I’m Walkin’ on Sunshine….

Here is your new Tuesday ear worm, ready to play its way through your day!

Arizona sunshine has been a part of my winter routine all the way back to my high school years when my Grannie and Grandpa John first became snowbirds, arriving from Minnesota sometime around October and returning to their home base in Minneapolis sometime around early May.

They built their casa in Rio Verde when I was about 16, and we made it a point of coming to spend time around our birthdays together as often as possible.

Even during my school years in California, it was a welcome respite from the day to day routine of life.

As a young mother living in Idaho, it felt like such a gift to leave my kids in the care of The Hubster as I went to recharge my batteries around my birthday.

Yesterday morning was cool and glorious, and Sharolyn and I set out to take a long morning walk while talking up a storm over things that have happened over the past year since I was here last.

Winter in Arizona lasts all of about 3 weeks.

Take a look at this tree branch from Sharolyn’s front yard – blossoms are already gone, leaves are starting!

Oh, the wondrous hope of spring to come!

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Movie Time, Family Time, Friend Time and Quilty Box Drawing Time!

THIS Quilty Box of Beauty is being drawn for this morning!

It’s got everything you need to set you on your own English Paper Piecing journey with fabric, thread, hexagon template, paper pieces and Bundles of Inspiration magazine to get you started.

once you fall in love with EPP there is no turning back!

The original post for this gift-away contains all of the details about the products and fabric collection designer, Elizabeth Olwen. 

Now we can get all of that gorgeous fabric and other goodies in this box on their way to their new destination:

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I Went to a Garden Party….

I went to a Garden Party, to reminisce with my old friends…

Do I have your latest ear worm taking a strong hold yet?

I so loved yesterday's Garden Party workshop from my book Addicted to Scraps!  

What’s not to like about temps in the low 70s at the end of January?

And the fact that we had to turn the A/C ON because it was “Getting warm in here!” inside the class room space at 35th Ave Sew &Vac?

But honestly – would have been just as lovely should I have been somewhere back east in the cold as long as I was surrounded by wonderfully fun and creative women as have filled our spaces while I’ve been in Phoenix this week.

And OH, the shenanigans!  The shout outs posted to friends far away, funny photo ops  trying to make ourselves look seriously tough:

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Idaho Square Dance–Arizona Style!

This is what I love doing best!

I LOVE being able to share the things I’ve learned over my 35+ years journey in patchwork and quilting.

Sometimes it’s the most simple of adjustments that can make what is extremely frustration to a newbie make all of the difference when it comes to getting units and blocks to come out the right size, fit together without pulling or bunching, and having seams that nest for sharp connections.

Oh sure, there is always going to be a need for a seam ripper and a bit of sliver trimming – but we want that part to be the least tedious so we can enjoy more of what we love doing – watching that design come together, bringing our quilt vision to life in fabric and in thread.

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Emeralds of Many Colors!

If you think Emeralds can only come in green, think again! 

We gathered yesterday in the new event center at 35th Ave Sew & Vac in Phoenix, Arizona for the first workshop day of our 3-day series – Emerald City from my book String Frenzy!

And what a day we had!  The new event center is such an awesome space – we had close to 50 folks sewing away, and it was WONDERFUL!

One of the reasons I do not promote sewing from kits with my workshops is that it eliminates individual creativity, and stops us from observing possibilities we didn’t even know we liked – you might see your neighbor working on a color combo that you’d never given a second thought to, and suddenly you KNOW you have to try that with your next quilt.

And we had SO many awesome color combos going yesterday!

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From Phoenix with Love!

This is Sherri’s Pineapple Crazy from String Fling!

Oh – hold on to your hats folks – she went way above and beyond what I did and made this gigantic beauty nearly king size with 400 blocks coming to 100’’ x 100’’!

This photo is from the show & share portion of yesterady’s presentation event at 35th Ave Sew & Vac in Phoenix where I am teaching this week. 

I was blown away by everyone’s gorgeous quilts, but I swear – the entire room stopped breathing when Sherri unfurled her Pineapple Crazy.

Take a look at the full sized photo here .  It’s AMAZING!

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All the Way to Phoenix.

This quilt traveled with me to Phoenix yesterday.

Not as part of my Lecture/Trunk Show really – but because someone I love dearly is turning 80 in about 2 weeks.

I know I am so blessed beyond measure to have parents that are not only surviving, but truly THRIVING into their 80s.  And what else does a quilter daughter do when someone reaches such a huge milestone in their lives?  We give quilts to those we love most because there is love in every stitch!

During our Thanksgiving in Virginia, Dad commented on how he loves snuggling under my quilts, as it’s like being surrounded by hugs no matter how far away I am.

OF COURSE you can have another quilt for your birthday, dad! 

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January ‘20 Quilty Box Gift-Away!

It’s a brand new year, and a brand new adventure for the folks at Quilty Box!

There are a few new faces in the Bundles of Inspiration magazine – The same folks that give you so much inspiration at Paper Pieces, are now the new owners of Quilty Box!

I am so excited about this transition – this means:

1. World class customer service from actual quilters!
2. Extremely fast shipping! (Always a good thing!)
3. Increased value with more quilting notions including templates we know you will love!

Our January Quilt Box is full of so much quilty goodness:

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The Sunday Evening Aftermath.

This is what happens with a burst of quilt creativity!

We used to joke about our son Jeff – that when walking into the kitchen you could see just where he’d been and what he’d had – as every cabinet door he’d opened remained open. Just connect the dots – it was all there.  And usually the lights were still on long after he’d gone.

I guess he comes by it honestly! LOL!  Because I do the same thing with my quilting.

An idea starts – and out come the Scrap User’s System strips in the sizes that I need – the color families that I need – bundles unfurling into endless variety, making it so easy to pull together just what I want and need.  

You can tell what I've been up to by looking at my cutting table!

It’s the putting it back that takes a bit of time – not as much as you would think – but it does take a bit of discipline not to just throw these in a box and close the lid.

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