On the road again....

Just a note from the road!
We're on our way to the UP of Michigan!
I just finished the binding on my
"north woods nightfall"
I did it different than the pattern and I like it!!
I've had the kit for a couple years, but it's been so popular at the shop they still have kits available!
It's a nice simple one of you're a beginner or just looking for a quicker project.

We've got a winner!!

As promised, today is the day I announce a winner for the

Little Rays of Sunshine kit

And the winner is ....

Carol who said...

On a sandy beach of Lake Superior.

I love this quilt project! I recently bought the ruler so

I'm hoping this will get me started.

So, if you're the Carol who likes the sandy beach of Lake Superior,

please send an email to me,

katie.zenk(at)hotmail(dot)com

With your mailing address so we can get this little cutie out to you!

Congratulations, Carol...

We're getting you started :)

Enjoy the day friends!
~K

Farmer's Wife Month 9

Here they are in all of their glory!!

Your September block assignment - blocks 65-73!

I'm so proud of myself....after doing this for 8 months

I finally figured out an easy way to label them for ya!

...and some even have page numbers!!!



Note: as I was cutting my blocks out this month, as I went I trimmed all my scraps down to 1 1/2" squares and used them as my little Postage Stamps!



I think this one is going to looks STUNNING on point in the quilt!

There they are! Done in plenty of time ;)

Now I might even have time put the binding on a quilt between work and club tonight! Wouldn't that be just a nice added bonus....the hand stitching will have to wait till later though because I'm not that good!!

Enjoy your day!

~K

A note of thanks...and a little extra

First....

Thank you for all the kind comments that you all left about my very first

Moda Bake Shop project! I never dreamed I would have

such positive responses from such kind and thoughtful quilters!!!

Your excitement has been VERY encouraging :)

THANK YOU!!!!

Second, last night I got all 9 September blocks for the Farmer's Wife club I lead cut out!

Now when I get home from riding horse tonight....and shower....I'll be all ready to get these puppies stitched up for club tomorrow night!

For those of you newer to reading my blog, you should know that I'm a firm believer in last minute work! I love the feeling of getting big projects done WAY ahead of time, but lately life has been busy and I have a hard time living up to that reality!

So, for now...there's no minute like the last minute!

As you can see, all the little pieces are laying in the page their pattern is on!

This system works really well for me UNTIL I drop the book and pieces fly everywhere!!

Each month there is a bundle of 12 fat eighths available at the shop to make the 9 monthly blocks from. As you can see, there is PLENTY left over...enough almost to make another 9 blocks!!

Well, I'll be back tomorrow (hopefully!!!) with finished blocks (hopefully!!)!

Enjoy the day!

~K

Little Rays of Sunshine - HUGE Give Away!

Well friends, today is my big Moda Bake Shop Debut!

I've been looking forward to this day for a while and am excited to have
you all stop by my blog.
Here's my concoction!

For those of you who are stopping by my blog for the first time, my name is Katie and I'm an avid flea market shopper, flower grower, baker, 4-wheeler-rider, auntie, depression glass hunter, horse rider, and supposedly witty quilter that likes to crochet, take pictures and write stuff that confuses people on this blog.
Was that not just a great run-on sentence????

When I'm not busy with my day job in the insurance and investing world,

I fill in at the Calico Hutch Quilt Shop located in Hayward MN.

{www.calicohutchquiltshop.com}

At the shop I lead a few clubs and occasionally teach a class.
It was working at the shop that lead me to meet Jo of Jo's Country Juntion
{www.joscountryjunction.com}
I've been a reader of her blog for a few years and thank her for the encouraging
conversations and leading me to create for the Moda Bake Shop.
{www.modabakeshop.com}
Thank you, Jo!!

This project has been a learning experience, labor of love, and something I look forward to doing again....and already have many project ideas rolling around in my head.

This girl is a fun one to make and from what a couple testers have told me,
 goes together nicely and pretty quickly!

Just choose a jelly roll and a chunk of background and a piece of binding and you're good to go!

Because this is not only exciting to me, but to the quilt shop too, we're giving away
A COMPLETE KIT!!!
Jelly roll, background and binding!

