Aunti Nicole's Corner

The Fernandez Boyz Quilts

2012-02-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to my friends Patty and Jorge, they had a new addition to their family. This is Aaron Daniel Fernandez. Is this boy adorable or what?

So of course I had to make him a little quilt. Very fun little puppy fabric.

For the label I took a photo of one of the little paw prints and used Photoshop Elements to put some text on it.

His big from Aiden was born in 2009 and for some reason I did not do my Aunti diligence. Turns out he has a thing about choo-choo trains. I saw this train fabric at Calico House in Brea and thought of him. I am not usually into panels, but these just fit the bill so perfectly. My husband Pete had the idea of just cross hatching the panels and I love the way it turned out. This is a big boy quilt, about twice as big as his little brother's. That ought to do it!

The label was screen captured from an image on line and kind of colorized with Photoshop Elements.

I hope you all get to sew this week!
Cheers,
Aunti Nicole

Road was Packed!

2012-01-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that Road California was busy busy busy. Lots of wonderful quilts to see and lots of people. Great news for the quilting industry!

We had a great day at the show yesterday and saw everything we could in one day!

And yes, cracked the wallet open and picked up some goodies.

3 yards of lovely! I got this from Natalie's Beyond the Reef, not sure what to do with it yet but it was talking to me. Trendex BD-003R.

A couple of patterns of Kenna Ogg of Madison Cottage Design, go Kenna! I feel a scrappy quilt coming on!

Picked out a border template for a hand quilt that I have been working on for .....3 years (yeah i know!)

Been looking for clamps for quilt sandwiching. Found these little gems at the gadget booth. They work pretty well. Sandwiched two quilts this morning!

Ok thats it, I did my part for the quilting economy.

Hope you all have a wonderful week and find some time to sew.
Love
Aunti

On the Road Again!

2012-01-21T08:31:00.000-08:00

Off you Road to California! I've heard great things so far.

Special exhibit by Susan Else Fabric Sculptor. Mom was very impressed with this exhibit, it shows her quilting from back in the 90's when she was doing more traditional quilts with her outside of the box selection of fabrics and a little sumpin different. All the way to the present where she is coming "off the wall" so to speak with her art and pushing the limits. Can't wait to see it for myself!

Our friend Natalie's booth is right up front near the entrance Beyond the Reef with lots of bright shiny new fabrics to play with. We're coming Natalie!

Mom (Jane St. Pierre) has a piece in this show. She is one of the 8 in "Sprague River Aspens" Part of the Klamath Basin Vistas Exhibit hanging right near the front entrance. I'll put in the picture lata!

So we have a new friend coming along with us. I was teaching and AutoCAD Electrical class and explaining how I design my quilts to one of my students. He said what quilt guild to you belong to and I said Flying Geese. He smiled and he told me that his wife was a new member in the guild about a year. So the next guild meeting I made it a point of looking for her. So I'm asking everyone do you know Debbie and she turns around, she's right in front of me. I'm Debbie ;] So we're bring our new friend with us today. I am looking forward to getting to know her. Guilds are a wonderful thing.

So I'll take lots of pictures and have lots share hopefully.

Hope to see you there!

How much is that Window in the Doggie?

2012-01-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

My friends Jorge and Patty are expecting in February. I found this puppy fabric and my neighbor Betty picked this stripe for me. A big stripe like this is fun to work with and just adds so much to a normally simple block.

I love how the little puppy pieces show up in each window! Dog noses are my favorite! and who with dogs does not have paw prints on their windows, hmmm?

A lot of fun and silly surprises with this quilt. I only fussy cut a few of these blocks, the rest of them just came out fun!

So the puppy fabric is by Timeless Treasures Fabrics, #Dog-C5855
The stripe is Nottingham Village, Judie Rothernel Collection for Marcus Fabrics.

The choo-choo quilt I did last week was for this little one's four year old brother.
I will probably machine quilt both of them next weekend!

Hope you all get a chance to sew this week!
Love Aunti Nicole

I've been working on the Railroad!

2012-01-06T05:56:00.000-08:00

Actually, I have been working on the trains. My friends little boy is just fastinated with choo-choos so this fabric inspired the quilt. Its called All Aboard designed for Exclusivley Quilters

Beautiful artwork on the trains, but I couldn't just leave it at that, I had to hack it up and put borders.

The outer fabric is little badges for all the different train companies. I remember being little and watching and waiting for the train to go by what seemed like forever, which each of these little logos on the cars.

I should be able to quilt this pretty soon!

New Years resolutions:
I resolve to learn to be a better photographer specifically for your viewing pleasure.
I also resolve to keep a notebook by my side and write down all of the crazy ideas that I have daily.
And of course to finish some of my 14 UFOs ;]

Happy New Year to you All!
May 2012 be the best yet.
May you never run out of fabric
May your thread never break
May you never lose your need ;P
May your backing never pucker
May your ripping be minimal
May your ideas run amok
May you be surrounding by quilters with passion!

And you to and your families, Health and Happiness in 2012.
Love Aunti Nicole

Merry Christmas My Dear Quilters

2011-12-24T13:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve and all is quiet at the Morris home. I have a week long vacation ahead of me and I've got one foot nailed to the floor and I'm spinning round my quilt room. What should I work on???? I have plenty to do, believe me, but its hard to settle down and get to it!

What is that WillieNo! ?

Oh you're looking at my Christmas quilts, I see......GIT OUT OF THE DARN TREE!

This was a class I took a while back at Quilt Cupboard when it was in Fullerton, wow that was a while ago.

I made this for a couple at work for a Christmas exchange...hard to find a good manger scene. My first try with fusible web....good grief....I learned about Sewer's Aid which is a a silicone that keeps your needle from getting too sticky.

This was a pattern I made for a class I taught last year at Quilting Bee in Orange. Pattern is available at my shop.

I loved doing this one! Two charm packs of Fruit Cake. I just sewed two sets of charm squares into half square triangles and arranged them until I liked the blocks. I'll probably have to do one like this again!

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hannukkah or Kwanzaa or are just take some Holiday time out to enjoy your loved ones, may you find Joy, Hope and

Peace on Earth.

God Bless Us Everyone!
Love
Aunti Nicole

Quilting Addiction - Mariner's Saga

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Once I get started hand quilting it is hard to stop. I have been working on this in 2007. I put the top together from friendship blocks, there a really wide blue border on it now but I'll show more pictures as the quilting develops. I work on it whenever I am between projects, which is rarely. I sandwiched and quilted in the ditch around all blocks and applique pieces a few years back. In September 2011, I did a 1" crosshatch around the wheel. Now I am going back to do the detail. It may take me another 4 years, but its not a race right?

I thought I would share some of the blocks I have been working on recently. Some of my friendship group did mariners compass blocks and those are in the corners, including myself and my Mom.
This one was done by Peggy Krewson. Hard to see in the photo, but the block background is a really light cream and while check. Quilting with the fabric gives it some interest.

Here is the back of that blocks.

The one I'm working now was done by Lisa Dahlman. See the sea shells? Hard to seem them in the neutral fabric but the back photo shows them a little better.

I am not ready to put it down yet, so there will be more to show soon. I'm cooking up a quilt design for our guild's challenge and hand quilting allows me time to get my creative juices flowing.

Hope you all get a chance to quilt this week!
Love Aunti Nicole

100th post!

2011-12-03T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hi All,
Hope you are keeping warm. I finished my nephews quilt only a little after he was born. I just need to pop it in the mail! But I wanted to share it with you first.

My husband picked out the border pattern from my templates. I like the way it came out.

A little something different in the corners.

What a handsome boy! I hope he likes it. I know his Momma will, she is a quilter ;]

Busy day today, I'm off to get my hair cut and then I have an embroidery workshop. One of my friends is teaching the guild workshop at Flying Geese Fabrics in Tustin. Here work is extraordinary and I can't wait to learn how to embroider "properly".

Hope you get to sew this weekend.

Aunti Nicole

Smoke from my finger tips

2011-11-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Been hand quilting like a crazy person trying to get a baby quilt done! But while I'm working away over here my sister in law Susie was hard at work too and she made a baby. Here is Liam!

I am sure he wont mind waiting a little on his quilt, as long as I get it done before he graduates High School. I would like to get it to him by Christmas this year.

So since I don't have much new to post, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite hand quilting gadgets. When I'm hand quilting and one a roll... I don't like to stop thread needles. So this little guy comes in handy. Not mention the fact that it has a cover so WillieNo! can't hurt himself or others by steeling it. Though the cats' war on thread has been deemed unwinable, still he battles on!

So I stick 10 quilting betweens in my quilt.

I use a long cheapy needle threader to load 5 needles at a time. Put my thread through, still attached to the Spool.

and pull through all 5 needles without cutting my thread.

Then I pull off the first needle on the short thread side (not the spool side) and pull out the desired then. It is recommended that you only use a length equivalent to your arm. Then stick the needle in the top of the quilt and clip the thread before the next needle. Then do again until all the needles are threaded. Do the same for the next 5 needles.

all five needles threaded, no knots though.

Load 5 needles into slots on the winder. Gently hold the threads out and away, making sure they are not tangled. Move the dial on the back of the winder until the threads catch in the slot on the side. then wind and wind until they are all nice and tucked in. Then repeat for the other five.

You can now cover it with the plastic dome top. As you need needles just pull one out gently. Sometimes it tangles a bit, but if you are gentle it does knot up.

I can get through about 2 loads of needles in an evening.

The end!

So the quilt is almost done, I have 2 1/2 borders left to quilt and then binding and label. I let my husband pick out the border pattern and its nuckin futz. I really love the way the way it is coming out, but its a little slow going.

Ok, back to work.

I hope you all get a chance to quilt this weekend!

Love Aunti Nicole

Trick or Treat?

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

Treat...definitely treat! I love Halloween.

My neighbor Betty and her girls did their retreat this summer and they all did this quilt. Each did it a little different and used different fabrics. Betty's turned out so cute I hate to share it with you, its kind of Halloweenish.

I fell in love with this beauty at PIQF in Santa Clara. Its called Autumn Harvest by Gayle Sheldon of Bridgeport, TX

Have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Love Aunti Nic

Campbell's Baby Boy

2011-10-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

My husband's sister Susie and her husband Will are expecting a baby boy. I worked this up in my Quilt Pro program, its 54"Square. Of course none of the blocks were very simple, but it was fun. The fabrics are by Bernartex Forever Spring and Tried and True by Nancy Halvorsen.

Took me a while to piece with all the other stuff I have going on but its now ready for sandwiching and quilting. Hmm I'm thinking I many hand quilt this. Better get going, baby is almost here!

Hope you all find time to quilt this weekend!

Aunti Nicole

It All in the Twist

2011-10-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

My new pattern "Its All in the Twist" is ready and posted at my online shop!

This quilt is a variation on the traditional garden twist pattern. There is a small sashing around the design to complete the twist.

Here is a variation I made for my nephew Miller when Graduating from High School this year! I used a fat quarter pack of southwestern batiks. In this variation the blank squares had squares of their own. I took this out of the pattern, but if you want it, just make the setting blocks the same way as the twist blocks.

This is a variation I made from 6 fat quarters. I call this one Sam I Am since the colors look like green eggs and ham. This was made for my friends' baby Samuel.

My mom, Jane St.Pierre made one for my cousin Jordan's baby Colton.

How cute is the this fabric, I tell you!

Visit My On Line Store. Aunti Nicole's Corner

I would love to hear your feedback, please comment or send emails to nicole@auntinicolescorner.com. I am especially interested in finding out how many people prefer to download their patterns or receive via email.

Hope you all get to sew this weekend.

Love Aunti Nicole

Happy Friday!

