Accuquilt Tour part 2 - and rain!

As promised, I'm sharing more pictures when I visited AccuQuilt headquarters in Fremont, NE


Didn't have time for a cuppa here...but loved the name.






Some of the  "new" downtown Fremont with the brick streets.



Love those arched windows.

 more pictures from AccuQuilt's headquarters.

Steve Nabity, CEO, with his quilt and table runner he made for his office.  The colors blended great with his office decor.


Did you know that every employee of this company must take quilt classes?   Yes, you read that right.........even the janitors, forklift operators, shipping clerks, receptionists, customer service personnel....and most of them have completed a longarm quilting class too.  This company is setting the bar very high!

One of the HUGE laser die cutting machines!   I was so fascinated by these big monsters doing such
delicate, precise work..... naturally, computer driven. 

Sure hope you can see the designs being cut on this close-up. 

 

Here's a big stack of the special hard birch wood they use.

I wish I could have seen them set it up....but had to move onto other things.

AccuCut education division display..."where learning comes to life".... are now offering pre-cut kits for educators.  The little animals you see standing on the shelves are all 3-D out of cardstock. 


What a great company and terrific tour! 


As you probably know, Texas is in drought....and it's getting worse and worse each day we don't get rain.

So, I just had to take a picture from my hotel window of the rain and green field....as I've almost  forgotten what it looks like. 

Thanks for visiting.

I'm All About Having Fun!

Business trips are just that......for business.  AND.........  when you can arrange to have some pleasure with some of that business, it becomes fun!  That's what I'm all about....having fun with fabrics, quilting, my GO cutter and my ETSY Shop.    

(Maybe I better clarify something first for my new followers.   I love my AccuQuilt GO cutter, and always use a larger font whenever I type the word GO.  There......does that answer your question?) 

With having to GO out of state recently on some business I was able to visit AccuQuilt headquarters in Fremont, Nebraska and even take a tour.  It's a fun business.....for sure. 

I'm telling you that company is nothing but FUN;   quilts on the outside, quilts on the inside, quilts in offices, quilts in the warehouse, fun people, fun colors,  everyone smiling, especially the employees.  It's a Happy Place and a Magical Place. 

Wait a minute......was I visiting Disneyland?  Sure felt like it to me!

Here's what you see driving up to their building.

 
A closer look showing the winning quilt design for their 2011 Barn Quilt Block design contest.

There's even fun on the back of the building with the 2nd place winner's design above the receiving dock.  

Lots of quilts everywhere.....here's a few of them.  (Some of the pictures are blurry....sorry.)

I loved this tree, with the dimensional leaves. 




Wish I had a close up of this one..... the Arabesque Die.



Simple block; circle in a square with corner
triangles.  Fun fabrics! 




Carolyn Robinson from Accuquilt talking about  a custom display.



Do you know which die was used for this butterfly?  Look at
the next picture & caption for your answer.



Close up of the feathers die being used as small birds!  Yes, lots of fun things you can create with some of the designs.  You just have to 'think outside the box'!   Just look at those tiny triangles......all using a GO cutter.


I'll share some more with you next time.....now GO 'like' the
AccuQuilt facebook page  and then GO to the LH sidebar and enter the Camp Quilt Along contest.

You can also get some great quilt ideas by clicking on the Free Patterns picture at the top RH side of this page.


Do I have fun with my GO? and do I like AccuQuilt??  You betcha!  Can't you tell?  I think every quilter should own one!


Thanks for visiting.

 






Too Much is Too Much!

Sorry......no pictures this post.  Just gotta explain. 

I'm working on so many different things here lately..I just don't have enough time to do it all.   Christmas is coming up and here I am again and not enough time to make all the gifts I had planned. 

Does every quilter have problems finding enough time or just me?

Let's try to find out......

1.  Do you like to sew & quilt?


2.  Do you do the grocery shopping?
3.  Do you put away the groceries?
4.  Do you clean out the refrigerator?
5.  Do you do the cooking?
6.  Do you do the dishes?
7.  Do you clean the floors?
8.  Do you do the dusting?
9.  Do you wash the windows?
10.  Do you do the gardening?
11.  Do you take care of kids?
12.  Do you clean up after all of the pets?
13.  Are you the family chauffeur?

We could GO on and on.......couldn't we?  What about the laundry?  What about changing the sheets on the beds?   What about taking time to take a shower?  Go get your hair cut?  or all the shopping?  getting the car washed? 

Ok.....that's it!  I'm just GOing to GO back to number 1 and do it!   That's what I'm doing!  What are you GOing to do??



Thanks for visiting!

It's Like Magic!

My mind works kinda weird sometimes and here lately it's been bonkers!  I've been cutting a lot of fabrics! 

How many of you remember Joan Rivers and her famous comedy line....."Can we talk?"  

Well, let's talk a bit about the progression of the quilting and sewing industry. 

