Jingle Bell Dance Panto

Here’s a better photo of the Jingle Bell Dance panto on Roxy’s quilt. I pieced an “Urban Cabin” pattern (by Atkinson Designs) in Christmas fabrics, and I plan on using this pattern on that quilt as well.

Please forgive the lousy color on this, I took it with my phone. The colors are MUCH prettier in person – rich reds, greens and golds.

Now I’d better get back to filling mail orders. It’s been VERY busy on the website today! People are LOVIN’ the Caddy Pads and Cut Up kits. And don’t forget all Christmas fabrics are 30% off!

One age-old dilemma is how to pack up your iron to go home at the end of the day while it’s still warm. Do you realize it only takes about 90 seconds for your iron to heat up, but about 3 days to cool off???? (Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating with the 3 day thing. But it does seem to take forever when the only thing you have left to pack in your car is the iron, and you’re afraid of leaving a triangle shaped mark in the upholstery…….or your leg. If it’s winter time you can put it outside and it will cool faster that way……Unless you live in Florida. Then I don’t think it would help……but I’m not sure – I’ve never lived in Florida in the winter…..but I’m sure willing to try if anyone needs a roommate!)

Ah, but I digress. So, back to how to solve the problem of the warm iron when traveling? Wouldn’t you know some clever quilter figured that out. And no, it wasn’t me. I’m not THAT clever. This is what they came up with – it’s called the Caddy Pad Ironing Caddy:

It looks like a cute little purse. But see that little bit of silvery gray peeking out from the inside? That’s actually heat-resistant fabric!

Here you can see the iron is nestled all snug in it’s bed, while visions of sugarplums…….oh, wait, wrong story.

And the Caddy Pad lies flat so you can press on it when you’re at your workshop! How clever is that????

I whipped up one of these at retreat in pretty much no time! Fast, fun project, and makes a great gift for a quilty friend. The patterns come with the heat-resistant fabric included. I also have kits that include insulated batting and the fabric shown. All you add is buttons, elastic and thread.

Your iron works hard for you pressing all those seams nice and flat. Doesn’t it deserve a nice little place to call it’s own?

What gifts are you sewing for people this year?

The pattern is called the ‘Cut Up’ quilt by Pieced Tree Designs. The fabric is a layer cake from Moda called Little Gatherings. I really fell in love with these fabrics when I saw them. Originally I only ordered the layer cakes, but once I worked with them I had to order charm packs and jelly rolls as well! I wanted to keep a masculine feeling to this quilt, so I used a panto that looks like woodgrain. The panto is called Mahogany, and in it’s original form all of the lines flow horizontally. But I modified it so every other block is vertical. I’m really happy with how it turned out, what do you think?

If you love these fabrics too, you can find them on my website. There are kits available too.

I started another quilt using a jelly roll in these fabrics, and I’m also working on a Christmas quilt. I’ll try and show you more tomorrow. What have you been working on?

Cindy, since you’re a local reader, you can pick this up at the Studio. Thanks to everyone who shared their favorite bird stories with me!

Although I no longer work in that field, I still enjoy spending time in nature, and I especially love bird watching. We have a variety of feeders and birdbaths on our property, and the change of seasons always brings new species to appreciate. The other day I spotted a bird, while not uncommon, I had never before seen in my yard in the eight years I’ve lived here – a male Northern cardinal.

Image via Wikipedia

Where I grew up (on Long Island, NY), cardinals were frequent visitors to my neighborhood, and we even had them nesting in our yard. But since living in S. Dakota, I rarely see them. They’re such beautiful birds, especially against the whiteness of a snowy winter. I hope my new friend sticks around to strut his stuff if we get any snow this winter. (*If* we get snow??? Who am I kidding…..there is no IF about it…..this is S. Dakota…..there WILL be snow this winter, and usually there’s plenty of it! The good news is that it’s a perfect reason to stay indoors and quilt!)

Fabric designer Deb Strain must love cardinals too, as she featured them along with chickadees in her “Nature’s Gift” panel. I have these available as kits as you see pictured here, or separately as panels and yardage.

Do you have cardinals where you live? Which birds are your favorites? Post a comment by Weds. Oct. 26 and I’ll choose one person at random to win a Nature’s Gift panel!

I’ve decided to offer just two sizes – the lap (63″ x 81″) and a queen (99″ x 117″). It’s taking me long enough to do all the calculations for just these two – guess I should have paid better attention in math class all those years ago! LOL

Anyone want to test the larger size for me? I’m pretty careful about calculating and checking yardages and number of units, but the real test is in someone sewing it. That’s why I made two of the lap size – the first time I was playing with colors and layouts and I didn’t worry too much about yardage and number of units. Then I sewed a second sample and when I was done I found 14 extra rectangles on my cutting table – whoops! At least that was a minor error that was easily corrected.

So would you like to see the second sample I sewed? I used completely different fabrics, batiks from Moda’s ‘Believe’ and ‘Let It Snow Favorites’ lines. Here are both versions side by side……

The blue one is not yet quilted and is slightly in front of the bright one, so the blocks may appear larger, but both are the same size.

Which is your favorite?

Anyway, I’m wondering what size quilt people like to make. Do you prefer smaller projects such as lap throws, or do you want a bed-sized quilt such as a queen? Would you avoid purchasing a pattern because it was not the size you wanted, or would you figure out how to adapt it to your preferred size? And if you were purchasing a kit, which size would you rather have? Please leave me a comment so I can offer the size that you want.

Would you like a sneak peek of the quilt? I think I showed part of it once before, but I HAVE made progress as it is now quilted.

Of course I still haven’t done the binding…….sigh. But, the instructions are mostly written – I’m just trying to finalize the diagrams and layout. The size I have now is a large lap/small twin – about 63″ x 81″. I also thought of adding a larger size – would you prefer 81″ x 99″ or 99″ x 117″? Please share this post with your quilty friends and ask them to comment on as well.

I’m hoping to have the pattern ready for sale by the end of the month! If you’d like to be notified when it is, you can subscribe to my blog on the top left of this page, or sign up for my newsletter by clicking here and filling in the blanks on the lower left. Better yet, why not sign up for both!!

We all had a WONDERFUL time! Buffalo Ridge was the South Dakota School for the Blind in the first half of the 1900s. After it was closed in the 1960s it fell into disrepair. A few years ago a business man bought and restored it, and turned it into a resort and convention center. The grounds and buildings are beautiful. Below is Woodbury Hall, which was the girl’s dormitory, gymnasium and music rooms.

The ground floor is now the Sundance Ballroom, which was where we sewed.

Roger took us on a very informative tour of the grounds:

We had a nametag decorating contest, winners were: 1st – Elisa, 2nd – Betsy, and 3rd – Sandy

And Chef Steve fed us EXTREMELY well:

Thanks to all the staff at Buffalo Ridge Resort for making our stay so wonderful. And thanks to the participants who took a chance and signed up for this first retreat. I think it turned out great, and hope you feel the same way!