2011-10-21T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hope you are having a wonderful week. I'm just getting back from all my travels and found a wonderful treat in my inbox.

"Hi Nicole - just wanted to share a photo of the quilt I madefrom your pattern. Your directions were spot on and easy to follow - itwas a joy to make and I love it. Thanks for being creative! Peggy Benzin- IL"

I love the way it turned out! The hand dyed fabric is luscious! Thank you Peggy for sharing this with me and letting me share it with my viewers.

Hope you all have set aside some time to sew this weekend!

Love
Aunti Nicole

A Harvest of Quilts was spectacular!

2011-10-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

The quilt show last weekend was a great success. A lot of our members turned out with helping hands to make it run nice and smooth. The show was incredible and its such a joy to be surrounded by such increbible quilters with so much talent. Here are just a few.

My mom is in my friendship group and we each did basket blocks for her and look what she went and did with them. Holy smokes its just gorgeous!

Same friendship group did pineapple blocks then we drew straws and Sherilee Siebert got to quilt it and keep it. Very fun project!

Pam Hadfield and her beautiful applique work!

Kathy Keefer and her marvelous applique and hand quilting. You go girl!

Hilary Field, love the 30's fabric on black, beautiful.

Arlene Somerville, 3D wool project. Yummy!

Denise Nelms, gorgeous applique, congratulations Denise! I don't know where she find the time.

Pam Hadfield again! Simply beautiful and awesome quilting by Mike Qualls!

Pam Again, wow she is all over this show! More ribbons and bows on this mixed technique with wool and cottons.

Sorry I did write down what each ribbon was for, shame on me ;P But the beautiful ribbons were made by Cindy Cooksey,

The end, I forgot to get the name of this quilter but I had to share this with you all. These booty beauties are on the front of the quilt. What a creative way to spice up a traditional scrappy quilt.

On my may to Chicago for business and then to PIQF in Santa Clara for our yearly mini-treat with Natalie of Beyond the Reef.

Have a great week and hope you all get to quilt. Put some stitches in for me, would you?

Love Aunti Nicole

How Cute are These Socks?

2011-09-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

Mom arrived yesterday to help with the Quilt Show. She knitted me these bed socks and they are so cute I just had to share them with you. Its just starting to cool down and now I have bed socks made with love from my very own Mother. Its like big baby booties on steroids ;] I can't even comprehend how many rules you have to follow to get them to look like socks. Well maybe someday she'll teach me.

Hope to see you at the show!

Hope you find time to quilt this week!

Love Aunti Nicole

Harvest of Quilts - Oct 1st and 2nd

2011-09-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

My Flying Geese Quilt Guild is gearing up for our 2011. I have been gathering volunteers or all the fun jobs that we do at the show. People have really come out to help. We have the 4H Club comming to help with the white gloving and I am so looking forward to working with the young quilters.

http://www.flyinggeese.net/quiltshow.htm

On my way to deliver mine and my Mom's quilts right now.

If you find yourself in Southern California next weekend, stop in! Its going to be a wonderful show. Come and introduce yourself to me, I'll be the one running around looking like I've been drinking too much coffee ;]

Hope you get sew this weekend!

Love Aunti Nicole

Someone Special is on the Way!

2011-09-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Susie and her husband Will are expecting a little baby boy around November. I am so excited for them. I wanted to make an heirloom quilt with a little more traditional piecing and hand quilted. I know you are supposed to do bright and exciting for babies learning eyes, but some things need to feel warm and comforting.

I put this together using Quilt-Pro. I'll probably change the sashing once all the blocks are finished, but just wanted to get basic measurements.

I picked out some Benartex fabrics, from Nancy Halvorsen, from the Forever Spring, and Tried and True lines. The background is also from the Forever Spring line.

The blocks are 8" and here is the first block finished.

They take a while as most are odd shapes and really need templates to get the edges right. I keep them together in groups when I'm done, in case one is just so fun that I need to make more.

Have a wonderful week!
Aunti Nicole

Bee Splendid in August

2011-09-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Busy little bee over here. I have been helping to get ready for our big quilt show in October. Gathering volunteers, making 100's of yoyo, and many other projects, including getting my two quilts ready.

A little sign doodling.

Last months bee block for Megan Kilb, wonky stars. Very quick and easy, I may have to make a whole quilt of this block.

I hope you are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend and find some time to sew.

Aunti Nicole

A Precarious Position

2011-08-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

At the very top of my over crowded quilt rack, sleeps WillieNo! Don't worry, he won't fall, he has his little needle claws dug deep into my QUILT!

Benefits of this spot you ask?

Afternoon Sunshine
Highest position possible in the room.
Gets the stink eye from Me
And head shake and sigh from Pete

All very valuable in picking the perfect site.

Meanwhile I finished a quilt for our Flying Geese Quilt Show in October. This is Fractured Fruitcake Sampler. Here is a little tutorial for the blocks. Click Me! They are pretty simple, made from half-square triangles. The tough part for me was keeping the quilting symbol. I usually complicate everything to add "interest" but being done in time feels good too.

So per my husband's suggestion simple quilting, simple binding and of course he was right, but don't tell him I said so.

Turns out that brown is a guy Christmas color, who knew? Pete and my cousin Tom seem to like this one a lot. We won't point out that there are pink and purple in the border as well. hehehhee.

Anyway, fun project, cheery Christmassy and done!

Thank you all for stopping by. Hope all got to do some quilting this weekend!

All my best,
Aunti Nicole

One Note - Cool Tool!

2011-08-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Inside of Office 2010 is a really cool tool that I have found to organize my life and of course my quilting projects. One Note is a notebook type project that is totally interconnected. Here I'll show you....

I created several notebooks, see along the very left of the below image. Quilting projects, Household, Guitar Lessons, Vacations. Each notebook has pages that you can drag from one notebook to another.

On the pages, you can type text where ever you put your cursor. You can insert images and move them around just by dragging. Todo, tasks, meetings actually show up in Outlook and are connected so when they are finished on your task list in outlook.

Above is a little project I am working on, there is a sample I found on a blog, I have her blogsite written down so I can give her credit. Then my little variation of it and plans on what to do with it.

I have created tasks so that next time I go to a quilt store, Outlook gives me a list of stuff I need for my 15 or so projects that are up in the air.

This was a project done with my Bee Splendid group. She gave us some samples and then some fabric an we had to make our own strip. See my idea and my final on the right.

You can keep your notebook on your computer or share it on the web with other people. Make it password protected and a whole lot of stuff I haven't had to use yet.

You can simply email a page from your notebook directly to people who you want to share it with.

It will also be listed as one of your printers, so you can print an email or image and have it create a new notebook page or go to an existing page.

I love organizational tools because they allow me to juggle more balls ;]

If you don't have MS Office 2010, I believe Evernote is a similar tool but has fewer features.

Have a great week and hope you get to sew.

Love Aunti Nicole

EZ Quilters - August

2011-08-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last week our monthly EZ Quilters meeting was at Liz Isom's house. Her house is so fun to visit. She is quite the collector from antiques to quilts to small handmade objects, many by her. I could just wander around her house for days looking at everything she has collected. and she lets me touch stuff ;]

After looking at these pictures, I have decided that I really need to work on my photography skills. But hopefully you can get the gist from these candid shots.

Sandra Usher had a lot to share. She has been a busy girl this summer, with her visiting 10 year old grandson, but she still managed to get some beautiful quilts completed. This quilt has cameos of little baby angels and scripture. This is a gift for one of the ladies at her church. The soft florals are her MO and she does some beautiful work with them.

Here is another she made from the leftovers fo the previous one. Just gorgeous!

This one is a gift for her brother's library. She did some fabulous quilting on it and used some different textured fabrics. The pictures don't do it justice, it is such a treasure.

Next was Liz Isom. This one is a piece she made for her brother who is a wine connoisseur and she made this applique quilt for him.

She does some beautiful work with panel fabrics. I don't know where she finds these but it is amazing what she does with them. The way she quilts it, its hard to tell where the panel stops and the piecing begins.

This is a wool quilt that she recently completed. It is just stunning and again the photo just doesn't cut it. I just love her work.

Next up was Sharon Sutton. She has a real love for Christmas and scrap quilts. Here you will see how wonderfully those two go together. This is a string quilt. My photo shows it a little dark but it is really bright and just lovely.

Here is another string Christmas quilt by Sharon. She is really good at making scrappy look planned.

My pal Joan Rossen has been diligently working on this tumbling blocks quilt. She asked is there a way to do this by machine? We couldn't think of anything. The fun part here is that when I showed her this picture, the 3D really pops out. I think its hard to see when you are too close to the project, as in putting in every stitch one at a time. You can see that a black border is starting to develop around the outside. Can't wait to see this as it progresses.

Here is my show and tell. Its little about 12" block. I got the idea from One Day in May, A Wreath for All Seasons http://onedayinmay.typepad.com/one-day-in-may-creations/2011/06/a-giveaway-where-everybody-wins.html

It is such a pleasure each month to visit with these ladies and see what has been cooking up in their quilt studios.

With my sewing machine out of commission I have been working on hand projects and as you know they go more slowly. I finally got it back and have been sewing all weekend. So hopefully I will have some more to share soon.

Hope you all get to quilt this week.

Love Aunti Nicole

Long Beach Quilt Festival

2011-08-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at Long Beach Quilt Festival with Hilary.

Vendors - The usual suspects were all in the house. I test drove a few long arm machines and gathered data for the future. There were more wool vendors than I had seen before. Some beautiful patterns for wool that are looking less primitive, which I like.

Only made two purchases. I decided to try to lightly fuse the wool pieces to prevent fraying so I'm going to try the Mistryfuse.

Also replaced the PQF Thimble that I bought last year and WillieNo! managed to hide.

Show was layed out very nice, in groups of like type quilts. It was just the right amount to prevent sensory overload. Unfortuately a lot of the quilts said no photographs, so I can't share all the ones that I liked. There was a wonderful Baltimore Exbhilit with about 20 incredible Baltimore Album quilts. Just Gorgeous.

I did take pics of a few that had a special interest for me. I need to get the names before I post them.

But here are some that I know... from my Flying Geese Quilt Guid

I am so sad that I did not get a better picture of this one. This is my friend Pam Hadfield's gorgeous applique quilt. She does fantastic work.

My friend Julia Renault's quilt

and friend Becky Reed's gorgeous whole cloth.

Wish you all could have been there to bump into, but maybe next time.

Have a wonderful week and hope you get to sew.

Aunti Nicole

Goin to a Quilt Show...Every botty!

2011-07-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Don't you want to go-go, common now!

I'm off to Long Beach Quilt Festival with my friend Hilary. She is a lot of fun to hang out with and a wealth of knowledge.

Agenda for the show!

I might spot a Jaybird, my future cali-girl neighbor
Poking my nose into Beyond the Reef
Drooling over Long Arm Machines
Grab some choice woolie stuff
Oh and apparently a bunch of my friends have stuff hanging in the show

I know we like pictures, but I don't have any yet. I will do my best to forget myself and remember that I have a camera with me. Check back tomorrow to see if I remembered the camera!

Two weeks now with no machine. I feel like I'm walking around with my arms in casts. Don't know what to do with myself. So the LB Quilt show is very timely.

Hope you all get to sew something this weekend!

Love Aunti Nicole

Call the Doctor!

2011-07-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

I was free motion machine quilting on my Bernina and fighting a losing battle. Thread breaking and stitch tension, just going nuts. My friend Hilary said its the tension. Yes, I agree, lots of tension going on. My husband Pete suggested getting it serviced at least 3 times in the last couple weeks which is a great idea, but then I'd have to go without, yikes! So I caved took it in to Moore's and they said it hasn't been serviced since 2008...oops. I thought it was only a year ago, but time gets away from me.

