Tu-Na Quilts: Voting Has Begun for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival

There are many beautiful and some really unique quilts over at Amy’s Creative Side for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.

You can even vote for your favorites. Voting closes September 30th. Grab a cup of coffee or tea, put your feet up, and be prepared to be dazzled.

I’ve provided direct links to each of the categories below. Be patient as it may take a bit for the inLinkz to load each category. Once the inLinkz is loaded, you should see a picture of each quilt displayed under the blue box that says “Baby Lock Sewing Machine Giveaway.” You can enter that giveaway by clicking on that box. For other chances to win fabric and other prizes, leave a comment on the main festival page. Be sure to leave your email address.

You’ll be looking at a lot of quilts at the festival so I thought I’d give you something else to see. This is Chihuly in the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix, AZ in January 2014.

Now vote for three of your favorite quilts in each category by clicking on the heart in the upper right hand corner of each quilt. To read more about a quilt or see more pictures of it, click on the picture of the quilt and you will go directly to the quilt blog post. The green check mark displayed on the top left of that quilt picture on the festival page means you’ve visited that blog post.

Here’s the links for each category. Enjoy!

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Mini Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Small Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Large Quilts I’ve entered my Little House Story Quilt in this category; to see it and read more about it, click here.

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Applique Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Art Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Hand Quilted Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Machine Quilted Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Modern Quilts I’ve entered my Plus Quilt in this category; to see it and read more about it, click here.

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Original Design

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival ROYGBIV Quilts (rainbow)

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Scrappy Quilts

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Viewer’s Choice Viewer’s Choice Quilts are being displayed under the Baby Lock Giveaway Bar and list of prizes. But if you don’t see your favorite, use the form below to nominate up to three favorites.

2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival Viewer’s Choice Nomination Form You can nominate up to three quilts by pasting the direct link to that quilt on this form.

What I Learned Today:

I have a lot more quilts on my “must make” list now.

Question: Have you entered a quilt into a competition. How did you do?

Tu-Na Travels: The Last of the Loot–aka The Big Splurge

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This is the last of the loot from my 2016 Quilt MN Shop Hop trip. Although these were things that weren’t on my list, they still followed my plan to like all that I buy. I couldn’t leave them behind so I splurged.

I’m sure it will be of no surprise to anyone that I found and bought cloud fabric. I was captivated by the Minnesota skies and took lots of sky pictures. You can see some pictures here on Day Two, Day Five, Day Six, and Day Eight.

I’m thinking one of these would make a cute background for some hot air balloon blocks. What do you think?

I can’t have sky without including some water.

One can’t have sky and water without having some little rocks. I really needed this before and didn’t have it so I decided to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

I grew up on a wheat farm and had been eyeing this one since the collection was released. I almost bought it at one shop on the hop but decided to let it stay on the shelf. The next day, I heard it calling my name from the clearance section of a different shop. How could I ignore that?

Along the way I found some prints to add to my orange, brown, and green stash. How could I resist those coffee beans?

When I saw the fabric with dots, I saw sprinkles and I thought it would make cute ice cream cone or cupcake quilt blocks or a pincushion or two.

I already have slices of watermelon fabric in my stash and found these two pieces that would make a fun picnic quilt with it.

Here’s more great fabrics I found.

These were just too cute to pass up! I’m open to suggestions.

Just before I left home on the shop hop, I started a project using a green leaf fabric from my older stash. After cutting all the pieces, I decided it was just too thin to use so I found these two leaf prints on the hop. Since I couldn’t decide between them, I bought both.

Here’s the remnant I found on Day Six. I’m sure I’ll be needing a good quality gingham for a future project.

I’ve now decided that these two fabrics will become a pillow.

Here’s the Amazing Grace fabric that I’d given up hope of ever finding again. I previously bought 4 yards for a quilt back but you and I know that 4 yards isn’t nearly enough for a larger quilt. I was ecstatic to find 4 more yards of it on Day Six. Now I know I’ll have enough.

The following pic shows my all-time favorite fabric splurge on the hop. At the time of purchase, I had no idea what it might become.

I plan to use these one-yard cuts with some of the black and white for my challenge project for my AZ quilting group. They were on sale for 50% off. I should have bought more.

Now for some non-fabric splurge.

These were the only two patterns I bought. At one of the shops, we saw a finished labyrinth quilt and talked to the quilter that made it. She was picking it up from the longarm person after just having had it quilted. It looked fantastic. This Labyrinth quilt has been circulating around Facebook and I just couldn’t resist buying it for a future quilting project with my sisters.

I found a magnetic lighted pin picker upper

which opens to this length to help reach pins in far away places. It’s already come in handy!

I bought two spools of Superior thread and two spools of 100% Egyptian Cotton to try.

