Gecko Quilts

Quilters Have A Giving Heart

2012-01-30T20:24:00.000-08:00

Quilters are indeed the best!

I am always grateful for the generous women/friends that I know and quilt for. It never fails whenever I least expect it one of them does something so sweet...here are a few photos to share.

A couple of months ago, Carol brought me a stack of batik 5" squares, a rotary blade and mini sq ruler. The batik squares were the same fabrics that were in a quilt I quilted for her earlier in the year. The colors remind me of a desert sunset :0) Thanks again Carol, I am going to use them in a hexagon wall quilt I am designing.

Then last week Rita suprised me with a Dunkin Donuts gift card!

This was one gift my whole family got to enjoy this past Sunday after church. Thank You Rita, the donuts were delicious! :0)

Then today Bobbi dropped off another large container of scraps! I say another because not long ago she gave me some. Sifting through the scraps was like finding buried treasure...spent a couple of hours tonight sorting them by color and size (the Bonnie Hunter way ;0) ). They are now tucked away with the rest of my scraps waiting for me to find some time to reorganize my stash so it is more user friendly for scrap quilts...I already have my 2" strips in plastic drawers by color, just need to get some more for the 2 1/2" strips and for the "strings". Still haven't figured out what to do about 2 1/2" sqs. Hope to have this all worked out by summer. Thank You Bobbi!

There's an old saying "a way to a man's heart is through his stomache" well the way to my heart is through sweets and fabric scraps!

Quilter's are truely the best! :0)

Carolina Christmas Part 2

2012-01-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

Part 2 was actually a 2 step process...

First I had to take the 1/2 sq triangle units from part 1 and add "wing" triangles to them to get these.

Then I had to add larger green triangles to them to get these cool 1/2 sq triangle units. That's it! It didn't take too long either, I have been sqeezing them in a little here and a little there. So hopefully things will keep progressing nicely and before long I will have a flimsy! Stay tuned for part 3 :0)

Scrappy Hearts

2012-01-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

I have had alot of questions asked about this quilt that is on my home page of my website. No it's not one of my quilts, it belongs to one of my customers and I quilted it last year for her. It is not a difficult quilt to make even though it looks like it. However there was alot of pieces to it. Each block was 14" sq finished and the whole quilt was constructed from 2 1/2" squares and 2 1/2" half sq triangles.

To make one of these Scrappy Heart blocks you would need 28 (2 1/2") neutrual squares, 17 (2 1/2") squares in a variety of bright fabrics (I used pinks, corals, reds, and purples) for mine, and 4 (1/2) square triangle units that are 1/2 neutrual and 1/2 bright fabrics.

Use your favorite method for constructing 1/2 sq triangle units...just make sure that they are 2 1/2" when squared up.

I like to use the easy angle ruler to do mine...there is no waste and they don't need to be trimmed to size.

Arrange the squares and half sq triangles like above, in 7 rows of 7.

Sew first together in rows...

Then sew the rows together to form a 14 1/2" unfinished block.

To make a quilt like the one on my website then you need to make more scrappy heart blocks and place them on-point (no need for sashing because the block provides its own) then for the scrappy setting triangles and corners just make a scrappy block with all brights and cut in half (for the sides) and into quarters (for the corners). Add borders if you want. The more blocks you make the larger the quilt will be.

I was going to post this closer to valentines day but decided that if I posted it earlier then it would give you something to work on for a Valentines Day project. :0)

Carolina Christmas Part 1

2012-01-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

For the past week I have been enjoying my last days of vacation, doing what? you might be asking...Well sewing of course! I have alot of my own quilt tops in need of quilting that I pieced over the past year but didn't feel like quilting them on vacation, because it wouldn't have felt like a vacation if you know what I mean, lol.

I last posted that I was starting a new quilt, it was a mystery quilt that Bonnie Hunter hosted 2years ago so if you want the pattern you will have to purchase her book "Scraps & Shirttails II" since the mystery is no longer available on her blog. Trust me when I say you will be very happy with this book, it has ALOT of great quilts in it that would help bust the stash of most quilters.

This is all I had to do for part 1. 120- 1/2sq triangles and 240- 2patch units (the amounts are more than the mystery called for originally because I am making it for my king size bed). Didn't take too long to sew but boy did I have alot of prep work to do before I was able to start. If you are familiar with Bonnie's way of storing her stash and how she uses it for her quilts than you will know that her quilts have alot of pieces to them, they are usualy large and she starts alot of her quilts with strips, bricks or squares. However since my stash is in a state of transforming into a more manageable working stash like Bonnie's I did not have what I needed or wanted to use in the 2 1/2" strips that this quilt uses. Also I wanted to use Benartex fabrics designed by Nancy Halvorsen. I just love her fabric lines and she is well known for her Christmas ones. So I had to prep my fabric before I was able to start in on this project (good thing I have an Accuquilt Go cutter). I am also staying true to the original fabric colors that Bonnie used in her own Carolina Christmas quilt, which was Reds, Greens, Neutrals and a Gold fabric. Stay tuned for Part 2.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! I can't believe that it's almost time for me to get back to work. Last Thursday I got all of the Christmas decor packed up and put away, and the house back to as normal as it's gonna get. So yesterday I finally had a few hours to spend in my quilt studio. I finished piecing a quilt top that will eventually go on my living room wall, but I am not going to show pics of it until I quilt it...your just gonna have to wait ;0) but while I was sitting there finishing up the quilt (which I started after Thanskgiving and before all of the baking started) my eyes started wondering over to all the bins of projects that I wanted to do (not quite UFO's since they weren't started yet. But projects that had all the fabric bought for that special quilt I wanted to make someday). Well since we just finished up the holidays and I am still feeling the spirit of Christmas I decided to start an old mystery quilt that Bonnie Hunter hosted 2 years ago called "Carolina Christmas" I was too late to do the mystery with everyone why it was being revealed but saw the finished quilt a year later that someone did and fell in love with it. So went to hunt down the pattern...couldn't find it cause Bonnie already pulled it from her site because it was going to be in her book "Scraps & Shirttails 2" so I bought the book and some fabric to make the quilt but packed it up and put off to the side to do at a later time...that time is now. Like I said I was finishing up one quilt and I kept glancing over to where this one was stored and it kept calling me to pull it out and start it. So what's a girl to do? I know I have ALOT of UFO's in various stages waiting to be finished...but all you quilters know that when something is pulling you in a direction of whether to buy a certain fabric or go with your gut instincts on a color combination you bet not ignore it or you will regret it later. So I decided to start yet another project :0) In the spirit of how the mystery unfolded is how I am planning on putting it together. So stay tuned and you will see it unfold over the next few weeks. I won't be givng out any measurements/yardages or instructions for this quilt out of respect to Bonnie, so if you want to make your own quilt you will have to buy her book for the details.

It will be broken into 6 parts (this includes the borders) which will get me to the finished quilt top. I am also adding a few more blocks so it will fit on my king size bed, the original pattern is for a 92" sq quilt.

The colors I am using are the same that Bonnie used in her quilt...Reds, Greens, Creams, and a Gold. I am also using Christmas fabrics as well.

Now back to cutting and starting step 1.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

2011-12-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is finally here, I was able to take this past month off from Gecko Quilts (which is one of the perks of owning your own business ;0) ). I have been enjoying my time with my DH and our kids getting the house ready for this weekend. It is bittersweet...all month long you prepare, anticipate, dream and then the time is finally here and well it will soon be over :0(

I am already thinking that this week all of the decorations will be taken down, packed away until next year...it's a little sad, Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I have wonderful memories of childhood Christmas' of past with my Grandma J (as host) then my Aunt Nancy taking over the reigns...my Polish roots are my traditions I hold dear to my heart this time of year. Especially since it has been 14 Christmas' since I was last with all of my side of the family on Christmas Eve (thats what happens when you move to the other side of the country...near the husband's family and we are the only one that hosts all of the holidays). I am here in AZ but my heart is back in the midwest this weekend...wishing for a white christmas. When I was little (before I had to drive in it) I always wished for snow on Christmas Eve, it was like the cherry on top of a perfect day.

So I am wishing all of you a blessed Merry Christmas that is filled with all the warmth and love that this time of year brings. May your memories of past Christmas' only be over shadowed by even more special ones yet to come.

I will be back to work on Jan. 9th 2012

Twas the Week Before Christmas...

2011-12-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

and all through the house, I've been scrubbing and cleaning this big house.

Wrapping presents, watching Christmas classics on TV and finishing up the cookie trays!

First you need lots of sprinkles, and doo-dads...

Then you need some gingerbread cookies, some sugar cookies.

Of course it is always more fun when there is little helpers...Sara,

Olivia,

and Rachel! My oldest daughter was working so she couldn't help and my 17 yr old son, well...he just likes to eat the cookies.

Here are some of the sugar cookies we decorated.

some more

and still more-

ummmm, in my defense...I had to taste the gingerbread boy cookie before I put them on the trays (I LOVE GINGERBREAD COOKIES!!)

I made enough cookies for 15 small trays and 4 large trays that were delivered to some of our friends and neighbors, DH's work, daughter's work and 2 schools.

a close up of one of the small trays.

and this is how they got wrapped up before delivery. Each year the amount of trays keep growing as the word spreads about these trays. I have gone through over 50 lbs of flour this month with pierogi and cookie making...I love the holidays!

Tis the Season!

2011-12-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Been making the most of my vacation time :0)

We put up 3 trees this years, the formal tree which is shown here, the kids family tree in the family room, and then MIL's tree in the territ (?) area upstairs.

We have hung the stockings with care (Jo is my MIL)Chris is the DH, then me and followed by the kids in birth order. Do you see the quilt hanging on the back wall...it's a temporary place keeper until I finish the one that will be hanging there...hopefully in January, don't want to go back to a bare wall.

We added some new decor to the outside this year...

here...

and here. I have big plans for future years of decorating this area but the budget doesn't allow for it to happen all at once...it will be a work in progress ;0)

Then I made this flannel Grinch quilt for DH (he loves the Grinch) and this is the only quilt he would allow me to make him, ever!

Then it was on to some holiday cooking/baking... I am Polish and I embrace all of the wonderful foods my Grandma J has passed onto me (BTW she is alive and well at 95 and still enjoys doing all of the baking/cooking around the holidays with my Aunt Nancy in the midwest).

First off you can't be a true Polish woman without having a well stock pantry.. the back wall is stocked full of all the baking ingredients I will use this holiday season, it will all be gone by the time I am finished ;0) Although this may seem impressive to some of you, it doesn't hold a candle to my Grandma J's pantry... she has a full wall in her basement with shelving floor to ceiling stocked full of stuff, hidden behind a curtain to keep the dust at bay.

These are waiting to be par boiled..aren't they cute? Like little pillows!

First up is pierogies...my 2 older daughters and I made 24 dozen, we made 12 doz of the traditional potato and cheese flavored, 6 dozen of the potato/cheese/jalapeno flavored, and 6 dozen of a Mexican bean flavored one. Yes I know the last 2 aren't traditional Polish but when you live in the southwest sometimes flavors tend to mix ;0)

And of course what type of Polish woman would I be if I didn't taste a few to make sure they were worthy to be put on our holiday table and given away to close friends...so had to fry a few up with butter/oil and onions...ummmm they were delish!

Rachel hiding from the camera cause she was with out make up and didn't have her hair done.

and of course Vicki taking a break. Pierogi day at my house is very labor intensive it is done one day a year and I need to make enough to serve for Christmas Eve and Easter as well as having extra to give away.It takes us the whole day from start to finish.

The following day we tackled Kolacky (polish cookie). I use my grandmas J's "Ice Cream Kolacky" recipe and yes it uses real ice cream in the ingredients. The pierogi recipe I use is a combination of my grandmas', my aunt Nancy's and some tweaking I did...so I guess you can say it is my own now.

I have alot more baking to do, some flannel PJ's to make for my twins and some Christmas shopping to finish and wrap and try to squeeze in some classic holiday movies here and there. Will try to pop in here and update on my progress...time to tackle the massive cookie baking for my cookie trays, this year I think we are up to 16-20 large cookie trays. Will post a pic of what that looks like right before we deliver them.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

It never fails that when it's the week of a holiday I get the urge to make something for that holiday. Maybe it has to do with the trying to make the place look more festive or just to get me in the mood or psyche for it. Anyways this past week was no different, so this is what I have been doing in between customers quilts.

