Quilting my way through life!

Who knows what season it is outside this week?

It is Winter

It looks like Spring.

It feels like Summer!

Just the middle of March, and the extended 7 day forecast here in the lower half of Illinois is 80+ degrees EVERY DAY!

My flowers are blooming!

Inside it’s Spring Quilt Market Prep Season!

I’ve been picking and pruning my “Salt Air” and adding a few others that are acting like fertilizer, making the pretty stuff prettier!

It’s fun to FINALLY cut into this stuff. When it’s early in the season, with a limited supply of the good stuff, I can’t bear to cut until I know for sure the design is just right!

And this is what I’m working on today.

How about you? Are you doing your spring gardening yet?

Until next time,

Susan

fabric shopping, My Life, New Pattern Sample, New Quilt pattern sample, Suzn Quilts Patterns

Out Quilt Shoppin’

March 15, 2012March 14, 2012 suznquilts

It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it!

That’s right, buying fabric.

This is how they looked on the bolts,

and this is how they look sitting on my work table.

(next to some of my new threads)

Also shown is my Garden Trellis pattern that I’m making with these new fabrics.

I’m teaching this quilt at a workshop next month and decided I wanted another sample.

Garden Trellis has been one of my best-sellers since I dreamed it up in 2005.

That’s right, I dreamed it!

I literally woke up and came downstairs and sketched it and the next day sewed it.

David thought (& still thinks) I was crazy, but how crazy is it now that it’s one of my top-selling patterns???

Do you ever dream in quilting?

Time to sew…

Until next time,

Susan

Applique quilt projects, quilt as you go lap quilt, restocking stash

Sulky Thread Love…

March 14, 2012 suznquilts

I ordered some thread last week because it had been a while and I was running low on several of my favorites.

Just a few days later and here they are!

The spools with orange labels are the 12 wt. threads and the spools with the brown labels are the 30 wt. threads.

I put my favorite at the top.

It’s my most-used, Sulky 12 wt. Black! It’s what makes my applique “pop!” I didn’t know my applique didn’t pop until a couple of Sulky reps wandered by my booth one year at market and introduced me to their threads. They knew my applique didn’t “pop”, but they didn’t tell me that, they just said, “Oh you do a lot of applique. Would you like to try our 12 wt. thread?”

Little did I know that thread would totally change the look of my applique!

I took that thread home with me and eventually tested it on my next applique project.

Oh, my goodness!

It’s like taking a big black crayon and outlining my applique shapes.

I guess I’m still a kindergartener at heart!

Notice how I just showed you what I’ve been working on without showing you what I’m working on?

I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned.

Until next time,

Susan

New Quilt Pattern Magazine

Quilts from Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks follow-up

March 7, 2012March 7, 2012 suznquilts

It’s available now!

You can see my block in the quilt made by Peg Spradlin on her website.

This is my block as it appeared in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Vol. 3.

I wonder who won and owns it now??? See my signature under the “m”? That’s one of the requirements of the challenge. Each of the original 100 blocks featured is won in a drawing during the blog hop sponsored by Quiltmaker when the new issue is ready to debut. You can see past blog hops sponsored by Quiltmaker here.

This it how I made it into a little quilt that was also featured in the gallery of that issue.

I love seeing how other quilters use my designs.

Now run out and get your very own copy before it’s too late!

Until next time,

Susan

New Quilt Pattern Magazine, Quilt Market

New Magazine:Quilts from Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks

March 4, 2012March 6, 2012 suznquilts

It’s always fun to find something new and exciting, yes?

I heard at Fall International Quilt Market last October that Quiltmaker was working on a new publication, a magazine that quilt designers use multiple blocks from previous issues of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazines and put them together into one quilt. They can be your blocks or other designers’ blocks.

Last month I was contacted by Quiltmaker because someone was inspired to use one of my blocks in their quilt and it made it into the first issue! I couldn’t wait to find out which block they used and to see how they used it.

The issue goes on sale this week and on Tuesday, Quiltmaker is giving away 20 copies.

Good luck!

Until next time,

Susan

P.S. My friend, Celine Perkins of Perkins Dry Goods, has a quilt included in the issue.

My Life, New ideas, New Pattern Sample, New quilt pattern, Quick Little Projects

Happy Valentine’s Day

February 14, 2012 suznquilts

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope you had a nice day with a bit of love included too!

Along with the day-to-day business stuff I made cookies for my valentines.

I love this recipe for two reasons; they taste great and you roll them into a ball then roll the ball in sugar, not the roll out and cut sugar cookie.

Sugar Cookies

From Suzette Krummel Quilt Retreat 1999

1 cup Butter

3/4 cup Vegetable Oil

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1 cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Soda

4 cups Flour

1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 eggs

Decorative sugars or nonpareils

Cream butter, oil and both sugars; add eggs & vanilla. Sift dry ingredients, stir in and blend. Chill dough for 1 hour.