I splurged on the Mini Dresden Plate Template. I purchased this larger template at the same time as the Tiny one that I wrote about on So Where’s the Loot.

That’s all folks! I have no more loot to show you; it’s all been revealed. It was a fun trip and I’ve enjoyed telling you about it. But wait, I’ve planned a bit more fun.

Up Next: A guest post by Tu-Na Helper (my husband) regarding his thoughts and impressions of the shop hop trip.

What I Learned Today:

Decision making is difficult for me.
I made a lot of purchases on this shop hop trip.
I definitely shop faster than I sew.
The past two posts have been embarrassing but I’ll get over it.

Question: Do you plan first and then buy or buy now and plan later?

Linking to Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

and Main Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts

Tu-Na Travels: The Listed “Loot”

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I left home for the Quilt MN Shop Hop this summer with a list in my purse and a song in my step. Granted, I added onto that list while I was on the hop but I just couldn’t figure out why my favorite pair of Birkenstock’s squeaked when I walked.

You’ve all been patiently waiting for my next loot post so I hope I don’t disappoint you. If you need to catch up with that fun quilting shop hop trip, catch the links on this post and then here, here and here.

First, lets take a look at the list of things my mom wanted me to find for her: Airplane fabric, two spools of Aurifil thread, and a Sewline Fabric Pencil. Mission accomplished.

The airplane fabric on the right was the first score on the trip at the very first shop. One thing crossed off the list. “But I need more than one yard,” mom said when I excitedly told her later that day that I’d found some airplane fabric on clearance. So I spent the next 6 days looking for more. We found almost identical fabric but with smaller planes. I took all that was on the bolt–almost two yards.

The big item on my list was fabric for a Minecraft quilt for my oldest grandson who is seven and enjoys playing that computer game. He’s already picked out the blocks he wants from the pattern on the Seriously, I Think It Needs Stitches blog. On the shop hop, we found lots of solids and other interesting fabric for me to use for that quilt. I will have a nice selection to choose from when I begin that project.

One yard cuts of every color of the rainbow in these two pictures. Yes, I know there’s probably enough for three quilts here.

But I still need to buy some black–a lot of black for the sashing and borders and back. When we got to the quilt shop in Mankato, I found red, blue, and yellow Color Union by Robert Kaufman. They were out of that perfect black and so I searched and asked at each of the remaining 47 shops if they had any but sadly it was not to be found. I guess I’ll be doing some online searching now.

One of my readers asked me if there was anything that I’d bought on the hop that I now scratch my head and wonder “why on earth” or “what was I thinking?” I originally purchased these three 1-yard cuts for use in the minecraft quilt, but now I am scratching my head and wondering why on earth, what was I thinking?

I also listed more black and white fabrics to add to my black and white quilt. I have enough for a king-sized quilt (which I was planning to make anyway) and probably a couple more smaller size ones too. My Arizona quilting group has a black and white and one other color challenge this year. I think I’m all set in the black and white department.

More one yard cuts to add to my collection. Do you see a theme here? I really do like daisies. Can you tell?

A couple more interesting ones.

And my favorite! Why did I buy only 1 yard?

1930 Repro fabrics were also on my list. I looked for them last year and they were hard to find and when I did find them most of them were on clearance. Which was very good for last year. This year more stores had them but I didn’t find many in the clearance section. Which was not very good for this year.

Thirteen cuts of one yard each. Yes, I know I picked up a duplicate. See the ones on each of the ends. Now, how did that happen?

Twelve more yards of fun prints.

I also had this iron cleaner on the list. I bought some of these sheets last year as a notion promotion and was hoping I’d find more this year. I should have taken two.

Have you used this yet? It works great!

Aurifil thread was on my list so I bought two spools.

Cream and gray are the only colors I seem to use lately. I probably should have bought more of these, too.

Oh, I was so excited to find these wonderful perfect little scissors by Karen Kay Buckley. Yes, they were on my list! They are very pointed and very sharp and have a tendency to become lost. I bought two last year on the hop and one the year before. I gave mom a pair last year. I have already lost both of mine. So this year I bought two more and they were even on sale. With my history of losing things, I should have bought a few more.

Have you tried these? I really like them. Mom informed me today that she can’t find hers either.

I looked and asked at each shop for fabric that portrayed prairie with rocks so that I can make another covered wagon block like this one. Having previously bought only a fat quarter of that perfect prairie with rocks, there isn’t enough to make another block. I began the search and found the piece below on day 7.

While it’s close to what I used before, this one has more rocks and more green grass than I’d like. However, I took one yard anyway, just in case I didn’t find anything better.

That was the extent of the list but not the extent of this big pile. I still have more to reveal.