I should be taking it in at least once a year and maybe even twice. I bought a service contract so now I can take it in as often as I like and they'll fix everything. Sounds like a great deal. The Bernina is a great machine but I have run it ragged, so a little RandR for Berny and he'll be right as rain.

"Pete says why don't you just buy a long arm machine, I know you want to!"...Oh baby... sweet talker! So now I am in the market for a long arm. Hopefully next year, I'll be able to make that happen.

Considering the

Tin Lizzie18
Nolting or the
HQ Sweet Sixteen.

Want to stay around the $6,000 mark.

Any suggestions? What works what doesn't?

Hope you get to sew this weekend.
Love
Aunti Nicole

Quilts of Valor

2011-07-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

On Monday, July 11th, my Flying Geese Quilt Guild had a sew in for Quilts of Valor. This is a foundation whose goals is to make quilts for service members and veterans touched by wartime. We had a great turn out and some beautiful quilts were lovingly put together, every one with the utmost care.

We had a great turnout with about 50 people and had a pot luck dinner and snacks to keep us fortified. I have no idea how many quilts were created by the end but the results were amazing. Quilts of Valor had a representative there who provided kits of blocks and fabric to put them together. I believe some of the blocks were created by our members as well.

I am so proud of the work done by our guild. They are such an amazing group of women and all of them ready to lend a hand. Please check out Quilts of Valor to see the wonderful work that this group is doing for our men and women.

Have a wonderful week.
Love
Aunti
Nicole

Block Wisperer

2011-07-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

I am working on an applique project from a pattern by Pearl Pereira called Wildflowers. A few years ago, my neighbor Betty and her two daughters invited me to attend a four day retreat in Temecula with Pearl. Pearl was so much fun and I learned a lot. If you are not familiar with her work, she does applique using freezer paper and starch. I love using this technique for smaller pieces. Everything comes out so clean after prep that the applique part is a no brainer. If you get a chance to take a class with her, I highly recommend it. She also has some beautiful patterns to choose from. http://www.p3designs.com/

I started this project at the retreat and complete a block or two every now and again. There are 25 blocks and a beautiful border in the pattern. I haven't decided if I'm doing all of them or if I will just finish as it. I guess the blocks will tell me when they are ready......"nope not yet" they say.

Yeah, ok.. I know I'm talking to fabric.. but... we spend enough time together that we are old friends and I trust the fabric to give it to me straight. Well most of the time anyways. I'm sure you understand.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend and you get a chance to quilt.

Love,

Aunti

Nicole

Sandwiches again?

2011-07-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I am so excited to share the news with you....I am the guest blogger today at Madame Samm's Stash Manicure. Please visit and check it out! If you came from there, I hope you enjoy my blog.

Saw Transformers on Monday. As a computer geek, I get nerded out at the CGI and the sound effects in these types of movies. Yeah... I liked this one too!

Sew I have had the whole weekend to catch up on some projects.

I picked up this philanthropy project in May when I attended our Flying Geese Quilt Guild meeting. Top was done and they provided the batting and back. I spent Saturday morning sandwiching, quilting and binding this little fairy quilt.

Sandwiched one small quilt for hand quilting. And 3 more lap sized quilts for machine quilting. I am a sandwich machine! They call me.......El Panini! Well not really, but I can't beleive I actually all of them ready to go. Now comes the quilting.

Thank you all for visiting and your comments.

Have a wonderful week and talk to you soon!

Love,
Aunti
Nicole

Where to start....

2011-07-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

Hello my Dears,

Not too many posts in June as it was a very full month. Had a couple of business trips with a vacation crammed in between and even 2 funerals. Quick 2 day business trip to Chandler, AZ then back for a day and 10 hr drive up to Mt Shasta to watch my eldest Nephew Miller graduate from High School. What a great young man he has turned out to be and I am very proud to be his Aunti. Here's Dana, Miller and Lou

We had a couple of days to hang with them and my Mom and Dad. Dana's kids are such a joy and we had a great time.

So then Pete and I made our way to Morro Bay to spend some quiet time. No that's not Pete and I on the dock, but we didn't do too much more than that for 3 days. Morro Bay rock was covered in fog for 3 days while we were there...and we loved it. We sat in the hotel room, which had a fantastic view the fog and read our kindles. We took walks to eat then came back for more reading and relaxing. Noice!

The Monday back from vacation I headed up to San Jose for a 3 day trip to work with NASA. While in San Jose I received news that Pete and my dear friend Ludie passed away. She was a wonderful lady that Pete and I just adored.

Still in San Jose, I receive the news that my darling Gramma Vi passed away. I am so thankful to God for taking her from her pain, for giving her such a rich life with family and also for allowing me to have such a great relationship with her. Oh how she loved her kids 6, grandkids 22 and great grandkids 12. What a treasure she has been and will always be to me.

Picture of her and my Dad, Leon Jr. aka Buddy.

So needless to say, not a whole lot of sewing this month. I did get my Bee Splendid blocks in the mail to Tracey before June was over.

Challenge was 2 - 12 1/2" blocks using HSTs. She provided the fabric. I like the way they came out and am looking forward to what the rest of the group comes up with.

I have 3 days to sew and no other plans, except to catch up on my blog maybe. Maybe a couple of movies... but thats it! Oh and maybe reading a book...but thats all I'm going to do...and a zentangle... oh drat thats how it all happens.

Hope you all get to spend time with family and quilt this long weekend.

Love to you all,

Aunti Nicole

Design Challenge

2011-06-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I was looking around the house for something to applique. I have plenty of projects started but nothing I was in the mood for. So I decided I was going to put to good use some of the beautiful hand dyed and batik fabrics that my friend Julie www.jaybirdquilts.com sent to me.

I am using Marbleous Jacquard in Black by Robert Kaufman. I can find a good picture of the black but her it is in Cactus...

... but the black....I just eat it up.

This piece is about 40" square at this point. I took a whole piece of the black fabric and using a paper circle template, traced a circle with a chalk marker. Then I did freehand drawing with the chalk to make each shape. I basted a piece of fabric to the back a bit larger than the circle and then used reverse appliqué to create each design. So... yep its all hand appliquéd and very fun.

Now I am trying to figure out how to set it.

My friend Sharla www.softexpressions.com suggested that maybe it doesn't need a border which could be why I and struggling a bit with it. Hmmmm...this suggestion may win out...

I used my Snagit Program to cut and paste some different options.

I tried just making black strips and continuing into a wider border with strips of the applique.

cutting it into piece.....oh my stars... this is scary.

A suggestion from my friend Eileen http://eileenwintemute.blogspot.com, some simple but offset borders. I added the shadow in my program but will most likely not add the shadow.

I probably won't get a chance to work on it for about a month, so if you have any suggestions, no matter how wild or simple, or if you like one of the ones you see, I would love to hear it. Right now the first one and the last one are looking the best to me.

Hope you get to sew this weekend.

Love Aunti Nicole

Zentangle Classes

2011-06-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Just completed two class of Zentangle with Sharla Hicks at Soft Expressions. She is a great teacher and truly an artist. If you would like to get into it, Sharla will be doing the beginning class again. http://www.softexpressions.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CQMEASE&Product_Code=001&Category_Code=

So why Zentangle when you have so many quilt project and work projects going on? Basically its a form of meditation for me. It allows me to focus on one thing, which I don't do very often. It opens my creative synapses. The pieces I have done so far are very small so you can complete them in a sitting. I just love how each design takes you somewhere new.

The class was two days with a week in between. We had 7 very creative people in the class and it was fun seeing how different people have a naturally different interpretation of what was presented.

So here are the pieces I made during and after the class. Remember these are only 3.5'

I have a Zentangle Flickr group if you would like to see the before and after samples.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1604567@N20/

I think my next class needs to be a photography class ;] but all in time....

Hope you all get to sew this weekend!

Love
Aunti Nicole

Little Class, Big Success

2011-05-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Yesterday was my Celtic Knot class at the Orange Quilt Bee in Orange, California. I had two people join me for this class. I personally love a smaller class, especially when I'm instructing a technique. The point of the class was to learn a few techniques on making bias tape and some special tips on laying it out to look nice and smooth. We used Roxanne's glue baste to fix it to the background. There is some under/over weaving silliness but its really fun. Once this prep is done, then its easy-peasy to just sew the pieces down.

After discussing and demonstrating a few different ways to do bias tape we settled for my favorite method which if the Bias Tape Maker. I have this tool in several sizes and will probably never use bias bars again. The bias comes out nice and flat and is really easy to flex around curves. It took everyone less than an hour to make all the strips for their design. For a knot like the one I'm working on, 6"-18" strips work best because you are having to weave a bit, under over, etc.

But wait.... I just saw this machine on line that supposedly does up to 35' in one shot. Don't think I would want that for this class but for long bias strips on a border it would be great!

Barbara did a great job on this one. Her colors were selected to match a bed quilt she is making. I like how the subtle colors of the inserts give this a life of its own. Also she was more partial to the symmetry in 3's giving it a more geometric look. Another 15 min and she would have been done! Great job Barbara!

I made Marilyn stay long and finish the last strip, I can'tbelieve she was going to leave and not put the last little piece on there. Truth be told, I think I just wanted an excuse to yell "Whoo Hoo!" at the end.. Her color inserts focused on symmetry of 6's and gives it more of aflowery appeals. She used a charm pack for colors, two from each. Terrific work Marilyn!

Thank you both for a lovely Saturday afternoon and can't wait to see your completed projects. And thank you to the ladies at Orange Quilt Bee for allowing me to teach at your shop and for being so helpful.

Have wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, I hope you find time to sew.

Aunti, Nicole

Inspiration is Everywhere

2011-05-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Summer is nuts with work and sewing...and vacations! There is stuff going on everywhere I look.

May 18th, my husband and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We went to Downtown Disney and ate at the Jazz Kitchen...ahh yum! It was a wonderful date night. Thank you honey for nine peaceful years. Love You Baabee!

Woolies - Tomorrow my wool friendship group is meeting at my house. Since our last little project we did as a group, I have been in the think tank on the wool projects. I really enjoyed that embellishing and 3D type work with wool and want to pursue that more. Here are some photos from this months Sunset Magazine, that have inspired me to make up something of my own. So here is where I start!

My first guitar lesson in a couple of year is Weds night. My husband's anniversary gift. I know some of you may be thinking. Wow another thing? Well yeah, but I need something that is not work or sewing. I have been singing and playing music for fun since high school, but have gotten away from it for a while. So co-workers have recommended a great teacher and I'm looking forward to it. Time to cut the nails and build up the callouses. Sounds lovely when you put it that way.

Am I sewing? oh heck yeah! I am working on a new pattern and can't wait to show you all the variations I did before picking a cover sample. Here is one that I just love, but it is not the final design so I can share. But it is going to be someone's high school graduation gift.

Saturday May 28th - Celtic Knot wall hanging - If anyone wants to attend there are a couple more seats available. Class is at 10:30-4pm at the Orange Quilt Bee in Orange, California. Here is a link to their site. http://www.orangequiltbee.com/module/class.htm?classId=7681

Hope you all have a wonderful week.
Love
Aunti,
Nicole

Soft Expressions: Explore Zentangle May 24th and 30th in Anaheim

2011-05-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

This month, my friend Jamie Namanny and I have signed up to take a Zentangle class in Anaheim from Sharla Hicks. Sharla is a textile artist and long time friend of Jamie and my mum. I am so looking forward to this class, if you are in the area sign up!