When I stop to think and reflect on how many years I've been sewing it rattles my poor little pea-sized brain.  (yes...I think my brain has been shrinking a size or two.  Remember, I'm still on my new eating plan for losing weight).

Let's talk!   What that's you say??   you want pictures??   

Ok, ok, don't nag me.......we'll get to that.   You can go ahead and skip all "this talk" if you want to and just look at pictures....it doesn't matter to me.  You might learn something if you read all of this.  I didn't just type to keep my fingers limber, ya know!  (Boy, I'm feeling a bit sassy today!)

1.  Fabrics - oh my how they've changed; the fiber content, the colors, the prints, the manufactures, artistic designers, fabrics made from recycled plastic, organic??    I remember sewing with cotton (organic)  fabrics that weren't color fast and they faded when you washed them.  Also used left over feed sack scraps for my dolls. 

2.  Patterns - did you know that tissue paper patterns were not always "printed" and there were little holes in them for your markings?  Clothing sizes....you had to really measure and adjust the patterns a lot.  Quilt patterns that were simple compared to what's available for today's busy sewers?  That was yesteryear....for sure! 

3.  Sewing machines - we all know about the treadle machines, right?  I loved sitting on the floor watching my Mom work that floor pedal with her feet.  Yes, I learned to sew on a treadle machine.  Now, we have machines that embroider, cut your threads, have built-in fancy stitches, thread your needles for you....just push a button. (I like my modern sewing machines!)

4.  Threads -  wooden spools, mercerized cotton, boilfast.  mmmmh! now we have every color, kind, fiber, size....even invisible and wash away thread, and we have to have special storage racks and thread bins to hold it all.  (When I used to shorten a store bought skirt or dress, I remember saving the thread from the hem seam to re-sew the shorter hemline....what?)


Do you ever stop and take a look at all your tools and gadgets we have today for our sewing and quilting?   How about your rulers? 

I've been on a "cutting frenzy" the last couple weeks.  I think there needs to be a number 5 on my list up there; rulers and templates.    I don't even use 90% of those rulers in that picture anymore, and forget templates.....yikes!   

Talk about progress in the quilting world?  How about this for Magic? 

Me and my AccuQuilt GO cutter......cranking out 6 fabric strips at a time.... magical progress at its finest!   And it doesn't even use any electricity.

Here's a peek into the Magic my GO cutter does for me.  It can turn yards and yards of fabrics ......

into this..................

Time Saver Kits for  my Etsy Shop.

or this.....

or this........

Or even this......

and this.......

Sorry, I can't "talk with you" anymore.   Gotta GO cut some more fabrics!

Thanks for visiting.

My Entry Pets on Quilts 2011 Contest

If you  are a follower of my blog, you know that I'm a cat lover, cat(s) owner, feral cat colony manager.  So, it was only natural that I wanted to enter Sew Cal Gal's 2011 Pets on Quilts Contest. 

 This is Roxie ....and oh, how she loves to eat.  She's sneaky too....and I hear her crunching in the night when I leave food in her bowl.  I raised her by bottle after her Mama abandoned her at 4 days old.  This particular quilt was made by my daughter as a gift to me after we had been to the International Quilt  Show in Houston.   It says "We went to the quilt show and all we got was everything!"

Here's a couple close ups of the details.....beads on the shoes, ribbon, threads, ribbons, buttons for the eyes....on the 3 Cats who went shopping at the Quilt Show.

Roxie was posing so well for me, I got another Kitty Quilt for her to "inspect".  You do know she's one of my "quilt supervisors", don't you?

This one is called Beach Kitties and I used it for a quilt class in applique that I was teaching. 

I hope you can see the fabric in the background of these blocks, as it's fish underwater. 

My other two cats, Braveheart (the KING)  and his sister, Princess, were getting jealous of all the attention Roxie was getting during our photo session, so here's  Kitty City.  I think this is my favorite quilt of all time that I've made, except for my King Size 1000 Pyramids quilt.

Each block depicts a different cat in a different profession; artist, beauty pageant winner, fireman, Dr., bird watcher, Sheriff, Chef, Pirate, Carmen Miranda, Amelia Earhart, etc.  I bordered it with dimensional prairie points and cat paw fabrics.

Sorry, they're a bit blurry 'cause I was paying attention to the cats....not on my picture taking.  Besides, I have to hurry and get this blog post finished to have time to enter it in Sew Cal Gal's contest...yikes! 

Here's a few close up  pictures of the Kitty City blocks.

Miss Kitty USA

Pierre' the Chef

The Sheriff.



The Bird Watcher

If I haven't bored you senseless .......YET, .....there's more to this Kitty City quilt than meets the eye. 

Did you notice the fruit bowl in the Carmen Miranda block? 

Well, after I was finished with all the detailed quilting (you can see some of the different background quilting in the close up photos) when I was trimming some threads, I cut a small 'v' shaped  hole in the sashing on the bottom of that block.   I was just heartsick, 'cause I was entering it in a Quilt Show that next week. 

