Hand Quilting

O.k. I'm just going to come out and say it. The ugly truth....

 

I've never hand quilted anything. Ever. In my 15 years of quilting. Never.

 

That's almost embarrassing to say.

 

But, there's no time like the present right?

 

I'm telling you, this off-grid stuff is changing me!

 

{I may have over pinned this}

 

Lucky for me, my first hand quilting project is small. This was the sweetest little pattern from Thimble Blossoms.

There were a few recent Moda collections that really caught my eye but I've kept telling myself "no" to them as the last thing I need right now is more fabric.

 

Until this pattern came along and I realized that I could use Plum Sweet and Mirabelle in these mini quilts.

 

 

The quilting has begun.

 

I'm impressed.

 

But not with my work. I'm impressed that women used to hand quilt bed sized quilts.

Mine is only 14"x16" and I'm already thankful for long-arm machines.

 

I'll let you know how this one turns out.

 

Great Charm Pack Sale!

There is a great sale going on right now at Craft Town Fabrics. They have a ton on wonderful charm packs on sale and if you enter the code "charms" at check out you'll get an extra 20% off!

They have....

Punctuation

Indigo Crossing

Welcome to Bear Country

Over the Rainbow Batiks

Flirt

Audras Iris Garden

Comma,

Snap Pop

Lots of Christmas charm packs

and a bunch of Kona Solid charm packs!

 

And more that I didn't even list!! Click here to see all of their charm packs. Enjoy!

And while you're at it, check out this giveaway too.

When a Quilter Destashes

I went through a fabric cabinet of mine this morning and decided to destash. I thought I'd share with my blog readers before listing all this on Etsy. If you're interested leave me a comment here or email me. First come, first serve. Thanks!
All fabric measurements are the inches given by 42" or 44" depending on the manufacturer, unless otherwise noted. No fabrics have been washed. All prices are for the fabric only, shipping will be added depending on where you live. I accept PayPal for purchases.

1. Heather Ross, 36" horses on green from West Hill, other prints are scraps $8

2. Strawberry Delight by Fabric Freedom, black 23", strawberry 21", green floral 21", red solid 11", $8

3. Building Blocks- American Jane for Moda, 2 cuts- 74" and 43", $18 SOLD

4. Honeycomb Harvest- Moda, 5 charm packs, 1 jelly roll, beehive print 112" , vine print 74", $65 SOLD

5. It's Snowing- Moda, Squares and circles 36", snowflakes 36", candy cane 19", dots on red 43", 1 panel with 8 snowman squares, plus 1 yd of Candy Stripe from Marcus Fabrics, $25

6. Traditions Collection For A Cause Fat Quarter Bundle for Moda- 40 Ft Qts, $55 SOLD

7. Michael Miller- horseshoes on Red 28", cow print 30", retro cowgirls 29"x38", blue bandanna 30", plus Moda red/blue letters 14", $13 Sale Pending

I hope someone can use some of this! If you feel any of the prices are too high, I'd be glad to consider offers.

Really. Make me an offer, I want this stuff gone! :)

**I forgot to add that I have 1 Peace on Earth Charm Pack (50 sqs) for $5 and 3 Hemming House Wovens Charm Packs (19?sqs each) $6 for all. HH Wovens- SOLD All charm packs are from Moda. I didn't take pictures though. If you need one, I can email it to you or you can search the collections on Google.**

Bull! Fat Quarters: Wholesale!

A few years back I purchased 34 Fat Quarters from Maywood Studios from their Bull! collection. I'm not going to do anything with these though. My original plan for them didn't work out and so I want to sell them. I purchased them wholesale for $40.00 and would like to sell them for that price + shipping. The fabric is out of print and has been for some time. There are quite a few online quilt shops that still have the fabrics though. You can see samples of the collection here. FQs are in new, unwashed condition. If you're interested please email me at mountainhomequilts@charter.net. Thanks!

October Fabric Giveaway!**NOW CLOSED**

I was just here, for waaaaaayy longer than I should have been. Looking at all the generous items that were being given away made me want to share some fabric too. So here we are, another giveaway!
This month I'll be giving away 1 fat quarter pack of the Thimbleberries fabric October Glow. This fabric is out of print and super hard to find. There are 21 prints in the collection.

