Quilters Blog Hop Party

Hello to everyone hopping around the Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party! And thanks to Michelle for setting it all up. My name is Leslie and I do hand-guided longarm machine quilting. It's almost the 7th anniversary of starting to quilt professionally so what a great time to celebrate with a party and my first give-away. When you are done here, keep hopping along and see what all the other great blogs have to offer.

 

Quilting got into my blood back in the early 1990's when I took a beginners class- hand piecing, hand quilting, scissors and *gasp* cardboard templates. I really enjoyed it- very relaxing and satisfying, but not quick. 

 

Fast forward to 2000 when my husband's first grandson was born. I really wanted to make a baby quilt, but wanted it done before the child went off to collage! Thanks to Alex Anderson and Simply Quilts I became much more comfortable with machine piecing, rotary cutting and all the amazing quilting that could be done on your home machine. Diane Gaudynski made it look so easy! I quilted three baby quilts on my DSM and knew there must be another way. That better way arrived in April 2005 (wow how is it 7 years already?)

 
 

After a 2-day workshop from a local dealer I was hooked on longarm quilting! I needed a second job that would be flexible around my "day job" and this would be perfect. That's not to say it has all been easy. I have picked out an insane number of stitches, worked until 2:00 AM to meet a deadline and had to deal with some "creative piecing" by customers. But I learn something new every day, and don't regret my choice for a minute. I have met wonderful people, both in person and online, made friends all over the world, and gotten to work on a variety of quilts that I would never have had the skill or the interest to make for myself.

Like Carmen's Kaffe Fassett quilts...

 Or Mrs. Foster's traditional ones  This is a detail And I may have gotten carried away with the quilting, but I love my job...  

You may not know this, but longarm quilters have a secret. Besides loving fabric, and color like all quilters, we need thread...lots of thread...thick, thin, matte, shiny, solid, variegated, polyester, cotton, silk and metallic. There's always a need for one more color...one more cone or spool. Yep, my name is Leslie and I'm a Thread-a-holic. Once you try the good stuff, it's hard to go back. For me, the good stuff comes from Superior Threads. They have a great product and a wonderful education collection- Hints, tips, classes, videos- No, I'm not affiliated with them, other than being a happy customer. Superior is where I get most of my thread...and I can go through some thread. One year I threw all my thread cones in a bag as I finished them. This was the collection at the end of the year.

Those white cores are 3000 yards each, which is about 37 miles of thread. Plus the pre-wound bobbins and spools, and there were still plenty of open cones on the rack... See...


My main thread stash

And then there is the Glide thread that has it's own shelf, since it won't fit on the rack (for several reasons, like there's no room)

 And the "back stock" of my favorite Bottom Line on another shelf. The little plastic boxes to the right are bobbins. I wind several when I start a quilt and if there are any leftover, I just keep them for the next time I need that color.
 I realize there are people with much bigger thread stashes than mine, but I have hopes of catching up. I'm also willing to drag help others along with me. When I gave a friend a sample of the new Omni thread to try on her longarm she said "yeah, every good dealer gives out the first taste for free".   OK, maybe she has a point... one of the new opportunities here at The Crafty Unicorn Quilting is the Thread Co-op. Once a month we place a combined order and all the members receive 20% off most of the retail prices. Anyone is welcome, local or not, it's very informal and the rules are here Thread Co-op.

For this blog hop giveaway I really wanted to corrupt another thread-a-holic ... I mean help the winner expand their thread stash. And since I couldn't possibly decide what types or colors the winner would like, my prize is a $25.00 Gift Certificate for Superior thread to use directly on their site or through our co-op.

 

For a chance to win, leave a comment by midnight March 23 and 'fess-up... Do you ever buy thread just because it's pretty and you may need that color some day? Winner will be chosen on Saturday March 24 by Random.org. Please leave contact information in the body of your comment if you are posting anonymously.

Now HOP to it...(Sorry I couldn't resist)...



Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

 

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com

http://www.thecraftyunicorn.com/

 

  

This Saturday

This Saturday is National Quilting Day, and there's going to be a Blog Hop with fun and give-aways!
Check in here on Saturday morning for all the details.


  

Meanwhile, this is what I've been working on recently:

 

Rebecca's Flowers

Char's Pink Circus

Dianne's Disappearing 9-patch

Nancy's Baby quilt

With all those pink quilts you think, maybe, everyone's ready for spring?

 

 

Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com
http://www.thecraftyunicorn.com/

Spring Cleaning

Welcome to the blog-sale shoppers from the Quiltville Yard Sale.

Well, March is coming in like a lion here in Maine. Thursday we ended up with about 4" of snow and so far today has been wind and rain with touches of sleet. In a word...YUK. But that doesn't mean there aren't signs of spring. I saw a robin the other day, and Jordan's Snack Bar (a local fried clam take-out)
will be opening in 2 weeks so there is hope.

So, if it is spring, even philosophically, I should do some spring cleaning right? So here are a few things that can use a new home. If you are interested in any of them, email me at Leslie@TheCraftyUnicorn.com and let me know which ones and your zip code so I can figure shipping. I prefer Paypal but will take checks or money orders All are in good condition from my cat loving, but smoke free studio. And there's no extra charge for the dust.

Baltimore Beauties and Beyond Vol 1 by Ellie Sienkiewicz good condition.     $15.00  SOLD

Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! by Diana McClun & Laura Nownes. One of the great introductions to quiltmaking. Includes template and strip piecing techniques for some truely timeless designs. $10.00 

SOLD

Quilts, Quilts and More Quilts by the same innovative ladies, this sequel adds applique and some more involved blocks and settings. $10.00  SOLD

Show Stopping Quilts to Foundation piece by Tricia Lund and Judy Pollard is just that. The mariners compas and New York Beauty combined with other blocks in unique ways.  $13.00

Spoken For

Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman. One of the great quilting reference books of our time, this is now officially out of print according to her blog. $45.00   SOLD!

