Happy 4th of July, 2017

From our quilted home to yours,

Happy 4th of July!

(Old Glory in mini Applecore #129 large)

I love displaying my quilts in our home.

(Dresden Flags #256 small)

I hope you do too!

(Old Glory in mini Applecore #129 small)

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

Kansas City Quilt Festival 2017 Recap

We had a great show in Kansas City!

We met so many nice quilters & sold lots of patterns & templates!

Our rental was a new mini van, so our travel was very comfortable.

I’ve taken to photographing our rentals in case I need to know the license # I have it on my phone.

Our drive started off a bit rocky just 30 miles from home when we had to sit over an hour on the interstate because of an accident where a semi was perched on top of the guardrail & blocking all lanes of West bound 70 shutting it down completely…

What a great venue though when we finally got there.

The convention center is in a very nice area, with free parking!

And there are two hotels on either side of the convention center that you can walk next door to.

Very nice!

Hauling all of our “stuff” was very convenient.

We went to work quickly setting most everything up so we could relax that evening.

Clare was great help.

She was our cashier, tech support,

inventory control & dinner coordinator!

Fiorella’s Jack Stack BBQ was our favorite dinner spot.

Their BBQ is delicious & the atmosphere is outstanding!

There is a location in Overland Park very near the convention center, but we’d been to this location before & wanted to eat there again because it’s so cool!

Now we’re back home & back to the grind.

Summer is in full swing here & I just noticed that today is the longest day of the year!

It makes me a bit sad knowing the days will start to get shorter, wahhhhh.

Our best seller was my new “Dresden Flags” pattern.

It contains 2 sizes of flags that just happen to have Tiny Dresden plates in the field.

Besides the notions that we have to help your quilt along,

we also have the 12″ stand by Ackfeld that you can display the smaller flag on.

See my website for all this goodness if you didn’t get one in Kansas City!

I’m needing to show you all of my new patterns.

Stay tuned!

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

 

Cutting Tiny Dresden Kits While The Sun Shines

It’s a beautiful sunny morning here!

It makes it easy to get up & start to work when the sun is streaming through my sewing room windows.

Did I mention that I’ll be vending at the Kansas City Festival for Quilters next week?

If you’re in the vicinity you should come out & see us!

The Kansas City Regional Quilt Festival is scheduled to be held June 15-17, 2017, at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, Kansas. Festival hours:

Thursday,  June 15        10:00am – 6:00pm
Friday,  June 16              10:00am – 6:00pm
Saturday,  June 17         10:00am – 5:00pm

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Admission Fees

1 day pass is $15 – online only ($17 at the door)
3 day pass is $25 – online only (not available for purchase at the Festival)
Children 12 and under will receive free admission to the festival.

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Visit our Facebook page to get updates and announcements regarding the Festival.

I noticed that I was running low on some of the Tiny Dresden Seasonal Series kits so this morning I’m finishing those up.

Do you need a new little project???

These are some of my best-selling patterns right now!

They’re each 6″ x 8″ & there’s one for every month.

I also sell the adorable little wire hanger to display them on each month.

The patterns that include the button(s) each month, the kits and the hangers along with the notions that I love to use to make them are all on my website.

You can see them all here on my Tiny Dresden Series page.

I hope you’re enjoying summer!

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

Home Sweet Home – Finally Home

I have no idea who stitched such a lovely piece then never finished it into something useful.

I was so excited when I found it as I straightened up a table full of linens after the first day of our church’s rummage sale exactly a year ago this week!

I could not believe the stitches that went into the house & trees.

The satin stitches in the letters are just lovely.

I did have to fix one thing though.

One of the French knots was missing!

That’s mine in the green circle, lol.

I starched the piece and squared it up then had to decide what fabric to use for a border.

The blue was exactly the same color as our exhibitor badges each spring and fall at quilt market, lol…

So I checked my pathetic stash of blues to no avail.

But I’m no blue kinda girl so I then quickly looked at reds… Now those I can do!

I quickly found the perfect one.

(Who am I kidding? It was always going to be framed in red!)

I had just used this one in a quilt for my new book so it was close to the top of the pile & perfect.

I cut the strips and sewed them onto the stitchery

and there the poor thing sat again.

I took it to several quilt meetings asking my quilting friends their advice for quilting.

This is where I fail miserably.

I don’t do vintage work, hand work, nor much of any quilting.

Then when my friend Robin (Nestlings by Robin)

came to help me with market in October she saw it & knew just what to do with it!

Duh! She is a hand quilter & quilts for hire!

You should check out her website for info if you have something you want hand quilted.

She does awesome work!

She took it home with her to do her magic on it.

