Denise is an exception!!).  And it's not that I'm particularly love in with the desert, dry heat, low water supply, tourists, gaming, etc...so why would I make this quilt??  Who knows??  It seemed like a brilliantly innovative idea at the time... but if my state were a more complicated shape, this wouldn't even be a possibility.  ;-)

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I have 50 rainbow states of Nevada.  Hmmm....I can't wait to see where this goes.... Happy Quilting!

EPP Update....

In my free time I've been doing some EPP with my Summerfest fabric.  I have 37 jewel flower hexagon blocks out of the 63 that I need.  Not bad for a month's worth of work....

Here they are on the floor...the new floor... ;-)

*** Spoiler Alert for Steph ****  Stop reading, Steph, your baby shower quilt is shown below....

OK...so a friend from elementary school is having her first baby in September and she is in love with the Fawn fabric line from Hawthorne Threads.  I ordered the FQ collection in the petal colorway--it is  a custom printed to order. Very strange to get the fabric in large sheet form.  Check it out...the FQs and some yardage for binding and backing.  Consider ignoring the random laundry in the background.... Ryan is there for perspective.

This is the fawn in the main print...very girly and pretty!

*****   Once again, Steph, DON'T LOOK......*****

I'm doing a modern triangle pattern.  Some of the triangles are pieced, some whole, some coordinating Bella solids.  We'll see, but it looks good so far!!  Anyhow, this is how my summer is going.  I hope you are having a restful summer as well...Happy Quilting!

Jewel Flower EPP project...

May was a busy month around here...ending school, renovating our floors, etc.  I hardly had any time to sew on my machine, so I started another EPP project.  This time I'm using the jewel piece, with a hexagon center, and diamonds around the edge of the hexagon blocks.  The line of fabric is called Summerfest--with a few scraps from my own stash thrown in for more variety.

Here are some finished hexagon blocks on my new floor!!  We ripped out 12" square, beige ceramic tile and put in 8" x 36" porcelain tile that looks like wood plank.  It is super awesome!  I can't tell you how much we love it.

And an up-close shot...

I really, really love EPP...more than any other sewing I've ever done.  It is so relaxing and calming.  Most people probably think that the idea of making a quilt by hand would be daunting--but I just don't think about how long it will take.  It is more of a process for me... 

Anyhow, I'll do some sewing on my Juki now that I can set up my table downstairs again...yeah!  I'm definitely going to get back on the vintage sheet project that I cut out in May.  Happy quilting!!

Vintage Sheet pull...

These are the vintage sheet winners for my soon to be started Maybellene quilt.  The pattern looks like this...

But I'm going to make a smaller, wall-size quilt.  I needed (18) 10" x 10" layer cake squares and (36) 5" x 5" charm squares.  I recently (and boldly) began cutting up my vintage sheets.  Here are the ones I pulled for the quilt...  I LOVE them!  I don't usually show fabrics like this, but vintage sheet lovers will appreciate the eye-candy, right??

I still have a giant pile leftover... this is ridiculous!  And those of you who collect vintage sheets know how difficult purple ones are to find.  The 70's must not have appreciated purple as much as I do!!

The remains... I'm pretty sure that I see a few more vintage sheet quilts in my future.  ;-)  My family won't use them (they have issues with "used" sheets, so maybe the quilts will end up in my Etsy shop. or hanging on the wall.  Who knows??

Junior is already shocked that I'm planning to take over his mancave when he leaves for college in two years and turn it into a giant longarm room.  He thought I was joking until I fully described the future of what he thought was "his stuff" in "his" room.  Some chalk painted furniture, new flooring and wall paint, my longarm, a seating area, large cutting table, etc....  Wow, I have lots of plans!!  If he wants to go away, do I need to keep his stuff in there as a shrine??  Nope....OK...off to do some school work.  Happy Quilting!

Lots of Vintage Sheet precuts....

If by "precuts" I mean that I cut them myself...they didn't come that way!!  LOL... I took about 50 different vintage sheets and cut them into assorted 10" layer cake squares and 5" charm squares.  This pile of fun is over 8" tall with them. I figure, using some math, that it must be 700+ layer cake and charm squares.  OMG...and this didn't even dent the stash of vintage sheets.

I may end up selling some sets in my Etsy shop.... I have really nice vintage sheets.  I mean r.e.a.l.l.y. nice sheets.  Bright, fun, etc...  I think I may make my Maybellene pattern in some of these this month.  Each block requires 1/2 of a layer cake square and 1 charm square.  We'll see....