This is a candy corn table runner I threw together in a day using 2 1/2" jelly strips and my accuquilt go 6 1/2" tumbler die.

Then a customer brought in a quilt that used a technique that starts out with a 4-patch block using 5" charm sqs. So of course I had to try it too, and since it being Halloween week I dug into my Halloween charm sq stash.

Decided to do 5 color combos. and do 2 blocks of each. Sew your 4 patch blocks together.

Then you will take your ruler and line up the 1 1/4" line along one of the center seams and cut.

On both sides of the seam in both directions.

until you get this.

Repeat for all blocks and seperate the pieces like above.Makes it easier to work with later.

Now piece the pieces back together, mixin up the different combos to get a scrappy look.

Now you can add sashing, cornerstones, borders or whatever to make it into what you want. I am making mine into a table runner. I still have to piece the other 5 blocks together, sash those 5 then sew them together with the above row and add borders.

Of course my 2 table runners won't actually be quilted or bound until next year, that's because I never get the urge to do a holiday theme project until last minute, lol! Oh well ya think I would learn to get started on them earlier...not! ;0)

Ecconomy

2011-10-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

The ecconomy, lets face it it stinks. It has affected everything in our lives as quilters, just when you think things might get better (the stock market not taking the deep plunge and staying there anymore...it has been bouncing back, like a bungie cord) think again. Bad cotton crops and corn crops this past year has increased not only the cost of all things cotton such as fabric, thread, batting, clothes but anything that uses corn in products such as feed for animals, products in the grocery stores and yes lets not forget the unstable gas prices, still. Health care is still not any better in fact the costs are also going through the roof more than before. With everything going up in costs what are we quilters to do? How are we suppose to keep our local quilt stores from closing (don't worry, I have no insight if any in our area are closing ;0)) just saying if quilters aren't able to afford to buy from the quilt shops do to less disposable income due to the bad ecconomy how are they to remain open?

If quilters are not able to afford to send their quilts out to us longarm quilters then how are we going to continue to keep our doors open as well? Yes business has slowed way down. Usually by now the snow birds are comming back to town and calling for appointments to drop off their quilt tops. The phone is not ringing, the quilt tops are not being dropped off, the snow birds are not returning as they did before in past years.

So what are quilters doing? Did they stop piecing their tops? Or are they creating tops from their fabric stash and either letting their tops go unfinished? Or are they doing smaller quilt tops and are attempting to quilt them, themselves on their sewing machines? Who knows what is happening in the average american/canadian quilter's home.

I have offered specials, yet obviously they aren't as enticing to get my loyal customers back to having their tops quilted proffesionaly. So don't think I haven't noticed or that I haven't been hearing your frustration over this horrible ecconomy, cause I have..I have heard it loud and clear!

Starting in January I will be bringing back one of my most popular specials I have done since I opened my doors in 2005. So hang in there fellow quilters, I may not be able to fix the ecconomy, but at least I can try to ease some of it's burden for other quilter's the best way I know. Stay tuned for further info.

Back To Work... Where Did the Summer Go?

2011-09-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

Feeling much better, it helps to be on the right antibiotic that actually does kill the infection. However being on antibiotics for a month and a half did a number on my gut, by wiping out all the good bacteria in it so now I am eating extremely healthy, lots of fiber, fruits & veggies to restore the eco system within, LOL.

This week I have working on my backlog/customer quilts that need to be done, should be all caught up within a few weeks, then I can fit some of my own projects in here and there. Which brings me to this question...

WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO? I mean I had planned to work on ALOT of UFOs and work on the quilts for my bare walls and I have not even put a dent into anything I wanted to get done. :0(

Also when did fabric prices get so high? The last time I bought fabric was back in the spring and prices were still reasonable ($8-$9 per yard for regular quilt shop fabric and $10 for batiks, bali pops were $35). I got my Hancocks of Paducah catolog yesterday in the mail and almost fell over by how much prices went up! ($10.99-$11.99 per yard for regular quilt shop fabric, $10.99-$11.99 per yard for batiks and bali pops are now $39.99) YIKES!!! This is not good, 2 years ago I was joking around with my DH, he was concerned about me building up my stash of fabrics (which is still a work in progress BTW), wanting to know why I was buying so much. I told him that I was stocking up because when we retire and on a fixed income I wouldn't be able to buy fabric. Little did I know that I wouldn't have to wait until I was retired because that day is now. Wish I knew what was comming, because I would have bought a whole lot more!!! The bad thing with fabric prices going up, they will never go back down to the older prices. I guess I will be shopping the fabric sales from now on, no more new release fabric lines for me and I can see alot of scrap quilts in my future with pieced backs. It's a good thing I like scrap quilts, lol

Health Update

2011-08-23T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well been on the new course of antibiotics for 5 1/2 days, not seeing much difference, except fever now is low grade if I move around too much. The antibiotics I have been on since this started back in July are as follows...

1) Cipro. for 5 days

2) Macrob. for 7 days

3) Cipro. IV (while in ER)

4) Cipro. for 10 days (in which I have taken 5 1/2 days)

I got a call from the hospital/ER that I was at last Wed. night and they told me to stop taking the Cipro. they pescribed last Wed. because my infection is resistant to it. According to my Urinalysis that they did (they divided my infection from my urine into a lot of p-tree (?) dishes and tried to kill the infection with different antibiotics)...guess what antibiotics did not kill the infection...yup the ones listed above!!! However one of the ones that did kill the infection was Bactrim so they called in to my pharmacy a 10 day course of the Bactrim antibiotic. Which I am told to start taking in the morning. Hopefully this will all be over with soon and I can get back to quilting.

I was told to still keep my follow up visit with my primary care doc next Tues. and have them check for the infection..they said their should be a HUGE improvement with my urine culture. If there is then I should be able to get some customer quilts done next week...here's hoping :0)

Emergency Room Visit

2011-08-18T12:44:00.000-07:00

I posted recently that I had a UTI infection, started mid July. Well the past couple of days I have been feeling very tired and off and last night after dinner I started getting sick and my temp shot up from a normal temp to a high temp in 40 min, chills, shakes etc..DH took me to the emergency room where they ran some test...urine culture and complete blood work. Tests showed that yes a massive infection is still present (that hasn't been responding to the previous antibiotics prescribed the last two times this past month). My white blood cell count is highly elevated (which doc said is to be expected given the size of my infection). Good news is that my blood sugar levels are normal, and there is no signs of kidney damage. So the doc hooked me up to an IV of antibiotics and perscribed me yet another dose of a different antibiotics that will run a course of 10 days this time along with a follow up visit at the end of the antibiotics to do another test to make sure the infection is gone. He also said until this infection is resolved that I need lots of rest, lots of water & cranberry juice and no working during this time.

So had to cancel all my drop off appointments for the next 10 days. For all of those that currently have their quilts here at Gecko Quilts, please be patient, they will get done in the order that they came in, as soon as I am told by my doctor that I can go back to work. I am so sorry if this is an inconvienece for any of you but my health has to come first here. If you need to pick up your unquilted quilt, please call me and I will arrange a pick up time next week.

Thanks for your understanding.

Thanks Bobbi!!!

2011-08-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

A good quilter friend of mine dropped off some quilts for me today, she is one awesome lady, I always love it when she drops by or when we talk on the phone. She is always willing to share recipes (she even taught me how to make tamales!), quilt patterns, new techniques and today she even drop off some goodies for me.

She gave me a new quilt pattern that uses a pretty cool technique and a huge tub of scraps!

The last time I talked to her I mentioned that I bought the Bonnie Hunter pattern books that uses lots of scraps to make awsesome scrap quilts and she said that the next time she saw me that she would give me some of her scraps :0)

Thanks Bobbi, can't wait to dive into them and create some cool stuff with it...stay tuned, but first need to sort and organize them into my scrap stash. :0)

Dog Days of Summer

2011-08-14T19:38:00.000-07:00

Well I am no longer sick been well all week and 4 of the 5 kids are back in school, my oldest Vicki goes back to college at the end of the month.

The monsoon season is in full force meaning lots of humidity with 100 degree temps :0( I hate this part of the year, I am so ready for the cooler temps.

Ok so since I didn't post any pics the last time, I will now...

This is the completed first month of my Dear Jane Blue

And this is the completed first month of the Dear Jane Kaffe Fassett, I am liking how they are comming out but since it has been so hot I haven't really felt like doing much sewing on these, even though I am doing mostly paper piecing and machine applique instead of needle turn applique they are very time consumming. At this rate I may have these two quilts piced by the time I am 50 (I will be 45 in Nov).

I did however make some head way on this UFO, it is my Desert Nine Patch Quilt, I am making a king size one for my bed. This one will probably be done long before the Dear Jane quilts, lol it is so simple...just nine patch blocks on point alternating with solid blocks..thats it, easy peasy ;0)

I Hate Being Sick

2011-08-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry no pics today.

Just me feeling sorry for myself. I have been sick for the most part since 7/19/11. It started with a bladder infection, I have only had 1 other bladder infection in my life and it was almost 3 years ago. So when I got this one I wasted no time got to the doctor, confirmed that yes it was a bladder infection and started taking antibiotics. Felt better, and finished the meds. All seemed fine then within a week after I finished the antbiotics, it was back

:0( Made another doctor appt but had to suffer through the weekend. mean while my oldest who just got back from a Cali vaca with her friends came down with the flu...can you guess what happened? That's right since my immune system was already weakened because of the on going bladder infection I got the flu as well! My doctor appt was Monday, they confimed yes my bladder infection did come back, most likely because the 5 day antibiotics given to me before wasn't long enough...so now I am on a different antibiotic and this time it's for a full week. On top of that my temperature shot up to 102.7 degrees (and pretty much stayed their all day and into the night even with taking Advil) Monday as well because of the flu my DD gave me compete with full body aches, chills and nausea. My fever finally broke in the wee hours of the night but still feeling kind of drained....Again I hate being sick!!! And of course it had to be when my MIL was out of town, DH and I was looking forward to having some time alone while she was gone but instead I have been sick :0(

Dear Jane Quilts

2011-07-15T14:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I joined a "Dear Jane" Blue BOM (block of the month). I have received 2 months so far and should be receiving the 3rd in less than 2 weeks. However I am still trying to get the 1st month done...

This is what I got done of the DJ Blue BOM so far, 8 blocks. The first month was for 8 blocks plus 2 triangles. I haven't had time to do the triangles yet because I am also doing this quilt in Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

As you can see I am just a little bit farther along on this one..got 1 of the triangle blocks done. Each month I will receive enough fabric for 8 blocks and 2 triangles for a total of 24 months of the DJ Blue BOM quilt. it's not looking too good if only after the first month I am already behind :0( I have no excuses, it's summer and business has slowed down a bit, however distractions are at their all time high with the kids home from school on summer vacation, my MIL living with us now and lets not forget the heat we have here in AZ. Some days the heat just drains you so much that the last thing you want to do is bury yourself under alot of fabric.

Also we just switched our electricity plan over to a better plan that allows us to receive low rates for 21 hours of the day but for 3 hours of the afternoon (3-6PM) we need to power down our usage to only 10%, this cuts into my sewing time :0( I am a night owl, like to sleep in and I schedule my customer appointments before noon so I have just enough time to eat lunch and load a quilt on my machine before I have to power everything off. After 6PM It's time for making dinner then quilting customer quilts before I turn in for the night. Weekends lately are being consumed with cleaning the house, laundry and spending time with family. I didn't really notice before that those 3 hours a day was when I was able to sew for me....need to try to find a better schedule of my time so I can do it all. Kids go back to school in 3 1/2 weeks, hope that will help ;0)

New Promotion for Gecko Quilts Blog(s) Followers Only

2011-06-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I quilted one of my own quilts, it will be hanging in my dining room once I bind it. I used my CL square dance design board, here is a quick pic

Recognize it? It's a UFO I did earlier in the year and now it's quilted! but if you want to see more detail of the quilting, you will have to go to my other blog at http://geckoquiltscirclelordscrapbook.blogspot.com/

For all of my customers that sign up as a follower to either one (or both) of my blogs I will give them a special discount on their next quilt when they choose the pattern that I used on the above quilt. You must be a follower of my blog(s) to get the inside scoop on this discount and the discount is only good until Nov. 18, 2011. If you are interested call me for details.

