It's Me......John'aLee.....from The Scrappy Appleyard

True Friendship Never Ends Block

I'm not a foolin'...

when I say....

I am tickled

down to my 

itty bitty tippy toes...

that Madame Samm

has invited me to chat with you all here today!

You know how you meet someone...

and instantly you know....

this is a kindred spirit?

Well...

that's what happened

when Madame Samm rung me

one snowy Sunday afternoon.

So about me....

I am a pattern designer,

and owned a quilt shoppe in Utah for 

several years...

A Picture from my Quilt Shoppe

before moving here to Nashville, Tennessee.

I'm happy to let you know

that I am going to be giving away...

one FREE Buttercream Summer

Mystery Block of the Month

Quilt Kit to one of you readers!!

A Summer Afternoon Read

Flowers For Sale

Grandmother's Flower Garden

Now on my blog...

I have shown the whole design process

of this quilt.

From original drawings...

mistakes...

etc.

Here are some of the works in progress for

the Grandmother's Flower Garden Block

And some of the others...

Sometimes I have to rework a drawing

several times

before I am happy with it.

And more times than I care to admit ...

I have to throw out my mistakes...

like the above pic.

I forgot to mirror image these

applique pieces.

And then here...

I cut out all 16 pieces for the chair

and ottoman...

thinking I was going to use them all.

Only to end up with 4 of them!

So who says a Designer's Life

is glamorous?

Ahhh....my friends...

it is very humbling!!

Very!

This next block....

I have over 200 hours invested in.

Not that it will take you 200 hours to make it!!

Straw-berry-li-Cious

I made the whole piece

before I was happy with all of the 

scrolls, strawberries and flowers.

I will say...

this is my very first time to do 

hand embroidery.

So don't be too hard on me!!

I finally figured out...

I had to have the drawing

perfect...

before it could ever go to fabric!

Just look at this first trial run...

YIKES!!!


This quilt has 8 blocks...
Next month I am designing all of the pieced blocks
to put the 8 blocks together...
which will create the center of the quilt...
and then it will be finished off
with a large border encompassing the whole quilt.
This final outer border
will have the scrolls, flowers and 
strawberries
 embroidered in it!


It has taken me a whole year to design this baby...
but I am hoping it will be a winner when
it's done.

So that's all for now folks!

Don't forget to leave a comment here at STASH and on my BLOG
to be included in the drawing!

The winner can choose either this color way...

or the other color way....

Parisian Summer.

(Hint: Gotta go to my blog  HERE to see it!)

 (Put 'Parisian Summer' into the Search Box)




WINNER IS #33
Renee....waiting for her to respond...
She is the lucky winner of this BOM


Thanks to all who entered....


Until next time...

Ciao~~

Behind the Seams with our New Banner Winners..

The stories behind their quilts.

Love this part...

Earlier today I shared with you they were

( name and photo)

This afternoon a bit more...

Let's begin with 

Here is Lee's story:
more here on her quilt
I was so excited to be chosen for this April banner. I actually feel quite honoured. Thanks Samm!
I made this quilt for a very special lady in my life.  She has been a great friend, neighbour, mentor and surrogate parent. She announced to me in Dec she had to have surgery in January.  I just had to make her a special quilt to help her with her recovery.  She is an advid gardener and according to her husband, her favourite colours are yellow and green. I had just the right fabric in mind.  I was also given a GO cutter for Christmas and was itching to use it.  (loved using it by the way)
I used April Cornell's Spring Magic fabric.  The quilt pattern is a simple 4 patch and plain block.  I used an all over meandering flower and loops pattern to quilt it on my domestic machine.  We are always are harshes critic, so when one flower wasn't looking the best, I had to remind myself, that all the flowers in nature aren't perfect either.   I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world. 

And here is our Wendy's Story... and link to her blog.