Look at these stitches!

I was so excited!

I love how she did the crosshatch in a diamond pattern not a square as I had imagined it.

It looks even better than how I pictured it in my mind.

Unfortunately by the time I got it bound, it was almost time to decorate for Christmas.

I have a whole box full of trinkets that I display on that shelf where I intended to hang it so I knew it wouldn’t be hung until after Easter (because I also have Valentine & Easter decor…)

So finally a couple of weeks ago I was able to hang the quilt in its place of honor in my kitchen.

It goes perfectly with the little sign Clare bought me which has a line from the Julie & Julia movie that we both love.

More recently for Mother’s Day Clare also found the old sifter & Julia Child’s cookbook that coordinates and then last week I found the cookie cutters, eggs & the “In God we Trust” sign that found their way to the shelf quite by accident really.

I buy what I love and then try to do something “useful” with them.

It’s in a good place of honor now.

I like how things sometimes come together in a very round-about way.

If you need a project hand quilted by someone with excellent workmanship contact Robin.

She’ll do a wonderful job!

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

 

 

 

Spring Quilt Market 2017 Recap

It’s been a busy year here so far in the land of Suzn Quilts.

I have a dozen new patterns that we introduced at

Spring International Quilt Market.

It was practically in our backyard at the St. Louis convention center.

It was nice not having travel across the country to get to the show,

but oddly enough it didn’t really feel like I was at market since it was so close.

The best part (besides being with my daughter, Chloe, & my market friends)

was not having to worry about fitting everything into 4 suitcases

that weigh no more than 50 lbs. each+ 2 carry-ons.

The down side of that was more work for us since I decided we could have a bigger booth since we didn’t have to travel!

That also meant more “fluff” to bring to display with!

But, I loved the way that our booth turned out.

Between market shoppers we were able to visit with our market friends that are scattered around the country.

Diane & her sister, Linda of Puffin & Company.

They have lovely quilting and sewing tools to help those who enjoy hand work.

Celine & Molly of Perkins Dry Goods.

Celine has more beautiful patterns for those that love patchwork.

Susan of The Quilt Branch (Karen her helper had to leave early to attend a graduation).

Susan has lots of cute new designs to use that Creative Grids “House” ruler that you already have!

& we have lots of new patterns to show you!

So, stay tuned &

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

 

 

I’ve Been Keeping a Secret…

Yes, I know it’s not nice, but I’ve been keeping a secret.

I guess I’m not the only one who loves little Dresdens,

because the Acquisitions Editor, Roxane Cerda, at C & T

contacted me about publishing a book with them (2 years ago by now).

Wow, time flies!

& this morning I noticed this in with our mail…

I guess I didn’t look closely at the mail last night.

Oh wait, yes I did.

But when I found the gift certificate that my market friends had sent to me I discarded the rest of the mail.

I do have a one track mind…

& what can be better than a gift certificate to one of my favorite quilt shops?

Oh yes, this:

It’s my new book release announcement in C&T’s catalog!!!

“Dresden Quilt Workshop”

will be available in August.

It seems a bit surreal to me.

It will feature 13 new quilts that use either my Tiny Dresden plates or

my Tiny & Mini Dresden plates together.

It may seem silly to you,

but I spent the majority of last year making the quilts and then writing the instructions.

The worst part was trying to being quiet about it.

I only told a few close friends, my quilter, Tamara, & my family of course.

Yes, I know I design and write patterns every day,

but writing for a book publisher is a whole different animal.

Fortunately the folks at C&T have been very patient and helped me to learn their ways

(not easy for a dinosaur who is used to “doing her own thing” on her own terms!).

So, now that the cat is out of the bag,

I can’t wait to show you all 13 quilts that are featured in the book.

Stay tuned &

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan

 

Yup, Still Fun!

I knew it would be fun with the pastel m&m’s!

There seems to be an over abundance of blue ones though…

This was 3 “fun size” packages.

My family decided a long time ago

there’s NOTHING FUN

about the shrinking size of their candy packages!!!

Anyway, I finished piecing the pieces of my quilt together last night

(plus the field of my tiny quilt).

Meaning, while I was mindlessly piecing the Tiny Dresdens,

& listening to DSS,

I figured out a way to make the quilt finish even quicker.

I’m going to quilt it as I assemble it.

Yay!

This is one of the strips that I assembled.

As soon as DD #2 gets up I’m going to have her help me spray baste the backing & batting and  have this quilt quilted in no time at all!

That means I need to make my binding decisions…

…what fabric to use and what DVD to watch!

Done by lunch?

We’ll see.

Just Keep Sewing…

Susan