MIA

2011-06-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

So it may seem that I am MIA (missing in action) lately. Not the case just been very busy, finishing up with the last of the graduation/wedding quilts that my customers have brought by, kids finishing up school for the summer, mother in law moving in/getting settled and the new neighborhood get togethers that seem to be happening every other week. It's amazing that anything is getting done, let alone the things that I want to get done (please disregaurd my little pitty party...just venting my frustration). Any ways I have manage to get a top pieced, a small wall hanging that starts with a panel...not quilted, just a flimsy but it was a UFO project so it is a step in the right direction. That makes 7-8 flimsies now...note to self need to quilt/bind these before the end of summer.

This is the panel I started with, it's called Garden Song.

And this is the quilt, I love the little flower block border..which ended up being the most time consuming part of the quilt.

I hate sewing panel quilts because the panel is never printed on the fabric square and one corner is always whacky if you try to square things up so it hangs properly on the wall, if you don't then it looks horrible on the wall. For this reason I always swear that I won't do another panel quilt. Then one comes along that I just can't live without...[shrug] when willl I learn :0(

Any who it's done and onto the next BIG project! I say BIG because I joined a Dear Jane "Blue" BOM. For those that don't know this quilt, it's from the civil war era and has alot of 4 1/2" finished blocks in the center 1/2" sashing and a pieced triangle border, it finishes at roughly at 80" square and the BOM will take 2 years to complete (give or take, lol). My first month, set of 10 blocks came mid May and I only have finished 1 of them so far. Should be getting my second month blocks in 2 weeks :0(. Hopefully I will be able to get a few more blocks done this weekend. I won't post pics of them until I get all the 1st month blocks done..might take a while since I am doing 2 of these at the same time a Blue colorway which is the BOM and then a Kaffe Fassett colorway that I collected fabric for on my own.

It wouldn't be so bad but I have been easily distracted since my MIL has moved in. I have been finding that "my" free time is no longer mine. she is a very social person and likes to chit chat all the time, even when I am not part of the conversation her voice is loud enough that it carries through out the house...easily distracting me from focusing on what I need to get done. I know that this is all part of the adjusting phase of having her move in with us, and hopefully it will all work itself out in time and that it won't be as distracting down the road.

I have been getting use to my new PC, and I am able to find all my missing folders..well not really missing just from me ;0) and I am able to manage my website pages pretty well too.

Playing With Color

2011-06-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

I was going through my E-mail this morning and came across something that I thought I would share. It is a Kaffe Fassett video quilt show, just click The Quilt Show and you will see some amazing quilts with traditional piecing using not so traditional fabrics to create a unique play with color, texture, light and shadow. I hope this will inspire you to create something special of your own.

How Long Should a PC Last?

2011-05-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hmmmmm.....about 6 years give or take ;0)

For the past year my DH has been trying to convince me that we needed to replace my PC (desk top computer) that I use for my business. I kept putting him off because I really didn't want to spend $ on a computer, I would rather spend it on fabric, quilting gadgets & tools etc...but last Friday was the last straw, I was fed up with the wackiness that my old computer was doing. Whenever you would open up a window/website it would try to open multiple ones and say the server was not reachable...huh? DH thought perhaps that their was a virus but when he sifted through all of my stuff he found nothing, even Norton said my PC was free from a virus, there was nothing that we could find that would be causing such craziness. So On Friday after screaming UNCLE! I called DH at work and told him that he could replace my computer.

My new monitor is 22" where as my old one was only 17". I now have windows 7 operating system vs windows XP. I couldn't use frontpage any longer for my website since the new sytem doesn't soppurt the old software so DH is trying out other software (currently microsoft office share) that hopefully will do the same thing as frontpage did before (time will tell). I also have to get use to Live Mail vs outlook express. Also needed to update my microsoft office since my old version was no longer able to run with the new system....:0( It ended up costing more than what I wanted to spend, but it had to be done.

Why is it that tech stuff is so expensive and has a very short shelf life? No wonder why Bill Gates is as rich as he is.

Kaffe Fassett Fabrics

2011-05-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

I am very traditional when it comes to color and design. I like classic prints with a dash of whimsy here and there. I have never been swepted away by the modern design or color combinations of the fabric lines of Amy Buttler or Kaffe Fassett. When I see the individual yardage of these lines I scratch my head and think what were they thinking and what on earth could I do with that. But then I started seeing some quilts made from these fabrics, mostly scrap quilts or as I like to call them organized chaos quilts because some are very well thought out with placement of color.

See in the above photo these fabrics look ugly (at least to me).

But if you spread them out a little based on color and value, and not look too closely at the print of the individual fabrics, they start to take on a whole new look.

Then if you add these fabrics (a border, binding and an accent border).

You could get a quilt like this! This quilt pattern is in the new "Scrap Basket Sensations" book by Kim Brackett. It uses 2 1/2" strips. Great book to own if you are into the jelly roll strips/ patterns.

Then I came across this beauty over at Green Fairy Quilts Blog It's a Dear Jane Quilt made in the Kaffe Fassett fabrics in a rainbow trip around the world layout. It combines traditonal quilt blocks with trendy mod fabrics. What you end up with is a gorgeous quilt! But Judi's quilting on this quilt really turned it into an heirloom that will be talked about for decades or more! For more pics of this quilt click on the link to see what I am talking about. It was this quilt That really made me stop and rethink my opinion on this modern fabric designer.

Up until now I have avoided these fabrics, didn't want them in my stash, didn't want to make anything from them period...but never say never because I decided to give them a chance and started buying some for my stash. I view it as a love hate relationship...I hate them by themselves but together they are starting to grow on me. Perhaps it's because of the bright colors or how they look when sliced and diced in small pieces (2 1/2" or smaller) that make these fabrics come alive.

My 2011 UFOs

2011-05-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

I just love adding pics to my blog post, but don't have a quilty type pic for this post so I will fill in with random things instead.

So a few months back I thought I would be clever and pull out all my UFOs and take inventory of them and asign a deadline/month for which they would be completed this year. Well this plan was not what I would call a perfect plan because stuff happens and some months are busier than others etc.. In my defense though I only missed 1 UFO deadline and that was "Shell We Dance" from March, and it's not that I didn't complete any of my own quilts that month I just didn't do the one with the deadline attatched to it. So I decided that I am doing away with the month to month deadlines and just plow through as many as I can get done this year because anything is better than none!

Now to fill you in on something that I have had under wraps for awhile now, it involves a 2 year BOM (that I will start in 2 weeks) and it will have quite a bit of applique on it. I will be doing a "Dear Jane, Blue" quilt from the Stichin Heaven and as if I was not crazy enough before... I will be after this is done because not only am I doing that one but I figure if I was going to do one why not 2 Dear Jane Quilts at the same time! Yup 2 of these quilts one in the blue colorway and one using Thimbleberries fabric in a rainbow/trip around the world layout simiular to the original quilt. See, told you CRAZY!!!! I will be documenting my Jane journey on a new blog that I set up just for it and will post a link to it when I start the BOM in a couple of weeks. Should be fun-

Just a Little Something I Threw Together In My Spare Time

2011-05-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ok so with 5 kids at home, I don't have alot of spare time. But one thing that I do when I get stressed out (and this past month has been very stressful getting my MIL moved in with us) is SEW!!!

This quilt is 70" square and is made from a Moda "Gyspy Rose" jelly roll. It will go on my living room wall once I get it quilted and bound. It's nothing fancy but the fabrics look awesome in that room and I have a small little quilt made out of the same fabric that will be used as a table topper in the room. Originally I had a batik quilt in mind for that room but once I saw these fabrics in that room I new that I had to put it in there.

Sister's Choice Swap

2011-05-05T19:28:00.000-07:00

Is now a Flimsy! So here's the recap...

Shannon from Pieceful Kwilter hosted this siggy swap back in 2010.

It looked like it would be alot of fun so I joined in. We had to do 12 Sisters Choice Blocks using bright batiks and kona black, then sign the blocks and ship them to Shannon. This was the fabric I chose.

This was what my block looked like.

These are the blocks that I got back.

But I wanted a larger quilt, so I made 4 more blocks to add to the 12 Shannon sent me back.

After all the blocks were done I needed to decide on a border fabric, I wanted to also use it for the star corner stones (that was shown in the layout option Shannon shared with us). So I decided on this fabric.

And here is the quilt top (flimsy).

I love this quilt and had alot of fun doing this swap, Thanks Shannon you are an awesome swap hostess!

Now I just need to get it quilted and bound....to be continued.

Easter Plus

2011-04-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We had my DH's side of the family over, like we do for all of the holidays.

This is my MIL with all of her grandchildren (minus 2 that live in MO).

She plans on using this picture for her Christmas cards this year.

This week has been pretty crazy with getting customer quilts done, appointments for drop offs and pick ups, moving my MIL in with us and getting her settled and then Jenni and RJ (BIL/SIL) lost RJ's mom on Holy Thursday (so if you would, please say a prayer for Jenni/ RJ and RJ's family it would mean alot to them), then hosting Easter. Yup it has been very crazy here indeed!

But even with all of that I still managed to work on my "Sister's Choice Swap". Above is some of the blocks, I made 4 addtional ones so I will have a larger quilt. I still have to do the sashings and border but had to wait for the fabric to arrive....

Which it did on Saturday! Pretty, huh? I am planning on using this for the star cornerstones in the sashing as well as the outer border. Hoping to get it done (flimsy stage) by the end of the month.

If it wasn't for my quilting...I would have gone insane years ago :0)

High Desert Mystery Quilt is Now A Flimsy!

2011-04-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

I am finally done piecing my High Desert Mystery Quilt that Kristina hosted last fall. I would have gotten it finished earlier but the move got in the way and I wanted to add a pieced border to make it a 90" sq quilt.

This is what it looked like after the mystery right before we moved....

And this is what it looks like now with the pieced border. I really like how it turned out and I am glad that I waited until I had time to do it this way and not just add a plain border to it, like I do with most of my quilts these days. Yes I am keeping this one :0) Thanks again Kristina for hosting this mystery it was alot of fun.

Now I just need to find the time to quilt it....

My own quilts "to be quilted" pile is getting larger, I now have 7 in that pile and it will soon be 8 because I am also working on the "Sister's Choice Block Swap" quilt that Shannon hosted a while back. I just finished making 4 extra blocks for it so I will have a 90" sq quilt when I am done. Just need to add the sashing & star cornerstones and a border, but am waiting on some fabric that I ordered to be delivered to finish that one up.

Slice and Dice 9 Patch

2011-04-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

I found this technique on You Tube awhile back (sorry can't remember where) but it is a quick an easy way to use up those 5" squares!

First decided on how many blocks you want to make, a baby quilt uses 12 blocks and a teen sz or lap quilt uses 20. You can make this totally scrappy or as I call it (and did) organized chaos and stick with a color scheme.

Layout the 5" squares in nine patch fashion to your liking ( I chose to do a teen/lap size quilt so I needed 20 blocks and I chose to use the pink sqs in the 4 corners and in 10 of the blocks use this green & pink print and in the other 10 use a green tonal for the center sq. Once you decide what your game plan is then get to sewing your 9 patches.

Here's block "A" after the 9 patch was sewn together I sliced it in half horizontal and vertical.

Her's my block "B" and it is also sliced and diced. Seperate your new smaller blocks into 2 piles, pile "A" and pile "B". You will now take 2 small "A" blocks and 2 small "B" blocks to create your block for your quilt. Lay them out so that 2 same green centers are diagonal to each other, then going clockwise starting with the upper right block turn it 1/4 turn, bottom right, 1/4 turn, bottom left 1/4 turn, and finally upper left 1/4 turn. Resew these 4 small blocks together this new way. Then do the same for the remaining blocks.

Arrange the blocks in a 4X5 layout pleasing to your eye and stitch your quilt top together.

You will get this! At this point you can add borders or not...I choose not.