Wendy's synopsis of her 'UR My Sunshine' quilt:
 

When I saw that Stash Manicure was asking for yellow quilts for April, I knew I wanted to make this wall hanging.  I had just received my beautiful Sunkissed by Sweetwater bundle and the yellows were beautiful to me ... so bright and cheery ... downright sunny.  Well, I got this picture in my head, and while it may have taken me quite a while and several design changes and seam un-sewings, I believe the vision in my head came out pretty well when finished.  It truly 'popped' for me once I finished the quilting on this in what I invisioned as sun rays, heat curls and overall sunshine-like quilting.... for once my brain and abilities cooperated. Yay! Ü

This quilt's phrase has a special meaning for me. Long before I ever knew "about" life, my lifetime's goal was to become a mother.  I used to place my hand on my little baby-bump as I was driving to work each morning and sing "You Are My Sunshine" over and over again to my tummy.  Silly, I know.  But then, it became such a mantra to me, that I sang it to my daughter as a baby, to my second blessing of a baby, and then to both of my girls at bedtime or when their tears just needed a mommy hug.  Then, at other times in life, a person needs to make their own sunshine.  I've hung this piece on the wall in my longarm studio for those moments when I might need the reminder, especially when things feel so bleak, you think the sun will never shine again.  ... I'm happy with my Sunshine reminder.

The direct link for my finished quilt's posting is: 

More here!

Again, I thank you for the honor!

 Blessings and hugs to you! 

Wendy

And here is Jill's 


I made this quilt when I was emerging into a modern quilter, so it's sort of a mixed bag.  I wanted a simple modern design that would featured the 30s reproduction fabric and went with the brick design.  All the fabrics were from my stash, including a pieced back. It's hand quilted.  That's kind of my niche, hand quilted, modern style.  

And the blog post to link it to:more here-lot's more here

Hope you're having a good day so far!  Jill

 

and our dearest Sunflower creator  Liesbeth.. blog and more of her stories and quilts

Thank you !! It is a honour for me to be on the April Banner. 

I am a dutch quilter; my native language is dutch. I learned English at school, so I hope I used good words and you understand my sentences...( sew far sew good) editors note.

My sunflower is a fiber-art. I made it last year for a birthday of a friend. (male) His anniversary is 17th of May. The time that the sun is shining, and the flowers are growing in our garden. I love the hue of the sunflower. It means warmth and happiness for me. That is what I wanted to share with this friend.

Nature is a well of inspiration for me. I love flowers in my garden, It gives me rest and it helps to ground me, keep my feet on the ground, as you would say. 

For this art I used a  light yellow background of fabric and a light orange fabric . The heart of the flower is made of brown fabric.

All the rest of the colors and the translucent background  is made by layering  very thin Litradur, coloured with transfer painting (by ironing). So I made every other petal with an little bit different glue. I fastened it on the background and at last I fused the heart of the flower and made my stitches with Pfaffie.

Then I cut the cart in the right measure (4 by 6 “”) Give it a batting and a background and used a ziczac  to put it together.  

Some personal  information; my name is Liesbeth or Elisabeth. I’m 61 years old and I am a wife, a mother of 4 and a grandmother of 2 girls ; we are expection another baby in the family the end of july.

I live on the country, in the eastern part of the Netherlands.

Quilting became really my thing after I stopped working, a couple of years ago.

I make traditional quilts, (SBS and the Pockets of Posies) and I make artquilts, mostly little one’s.

Normally my weblog is written in the dutch language, but I shall translate it a little bit for English spoken quilters.

 I hope this is what you need , greetings from Liesbeth

Are they just not the most interesting ladies/quilters..

Told you...we manage to attract the very best...

It helps for me that I absolute love 

yellow..( buttercream) sew this is one of my 

favorite months...

Thank you Banner Ladies, 

Thank you visitors. please let them know 

how much you enjoyed their contribution...

What does the color yellow or buttercream

say or mean to you?

Goodbye March ( hurry up) , Hello April announcing our New Banner Winners..Go Winner and Month end !

It was certainly a GREEN month and our banner

winners for March certainly added a  MODERN flair

to our quilting days. 

Sew thank you, Sarah, Beatrice, Cristin and Stacey.

You all will be missed. We do hope to see you again!

Keep stitching, you are all amazing quilters. 

and now a SNEAK PEAK for our

Sew WE Quilt

@ Stash Manicure.

Congratulations to our Banner Winners...

