Far away friends...

Awhile back I designed my version of a sewing mat, the Stitching Oasis Sewing Machine Apron. I offered to let a few online friends try out the pattern for me and Heather jumped right on it. She searched through her stash, and came up with these lovely blues.

She sent me pictures of her progress and finished it quickly. 

Getting ready to quilt.

Ironing surface and pocket added.

attached pincusion

Ready to use! I love her cute chair too.

 Another online friend, Connie, used my Peas in a Pod pattern to make this adorable baby quilt.

 She quilts on her domestic sewing machine...I love these cute flowers.

She has a great backdrop for pictures...I wonder if I could build a deck....

 What baby wouldn't love this bright, cheery quilt!

More pretty quilting.

 Both of these patterns are available in my Craftsy store!

Many years ago, I joined several Yahoo quilting groups online. Over time, I dropped some for different reasons, but always stuck with one of them, Country Quilters. I developed some great friendships with people in the group and as the yahoo group seemed to become less active, we all joined Facebook and caught up with each other there. We have been talking about how much fun it would be to go on a retreat together for years, and it's finally going to happen in July. Several of us are from the Midwest, but we have quilters coming from Tennessee, Florica, Calif. and Oregon. Since Iowa is central, we are meeting in Exira, IA at Log Cabin Quilting's Retreat. Heather and Connie are part of this group. It will be so much fun to meet these talented quilters next month!

New beginnings and a winner!

We got off to a great start last Thurs. night when the new quilters started sewing their new fabrics in to blocks! That's exciting anytime you have new fabric, but especially so when it's your first quilt.

They are definitely going to be pretty quilts! I can't wait until this week to see how many they got made...yes, they had homework!

Marta took the Modern Cathedral Windows class last month and brought this show and tell on Sat. to show me her new windows. She sized it down a bit, sewed the main parts together by machine and is going to handsew the windows down. Pretty.....

 Notice how she fussy cut the flowers in the centers of one and made a design using darker fabrics in the center of the other.

Rafflecopter chose the winner of the $25 GC to Fat Quarter Shop this morning \ /  \ /  \ / drumroll, please.... Maryellen McAuliffe will be making something very pretty soon with her new purchases at Fat Quarter Shop! Thanks to FQS for sponsoring this giveaway, and Maryellen, please stop back and share what you got!

On to the finish line!

Nancy

Last night the beginners started the process of finishing their More Peas in a Pod quilts. They learned to piece the back to fit and layer it with the batting and their quilt tops.We talked about the fact that whether you are hand quilting, quilting on your home machine or tying your quilt, the layering process is the same. They pinned it securely to keep all of the layers in place. Nancy is all smiles as she starts to tie her quilt.

Debbie's quilt, Kathy helping

Debbie gets some help from Kathy as she bastes the outer edge of her quilt. Kathy is having her quilt machine quilted, but wanted to join us to learn the layering and tying process. She will bind her quilt next week along with the others. (yes, we know a very nice quilter who agreed to get it finished quickly!)

Deb

Deb had a directional print for her backing fabric, so they all learned another way to piece the back so that the fabric is going the direction you want it too. 

Martha and Nancy

I usually have some of the quilters come early to this class so that I can help one or two at a time, instead of all 6. There aren't enough tables to have them all laid out at the same time, either. Martha came early and just layered and basted her quilt. She is going to try to quilt it herself with her home machine. She will be out of town next week, so we made plans to meet on another date so she can learn to make and attach her binding.

Martha's quilt

Since she was finished early, she and Kathy helped the others with the pinning and basting of their quilts. It was like an old fashioned quilting bee! Shirley went on vacation so she and I will get together at a later date so she can finish hers.

I'm excited to see finished quilts next week!

Beginning Piecing, More Peas in a Pod

Last Thursday I started a new Beginning Piecing class, teaching More Peas in a Pod. We went over quilting basics, and I showed them how to cut using a rotary cutter. I gave them some fabric to practice on to get the feel of cutting with the blade and using their rulers.  They cut some of their new fabrics and sewed the center strips together.

Last night they cut them up into sections of  "peas" and practiced more cutting as they cut their coordinating fabrics for the pods. I think they are feeling more comfortable with the cutting aspect this week....it's pretty scary to cut into that new fabric the first time.

 It is fun to see the fabrics you chose start to come together as blocks in a quilt. I think they were surprised at their own talent! We had a few discussions about color and placement of fabrics.

It's really fun for me to work with beginners and see their excitement as they begin to build that first quilt. Next week they will start putting their blocks together. 

It's a giveaway!

Have I mentioned that I'm so excited about being published in a national quilt magazine that I'm hosting several giveaways this week?  Well I am! Many of you know that I teach quilting classes and that I design many of the quilts I teach, so I thought it would be fun to give away one of my other patterns. 

This is the popular Circle and Spin quilt...make circles without headaches or fear! It is one of my favorites because the blocks are quickly put together and you can use a variety of fabrics. I love it made with batiks, but have also used asian fabrics. I have taught it numerous times, most recently last weekend,  and  have made several, including one for each of my three daughters.

 Starflower Cascade is a newer design that I made last summer to enter in a contest. I really love the ombre effect this quilt has and think it would be so pretty made out of bright colors for a kid's quilt.

I have several for sale on Craftsy. Just visit my Craftsy store for more views of each one and see which one you like!

 Miss Tess  is my newest design and is fun and easy to make! It's a great design to use up fat quarters you've been collecting!

 Which Way is Up is a fun quilt with geese flying in different directions. Another great scrap quilt.

 Peas in a Pod  is easy enough for a beginner, in fact I have been teaching a version of it to beginners the past few weeks.

Tangled in the Kite Strings is stringpiecing at its best.

Twisterweave was a mystery quilt originally too...It's hard to tell where one block ends and the next begins in this one!

To enter, all you have to do is follow me here or like me on my Quiltinjeanie Designs Facebook page and leave a comment after this post telling me which pattern you want if you win! It's that easy. I will pick a winner on Sunday, March 9. Feel free to share this giveaway with your friends!

Beginners dig in....

I met with the beginning piecing class last night....they are getting close to a finished quilt top. It was fun to see their quilt centers take shape.

They had time to cut their first border before class ended and we talked about measuring to make sure both of the side borders were the same length.

You can see my version hanging on the wall behind the door!

Our crazy snowstorm yesterday didn't end up sticking to the streets for long, but it was wet and wild while it lasted. It's supposed to warm up a bit today and then we are back to more normal highs for this time of year....20s and 30s. I'm off tomorrow, so I hope to get caught up at home a little and maybe do some quilting.

More Peas in a Pod beginning piecing....

The quilters in my beginning piecing class are off to a great start! They worked on putting their Peas in a Pod blocks together Thursday night.

They were excited to see the blocks fit together like they are supposed to!

Lots of different colorways and beautiful fabrics!

They had a little homework this time....finish the 12 blocks.

When we meet next week, they will start sewing the blocks together.

This is the quilt they are making. 

quiltinjeanie designs