Here's what you can do to enter:
1. Leave a comment here, 1 entry
2. Blog about this giveaway, 1 entry
3. FB or Tweet about this giveaway, 1 entry

If you'd like to follow along with my blog, please feel free to do so! I'd love you have you along for the ride. You do not have to follow though to enter. Those giveaways always irk me. Honestly, if I have to follow your blog to win, I'll just pass. Unless of course, I already follow and love your blog immensely (that's you Amy!)
Anywho, this giveaway will be open until October 15th at midnight. Make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win. Winner will be chosen by Random.org on October 16th. Hopefully that will be enough time for me to get these to you and for you to make something for this fall.

Enjoy!

Quilting 101: Pre-cut Fabric*CLOSED*

It's hard to imagine but there actually are people out there that do not know what pre-cut fabric is, but there are. Charm packs, jelly rolls, honey buns, turnovers, layer cakes...........I don't know if that's making me hungry or just giving me the urge to buy more fabric.

Pre-cut fabric is the greatest thing to happen to quilting since the rotary cutter! Pre-cut squares, triangles, strips, you name it! You can whip together a quilt in no time flat. The Moda Bake Shop regularly has easy quilt projects that use pre-cut fabric, cutting down the total time you spend on making your quilt by as much as half! You can find great prices on pre-cuts on Etsy, eBay and a few select quilt shops like Green Fairy Quilts.

If you're one of those folks who have never owned a charm pack, have I got a deal for you. I'll be giving away 1 charm pack to 1 lucky winner. You'll have your choice of either 1 Punctuation Charm Pack (for the retro loving quilter) or 1 12 Days of Christmas Charm Pack (for the more modern quilter.) Both collections are fabulous in my opinion!

Here's what you can do to enter:

1. Leave a comment here for 1 entry

2. Share this giveaway on FB or Twitter for 1 entry

3. Blog about this giveaway for 1 entry

Leave a comment for each one that you chose to do!

This giveaway is open to everyone, even if you already have a huge stack on charm packs in your stash. ;)

Giveaway ends this NEXT Friday the 17th at midnight.

Happy Quilting!

Quilting 101: Fabric

Is this time of year just super chaotic for anyone else? I barely have time to keep up with things here at the homestead let alone on my blog! This post has been on my mind though and I want to get it out there. I have a feeling this is gonna be a long one folks, because when you get a quilter talking about fabric, she can talk, and talk, and talk and talk. Seriously. If you don't make it all the way through this post, I won't blame you.

I love fabric. I mean I love fabric. Especially Moda fabric. As in, I could have our house chalked full of fabric and still not believe that I have enough. It's an addiction, I'll admit it. And really, addictions are not healthy. I won't try to pass it off as o.k. but it's the gosh honest truth. There's just something about the look and feel of good fabric; it invigorates the soul!

Where you buy your fabric doesn't matter as much as the actual quality of it. Quilt shops (whether brick and mortar or online) usually carry good quality fabrics all the time. Stores like JoAnn's, Crafters Warehouse, Hobby Lobby, etc have both good and not so good fabrics. You certainly have to be more picky. Then there's your big box store (no names mentioned) where you should only buy fabric for projects that you A. Don't want to last B. Think you may mess up a lot on so it's really more of a tester than a final.......like my skirt.

I can hear many of you saying right now, "But the good fabric is sooooooo expensive!!" and you're right, it can be. I mean $9/yard? Yikes! It's going to cost you close to $100 just in materials to make that quilt for your bed. So here's my advice for buying fabric:

1. Only buy sale fabric. Websites like Fabric.com have a bunch of quality fabric for way less than other places. The Fat Quarter Shop has sales on their fabrics routinely too. Search the sales section for fabrics that will work and you can end up getting great fabrics for $5/yard. I like to find the fabric that I need and then google it. I can usually always find it for a great price if I spend a little time searching. (If you have an online shop that you love, I'd appreciate you sharing a link in the comments section.)

2. Join a fabric co-op. There is one available to Etsy sellers. You can buy fabrics from retailers like Moda, Free Spirit, Kauffman, Widham, etc. at wholesale. You usually have to buy in somewhat of bulk but if we're talking about making a quilt (or two or three...) then 5 yards of fabric isn't that much.

