The Knitter's Edge

How's this for a cool knitting store?    All I could say was, "Wow"!  When I was in Pennsylvania in June, good ol' cousin, Connie, took me to her favorite knitting store, The Knitter's Edge.   The building formerly housed a bridal shop and is now home to this fantastic yarn shop.   The huge windows above bring loads of light into a cozy couch lined room where knitters sit and......well, knit!

The posts guarding the entrance to the parking area have knitted cozies on them!

The vault that previously held very expensive wedding gowns is now stocked floor to ceiling with the most incredible yarns I think I've ever seen.   What a great way to spend a few hours browsing the many rows of yarn, books and notions.  So, if you're ever in the Bethlehem, Penn. area, check them out.  I am sure you won't be disappointed.

Gonna go back some day,
Debbie

Material Girl

Remember the quilt I made for Tyler to go to college?   Well, he texted me that the quilt arrived at his parent's house and they delivered it to him a few days ago .  He was so thrilled at how it turned out which warmed my heart.   That satisfaction for a job well done is what keeps me making more and more quilts.

Here's a close-up look at the fabrics:

And here is the pile of half-square triangle blocks for the main body of the quilt.

And every quilt needs a label.

Well it's onward and upward to the next quilt.   I have a lot of sewing to do for clients right now, but wait till you see the quilt I cut out for our youngest grandson.   It's amazing!

Sneak peek to follow,
Debbie

Gone to the Dogs

Yes, I've finally crossed over......to the dogs.   My son's dog, Winston, is the Sheltie on the right.   The fluffy mop on the left is Molly, my 16 week old Cavachon.   They weren't too sure if they liked each other when we first brought Molly home.   But after a month, they started playing together and now when they are awake they are always together!

So what does that have to do with sewing?   Well, their favorite place to crash is the carpeted floor of my teeny-tiny sewing room.   As I sew they sleep and keep me company.   I just have remember to step over them!

Woof,
Deb

Lobster, Anyone?

Remember the chair I slipcovered with white denim? 

 It had a sea turtle appliqued on the back of the chair and the owner liked it so much that we decided to bring another bit of sea life into the decor.  Here's the lobster pillow I pulled together to put on the brown and cream tweed couch.

I love it when a plan comes together!
Debbie

Wrapping a Present

How do you wrap a present for a fellow quilter?   With fabric, of course!   This summer I sent a package to Barb in Alabama and wrapped it in her favorite colored fabric, lavender.  Well, it's one of her favorite colors.   Here's what it looked like.  

When she unwrapped her gift, instead of throwing away the wrapping paper she had a yard of fabric to add to her stash!   Even the bow and fabric "flower" can be reused.  

 

I wonder how she'll use them..........

Debbie

 

 

Blue Ribbon Winner

Last September I was approached by one of the ladies in our church asking me if I would be willing to make a quilt for the elementary school there.   A couple of weeks later I had a stack of squares that the fourth grade class had painted.   Each square was painted with a state flag.  The art teacher had painted several large pieces, each depicting landmarks of our country.   The trick for me was to assemble all these pieces into a quilt that would look interesting and a little different.

My goal was to arrange the largest pieces at strategic points in the quilt so your eye would travel around and take in the quilt as a whole.   Then, fill in with the flag blocks.

 

In previous years, the flag blocks all had sashing around them and were arranged symmetrically.    Not this year!   I had something else in mind.  

 

 

Normally the label is placed on the back of the quilt, but since this was going to be hung on a wall I felt the label should be on the front so anyone viewing it could read about the history of the quilt. 

 

 

Now that the label was on and the blocks all assembled, all that was left for me to do was to quilt it!  

 

 

The quilt was a bit of a rush job as the kids had just finished painting the squares two weeks before the school was holding an auction.   The quilt was to auctioned off that night to raise money for the school.   One lucky family bought the quilt and took it home with them.   I thought that was the last I would see of it.   Boy, was I wrong!

 

 

A few months later Joel and I were at the Florida State Fair.   We strolled through the building that housed the quilt show and then we had a real shocker.   The quilt from the school was in a showcase and it had a blue ribbon on it!    I can't remember when I was so excited.......I've never entered a quilt in a quilt show and couldn't believe what I was seeing.   Apparently, the new owners of the quilt had entered it on behalf of the students at the school.  

 

 

Amazing!   That was most definitely the most exciting trip to the Florida State Fair I've ever had! 

 

 

Kudos to the students and the art teacher who all did such a great job painting the squares.   It made my job a lot of fun and I was proud to help them complete their project.

 

Blue is my new favorite color,

Debbie

 

 



Puzzle Piece Pillows

Try saying that three times fast!   Hmmmm, now try taking a drawing and turn it into actual puzzle pieces that are also pillows.   That was the challenge I received from a recent client.   Her husband drew the little critters and her idea was to turn the drawing into pillows for her child's twin bed.   She brought the fleece fabrics to me and we discussed what she wanted the pillows to look like when completed.

The first thing I did was to blow up the drawing several times until they were the size we wanted for the finished pillows.   Next, draw around them and cut out the 3" foam with......my kitchen electric knife.  Yup!   Works great!

Then the cut out was used as a pattern to cut the fabrics and to trace the face and details.  

White fleece was used for the "palms" and stitching helped give definition to the "hands and feet".

I put a zipper on the back piece so the pillow could be washed and attached a side band to accomodate the thick foam.

His red buddy was made the same way and when completed it looks like they are holding hands.  The time spent adjusting the drawings at the start of the project was well worth it so they would interlock properly when completed. 

Just another interesting day at the sewing machine,
Debbie