Saturday, July 6, 2013

Saturday Stash: A New Shop!

I love it when a new quilt/yarn shop opens nearby! Today is the grand opening of "Fabric Bliss -- the Colorado Springs Edition."

The original Fabric Bliss is located in the Denver Santa Fe arts district. In keeping with their "artsy" roots, the Colorado Springs Fabric Bliss is located in the West Side of Colorado Springs, where there are many art galleries, artsy shops and great restaurants.

The Dishcloth Diva, Deb Buckingham, and I were at the shop minutes after they opened for the first time on Tuesday.

Look! Modern fabric on the right-hand side of the shop! You know how I love a shop that has fabric I haven't seen anywhere else.


And yarn on the left! Madelinetosh, Pigeonroof, Shibui, Dream in Color, Cascade, Abuelita, and Lion Brand. (Plus, a sock knitting class with the Dishcloth Diva herself!)


I bought yarn for My Little Sailor's next birthday sweater. (It's a surprise, so no photos!) 


Sharon (L) rings up Deb's purchase of a lovely Abuelita hand-dye to make a sample for Deb's next book!

In Colorado Springs, Fabric Bliss is located at 2616 W. Colorado Ave, Suite 21. Hours: Tuesday - Saturday: 11a - 7p, Sunday: 12p - 6p Monday: Closed. Phone: 719.646.2370

I finished piecing my next Scrap Squad quilt today -- quilting, binding and blogging tomorrow for Quilty Pleasures blog!

From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Friday, July 5, 2013

Friday Finish: Schnibbles

My last finish for June was my "under the wire" Vintage Schnibbles quilt. The pattern is "Dulcinea," and the fabric is "A Simpler Time" by Holly Taylor for Moda. I used Moda Bella Solids "Natural" for the background.


When I started to square up my 3/4 square triangles, I realized I could trim them to 4" rather than the 3.5" as instructed in the pattern. Of course, that meant I had to fiddle with the borders to make them fit. I had to add one 1" strip to the strip pieces on each side of the outside border. The quilt finished at 37.5" square -- perfect for a wall hanging. The colors just match the mountain condo of my friend Lori, so it will be a belated hostess gift!

You can see other "Vintage Schnibbles" at A Quilting Life and Pink Pincushion.

Linking up to Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts:

LAFF - Richard and Tanya Quilts

As well as Thank Goodness it's Finally Finished at Quokka Quilts:


And also, "Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?" at Confessions of a Fabric Addict:


Come back tomorrow for a peek at the newest quilt shop in town on Saturday Stash!



From the desk of your auntmartisignature



Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy Independence Day!

I know, I should be working on my Scrap Squad quilt. But I want to show you some of the red, white, and blue quilts I've made over the past few years. Out of  more than 100 quilts, not many are RWB!

First, though, here's a photo of My Little Sailor the day he enlisted in the Navy. December 14, 2011:


They're back on patrol in the Western Pacific:


And now for some quilts! First up, "American Valor" from Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine:


It's promised, but not bound and delivered yet! (I haven't forgotten, Casey!)

This is my most recent RWB quilt, "Hexagon Gardens," which we'll be working on at Jelly Roll Party this Friday:


Another recent finish, "Stars from Strips" by Cozy Quilts:


"Lover's Lane," a Fat Quarter Fun project from 2012:


Here is a photo of my friend Jane with me from the 2011 Jelly Roll Race at quilt retreat. She won first place, and I took second:


Fair winds and following seas on this Independence Day to all the ships at sea!



From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Scrap Squad from Scraps

The July/August Scrap Squad quilt, "Turning Points" was designed by Carolyn McCormick. Carolyn is the genius behind the "Add-a-Quarter" rulers.

I'm seriously behind on my Scrap Squad project -- I have one (one. one.) block complete!

If you're interested in seeing what the other Scrap Squad members did with the "Turning Points" quilt, here are links to the Quilty Pleasures Blog for each quilt that has been posted so far:

Gina is from Spring Valley, Illinois.

Becky is from Blue Springs, Missouri.

Carol is from Schererville, Indiana.

Christa is  from Torquay, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Here is my lone little block:


Eep!  I have to have this quilt finished before I go to Quilt Wyoming next week! Good thing Independence Day isn't a "cooking" holiday!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, guest hosted by Stacey from The Tilted Quilt.

GRAB A BUTTON

Luckily, I already have Friday's "TGIFF" quilt finished. Come back then to see what I finished this week!


From the desk of your auntmartisignature

Monday, July 1, 2013

A Few Changes

Since Google Reader really died, I guess I must "claim" my blog on Bloglovin'. I'll explain later why I'm not happy about this!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3787178/?claim=yt6bwxcgkb5">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

I added some "social media" icons over there to the right. Click on the buttons in the right-hand column to:

Email me:



(Oops, the email widget doesn't work. I'm seeking help, but in the meantime, you can email me at Aunt Marti at 52Quilts dot com)

Follow 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks on Facebook:


Follow 52 Quilts with Bloglovin':


Or see what I've added to Pinterest (not much!):


Thank you to Carrie for the perfectly pink icons, and Dawn and Karen for the "how to add social media icons" tutorial that even I could follow!


From the desk of your auntmartisignature

June UFO Parade

Before we launch the parade, the number for the July UFO is

We're halfway through our 13 in 2013 Challenge. Aren't you proud?

