a written excuse.

to whom it concerns:
please excuse rachel from blogging.
she's fighting a yucky sore throat & has 2 sick toddlers.
i recommend she'll be back on track come monday.

doctor p.s. i quilt

a little of this & that.

here's a little work in progress.

this will be the makings of a doll quilt.
cute huh???

more details later.

and for those inquiring minds...
fabric in pic=riviera by connecting threads.

oh and remember THIS post???

well voting closes friday.

just to refresh yall...

i designed a quilt block for a challenge issued by irish quilting magazine.
the challenge is now a competition between 14 blocks.
and the best part is...yall can vote on which block wins!!!
{hint hint: my block is easily SPOTTED!!!}

so please go vote!!!

and one more thing...

thank yall SO much!!!

my grand opening was such a success!!!

p.s. i quilt: the shoppe needs restocked already!!!

:)

guess what?!?!

sorry i've been a little absent, but i have a good excuse!!!
promise.
:o)

so...ummm...guess what?!?!

{p.s. i quilt: the shoppe}

just to name a few things yall will find there:
rachelish patterns!!!
fat quarter bundles!!!
& kits!!!

so check it out!!!
and then tell me what yall think!!!

last call...

winner announced on giveaway post.
*********************************

today is the last day of my giveaway!!!

so...

let's get those last minute comments in!!!

let's get those last minute followers in!!!

let's get those last minute blog posts in!!!

& let's get those last minute qualifying purchases in!!!

comments will be closed on this post.

direct ALL comments to the giveaway post!!!

winner will be announced tomorrow!!!

hope yall are as excited as i am!!!

go for the gold.

i reckon i've left yall guessing long enough.

{plus the medal JUST arrived at my house today.}

it was my scruffily quilt that took the gold at the ohio outdoor quilt festival.

not my pinwheel sampler.
i know...i was just as shocked.

either way...

i'm SUPER excited that i can say i took the gold!!!

isn't it pretty???

*dreamy sigh*

a little sneak peak.

lookie at what i played with today...

gobble gobble by sandy gervais for moda.

and it's SUPER delicious.

more details later.

promise.

bella & bella.

i am SO addicted to bella solids...

...that i buy it by the bolt.

maybe i need a bella solids step down program.

i think i'd go down swinging.

hahaha.

and rhonda...

stop laughing because it's just 'by chance' it's called bella.

this has nothing to do with my twilight obsession.

{okay...maybe a little bit.}

hahahaha.

p.s. only 93 more days until new moon hits theatres!!!

not that i'm counting or anything.

*wink*

one happy stack.

well here they are...as promised...

my 3 entry quilts for the ohio outdoor quilt festival.

delish huh???

and ummm...

guess which one of them won a gold medal!!!

yes...i won a gold medal!!!

exciting i know!!!

so how's that for some good news!!!

and for those inquiring minds...

quilts in pic=christmas table topper, scruffily quilt & pinwheel sampler.

let's celebrate with a giveaway!!!

comments closed. winner announced at the bottom of this post.
************************************************************

happy 2nd birthday to the quilt shoppe!!!

yayyy!!!

let's celebrate with a giveaway!!!

{along with 25% off the entire shoppe!!!}

i have a $50 gift certificate that needs a good home!!!

who wants it???

here's what yall have to do:
leave me a comment answering this...

who is your fav fabric designer???

want another entry???
blog about my giveaway on your blog.
{you can borrow my pic.}

want to be added a third time???
follow my blog.
{if you already do, just remind me.}

how about a fourth entry???

follow the quilt shoppe's blog.

{if you already do, just say so.}

anyone up for a bonus fifth entry???

spend $25 or more at the quilt shoppe between now & the 22nd.

{psst...she carrys my moda bake shop kits!!!}

to make things easy, enter one comment per entry, like so...
{comment 1:} my fav fabric designer is...
{comment 2:} i blogged about it.
{comment 3:} i'm following you.

{comment 4:} i'm following the quilt shoppe.

{comment 5:} i placed an order.

so let the giveaway begin.
winner will be announced august 23rd.

*******************************************
wow. 804 comments. madness.

~winner is tiffany.~
please email me asap!!!
ssg3369 {at} hotmail {dot} com

if i don't hear from you, i'll have to draw another name.
{it's only fair.}

thanks for all the comments yall.
it's been fun to read through them all.
{and YES, i read them ALL. promise.}

bees & news.

this little lovely is for tina.

this block made me fall in love with the red & yellow combo.

this hot little number is for barb.

all i could think about was watermelons while i worked on this.

{i hate watermelons but i heart this block.}

this spiffy block is for adina.
i love the color scheme here.

i could make a dozen quilts with it.

this amazing block is for john.
you have no idea how much i LOVE these fabrics.

they are SO soft. SO soft.

maybe john will just give me this quilt when it's finished.

{a girl can dream can't she???}

this nifty block is also for john.
he picks the best fabrics to play with!!!
not. even. joking.

and last...
this starry block is for donna.
i love this block...alot.

i'm SUPER glad to have these blocks done.
i hope that they are all loved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

okay...so i have good news & bad news.
i'll tell yall the bad news first...

the bad news:
my SUPER awesome news has to be postponed until next week.
sorry yall.

the good news:
trust me when i say yall need to stop by tomorrow.
just trust me.