I called my sister, told her what happened, and was almost in tears.  She came right over (we live about 1/2 block from each other) and took a look at it, and said......"well, looks like Carmen's fruit bowl spilled some fruit"   She told me to think "outside the box" and I did. 

The fruit appliques falling from her hat and underneath the block were added to cover up the small hole. 

 I added a fish bowl to the Chef's block, a bird's nest to the Bird Watcher.....etc., and what started out as a BIG boo boo, ended up  adding more interest and uniqueness to my Kitty City Quilt.

I was even more pleased when it won a 2nd place ribbon in the Quilt Show.

If I had a glass of wine, I'd  toast to everyone reading this blog....."Here's to quilting, here's to our beloved pets, and here's to winning a prize in the contest, but most of all ....here's to Sew Cal Gal for doing such a great job organizing this"! 

When it's time to vote on

Sew Cal Gal's blog, I hope you'll vote for me.  Thanks.

Thanks for visiting.

I'm NOT Screaming....I'm Using a Bull Horn!

I'm getting out my bull horn for this one! 

Have you heard?  Have YOU heard?   Everyone, and I mean everyone.....needs to read this and GO enter AccuQuilt's latest contest; with oodles of wonderful prizes. 

Camp Quiltalong Prize Giveaway

Join in some campfire fun for a chance to win great prizes totaling over $1500!   Fons & Porter, Fabric.com, and AccuQuilt have teamed up to provide us all with a huge giveaway on Facebook.

Here's the link for AccuQuilt's Facebook page. 
http://www.facebook.com/accuquilt?ref=ts#!/accuquilt?sk=app_10467688569    (See, I even made it easy for you.)  

Visit each of the Facebook pages (Accuquilt, Fons & Porter, Fabric.com) and gain access to all three sections of a secret code that unlock your chance to win!  Follow the camp trail on the bottom of each sponsor’s page and it will take you to the next campground to retrieve the next section of code.

Your summer camping trip begins today so get GO!-ing. 


Once you’ve captured all three pieces of the secret code, go here  and enter the full code to register to win!





I've already entered .......have you?




Thanks for visiting my blog.

More FUN To Share!

Are you always in a time crunch and wish  a magic genie would help you out so you had more time to sew?   "Well, my friend.....(yes...I know that sounds like a used car salesman...but I'm really not!)  that's why my Etsy shop is known for its Time Saver Kits".

To me, there's nothing more FUN  than cutting & sewing.   "Yup!  Right On!"  (as she hold up her hand &  tries to get the Cat Supervisors to high five with her and they just look away.)

Check out this easy way to do some FUN sewing with pre-cut quilt squares from...............(yes......that's why my shop is called
SEW FUN QUILTS.)


Make a quilt sandwich.....("hold the mayo, add some lettuce") ....sew the squares on it and do some fancy stuff in between the rows. 

Add the binding......... (would you like fries with that?)

Ta .......Da........(your order's ready.)

After it's washed, it gets that soft, cuddly  wrinkled look.  Now GO take a nap with your new quilt.   (After you leave me a nice comment....ok?)

FUN! FUN! FUN!   That's what sewing and quilting should be about. 


Thanks for visiting.

Small Quilting Means BIG FUN!

Bet you think this is GOing to be a post about Free Motion Quilting really small like tiny stitch stippling, huh?

Bzzzzzzzzzz!  Wrong Answer!    (that's supposed to sound like the buzzer from the old tv show Family Feud)

What?  You don't know about that TV Show??   Well, then, just read on.......


I love to play with the small 2 1/2" squares of 30's Reproduction Prints, and I keep a bin of them cut with my AccuQuilt GO cutter ready to sew.

Then when I get a few minutes,  I sew them into rows.  

"Awww....lookin' good.....this is a good assorted layout of colors & different prints."   (as she tells her Cat Quilting Supervisors).   Now,  I'll  have to sew the rows together, matching all those seams......."no, don't grab those pins".   

 My bin of the floral 2 1/2" squares are fun to play with too. I  ended up with 3 different pieced small  quilts.

It's kinda like eating Lays Potato Chips......you can't eat make just one.

and as she keeps sewing, she says....... "yes, you can sniff them & inspect the sewing, but they are NOT new quilts for your cat beds." One of them always talks back a bit...'meow...meow'.....'cause they are a bit sassy too.


You can always end up making  something fun from 2 1/2" squares cut with an  AccuQuilt GO cutter. 

Here's my latest finishes for a custom order from my Etsy Shop. 
My buyer asked for  a specific size (which is a little smaller than I usually make) and  matching square pillows.   

as she was saying...........("You Quilt Supervisors get outta here and go eat some catnip 'cause you  can't inspect these.")  ....where was I? 

Oh Yeah!  Now I remember.

AND.......just in case you're wondering.............   Yes, you can buy sets of these 2 1/2" squares in my Etsy shop.

Which one do you like the best......green or red?



Thanks for visiting.