3. Check out your local quilt shop for special sales, end of bolt deals and frequent buyer benefits.

There's nothing like getting into bed at night and pulling up, over yourself, the quilt that you made. Or, tucking your sweet children in at night with a quilt that your hands made. The thing is, if you're going to invest all the time in making a quilt then you'd better invest in good fabric. It would be a shame to have all of your hard work and time go to waste in 2 years when that quilt falls apart.

Whew, did you make it through? Tomorrow I'm going to try and cover another aspect of fabric. I think you'll like the post....it includes a giveaway too, and that's always good!

New Fabric!

I listed some new fabrics in my shop this morning!

New American Jane charm packs. To be honest, I haven't loved the last few collections she has put out but this one is awesome!! I am so glad to see a return to the cute collections of fabric that she designs.

Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas is new too. I usually don't lean too far towards the funky Christmas fabrics but this one has a special heir about it. I've got the jelly rolls and the quilt kit for sale.

And totally off topic, I added a new poll over to the left regarding canning. If you get a chance, go over and vote. Please let me know, too, if you're having a problem with the poll- the last ones I have put up have seemed to have some bugs.

fabric

I still have 2 Medium flat rate boxes that 2 people didn't claim when I did my fabric de-stashing. They are free if you'd cover the shipping on them (or one of them) which comes out to about $11.50 each. If you're interested, please email me: mountainhomequilts@charter.net
Thanks!

Yay! for Giveaway Day!

I love Giveaway Day! It's always so fun to check out other blogs and see the extreme generous and crafty nature of fellow bloggers.

I am thrilled to be participating once again in Sew Mama Sew's special day! Here's what I've got up for grabs:

1 Snippets by American Jane Turnover

1 Boutique by Chex Moi Charm Pack

1 26' roll of Stipples Made Easy (the stiple and star pattern)

All of this to one lucky winner!

To enter, leave a comment below. If you blog about my giveaway, leave an additional comment and I'll give you two more entries! Wow, that's 3 entries total!

Rules: I'm sorry but the entries are limited to the USA only. All comments must be made by Friday May 21st at 6pm (PST) to qualify. Winner will be drawn on Saturday May 22nd. Please leave a way for me to contact you (like an email.) If I can not contact you, another winner will be drawn.

Burst of Autumn Quilt kit

Here's another up for grabs! I bought this older Moda kit off ebay and the condition it is currently in is the same that it came in, half precut. There are cuts that are already pinned together and fabric that has not been cut. I bought it 2 years ago and I don't see myself getting to it in the next 2. So, if you'd like to pay the shipping. My guess (from my previous post) is that Flat Rate Priority Mail in the US is going to be the cheapest (around $11-16 depending on what type of box I can get it in.) This kit makes a 74x80 quilt.
Any takers for this one?

dick and jane fabric

This fabric is up for grabs to the first person who doesn't mind paying to have it shipped to them! :)

Any takers?

batik fabric giveaway winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
19
Timestamp: 2010-03-22 15:01:26 UTC

Which means.......

Pokey said...
These are pretty, and could be so fun. For spring, I'm opening the windows, and airing the quilts- happy spring! Thanks for the giveaway!

Congrats to you! :)

Giveaway #2 **Now closed**

Time for another giveaway of fabric! This one includes 13 batik fat quarters. I'm just not a batik person so these have to be purged from my stash! :)

To enter, leave a comment here and tell me about how you're getting ready for spring. One winner will be drawn this coming Monday (March 22nd.)

And don't forget to follow along- there will me more fabric giveaways!

giveaway ***Now Closed***

I was going through my fabric today and realized that I need to get rid of more so here we go...

Katie Jump Rope scraps and fat quarter cuts.

A mix of blue and green fabrics.

Two little sets of fabrics, two winners. Leave a comment and I'll draw two winners this Friday!

why? oh why?

Why did I have to see this quilt that I just had to make? Why, oh why did I then find this online quilt shop that made me think I'd died and gone to heaven? (They specialize in reproduction fabrics.)

What made me think that I must have this fabric and make this quilt for our bed? As if I don't have enough irons in the fire (i.e. UFO's) right now with quilting. As if I don't have enough fabric in my stash to last me the next 3 years of quilting. Well, not enough reproduction fabric to last that long, but enough of all the other stuff.