This is a baby quilt I did for one of my neighbors it had 12 blocks and finished at around 48" X 60"

I quilted it using the "Tickle" panto from Willows Leaf Studios

March UFO Put on Hold

2011-03-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

Ok before anyone thinks the worst, nothing bad happened to keep me from working on my March UFO project. I have just been busy with other things that have been a little more important...

-like hosting a Birthday Slumber party for my twins 11th birthday,

-kids being home for a week due to spring break,

-cleaning out the garage so when my DMIL moves in next month we will be able to park 2 cars in the garage and not just 1,

-organizing the mud room shelves to free up some storage space for DMIL,

-making a baby quilt for a friend

-and making a quilt for my kitchen.

I have pictures of these 2 chefs in my kitchen and was thrilled to death when I came across this cute panel called "The Daily Special". So of course I had to turn it into a quilt since there was a bare wall in my kitchen in desperate need of one.

-I have also been working on my GFG quilt that I just posted about.

See all good excuses as to why March's UFO did not get done...perhaps it will resurface later in the year or not. Stay tuned to see. :0)

GFG Quilt Update

2011-03-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

I have been making progress on my GFG quilt. It has been 2 years now since I started it and here are some pics of it, still a work in progress...

I started off with just a few flowers...

Then my flower garden started to grow...

And grow...

Until I had so many flowers that I needed to add some pathways.

Which is where I am at now. This is how wide my quilt center will be, it is as wide as my king size bed. There will be 7 rows of flowers then I plan on putting a wide white border around the garden and appliquing more flowers and stuff to it. I am thinking another 2 years and then it will be ready for me to quilt it!

Procrastination Leads to 100 ways to hide your stash

2011-02-23T11:47:00.000-08:00

I found this video and I thought that I would share it with all of you...

I couldn't stop laughing while watching it....I kept thinking to myself, I haven't tried that hiding spot yet, LOL! And yes I have thought about buying the house next door....now if I can just win the lottery so I can carry out my plan! :0)

Ahead of Schedule Part 1

2011-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

Since I finished my Feb. UFO early in the month I decided to squeeze in another project, one that I have wanted to do for a while but never could decided what fabrics to use for it, so it kept getting put off...

until now that is.

This is the quilt, it's called Bali Sea Star. I decided to do this quilt in various shades of pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. I know several women who have survived this horrible disease and I have always wanted to do a quilt that honors them. So when I found myself with some extra time on my hands I decided that now was the time to do this quilt.

Here are the fabrics.

These are the rectangles that will make up the pieced piano key border.

And this is a pic of my $5.00 design wall from Walmart, with my blocks on it.

And here is the flimsy with the borders, all there's left to do is to quilt & bind it.

Tesselated Stars

2011-02-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

I know that we only just started the month of February but I have finished my February UFO project! Well at least to the done/flimsy stage which is my goal for 2011. Here is the pics of the progress....

The name of the pattern is called Tesselated Stars fron the Strip Therapy 4 book.

I used the Cotton Candy Bali Pop and added a few more like color strips so I could make the quilt 82" sq but other than that I used the exact same fabrics as was used in the book.

I needed to cut my accent fabric into 2 1/2" strips...so I used my Accuquilt Go, I just love this tool. Best investment I made for cutting fabric.

This is all of the bali pop cut into the size/shapes needed for the quilt.

And here is the accent fabric after it was cut.

Sewing....

The block, it's 6 1/2" unfinished.

4 blocks placed together creats a star pattern.

More sewing...

I had to make 121 blocks. For a setting of 11 X 11.

And after 2 borders the quilt is now a flimsy!! This will be hanging in my quilt studio once I get around to quilting and binding it.

Stay tuned to see what else I make in February, since I still have

3 more weeks left of the month and no other UFO projects scheduled for it.

What Can You Do in Just 1 Day?

2011-02-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

Well you could build a wall!

That's right on Saturday I woke up and told my DH, Chris that I wanted him to build me a wall and he did :0) He's the best!

As you know my quilt studio is in my converted 1 car garage. When we moved in DH and friends put in a sub floor to raise the floor to house level and to level the floor itself. Then a few weeks ago our friend Ralph put duct work in my studio so I could have some heat/air conditioning in my studio. But my studio was still about 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house because of the draft comming from the metal portions of the garage door. So.....

DH & my 16 yr old son went to Home Depot and picked up some 2x4's, insulation, and some drywall.They removed the track for the gargare door and stored it in the wall (clever huh, just in case we ever or who ever in the future ever wanted to restore the room back to a garage). BTW from the front of the house it still looks like a garage, the door is still there, LOL!

But the inside looks like this. Not bad for a days work. Now we just have to get some estamates to tape the seams and texture the drywall to match the rest of the house. A coat if primer, and 2 coats of paint to match my room and it will be done. And the best part is now my studio is only 2 degrees colder than the rest of the house. DH wants to have insulation blown into the other 2 walls and into the attic area of my studio to bring the temp even with the rest of the house. But I might talk him into waiting until next year since that estamate was about $500.

AAGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-02-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a day (or week) that you feel like you are being pulled in multiple different directions at one time and you are finding it hard to stay focus on the task that is right in front of you because there is so much going on that requires your full attention?

Well that has been my week. Luckily I was able to get the customer quilts done that I had scheduled for this week so I could have Thurs, Friday, Sat & Sun to work on my UFOs. All was going fine until the BITTER COLD hit Arizona mid week and then yesterday (Thursday) Pulte (our builder) scheduled the different trades to come by to "FIX" stuff that falls under the warrenty for our new house. What was suppose to be 1 day of get it done, then get out of my house. For one, I hate waiting for the repair men/trades to come, they always give you this window of 2-4 hours that they are suppose to show up to your house and then who knows how long it will take for them to actually do the job that they were told to do. Anyways I had to make sure I had no customer appointments scheduled because it would be rude of me to have to excuse myself to answer the door, show the workmen where and what to do etc... But what gets me mad is when the granite guy was told exactly what was needed to be done at the time of the appointment being made by Pulte and for him to show up stay only long enough to look at what needed to be done (which was listed on his order/contact sheet and inform me that this would require 3-4 hours to repair and that we would have to reschedule for him to come back another day! What? Before he stepped foot in my door he knew what the problem was and how long it was going to take...why waste my time if you were planing on doing the job at that time. Then the electrician shows up, late but was only able to do 2 of the 4 things on his list in the time that I had available do to having to pick up my kids and run them around after school. So he had to schedule a second day to finish what he was suppose to do, then the drywall/painter guys showed up 20 minutes past their schedule window which conflicted with my after school/kids running so had to reschedule that. Makes me mad because we told our Pulte site manager who was suppose to cordinate all of these times and trades that they had all morning and early afternoon to get it all done and that all of them had to be finished and out of my house by 2 PM do to my prior conmitments that could not be changed. So now I have to waste another day (Monday on the electrician, and the drywall/painters) and still another day after that which has not be established for the granite guy!

Don't these people realise that I own and run my own business, have kids, a husband and most important of all have a life that doesn't include sitting around waiting for them to honor their warrenty on this house? All of the things that was suppose to be taken care of prior to us getting the keys by the way which our site manager FAILED to get done in time.

Ok so then yesterday as if stressed out from the above chaos wasn't enough, I have been waiting for several things to be delivered that I have ordered for quilt related projects and something was delivered yesterday by my mailman and was left in the larger locker compartment (here in AZ most of the mail boxes are located in central locations throughout the subdivisions to make it easier for the mailmen to deliver in the hot temperatures instead of making them walk door to door)anyways for larger pkgs they have larger compartments/lockers for the packages, and they leave the key for them in your mail box if you have something in one...well the key that they left wouldn't work so I had to call my local post office and inform them that it didn't work and they had to "schedule" my post man to hand deliver the package to my door! So more waiting :0( And I really could have used a package yesterday to put a smile on my face.

As for sewing...not much got done, I did however square up 121 blocks for my Feb. UFO project. Today I have alot of customer pick ups scheduled and 2 drop offs that are set to start in about 8 minutes so I better get off of the computer.

Year of the UFO's Part 2

2011-01-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Here is the list of my UFO projects that I plan on getting to the flimsy stage.

January: Mood Swings (done/flimsy)

February: Tesselated Stars (done/flimsy)

March: Shell We Dance (Put On Hold...for now)

April: High Desert Mystery Quilt (Done/ Flimsy) & Sister's Choice Block Swap Quilt

May: Spring Loaded

June: Gecko Quilt

July: Light & Shadow

August: Desert Nine Patch

September: Stepping Stones

October: Stars Over Medford

November: Snowflakes

If all goes well I think I will also do this in 2012 and every year after that until my UFO's/ projects not quite started yet are finished. I seem to be able to accomplish more if I have a plan or schedule with some deadlines set for me. And of course this is just a small amount of my projects on my "to do list", they seem to multiply like rabbits!

The year of the UFO's Part 1

2011-01-19T09:14:00.000-08:00

Each year quilter's all over the world make promises to themselves that they will "Beat Down Their Stash", finish those "UFO's" or at least make a dent in them, not buy any new fabric or start a new project etc.., etc...

I am no different from other quilters in this respect, yesterday I went through my stash, UFO's and future projects not yet started (but have the fabric for them set aside) and realized that if I would not buy another piece of fabric or pattern until all of my projects were completed it would be several years before I would be able to shop once more. So sad if you think about it, I mean with each project/fabric/pattern that I bought in the past, I was excited about each and everyone, couldn't wait until I was able to start it, and even more excited about the day it would be finished. So what happened? Why do so many projects fizzle out? After looking through them all yesterday I realized that it wasn't that I lost interest in them, or my tastes changed, or even that I got in way over my head in the skill department. For me I realized it all comes down to time! Making the time each week to plow through the stacks and stacks of UFO's.

So this year I have decided to make a comitment to get some UFO's done (or at least to the "flimsy" (quilts that are in desperate need of quilting and binding) stages. I will work on getting them all quilted next year, LOL.

I am thinking of doing 1-2 (1 large or 2 small) UFO's per month for all of 2011. I will post pics of all that are on my list to be completed and for which month I plan to have them done. So stay tuned for the 2011 list and pics.

Oh BTW I am making NO promises of not buying anymore fabric until all of my UFO's are finished...that would just be unrealistic for me, LOL!

French Braid Quilt Update/ Done!

2011-01-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

Last May I posted about a French Braid Quilt I was doing for my room, I didn't realize until tonight that I never posted the update on the quilt when it was finished...yes I am a bad blogger ;0)

Oh well I can post the pics now to tie up this loose end. And to refresh your memory...

This is the fabrics that I used.

The braid strips before the seperator bands.

The finished quilt after quilting.

And finally of the quilting, I used the Plumage Pantogragh pattern from Wilow Leaf Studios (I just love that pattern). The thread I used was Superior Threads Lava #285 "Andes"

Mood Swings Quilt

2011-01-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

I started this quilt on New Year's Day, what better way to start off the new year than with a new project!

I used the Spumoni Bali Pop then added a few strips of left over 2 1/2" strips from another project to get the size I wanted.

The quilt pattern is called Mood Swings and it's from the first Strip Therapy book.

And here it is as a "flimsy" (a quilt top in desperate need of quilting and binding). This quilt will be hanging on my dining room wall.

However I won't be quilting this one for a few weeks, must get some customer quilts done first and I also started a new project...so stay tuned!

Let There Be Heat!

2011-01-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

As most of you know we converted our one car garage into my quilt studio, by ourselves, because having a contractor do it was going to be too much money. With the help of our friends my DH was able to do the sub floor & lay the indoor/outdoor carpet. We decided to leave the garage door in place for better resale value later on. But did put in insulated panels on the garage door to help keep out the draft. One thing we didn't do however was to run the duct work into the studio. Didn't think we would need it. But after several weeks of very cold nights and several days in which it was too cold to work in my studio we decided to call on our good friend Ralph (who does this sort of thing for a living). Here are some pics from Saturday when they put it in.

This is the before pic

This is the hole in our ceiling they needed to access the other duct work which was in our office area.

This is one end of the duct that is going into my studio...

and this is the other end.

This is my DH feeding the duct work to Ralph who is in the attic area of the garage.

This is a pic of the duct work after it has been connected to the rest of the house & fed through to my studio.

This is after my DH put back the drywall in my office ceiling, he still has to do the finishing of the texture and then paint it.