Up next: The Big Splurge (The things that weren’t on my list but still followed my plan to like all that I buy so I couldn’t leave them behind)

Coming Soon: Guest post by Tu-Na Helper (my husband) regarding his thoughts and impressions of the shop hop trip.

What I Learned Today:

If I think I might use it, buy enough the first time.
A fat quarter is not enough in most cases.
Label my scissors just like in kindergarten. Oh, and also label my mom’s.
Some scissors seem to have legs.

Question: What have you lost lately?

Tu-Na Quilts: One More Entry for Blogger’s Quilt Festival

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Here’s my second entry for the 2016 Blogger’s Quilt Festival in the Modern Quilt category over at Amy’s Creative Side.

It’s a modern plus quilt I made this summer and gifted to a very special young woman. I’ll be posting more about it and the story behind it soon. In the meantime, here’s a couple of pics so I can participate in the festival.

You can see my first entry, the Little House Quilt, here.

I encourage you to stop over at Amy’s blog next week to vote for your favorites. You can get there by clicking here and scrolling down past the list of prizes to see the boxes with the entry categories to click on. This quilt can be directly seen here on the modern category page.

There are 924 three-inch (completed) squares in this quilt.

Most of the fabric for the top comes from one designer’s collection. The greens and purples were added to give it that pop of color that was needed.

I rented time on a computerized longarm machine and quilted it with various sizes of circles. I sewed the blue ruler fabric (Measure Up in Splash) to the front and hand stitched it to the back.

Although I had enough fabric for the back, I used leftover squares from the front to add more interest. The back is a text fabric from Odds and Ends by Julie Comstock for Moda.

Quilt Stats:

Made by me (Karen) and quilted on a computerized longarm with some help from the shop’s staff.

Date finished: August 2016

Size : 84″ x 99″

Top Fabric: 100% cotton from Elementary by Sweetwater for Moda, “Bazaar Style Collection” from Art Gallery, Burlap by Dover Hill for Benartex, Prints Charming by for Moda

Backing: 100% cotton Odds and Ends by Julie Comstock for Moda and leftover blocks from the front

Batting: Quilter’s Dream

Thread: Pieced with Aurifil 50wt. Quilted with Superior

Pattern: Modern Plus Quilt

If you are new here, welcome. I’m glad you stopped by. Are you wondering why I’m called Tu-Na? To find out, click here to read my first post. To find out more about me click here. If you enjoyed what you’ve read and want to follow me, you’ll find several ways to do so on the side bar as you won’t want to miss all the fun and frivolity coming soon.

Are you ready?

I’ve barely uncovered this pile of loot for you to see. More revealing coming soon.

I’ll be posting the rest of the loot from my MN Shop Hop later this week so be prepared; it is not for the faint of wallet. You’ll all be in for a treat too when Tu-Na Helper (my husband) guest writes a post on Sunday about his impressions regarding the MN Quilt Shop Hop trip. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then you have some catching up to do. Catch the links on this post and then here, here and here and you’ll be all set for later this week.

What I Learned Today:

Write down fabric names/manufacturers so I don’t have to look for them.
Keep track of all quilt information in one place.

Do you keep track of your quilt information in a notebook or on the computer?

Linking to:

Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s Bee Social (Button on the side bar)

Finished or Not Friday (Button on the side bar)

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop (Button on the side bar)

Tu-Na Quilts: Entry for Blogger’s Quilt Festival

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Quilter’s like to show-off their hard work and I am no exception. I am entering this Little House quilt in the Large category over at Amy’s Creative Side. This week quilters are gathering their quilts, writing a new post about them, and posting their entries into one of 11 categories: mini, small, large, art, home machine quilted, hand quilted, original design, modern, scrappy, ROYGBIV (rainbow), and applique.

You can see my second entry, the Plus Quilt, here.

I encourage you to stop over there next week to vote for your favorites. You can get there by clicking here and scrolling down past the list of prizes to see the boxes with the entry categories. This quilt can be seen here on the large category page.

Each block in this quilt tells the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s life. It is a popular story around these parts since she didn’t live far from here.

I made this quilt for my 5-year-old grandson and gifted it to him this summer. You can read more about it and see close-up pics of it here on this post. This is the second little house quilt I’ve made. You can see the first one, which looks very different, by clicking here.

I got the idea for the quilt and most of the block patterns from the blog called During Quiet Time. I modified Amy’s quilt to include blocks that would depict my grandson’s favorite stories from the books. Therefore, several block patterns come from other places. I designed the covered wagon block myself.

You can see the wavy quilting lines I made using my home sewing machine. This background fabric was perfect for this block. Half the fun of making this quilt was finding just the right fabric for each block.

After, I had finished the quilting, I added buttons for eyes and some embroidery features to some of the blocks. My mom embroidered the chalkboard before I quilted it.

