Thank You Sew Much ~ A Quilt Story + Card Video

On Sunday I shared that I have a story to go along with my visit to Quilter's Junction in Chehalis, WA.  Scroll down if you just want to see the card.  Keep reading if you want to hear my embarrassing geeky story.

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First off I want to give a shout out to Rita Whalen.  Thank you for making me feel like a "rockstar" even if it embarrassed the "normal person" out of me.   You really did make my weekend.

As a blogger and designer, most of my work goes on in the privacy of my own home.  I create alone, most of the time. I do my blog and design team work behind a computer screen. .  Even comments on my blog are silent as I read them on my cell phone or computer.

Last Sunday when I walked into Quilter's Junction in Centralia, WA looking for the exact match to my light gray (Vapor) fabric, the lady behind the counter was very helpful.   She asked what I was looking for and took me around the shop trying to find a solution.   It's a small shop and I was very specific, so it didn't take long.  She then asked me my name.  I said "Heather" and she said "North?".  At first I panicked a little because I didn't recognize this lady, but she knew my last name, so I must have known her.  I'm terrible at remembering names, but I usually at least recognize the face.  This time I was at a complete loss.

She told me that she follows my blog.  In addition to being a quilter, she is also a cardmaker.  I was so embarrassed that I had shown my Dresden block to this person who actually knew who I was that I took that block and literally covered my face with it.

Just picture it. This block with my face and head under it.  Can you get any more geeked out than that?!   I could have played it cool and confident, saying "thank you, I'm so glad you are interested in my blog".... but no, I had to turn (what I am sure was) a tomato bright red, and cover my face with the block  that I was embarrassed for anyone who "knows" me to actually see.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I think I covered myself 3 more times before I left the shop.  Apparently I wasn't cut out for being "famous". LOL.   My work is out here on my blog for the world to see, but when I meet someone face to face who is looking at my work I am filled with embarrassment and self doubt.  Obviously something I need to work on.

When I asked for her name she told me, Rita Whalen and I instantly recognized her name from my blog, emails and Facebook. Thank you Sew much Rita Whalen for making feel like a rockstar.  I'm sorry for being such a nerd and not knowing what to say. Next time I visit you I will try not to cover my face every time you pay me a compliment.   Bless you in your upcoming adventure!

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Now on to my sewing card.   This one comes with a video.

http://youtu.be/KSd9rhnTnAM

Stamps: Notions (Waffle Flower)
Ink: London Fog, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies, Quilted Swirl Stitch Die (Lil' Inker Designs); White Bakers Twine (Stampin' Up!): MISTI 



One last thing before I go... StampNation is going on a Virtual California Vacation and it starts tomorrow.  Be sure to come along and join in the fun as we visit 7 popular tourist stops and have challenges along the way.  The fabulous Ellen Hutson is our sponsor and she has a very special coupon code and giveaway for StampNation members.

Sneak Peek of StampNation's California Vacation

We have one more sponsor and it is a mystery.  Can you guess what is inside the box?  If you are a card maker, you are going to LOVE it!  

Wild Cards ~ Craftsy

Today I have something very special to share with you, along with a discount code!  My talented friend, Catherine Pooler, has her very own Craftsy class and it's open NOW!!!  I've been a fan of Craftsy and taken several quilting/sewing courses over the past 2 years, but this is my first card class.  In each class I've ever taken I have learned new tips and techniques to make me a better crafter, and this class is no exception.





The class is called Wild Cards, and in it Catherine shows many techniques that you can use with your own stamping supplies to create beautiful and unique cards.  At the end of each lesson she also gives us a design challenge so we can put our newly learned skills to use.  Love that!

As a special gift for reviewing her class, Craftsy is letting me give you a chance to get the class for 50% off.  Woot-Woot!  It is well worth the price of admission.   All you have to do is clicky to go there now.  

Sew Sunday ~ Riley Black Quilt Update

It's been unusually HOT here in the Pacific Northwest, so I've been spending the weekend in my air conditioned sewing room.  As a result I've made some good progress on my Modern Quilt Guild Riley Black Designs Cottage Garden by the Quilted Fish Fabric Challenge. That is a mouthful!