I barely got my June UFO  finished before the Parade. But when I consider that it was only partially cut out, I don't feel too bad. Here is "Country Sunshine," from the 2002 edition of Better Homes & Garden's "Quilting Ideas." It is a UFO from my "30s Reproductions Period." (Hey, if Picasso can have a Blue Period, i can have a 30s Reproductions Period.)


The first June "13 in 2013" finish is by Deb Cline. I love this "Shadow" quilt -- sigh, another one for my "I want to make this quilt" list! The best part is, it's an original! Deb says "I made it up as I went along!"


I don't know if I missed adding this one to the May Parade, or if Deb is just our token "overachiever" this month, but she has two more UFOs to add to our Parade!

She confesses this one isn't really a "finish," but:
 My goal was to prep (cut, iron on fusible Pellon, trim, and arrange) all my oldest son's t-shirts for a quilt. I discovered he has enough for two quilts -- or one, two-sided quilt! So, I got the one side prepped as hoped. Now I just need to buy "filler" fabric since the shirt pieces are different sizes. (It feels a bit like cheating since I didn't sew it together, but I was really dreading getting this organized and had to force myself to do it!)


Hey, Deb, I think tackling one of the dreaded t-shirt quilts counts!  As a reward, she got to work on this incredible LeMoyne Star quilt:


I love your "Southwest-y" colors, Deb!

Martha finished this darling baby quilt:


She also can boast the first "Idaho Row Quilt" finish! Here is the link to all our Friends of Granny's Attic row quilts. Martha added a piano keys border and will save this in her "someday I will be a Grandma" stash.'

Stop the Presses!

At the last minute, I received an email from Martha with another baby quilt! She says "can you guess the reason?" I sure hope it's what I think it is!! (Notice the TWO exclamation points!)


Martha, this one is adorable -- and my favorite V. and Co. collection, too!


Sandi of KwiltnKats whipped up this lovely. She reports, "This is Kloudburst, a free pattern called Blue Storm that introduced a line of Marcus Fabrics by Laura Berringer/Faye Burgos awhile back.  Mine does not use the fabric line just the free pattern." Here is the link to Sandi's blog post about Kloudburst:  http://kwiltnkats.blogspot.com/2013/06/sunday-stash-report-june-16-2013.html



Irene has two finishes for June. First, she tied this nine-patch variation so it would be "light and fluffy." (It sure looks like it is, Irene!)


She also made another of her clever "photo frame" wall hangings. If you haven't seen Irene's wall hanging photo frames, go to her blog, here to see how she does it!


I must share two photos of Debra B's finish this month, because it is really an accomplishment! Debra says she only had the fabrics pulled for this one, so it was a start-to-finish UFO!  And she sent the photos of the finished project with more than a week left in June!


I have to share what Debra said about this quilt:
My #9 is Bonnie Hunter's Blue Ridge Beauty. I only had fabrics pulled when this number was drawn - I had to make the quilt from the very beginning.  I am very happy with the way it turned out. I love the blues and the barn raising layout. I was making quilts this year as Christmas gifts - now I am having second thoughts (smile, smile). I am soooo looking forward to the next challenge.


June must be a "blue" month -- Sue made three (yep, three!) gorgeous blue pillows this month.




She blogged about them here and here. I just have to share what she said about the "13 in 2013" Challenge:
I love Marti's UFO sew along. Its so much easier just knowing that you're going to get at least one project done and dusted each month, whereas a list just feels so daunting and you don't know where to start.
Thanks, Sue, couldn't have said it better myself!

See what I mean about blue? Gill in London made three pillows, also!


And I have to share what she said about them:
The fabric was bought and cut in 2005 - just before I had my first son. I naively thought that giving up work to have kids would result in lots of free time to quilt! I have 2 little boys and just like yours one is even called Jacob! Now both of them are at school I am picking up on the quilting again - and your UFO project has helped to focus me! The problem was with these cushions that I couldn't even remember which pieces went where, so a lot of guesswork was involved. I also hand quilted them as my free motion quilting is so rusty!
Ha ha Gill -- I thought when I left my job at the University to be a full-time Mom, I would have all the time in the world. I think many of us think that, to our sorrow!

Noela sends Independence Day greetings from Australia -- thanks, Noela! She finished two mini quilts for her June UFO project -- so cute!



Noela, I have 12 of these mini quilts in my UFO cupboard. Maybe that should be my UFO project for 2014!

Another Aussie friend, Susan, finished another blue quilt! I guess blue is the favorite color of most people -- I know my Mother loved "any color as long as it's blue!"


Here's a closeup of one of the blocks:


This quilt is the result of a block swap from Susan's patchwork group. The block is called "Happy Block" -- what a great idea for a super-easy block swap! The whole store is on Susan's Sewing Space. And thanks for the plug for Susie's Magic Binding, Susan!

Here is a first-time UFO Parade participant, Kerry from San Diego.


Kerry designed this darling baby quilt for her new granddaughter, just born June 20th. The animals are paper-pieced, and Kerry designed the rest of the quilt using EQ7. Nice job, Kerry, and congratulations on the new grandbaby!

Twenty finishes! That's a record for 2013!  I don't think anyone will object if I exercise my editorial power and choose Martha for the winner of this month's UFO Parade prize.  Because it's this book:

Martingale - Fast and Fun Baby Quilts (Print version + eBook bundle)

And it's an e-book, so it will be in your email inbox today! Congratulations, Martha!

Tomorrow, I'll show you a photo of my July UFO project. Lucky for me, it's almost finished, because July is going to be a busy, busy month around here!

From the desk of your auntmartisignature