Here is a link for the details
http://www.softexpressions.com/1/Class.php

Zentangle® Classesby Sharla R. Hicks CZT
Certified Zentangle Teacher

Even if you can't attend, check out her samples at the bottom of the link, they are amazing.

Hope you all get to quilt this weekend!

Love Aunti Nicole

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T07:17:00.000-07:00

Encouraging, loving, thoughtful, silly, brilliant, witty, emotional, talented, humble, willing, generous, creative, supportive, beautiful, vivacious, practical, caring, strong, courageous, brave, carefree, sweet, outgoing.

Mom and my sister Dana in 1964 I think.

I was born shortly after. I think there was a fabric shortage back then or something. (Good thing thats over huh?)

Mom, you have always been there for me.

Thanks for being such a great friend.

Sorry I couldn't be there with you today but you are in my thoughts.

Have a great day and Happy Mother's Day!

Love You! Nic

EZ Quilters - May

2011-05-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last Monday's meeting at my dear friend Donna Huffman's house. Our group has grown so and there were about 15 present with still several people people missing. Its always lots of fun and very loud. I'm sure Donna's husband Lee would agree.

I think Lisa gets a prize for getting the most done. This leaf quilt was a group project the first year I joined the group. I want to say 2005 maybe. I had too much going so I just watched. Anyway, each member made 2 blocks and some 4 patches for each member. It took them several months to get all the blocks. But we have seen these quilts pop up as done over the course of the last 6 years or so. All of the quilts from this exchange were just gorgeous and so very different from each other. (Mom your turquoise blocks pop so nicely!) Good Job Lisa on getting it together.

Here is another Lisa achievement this month. Got to see this in the works at our retreat last year. I had to show a blow up so you can see her wonderful machine quilting. Aren't the colors just wonderful together? Can you believe she made this for her dog? Lucky Dog!

Micki Berg is like a quilting gymnast. Check this out! She blew up the pattern from 12" to 18" but wow it is stunning. Good Job Micki!~

Mardell does the most lovely handwork. Here is a hawaiin applique piece that she completed for the auction at our Flying Geese Quilt Show in October, 2011.

Debbie Shapiro finished this one. Her color selection is fantastic. She changed the pattern up a little to fit the fabric better and it came out great. Her husband called dibs for this quilt as I guess he has a right.

So Donna and Pat are our Guild's philanthropy chair people this year. I am so proud of them for taking this so seriously and really getting out there to find where we as a guild can make a difference. They have been working very diligently on sewing, kit making and collecting placements, pillow cases and quilts for many different organizations for here and over seas. One of their friends and long arm quilter just donated 3 gorgeous quilts to philanthropy.

My show and tell you've all seen, since I post it over the previous month. I'm sure I missed a couple but these are all the pictures I got, since I think I pulled my camera out late.

Every month I get so much inspiration and encouragement from this group. It keeps the creativity flowing.

Hope you get to quilt this weekend!
Love,
Aunti Nicole

Bee Splendid in April

2011-05-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

April's Bee Splendid challenge was a strip quilt. We were each given a large piece of Kona Red and Kona Snow and 48x6 finished size requirements. It is very difficult for me to make something abstract without actually making it at least resemble something. I call this piece Bee Trail.

Friendship groups are great for pushing you into the deep end of the pool. Splash! Ok now kick! I'm kicking I'm kicking!

I can't wait to see what this looks like, when she puts all out pieces together.

Hope you get to sew this week.
Aunti Nicole

Happy Blogaversary to Me!

2011-05-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for joining me in celebrating my one year anniversary as a blogger. I have met so many great people and have learned a lot from you all. I am inspired by a great many bloggers and visitors daily.

I would like give a special shout to all the bloggers out there, who put their quilts, tips and and life lessons out there to inspire us.

Thank you all for sharing your favorite blogs. Congratulations to the top three favorite blogs! I can say that I personally have learned a lot from reading these three...

Stray Stitches http://straystitches1.blogspot.com/
Stash Manicure http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/
Jaybird Quilts http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/'

I have also added several new blogs that I was not previously following, so I can't wait to read up on those.

Lucky Winners!

Today's lucky Winners are

Winner #1

Congratulation Quiet Quilter, you have won the 6 Fat Quarter of Dot Essentials by Moda, plus a sneak peek of Sam I am.

Winner #2

Congratulations Deb, you have won my Tic-Tac Oh! pattern along with Basic Grey pre-cuts.

Please email me with your mailing address and I'll get these off to you.

Congratulations to the winners and thank you all for participating.

Have a wonderful week!

Love

Aunti Nicole

Giveaway!

2011-04-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

May 1st will be the one year anniversary of my blog, so I would like to celebrate next week with a giveaway.

1st Prize - Dottie by Moda fat quarter pack from Secred Moondance Quilt Shop in Lake Forest, California, and a will be the first to receive a copy of my new pattern Sam I Am.

2nd Prize - Tic-Tac Oh! pattern and enough 2" pre-cut strips in Basic Grey to make this pattern. (You will only need to add background and border fabric)

Willie's going for the jugular!

Three chances to win!

Follow Me! - Leave a comment if you are a follower of Aunti Nicole's Corner
Alert the Media! - Tell someone its my anniversary and about this giveaway. Post on your blog, facebook, tweet, email someone, or shout it from the rooftop and leave me a comment that tells me you did it!
Blogger Awareness - Leave a separate comment to tell me which is your favorite quilt blog and why it is your favorite.

Drawing winners will be announced on May 1st, 2011 at noon PST.

This Drawing is now closed.

Good Luck Everyone!

Love Aunti Nicole

Celtic Knot

2011-04-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago the gang at Orange Quilt Bee in Orange, CA invited me to do another class this summer. I chose the Celtic Knot. About 8 years ago my sister taught this class in Mt Shasta at Sew Unique. My sister is one of my favorite quilters and is an excellent teacher, mother, nurse.

And here is a wedding gift that she did for me. Little 12" square, but its one of the only quilts that hangs on a wall in my house. Its hand quilted to boot!

I have resurrected the class with her permission and added some new things I have learned along the way. I did this last Sunday after noon, after my workshop and after a nap. took me about 3 hrs.

As you will see in the blowup, it is not yet sewn down, but that part is a piece-o-cake.

I had so much fun making this piece I may make a border for it ;] I can't wait for the class.

The class is scheduled for May 28th and will be on their calendar soon. So you if you want to signup just email them and they'll take care of you or just let me know.

Hope you get to sew today!
Aunti
Nicole

Gradient Fabric Dying Workshop with Joy-Lily

2011-04-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday my Flying Geese Guild hosted this class at Bear's Quilt Shop in Garden Grove. We were to bring 3 white or white on white fat quarters and wear our work clothes.

While there were about 16+ people we didn't make as much of a mess as one might think. We had a great time and cool fabric was made by all.

Joy-Lily was a lot of fun and she explained about the birds and bees of fabric dyeing. She also came to our guild Monday night to share her gallery of art with such a variety of mediums. For a special treat, visit http://www.joy-lily.com/ to see her beautiful gallery.

For this project we used hair color bottles of dye that was cut in half and half again to get the different gradients. The soda ash was added at the end and then they were set in the sun for a bit and then rinsed.

For the first one we just kept it simple. I used a white on white print and a magenta color. I can see using this for applique flowers how the petals are dark and light. Also Joy-Lily had some great ideas for putting together gradients in pieced quilts.

So here is he back.....

For our next one, we experimented a little. I used another white on while and let the fabric print decide where the dye needed to go. I used mostly blue with a hint of red dye for this one.

...and as my friend Hilary pointed out even the back looks good. I could see using this softer version of the print for a complely different look.

Ok so this next one is why you don't just run screaming through the room with fabric dye! By this time, I was just twisting and playing. Another white on white, that I did without really think about the color combination, eek.

In his case the back looks a little better.

Watch the ugly one get the most use, HA! Isn't that just the way.

A little plug for Bear's Quilt Shop in Garden Grove, CA A great place to learn fabric dying among other quilty things. They have a lot of great samples and do classes on demand for small groups. A bunch of us are thinking about visit them this summer for another fabric dying workshop.

Thanks for stopping by!

Aunti Nicole

I spy a little grey guy!

2011-04-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Oooh and a new baby quilt to boot!. This is a sneaky peek. I'll show this an a few others very soon!
Lots brewing in the background here, can't wait to share!

Giveaway at Jaybird Quilts!

2011-04-05T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Hope your weekend is moving along nicely.

Run by Jaybird Quilts and check out the Introduction to the Quilt Shoppe and the great giveaway Julie is hosting.

http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2011/04/sponsored-giveaway-featuring-fabric.html?commentPage=4

You have until May 7th at midnight, so hurry and enter.

Hope you get to sew this week. ;]
Aunti Nicole

Ok...so why Zentangle?

2011-04-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

You may ask yourself, "Self, why would I take on a new form of art when I couldn't possible make all the quilts I've planned in my single lifetime." Well...I'll tell you... Quilting is simply textile art. Whether its a utilitarian style, traditional or modern, it is a form of expression. I love to see how new "quilting skills" grow from a seemingly separate form of outlet.

Today I was tracing a quilting line that I came up with for a new quilt design and realized that I was Tangling! (see Zentangle)

I actually think the time meditating over my tangles has loosened my machine quilting muscle. Just like zentangle, I created geometric constraints and then doodled a consistent pattern within the shape. It isn't perfect but it has exactly my desired effect. (By the way, I quilt on a Bernina aurora 430.)

Like my friend and fellow Wool Gather Eileen Wintemute, is a wonderful artist and encorporates her different forms of art into her quilting. She has a natural gift with color and form. Check out her blog at http://eileenwintemute.blogspot.com/2011/04/art-quilts-on-display-at-qsc-expo-in.html
I just can't wait to see what she does next!

I love it when things in life just comes together in harmony. You know its not coincidence but God's hands at work in our lives.

Like a seemingly random letter with a lovely story that touches a place in you that you needed, at that exact moment in time. Here's a story of sisters if you have 30 min and whole box of kleenex. http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/423/world_enough_and_time
Thank you my Dione, "Sister from another mother". I love you and my other mother too. ;]

Love
Aunti Nicole

Done Been Splendid in March

2011-04-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

Wasn't March splendid? Well ok it didn't suck. Anyway, a little late to post March, but here is my Bee Splendid entry for March. This month was for Sarah Reams choice, she sent precut little squares and big piece of kona white. It went together really quick.

Here is the link for the tutorial posted by Modify Tradition http://modifytradition.blogspot.com/2010/04/love-in-mist.html

Blocks were actually in the mail on time.

Happy April Fools Day to all!

Love Aunti

It never rains in Southern California!

2011-03-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

But it pours, Man it pours! I love a rainy day when my husband and I are posted up in our house on the hill. He is in the other room gaming (DC Universe) and I am in my sewing room finishing up some little projects I have due soon. I'm back to work full-time so I really only get my weekends to come into my sewing room.

My Wool Gatherer's friendship group is making an auction quilt for our Flying Geese Quilt Guild's Bi Annual Quilt Show in Oct. I'll post more details about the show as we come closer to it. Mark Your Calendar for a visit to Orange County, California the first weekend in October.

My contribution to the quilt is a single block. I have been struggling with the wool projects I have been doing. Most of what I have done has been really primitive and unfinished looking.

I have come to the conclusion that the fun is in the embellishments. I have had a ball making these leaves and flowers 3d.....

.....and my little spider buddy. Proof that baby anythings are cute.

I'll share pictures of this quilt as it develops. Can't wait to see what everyone brings to our meeting on March 30th.

Have a great week, hope you all get to sew!

Love Aunti Nicole

Happy St. Patty's Day

2011-03-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patty's Day a photo by AuntiNicole on Flickr.