I matched the circles down the center of the back so well that you can’t see the seam–even up close.

I machine stitched the binding to the front and hand-stitched it to the back.

Quilt Stats:

Sewn and home-machine quilted by me (Karen)

Date finished: July 2016

Given to: My second oldest grandson

Size : 66″ x 82″ (296″ around qualifying it for the large category)

Top fabric 100% cotton from a variety of manufacturers and designers

Backing: 100% cotton flannel

Batting: Quilter’s Dream

Patterns from:

Leaf, pumpkin, barn, sheep, house, wheat, star, feather, window, blackbird, shirt, chalkboard, and music note: Amy Friend designed the Little House Quilt. Her patterns can be found here on her blog During Quiet Time.

Log Cabin: Adapted this pattern from The Quilter’s Cache

Jack (their dog): Pattern found on Lorna’s Sew Fresh Quilts blog and can be found here (dog #5)

Red Mittens: from Lori Holt’s book Quilty Fun.

Covered Wagon: Designed by me (Karen)

Train Locomotive: Adapted from the Quick & Easy Quilting Magazine, Vol 19

Kitten and Mouse: Maartje Quilts in Amsterdam’s free pattern for the mouse (mouse #3) and the free pattern for the kitten (kitten #4)

Books on Shelf: Adapted from Melissa Corry’s free pattern found here on Moda’s Bake Shop

If you are new here, welcome. I’m glad you stopped by. Are you wondering why I’m called Tu-Na? To find out click here to read my first post. To find out more about me click here. If you enjoyed what you’ve read and want to follow me, you’ll find several ways to do so on the side bar as you won’t want to miss all the fun and frivolity coming soon.

Are you ready?

I’ve barely uncovered this pile of loot for you to see. More revealing coming soon.

What I Learned Today:

Show and Tell is still fun just like it was in first grade.
My quilt is up against some really stiff competition. There are some great looking quilts being entered.
Win or lose it’s all fun–at least that’s what I tell my grandchildren.

What have you entered in a competition?

Tu-Na Quilts: Presenting Anne’s Flower

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Ideas do not just happen. They begin with a thought, a need, a picture, an object; some thing that jars the brain to think about making something either for the first time or making an existing object/idea better. The beautiful purple coneflowers were the inspiration behind Anne’s Flower block.

I took this pic of the coneflower with my old Nokia phone in 2011. Camera phones and my photographing ability sure have improved since then. But I think you get the idea.

This pic was taken last year outside of Old Alley Quilt Shop in Sherburn, MN. The coneflowers were just as beautiful when I was there this summer, but I didn’t get a close-up of them.

I featured Old Alley Quilt Shop on Day 2 of my 2016 Quilt MN Shop Hop posts. You can read more about this great shop here. Look for more posts about all my loot that I acquired on that hop and a perspective from my husband as Tu-Na Helper coming up soon.

Now back to the task at hand—designing a quilt block to meet the challenge. When these fabrics from Cloud 9 arrived, my brain saw a purple coneflower.

From the left: Amazon, Sky, Shadow, Iris, and Lilac

Since my artistic drawing abilities consist of stick men and daisies, my daughter-in-law encouraged me to try anyway and provided me with a sketch from which to work.

I’ve already seen paper-pieced and appliqued coneflower quilt patterns. This meant I needed to think of a new way to approach making this flower out of fabric. As I looked at the flower petals, I saw a resemblance to the Dresden plate and decided to design this block using that method. I wanted to keep it mostly pieced and keep applique to a minimum.

Mission accomplished! I think it resembles the drawing above and looks like a coneflower.

The stem involves sewing a curved piece. This was my first attempt at sewing on a curve (not counting setting in sleeves) but it was very easy.

If you have never sewn a curved seam, don’t worry, I had not either. My recommendations: DO NOT pin-just sew, clip the curves about half-way to the seam, and press well.

Although I’ve designed several other quilt blocks for use in my grandson’s Little House Quilt, I’ve never done a tutorial about it. This required making sure the pattern could be made more than once by just following the written directions.

For the most part, it worked the second time. So a couple of revisions were needed and we are done.

Two of Anne’s Flower blocks. Which one do you like?

This pattern can be purchased at Tu-Na’s Pattern Shop on Payhip here. You’ll find all the information (templates, instructions, pics of the process, and tips) you need to make this block in the pattern for Anne’s Flower. I could see a whole quilt made of these. Let me know if you make a coneflower using my pattern. I would enjoy seeing a pic of it and reading about how the pattern worked for you.

What I Learned Today:

I have a new appreciation for pattern writers. It’s harder than I thought.
Everything takes longer than I expect. Even in retirement, I need to work on my time management skills.
It is practically impossible to take a picture of myself while I am sewing.