...because I got side-tracked on another English Paper Piecing project.  Notice the capital letters--it's because EPP is that cool.  Yep, really old, old school is cool--don't doubt it's addicting properties.  ;-)

So on that note, I recently placed an order with PaperPieces.com for some jewel shapes and some enlongated hexagons (with the acrylic templates to match).  I know that I could cut these out myself, but life if too short for me to do extra cutting.  Who needs the stress??  My son just got his driver's permit and he is going to get my Jeep so letting him drive me around like Miss Daisy is enough anxiety for me each day!!

I'm going to do a jewel star sort of hexagon quilt from the new fabric line Summerfest by April Rosenthal.  Let me show you the fabrics...they are lovely!!

I'm sure you could tell that the soft rainbow-y goodness was a quick draw for me. I bought the charm packs online a few months ago from someone who picked them up at Sample Spree at market (and wanted to part with them??  Foolish...).  Then I ordered the jelly roll from my favorite online shop, Green Fairy Quilts (free shipping and low prices).  Now I really need the FQ stack...maybe for Mother's Day???  Here is what I've started so far...

I'm not cutting from charm squares (I'm using 2.5" strips), but I thought a gratuitous shot of them was necessary.  I'm supplementing with other fabrics from my stash that are in the same color range.  If I can do one hexagon block a day I might have a quilt by the end of summer!

Anyhow, that is what's up around here.  One month until school is over!!  21 school days, to be exact.  The teachers are way more excited to be out than the students ever will be.  I've been trapped in high school for over 30 years now!!  Let me out!!  Also, I think I only have about 402 days left until retirement (one more school year).  Awesome!

Happy Quilting!

Vintage Sheets again....

I decided that spring deserved to be honored with a nice vintage sheet quilt.  A few years ago I acquired lots and lots of vintage sheets--but they've just been sitting upstairs waiting for some attention.  It seems I get easily distracted by precuts....and vintage sheets are much more work to cut up because of their size.

So today I'm cutting them into more manageable pieces.  I'm using the grid created by the floor tiles to cut off strips.  As you can see, I'm not so accurate...but who cares, right??

Here is a 50 pound pile awaiting more sub-cutting....this will take me a week!

Honestly, I love the look of the vintage sheets, but family doesn't dig it.  The "ick" factor...but what do they know??  I've been cutting and my pile of 10" layer cake squares and 5" charm squares is growing.  Maybe I'll make a few rainbow packs to sell on Etsy...???

Anyhow, I'll let you know how it progresses!  Only 28 more days of school left this year!
Happy Quilting....

EPP Rainbow Star Quilt....

I hand pieced this quilt top using EPP last year during the winter and never got around to quilting it.  But now I need a new quilt for my classroom so I busted it out and did some light custom quilting.  The first two pics show the accurate colors, but the next two show the quilting....

A little more shadow and the quilting pops out....The money shot!

I really like how it turned out.  And the quilting went pretty quickly....but I did do each of the stars separately--that was a pain!!  The loops in the white hexagons were easy...I started at the left side of the quilt and just went across the tops of a row, then circled back and did the bottoms once I hit the right side.  Easy peasy!!

I'm thinking about longarm quilting again for customers in my retirement....maybe.  ;-)  I've recently discovered SiriusXM radio, specifically the Bridge channel, and time passes rather enjoyably upstairs now.  I think The Bridge and I are soulmates....honestly, best.music.ever. if you are into late 60's to early 80's folk rock, mellow songs, etc.  Rebecca got it for her car but we can listen online as well or via an app for the phone.  I'm also considering listening to books on tape....that might make the time pass quickly.

Anyhow, I'm working on a new pattern.  The second run-through is being made now (can't show pics of the first yet, but it is great!).  And I ordered some awesome Alison Glass fabric, Sun Print 2016, for what I hope will be the cover quilt!!  Yeah....

Anyhow, more updates soon!!  Happy Quilting!

Alabama Fail....LOL....

Though I planned out the pattern for my Sweet Home Alabama quilt with vivid diagonals in mind, my first run through of the quilt was unsuccessful.  I used some pre-cut red, pink and aqua fabrics for the background strips and white/black squares for the cornerstones.  The problem is that the cornerstones didn't "pop" to create the diagonal effect.  The quilt is cute, but not "right"....

And an up-close money shot of the quilting...the panto is called Rhododendron.  I love it!!  But can you see the diagonals with the white fabric???  Nope....neither can I!!

And then I did the binding in a black and white stripe as a nod to Rita at Red Pepper Quilts.  The effect was awesome and made me love this epic fail quilt even more!  LOL.... The background is a cute Valentine sale fabric I found online--that is what tipped me toward the stripe binding.