Made this special for you for St. Patrick's Day. If you are a quilter and enjoy the inspiration of tangling, join my Quilter tangle flickr group.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1604567@N20/

Mom made Corned Beef and Cabbage (and turnips and potatoes and other stuff) for us for dinner tonite and it was wonderful. So nice to have dinner waiting when you get home from work.

Have a great day! Don't forget your green!
Love Aunti

Its an illusion!

2011-03-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I knitted a baby blanky. My best friend was having a baby and since I didn't know boy or girl, green it was. Just a simple K2, P2, popcorn stitch. The quilt was for my niece Patience who is now a freshman at USC.

Yeah, so this is my first knitting project in 20 years. Now the yarn selection is crazy, and has grown right along with the fabric selection (which I'm sure we are all aware). I selected a self stripping yarn and a simple basketweave pattern.

The project took about two weeks and would have been quicker, except that I finished 1/3 and ripped out, completely, twice!

So here is where the illusion came in.... I used two skeins of yarn, that I thought were the same self-striping. Before joining the two skeins, I did the fringe on one side and prepped the fringe for the other side and set aside, to be sure I had enough. Then joined. Low and behold, I don't think I'm knitting tighter, I think the stripes were different on the two skeins.

I think it turned out pretty cool... but it is just something to be aware of in case you are working on a project where it would not look so cool. I did not check the dye lot and that might have made a difference.

Interestingly enough this has been finished for a couple of weeks and I've even worn it out but never noticed the zigzag stripes until I laid it out and took pictures of it for you. So thank you for that!

Basketweave II by Oma Englund

http://www.knittingonthenet.com/stitches/basketweave3.htm

Pretty simple pattern but you do have to count.

Ok, thats done, back to quilting!

Love Aunti

EZ Quilters in March

2011-03-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Monday I got to visit with my EZQ group. I love the inspiration I get from these meetings. Mardell gets the prize this week for inspiring a new way to look at things. This small wall hanging has a simple background and the quilting just adds to it. Hand quilted by the way, Mardell does such exquisite work!

She reminded us that you have to put a binding on every quilt. "In the simplest terms, "birthing" a quilt refers to a quilt that is "bound" pillowcase style."

It works best with smaller quilts. You lay the back on the quilt top right sides together. Lay on top of the batting. Then sew 3 sides and all but about a foot of 4th side. Trim the edges so you have a 1/4 seam and turn inside out. Finish by applique or whipstitch closed.

Here is the finished double pineapple quilt that was made last year by my group. We put our names in a hat and had an innocent bystander draw for it. Sherrillee won the drawing and of course had to have it quilted and put the binding on it. It is just gorgeous!

Been doing a lot of quilting and knitting, nothing to share just yet, but its coming soon!

Thanks for stopping by.
Love Aunti Nicole

Bee Splendid in February

2011-03-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

This month's Bee Splendid project is from Jeanette and she chose this fun tutorial from A La Mode Fabric http://alamodefabric.blogspot.com/2010/06/spider-web-quilt-block-tutorial.html

This block was sooper simple or as Heather from A La Mode would say, Easy Peasy!

Its a terrific scrap buster! While she gave me purple scraps, Jeanette actually has all different colors going on even some in grey. Its going to really cool when she gets it done.

I put it in photoshop to see what it would like like as a whole quilt. I was a little sloppy but you get the idea.

God Bless you all!

Aunti Nicole

Prayer Request

2011-02-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

My gramma, Vi St. Pierre has always been in really good health, full of life and a total character. Today she was diagnosed with advanced cancer that has progressed quickly throughout her system. We have a huge family who she adores and I hope that we can show her how rich she has made our lives. I am thankful for anytime that God gives us to spend with this wonderful woman. At this point and always she is in God's hands. I ask in Jesus' name, that He protect her from the pain and give her heart peace.

Please keep her and my family in your prayers.

God Bless you and your families. Please make every moment count!

Love Nicole

Something Old, Something New

2011-02-15T12:47:00.000-08:00

While I don't have any finished projects to share, we did a lot of applique prep work last week while Mom was visiting. I prepped a wool block for a new project. Also these 3 blocks are from a retreat/class I took with Pearl Pereira P3 Designs about 4 years ago (yea I know, talk about a UFO). Pattern is Wildflowers. Add these to the 9 I have finished and thats 12 of 25 blocks. Whoof! Not to mentioned the borders. We'll see if I get them all done. The retreat was really fun and Pearl is a hoot. If you ever get a chance to take a class from her, do it!

Oh and I tangled another smaller piece. This is like free hand quilting, while making up your own fabrics. This one is smaller than the last one, about 4.5"x5.5" I think I like it because I can finish one in a sitting.

Would you believe oodles of teeny bunny faces in a carrot patch. Hehehe...

Ok, I need a nap now. ZZZZ

Love to you all.

Aunti Nic

Nothing Like a little Down Time

2011-02-10T23:03:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just have to take some time to clear your head from daily stresses of life. Find a comfy spot and take a nap.

But when you can't seem to stop your mind from spinning, here is a cool new artistic outlet. Its called ZenTangle and its a really fun kind of meditation and kinda quiltish.

Yesterday Mom and I were visiting our friend Sharla at her place Soft Expressions and she was telling me about ZenTangle. http://zentangle.com/gallery.php

So this is my first attempt and I can tell its going to be a bit addictive. I did this one in a few hours while listening to a couple of movies. I would say watching but I didn't look up much.

(8.5" x 5.5" Watercolor paper, the smudgie look is my poor photography and a little because I am left handed and that is just how we roll.)

I can totally see this pouring into my quilting creativity. I have been working on for a few months that kind reminds me of this. I'll show it soon, once I get to a stopping spot.

So what I want to know is, do you Tangle?

Talk to me,

Aunti Nic

Don't it make you want to Appliqué

2011-01-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, my girlfriend Dione came over to go to road with me. She brought me flowers just because. They are the most unusual flowers that I've seen in a bouquet, but just gorgeous. This big flower in the middle looks like a head of lettuce, but with sparkles. There are actually little pointy tips on the ends of the leaves like beading. The combinations of purples and greens, just lovely!

And ...I'm choppin broccoli! No really these look like broccoli's pretty cousin broccolette!

And then this week I also received flowers from my bosses, Kanwar and Anthony.

As a thank you and well wishes.

I received the flowers yesterday and so they were in my house all day. When I got home, I could smell them the minute I walked in. They are the most fragrant flowers.

I am so inspired to appliqué I can't wait to get some free time to do it. Perhaps in my near future! ;]

Special thanks to my friends and family for making me feel so special and continuing to inspire me!

Love
Nicole

The Road was Packed!

2011-01-23T13:17:00.000-08:00

I consider Road to California 2010 in Ontario California a big success, people everywhere! Wonderful quilts hung end to end. I am so proud to see that quilters and quilt admirer's are doing their part to boost the economy!

I walked in the front doors and what do I see, Beyond the Reef, right in the first spot...location location location! Lots of bright and colorful fabrics and some new patterns to boot. Natalie and friends were so busy and the booth was packed.

My friend Liz Isom's asian version of Tic-Tac...Oh! is hanging in the corner of the booth with some lovely asian fabric bundles....had to get one of course. I bought some other fabric, but I'll post it later this week.

There were so many beautiful quilts in the show! http://www.road2ca.com/2010winners/road/winners.html

The creativeness of the quilt community never ceases to amaze me. I am astounded that I still see new ways to do traditional style quilts. I didn't get everyone's names but most of them are described in the link above. I took over 350 pictures this time, but figured I'm better trim it down.

I took some pictures of some things that caught my eye, but there were so many quilts I could not get everything. So here are a few little pics and things I found interesting.

I love this quilt, I saw it online and the story about the creation of it. It is just amazing up close. The whole

Thread Tails & Vapor Trails exhibit for the The 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation.

Ok this picture is not very good quality, but the blow up turned out great. See how the fabrics transition.

Say Cheese! Hey, that's my friend Dione. She is a writer and editor and working on some big projects, more on that in the near future. We had a great time and I'm so glad we got to spend some quality time together at the show.

Oh my gosh the detail on this quilt, 1st place...no surprise there!

Its a tea party don't ya know! This one was so sweet, I stood there staring at all the detail on this one, spoons and tea bags and all kinds of sweaties. I even dragged my friend Micki and her Daughter over to look at this. So much going on, applique, embroidery, embellishments.

Julia Renaud of Tea for Two would just love this one!

This one reminds me of the project that I have been working on for the last couple of months. Very cool.

Wow my husband walked by while I was posting this picture and he said "Wow!" Pete's a man of few words.

I love the subtle change of background fabric. And of course I appreciate the amount of work.

More delicious appliqué. Wow just amazing work.

One of my favorite has always been Dear Jane, but I have to say this is the first time I noticed the settings triangles are all different too. I wonder how I missed that...probably because I have never made one myself.

I have been working on a dutch treat another favorite traditional style pattern. Mine is in the traditional indigo blue, but this... holy cow...this one has an beautiful bright asian print behind it. It is just fabulous.

Yeah...ok really? Who thinks of this stuff!

And the one I call the big fuzzy flutter-bye quilt. Just dynamic and the look at the detail on these flutter-byes.

Ok, thats enough, I'd better get busy.

Hope you were all inspired to be part of such an artistic group of people.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Aunti Nicole

Don't Miss Road to California!

2011-01-19T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Road to California - Ontario, California
January 20-23, 2011
http://www.road2ca.com/

I am very excited to have my Tic-Tac...Oh! pattern available in Natalie's booth. My good friend Liz Isom made the pattern up in Asian fabrics as you might have seen on my last post. I'm telling you the pictures do not do it justice, so stop by Beyond the Reef to see.

I'll be there on Saturday with my friend Dione. We will be stopping by Beyond the Reef , to see all the wonderful goodies she has for us this year at Road.

Honk if you will be at Road!

Hope you all get to sew this weekend!

Love
Aunti

Tic Tac...Oh! Asian Fusion

2011-01-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

Let me start by saying that if you stopped by last week and tried to download the tutorial....well my bad. The link turned up an error. I had since fixed it and I invite you to revisit last weeks post...again.

http://auntinicolescorner.blogspot.com/2011/01/double-piped-binding-tutorial.html

My good friend Liz Isom made of my pattern in her stash of asian fabrics. I can't tell you how little justice these pictures do but I had to share them with you.

She had it machine quilted by a friend and I love how she quilted in different scales inside the design.

and ....scraps for the border.

Here is the original in Basic Grey.

http://auntinicolescorner.bigcartel.com/product/tic-tac-oh

I went to visit her on Saturday to take a look at the quilt. She invite me along to an open house for a new quilt shop in Laguna Hills, California, Sewing Party. http://www.sewingparty.com/

Went to dinner at Casa Sanchez in LA, for my dear friend Dione's birthday celebration. Great food and live music at a 5 start Mexican restaurant. Definitely a treat! http://losangeles.citysearch.com/profile/45876281/los_angeles_ca/casa_sanchez.html

Had a great time with old and new friends and still found time to sew today. Nothing to show yet, but I'm working on it ;]

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Love Aunti Nicole

Double Piped Binding Tutorial

2011-01-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

Three months ago, I got this quilt back from machine quilter Jan Dalkey. I knew I wanted to do a special binding but had trouble finding instructions. So..... I created my own. It took some patience and a lot of ripping, but I finally finished it January 1st, 2011.

So I am posting a free tutorial for anyone who wants to try it. I recommend doing this on a smaller quilt to see if you enjoy doing it. Tutorial - Double Piped Binding

I hope you can put these instructions to use. Maybe not today, but keep it in mind for a future project. Feel free to contact me yelling and screaming if you find any problems with the instructions or need help with it.