Gypsy Gripper ruler handle. I have several. I bought one and recieved more as gifts. They are new in the box. $5.00 each and 2 will ship for the same price as one.

Not much, but it's a start. Enjoy the rest of your blog-sale hopping and thanks for stopping by.

Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com
http://www.thecraftyunicorn.com/

Virtual Quilt Show

Just a quick note to let everyone know about a virtual quilt show going on at Circle Lord Quilt Show

Circle Lord is a whole collection of tools for use on long- and mid-arm machines that helps the quilter do amazing things. I have some of the tools and will be digging out pictures to enter.

Quilts will be posted on their blog until mid-May and then there will be 2 weeks of voting by viewers. If I were you I would start looking now. The last contest had over 300 entries and the quilts were all fabulous!

Just to give you an idea, these are some of the things that I have done with these tools...
Feather wreaths:

Intricate circle medallions:

This is the quilt I made for my niece Shelby

 and in all those spaces I put this flower pattern.

The quilts in the show will be spectacular. Go...Look...Enjoy!



Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com
www.TheCraftyUnicorn.com

Jumping back in, my word for 2012 and why I hate January...

OK, I admit it, I'm a bad blogger. I told you I was headed into an insane two weeks and it has been 2-1/2  three months. But in my defense it HAS been an insane 2-1/2 three months. I have been thinking- occasionally- how do I gracefully get back to blogging- well I quit thinking and will just jump back in.

When last seen, our heroines (that's me and Faye) were headed to quilt camp in the beautiful mountains of western Maine. It was, in a word, wonderful! More posts about this will appear shortly.  Then there was a small grey blur, children in costumes asking for candy, another medium size grey blur, a big turkey dinner, a huge grey blur where I vaguely remember a fat guy in a red suit and suddenly here we are... almost in double digits two-thirds of the way through January! I do remember that my last has-to-be-done-for-Christmas quilt was finished on Dec. 21... granted it was 2:30 AM for a delivery that afternoon, but that is still the record for "done with time to spare". Pictures of the quilts from the blurry months will also appear soon.


I have been thinking a lot about New Years Modifications. I don't like the word resolution- it sounds so inflexible and, well, things in my life need to be flexible. So I do "modifications". So many people are now picking a word to focus on for the year. That sounds like a good idea. This year my word will be:

FINISH

That means in everything...quilting and knitting UFOs (yes there are half-knitted projects too), borders for the summer mystery, things around the house, business ideas, everything. So far I'm making good progress. I have been working on getting my business paperwork organized and entered into my accounting software. Hopefully the taxes will get done before April this year.And, I resisted all the New Years Eve and New Years Day one-day mystery quilts. I have gone to quilt group meetings and worked on whatever was on top of the UFO pile. So far so good...

But that brings me to why I hate January...It's just so hard to keep that goal of Finishing, not starting in January. There's a new year STARTING, There's all kinds of lovely block-of-the-month quilts, and sew-alongs, and mystery quilts starting. Hey, I can do one measly block a month...right?... So OK, I did give in already and have started the Just Takes 2 mystery quilt... But in my defense, I am using fabric that has been on the shelf waiting for another project for years. So I have dealt with that UFO at least. And, I haven't started on the second group of blocks, since I have one left to finish from the first group. And the next batch won't be out until February 1st.  What?...That's just next week?... You're kidding me!...

This will be the only new quilt... I promise... really... except the one to teach in class... and....

OK, we will see...

Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com
http://www.thecraftyunicorn.com/

Eat, Sleep, Quilt, Repeat...

That is the routine here at Quilt Camp in Rangely. Faye & I got here about 2:00pm on Thursday, just as Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com was beginning her first workshop. We got right in and started working...

It has been great. The Inn is beautiful, the food is great and Bonnie Hunter is amazing. She did her trunk show and the pictures on the web and in her books do not do these quilts justice.

Faye and I are doing the Star Struck workshop and both of us will probably have a top finished before we leave. Yeah, it's not our usual size, but done (ready to quilt) is really good. This is Faye's top waiting for the first border.

This is some of my blocks on the design wall around lunchtime on Friday. As of bedtime (we won't say what time that was) on Friday I have 40-some blocks so Saturday I will put the rows together and do the borders.

The girls sitting across the table from us are doing the Texas Braid quilt. Those are their braid pieces hanging over the curtain rod. They even brought a mascot. That's Roscoe in the center.

Note: As of 1/21 this quilt is one step closer to finished...the backing is pieced and it is actually in line to be quilted!!!



Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com
http://www.thecraftyunicorn.com/

Quilt Camp

Just another entry in the "Insane October" list. Faye & I are off to quilt camp this morning. That's right...4 days of quilt till you wilt, with the Scrap queen of Quiltville.com herself...Bonnie K. Hunter.

We have a Bonnie Hunter here in Downeast Maine. I don't mean that metaphorically, we have a person (at least) named Bonnie Hunter. And she is a quilter...and she designs patterns...and she teaches classes... Kinda weird huh? So, when I told some folks about the retreat I was going on, they said they had heard that the Downeast Bonnie Hunter will be in Rangely to meet the North Carolina Bonnie Hunter. How cool is that?

My fabrics are pre-cut and my sewing machine is clean. Yes, it is starting another project, but I'm only doing the lap size (I think) or I'm making squares until I get to a certain point and then it will get put together as a top of whatever size. This WILL NOT become another UFO!

I'll post pictures as I can. Everybody have a great weekend.

Don't tell me not to burn the candle at both ends

Tell me where to get more wax!

leslie@theCraftyUnicorn.com
www.TheCraftyUnicorn.com