Here's Ralph heading into the studio attic to cut the hole in my studio ceiling and to instal the register cover.

This is the piece that gets conected to the end of the duct and what is visible when the register is removed from the ceiling.

And finally here is the pic of my new register that will allow me to have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer!

THANK YOU RALPH!!!!

New House in Need of New Quilts

2011-01-10T21:25:00.000-08:00

We have been in our new house for a couple of months now and I am tired of looking at all of the empty walls!

Notice all of the empty quilt rods/holders? They are just glaring at me day in and day out to put something on them...well I would if I had something to put on them. The thing is all of my old quilts from the other house are too small, that's right too small. In the new house we have larger walls with higher ceilings. I used to make my large wall quilts 60" sq but now I need to make them 75"-80" sq just to fill the space With the exception of 3 smaller areas and the quilts that I do have won't go with the decor in the room.

So I need to make ALOT of new quilts this year. I have several ideas of what I want to do but some are very time consuming and since this is my busy season those ideas will havce to be put on the back burner until there is more time for them. I do have a few other ideas though that quicker projects and when I say quicker I mean over the course of several weeks, worked in after my customer quilts are done for the week.

Here is a pic of one in progress now...

It is a quilt pattern from one of those Strip Therapy books for the Bali Pops,

You'll have to stay tuned to find out which one and what it will look like when finished.

Then I made this top right before we moved (still needs to be quilted), was going to hang it in my office, but since then I have found another quilt (which needs to be pieced) that is more fitting for my business...here's a hint, it has geckos on it!

Don't know what I will end up doing with this one now, it may end up as a charity quilt or a gift for someone.

Anyways, it's a brand new year and I am going to be very busy making new quilts!, Yea :0)

SNOW!!!

2010-12-30T12:58:00.000-08:00

That's right I said snow in East Mesa! Just a light snow fall, melts as soon as it hits the ground but it started comming down around 1:48 PM 12/30/10 and it stopped about 1:54 PM.

Sorry no pics, there wasn't enough to bother. But this is the first time I have seen snow fall here in the past 13 years of living in Mesa, AZ. I have heard of snow falling in the valley back in the 80's but that could have been an urban legend.

Merry Christmas To All!

2010-12-25T11:44:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish everyone in the blogger-sphere a Merry Christmas and hoping everyone has a merry and bright new year!

All Moved In

2010-11-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

This is my new quilt studio, at this angle no one would ever know that this once was a 1 car garage :0) I don't have any quilts up on the walls in the new studio yet, but I have several places to put some and will when I have a chance to make some new ones.

Ok so it's been a month since I last posted on my blog (oh BTW the Gecko Quilts website is down, we know about it and are in the process of fixing it...the servers that we have the website on didn't do so well in the move).

And I would like to say that the whole move thing was uneventful but it wasn't. The closing went better than expected (we ended up having to come to the closing with less $ than we originally thought, and our monthly mortgage payment is also less than what we thought it would be.

We got our keys on my birthday, and had a small pizza party in the new empty house to celebrate it.

The painters started painting the next day (Saturday) and were finished by Thursday. We were moving some things in ourselves while the painting was being done on the inside, in fact we (and when I say we I mean me and my oldest daughter) had moved most of the boxes ourselves before the movers even got to our house on Nov 13th. If I had to do it all over again I would wait and let the movers do it all.

I wanted to have the whole house unpacked by Thanksgiving, because crazy us...lol, were hosting Thanksgiving for the whole family. This is where it goes bad...I pulled a muscle trying to unpack in time for the Holiday :0( I have been hobbling around this big house in pain for the past 2 weeks.

I was however feeling a little bit better today that I actually was able to quilt! I think that was just what the doctor ordered cause my mood has improved alot because I was able to do something, I 'm not able to do much housework yet though.

My December is already booked with customer quilts that are in need of quilting before Christmas and January is starting to fill up as well. I can't believe that Christmas is 3 1/2 wks away! There is so much to do...like Christmas shopping,I have absolutely nothing bought yet, not 1 cookie baked for the cookie trays either :0( but at least we got the trees up!

New House Pic Update

2010-10-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

My Sony Cyber Shot Digital Camera has been giving me alot of trouble lately (the battery cover has been broke for over a year now, it appears to happen alot with this model from what I have read on the web) so I wasn't able to take alot of pics with it. But I was able to replace it this past Thursday with Nikon coolpix and I am so happy with the new camera...just need to learn all that it can do. Anyways here are some updated pics of the new house, we are signing the papers for it on Nov, 1 and will get the keys on Nov 5, my birthday! :0)

They added the court yard wall & gate, light fixtures, & decorative wrought iron under one of the windows. They still need to put up some shutters, touch up paint, paint the court yard wall, front yard landscaping, and paint the fence.

The foyer light fixture, I won't show the foyer tile until they have finished it.

The kitchen light.

The black granite has a nice contrast with the toffee maple cabinets.

And here's part of the master bath.

There will be more pics over the next 2 weeks.

Oh, and I finally started packing....2 boxes of cookbooks. Actually it's still too early to really pack a lot of stuff. I know if I start packing now, I will need an item from one of the boxes the following day :0) This happened to me when we moved from Illinois to Arizona...I was completely packed 1 month prior to actual moving and every time I turned around I was digging through boxes looking for stuff and then repacking. So this time I will just pack the stuff once, lol!.

Vacation Days

2010-10-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

Gecko Quilts will be closed from Nov. 1, 2010- Nov. 30, 2010

Do to the move, Gecko Quilts will be closed during the above dates, There will be no quilt pick ups or drop offs during this time. On December 1, 2010 quilt drop offs and pick ups will resume at the new location. Stay tuned for further info.

We Have Our Closing Date Set!

2010-10-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

We have our official closing date set! Our final walk through and closing date will be on Nov. 2 and then on Nov. 5 (my birthday) we get the keys! We also locked in our rate this morning (rates went down again...yea!) so we got a really good rate for a 30 yr fixed mortgage loan.

We also have the final details of our current home rental agreement worked out with R.J. (our BIL), our movers are set, & the utilities have been scheduled to be turned off and then turned on at the new house.

Now all that's left to do is pack, clean old house, move, unpack & collapse!

I am so excited!!!!

...and Baby Makes 3!

2010-10-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Monday night we picked up the newest addition to our family...

He is a 4 month old Chihuahua named "Kaner" after Patrick Kane from the Blackhawks (Chicago, Hockey). Over the weekend we were at the sales office (visiting & checking on the progress of our house) and they were talking about this little guy and how he needed a home (the back story is that the owner who owns the mother wasn't able to find a home for this one or his brother after they were born and was about to take him to the animal shelter when a hospice nurse who cares for the owner told her that she would find good homes for them...she founf a home for the one but this one still needed a home). Oh did I mention that he was free? :0) Kaner is a brindle colored short hair chihuahua, they are suppose to be rare. Anyways, we talked about it and decided to take him in...as if we didn't have enough on our plates right now with the up comming move and MIL moving in with us this spring. I figure God wanted us to have him because he was free, and that he has gotten along really well with the kids and our 2 other dogs.

Here he is sleeping with his new collar.

Check out his profile! He is also a really nice snuggle puppy, he crawls right up on your lap and falls asleep.

Mystery Quilt Update Week 3

2010-10-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

I am feeling very confident with this mystery quilt, yesterday (Saturday) another set of clues were posted and I was able to complete clue #6 Saturday night....

Sample of clue #6.

Then today I was able to get the rest of the clues finished, (7,8, & 9).

Sample of clue #7.

Sample of clue #8.

Sample of clue #9.

So far I figured out the block size, it's a straight set, not on point. It is 5 blocks across and 5 blocks down, the 2 blocks alternate in the setting. The quilt center measures 60 1/2" unfinished (no borders). The only thing I can't figure out yet is how the "Border 1" pieces will come together. But won't have to wait too long for the end of the mystery, all should be revealed next Saturday!

;0) Shhhh.... Don't tell Kristina but I worked up the center of the quilt in EQ7, and it is looking so good! For all of you who didn't play along on this one, you will be so wanting to join in on the fun the next time around!

Mystery Quilt Update Week 2

2010-09-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

The mystery quilt I am working on had it's first set of clues this past Saturday, but unfortunately I was unable to sew along on that day but today I had some time to sew. I was able to get through all 5 clues too! Here is what I have so far...

Remember this is what I started with.

This is a sample of Clue 1

This is a sample of Clue 2

This is a sample of Clue 3

This is a sample of Clue 4

This is a sample of Clue 5

I can't wait until Saturday to see what the next set of clues will be. One thing I have already figured out is that the blocks will be 12 1/2" unfinished and that I am really liking this mystery and how it's turning out so far! Oh and remember the quilt is supose to be 80X80 when finished based on the mystery. I might add another border to make it a queen size quilt.

Inspiration From a Blog

2010-09-27T21:27:00.000-07:00

With the up comming move and a new quilt studio to decorate I have gone to cyber space to get some ideas on how to decorate and organize it to get the most out of the space I will have. My favorite place for ideas/inspiration was (well actually there are 2 places) the first is Sew Many Ways check it out if you want to get inspired "tool time Tuesdays" are when she shows some crafty ideas using everyday stuff. My 2nd is Ikea. Chris & I decided to do some errands without the kids on Saturday and one of the places we went to was Ikea, it was our first trip to this super store. If I had to describe it, it would be Costco (or Sams Club) on steroids! Wow, was that place awesome. There will be several things from Ikea that will find there way into our new house and in the quilt studio. It's deffinately the way to go if you are on a budget. Oh and for my storage/organization in my studio I am planing on using some of the ideas from sew many ways using my left over moving boxes.

New Pics!

2010-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

New pics of the house, as promissed :0)

Finally got the exterior painted, it's a rusty brown/terra cotta color.

Pic of the house facing forward.

Railing almost done, just need the last piece of wrought iron and the stain!

Looking from the loft towards the terrot.

And then from the terrot to the loft.

Cabinets are being installed, they are maple cabinets with a toffee finish.

Another view of them.

A walk in pantry, never had one of those before.

And the mud room which is off the kitchen. Just think of all the fabric that could be stored here, if my DH would let me that is.

Didn't have time to take pics of the other rooms, not much going on in there right now anyways...will post pics of those rooms when we get moved in and after we decorate them the way everyone wants them. Here's a hint for one of them...my 14 year old Chicago Blackhawks (hockey) fan will have the room of her dreams.

39 Days & Counting!

2010-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time is flying by, it has been 3 weeks since I last posted pics of the new house in progress. Alot has been done and I will be posting pics this weekend after I take them. In the mean time I can tell you what has been done. The exterior has been painted, the interior has been tapped, textured and painted in a flat white paint (as soon as we close, get the keys our painter will be painting the interior the colors we want in a more durable finish before we move in). All the doors inside and out have been hung. Baseboards have been added, and the railing is being installed.

When we were there yesterday we noticed that all of the cabinets have been delivered and will be installed over the next few days. Then the tile will be installed next week. Followed by carpet, light fixtures, granite counter tops, blinds, front yard landscaping and appliences. All to be completed within the next 30-35 days so we can have our final walk through 3-4 days prior to our closing.

Hmmm, I think I need to get some boxes so I can start the packing process soon :0) We are planning on moving some of the stuff ourselves then hiring a professional mover to move the bigger stuff like furniture, washer/dryer, upright freezer patio furniture etc...I wonder if I could convince the movers to accept longarm quilting services instead of money for moving us?, LOL! My DH (who fixes computers on the side) was offered frozen chicken for his computer services. And once I was asked if I would accept maid service instead of payment for quilting.

Fabric Revision for High Desert Mystery Quilt Week 1

2010-09-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Got good news and I got bad news...good news is my fabrics came today for my High Desert Mystery quilt I am doing. Bad news is my contrast fabric is on backorder for 3 weeks! :0(

So what's a girl to do? Check out her stash to see if she could come up with an alternative. This is what I came up with.....

I found a suitable replacement for my contrast and then decided my background fabric was no longer working so I found a cream moda crackle fabric in my stash that would.

Now to get busy cutting and working on the first clue!

