Big Day Ahead!

Today is a very big day for me! Not only is it St. Patrick's Day, but a special quilting guest is teaching at Old Town Fabric Shop in Chillicothe! THE one and only Carrie Nelson, one of my "most favorite-est" quilting rock stars is here - and YES!! I will be there!

OH, HAPPY DAY!!

The prolific quilter, pattern designer, author and founder of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company was here yesterday teaching a class on Moda Cake Mix, and today a class on her new pattern, Village.

Above is Carrie shown with her beloved Rosie. What a tearful blogpost a few years ago when Carrie shared the news that Rosie had passed. Carrie has such a great writer's voice that I felt as if my own life-long pet had died! It will be fun to finally meet her. (I'm giddy with anticipation!)

The pattern, as I said, is Village; the image above was taken from the Fat Quarter Shop website. The pattern uses charm packs - up to 8 if we like. I think I will go with fewer and make a smaller quilt. I have packed my stash of Corey Yoder fabrics to use. I bought 4 charm packs last year that I still have. They will work fine and will make a lively, happy quilt.

All the fun will begin at 10:30 today. In addition to packing my machine and all the necessary equipment, I have all 7 of my Carrie Nelson quilt books ready to go in case my fandom kicks in and I need to get autographs. *grin*

I have made several of Carrie's quilts - off the top of my head let me list a few: Elizabeth, Tag Sale, Plan C, and several Schnibbles - yes, she is the brainiac behind that clever idea. I swore I was not going to fall for such a gimmick as Schnibbles, yet today I would guess I own about a dozen of those little patterns. *sheepish grin*

So, on this St. Patrick's Day, I will be stitching up a storm and having a blast with my new best friend, Carrie. I will be sure to share lots of pictures and anecdotes soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Crazy Busy Times Around Here

Yeah, I know I have been conspicuously absent from my blog for about a week. Sorry about that! It seems that I am not the juggler that I thought I was. My DH's computer is in the shop, so he's using my laptop a lot more than I counted on when I offered it. That laptop, though, is the one I usually blog from, so I'm limited.

Want more excuses? I've got 'em! The OUC school year has begun! I am teaching 3 classes, which required me to get 3 syllabi ready. That required the laptop again, so when I did get access to it, the top priority was school, not blogging.

Excuses, excuses! Maybe, but it's also just life. So we roll with it.

I have been working in the quilting room. Still Eventide. But I have advanced to this step in the directions:

Assembling!! Yay! It makes me happy to see it coming together. It is so, so busy! But with Roman Holiday fabric, who cares?? It is totally scrumptious! The pattern is by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

Even though these are just blocks laid out on the bed, I now have them sewn together, I have the red hourglass blocks attached to each vertical side, as well as the outer side borders. I will have an up-to-date picture tomorrow. All that is left is to attach the remaining border which will go all the way around. It is made of 58 rectangles -- measuring 3.5- by 6.5-inches. I have not cut these out yet, so this step could be awhile.

I have been sewing with Sharon P. more regularly lately. We are both doing quilts with our stash of Roman Holiday fabric. Hers is also a Miss Rosie pattern - Three Coins, if you are familiar with her work. After bemoaning how slowly we get our projects finished, we made a goal together of having our quilt tops done by September first. Sharon has reached her goal!! Because it is so pretty, I'm giving you 4 pictures at which to gaze longingly. (You can thank me later.)

Sigh. It was such a bugger to make - those star blocks were killers! But isn't the end result fantastic? It motivates me to get going on finishing my Eventide by the September 1 deadline.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Roman Holiday Fabric

Yes, that is definitely a blast from the past. This wonderful fabric has been out for about 10 years, maybe more. Finding it is impossible, too. Everyone loved it, apparently, from the absolute absence of it online.

The most beautiful of all fabrics of all times, this red with white swirling leaves. Absolutely heavenly!

Roman Holiday by 3 Sister/Moda captured my fancy when I first saw it in a particular shop in Columbus. I bought a fat quarter bundle, so I had a little bit of each fabric in the line. My quilting girlfriends were soon swooning over it, and more than one of them began building their own stash of Roman Holiday. The gorgeous red in the picture above is Sharon P.'s 2-yard cut. A precious commodity!

I have Roman Holiday on my mind lately because Sharon is beginning a project using her RH fabric. She began cutting it out here at my house last week.

Sharon's Roman Holiday stash

Her project is a kit she bought ages ago using this wonderful fabric. We have talked for ages that we really need to use our Roman Holiday fabric because it's too pretty to keep in a plastic tub in the closet. So she is beginning Three Coins by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.

Here are some of the blocks Sharon had constructed by the end of our day. Take in the sights; they are wonderful.

Because she was"playing" in her Roman Holiday, I was longing to "play" in mine. So I pulled it out. This is where you insert the image of a quilter "petting" her fabric. Yeah, that is what I was doing.

On the bottom red is Sharon's big cut; layered on top of that are some of the pieces from my stash. I have managed to find a few pieces, but never have I located any more of that wonderful red.

This is my fat quarter pack. I love it, sigh.

You know what I wish?? I wish Moda would re-release this line. In my opinion, there would be a tremendous demand, and countless appreciative quilters!

What is your all-time favorite line of fabric?

Happy Quilting, Friends!