The Perfect Little Iron

Take a look at this baby . . . I was introduced to it by someone in a class I taught recently.

It's a cute little purple Rowenta travel iron, perfect for classes and retreats and also great for taking along on vacation or whatever.

I sometimes find the big iron a tad clumsy when I'm working on small blocks and I never thought small irons heated up enough. BUT, this one does the trick. And, the best part is--it works just as well as a full-size iron. When I saw how hot it got, I knew it'd be perfect for pressing my little blocks and getting into some of those tiny corners when I'm working on my Dear Jane blocks too.

I had to have one and so yesterday I zipped over to my local Bed Bath & Beyond (with my handy dandy 20% off coupon, of course—I always keep a batch in the car. You do know that they even accept expired coupons, don't you??).

After getting it home and trying it out myself, I must say I am not disappointed—it heats up quickly and glides nicely and it's sooo light but does a heavy job with steam. Since I'm usually not pressing huge quilts or sheets or anything, this is working out perfectly for me and my little blocks. If little blocks are your thing and you’re in the market for an iron that's compact and light that does a heavy duty job, go for this one—it works like a charm and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

My husband sure doesn't get it but working with cute little accessories either in colors I like or that are nice to look at makes it more fun. Like my heart-shaped scissors--I get a kick every time I look at them, they're so cute and functional too. (I just love hearts, you know.)

Same with pretty bowls and mugs—I love drinking out of pretty mugs and almost don't mind washing them by hand if they're aesthetically pleasing to look at. I find that my to-do lists get done faster when I write them neatly on pretty paper too. Go figure. Must be the visual thing. I think it's easy to get  inspired when we surround ourselves with colors and images we love.

We'll actually be in the market for a new vacuum soon—maybe I can find a pretty blue one to help make THAT chore more fun?? Actually, I doubt even a blue one would help me in that area . . .

Rainy Days, Good News and Jane

It poured this morning and is supposed to rain for the next few days and now our backyard is sort of a big puddle in the back. But everything is getting greener and greener and greener and buds are beginning to appear on the trees and shrubs. 

Don't you love the smell of wet earth? 

  

The rain makes me want to stay inside and quilt, but that's not what everyone else around here wants to do, so right after I walk the dogs I'll get some sewing in. I think I'm not the only one who's anxious for Spring . . .

You never know what you'll find in a puddle if you get really really close . . .

C'mon, Mom--hurry up already! (I've lost all my own "puppy" energy.)

So now I'm finally getting back to making a few more blocks for the Dear Jane quilt I started this year. I think I'll make an easy one today. The pieces are already cut out. Sometimes I spend time just preparing the blocks and then they're ready whenever I'm ready.

Some of the blocks are hand pieced, some are machine pieced, and guess what? I made one yesterday using foundation paper piecing. Good for me! I've always dreaded the thought, but I needed to learn. I'm thinking once I get it down it'll make many of the blocks a lot easier. I think I need to make a few before I get the hang of it. Right after I make some more easy ones, LOL.

I have to say, I'm loving the Dear Jane software by EQ. It makes it really EASY to make some of the blocks instead of tracing them from the book. I love easy. You can print out the foundation patterns or the rotary cutting directions for some of the more straight-forward blocks. Can you tell I'm trying to encourage everyone to make this quilt?? So much fun, can't tell you. I'm up to 18 finished ones already.

I'll be using these fabrics today:

You know I love red and blue . . .

With Dear Jane I don't need to go out and buy more fabric, my "old" scraps will do just fine, thank you very much.

*  *  This just in:  *  *

                        

 Picked up the mail today after our walk and guess what:  Remembering Adelia is now in its 4th printing!! What a nice surprise. I have all of you to thank for this--I knew you'd like her.

                                 

I was just thinking about Adelia today too--and the day in 1861 it rained so much the carriages couldn't get through the mud on the roads and the girls couldn't get to the depot to see the soldiers off.

                            

Thank you for liking it! (I promise I won't go into a Sally Field moment here. . . but I'm close.)

Happy Easter, Happy Spring

Look what's peeping out in my garden-- 

Won't be long now!

  

This is the time of year when a quilter's fancy turns to--PASTELS! Or at least mine does . . . I don't usually work with brights or pastels very often but I definitely get the urge in Spring.

This little Feedsack Flower Garden quilt (from American Doll Quilts) is one of my all-time favorite springtime quilts and honestly, it's so much fun I've made several over the years. If you don't have the book to follow the pattern, it's easy. First, get out your '30s scraps. 