I wish you all a wonderful and prosperous New Year!

Love Aunti Nicole

Finishing Touches

2010-12-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

So nice to have Christmas Eve off work tomorrow. Mom and Dad are visiting and we will probably sew and cook all weekend. Nice!

Last Gift is for my Gramma who found only recently that she loves embroidery. I made this little wooley needle case for her. Kinda looks like it got socked in the eye but ok. I will place this in a box with gobs of other embroidery goodies, like floss and an organizer box and on and on.

Mom said the butterfly should be in color, but the butterfly was an after thought, he's lucky to be there at all

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope you all get to visit with family and share the warmth and joy ....and food that family can bring.

Peace on Earth to all y'all.

Love

Aunti

Kitty Proof Ornaments

2010-12-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took a drive over to Signal Hill to visit Rose Hughe's RavenSpeak Exhibit! The exhibit was beautiful and inspiring and I can't wait to start using all the bead packs I picked up. Ran into some friends and friends of friends there.

When I got home, I started my first attempt at making ornaments that my Willie can't destroy. I found this tutorial on Make Stuff http://www.make-stuff.com/projects/quiltball.html. Of course I had to make up my own rules, but this tutorial helped me get the general idea.

Here is the first one, smaller 2" ball - made 2 the same...ish.

Then there are a bigger 3" size and I made 2 red and 1 green so far. I think the white makes them stand out more. I think I will have to keep going!

So are they working? Well...he does seem to think I am making them for him to play with but at least he can't break them when he takes off with them. There is a point in the process where I have to put the ball down and fold the next piece and he would sneak up, grab it and run. It was pretty funny the first 50 times.

We are off to the movies to see the new movie with "The Rock" fweet fweew! (my best wolf wistle). Pete is going because he is assured that stuff'll get blown up.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Aunti

Nicole

She's a my birthday too!

2010-12-11T09:47:00.000-08:00

My birthday is actually Monday, but Mom and Dad sent a package early and Willie made me open it early. He is so impatient. So even though the card said No Peeking!, Mom said I could.

And lookie, its a Vera Bradley bag and I just love the colors and its huge in side!

She also sent a special matching pen and mechanical pencil set and a little tin mints box to complete the set or....Accessorize!

Don't you love it! Can't wait to shop! Its great having a quilter mother, she knows the perfect gift!

Truth is...Willie actually just likes the box and the paper in side. He is always amazed at how much stuff he can destroy pull out of the box toss into the air and not get yelled at.

But get on one little table with food and its.....WillieNo! Git Git Git! All Hell breaks loose!

Have a great weekend!
Aunti
Nicole

Mystery Present

2010-12-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

I'm back from a business trip in Las Vegas. Every year I speak at Autodesk University in Las Vegas. This year, Autodesk University was at Mandalay Bay. I think I walked about 5 miles a day from the hotel to the convention center. But the food is fantastic and the people always a pleasure. Autodesk University is a 3 day training event for Autodesk software users to come and gather as much knowledge as possible in a short time, just like a quilt show. Always fun and exciting, but am glad to be back and get a chance to sew this weekend.

Yesterday I took a class at the Orange Quilt Bee. I can't share with you the end result yet, because I made a Christmas gift for someone who watches my blog. You'll have to check back after Christmas to see the end result. But I can share the supply pile with you.

Oooo.....is that a zipper in that pile?

I don't know.......

Class was a ball and mostly made up of other instructors from OQB. They are loads of fun and it was great getting to know everyone in class. Everyone in the class managed to finish their project and had a great time doing it. Lisa was amazing and has a lot of patience. Everyone was sewing at difference speeds, me being the slow poke in the crowd. But Lisa, was willing to do each step 12 times, once for each quilter. Good grief!

What are you all making for the Holidays? Would love to hear from you. You can post a link to your blog, or send me a picture and I'll post on my blog.

Hope you all get to sew this weekend.

Love

Aunti

Nicole

Reverse Appliqué Class - Done

2010-11-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

Hi All, Hope you had a wonderful Holiday weekend! I got to see my cousin Matt and his daughter Brigid who lives up north in Washington. We had a great time and great food and brought my guitar over to hear what Matt has been creating. (A budding coffee house guitar star). Gramma made my husband Pete a pie care package to go. One whole pie pan with pieces of apple, chocolate cream, and pumpkin. He was in heaven.

Thanks Uncle Joe and Aunt Debbie for having all of us over (about 18 in Southern California). I love my family, we are truly blessed.

So Saturday, I taught a reverse appliqué class at Orange Quilt Bee in Orange California.

I had three lovely people in my class and we had great fun. Ok, maybe not so much fun as they worked really hard. Everyone did great and I think they all got the hang of the technique.

My neighbor Betty even joined us, I put her in the corner, see. But not because she is bad.

I brought samples and tools and suggestions, my quilt bag of requirement was packed full, you can't see but I have a pile on the floor as well. ;]

I did not get a picture of the finished results, but we are meeting later in Dec to show and tell and I can't wait to see what they have completed.

So right next to where we are working my sample quilt for the Tic-Tac...Oh! pattern is display in the store front window. Very excited about that.

Off to Vegas for my annual Autodesk University jaunt. I am only teaching one class there this year and am looking forward to it.

Have a great week and hope you get time to sew.

Love Aunti Nicole

Bee Splendid in November

2010-11-21T17:12:00.000-08:00

This is Audrey's month in my Bee Splendid friendship group. She did most of the work and pre-cut all the squares. The block is the same for everyone but the arrangement will vary. I just love the cheery cherry fabrics she chose.

2 Blocks are 15 1/2" square.

Its been rainy and cold all weekend here in "Sunny" Southern California. Its ok, because I love to watch the rain outside and play with "sunny" fabrics inside.

Oh and isn't this a cute idea for the siggy block? I probably shouldn't have written my name across the big middle like that, but hey...Willie told me to do it, that's what he would do.

I am looking forward to seeing these all put together.

Have a great week,

Aunti
Nicole

Hexie Table Toppers

2010-11-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

Last year I saw Julie Herman at Jaybird Quilts demonstrate this cool ruler in the Beyond the Reef booth at the Long Beach Show. This ruler by Creative Grids is designed specifically for 4 1/2" strips or 2 strips of 2 1/2" sewn together. You can cut several 60 degree triangles without moving the ruler. Perfect for Hexies. Well by the time I convinced myself to buy one, they were sold out. = [

(Just now, while I was adding the link I looked at the Creative Grids site and ooh la la. They've got some new stuff on there. Check it out at Creative Grids Products) They've got a new one with the setting 30's.

So anyway, I watched the hexagon quilt along on Jaybird's site from the sidelines for the next few months. I had a 60 degree ruler but knew it could be done more quickly with the crazy looking one, so I waited.

So this year at PIQF in Santa Clara, this is the first thing I got from Beyond the Reef (after the hugs and hellos of course)...mine! I got to be demo girl and subsequently learn how to use the tool. Among others. When we sold out of that fancy ruler, I demoed the 60 degree ruler and found that...hey thats no so bad!

What to do... what to do...?
My Aunt Sandy asked me to make her a table topper to match her newly remodeled kitchen. So I figured what better way to try out my new ruler. Mom helped me pick out the fabrics from Calico House in Brea. Robert Kauffman's "Marbleous Jacquard" for the black and "Imperial Collection" for the rest.

I went a little crazy and ended up with a bunch of hexies...so I made two, natually!

I can't decide which to give her, so I'll probably just give her both of them...

The first one went together quickly and I machine quilted, I like the way the machine quilting came together to make a star.

The 2nd one I appliquéd to a large square of black fabric and hand quilted. It only took me a few nights in front of the TV.

So with the left over hexies I made pot holders which insulbright which is basically heat resistant battting. A trick I learned from Natalie at Beyond the Reef.

If you want to practice your 120 degree binding techniques, I recommend these little buggers. If you don't, well then add setting corners or appliqué it down to a square.

First of the Christmas presents done!

Hope She likes them
Love,
Niece Nicole

The Joy's of a Friendship Group

2010-11-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

Every month for the last 5 years I have visited with the EZ Quilters. We are a friendship group in Orange Country, about 18 strong now. The women in this group are all wonderful quilters and so creative and talented.

One very special EZ quilter is Joan Rossen. This woman never complains, is always encouraging and does some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen. She has allowed me to show her most recent work of art here. This double wedding ring is for her daughter and while it took her a while and many great hurdles to climb during this time, she has completed it and done a fantastic job. Her hand stitching is exquisite and colors beautiful and vibrant. I wish you all could see it in person. Maybe we will get her to put it in our Bi-Annual guild quilt show.

Love you Joannie, I know your daughter is going to absolutely love this quilt.

If you are a lone quilter, join a local group or get into an on-line group, guild or start one yourself. Even if you may not feel you have the time. Take it. You will be inspired, encouraged and constantly challenged to step up your skills.

I am so honored to be involved in 4 such groups EZ Quilters, Wool Gatherers, Flying Geese Quilt Guild and Bee Splended online bee.

Have a great week!

Love Aunti

Lefty's Lot in Life

2010-11-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Being a left handed person growing up in a world designed for right handed people, its nice when someone makes something just for us. We do things and think just a little different than our righty siblings. Not so much as any one would notice, we just tend to just deal.

Remembers that Homer Simpson's neighbor Ned Flanders? He owned a store specializing in products for left-handed people: everything from left-handed can openers to an entirely left-handed car, of which only three were ever made. Many of the Leftorium's products are merely labeled as "left-handed," such as pens and nunchucks. He does not sell, however, left-handed eyelash curlers.

As a lefty, you may have overlooked a few little things we learn to deal with along the way, like:

When I write with pen or ink, my hand drags across the writing and so its usually smeared and my hand is dirty. Really an issue back in the day when I did hand drafting.
Playing a right handed guitar, i can finger the fret pretty well but my right arm has big trouble strumming a rhythm. I think Jimi Hendrix actually took a right guitar and restrung it to play it left handed. Makes my head swim just thinking about it.
Can Openers can be a bear because we have to use weaker hand.
Rotary cutting fabric on the other side of the table, makes it a little difficult to work at a quilt store layed out for righties, those of you who have tried know what I mean.
Most instructions for embroidery, knitting, crochet, etc are for righties, but I just turn them upside down. On line tutorials you can use a photo editor to give you the reverse.
When teaching hand techniques to righties, i just face them and have them mirror my movements.
Righty's scissors can be downright painful to use. Your fingers get all cramped up in the holes and its just awkward from the get go.

Some great Christmas gifts for that left handed quilter or for your wish list if you are a lefty. My Mom bought me the left handed Ginghers one year for Christmas. Its like cutting through butter and they fit perfectly. Also, Martelli makes this left handed rotary cutter, cuz we can get carpel tunnel too.

Do these tools make a difference? Absolutely! And one fun added little bonus when righty pick up our tools they are just a little awkward and look at us and smile with a whole new understanding of our lot.

Lefties and friends, please comment with a story or favorite lefty tool. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Lefties follow me and I'll bring you news of other lefty tools and funnies along the way.

Love Aunti

Playing Catch-up on Birthday Blocks

2010-11-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

My EZ Quilter's Friendship Group is doing a block exchange this year. On everyone's birthday month, you receive a special block of any kind from each of the 18 members. It can be something different for each block you create. The only consistencies are the size 8 1/2" and include a white on white. I have an applique snowball block with the first letter of their name for each month.

So here are Lisa, Helen, Liz and Debbie's blocks. This should get me caught up Sept, October and November. It has been a fun challenge and its great to see all the different blocks that people come up with.

Happy Birthday to you!

Love Aunti Nicole

Caution Wet Cat!