...yup...that's right...you too can have a quilt just like my Little Rays :)
just pop me a comment before midnight Friday, August 24 telling me
where your favorite place to soak up those glorious sun rays is!
Winner will be announced on this blog Monday, August 27
so be sure to stop back to see if you are the big winner...I sure hope you are :)

Kits are available at the Calico Hutch Quilt Shop
Just call 507-377-1163 and they'll happily hook ya up!

Thanks for stopping by!
Enjoy today's Little Rays of Sunshine!!
~K

Stitcher's Stitchin

Hello friends...

Tonight is gonna be a late one!!

Just like in Smokey and the Bandit....I've got a LONG way to go and a SHORT time to get there :)

Stitcher's club is tomorrow night and each month I design a free pattern for the club members that allows them to dig into their scrap bin. As usual, I've waited till this evening to start something I need tomorrow evening....

Here's what I've come up with for them tomorrow night

(and Friday morning for those in the day session!!)

~That Old Tile Floor~

Finished size 37 x 37

I'm going to use mine as a baby gift and applique the kiddos name on the border :)

It also would be a great table topper or wall hanging.

Isn't it amazing what you can do with 144 - 2 1/2" squares???

Who knows...maybe I'll post the pattern....would you like that???

Better get to working on the blocks I need to have done

~K

Workin' Outside

So, Saturday I fully intended to get some serious sewing done,

but.....the weather was PERFECT for being outside!!

So, Friday night, with a little help, the shrubbery forest known as landscaping,

finally (after 5+ years!!!) got yanked out!

I forgot to take a "before" picture as I usually forget to do, but just picture bushes that typically aren't used in landscaping but rather hedges hiding just about all the window and half the door...I know...it wasn't good!! I had a landscaping forest on my hands.

Whoever planted the buggers before I moved in didn't read the tags well AT ALL...and no matter how much pruning and love I gave them, they just weren't right.

So, as shown here, they're all goners!! Yup!!

 Now I have one smoke bush (which potentially could get out of hand) and four hydrangeas.

Next Spring -hopefully- there will be a nice porch added to the front of my house and at that time I'll deal with the whole hosta abundance situation...for now, they're green filler!

Nest step, 1,000 more bags of mulch...well, maybe 20 :)

This is taken from the other side...since I already had to go to the landfill to rid myself of a forest, I pruned my 3 remaining shrubs...and maybe a little of my thumb...

Like I said....my hostas are forming a take over!!!!

Now I', just waiting for yesterdays nourishing rain to turn my lawn green again....

that would be an AWESOME added little bonus :)

Now, I can sew ;)

~K

Groovy Girls Christmas :)

Merry Christmas!

From the Groovy Girls Club!

This past Saturday, we celebrated Christmas...yup...you heard that right :)

I made up some cute Terry Atkinson stuff for Christmas...you know, to give y'all a jump start on some of that Christmas sewing!!

Here's a picture of my display...you'll have to go to the shop to see things up close...i forgot to take individual project pictures...oops!

I made the Baguette Pattern (seen toward the front to the left of the doilie)

I also put together some popovers from her Popovers pattern...these are AWESOME!! Especially for little gifties and gift cards. They also go together pretty simply and quickly. All 3 sizes are useful. They are toward the back of the table on the left.

Lastly, the Christmas quilt. Made using Terry's Fire Escape pattern and fabric by Kate Spain for MODA called JOY! I'm super satisfied with how this turned out and it's a must see...and feel as I put red minkee on the back :) it's sooooo soft and cuddly!!!! Yup...it's at the shop as of this evening...it's currently back in my possession for binding.

I love how the little white squares look like falling snow :)

~K

Farmers wife

There's been some sort of grand plot against my sewing lately....i'm currently (hopefully temporarily) in search of my Farmer's Wife book as well as the book for another little project i'm working on!!

I've dug and dug and searched and cannot seam to find them!!

As you can see, nothing good comes from cleaning ;)

So...my appologies for the unlabeled blocks for this months Farmer's Wife club!

I'll update as soon as the lost is found!!!

~K