Question: Have you designed a block or quilt? Tell me about it and what inspired you to create that specific design.

You can find all of the blocks on this New Block Blog Hop by clicking on the links below. Many thanks to Cloud 9 Fabrics for providing the beautiful fabric and our hosts Yvonne, Cheryl, and Stephanie for arranging this event. So go check out the other blocks, you might find one or two you’d like to make.

Monday, September 12th

Host: Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

Abigail @Cut & Alter
Janice @Color, Creating, and Quilting!
Lorinda @Laurel, Poppy, and Pine
Melva @Melva Loves Scraps
Renee @Quilts of a Feather
Kathryn @Upitis Quilts
Kim @Leland Ave Studios
Amanda @this mom quilts
Holly @Lighthouse Lane Designs
Irene @Patchwork and Pastry
Jennifer @Dizzy Quilter
Karen @Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats (You are here)
Anne @Said With Love
Suzy @Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Sharla @Thistle Thicket Studio
Kathleen @Smiles From Kate
Amanda @Gypsy Moon Quilt Co.
Sarah @Sarah Goer Quilts
Chelsea @Patch the Giraffe
Jinger @Trials of a Newbie Quilter
Anja @Anja Quilts
Daisy @Ants to Sugar

Tuesday, September 13th

Host: Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs

Jennifer @The Inquiring Quilter
Sarah @123 Quilt
Leanne @Devoted Quilter
Jen @Patterns By Jen
Jennifer @RV Quilting
Amanda @Quiltologie
Sharon @Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Jen @A Dream and A Stitch
Jen @Faith and Fabric
Carole @Carole Lyles Shaw
Stephanie @Quilt’n Party
Susan @Sevenoaks Street Quilts
Katrin @Now What Puppilalla
Amista @Hilltop Custom Designs
Nicole @Handwrought Quilts
Marla @Penny Lane Quilts
Silvia @A Stranger View
Sarah @Smiles Too Loudly
Carrie @the zen quilter
Mary @Quilting is in My Blood
Velda @GRANNYcanQUILT

Wednesday, September 14th

Host: Stephanie @Late Night Quilter

Kathy @Kathys Kwilts and More
Paige @Quilted Blooms
Mary @Strip Quilts Pass it On
Allison @Woodberry Way
Seven @The Concerned Craft
Olusola @Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co.
Ann @Brown Paws Quilting
Jodie @Persimmon + Pear
Vicki @Orchid Owl Quilts
Kitty @Night Quilter
Francine @Mocha Wild Child
Shelley @The Carpenter’s Daughter who Quilts
Jayne @Twiggy and Opal
Geraldine @Living Water Quilter
Shannon @Shannon Fraser Designs
Lisa @Sunlight In Winter Quilts
Jessica @Quilty Habit
Cassandra @The (not so) Dramatic Life
Deanna @Stitches Quilting
Denise @Craft Traditions

Linking with

Pink Doxies for #BraveQuilter (I completed my goal to design a block and write a tutorial for it and then bravely posted it for the world to see.)

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Main Crush Monday at Cooking up Quilts

Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts (button in the sidebar)

Myra at Busy Hands Quilt for Finished or Not Friday (button on sidebar)

TGIFF (Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday)

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a FabricAddict

Caroline at Sew Can She for Show Off Saturday

Tu-Na Quilts: A Pattern Idea in the Making

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Several months ago, I participated in the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop and learned a lot about blogging in the online quilt community. Many of us new bloggers, myself included, signed-up to design a pattern for a 12″ block and write a tutorial for it to be posted on our blogs. I’ve never done anything like that before and really wasn’t so sure I could. With a little encouragement from my daughter-in-law, I decided to be a brave quilter and give it a try.

These solids are from Cloud 9.

Shortly after agreeing to the design/tutorial challenge I received this fabric in the mail. So I’ve been busy at work measuring, cutting, pinning, sewing, and pressing. Look for it on Monday!

I received five fat quarters to use in my block. Once the block is completed, I will send if off to be assembled in a donation quilt.

For those of you following my 2016 Quilt MN Shop Hop adventures, I have not forgotten you. (If you haven’t yet, click here to take you to Tu-Na Travels posts to read about them). I’m still working on the rest of the MN Shop Hop and Loot posts. In the meantime, I’ve had a quilt to finish and a couple of smaller trips to take which I’ll be posting about too. But first up today is taking care of the Huckleberries that someone risked their life to pick for me.

One quart (minus a couple of handfuls to taste) of fresh-picked, sweet, juicy, Montana Huckleberries destined for a pie. But that’s the subject of yet another post.

What I Learned Today:

Time goes way too fast!
I am busier now than before I retired.

Question: What’s keeping you busy this week?