2010-10-31T11:29:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite Halloween fabric find this year. This is "sebastian ghastly" from the Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection. Natalie had this fabric in Beyond the Reef at PIQF and I just had to have some. I'm glad I did because we sold out in no time. She also had it with orange background, and yep that sold out too. Not sure what I'm going to do with it, maybe a quilt, maybe pajama bottoms.

It supposed to be scary but even the sweetest cat looks a bit irritated when he is wet.

The truth is my WillieNo! loves the water as long as its his idea. He goes into the shower every morning after I'm done and does his bath sitting in the wet shower pan. Then proceeds to track his wet butt and tail all over the house. If I'm taking a bath he lays on the edge and tries to grab my toes in the water. Its great fun!

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween everyone!

Love Aunti Nicole

Shoo Fly... Don't Bother Me

2010-10-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

Its finally finished! I started this quilt, wow almost 2 years ago for my dear friend Gina in New Mexico. I decided to hand quilt it so it had to wait its turn. I started the hand quilting around the beginning of this year and just finished it. Now its bound and ready to go.

Shoe-Fly is a traditional pattern, a simple block with sashing and corner stones. This was done scrappy and the only fabric I bought was the background. I love how the colors fade in and out. I used what we call Uglies mixed with bright pretty fabrics. Uglies give your quilt character and interest. Scrappy is fun because you can take fabrics that normally don't go together and they look great together.

So don't throw out those fabrics you think don't go with anything, cuz I'm here to tell you...they will find a place if you do scrappy. I mean look at the picture below, would you ever think to put those together in a quilt, no not while they are on the shelves. But thats the fun of scrappy.

The hand quilting was done with a variegated thread. I heart variegated thread for hand quilting because it gives your eyes something new to look at every 30 secs or so.

The paisley border was a little out of the theme, so I used a woven check for the binding cut on the bias to bring that country look back into the quilt.

This is my favorite hand quilting find. Clover's Dome quilted needle case allows me to load 10 needles in one shot. I load 10 quilting betweens on a needle threader, pull the thread from the spool through the needle threader loop. Then pull one off at a time, cut it and put it in the dome. Then the next and so on. Finally you twist the case and the thread gets tucked in the bottom. It has a little plastic cover to make it kitty proof.

I can't tell you how many times my WillieNo! ran off with my pin cushion loaded with needles and I had to find needles in cream carpet. Assuming I remembered how many I had in the pin cushion. lol...NOT!

Thanks for stopping by and Gina, I Love You Sister, and I'll have this to you in time for your Anni....Birfday.....Ok, Christmas! Eh-Wheh-Chu! Squeeze Jade and Pablo for me. Squeeze em hard.

Love Aunti Nicole

Two Fun Giveaways!

2010-10-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of my favorite bloggers are hosting giveaways. How very generous of them.

Thru this friday (Happy Birthday Sarah!) - Confessions of a Fabric Addict, some lovely charm pack give aways, how did she put it Moda Sweetness.
http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2010/10/make-list-monday-18-join-giveaway-too.html

Thru Nov. 5th - Visit Irish Muses for another Go Cutter Giveaway!
http://thedote.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-time-for-accuquilt-go-giveaway.html

I hope you all win!
Love
Aunti

Tic-Tac...Oh!

2010-10-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe its only been a month since Natalie saw my Bee blocks for September and suggested it would make a great pattern. I wrote up the pattern, came up with some creative ways of cutting multiple blocks this way. Grabbed some fabric and got started.

I wanted to get the pattern done by PIQF so I passed it to my stunt quilter and Mom extraordinaire to do for me. She did a lovely job, don't you think?. Thank you Rose of RavenSpeak for the picture!

Natalie allowed me to set my pattern up in her Beyond the Reef booth at PIQF in Santa Clara. The quilt never did find a home in the booth and we just kept moving it from here to there right in the big middle.

We were please to find that the patterns made their way to the cashier all weekend long at PIQF!

Thanks Natalie and mom for your support as I venture into this new world!

So later when trying to take a good picture of the quilt, WillieNo! went for Pete's jugular. Pete is just ignoring Willie and me and looking around him to see the TV, lol. But does't the quilt look warm and yummy.

I just love this Moda line. I used a jelly roll from the Basicgrey/Origins line, Graph Paper Vanilla for the background and Aromatherapy Brown Sugar for the border.

So after all that, here is the pattern! and my new Store :]

Just back from PQIF!

2010-10-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Wow so much to share, I might have to post again tomorrow. The show was fantastic and I met lots of great people. I hung with friends Natalie and Lisa of Beyond the Reef, Rose Hughes of Raven Speak and my favorite quilter Mom. Lots of Food, Fun and Fabric! Oh and feet ;] Thanks Natalie for the pedi party. A great time was had by all, as is customary at Beyond the Reef!

Here's Mom and I was not the good little shutter bug. Hoping some of my fellow BTR peoples were better at getting pictures of the booth.

Some exciting news! Natalie allowed me to have my Tic-Tac...Oh! pattern in the booth and we sold a bunch. It turned out great and I'll post it soon by itself. There is a sneaky peek in the picture above ;]

Not sure about the rules, on pictures of the quilts at the show, but since it was my favorite and I'm giving her credit I hope its ok. There were lots of beautiful quilts, but this is the one that stood out to me as a beautiful mix of traditional and modern creativity. I just love it.

Thank you Terri McNeill & Rebecca Todd of Ireland

******

So why did it take me so long to post? No I didn't get lost, but had little 3 day job adventure in Bakersfield after PQIF. Where I met two great quilters by sheer coincidence! I'm telling you we are everywhere!
I was minding my own business training some engineers how to use AutoCAD Electrical in Bakersfield, when I mentioned to one of the engineers that I had just come from a big quilt show in Santa Clara. He said, "Your kidding, my wife Ann is a quilter and oh..our administrative assistant Urlene is also a quilter". So the gals came and met me on my last training day and had lunch and ...show and tell of course.

Ann brought in a few of her beautiful quilts and gave me some yummy looking jelly's that her daughter made for the fair. My Mom is visiting this weekend and we will have to open it and do the taste test. Red Hot Pomegranate, Wow. I can only image at this point.

What great people quilters are!

I hope you all will be there in Santa Clara next year!

Love Aunti Nicole

Won't chu take me to... Wonky Town!

2010-10-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

This month's Bee Splendid challenge is for Sue and she has chosen Wonky Town! This is a fun block and you can experiment with non-symetrical, unstraight and just plain silly architecture.

So here is my interpretation of my townhouse that is the end unit on a building. But since I cut out the other 3 units that normally ajoined, WillieNo! had to investigate.

Here is a close up of Wonky Cat.

For my second block I chose my Mom and Dad's A-frame house that is set out in the middle of the countryside, with a beautiful view of Mt.Shasta and a pasture across a stream. Of course you can't see all that, but you can just imagine.

To the see the rest of the blocks made for Sue, check out the Bee Splendid badge over on the side.

3 more days to PIQF! or Piqueef as my husband Pete calls it.

Have a great Sunday!

Love
Aunti

Reverse Appliqué Class

2010-10-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

November is coming up soon! I am so pleased to announced that I will be teaching two classes in November at Orange Quilt Bee in Orange, California. The people there are so warm and wonderful and shop is just gorgeous.

The first class will be on Reverse Applique and I am looking forward to it. If you are in the So Cal. area, I would love to have you in the class.

I created this pattern with the class in mind. I hand quilted because I felt the need to have more to do, lol. The pattern will be included with the class and is small enough to finish in time for Christmas or at least get you into the spirit of the holidays. If you have a pattern that you want to use for the class bring it with you, you'll be able to follow along with your pattern as well.

Class Date: November 14th, 2010
Sign up at http://www.orangequiltbee.com/

Christmas Ornies

Hope to see you there!

Aunti Nicole

PIQF 2010 Santa Clara is Coming!

2010-10-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

October 14-16 is Mancuso's Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara. For the last 3 years, I would up and mom would drive down to meet in the middle in Santa Clara. We hang out with Natalie and visit the show. Usually I am only there for the weekend, but this year I am taking some extra time and will be there all four days!

This pic is from last year PIQF 2009, Julie, Natalie, me (short stuff!) and Mom (Jane).

We had a great time last year and made a new quilting friend Julie Herman of jaybird quilts, she is so animated its like watching cartoons all day.

I'm bringing a couple of my patterns, one of which my mom is stunt quilting for me. I will be hanging out doing some Kindle Cover/book cover and reverse appliqué demos.

If you are going to be at the show this year, stop by Beyond the Reef, Natalie has a great selection of Hawaiin, Beachy (not bitchy) and modern fabrics. Her booth is always a treat at the show. Be sure to introduce yourself.

We hope to see you there!

Aunti Nicole

basicgrey/origins for Moda

2010-09-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

Natalie at Beyond the Reef was telling me about the Moda grunge fabrics. So, I found these while I was out today. This is away from my normal comfort zone but I think I could get used to it, hehehe. ;]

Have something special in mind and I think this will work perfect for it...but more on that later!

Thanks for the tip Natalie!

Love
Aunti
Nicole

Tutorial - Resize your Templates

2010-09-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a great template that was just the wrong size? Yep, me too.

While working on a hand-quilting project I was ready to do the borders. Had done an inner sashing with a rope template I had. My husband said I needed to do the outer border in a similar style, but I did not have another size of the same design. So…I made one.

Tutorial - Resize your Template

Dresden Delight

2010-09-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

My EZ Quilter's friendship group has made this beautiful Dresden plate quilt for our Flying Geese Guild Auction on October 23rd 2010. http://www.flyinggeese.net/auction10.html

Each EZQ member made 2 blocks and passed it around for hand quilting. Those who don't like to hand quilt did sashing, borders and binding and....

The pillowcase was embroidered with Dresden Delight.

I love the way the quilt turned out absolutely stunning and I am so proud to be a member in the group of incredibly talented and creative quilters. Great Job Ladies.

Confessions of a Fabric Addict: GIVEAWAY! I've Hit A Milestone!!

2010-09-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Confessions of a Fabric Addict: GIVEAWAY! I've Hit A Milestone!!

Happy 100th Post to Sarah!

2010-09-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Sarah on your 100th blog post. She started her blog only 8 months ago and shares some pretty amazing quilts.

This weekend she is featuring a fantastic giveaway in honor of her 100th post. Check it out!
http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2010/09/giveaway-ive-hit-milestone.html

Stop by and get in the fun!
Love
Aunti

Bee Splendid in September

2010-09-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

This months Bee Splendid block exchange is for Carrie. A string quilt and anything goes 2- 12 1/2" blocks.

Carrie sent us Kona Snow, Peacock and Lagoon, assorted Kaffe Fassett prints and a few more to boot.

This was fun but more challenging than it looks. I had to turn a blind eye to my symmetrical mind. I was watching Coco Channel trying to get inspired to think outside the box. Its hard to quilt and read subtitles, my French is not what it used to be, but I managed.

I will be getting them in the mail shortly.

Love,
Aunti

Betty's Baskets

2010-09-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

My neighbor Betty Preston just finished this beautiful quilt and brought it over for me too see. She and her two daughters have a special retreat every year. The daughters fly in and they rent a beach house and work on a similar project. Last year, prior to the retreat, they picked a similar theme. They did a block exchange throughout the year and put the quilts together at the retreat. Each had different arrangements that they did with the similar theme and blocks. So here is Betty's.

This quilt was hand appliqued, hand embroidered and hand quilted. It is just gorgeous, so I had to share it with you all.

This is one of Betty's blocks that she designed and the border arrangement to match. Sew creative!

I looooove the way she finished the outer border. I am so proud to have a friend like her.