         

For each block, trace five hearts ( I used a 1 3/8-inch template) onto fusible web (I used Lite Steam-A-Seam 2). Then fuse them onto the wrong side of assorted pastel fabric scraps, cut out and fuse onto a 4-inch light background square in a circle. (If you're making the quilt with 12 blocks, yes, that's 60 hearts you have to cut out . . . )

Sew the blocks together into 4 rows of 3. Hand quilt in the ditch along the blocks and along the outside of the "flower" about 1/16 inch away from the edge to make it puff up a bit and give it that hand applique look without the work of applique. Give the flowers a good shot of steam to make the fabric pucker a little. To make the scalloped design in the borders, I used a small cup to make the curves.

Gosh darn cute!

Today I'm making a Carrot Cake for Easter dessert:

Carrot Cake

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups oil

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

4 carrots, grated

 Still have to find a recipe for a good cream cheese frosting, yum.
 
 

 
I hope you all have a great Easter holiday! I'll let you know how the cake turned out . . . .

Nothing Too Quilty Going On

I'd love to show you all the great projects and fabulous quilts I have been working on since the book was finished and turned in. But I've been busy with life and other things and I'm also guilty of taking a break after working so furiously and so there hasn't been too much quilting going on these days. Oh, I appliqued another Dear Jane block in the car on the drive to take my son back to school last Sunday (my husband drove), but that's it.

I've also been working with my technical editor who's cleaning up the manuscript and patterns in my book so that all of you can make the quilts without any mistakes in the directions. Then she'll send the pages back to me for a revision/review. It will go through several edits before we see the page proofs sometime this summer--the final pages before printing.

I've been working on some boring but necessary things like collecting permissions for the photos and quotes and also documenting the sources of the quotes as well as hunting for and getting together some antique photos and other 19th century artifacts and newspaper clippings (this part is not so boring!). This is for the design department at Martingale & Co. so they can use them in the design of the book pages and as props for some of the photos of the quilts.

Newspaper ad from the 1800s

It's sort of difficult not to be involved in this process at all--I turn quilts and stuff in and then sit back and wait. I'm always pleasantly surprised to see how the book turns out, how the publisher makes my ideas come to life. The waiting  is hard for me too, trust me. But at least I know what's going to be in it so I do have that advantage. Sometimes I can't remember what the quilts look like and it's always fun to get them back months later, after they take photos.

In the meantime I  told you I was on the road again and so here are a couple of photos from two of my recent lectures in Illinois. It's so much fun to travel around and meet some of you! Look closely, maybe you'll see yourselves!

March is still pretty dreary in northern Illinois . . . and it was still really really cold and windy as of last week.

   

I love waiting for everyone to come in  and browsing through the crowd . . . Each guild has it's own personality. Will they like my little quilts?? I haven't had a heckler yet . . .

Nice to see a big crowd--you never know. I remember one time last year I had scheduled a lecture in mid-January and the temperature was -15 degrees without the wind chill. Only about 1/2 the guild braved the cold and came out to hear me speak that night.

Before I began, at my suggestion, the lights were turned out so everyone could see my PowerPoint presentation a little better.

The program was in a different location this time and my "hosts" weren't aware that the new building had energy saving lights. When they were turned off, they wouldn't go back on again. Oh no! My fault for making them turn the lights off! We were all worried that no one would be able to see my quilts. Luckily, by the time I was finished they were back on. Whew!

That's me up there, in black, in the center. 

The next week I drove to DeKalb, IL for a program and workshop. The corn belt.

Smaller crowd but fun ladies with lots of great stories! I get to see THEIR show & tell before they get to see MY show & tell.

Quilters setting up for the workshop to make the little Bear's Paw quilt from Prairie Children & Their Quilts.

                                   

Darn, I forgot to take pictures of their finished tops. Here's mine.

 

After the workshop, I visited a wonderful quilt shop that was nearby--Tammy Tadd Designs in Sycamore, Illinois.

                                      

Mostly brights and modern fabrics. I picked up some wonderful little bundles of pastel plaids and florals to go with my recently purchased sweet polka dot fat quarters for a little Springtime project.

Not my usual style, but I sure love these old-fashioned pastel prints. So romantic.

I'm a sucker for anything containing fabric that's wrapped up and tied with a pretty bow!