Linking with Julie at Pink Doxies for #Brave Quilter. This is the first time I’ve linked here so I must be feeling extra brave today!

Tu-Na Quilts: Where the Magic Happens

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This post could also be titled Where the Creative Mess Occurs.

Tu-Na Travels on the Quilt MN Loot posts will continue after this brief overview of my sewing space.

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps is hosting a linky party where you can see other quilter’s sewing spaces and quilting studios. I plan to check them all out to get some organizing and decorating ideas. You’re invited too.

My sewing space is in the laundry room on the lower level of our house. I really meant to get that valance finished for your visit but I’ve been rather busy lately. I recently added a window shade to protect my fabric from the sun when I’m not in the room.

Welcome to my Sewing/Quilting area. I’m so glad you came to visit.

My husband recently installed a shelf above the window so I could display my button collection in vintage canning jars and

fabric pre-cuts and a few quilting books.

A shelf under the window is a fun place to put some decorations and a jar full of ring pincushions as well as the Tide. I used to work with children, so those blocks are the perfect decoration for me.

My sewing desk holds more quilting books. My fat quarters fit nicely in those plastic bins. A cookie jar holds a nice surprise.

I like to call them cookies. These are the good kind of cookies to have around–low calorie and no information is disclosed.

A plastic tower holds pins, machine feet, and other small items that tend to get lost in the drawer. Scissors, rippers, pens and pencils, and small rulers go into the gadget caddy that spins around. This was one of my best finds at a thrift store.

I’ve read before that creative people are messy people. Well, then I must be the most creative person there is. I leave the cleaning until I’ve finished a project. I have several projects going on at one time.

The sink comes in handy for pre-washing. The counter is the perfect height for cutting. The vase on the right is full of fabric scraps. Yes, there is a wine bottle on the counter. No, I did not just empty it. It’s there so I can make a wine-bottle cover.

But I did take a few minutes to tidy up as I knew you’d be visiting.

This sign hangs over the sink. I’m the only one who reads it.

My quilting projects often flow out onto our pool table as it is the right size to lay out baby and crib size quilts. Quilting projects also flow onto our living room floor, dining room table, and kitchen table. A recent project had me overflowing onto all those areas.

I had to move furniture out of our living room to make space to lay out this recent quilt project. I’ll be writing more about this quilt soon.

So where’s my sewing machine set-up now? It’s upstairs on the kitchen table. When I have a large project to sew or when I have quilting help, I move my machine into a larger area.

My mom and I are working together on several projects. Recently, my sisters joined us for several fun quilting days. But those are topics for another post.

I’m trying to convince my husband that we either need to move the pool table out so I can completely take over that room or build a studio. He says I just need to take time to clean up the spaces I have. Sigh.

What I Learned Today:

Cleaning-up is necessary but still not fun.
Finding creative storage solutions that fit tight spaces is difficult.

Question: Do you clean as you go or clean when you are finished with a project?

Linking with

Myra at Busy Hands Quilt for Finished or Not Friday. (Button on the sidebar)

and Brooke at Silly Mama Quilts for WIP

Tu-Na Travels: The 2016 Quilt Minnesota Fabric Loot

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This post continues with my journey on the 2016 Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop. In case you want to catch up with all the fun and frivolity, click here to find a link to the free and almost free loot and click here to find a link at the bottom of the page to all the posts about the daily top shops on the hop posts. Now on with the loot disclosure.

This fabric line is a one-time only printing. When the shops run out, it is gone forever.

My husband said, “Share the love.” So I divided up what I wanted and took 2 yards of the orange hash from three different shops.

I said in a previous post that I prefer the hunt and find method to pre-ordering this fabric line. It’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

Two 2 yard cuts of the brown hash and 1 1/2 yards of the green hash made it into the basket.

This approach doesn’t guarantee that I’ll end up with any of this fabric collection, but then again, it is exciting.

These 2 yard cuts will be nice in my MN Quilt but will also work well with other quilts.

This year I was fairly successful in finding what I wanted.

I’m thinking that 1 yard of each of these cuties will be used up all too fast. What was I thinking? It’s also the agony of regret.

It’s always interesting to see which fabric is the most sought-after fabric from the collection. Which will be the one that quilters chase after and regret not buying more of?

I did get bit by these cute bugs and took 2 yards each.

This year there were several: the mosquitoes and the colored fish were gone in a few days.

I got it! At some of the first shops we stopped at, I asked which fabrics they thought would be sell-outs. This one was predicted by three shops. So as soon as I found it, I bought a yard. But….

…a yard is so little. So I found another shop and bought 2 yards. Then my daughter-in-law called and asked if I’d get her some. “I’ll take even a fat quarter if you find some,” she said. It had been 4 days since we had seen any colored fish. Later in the week we found some at a remote shop in the lakes area. So I bought her a yard and took another yard for myself.

