I Have Been Baking

I have been baking again!

This time I cooked up

American Glory.

Please head over to Moda Bake Shop

to find the recipe.

I hope that you enjoy baking up your

own American Glory!

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Photo Favorite

Scenes from around my studio today:

Sometimes a favorite always stands out in a crowd!

Wonderland by MoMo for MODA.

Until Next Time...Happy Quilting!

Christmas Boxes

Christmas in July?

It is never too early to start thinking about Christmas.

So, while I was organizing my studio (AKA-the Patch),

I ran across these 2 1/2" squares

that Kelly of Cotton Charm

sent to me.

Of course I didn't have any Crazy 8 fabric,

so I dug into my Moda scraps

and  I created a simple quilt.

Let me introduce you to my new quilt,

"Christmas Boxes":

I love how "scrappy" the quilt turned out.

If you look closely in the next photo

you will see that even the borders are scrappy.

Two of the borders are made out

Moda's Peace on Earth

and the other two borders

are made of Moda's Shangri La fabric.

I even had a few extra 2 1/2" squares to make a

"little sister" version of my

Christmas Boxes.

(I still need to add the binding.)

Hopefully I will be able to get to it this week.

Until Next Time...Happy Quilting!

City Quilts Giveaway Winners

Wow! It is time to announce the winners

of my City Quilts Blog Tour Giveaway.

Random Generator picked:

# 245: Pam at Uberstitch

as the winner of the copy of City Quilts &

the fat quarter bundle from Robert Kaufman!

Random Generator picked:

#45  Vickie @ Dotty Jane

is the winner of the EQ7 upgrade!

Thank you to everyone that stopped by my blog &

entered my giveaway.

(I wish that I could give something to everyone!)

Thank you to Cherry for a great blog tour!

We can't wait to do it again.

If the winners could please email their information at:

stroma@comcast.net

Until Next Time ... Happy Quilting!

I Am A Guest

Today I will be a guest blogger

at Aunt Spicy's.

I will be sharing my ideas

about my own color.

Please stop by and let us know what is your color.

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

(BTW-Tomorrow is the last day to enter

my City Quilts giveaway. You still have time to enter here)

Photo Favorite

Photo favorites from around my studio (AKA-the Patch):

Don't forget that there is still time

to enter my

City Quilts blog tour giveaway!

Hop over here to enter.

The winners will be announced on

Sunday, July 25, 2010.

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Another Great Giveaway @ Miss Print!

I am helping  Kaye at Miss Print

celebrate her two-year blogiversary!

Hop over to her blog to enter her giveaway for this:

(Yep, I decorated the towel)

You must enter the giveaway at Kaye's blog,

so hop on over and wish her a happy blogiversary!

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

City Quilts Blog Tour

Welcome to the 3rd stop on the City Quilts Blog Tour!

I am very thrilled to be hosting

Cherri House, author of City Quilts

on my blog today.

 City Quilts is one of my favorite quilting books!

I have read it cover-to-cover 10 times because I

am drawn to the bold colors and clean, simple lines of her quilts.



In this book, Cherri takes you on a tour of her hometown of Houston,Texas.

This not just any tour of Houston,

but a tour as seen through the eyes of a quilter!

Many of her favorite sites from around town

(like the park, shops, or buildings)

are the inspiration for the quilts in her book.

 City Circle  is based upon the Houston road system,

which consists of a series of loops that encompass the city.

City Center represents Cherri's interpretation

of how downtown Houston would

look from a helicopter.

All of the quilts in the  book are done exclusively in solids

but they are based upon traditional piecing.

Cherri  takes you on a eye catching journey

 of different color palettes

and she shows you that "simple isn't boring".

I had the opportunity to sit with Cherri

and she shared the following insights with me.

Can you tell us how your first got started quilting?

I made my first quilt with my mom when I was 12 years old. She had cut templates out of cardboard and we cut around the fabric using them. My mom was an amazing seamstress, and the fabric for the quilt was leftovers from years of sewing.

How would you describe your quilting style?

Contemporary, minimalist, in terms of fabric and ornamentation. Traditional as far as actual quilt patterns used, like bow-ties, log cabins, and my favorite "the nine patch".

What came first: the name of the quilt, the quilt pattern, or the color choice?

It really varies from quilt to quilt, with City News (one of my quilt patterns) I was wanting to make a black/white/red quilt, then the old joke"-what is black & white, and read all over" came to mind, an the quilt developed from there. It's quite a long, mental process before the physical work ever begins.

I noticed that you machine quilted several of your quilts in the book. For those of us that are machine quilters, can you give us some tips?

Probably my best tip would be, before beginning each quilt to make a quilt sandwich with the fabric/batting/thread that you will be using and do a practice run before starting your actual quilt. This way you work out any thread/tension issues prior to starting on the real deal.

Quilt with YLI silk thread! Much to many folks surprise it seems, I quilt with it all the time. It's strong, it sinks well into the fabric and its a dream to work with. Be sure and use a smaller needle (#60 or 70) if you are using silk thread.

I absolutely love your City Lot quilt. What is your favorite quilt from the book and why?

City Lot is my favorite too! Why? I love the colors. I love the uniformed grid of it, and I love that there is a secondary pattern that you can only see from a distance, Aside from all of that, who would imagine something of beauty could be inspired by a parking lot?

Can you tell us what is on the horizon for you?

I'm thinking about another book, working on lots of new patterns using a variety of fabrics- not just solids. I'd like to design a line of fabric somewhere down the road. More cake parties-always more cake parties!

Thank you Cherri for sharing your insights with us!

To enter my drawing for a copy of  City Quilts

compliments of C & T Publishing

and a fat quarter stack of

Kona Solids compliments of Robert Kaufman fabrics,

please leave me comment on this post.