:)

SUPER awesome news is coming soon to a blog near you.

:)

{fabric in pic=rouenneris by french general for moda.}

ohio outdoor quilt festival: take one.

here are a few pics from the ohio outdoor quilt festival.

aren't they delicious???

i was lucky enough to meet up with vickie at the farm.

and i just heart her. seriously.

i took a million pics, but these were some of my favs.

more pics soon.

{including my other 2 entry quilts.}

anyone spy a certain pinwheel sampler quilt???

tehehehe.

p.s. hey vickie...i tried the elk.

it was yummy!!!

seriously.

scruffily quilt kits!!!

*jumping up & down with excitement*
scruffily quilt kits are available at the quilt shoppe!!!

yayyy!!! yayyy!!! yayyy!!!

scruffily quilt tutorial can be seen HERE.

yall have 10 kits to choose from:

figgy pudding by basic grey

glace by 3 sisters

aviary by 3 sisters

fig & plum by fig tree quilts

gypsy rose by fig tree quilts

patisserie by fig tree quilts

hartfield by barbara brackman

snippets by american jane

tradition-collections for a cause by howard marcus dunn

& tranquility by sandy gervais

i'm SUPER excited for these kits!!!
{thanks again lani!!!}

so yall go get yourselves a kit!!!
and then tell me which one you bought!!!
cause i'm nosey curious like that!!!

p.s. {kits are available on their etsy shop too!!!}

august 6th: jackson day

8 years ago today...i became a mom.

here are 8 things that i ♥ about you:

~you are the most compassionate child i've ever met.~

~ your laugh is contagious.~

~you love & trust jesus with ALL of your heart.~

~you are an AMAZING big brother.~

~you have eyelashes that make all the girls jealous.~

~ you are the biggest goofball EVER.~

~you have a dramatic flair that owns ANY room.~

~ you are SO talented, in SO many ways.

happy birthday jackson!!!

i ♥ you SO, SO much!!!

love mommy

oh happy day.

lookie what i did today.

i took 3 of my quilts to be entered in the ohio outdoor quilt festival.

so as yall can see...

the 1st quilt i entered was my pinwheel sampler quilt.

any guesses on what the 2nd & 3rd quilts are???

scruffily quilt tutorial.

i KNOW yall are gonna like this one.

{well at least i hope yall will.}

i know i ♥ this quilt.

ALOT.

it's over at the moda bake shop.

so go make this gal happy and show me some love.

{direct link HERE.}

toot your own horn!!!

if you make this, add the pic to my p.s. i quilt: sew & tell flickr group.

{and of course the moda bake shop flick group too.}

friendship bag tutorial.

need a little gift to send your quilty pals???
here's an adorable & quick 'go to' gift that will brighten any quilters day.

yall will need sixteen 1 1/2" x 5" strips of your choice.
{2 each of 8 different prints.}

i used honey bun strips.

sew 8 of your strips together to make a 8 1/2" x 5" piece.

press.

rinse and repeat.

{yall will need 2 of these pieces.}

attach a 8 1/2" x 5" piece of fabric in between your two strip pieces.

layer your pieced top on some warm & white batting.

quilt as desired.

it might feel funny to quilt without a backing, but yall can do it.

trim your excess batting off.

fold your quilted piece in half matching strips with strips.

sew all the way down on both sides.

we're gonna box the corners now.
fold your fabric down to make a triangle.
mark a line 1 1/2" from your point.

stitch on your drawn line.

cut off excess to make a 1/4" seam allowance.

rinse & repeat to do the other side.

turn your bag right side out.
see those cute little boxed corners???
adorable.

cut two 2 1/4" x 10" strips to make handles.
{if you don't want handles, skip the next few steps.}

fold your strip in half width wise, press.

fold the left side in towards the center, press.
fold the right side in towards the center, press.

fold both sides together, press.

sew down the open side.

{i used a feather stitch.}

pin the handles in place.

i chose to do mine on either side of the 2 middle strips.

stitch your handles in place using a 1/8" seam allowance.

your handles will look like so.
rinse & repeat to do the other side.

take a 14" x 8 1/4" piece {for lining} and fold in half and stitch down both sides.

box the corners on your lining just like you did the bag itself.

insert your liner into your bag, right sides together.

stitch around the top of your bag.

seam rip about 1" on your liner so that you can pull the bag through.

pull the bag out through the opening.

whip stitch that 1" opening closed again.

push the liner back down into your bag.

stitch around the top of your bag.

just make sure that you keep the handles out of your way.

and voila...you have a darn cute bag!!!
{you can even make it without the handles to make a cute little catch all bag.}

throw in a few charm packs to complete your gift.
{or maybe a few fat quarters & some rick rack.}
there's endless possibilities to what will make quilters happy.

hope yall enjoy.

toot your own horn!!!
if you make this, add the pic to my p.s. i quilt: sew & tell flickr group.

and for those inquiring minds:
fabric featured in tutorial=patisserie by fig tree quilts for moda.