Since the colored fish were sold out, someone came up with a brilliant solution to use fabric crayons to color the plain fish. After posting this idea on the Quilt MN Facebook page, it then created a shortage of the plain fish.

Luckily, I had already reeled in 2 yards.

From the Quilt Minnesota Facebook page, many people are still looking for the orange and brown hash too. I was also successful in catching some other cute fun fabrics from this collection.

Canoes in light and dark–one yard each.

And oars to go with the canoes. Two 2 yard cuts of the brown and 2 yards of the blue oars.

The 2016 MN fabric line had 26 prints, a panel of 4 blocks and a pictorial stripe. While I didn’t get some of each of them—I never intended to, I did get what I liked and wanted to use.

One yard of the blue Trillium and two of the green.

One yard of the orange and two of the blue.

My husband spied a quilt that he liked at one of the shops. I decided he deserved to have one after going with me on this trip. So I’ll use the colored fish and several other prints from this collection to make a special one for him. I also have a couple of other quilt patterns in mind for this collection.

I just couldn’t resist adding another yard and a half of these hungry looking guys. No bug spray is necessary when using this fabric.

What I Learned Today:

I’d better start sewing a lot faster.
Mosquitos on fabric are a lot nicer than mosquitos on the arm.
Maybe pre-ordering isn’t such a bad idea (Nah-probably not going to happen).

Question: Do you shop faster than you sew or sew faster than you shop?

Linking with

Beth at Cooking Up Quilts for Main Crush Monday (Button on the sidebar)

Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s Bee Social (Button on the sidebar)

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Tu-Na Travels: The Free and Almost-Free Loot

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Was it just my own mom, or did yours, too, prolong the agony on Christmas Eve? Before we could open gifts, we had to have every dish, pot, pan, and cookie sheet washed, dried, and put away. There were a lot of them because she had been making Christmas cookies all day long.

I’ve read from your comments that a lot of you have been wondering and waiting patiently for me to unwrap and reveal my loot from my 2016 Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop. Click here to find a link towards the bottom of the page that lists all the posts about that fun trip.

Let’s see just what snagged my line and made me cast my credit card to be netted and put in that cool treasure chest pictured on my last post. First up is the FREE STUFF! ’cause we all love FREE!

Each of the 72 participating shops provided every shop hopper with an 8″ finished pattern designed by their shop.

Here’s all 72 patterns I got!

Each shop on the hop also gave each hopper a 5″ square of the 2016 Quilt Minnesota Fabric.

I got from 1-4 squares of each of 25 prints. I was only missing one print-the parchment.

Here’s some close-ups of my favorites. Did I take the bait or keep on swimming by? You will find out on the next post whether I was able to catch any or regret not having pre-ordered. I can’t reveal all my woes or I’ll have nothing left to write. In the meantime, I have loads of free and almost-free stuff to reveal.

The colored fish would be the first one to sell-out within a few days after the shop hop started. Will I have predicted it and bought early on the hop or not?

Cute little retro campers would also be in short supply. These could also be found with an olive background, if you were lucky.

Everyone also loved those mosquitoes in either the tan or aqua background. Who could resist those buggy eyes? Obviously no one, since it also was a sell-out. Did I get bit or was I left sitting on the bank wishing I would have thrown in the line a little earlier?

All of the participating shops on the hop were also participating in the Row by Row and I used this opportunity to collect the patterns from all….

…except one shop, that is. There’s only 71 Row by Row patterns here. We were so excited to check out at one shop and get the incentive prize that we forgot to ask for their Row by Row pattern. It’s too far off the beaten path to return to again. It was a really nice one though and it gets even nicer as I dream about the one that got away.

In an effort to keep organized in the beginning of the hop, my husband and I each used a gallon zip-lock plastic bag to hold our patterns and fabric squares. We were delighted to receive this vinyl and canvas zippered pouch as our first incentive prize as it held our patterns and fabric squares nicely. We could be seen emerging from the car with the pouch in hand heading straight for the shop door.

It also held the Row by Rows that we were collecting. I also had room in mine to keep a yard or two of fabric that I was trying to match. Here’s how stuffed it was with 72 shop patterns, 72 fabric squares, and 71 Row by Row patterns.

Hingeley Road Quilt Shop in Floodwood, MN went above and beyond in providing us hoppers with patterns. They’ve published several quilt pattern books and gifted each hopper with a 40 page book which includes 15 quilt patterns including one that I have my eye on to use with those new Quilt MN fabrics. This was in addition to their fabric square and 8 inch block pattern! Thank you Hingeley Road Quilt Shop. I look forward to seeing you again.