I am adding something extra of my own to the giveaway!

Become a follower of my blog

or post a link to my giveaway on your blog

and you will be entered into a

separate drawing for and EQ7 Upgrade.

(you must have EQ6 for this software).

The deadline to enter my giveaway will be

Saturday, July 24th at midnight CST.

The winners will be announced on Sunday, July 25th.

Please be sure to check out the other blog tour hosts

for more from Cherri and more chances to win .

July 15th: Pat Sloan http://patsloan.typepad.com/

July 16th: Spool http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog

July 17th: Allie/Robert Kaufman http://swatchandstitch.com/

July 18th: John/Fat Quarterly http://blog.fatquarterly.com/

July 19th: Emily Cier http://carolinapatchwork.com/blog

July 20th: Sarah/Josh Sewer Sewist

http://www.sewer-sewist.com/

July 21: Julie http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

July 22nd : Vickie http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/

July 23rd: Jessica Levitt http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/

July 24th: Kim Knight http://www.trueup.net/

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Getting Ready For Cherri House

My Little Person drug my quilt top

out into the middle of my foyer.

I need to move it because tomorrow I will be hosting

a very special guest.

Cherri House will be here tomorrow.

Don't forget to stop by because she is an amazing quilter

and there will also be a giveaway

(Cherri's book, fabric, and an EQ7)

Don't forget to check out the other blog tour dates.

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Photo Favorites

Here are some of my favorite photos

that I took around my studio (AKA-the Patch) today :

(Gosh, that is a lot of R-E-D!)

Don't forget that the Cherri House Blog Tour starts today!

You can find her today at Cheryl's blog.

Cherri will be HERE on the 14th with lots of prizes.  See you then!

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Last Minute Gift

Today I needed a last minute gift,

so I dug into my fabric stash

and customized a few towels.

It is hard to resist keeping them for myself.

Until Next... Time Happy Quilting!

Moda Bake Shop - Ruffled Note Card

Heather from Retro Fabulous

was taking a blogland/sewing vacation

but she couldn't resist making some of my

Ruffled Note Cards!

Here are her Retro-Fabulous creations:

Heather you ROCK!

Thank you for sharing your Ruffled Note Cards with us.

Enjoy your vacation!

In case you missed it,

you can find my tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop.

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!

Cherri House Blog Tour

While the rest of the country is in a heatwave,

we are lucky to have cooler weather.

We took advantage of the cooler weather by playing outdoors.

I took my City Quilts book by Cherri House

outside and read it again for the 10th time!

My Little Person also loves the book:

I met Cherri at Quilt Market  and I am so proud to be a part of her

City Quilts Blog Book Tour!

We have become quite the blog/twitter buddies!

Here are the dates of her blog tour:

July 12th- Cheryl Arkison http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/

July 13th- Amy Lobsiger http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/

July 14th- Stefanie Roman http://littleladypatchwork.blogspot.com/

July 15th- Pat Sloan http://patsloan.typepad.com/

July16th- Spool http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog

July 17th- Allie/RobertKaufman http://www.swatchandstitch.com/

July 18th-John/Fat Quarterly http://blog.fatquarterly.com/

July 19th- Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog

July 20th- Sarah/Josh Sewer Sewist http://www.sewer-sewist.com/

July 21st- Julie/Jaybird http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/

July22nd Vickie Eapen http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/

July 23rd- Jessica Levitt http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/

July 24th - Kim knight http://www.trueup.net/

I hope to see you guys on July 14th when Cherri stops by my blog.

BTW-There will be a BIG giveaway!

Until Next Time... Happy Quilting!

Patched With Love (Part 2- Quilt For The Kids)

As I mentioned in my prior post,

my Patched With Love Quilt is going to a new home.

Blogland is such a great way to meet and connect with so

many people.

I met Bree through Blogland and I quickly decided that my

quilt needed to go toward her cause.

(I am a RN, so this one really spoke to me.)

Today I am going to have a guest blogger.

Here she is and I will let her explain more about what she is doing:

Hi guys! My name is Bree McElroy, and you can typically find me over at Quilt For The Kids. Quilt for the Kids is a division of The Josiah Foundation, and we have one primary purpose-to create handmade quilts for the children of All Children's Hopsital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Quilt For The Kids is in it's first year, and I hope very much to continue expanding our goals in the years to come. For now, we've promised All Children's Hospital of St. Petersburg a total of 52 quilts by the end of year 2010. We're working hard toward this goal with the assistance and support of friends and family. Stefanie was sweet enough to give me the opportunity to spread the word!

I've been sewing for as long as I can remember- my grandmother taught me. Quilting has just come within the last year or so and I've developed a true passion for it.

I soon ran out of places to put all of my quilts, so I turned my sights toward something more-quilting with a cause. In stepped the Josiah Foundation. The Josiah Foundation is headed up by Dan Atchison, a friend who lost his young son to cancer of the brain stem in 2005. Josiah was an incredible kid and a patient at ALL Children's Hospital throughout his treatment.

Josiah lived his life with compassion and love, and this is what the Josiah Foundation is modeling themselves after. We exist to ease the suffering and advance the well being of children everywhere. I'm not a doctor or a chemist- I'm a quilter. So I'm doing what I know how to do- I'm quilting for the children of All Children's Hopsital. We want to provide a little comfort- a piece of handmade love for these kids.

Come and check us out anytime at http://www.quiltforthekids.org/ !

If this cause also speaks to you please contact Bree at her website.

Please let her know that I sent you there.

They gladly except quilts, quilt tops, fabric, and batting.

Anything can help, so if you have an extra quilt or

quilt top that you don't "love" anymore please send them to Bree.

I have personally started taking fabric out of my stash to give to her!

Thanks again for listening to Bree's cause.

Until Next Time ...Happy Quilting!