I received over 303 yellow quilts in all hues, spectrums,

designs and shapes...I chose these 4  to highlight this

month of April.

I chose theirs as they blended perfectly.

Later today  you will read BEHIND THE SEAMS
their stories of their quilts. 

 For now- why- they were selected...

  

Now Lee yours is the top left...

What I liked about it, well everything...

it is fun, whimsical, colourful, has lot's of depth...

a great way to showcase her   scraps.... well done...

  

Top center left..Wendy

Her Caption U R Sunshine, says it all

for April Showers. There is always

the wamth of the sun to remind you of better

days. That is what her  quilt said to me.

When everyone sees her  whole quilt they will

understand. Her shades of yellow were sparkling!

Center right...is Jill

Another great scrap quilt...really love

the fact that she  added starched white as her background..

gives it a lot of impact. Modern, captivating.

filled with HER..

Way to go! Bricks never looked sew lovely.

  

 Far Right is Liesbeth

Her use of color, soft yellow background, , amazing use of color

and fibres. created the impact I was looking for our April banner..

it is striking in all aspects and a perfect addition...

I bet many will shower compliments for them as they are that pretty

...a reminder that we need a few drops of rain

to appreciate the brightness of summer that is around the corner.

 Please take this time to welcome our New Banner Winners...
Ohhhhhh and who are our winners for 
the GO BABY AND Month End Giveaway?


Go Baby Go is....
for Carolyn, she is quite excited
and no doubt is looking forward to a new baby to look after lol
Here is where she comes from...go and visit and congratulate her

and our Month End Giveaway
goes out to a subscriber by the name of
Hillary of Hill Quilts on Flicker..
Also sent her a message...she still has
not replied...

To all those who did in fact play along.
YOUR comments were sew amazing. very thorough
in detail ( some) pleads, love them....bribes loved
them too...lol.
Till we have another giveaway and you can be assured
there will be many more...we have new sponsors...

 ( later today as we a guest tomorrow..
I will showcase BEHIND THE SEAMS 
with our APRIL Banner Winners)

Make Mine Scrappy

Hi, I'm Em from Em's Scrap bin and I'm delighted to be a guest blogger her today. I have gleaned so much good info here, it feels good to give a little back. As my name suggests I'm a scrap quilter. I find it healing; mindlessly sewing scraps together. It's a great pick me up when I'm not feeling my best. This quilt was made with my leg propped up on a pillow draped over my little garbage can after knee surgery. Yes, I am a die hard. So thankful I had all those pre-cut 2 1/2" squares ready, cause standing to cut was not an option.Scrap quilting is also economical. And with fabric prices on the rise saving a penny here and there and still being able to do what you love is a wonderful thing. I pulled bright strips from my scraps for this quilt, and used crumbs for the border. When I was done I still had a bin full of strips so I started another bright scrappy quilt. Sewing out of this bin all weekend.Making all these spiderweb blocks and my bin is still mostly full. I've heard scraps reproduce and apparently mine are very prolific. They do it faster than I can sew.

Scrap quilts are a great way to use up fabric that you wonder what you were thinking when you bought it. I heard recently that if you don't like a fabric you just haven't cut it small enough yet. I am now a firm believer of this. I've yet to make an ugly fabric quilt that I didn't like. And believe me when I started I did not like the fabrics I was using. But somehow in a scrap quilt they all look beautiful.

If color intimidates you in making a scrap quilt. Do what I did with this scrappy, wonky, log cabin. I picked a fabric I loved and pulled scraps that matched the colors in the fabric. That way someone has already done the hard work and you are just pulling from their color scheme.

But trust me I've found when it comes to scrap quilts color does not matter. I probably broke every color rule in the book when I was making this quilt. I put whites and creams together, brights with muddy colors. I didn't worry about what color was next to what. There really was no rhyme or reason to it other than I used light colored fabrics for the background and medium and dark for the stars. And that is the key when it comes to color and quilts. Color does not matter as long as you have a good mix of lights and darks. If you have a hard time with this here is a little trick to help you out. Put your camera on black and white and look at your fabric selections. If you have a good gray scale, meaning a good range from black to white with lots of shades of gray your quilt will look good.