Roll a teaspoon of dough into a ball. Roll in decorative sugar.

Bake at 375˚ for 12 minutes. Remove to cooling rack.

Yields approx. 8 dozen cookies.

I then quilted my “Heartfelt Table Runner” a mystery I designed for my guild, but soon to be a new pattern.

I also made Valentines for my sweethearts from here.

I just printed out 4 per page onto cardstock, punched a hole and added ribbon and a message then tied them to my gifts. Isn’t she adorable?

I hope you had a lovely day too!

Until next time,

Susan

My Life, new fabric collection, New ideas, New Pattern Sample, Quilt Retreats

Retreat means sew, sew, sew

February 9, 2012February 9, 2012 suznquilts

Last weekend I was once again fortunate to attend our annual reatreat at Rosemary’s Quilt Shop in Highland Illinois.

The first floor & basement are the quilt shop floors. Rosemary lives on the second and third floors. It’s a beautiful older home and the owner/occupant is a wonderful host! On the days that she has retreats, she reatreats to the third floor leaving enough sleeping rooms for 6 quilters on the second floor.

For the past 8(?) years a group of us have met for a weekend each winter and sewed, sewed, sewed. The basement is set up to sew and snack 24 hrs. a day if you want. Within two blocks there are authentic Mexican, Italian and Chinese restaurants. No need to pack any food! Of course there are lots of other restautants around town too as well as Walmart, Walgreens, etc.

Another great perk to sewing here is that Rosemary has everything you might need at any time, day or night; fabric of course, basting spray, batting, you get the picture!

This year I decided to take along a project that I started at our quilt designer retreat in November.

I made 7 of the blocks in Minnesota where I bought the book & kit. I pieced all day Thursday (un-pieced half the day on Friday) and finished the top Friday evening.

It’s “Peony Patch” from the book Summer Gatherings by Lisa Bongean & Carole Charles. The finished size is 20″ x 24″. It was designed with little leaves on every block, but after I got those appliqued on I didn’t like them! It took me about 6 hours to remove them and re-sew the stem… I love it now. I’m trying to decide how to quilt it. I’d like to give it to a professional, but it’s so small I’m embarrassed to send it out!

Next I made more of these; mini Dresden plates with my template.

I love using my Clover Mini Iron.

It gets super hot and presses the little petals very flat, plus it’s light-weight and doesn’t heat up the whole room while I’m pressing a million of these things.

Since these seams are pressed open, the mini iron tip can get right in there and press those flat too.

These are looking great with my Salt Air fabrics.

Love, love love them!

Can’t wait to show you how these are going together, but no photos ’til they’re done!

I’ve also got a new lap quilt just for little boys about finished…Nothing like a quilt retreat with all sewing, all the time to get my creative juices flowing!

Until next time,

Susan

New ideas, New Pattern Sample, Quick Little Projects

And on that trip I took this bag

February 5, 2012 suznquilts

It’s my “Pack Rat Sack” and I made it the day before we left on our trip.

There is a drawstring to close up the top,

and then a cute clasp,

an inside zipper for small items,

and best of all it folds up super small for travel.

I like this kind of bag to take to the beach (wish I were back there now…) and for shopping while we’re out and about; large capacity, but light-weight.

I see a pattern in its future.

Until next time,

Susan

My Life

New year…

February 1, 2012February 1, 2012 suznquilts

Yes, but that was last month! Where have all the days gone???

It’s always a tough transition back to work after the holidays & my birthday…

So we decided to take a last-minute trip to Mexico

and last week David & I were here

relaxing,

eating French food,

drinking,

eating Mexican food,

eating Italian food, (7 restaurants in all)

a bit more drinking,

and this was our room…

Is it any wonder I can’t get back into the swing of things now???

If any of these photos entice you to take in a Mexican holiday, check out the Secrets Silversands Resort at Mexico’s Riviera Cancun. It’s hands down the nicest place David and I have stayed at and the staff was remarkable!

Now I have a retreat to pack for leaving tomorrow where it will be all sewing all the time and eating out (again!), for three days. I plan to get a bunch of sewing done and come back energized to get working on the new designs that I’ve been dreaming up.

Hope you’re sewing during this lovely, mild winter.

Until next time,

Susan

My Life, New ideas, Quick Little Projects

A word for the year? How about two?

January 12, 2012January 12, 2012 suznquilts

I have way too much to say and do to narrow my year down to one word!

I like to start the year off with a clean slate:

Since we put Christmas away over the weekend, I’ve been looking at this bare wall in our kitchen. I’ve been in no hurry to decide what to put up. The blank shelf has been relaxing in the sunshine we’ve been having here this week…you’d think it was spring here!

Then, little by little…