Part of the challenge is to try something you've never done before.  I've been wanting to do a modern dresden plate since I saw fellow South Sound Modern Quilt Guild member, Kathy Buchli's, quilt.  (Clicky)  That was over a year ago.  The techniques and tools used are new to me, but I find them fun, and perhaps a little addictive.  The center circles are machine sewn with a blanket stitch while the out edges of the plate are sewn by hand.  It's such a relaxing way to spend the evenings.  While doing some "research" online, aka watching youtube videos & looking at sewing blogs, I came across a great tip for getting your project to lay flat.

It's all in the pressing. While my piece is still warm from the iron I lay a " flat weight" on top of it so that it stays flat as it cools.  You could use a book or a magazine, but I grabbed my 12.5" template.  So far this has been working VERY well for me.  I might try it for all my future piecing.  Sorry that I can't remember the original source of this tip, but it wasn't from a quilter.  It was actually a tip for garment sewing I believe.

As I mentioned, this was my first time sewing Dresdens.  I had no idea how large they would be.  This created a bit of a problem.  I knew going into this that I didn't want all my Dresdens to line up in a row.  My thought was to sew each of the dresdens to a center of 16" block and then add 4.5" strips to 2 sides of the blocks in the four corners.  The middle block would be completely centered inside a 20" block.  I got to work on sewing all 4 corner blocks.  Then I went to cut  my fabric for the remaining blocks, including the center block and realized I only had a yard of fabric left.  NOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!!!

This is what happens when I create patterns on my own and don't pay attention to math.  It's also what happens when you buy fabric from 3 or more shops and can't remember which one you got this particular shade of grey.  It all worked out in the end, but I spent a few hours yesterday hitting the "local" fabric stores trying to figure out who made this perfect light shade of grey.   I was sure it was from Sisters in Chehalis, WA, but I was wrong.

Next I went to Quilter's Junction in Centralia, WA to see if they carried it.  I have an embarrassing story to share about that, but it will have to wait until Tuesday's post.  For now I will give a shout out to Rita Whalen and tell her thank you for your help.

Finally I went up to Ruby Street Quiltworks in Tumwater, WA.  I really should have gone there first because they do have the biggest selection of solids, but I honestly thought I had bought it at Sisters when I went in for their row-by-row license plate.  btw- the color is Vapor, but I still can' remember the name of the manufacturer.  It's on my receipt though, so I can easily find it.   I love that Ruby Street prints out the names of the fabric and keeps a record in their store so you can easily find additional fabric.  As long as it hasn't sold out.

How are you doing on your A Lovely Year of Finishes Goal?  I'm hopeful mine will be completed on time.  As long as the AC holds out.

You Rock ~ Quilted Swirl Stitch

Just a quick little thank you card using the Direct To Paper technique from the Dye Ink Class at Creativity Grows Here.  It's such a simple technique for creating your own custom colored backgrounds.   By overlapping the colors I was able to get 5 colors using just 3 ink pads.

With CAS (Clean And Simple) designs I find that the little details make all the difference.  For this card that detail is the stitching.  I used a stitched rectangle die to cut out the focal piece and layered it onto a clean white card base that had been die cut with the Quilted Swirl Stitch die from Lil' Inker Designs.


Supplies
Stamps: The Big The Bold & You (Winnie & Walter)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Bermuda Bay, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!); Green Apple (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Stitched Rectangle Dies, Quilted Swirl Stitch Pattern Die (Lil' Inker Designs)

Dots For Days ~ Sprinkles ~ SC 108

Welcome to Part 2 of my Dots For Days card series.  If you missed the first post you can clicky to read all about it.

SC108

This week's inspiration photo at Stampin' Celebration screams summertime fun to me.  I took my inspiration from all those sprinkles on the ice cream when creating this card.

To make this card I chose bright ink colors and tried to selectively ink up the Dots for Days background stamp.  Then I  punched out a 2" circle and created a little shaker card with sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  

Stamps: Dots For Days, Tin of Cards (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper: Whisper White Thick (SU)
Accessories: Window Sheet, 2" Circle Punch (SU); Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

Dots for Days

Tin of Cards

2" Circle Punch

I Treasure You

It is always nice to let the special people in your life know how much they mean to you.  That is what I hope to do for the person I send this card to.  It's a follow up to the card I made a few weeks ago for the A Card A Day Challenge.  Clicky to see that post.