Maybe a better question is why am I so addicted to fabric? What causes that illness? Really, if you gave me $2000.00 to spend on fabric, I could do it (from the comfort of my home computer) in probably 1 hour. That's insanity! Note to yourself- never give me that much money to spend on fabric. Not that you would anyway.

And apparently, I need to spend some time reorganizing my stash. You never know how messy things look until you photograph them.

generosity and creativeness

I have been blessed over the last month- winning 2, yes 2, giveaways from 2 great ladies!

The first was from my friend Erin. She had a giveaway for 3 fat quarters. When she sent them to me she also generously included her left over scraps from the same collection!! They're from the Sweet line from Moda and will be used for a quilt for Timber.

Next was a giveaway that Carly hosted. I won 2 of her patterns! I have had my eye on one of them for a long time and I can not wait to use them!! I already have the fabric in mind too (as if that should surprise you.) For her MB pattern I will be using the Happy Campers fabric from American Jane. For her DP Pattern I'll be using Happy Trails from Benartex. These patterns make me want to stay up all night and forgo the little sleep I get to use them!!

And last, but certainly not least, is some cute creativeness from my cousin Lynette. She made these for Timber and I for Christmas. They are soooooooooo cute! I told her she needs to open an Etsy shop and sell them. Come on girl, get on it!! :)

Giveaway winner!

Um, yes, I forgot about the giveaway results.......oops. Sorry about that! This weekend has been crazy!

So I went to random.org and Mr. Random chose entry #16....
Chris said...
Hi I'm new to your blog. A friend suggested I stop by..:) SO please enter me in the drawing. I am a homeschool mom of 10 kids and love to sew! I enjoyed looking around your site, I'll be back to visit again! God Bless

Congrats Chris! I'll be emailing you to get your info so that I can send you the layer cake! :)
Thanks so much to all who entered. After the first of the year I'll be having another giveaway so if you didn't win this one, don't worry, there will be more!

giveaway time!

As promised, I'm ready to do my giveaway! I'd love to be giving away something handcrafted but since I haven't even been making anything except for the necessities (i.e. Christmas gifts,) I don't have anything to give away in that respect. But how about something that you could use to create something of your own? Like FABRIC!!! :) Mmmmmm, fabric. Words don't properly express my love for it.♥

And just in time for Christmas- a Layer Cake of the new Mary Engelbreit Christmas fabric, The Caroler!

And as usual, to win, all you have to do is leave a comment. I'm not going to force you to "follow" my blog just to have an entry (I've always found that silly) and you don't have to blog about it to get an entry (although if you wanted to, that would be nice) and you don't have to share some story or tradition or anything like that (unless you want to) - you just have to leave a comment like, "Oh, I love this fabric, I'd love to win!" not "Pick ME! I'm the best!" and PLEASE leave an email or something for me to contact you because I'm not into tracking down folks to give them something.

Contest will close this Friday Dec 11th at midnight. The winner will be chosen using random.org. The Layer Cake will be shipped to the winner via USPS Priority Mail the following Monday.
Good luck to you all!

sheer delight

Those are the feelings, in words, that a quilter feels when fabric comes in the mail. Last month I sold a few quilts so naturally, I then had to buy more fabric. (Even though my stash runeth over.) Surprisingly most of this fabric is actually for my family- not the shop. Here's what I scored:
The first is a panel from the Flag Day Farm collection from Minick and Simpson. I bought it because it was on clearance but once I got it and opened it I was surprised at how perfect it would be for a table runner on my kitchen table. So, that's what it'll become. The other fabric is from the American Primer collection. I've had it before and loved it so I got some more.

Here's the fabric from the Stitchin' Post for Mason's quilt. I love how it came in a jelly like roll of 4.5" fabric. That makes it possible for me to do something else than a patchwork quilt. Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet though. Any suggestions?

MMMMMmmmmmm, the new Heather Ross Far, Far, Away fabric. It's ridiculously priced but I love it and just bought a little for quilt for Timber.

American Jane overload. Building Blocks, Wee Play, Look and Learn, Peas and Carrots. I can't get enough of Sandy Klopp's fabrics!

Here's the stash in it's entirety. There's also some Moda 1974 in there for another quilt I'm working on and some Sweet for another quilt for Timber.

Have I ever said that I love, love, love, love, love fabric?????