Road Trip -- and a Giveaway!

Finally, I'm home from my road trip to Ohio for the Cincinnati International Quilt Festival -- and my nephew's 17th birthday and prom!

First day of the trip -- Kansas.  Who knew, if you drive Highway 24 across Kansas, it's actually a beautiful state?  Plus, I got to visit:

All About Quilts in Manhattan, Kansas.  Definitely worth turning away from the Interstate -- a good selection of both traditional and modern fabrics.

And:  Sarah's Fabrics in Lawrence, Kansas.  Home to the University of Kansas, Lawrence is a town with a lively, diverse downtown.  Sarah's Fabrics is recommended by the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild, and boy howdy -- they are right!  Best selection of modern fabrics on my trip, plus the friendliest staff anywhere.
The day after arriving in Ohio, my courtesy sister and I drove down to Cincinnati to attend the Cincinnati International Quilt Festival. 

Here is the view from our room, right across the river from Cincinnati:

We enjoyed the most delicious dinner at:

My friends know I hate to read menus.  I always say "just bring me something."  If I wanted to decide what to eat, I'd be cooking at home.  Our waiter, Micheal (see Michael, I remember your name!)  selected Chilean Sea Bass for my dinner -- yum yum yum!

The Quilt Festival was overwhelming -- SOOO many wonderful quilts, hundreds of vendors, too much perfume on fellow attendees -- oh, sorry.  Got carried away there.  Other bloggers have posted many photos of the quilts, but I haven't seen this one.  I took the photo to show one of my commenters, Susan.  Susan, this was my favorite quilt at the show, and not just because it came from Australia!

Made by Eileen R. Campbell of Kew, Victoria, Australia, "Outback - Beyond Broken Hill" was inspired by the Australian Outback.  And look, it won a ribbon!

I also got to take photos of my courtesy nephew and his beautiful date before their Junior Prom at Beavercreek High School:

Not only is she a pretty girl, she is nice!


Oh?  You say I mentioned a giveaway? 

Right you are -- and here it is.  To celebrate my 100th blog post, I promised something fabulous from the Cincinnati Quilt Festival.  So I brought you:

A bag:

A 6" ruler:

TWO charm packs:

and some other goodies:

It's easy to win -- just leave a comment.   Tell me what you're sewing, tell me if you've been to a quilt festival, tell me a joke!  Remember, if you're a "no reply blogger," go here for a link to a tutorial on how to change that.

I'll choose a winner on Wednesday, May 1st!

Tomorrow, I have a Finish it up Friday project and review of 15 Nebraska quilt shops!




From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday - Smitten

Even on vacation, I get to sew!

This week, I'm in Ohio after attending the Cincinnati International Quilt Festival.  In the evenings, I worked on a 12th Birthday quilt for my great-niece.  It's a Rachel Griffith design, "Smitten."

The fabric is Sophie Chez Moi by Moda. 

Umm, see why it's the "WIP" Wednesday?  I didn't bring enough background pieces to finish that last block -- oops.  Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

I'm doing the Nebraska Quilt Shop Hop on my way home to Colorado.  As soon as I get home, I'll post the giveaway for my (wait for it!) 100th Post!



From the desk of your

Finish it up Friday - Quilt #23 for 2012

I recently had the fun of testing a new quilt pattern for Holly of Bijoux Lovely.  Holly wrote a really nice post featuring my sample quilt.

Holly's Colorblock Quilt  will make a great baby quilt or comfort quilt.

I used fabric from Valori Well's "Wrenly" collection.  It took me less than two hours to make -- would have been faster except I had to wash the center panel fabric!  Holly's directions are extremely well-written and illustrated.  I heartily recommend her pattern.

Keep an eye on Holly's blog, the pattern should be published soon.

Linking to Finish it up Friday on crazy mom quilts.



From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday - Road Trip!

I'm leaving too early today to link up with Freshly Pieced's WIP Wednesday, but I do have a couple of works in progress.

First, my pyramid blocks for Anna Lena's pyramid block-a-day:

 

I'm using a portion of my extensive collection of 1930s reproduction fabrics.  Conveniently, this quilt is also one of my April UFOs.

By the first day of summer, I'll have enough blocks to make this quilt:

Really, my border fabric is that great bubble-gum pink called "Double Pink" from the 1930s, even though it looks kind of apricot in this photo:

And for my best WIP. today I'm off on my roadtrip to Ohio to the Cincinnati International Quilt Festival! 

To celebrate, I installed this fun license plate frame, a gift from my friend Tracy in Boise.  Do you have any idea how many quilt shops there are between Colorado and Cincinnati?  I do -- and I promise photos and shop reviews!


From the desk of your

Tuesday Tutorial - Fast Stripping!

Are you a stripper?  I mean, do you like to make quilts using 2 1/2" strips?

Sometimes, do you need lots of strips from the same fabric?

And you're not ready to spend more than $300 for a fancy shape-cutting machine?

Do I have a tool for you!

The Shape Cut Pro lets you cut 9 strips in less than a minute.  This nifty ruler cuts across the full width of the fabric, at 2 1/2" intervals. 

I got  mine from Nancy's Notions on sale for only $59.  Nancy writes:  "Fast and efficient—two words you never think of when cutting strips."

Manufactured by June Tailor, this ruler is made from very heavy plastic, heavy enough that it won't shift or slide while you are cutting.  It has a convenient cut-out handle on one side for easy lifting.

Here's how to use it:

Spread your fabric out on the cutting surface just as it comes off the bolt.  Line up one of the horizontal dark lines with the fold and the line marked "0" almost to the cut edge of the fabric.

Spread the fingers of your left hand along the left edge of the ruler and insert the blade of your rotary cutter into the first slot.

Cut all the way across the fabric and lift the rotary cutter away from the ruler when it hits the opposite end of the slot.

Continue cutting across each slot until you reach the last one.  You may want to "spider" your hand along the left side as you cut across, but I usually don't need to.

Lift away the ruler and -- voila! -- nine perfect 2 1/2" strips!

If you're left-handed, you can cut just as easily from right to left.

Nancy's Notions shipped the Shape Cut in a heavy cardboard that I saved to store the ruler flat.  I haven't seen this particular tool anywhere else, although my local JoAnn's carries June Tailor tools -- just not this one!




From the desk of your

New Features - Guest Blogger

Hello Everyone!

I'm 'The Younger Son' (or 'My Little Sailor') your Aunt Marti references in some of her posts, (usually to the effect of, 'Wow, he actually called for a change!) and I'm here to tell you about some exciting changes we've been working on for the 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks blog.

Sakura Blossoms in Mitsuikekoen (Mitsui Park, Kanazawa-Hakkei)

Number 1!

52 Quilts in 52 Weeks now has a registered domain

• You can access the blog just by typing '52quilts.com' into your browser, or update your bookmarks to http://www.52quilts.com/

Number 2!

Aunt Marti has a new email

•   Reach her for comments or questions about the blog at AuntMarti@52quilts.com
•   (Or, if you have problems with the site, reach me at JacobAllison@52quilts.com)

Number 3!

You've probably already noticed this one -- the website now has a new layout

• In addition to the new design, you can find 'Share on Facebook' and Google+ buttons on the blog posts, as well as for the blog in general over there on the sidebar.

As you may have guessed, these changes came about because the blog is getting rather serious! When my mom (finally) started to blog, we all encouraged her, but now that she's up to almost 100 followers, it's a pretty big deal and she asked for some help in sprucing up the blog. A couple (sleepless, for me) days later and here it is.


Well, that's it for today. Thank you for reading and greetings from Japan.