High Desert Mystery Quilt Week 1

2010-09-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a new quilt project? Do you like a good mystery? My friend Kristina is hosting a "High Desert Mystery" at her blog. If you are interested in playing along just click on the link (above in quotes) and you will get all of the info. All of the clues should be up by the end of Oct. and it only uses 3 fabrics.

I am going to do it and I even bought my fabrics already! Take a look...

From left to right, 1st fabric is my focus fabric, the 2nd is my contrast fabric and the 3rd is my background fabric. I wanted to stay with a desert theme so I chose some southwest fabrics that I have had my eye on for some time now.

This should be alot of fun, Thanks Kristina for hosting this!

Comfort Foods

2010-09-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

When I'm stressed the first thing I reach for (food wise) is comfort food, you know what I mean the food that brings back a moment in time that puts a smile on your face.

Well, ever since we decided to jump into this new house thing with both feet, I have been reaching more and more for comfort foods....today this is what I made.

A Pineapple Upside Down Cake, all from scratch too!

My mom use to make these alot when I was a kid although she used a yellow cake mix for hers. Even though she owned the 1950's/1960's Betty Crocker cookbook which is where I found the recipe for the above cake. I loved that cookbook when I was young learning how to cook, so much that when I got married I begged my mom to let me have it, which she did. It was in such bad shape that the binder was falling apart and the pages were falling out of it. So I put it in a new binder, put each page in a sheet protector and it is as good as new.

The cake was awesome came out perfect and was a big hit! so I thought that I would share the recipe with all of you.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

1/3 C butter, melted

1/2 C brown sugar

20 oz can of sliced pineapple, drained

marischino cherries, stems removed and drained

1 1/2 C sifted softsilk cake flour

1 C regular sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 C crisco shortening

2/3 C milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour the melted butter in a 9" round cake pan (making sure that it coats the whole bottom of the pan). Sprinkle the brown sugar over the melted butter and then place the pineapple rings over the brown sugar. Finally put a cherry in the center of each pineapple ring then set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together flour, regular sugar, baking powder and salt. Add crisco, milk, vanilla, and beat for 2 minutes.

Then add the egg and beat for another 2 minutes. Pour over the pineapple slices. Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes or untill toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately turn cake upside down on the cake plate leaving the pan over the cake a few minutes while cooling. Brown sugar mixture will run down over the cake. Serve warm with cool whip or vanilla ice cream

Old UFO Finally Done!

2010-09-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

It is finally finished! after several years/ Christmas' I finally finished this tree skirt.....

It's a Thimbleberries quilt pattern and the fabrics that I used was Santas Comming from Benartex. I didn't do anythif fancy quilting wise, just a simple loop meander...I think that is why it took so long to finish, originally my intent was to do custom on it, such as feather swags in the red part and a swirl meander in the white part around the holly leaves. The thought of doing the custom was very intimidating for me, because I have never did free form feather swags before and I was in fear of messing it up. But once I decided to do the loop meander there was no more fear...I know some day I do need to face my feather fears but I was/am under alot of stress right now because of the new house and the pending move so this was not the time to be adding to my stress.

Now I just need to finish the 8 Christmas stockings that match the tree skirt...

Once these are pieced I think that I will just use my Circle Lord and do a basic crosshatch in the red areas...just to keep it simple. The plan is to have these done before the move in November, so that they can be used in the new house.

60 Days & Counting

2010-09-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

Until closing!

This morning we got a call from our lender telling us that we got our final approval from the underwriters :0) and that in 30 days we will here from them about our closing date (Nov 2 is the tenative date, hoping for a week earlier).

The time is going quickly, I do have to say though. It has been 11 weeks since we stumbled into this. Here are some pics from this week....

This is the front of the house now with the 1st stucco app on it, next week they will put the 2nd app on it that will have the final texture of the house.

This is the 1 car garage that will be the new home for my APQS Liberty.

This is the view looking into the house from the foyer

This is one view from the 2 story living room, there is a curve staircase...yes a very good thing to have since we have 4 girls and lots of proms and weddings in our future.

Another view of the room looking towards the front door.

Here's one looking into the kitchen area from the family room...

And another, there will be 2 islands in the kitchen and lots of counter space.

This is the hallway off the kitchen that leads to the MIL suite.

This is the 14 ft mud room that leads to the 2 1/2 car garage, there will be floor to ceiling shelveing on one wall.

This is a pic of the ceiling of the foyer.

This is the large loft...

and on the other side of the 2 story living room is the small loft/alcove.

Master suite...

heading into the master bath...

and Chris (DH) in part of the master bath.

The kids wing.

The back of the house...

the side of the house...

Stan (must have been the guy who did the stucco) left his siggy on the side of the house.

And then the other side of the house.

That's all of the pics for this week, they got alot done. Next week, even though it's a holiday week they should be able to get all of the drywall taping and texturing done as well as the 2nd and final stucco coat on the outside of the house. So stay tuned.

Miracles

2010-09-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

I am a big believer that miracles happen everyday, all around us. But you need to open your heart to be able to recongnize them for what they are and not be so quick to brush things off as luck or coinsedences. I also believe that God (if you let him into your life) will also help guide you along your path to get you to where you need to go to ful-fill your destiny. The door way to your soul is your heart, so open your heart and let God in your life and see what happens...you just might recognize a miracle or two yourself.

Over time I will share some of my own miracles with you...there are many.

House Update

2010-08-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted any new pics of the house lately. I have them, it's just that most of the changes that are happening now are mostly being done on the inside of the house, such as electricity, heating/cooling venting, recessed lighting, surround sound and insulation.

This is what the front now looks like...styrofoam and chicken wire.

And here is one of the sides. Not much of a change to the outside of the house. Inside is where all of the action is happening right now.

Over the next 10 days they are suppose to hang the dry wall, tape, mud and texture it. Then they will stucco the outside of the house in a 2 part application, followed by hanging of all of the doors, inside and out. Then painting of the interior as well as the exterior will be done, roof nailed down, cabinets installed, flooring, blinds, appliances, landscapping, final walk through then closing.....all should be complete in 9 about weeks!

Started This Last Fall

2010-08-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

This Is a quilt I pieced last fall using the Moda "Gobble Gobble" jelly roll. It went together pretty fast but like most projects got set aside because of lack of time to finish. I decided to finish it one year later because I have a cousin who is getting married for the first time (at the age of 47) in October. This quilt would make a perfect fall wedding gift! I wanted to try a new panto that I purchased from Patricia Ritter from Urban Elements called "Pumpkin Patch". I love this panto!

It was fun to do once you got into a groove and it ended up being the perfect panto for this quilt. Now just need to find the time to make a quilt label and bind it....hopefully that won't take another year.

Spring Cleaning, 13 Years Long Over Do

2010-08-24T16:42:00.000-07:00

After living in one house for 13 years you tend to accumulate alot of stuff, some things that you thought you lost years ago, suddenly are found. Other things you look at and think, "what the heck was I saving that for?" I think every 2 years we should all spring clean our houses

so when we move or when we die we or our loved ones aren't burden with this long and horrible task.

I have slowly been going through my house purging things that have been collecting dust or have no longer a use to them, in hopes that when I pack up the house for our move in 8 weeks I will have less to pack and only take with us the things we actually use and need. In doing this comes distractions for instance a few weeks ago I was going through boxes of family photos, before the great invention of digital cameras we used cameras with film that needed to be developed and I always use to get 2 copies of every pic because it never failed someone would always ask if they could have a copy of a pic that I would show them...however not all pics were wanted so I had a huge 10 gallon tub of photos that needed to be gone through...what I thought would only take an hour or 2 turned into an all day event. Yes, with every picture I picked up I relived that moment in time and had to decide to keep or thrash that photo. Eventually I made it through and the pics were reduced by 2/3rds of the original amount! I also was able to sort them into groups by children and by family. Now they are more manageable and each of my kids will be getting a box of photos from their lives t be stored in their own closets.

This past Friday I tackled my 16 yr old sons room, I had no intentions of doing this (at least not that day, I wanted to sew some of my own stuff) but when I went in there to get his laundry I decided if I didn't purge his room that day I may never get a chance to do it in time before the move. 6 GARBAGE BAGS of clutter later, and yet another day gone his room is now ready to be packed up.

In my quest for spring cleaning/purging this past weekend I came across 4 old folding chairs, we bought to use as kitchen chairs in our first house 21 years ago, and in need of TLC. The frames were still in good shape but the fabric had seen better days and so I took them apart to recover them.

Here is the back of the chair after it was removed-

This is the empty frame with the seat and chair back removed.

I took off the old fabrics, and made a pattern from them.

I cut out the new fabric pieces, replaced the foam on the seats and the backs of the chair, because after 21 years they were falling apart. I used a staple gun to tack down the new fabric to the chair backs and seats, then reattatched them to their frames.

And here it is, good as new and will probably last another 20 years!

I plan on using thesse chairs for customer seating in my new office/studio.

Hocuspocusville

2010-08-20T01:18:00.000-07:00

The best part about my job is that I get to see so many cool quilts and patterns that I have never seen before. Lets face it there are new quilt patterns that come out all of the time and there is no way that I would be able to see all of the quilt patterns available, even if I surf the web every hour of every day for the rest of my life I still wouldn't get to see all of them. So I decided to start a new section on my blog called "Customer Quilts Showcase". Here I will feature customer quilts that after I saw them I wanted to make one of my own.

This week I want to show you a quilt called "Hocuspocusville" by Crab-apple Hill.

There are 12 Blackwork type blocks, could be done as a block of the month type quilt.

The center of the quilt is just a nine patch variation on point, but I think when I do mine I will do a monkey wrench or snails trail blocks in the center perhaps in black and orange prints.

Here are the 12 blocks up close...they remind me of the cute santa village ceramic buildings because they each have a whimsy name to each.

My customer added a little bit of orange thread to one of her blocks, she told me if she could do it over again she would add a little more orange to each of the blocks to help give them some pop...I agree just a little orange here and there would add some additional depth to these already whimsy blocks. The pattern also calls for jumbo black rick rack to frame out the center but I think I will do Prarie Points around the center of the quilt and then again around the outside border.

The finished quilt measures 68"X68". As for quilting, you could do just about anything a leaf panto (which is what my customer wanted) star panto, CL Swirls or you could go the custom route and add some spiderwebs with spiders of course, swirls, or some halloween motifs. The possibilties are endless!

Back To School Totes

2010-08-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I blogged about projects I am working on so here's one that I finished last week, well actually I did 2 of these.

Ever since I made my professional tote last spring 2 of my daughters wanted ones for themselves. My daughter Rachel (who's a big Hockey fan) wanted hers in Blackhawk colors and logo. Since I was making 1 I figured 2 wouldn't take too much longer so I made another just like this one for Rachel's best friend Ashley (who is also a huge Blackhawks fan). They use these totes instead of backpacks for school.

I still need to make my oldest daughter her tote, which will be in turquoise and lime green but I don't think I will have hers done in time for school, she starts on Monday...My to do list keeps getting longer and longer, and I swear the days are getting shorter and shorter!

1 Month Progress

2010-08-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

It's been 1 month since they broke ground for our new house, this is what it looked like 1 month ago....

And this is what it looks like today....

It's starting to look like a house!

This week they finished up with all of the framming, they put in all but 3 windows (the 3 that weren't done because the size was incorrect so they need to fix it this week),the plumbing was done (yes that is a bath tub in front..they delivered the wrong tub, the one that is missing is the garden tub for the master bath), and they put in all of the duct work and furnaces (which happen to be in the attic!). By the end of next week the house should have the electrical in and at least the bottom half of the house wrapped in styrofoam and chicken wire and the tiles sitting on top of the roof.

We submitted our final papperwork to the mortgage company earlier this week and now we are just waiting on final approval of the loan, still holding my breath and praying that all goes fine and it gets final approval. Trying not to get too excited, just in case...but it's hard not to be excited when you see your dream house comming more to life each week.

We are also getting ready for the kids to go back to school, 4 of them start on Wednesday and my oldest starts her 2nd year of college on the 23rd. So the next month will fly by because of school starting and business should start to pick up some more since summer is comming to an end.

Has it Been That Long?