Here is the video I promised showing you how I created this elegant, Clean and Simple card.  

http://youtu.be/XwUqqsrfioU

Do you have someone in your life that could use a little encouragement?  Try sending them a card letting them know that you care.  You won't be sorry you did.

Stamps: Girl's Best Friend (Lil' Inker Designs)

Ink: Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Marshmallow (Bazzill)
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, Aquapainter (SU)

Stampin' Up! Summer Sales

Did you know that Stampin' Up! has extra goodies for sale on their Weekly Deals this summer?  New weekly deals are put out each Tuesday. They are in limited quantities.  Once they have sold out of that limit they will go back to full price.  The early bird gets the worm here. Clicky to see the current deals.

In addition to that, Stampin' Up has added items to their clearance rack. Items are all "while supplies last".  Clicky to go there now.

We all love a good deal, so be sure to check out both sections before placing your next order.  You're welcome.  :)

Christmas In July

Any crafter that gives gifts at Christmas time knows that we have to start making those gifts early.  But, I am one of those people that find it extremely difficult to create "out of season".   This week's challenge at StampNation is to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colors.  For some reason, using the bright teal, pink and green made it easy to create a card even in the heat wave we are having right now.

Some fun patterned paper and a cute ornament die helped too.  ;)   Check out the sneak peek below to see a glimpse of how the entire design team was inspired.

Dots For Days ~ Thanks

Are you ever inspired by visiting blogs?  When I first got into card making 95% of my inspiration came from other bloggers.  Lately I rarely have time to visit blogs, but occasionally I will carve out some time and catch up on some of my favorites.  That is where I found inspiration for this series of cards.

Yes, I said series.  4 cards and counting.  I think I will post them on Mondays because they are so bright and cheerful.  Mondays need all the help they can get.  ;)


My inspiration came from the incredibly talented Maureen Merritt.  I was visiting her blog and had to almost run to my craft room I was so inspired.  Clicky to see her post to see where her inspiration came from.  She used white embossing with a really cool, graphic, background stamp, and then used the ink smooshing technique to create her card.  I had to give it a try, and I was in a rainbow mood, thanks to the Dreamy Rainbow mood board over at the In The Mood class.

Instagram Pic

Above is the picture I posted on Instagram the day I created this card.  Later I was looking at this picture and thought it looked like a Polaroid.  I may be inspired to make another card.


All Supplies Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Dots For Days, One Big Meaning
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Versamark,
Accessories: White Embossing Powder

Sew Sunday ~ ALYOF July Goals

A week without blogging?  Wow, that was not planned.  I actually have cards to share and projects to blog about, but I didn't have time at the computer.  Do you ever have weeks like that?   Last week was my last week at my job of 6+ and I had things to wrap up at work and at home. Plus, my son had 5 baseball games in the record breaking heat wave we're having.  I was so busy I even forgot to link up with A Lovely Year of Finishes.  Shame on me!  The post was up in time, but I never made it back to link up.  DOH!  It's ok.  It was a short, easy goal, and I am just glad I was able to spend a little time in my sewing room in June.

July Goals

July is here, new month = new goals.  This month the Riley Blake Cottage Garden by The Quilted Fish fabric challenge quilt is due.  That is a mouth full!  I don't know if I will be able to have it 100% done.  It's hard for me to quilt when it is hot and boy is it HOT out.   My July goal will be to at least get the top done.  Hopefully I will make completed quilt by the MQG deadline of July 31st, but if not, I will be happy if I can at least have the top ready to be quilted.

This is where I am at today.  Not very far.  I have more pieces than this cut and ready to sew, but I am many hours away from finishing.  Perhaps I will try to set aside 15 minutes a day to work on this quilt.  I can do anything 15 minutes at a time.  

Baseball ends in one more week, I hope.  After I am finally done playing "mom taxi" I will set aside a week just to play in my sewing room and craft room.  It is high time I had some creative therapy.  

P.S. I had to park behind this car (below) at one of my son's games. (He's #6 in the photo above) I wanted to follow it and see if it would lead me to a fabric store after the game.  :)  Do you have a "vanity plate" with something special written on it?  I love finding them and figuring out the creative meaning behind some of them.  One day I would like to add one to my car too.