In the book, Melissa says “……….my philosophy has always been: A quilt is a sum of your experiences and memories of creating and making it. Quilts are made for the enjoyment and experience, not for perfection. That crooked quilted line is because my 3 year old wanted attention and pulled on the quilt top, that point is cut off because I had to hurry to meet the school bus, those are the things I think of when I look at my quilts-not ‘I should have been more precise’ life is too short for perfection-just enjoy the experience.”

Many of the stores provided us with bottles of water, coffee, fruit (bananas and cuties), snack mixes, granola bars, chips, cookies, candy and chocolate. We appreciated those sweet little treats for us weary shop hoppers. Some of the shops also gave us fun little freebies to take.

Here’s what’s left of the candy. My husband found a flattened Rice Krispies Treat in his pouch. (I told him it would taste just as good and offered to test it for him; he didn’t fall for it either.) Anderson Factory Outlet and Quilt Shop provided the mini retractable tape measure (it will be handy in my tackle box, err purse), nail file and notepad. The Quilted Ladybug and Rather Bee Quilting gifted us with pens. This is Sew Broadway included a notepad with our Quilt Minnesota patterns and fabric squares.

There was a shop that included a thank-you with my purchase.

Thank you ABC’s of Quilting in Grand Rapids, MN for that sweet little fat-eighth. it’s perfect for my black and white project.

The Metro section was giving free charms with a $10.00 purchase and I netted some.

The fish is just a scale width over 3/4″. These probably will be sewn onto a project since I don’t wear bracelets. Three more charms are hiding in a safe place. I didn’t want to lose them and now I can’t find them! I sure hope they’re not in my tackle box (purse) as they will be lost forever!

The incentive prizes from each section were a really big catch.

Northwest Section-12 Batik fat quarters: Northeast Section-Layer cake (21 10″ squares) of Flannels: North Central Section-Snack Pack of 42 2.5″ x 44″ strips (We had our choice of snacks and we each selected the red and white without consulting the other.): East Central Section-9 solid color fat quarters: Central-lunch box: Southeast Section-Zippered Vinyl and Canvas Pouch and 5 quilt patterns: Southwest Section-12 fat quarter bundle: Metro Section-entered into a drawing to win some fabulous prizes. If one of us wins, you’ll be some of the first to know.

It’s official; we are now part of the SWAT TEAM!

A fun little prop from Fabrics Plus, Marshall, MN that I used as a personal fan until my husband decided to use it to swat a fly.

Now onto the really good deals that seemed ALMOST FREE.

The best deal I found was at DeAnn’s Country Village Shoppe in Litchfield, MN. They were having a sale in their demolition room (clearance). So for just $3.00 per yard (that’s correct—no typo), I was able to catch two excellent quality backings for quilts. However, this could also be the “fish that got away” as I wish I would have bought even more!

The orange with white dot is 7.75 yards of Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Joanna Figueroa for Moda. The text print on the right is Odds and Ends by Julie Comstock for Moda.

I was working on a project before we left and this text print would be perfect. So I reeled it in and said I’d take all that was on the bolt! It was a whopper at 8.5 yards.

In case you’ve been thinking that I’ve just been lying around resting since we got home, I will let you know that I now only have 3 yards of that text print left.

But that’s another upcoming post with an interesting story that I will warn you will require a box of tissue.

I only bought 3 fat quarters on the trip this year compared to the 125 I bought last year.

Those two green fat quarters were a steal of a deal at only $1.50 each at Anderson Factory Outlet and Quilt Shop in Blackduck, MN.

Each store in the Central Section had a special Dollar Ditty promotion. If you spent $10.00, you could purchase the promoted item for just one dollar more. I purchased some of them. Since the policy was one ditty per person, I did what every devoted quilter would do. I divided my purchases in two so my husband could also buy some.

The seam gauge and measuring gauge together counted as one dollar ditty from Cottage Quilts & Fabrics in Elk River, MN. I’ll keep the little sewing kit in the car as we live by the Boy Scout motto “Always Be Prepared.”

Finally, some of the stores even gave us “invitations” to come back. How can I say no?

Coming up next: A look at which of the 2016 Quilt Minnesota Fabrics didn’t get away. But first I have some zucchini that needs freezing and now the crab apples are ripe enough for making jelly.

What I Learned Today:

Free is always fun!
Life is too full of regrets. Fabric at $3.00/per yard is an incredible deal. I should have bought more. Next time shop more so there are less regrets.
I still worry about perfect seams.

Question: What was the best deal you ever found?

Linking:

Tuesday to Connie at Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday

and Sew Cute Tuesday

Wednesday to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s Bee Social (button on the sidebar)

and Silly Mama Quilts for Work In Progress

and Friday with Busy Hands Quilt for Finished or Not Friday (button on the sidebar)

and Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?