2010-07-24T00:09:00.000-07:00

Has it really been 21 days since I last posted here?, Wow, time is sure flying. It has been 6 weeks since we decided to build the new house. Alot has been taking place, we put down our earnest $, we got pre-approved for our loan, our BIL is going to rent out our current house, we picked out flooring and the other stuff that you do at the design center appointment, we met with a backyard landscaper/pool guy to get an estamate on the backyard, we also met with a house painter to get an estamate for the interior paint job (colors other than flat white paint) to be done before we actually move in. We have even met quite a few of the new neighbors (some already moved in and others that are in the building stage like we are).

I have a few pics to share of the construction process so far...

This first one is of our lot after breaking ground but before the foundation.

This one is before the foundation but at a different angle, to show just how large this first floor will be.

This one is after the foundation was poured, this is where my new quilt studio will be :0)

The rest of the foundation.

This is a pic of the framing that has begun of the first floor, it is of the 2 1/2 car gargae, the dinning room and the front door.

And this last one is the framing of my quilt studio, it will be 2 rooms...one for my desk for meet and greet and the other for my longarm and my sewing machines.

By the end of next week the second floor should be framed, maybe some windows added and the wiring inside the house started. It's been fun to see each week how much has been done on it.

Hurdle #3

2010-07-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

If you read my last post you know that we are trying to buy a larger house and that we had passed 2 of 3 hurdles to making this dream a reality. Well as of today we got preapproved for the new mortgage! So hurdle 3 is also passed :0)

I am so excited, words just can't do it justice. I know that we still have a long way to go on this, basically nothing is a done deal until we sign those closing papers and they hand us the keys to the new house, but this is all positive news.

Now if I can just get the builders to speed up the building process a little so we can close in Oct instead of in Nov.

I wonder how long it will take me to pack up my current house, DH, 5 kids, 2 dogs and a MIL?

Never a Dull Moment-Huge News

2010-06-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

I have not been a very good blogger lately, not because I don't have anything to say but because I have been sitting on some very HUGE news, and even though it is not a done deal yet (we still have the last of the 3 hurdles to over come) but I will share some things with you now because, well if I don't I think I will burst!

Ok we have been living in the same house for almost 13 years (will be 13 in Jan). When we had our twins 10 years ago our house became too small for our family but when we tried to sell it (about 7 years ago) to purchase a new larger house, our brother in-law (soon to be ex BIL) who was a realtor tried to steal our house from us. We kept him from doing that but in the process we lost the new house we were trying to build and decided to stay put because we couldn't trust anyone to list our house at that point. Then I started Gecko Quilts 5 years ago and well, lets just say we are now busting at the seams. About 2 1/2 weeks ago, after church we decided to drive by the house we lost 7 years ago because of the soon to be ex BIL, to try to finally put it behind us and move on. At first we had a hard time finding it, but eventually did...I was surprised that I no longer had any attatchment or feelings to it. We noticed that there was still building going on in the area so we decided to look at the models...well this is the big news.......

We found a Spec House that we fell in love with!! It has 6 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, a loft, a 2 1/2 car garage and a seperate 1 car garge next to a den on the other side of the house (which could be turned into a quilt studio!). One of the bedrooms is on the first floor with it's own bath, would be perfect for my MIL who hates living alone ever since my FIL died 2 years ago.

Ok so here is where the hurdles come in...
1)what to do with our current home? It would take too long to sell it in a bad ecconomy.
2)would my MIL even want to live with us and our 5 kids?
3)and would we be able to get a mortgage for the new house in the current home lending enviroment.

Well as I said before we have crossed 2 of the 3 hurdles...we don't have to sell because we are going to rent our current house to one of our BIL's (a great guy which we all love) who is going to use it to expand his business. Also my MIL has agreed to move in with us, loves the idea, loves the house and is deeply touched that one of her kids actually wants her and wants to take care of here in her old age. Now everything is hinging on the mortgage app, which we filed for today. Hopefully we will find out soon that it is a go...so I can start breathing again, I haven't gotten much sleep since June 13 :0)

I keep telling myself not to get my hopes up just in case this doesn't turn out the way we want. But have you ever wanted something, and you knew it would be perfect for all parties involed? I mean when we walked through the 1st spec house (I say first because the first one, which we actually walked through was ready to move in at the begining of Aug but was sold 2 days after we saw it, but lucky for us there was another spec house, same model but they didn't break ground yet and that will be able to close on at the begining of Nov., this is the one we are trying to get) everything about it just feels right...but if it is meant to be God will make sure that it all works out.

So now you know...this is a huge step for us and it means I will be packing and moving nearly 13 years of stuff, 5 kids, a DH, 2 dogs, a long arm business, and a MIL before the end of the year. I say BRING IT ON! I am more than ready, LOL!

You Can Quilt That Out

2010-06-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

This Video was sent to me by my friend Lorene, couldn't resist sharing with all of you this one is so true and fun, ENJOY!

At Home With MODA

2010-06-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

I came across this video today and thought it was worth sharing with all of you. It is a behind the scenes of Moda fabrics.

Those With the Most Toys Wins....Or Do They?

2010-06-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well I was quilting along this week, felt good to have my Liberty back home again and running when my new circuit boards on my machine went bad :0(

Called the factory and they are shipping me a new set of boards but this means I am grounded for a few days until my new parts arrive.

So I was thinking how best to use this down time? I could finish Shannon's swap blocks (just need to do 6 more), I could play...I mean LEARN more about my EQ7 upgrade, I could finish piecing my king sz quilt for my bed, I could give my house a thorough spring cleaning (long over do BTW, just never seems to be any time left for cleaning ;0)) teach myself to digitize using my embrouidery software, heck learn beyond the basics would be nice. Well thinking about all of this got me to pull some things out...things that I JUST HAD TO HAVE but haven't had the time to learn them completely and it has been several years for most of this stuff.

For instance my Bernina 730 Embroidery machine (always wanted a top of the line embroidery machine) but didn't realize that it would involve all of this....

These books/manuals in order to use it. Who would have thought that in order to use this machine and software to it's fullest it would involve so much time in reading to do it. :0(

Then there is the EQ software.....

I started my EQ journey with EQ5, bought all the extra books (never found the time to learn beyond the basics) and then EQ6 came ou, just had to have that, didn't buy the extra books for EQ6 because I didn't even use them much for EQ5 so I thought why now. Then EQ7 came out and yup, I just had to have that too. But still I only know just the basics of this program, so why do I need the upgrade? To justify the purchase I promissed myself that this time I will learn more. And I am pleased to announce that I have learned more! This past week since my EQ7 upgrade has been installed I learned how to add my Bernina embroideries to the EQ program! EQ only takes "exp" embroidery files and bernina embroideries are "art" files so I was poking around last night and remembered that most of my embroideries I get from embroidery library.com and they allow you to download the design in multiple formats (since now a days it is not unheard of to own multiple machines with different formats). So I went through my order history and saw that I can download in the exp format as well!!! YEA!!! doing a happy dance :0)

then I was thinking this morning that I wonder if there was a way to convert my other embroideries into exp format, (thought I read some where some time ago in my embroidery sofware manuals that I could) soI poked around in that for awhile and yup I can! I converted it to the usb bernina stick format which is exp!!!yea!!! more happy dancing then I decided if it would all come together and work in the EQ program...yes and no. Yes they were able to downloaded into the program but the thread colors were altered in the download :0( so I poked around in the EQ manual to figure out how to change the thread colors in the embroideries, yup it was there so I changed the colors on one embroidery and it worked! Ok so this is not going to be an easy or quick learning process, but I did learn something today, well several things actually....

1)That you shouldn't buy the toys unless you intend to really use them, otherwise it's just alot of expensive stuff taking up space.

2)Read all manuals from cover to cover when you get the new toys, this way you might learn how to use the new toy sooner.

3)Knowledge is deffinately power :0)

so to answer the title of this post's question, "Those with the most toys wins...or do they?" Yes they do, but only IF they learn to use them to the fullest!

Faster Than the Speed of Light-Reflection

2010-06-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well my Liberty came back last week and is back up and running!

I am really loving the new edgerider wheels, no more drag, just smooth as silk. I have already started back to doing customer quilts after my month long vacation. All though it didn't seem that long, I mean I had a list of things I wanted to get done and only a small portion actually did :0(

I was able to paint the master bedroom but never got around to painting the master bath or the closet. I quilted 3 yards of fabric (prior to sending my machine off) so I could make covers for my serger and my sewing machine, this never got finished. I did make a professional tote and my oldest picked out fabrics/notions for hers, here it is....

The main fabric is the turquoise. But I haven't found time to make it for her yet, it needs to be done before she heads back to college in the fall.

I also didn't finish my french braid quilt for my bed yet, need to finish the center and then just add the borders so it can be quilted.

I did finish piecing the AccuquiltGo Tumbler quilt though, just need to squeeze it in between customer quilts to be quilted.

I didn't have time to organize my scraps, which I was hoping to do, or get some other projects finished. I just can't figure where all of my time went? Well scratch that some of it did go to reading 5 books, yes 5. They were the Percy Jackson series about greek mythology, two of my oldest daughters are reading them so I wanted to see what they were all about. They were good, the story line/plots were very simular to the Harry Poter books in that they were both about a boy about 12 that find they are very special (Harry a wizard and Percy a Halfblood or part greek god) they both go away to learn about their destinies (one a school and the other a summer camp) they both fight evil and with each book comes a new adventure that advances with their ages. However the Harry Potter series ended after 7 books, the Percy Jackson books have the potential to keep going, at least for now.

Also some time was spent going to BBQs, Confirmation parties and Blackhawk (hockey) parties, We have been invited to parties every weekend for the past month, some times even 2 per weekend. It's hard to get things done when time is not your own, plus with the kids home from school for the summer the first few weeks there is always some adjusting with time managing as well.

Oh I almost forgot, my copy of my EQ7 upgrade came yesterday!

At first glance there doesn't seem to be many changes to the basic program, the improvements are mostly with the digital pics you can now add to your quilt lay outs and more improvements to the advanced program, hmmmm I guess in order to feel like I got my moneys worth on this upgrade I will need to push myself to learn more of the EQ program than just the basic stuff, something that has been on my to do list for many years now. :0)

Sneak Peek at the New Bali Pops

2010-05-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

The one one the left is Blue Hawaiian, the center is Grasshopper and the one on the right is Mango Margarita

The one one the left is Pink Lemonade, the center is Sangria, and the last one on the right is Zinfandel.

My 3 favorites are Mango Margarita, Pink Lemonade and Sangria. All of these are due out in the fall (Sept/Oct). I can't wait till these come out, I just love Bali Pops!

A Doodlebug's Swap

2010-05-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

I decided to do a block swap today, it's been a long time since I did one and it just so happens that my friend Shannon (Doodlebug) is hosting one...

click here to check it out if you want to do it as well, should be loads of fun.

Here are the fabrics that I bought today for the swap lots of brights :0)

And here is my block, shhhh, don't tell anyone what it looks like, I want it to be a surprise, lol!

Now I just need to piece 11 more :0)

Poker Night

2010-05-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

Last night was our turn to host the neighborhood poker night, it use to be once a month the Friday night closest to the 15th of the month and rotates among those that usually are the regulars. This year however the guys decided to do it every other month due to busy lives etc... this month was our turn but had other commintments last week so it got pushed back a week.

Anyways like everything that we do we tend to always go big when it comes to these things, not that it was planned to be this way but it is just how it turned out, lol. Ok perhaps it was because it is close to the end of the school year, maybe because of the 100 degree temp yesterday or even because the Blackhawks (hockey) were playing on TV last night (BTW they won!!!) but what ever it was Poker Night turned quickly into a full blown party. And of course there was no poker being played, lol.

We are originally from the south suburbs of Chicago relocated in the AZ desert and we are fortunate enough to live in a subdivision that have quite of few other families from that area, good friends and neighbors. When we get together bud lite, margaritas, lots of fun, good food are plentiful. Last night was no exception :0)

My daughter Rachel claimed the party as her own, she graduates from jr high this week and took this oppertunity to invite all of her friends to hang out in our pool and my two oldest kids invited some of their friends as well. The party went on till 2:00 AM, I haven't had a party lasting this long since my early 20's. Everyone had a good time and are already asking when the next party will be, lol I wish I would have taken pics last night but was too busy making sure everyone was enjoing themselves to worry about a camera.

