Open House

Saturday was the Open House at my local quilt shop, Sew Much for Quilting, where I'll be teaching a bunch of classes this fall.  I'm teaching a class on scalloped borders and binding, one on T-shirt Quilts, and also the Quilting 101 and 301 classes (6 each.)  This Friday 8/29 is also the last class in my Sleep Mat Workshop, so we'll be finishing those.

As for today, I realized that we are at exactly 2 months until the Houston show begins (International Quilt Market), and with the Labor Day and our local Shop Hop yet to come, there's going to be a lot of work left to do without much time.  Today, since I didn't have any pressing deadlines, I'm spending some time catching up on some projects that I've put on hold.  One of which is an expansion of my Idea Book for the Quilter's 2 1/2" Toolkit.  I've been wanting to add information about the use and capabilities of each of the individual pieces and now I'm about half way through.  This will add another 4-5 pages to the Idea Book, which I'll be reposting on my website once it's done.

I've also decided to add a paper copy of the template into the Bethlehem Star Tree Skirt pattern, so if you bought the pattern, and don't already have the Quilter's 2 1/2" Toolkit set and need a paper template, email me at: email@LilacCottageDesigns.com for a copy and I'll send it to you.

Another summer gone- well not quite

Well, It's August again, and as far as school is concerned, summer is over.  I wish they had told the weather, because it's definitely still too hot.  But the good thing about August in Phoenix is that July is over, and soon we'll be on the down hill slide to cooler weather.  By September it should start getting a little cooler, and by October, we'll be back down into the double digits.

Of course, as every mother of school age children knows, school starting is also a flurry of activity.  We've been running all over town buying clothes and school supplies, everything from backpacks and lunch bags, to new sneakers.  But they're finally back in school.  Which means a few blessed hours of peace and quiet to regain my sanity.  I hadn't noticed how much I had gotten used to having them around, until I realized that this was the first time I'd been alone in the house for almost 3 months!  While I have found that I can sew projects while the kids are around, I'm just not able to concentrate enough to do any design work.  So now that they are back in school, I'm finally able to spend some quality time designing some of the projects that have been running around my head for the past few months.

This is a good thing of course, because I have made the largest commitment to my business life so far.  I've signed up to have my own booth at the International Quilt Market in Houston, TX this October.  So the next 2 months are going to be a flurry of activity making arrangements for travel and hotels, planning my booth layout, as well as preparing samples and finishing new patterns.  I also have to get patterns printed, and a brochure handout designed.  So, I know that at least I won't be bored.

As if that wasn't enough to do, over the last 2 months I have been working with friends of mine who own a local quilt store to help them get their education program up and running.  I've done some Interior Design work for them as well, for their store expansion, and I'm teaching several upcoming classes.  So I've also been sewing class samples. (I did the one in fall colors).

On top of that, I'm also taking a class from another local store to do my first Judy Neimeyer quilt, Glacier Star!  So, if I go awhile without blogging, you now know what I'll been up to.   So long for now and Happy Quilting!

AQS Ahead!

This coming Feb. (2014) AQS will be hosting their first ever Phoenix Quiltweek.  On Feb. 5-8 2014, the Phoenix Convention Center will be flooded with thousands of quilters from all over the South and Western U.S. in search of all of the latest quilting fabrics, notions and ideas.  For a year or so I have been comtemplating having my own booth at a local show, and I finally felt that this was too good of a chance to pass up.  So, for the first time ever Lilac Cottage Designs will have a booth at the very first Phoenix Quilt week!  It will definitely be a week or firsts for me.  While I'm looking forward to seeing all of the new patterns, designs and classes that will be offered, I also know that there is a lot of work to be done to get there.  Look for more information to come as we get closer.  In the meantime, for all of my Central AZ friends, this coming Friday marks the beginning of the local Shop Hop here in Phoenix.  14 shops in 8 days.  It's going to be hectic, but it's always exciting and fun!  Can't wait to see all of the new stuff.  I'll also be demonstrating my template set, The Quilter's 2 1/2" Toolkit, at In Stitches on select days, so if you get a chance, come on by and see it!

A little over a year ago, I decided to take out the wall to wall closet in my office (it was built as a bedroom), so that I could better utilize the 2 extra feet of space it would give me.  We took off the doors, eventually knocking down the stud walls, and drywalling in the open space.  At the time, my office had a carpeted floor, which worked well for a bedroom, but didn't work as well for a sewing room/office.  It had a tendency to be a magnet for bits of thread, and was a good way to hide pins.  So, I decided that I wanted to put in a laminate floor.  It was something I thought that we could do ourselves without needing to hire a professional.  Boy did I not know how much work it was leading up to.  Fast forward a year, and I finally have the money for my flooring.  We then proceed to rip out all of the baseboards in my office, and patch and paint the walls.

 

We patched, textured, and primed the closet walls.

The old concrete.  You can see where the carpet strips were, and where the old wall was.

After pulling up the old carpet, we realize that the floor isn't level enough to lay the laminate without levelling.  We had to put down self levelling compound.

I painted the walls- Surf Spray.

Primed the concrete for the self levelling.

Added new baseboards, and started to lay the floor.

After 3 days of laying floor- we're almost done.  Only 2 rows left.

So, I've been asked to create patterns for use with my Quilter's 2 1/2" Toolkit templates.  I've finished one already it's for a quilt pattern I have called City Squares.  I have pictures of the wall hanging size finished, but I am still working on the binding of the Twin Size.  Once it's done, I will take pictures and post those as well.  In the meantime, here's the pic of the wall hanging size.   I love the fabrics and the colors of this.  Here are some of the pics from it's development.

So, here are the fabrics for City Squares.

Here's my notes, and a snapshot of the quilt in EQ7.

Now cutting the strips

Sewing strips together and cutting them to size.

Sewing blocks

Sewing together blocks with sashings

Sewing it all together and adding borders and binding.

Boy, time sure does fly!  I hadn't realized it had been 6 months since my last post.  Well, since then Spring Market has come and gone, and I've decided to write a book as a companion to my template set, the Quilter's Toolkit.  I've got about 11 designs so far, and I'm planning to use about 15 or so in the book.  Haven't decided whether I will self publish, or try to contact a publisher, either way, I'd like to have it ready for sale at Spring Market 2014.  I'll post some teasers as I go, so you can see some of the fabrics and such.  Hopefully it will be a fun experience!

Well it's that time of year again.  Time for a fresh start.  To reevaluate our lives and see where we are headed.  Course correct as necessary, or even change direction.  For me, I'm setting myself a goal to be healthier this year.  To eat better, exercise more and just feel better.  After turning 40 this past year, I realized that I no longer have youth on my side.  I have to be more careful about how I treat my body in order to make sure it's going to last as long as I want.  If we all had more time in a day, we would have the time to get everything we want done, and I've always chosen other things (like family or hobbies) over taking care of myself.  So this year, I'm going to take time out for me.  In order to be the best me I can be, I need to be the healthiest me I can be.  This means taking the time to cook nutritious meals from scratch, rather than prepackaged foods full of chemicals and additives.  Getting back to the basics in life.  It's so easy for little things to change into big things, one step at a time.  I'm cutting out the excess and getting rid of the extra.  So, join me this year on my sojourn to Sanitas (Latin for Good Health), and while we're going we'll share a laugh or two, while doing something we love: quilting.  So, I raise a glass to your health and happiness.  Let's make 2013 the best year yet!  Salud!