Kept In Stitches

Do I need a reason to buy more fabric?

keptinstitches

July 27, 2014

I ran across this fabric and it jumped off the shelf into my cart…no really! The more I look at it, the more I like it. I’m thinking it kind of lends itself to a masculine feel…not that I can pull that off, but I try.

I thought about what to make for awhile and when in doubt make another tote bag. But the thing is I’m actually going to use this one. Most of the bags I make get donated or given away. This one stays put! Made it last night and it made its debut today. I even put in a pocket for the cell phone that I am constantly losing.

The designer is Tim Holtz. I found his website and I love all his fabrics. More projects to come from this incredible line of fabric.
http://timholtz.com/eclectic-elements-fabric-line/

Fair Challenge Block

keptinstitches

1 comment

July 23, 2014

Each year the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild has a challenge block for the county fair. The Fair’s theme this year is ‘A Country Fair With Ocean Air’….don’t laugh…last year it was ‘Boots, Barns and banjos.’ Our challenge is to create a block in the modern aesthetic which reflects the theme. Hmmm, this took some thinking. I wanted I block that had several techniques within the same block. And the block had to measure 12 1/2″ by 12 1/2 inches. Not a lot of space to reflect such a broad theme. Here’s what I came up with.

Ventura County Fair

keptinstitches

no comments

July 23, 2014

There is so much going on right now I really don’t know where to start. This last Sunday was the final day to turn in entries for the Fair. So I gathered up a couple of tote bags of my latest projects and took them down to the fairgrounds. The category guide has always confused me, there’s always more than one category that your quilt would be appropriate for and I’m never sure which one applies to the particular quilt. The awesome ladies working the intake table were so much help. Over an hour and a half later all 10 pieces had been entered. The Fair runs July 30 through August 10, 2014. Not too sure which day I will be able to go but I’m a little anxious to see how my quilts were judged.

Row by Row

keptinstitches

no comments

July 3, 2014

I thought I would stop some shops today and pick up their pattern for Row by Row. I can’t wait to see the patterns.

900 Squares

keptinstitches

no comments

June 30, 2014

As I was going through the stash I pulled out all the smaller scraps and placed them in a separate tote. I had seen a quilt in a recent magazine that I wanted to make and it required 760 neutral 2 1/2 inch square pieces. All these neutral scraps were going to go to use and I couldn’t be happier. The top took me a few days to complete and its now ready for quilting. I’m not too sure how I will quilt it as of yet.

Organizing Still

keptinstitches

no comments

June 30, 2014

The hoard is looking a little better. I still need to go through all the civil war fabrics and fold them.

2014 National Quilt in Public Day

keptinstitches

no comments

June 21, 2014

Happy National Quilt in Public Day! We spent the afternoon with the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild sewing in the sun. We all had such a great time and visited with quite a few people who were interested in what we were doing…maybe we’ll get a couple of new members…

Thanks to everyone in the Guild that helped make the event such a success!

Pompeii

keptinstitches

no comments

June 16, 2014

Living in Los Angeles has many perks. We constantly have shows and exhibits I always plan on seeing. Then life gets in the way and before I know it the show has closed or the exhibit has moved on. This last weekend I put my words into action and visited The California Science Center. With advertising all over town about the Pompeii exhibit it was hard to forget I really wanted to see it. The exhibit was awesome and I had a great time. I even managed to get in some quilting inspiration. After Pompeii we headed over to see the Endeavor…Wow, that thing is big. What an awesome weekend!

No Bake Peanut Butter Bars

keptinstitches

3 comments

June 11, 2014

Aside from cotton, one of my other guilty pleasures is peanut butter. These are incredible…bet you can’t eat just one.

Reeses Peanut Butter No-Bake Bars
Ingredients
1 cup salted butter (melted)
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 (11 oz) bag milk chocolate chips

Instructions

Combine all ingredients, except chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Pour peanut butter mixture into a 9 x 13 pan.
Melt chocolate chips in the microwave (at 50% power) for 1-2 minutes. Stir chocolate and pour over the peanut butter mixture. Spread chocolate with a spatula. To even out chocolate, tap pan on the counter.
Refrigerate bars for one hour. Cut while bars are still cool.

Enjoy!

Red, White and Blue

keptinstitches

3 comments

June 9, 2014

This month’s challenge with the Ventura Modern Quilt Guild is a red, white and blue challenge. Since I love English Paper Piecing I thought it would be fun to make a mini for this challenge. The quilt is supposed to reflect the modern asthetic so I decided to use solids. I really don’t think there is anything ‘modern’ about this quilt….but I like it. I’m a little old school in the theory that anything hand pieced should be hand quilted. It is due tonight and the hand quilting is yet to be completed. I’m still stitching away and the end is in sight.