Was going to paint the Master Bath this weekend but it might not get done, not because of a hangover or anything, suprisingly I don't have one, I took 2 Tyenol before going to bed last night and slept 7 hours, woke up fine. But just not in the mood for painting, perhaps some sewing will get done instead.

Spa Treatment

2010-05-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with Amy from APQS, where my Liberty is getting her much needed spa treatment. She said that my machine was in pretty good shape for as many quilts that I do each month and she told me what they had done to her so far (which the cost was below what I though it would be) so she told me what little things they could do to improve the performance of my machine since it was a 2005 and there have been several things improved since it was made. For instance something to do with the needle bar the new one will have bearings or something that will improve my stitching/less drag when doing ruler work. Since it was comming in below budget I decided to go for the new improvements as well as buy new leaders and another dozen bobbins (you can never have too many bobbins in my opinion, LOL!). Anyways it should be finished up tomorrow if Christy gets back from being sick and either shipped back tomorrow afternoon or Monday at the latest. That means I should have it by May 28 or June1 at the latest. So I should be able to meet my deadlines, yea! :0)

French Braid Quilt

2010-05-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

This is a french braid quilt I am doing for my master

bedroom that just got a new coat of paint. The pattern is from "French Braid Quilts" by Jane Hardy Miller and the one I am doing is called "Big Red". The fabrics I am using are from 2 of the Marcus Brother's collections, "Metro Blue" and "Metro Blue Remix" I fell in love with the metro blue fabrics a few years back when it first came ou but didn't buy enough of it to do anything I wanted to do with it. So when the remix came out last year I knew exactly what I wanted to do and so bought the additional fabrics I needed to do the braid quilt I wanted. However I am only using the quilt pattern in the book for the center of my quilt because I have a king size bed and I need it to be bigger tan what the actual pattern allows for and I didn't want to do all of the math to make the center of the quilt bigge to fit my needs. So there will be added boarders, some pieced some not, you will have to stay tuned to see what I come up with. But it won't be too long of a wait since I want to have the piecing finished by the end of May when my Liberty is due back and when my mini vacation will be over.

Droid :0)

2010-05-15T15:20:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love that word?..."DROID" Reminds me of the 80's band "Devo" and their old song "Whip It", LOL!!! Who could forget those ridiculus red plastic hats and those coveralls they use to wear in their music videos and on stage. Ok so this post is really not about the 80's (where I spent my teen years) or anything about the craziness of an adolescent.

However it is about this...

It's called "DROID" and it's a cell phone plus a whole lot more!

So here's some background info to get you all up to speed-

We have our family cell phone plan/coverage through Verizon and all of my kids (except the twins), Chris and I have cell phones, unlimited text (a must have when you have a teenager, let alone 3 of them). Anyways my little old pink Razor phone has been long over due for a trade in, like 2 years over due...and back in March my 3 teen's phones came due for a trade in/upgrade (which they have been hounding us to since January.

Anyways My oldest moved back from college this week for the summer and said she wanted to upgrade her phone so yesterday Chris took her to the Verizon store (since she is a working girl now she is responsible for her own upgrade even though she is still on our family cell phone plan). She liked the Droid right away (because it looks like and does alot of what the IPhones do). And since the Droid is buy one get one free, Chris really wanted the freebie for himself but since I have voiced that I wanted a new phone this year with a key pad he decided that I should get the freebie :0) also since this Droid model comes with internet access with an additional fee of course, he figured that we could write off the monthly internet fee as a business expense. So Gecko Quilts now will have 2 e-mail accounts and 2 phone #'s. Eventually the thinking is that all Gecko Quilt communications will go through the cell phone/ DROID.

This is a side view of the "Docking" station for the Droid so it can sit on a desk used as a clock, photo gallery(it also takes pics), music device, oh and it can play video/movies! The only thing it can't do is housework, & make dinner while I am either playing with this thing or quilting!

You can also buy.....

Skins, so you can personalize it more to your liking! I bought this cool red skin, it has 2 pieces, a front and a back. However when you dock it you have to take off the back skin. I love this skin it has a soft feel to it's touch, like a rose petal has, it's pretty cool. And evertime you turn it on it says "DROID" in a deep electronic type voice, which is what reminds of the Band Devo and the whole 80's thing.

With my last phone, I didn't use it too much. It basically sat in my purse and used for emergancies only when I was out. But when Vicki (my oldest) and Chris brought this one home for me they said welcome to the 21st century and my daughter said hopefully this will get me to use my cell more than just for emergancies. Needless to say I spent allafternoon and last night getting to know my new phone/ media device. I downloaded ALOT of free apps and games. Oh I forgot to mention that it has a GPS APP on it! and I also downloaded a mapquest app (since I already know that one). The only thing left to do to it is start downloading my favorite music, you tube videos (there is also a you tube app), movies and favorite pics!

Making the Best of My Down Time

2010-05-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

What does a professional quilter do when her machine is getting some work done on it? She sews! and this past weekend I made this cute tote!

This is the front.

The pattern I used is called the "Professional Tote" by "The Creative Thimble".

I do have to confess, I was a bit intimidated by this project because I haven't done any crafty type projects like this before. But it was pretty easy and it went quickly too. Which is a suprise since it can have 11-12 pokets on it. I wanted to make this tote for my lap top, from the dimensions listed it seemed like it would fit, but it doesn't :0( see I have a wide screen laptop and this tote has a zipper to close the main sections close and the tote is designed to have this zipper section a little smaller than the actually tote. The zipper was an 18" one, my laptopcould fit into the tote if the zipper was a 20" one...hmmmm maybe the next tote I make I will have to modify this part of the pattern.

Here's what it looks like inside the tote.....

Lots of room for stuff and alot of pockets inside and out.

Heres a pic of the back.....

I was also a little skeptical of how sturdy this would be, but when it was done I am really impress with how sturdy it is!, It uses Pellon's Deco-Bond fusible interfacing and almost all of the pieces was fused with the stuff.

Although I am not a fan of the expense it cost to make it, after you buy the 3 different fabrics (main, contrast, and lining) 3 zippers, cord locks, deco-bond, cording (I used suede lacing), and nylon webbing it added up to a pretty pricey tote. But that won't stop me from making more., LOL my 2 older daughters each want one and then I still need to do something about my lap top.

A Little of This...

2010-05-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

And a little of that.

Friday morning after dropping kids off at school Chris and I headed over to the UPS store to say my goodbyes to my machine...it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it should arrive at the factory on Thursday but I will be without her 3 weeks or so, depending how many are before her. I talked to Kristy at APQS and told her when to expect it.

So without a quilt on my machine to keep me busy I baked some peach muffins and finished piecing a queen size tumbler quilt. I have a feeling I will be getting lots done piecing wise (like Shannon did when her beloved Nemo took a holiday) and I will probably end up gaining 10 lbs! ;0)

Was going to start painting my master bed/bath this week comming up but it has been pushed back a week do to scheduling conflicts with the hubby (he paints the ceilings).

Saturday is Chris' B-day, he's heading to the golf course in the morning and I get to bake him a cake. I always bake the "Hershey's perfectly chocolate, chocolate cake" (the one on the Hershey's cocoa canister) for all of the B-days except my son's, he prefers a lemon cake over the chocolate. And I am hoping to work on a tote for my lap top.

Stressed Out

2010-05-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

We packed my Liberty up last night to send her back to the factory for her Maitenance/ Spa Treatment. She goes to the UPS store on Friday. And today I feel very stressed out, about it :0(

I don't know if it has to do with seperation anxiety or not knowing how much the whole thing is going to cost, or worrying about whether or not she will get to her destinations (first to the factory and then back home) safe and sound. Am I nuts? Maybe I shouldn't be asking this question, because I can just imagine what some of you are thinking about that last comment, LOL!

Anyways, until I know for sure what the cost will be I need to stay away from stores and websites that may entice me to spend $$$

I am also DREADING painting my master bed and bath, it is a huge space with volted ceilings and I know that I am going to be so sore (from going up and down the ladder) for a week after. So it is hard to say for sure what is my true source of stress is comming from. Maybe a combo from both...where's the chocolate? ;0)

UFO's

2010-05-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

We all have them, some have more than others, some are in various stages and some are just thoughts of inspiration. No matter what, if you are a quilter chances are you have them. I know I do.

So with my machine getting packed up and being sent back to the factory later this week for it's spa trip, I decided this would be a great time to get some things done. Such as repainting the master bedroom and bath (long over do) was suppose to be done last summer but got talked into doing 2 kids bedrooms instead. So on Mother's day Chris is going to paint the ceilings and then on that MondayI will paint the walls.

Next I plan on getting some UFO projects done...

1) quilted sewing machine and serger covers (quilted the yardage for them yesterday) just need to cut the pieces out and bind the edges...will post pics of it when done but for now this is the fabric that I using

Then I plan on moving on to this project,

This is a tumbler patch quilt that I am making to use my CL Swirls template on, won't take much to finish this one probably a day at most.

This one just needs some applique flowers in the center of this quilt, then it will be done.

Must finish these 7 Christmas Stockings and get them quilted with the matching Tree Skirt before this Christmas (this UFO has been unfinished for too many years).

Then there is this one from 5" scraps, it will be a lap size quilt when finished.

This one is all Moda Sunshine fabrics using the Moda U Chocolate pattern with a little modification to turn it into a king size quilt for my bed.

So these are the 6 UFO projects that I am going to try to get done (pieced not quilted) by the end of May. 6 projects in 4 weeks and paint a large master bed/bath, I have alot to do. I will post each one as I get them finished.

....and Then There Were Two

2010-05-02T14:08:00.000-07:00

No your eyes aren't playing tricks on you...there really is 2 geckos. Tiger is the one on the right and the new one, Tony is on the left. I know the names are kinda cheesy, Tony/ Tiger but I had nothing to do with the names. The kids & husband did. Any ways we were heading out of the hose through the garage to take my oldest back to college a few weeks back and Tony was right next to our mini van, maybe he wanted to hitch a ride down to Tucson. Well as soon as the kids saw it they started pleading with Chris to catch it, which he did and so a new pet/ mascot was brought into an already crowded home, lol. They seem to get along well enough, I mean it's been 2 weeks and they are both still living. And check this out.....

Tony also likes the cricket box!, That's him peeking up at me through the window. So now we have 2 crazy geckos living with us, I guess I have to quilt more quilts to keep them happily fat with crickets!

Turmoil, No More

2010-04-15T13:37:00.000-07:00

For the past few days I have been in turmoil about what I should do about my APQS Liberty. It is 5 years old and since day 1 I have had issues with my wheel/table adjustments (everything else about my machine has been perfect for the most part). Anyways I was planning on sending my Liberty back to the factory for it's LONG over do "Spa Treatment" this summer, it needs it's grease box repacked, needs a new hook assembly, the mother/daughter boards checked (because I started having problems with my stitch regulator increasing stitches on it's own), my needle bar needs a minor tweak etc...basically a little pampering will do it a world of good.I want to do it in May because I can block some time out easier with my customers since the snow birds will be gone and business slows a little.

Ok so the spa thing is not what has had me in turmoil. APQS announced this week that they have a newtable/carriage system for their machines called "Bliss" from what I have learned and read it will address all the wheel tweaking/table truss issues that have been an issue for me since day 1. The problem is that it costs $3K for the upgrade :0( and altough this sounds like it would solve all of my issues with drag etc... I was having a hard time with the cost. If I was planning on keeping my Liberty for decades than this would have been a no brainer. But I would really like to upgrade to a larger APQS machine (maybe the Freedom SR) in 4-5 years and then eventually add the computer upgrade to it. So if I add the Bliss system now it will take me that much longer to save for the larger machine.

I started asking questions about the edgerider wheels for my Liberty, I got ALOT of great feedback from friends at the APQS forums and decided that I can achieve the smooth as silk glide at a much cheaper cost if I just change out my wheels and make an adjustment to my table's truss. Then this will allow me to have the $ to send my Liberty back to the factory for her spa treatment. It will be like having a new machine when she gets back together and I can have some fun practcing my custom quilting this summer. And while she is gone I will have time to piece some quilts of my own.

Oh and having the taxes done and between the state & feds actually getting some $ back which also eases turmoil, LOL