And a finished shot in the backyard.  Definitely a nice quilt, but without the diagonals being done in a contrasting fabric, the whole Alabama block thing goes out the window.  I'll list it on Etsy and hopefully it will make it's way to a home someday....

Anyhow, I'm enjoying Spring Break right now.  We worked in yard and everything is blooming....we have the smell of Mock Orange permeating the yard and it is wonderful.  Ryan is composing music for an upcoming Great Gatsby party, Rebecca is golfing and I'm sewing.  It is just perfect....

Happy Quilting!

Sweet Home Alabama Quilt Pattern

I'm excited to show you my latest quilt pattern.  It is based on a block I saw on Pinterest--an Alabama block from back in the day.

My pattern includes the last round of pieces as sashing--this ensures that the quilt has uninterrupted diagonal lines, instead of a four-patch of cornerstones between the blocks.  Well, it makes sense to me....LOL....

The quilt uses jelly roll strips, though instructions are given for cutting from leftover scrap pieces.  Here is the back of the quilt pattern....

The alternate sizes vary from baby to twin size.  This quilt is perfect for beginners as it has no tricky piecing....just straight lines all the way!!  I definitely advise using a strongly contrasting color for the cornerstones.  In another post I'll show you what happens if you don't....LOL.  I learned the hard way!!

I quilted it using a new panto called Shasta.  I love the swirling daisies and whimsical leaves.  It is a lovely quilt and was quite easy to make.  The pattern is available for PDF download on Etsy here, or Craftsy here.

I've got another quilt in the works so keep checking back in with me...soon it will be Spring Break, then summer break then one more year until retirement!!  Yeah....

Happy Quilting!

Denise's quilt....

My "work wife", Denise, made a quilt for a friend's wedding and she wanted it quilted with the panto Dotti Dotti....the loops are 2" in diameter.  The pattern is from Moda Bake Shop--Frame of Mind quilt, jelly roll friendly.  Check it out...

Up close of the panto....

I think I'm going to start back quilting for customers.  Just panto work...no custom.  I just don't need the stress.  I've been updating my LogCabinQuiltery.com website to have a Longarm Quilting page with examples of my quilting.  You know, even though I've blogged and worked under the ZanyQuilter name for over 10 years, I just hate it.  But I don't want to give up all the work I've done on this blog to switch over to a new blog, even though I already claimed the LogCabinQuiltery.blogspot.com blog.  Oh well....change is hard, right??

I'm working on finishing writing a new pattern and making samples of another one...life is busy!!  But I'm loving it....Happy Quilting to you all!!

Tessa Bag is finished...

I can only say that I'm in love with this Tessa Bag and pattern.  It was so easy...and I'm not a person who makes things other than quilts.  Check out the finished bag...

I added a pocket on the inside for my phone, and I may add magnetic snap closures (I've never used them before but how hard could it be, right??).  It is absolutely adorable.  I'm also going to make one that is a bit longer to carry papers, etc.  I definitely think this one is a hit!!!

I'm working on a new pattern, and finishing one from the holidays, so I should have some more pics to show in the future.  I could even take a pic for the cover today, maybe....It is a lovely day here in Las Vegas.  Maybe upper 60's??

This pattern involves some pinwheels and precuts--so I cut my own precuts from reds.  I have a huge crate of reds and I've always wanted to do a red and khaki quilt.  We'll see how it goes...

Anyhow, Happy Quilting!!

My "trunk show" at Quiltique...

My local quilt shop, Quiltique, asked me to do a sort of "trunk show" and discussion about quilting, designing quilt patterns, and general quilt related stuff.  They put out 19 of my quilts and I did a half hour lecture/lesson...it was great fun!!  Check out the pics...and yes, those are all my quilts!!

Yep.  That's me...Surrounded by the work of the last few years.  I never thought it would look so cool!!  It was a great experience and I met a nice bunch of ladies and had a great time.  I feel ready to keep on quilting...thanks Quiltique!!

Tessa bag in the works....

I bought the pattern for the Tessa bag by Green Letter Day off of Etsy over Winter break, but never got around to making it.  Isn't that the story of a quilter's life??  Lol...So I decided to man up and get to it using some of my Amy Butler Soul Blossom's fabric.  I just cut 5" x 5" charm squares in half to make 2.5" x 5" bricks.

The bummer was I chose to do 1/4" vertical line quilting with my Juki.  That took a while....

I'm continuing on with this project and will post pics when I'm finished.  It seems very easy and I'll likely make another, if all goes well in the end.

Happy quilting!