Thanks Betty for sharing!

Love

Aunti

Fruitcake in September!

2010-09-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Not normally a fan of Fruitcake, but this Moda Fruitcake is pretty yummy...fat-free too! I bought 2 charm packs and some border fabric from the same line.

20 unique blocks, each with 16 half-square triangles.

Quick and Easy HST (Half-Square Triangles)

Place two contrasting 5" charm squares right sides together. Draw a line diagonally down the center both ways. Sew 1/4" seams on either side of both lines. Cut in 4, then cut each in half. Press to the dark side. You will have 8 half-square triangles.

Happy Labor Day weekend! 3 days of sewing! Whooo Hoo. Throw in a salmon barbeque in Chino and some R&R with my Pete and my Willie.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Aunti

Mini Design Wall

2010-08-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to layout 20 different designs with 16 half-square triangles and I knew I wouldn't get to sewing them together for a couple of days. I wanted to be sure they were each unique designs and that they looked good together.

So I arranged each block on top of the next and took a picture each time. Then in my new camera took a picture of each as I layed it out.

Then used the viewing function on my camera. Mine is called Mosaics and I can see all of the blocks. This way I can ensure that each is different. I can actually see all 20 if I want, but the picture I took for you doesn't turn out so great.

So here is a picture from my old camera of my new camera.

I will be putting the blocks together this weekend! Yeah a sew weekend! Big surprise there huh?
Love Aunti

3/8" Two Sided Binding Posted

2010-08-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
Here is the tutorial it should be free to all!

Two Sided Binding Tutorial
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzIhh09L_PINZGJmODUxOWUtY2FlZi00OGYwLTk3Y2QtNmU4MzQzMzA5ZTky&hl=en&authkey=CPXijY4O
Please give me your feeback and let me knwo if you still can't read it.
Send me sample pictures and I'll post em.

Have fun!
Nicole

Two Sided Binding w/ Tutorial

2010-08-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

I found this great dot fabric for the back of Patience's quilt and had plenty left for the binding. But I don't really like to bind with the same fabric as the back...boring, even if it is big colorful dots. So I came up with a simple way to create a two sided binding.

This binding is made similar to a standard binding with a few extra steps.

Two Sided Binding Tutorial, click below
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BzIhh09L_PINZTk2ZjczN2MtZDVmMy00NGZkLWEwZTctM2VjMzExMTFkMjgw&hl=en

I would love to hear feedback on these instructions. You may want to try it out on a sample before binding a large quilt.

This tutorial assumes you have done a standard 3/8” binding before. If you have not, a great reference for a standard binding can be found on http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/ specifically http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/2010/01/perfect-binding-tutorial.html

Here is the finished quilt. I used www.jaybirdquilts.com Circle Around pattern and added a fun hawaiin print border I picked up from Beyond the Reef Fabrics. I machine quilted with brightly colored variegated thread.

Happy Quilting

Aunti Nicole

A bit Sheepish

2010-08-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I joined a new friendship group. The group is called "Wool Gatherer's" and I would say rightly named on all accounts.

wool·gath·er·ing –noun

1. indulgence in idle fancies and in daydreaming; absentmindedness.
2. gathering of the tufts of wool shed by sheep and caught on bushes.

The group is a great group of women from the Orange County area. All are extremely experienced quilters. Our common goal is to have a support group while we emmerse ourselves into the art of woolgathering. Each week I hear of new tools and materials to use in quilting with wool. I am so engrossed in our meetings that I forget to take pictures to post for you or write down the tips that I hear, but I promise I'll try harder ;P and share what I learn here.

So this is my first piece 28"x20", pattern by Lake View Primitives called "Love in the Spring." My nieces helped me pick out the bead for the sheeps and birds eyes. It really didn't take too long once I shut and started sewing. I mounted it to a thick piece of fusible that I had wrapped in Kona black.

My 2nd project is almost done and I'll post it as soon as its done.

Have a great weekend.

Aunti

Nicole

Friend's Let Friends Piece Drunk!

2010-08-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

This month's block for my Bee Splendid group is for Mary. She chose improv blocks inspired by Denyse Schmitd's Drunk Love.

This block was really fun to make, but at one point I had to quit drinking because the border's were going to be too small. It all worked out and I think I may have to make one for myself.

She included some Kona solids and some different patterns to include in each block. I think I'm in love with this solid pink, ah... yum!

So the stripe is the only fabric of mine that I included, I hope she doesn't mind. Its like that obnoxious friend that you invite to your parties even though they may lite the bathroom towels on fire. (True story, that actually happened at my 40th birthday party.)

Whoa looks like drunk love to me!

Have fun, bee safe.

Love

Aunti

Busy Weekend and Quilting Catch-up

2010-08-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Had another busy weekend. My dear friend Gina, her kids Jade and Pablo, and her cousins Hector and Alissa stayed with us for a couple of days. We went to the Orange County fair yesterday in hopes that we would see Led Zeppelin play at 8pm. After a long fun day, at 7pm we took a vote, who wants to stay for the show? who wants to go home and sit in the Jacuzzi? So we got home at 7:30, lol.

They left today at noon so I got to catch-up on some quilting. Made a birthday block for Jamie in my EZ Quilter's group...

Made two drunk love blocks for Mary in my Bee Splendid group, pictures to be posted tomorrow.

Gave a crochet lesson to my friend Jonathan who wants to finish his mother's afgan, more on that later.

Went to Joann's for yarn for Jonathan and came home with 2 new rulers. The hexi ones. Can't wait to make some of Jaybird's hexigons. Saw her do them at the Long Beach show and it looked like great fun.

Made my supply list for my hand quilting tutorial, soon to be posted.

So I think I crammed enough into a weekend.

Nite to all
Aunti

I had M&M's for a whole week!

2010-07-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Last week my Mom, came to visit me and join me at the Long Beach Quilt Show. She surprised me with M&M's. Megan and Marisa my sisters twins. What a great week we had. They love to do everything I like. They helped me sew, prep, make dessert, play games, entertain friends and even work.

Marisa and Megan, WillieNo! and me.

Megan did all the prep work on a new wool table runner kit I bought at Primitive Gatherings booth at the quilt show. The little bag has beads for the blossoms. She talked Uncle Pete into using the hole punch to make perfect centers for the flowers. I used a stapler to hole them in place until I get around to sewing. A trick I learned from a Wool Gathering buddy, Pam Hadfield.

Marisa helped Mom make a kit that she also purchased at Primitive Gatherings. She had given me all her wool thinking she would probably "never" do wool. Never say never!

This kind of M&M's is not fattening (although we did have our share of chocolate this week, holy cow!). They keep you busy and going going going. Now I know how my sister stays so fit! Thanks Dana for sharing your girls with me.
And thanks Mom for bringing me M&M's.

Love
Aunti
Nicole

What's on the Hoop

2010-07-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

This shoe-fly quilt is a great scrappy project. I bought one background fabric and all the rest is stash! Oh exept for the border. For a scrappy project, I almost always buy new border fabric after I'm done with the inside. The scraps will tell you what border it needs (scrap whisperer, hehe). Its hard to tell before hand. It also may limit the color of scraps you pick, unless that is your goal of course.

I have been working on the hand quilting this one for about four months. Its my evening project (when there is no other hand work, applique, binding, embroidery, etc.). There was a deadline, but its come and gone. So I am not stressing about it anymore, it will be done when its done.

Well I'm finally on the outer sashing, so thats a good sign right? I'm about halfway around with the sashing and then I am on to the borders. My husband Pete helped me pick a pattern for the borders that has a knot in the corners. And maaaaabee I'll do some special binding, it depends on how much longer the quilting takes.

I love feel of a quilt after its been hand quilted. The fabric gets worked and it has a special appeal. It just takes longer. Which is why my blog posts have been few lately. I like to use a variegated machine thread or silk thread for quilting.

Those of you who have not gotten into hand quilting, I recommned it. When this quilt is done, I'll post a better picture, tell you about some great quilters and maybe post some hand quilting tips I've learned. I suspect it will be around the end of this month.

Happy Quilting!

Bee Spendid in July

2010-07-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

This is the first month of the Bee Splendid block bee. I got a slow start because I had to go on vacation...boo hoo ;] and we had our mail held up. So we returned 3 days before having to go back to work, but they then an observed mail holiday on Monday, duh-op! So finally on Tuesday my squishy packaged arrived. I was so excited (and exhaust from my first day back from work)...that I had to go to bed, lol. So ok 2 days later I'm done!

Sarah has sent us some yummy brights and a pattern with a twist on the Jacob's ladder traditional block. I added some goodies of my own and voila, my first one done!

and my second block. I just love the little gray flowers, so yeah I had to add some gray and RED!!! from my stash.

These blocks were quick and fun. Karrie Lyne aka mama Bee has some great ideas for layout of these blocks too. Can't wait to see the rest of the blocks for Sarah and her final finished top.

Happy Quilting!

Aunti Nicole

Happy Birthday Mardel

2010-07-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

July block for EZ Quilter's Birthday block exchange is for Mardel Price's.

Happy Birthday Mardel! Hope your birthday is as bright and sunny as this quilt will be.

Next up Bee block!

Aunti Nicole's Corner

The Fernandez Boyz Quilts

Road was Packed!

On the Road Again!

How much is that Window in the Doggie?

I've been working on the Railroad!

Merry Christmas My Dear Quilters

Quilting Addiction - Mariner's Saga

100th post!

Smoke from my finger tips

Trick or Treat?

Campbell's Baby Boy

It All in the Twist

Happy Friday!

A Harvest of Quilts was spectacular!

How Cute are These Socks?

Harvest of Quilts - Oct 1st and 2nd

Someone Special is on the Way!

Bee Splendid in August

A Precarious Position

One Note - Cool Tool!

EZ Quilters - August

Long Beach Quilt Festival

Goin to a Quilt Show...Every botty!

Call the Doctor!

Quilts of Valor

Block Wisperer

Sandwiches again?

Where to start....

Design Challenge

Zentangle Classes

Little Class, Big Success

Inspiration is Everywhere

Soft Expressions: Explore Zentangle May 24th and 30th in Anaheim

Zentangle® Classesby Sharla R. Hicks CZTCertified Zentangle Teacher

Happy Mother's Day!

EZ Quilters - May

Bee Splendid in April

Happy Blogaversary to Me!

Giveaway!

Celtic Knot

Gradient Fabric Dying Workshop with Joy-Lily

I spy a little grey guy!

Giveaway at Jaybird Quilts!

Ok...so why Zentangle?

Done Been Splendid in March

It never rains in Southern California!

Happy St. Patty's Day

Its an illusion!

EZ Quilters in March

Bee Splendid in February

Prayer Request

Something Old, Something New

Nothing Like a little Down Time

Don't it make you want to Appliqué

The Road was Packed!

Thread Tails & Vapor Trails exhibit for the The 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation.

Don't Miss Road to California!

Tic Tac...Oh! Asian Fusion

Double Piped Binding Tutorial

Finishing Touches

Kitty Proof Ornaments

She's a my birthday too!

Mystery Present

Reverse Appliqué Class - Done

Bee Splendid in November

Hexie Table Toppers

The Joy's of a Friendship Group

Lefty's Lot in Life

Playing Catch-up on Birthday Blocks

Caution Wet Cat!

Shoo Fly... Don't Bother Me

Two Fun Giveaways!

Tic-Tac...Oh!

Just back from PQIF!

Won't chu take me to... Wonky Town!

Reverse Appliqué Class

PIQF 2010 Santa Clara is Coming!

basicgrey/origins for Moda

Tutorial - Resize your Templates

Zentangle® Classesby Sharla R. Hicks CZT
Certified Zentangle Teacher