Thanks for reading my post. I hope you found it informative and that it inspires you to try a little scrap quilting. Have a Happy Scrappy Day!

And did you think I forgot about our MONTH END GIVEAWAY? nahhhhh I was just resting...

You didn't think I would forgot do you?

It is the end of the month...sew here goes..

We have new Sponsors sew I would like to include 2

of them for you today..

Quilters Bible from FSB Media...

when you are looking for a Publicist!

They are giving away this, yet another Quilters Bible...

You can read all about it here....

Thank you FSB....

I have a copy for myself...and let me tell you

of all the books that are MUST HAVE'S

this one is terrific for beginners..MUST HAVE for sure!

and from Green Fairy Quilts

When you are looking for MODA everything,

Judy and her husband can fill your order...

They are offering..

1 jelly roll BELLA white 

great for binding, strip quilts...

possibly one of my favorite must haves...

it is yours...?

Thank you sponsors....how lucky for us all to have you 

on board!

Sew what do you need to do for this?

Well # 1 be a follower...and why aren't you? lol

#2 Tell us about your favorite color of FABRIC 

that you always seem to purchase?

( mine is white and butter cream if I can find it) 

Winner of Go Baby and Month End giveaway will

be MONDAY...

Seperate winners by the way...

Go Baby and this one ....

Sew if you want to win you must leave comments here..!

( can I say I will be sew happy to say by-bye green

and hello yellow..just saying lol) 

Yes it is OUR TURN! GO BABY GIVEAWAY!

On April 1st someone will win

this Go Baby as well as 3 choices of dies...

Tell us which ones you prefer....

Go NOW!...

And.....this will be no APRIL FOOL's JOKE
someone will win this...

What do you have to do?

#1 tell us which dies you prefer

#2 be a follower...( all subscribers who comment also can win, but you have to leave

a comment to my email
madamesamm@cogeco.ca ( with subject Baby Go)
 and our software will give you a number)

#3 Answer this question...

What was the last thing you purchased?

Clothes for yourself or FABRIC?

( tell us what you bought)

To Accuquilt, thank you on behalf of all of our

subscribers, visitors and followers...

YOU are our #1 choice in fabric cutters!

A great tutorial for a seasonal pillow! using my Go Baby

P.s. just sew you know..

I developed a software that takes all of our ISP#  and matches them with your email addresses

and gives you a number. Sew whether you leave 12 answers or just 1, you are accounted for ONCE!

We have over 57,221 subscribers and 2,140+ followers.

Everyone of you has a number assigned to your ISP# and  email address..

on April 1st winners will be announced for both 

Baby Go and our Month End Giveaway...

My software also can pick a winner in diff't states, provinces, countries

and continents. YOU all are included for our wins.

IN the past we have had winners in Australia, NZ,. England, Brazil, Poland, Switzerland,

France, Italy, Russia, China, Denmark, Holland, Sweden...

Canada and many states in the US. 

Someone will win...in this case 2 winners on April 1st...

And as much as I would love to answer everyone of you personally...

I cannot...it has taken me hours just to be sure you all are given numbers...

Sew with that...this lady is off to bed...she is pooped ! tired, overwhelmed...

see you tomorrow...

We have a guest...

nighty nite

You think it is just a change table, a cupboard...well lookie here!

Hello, Stash Manicure friends!  I'm Kathy from Troublesome Creek Quilts, and I'd like to thank Madame Samm for inviting me to guest blog today.  There have been some fantastic posts on Stash Manicure lately, so I have to admit I'm a little timid about showing you my modest quilting furniture ideas.  I learned to sew on a treadle sewing machine (yes, I'm THAT old!) with my grandmother, who made a million nine-patch quilts out of old clothes.  These days, I love all aspects of quilting - machine piecing, hand quilting, machine quilting, foundation piecing, hand applique - pretty much anything quilting-related, I'll try once.  I still have a working treadle machine, but it's mostly for show and used as a side table in the living room.

When Madame Samm emailed me about guest blogging, I told her I would give you some ideas on budget-friendly quilting furniture.  One of my favorite pieces is a quilt storage shelf.

This is a Jenny Lind baby changing table I bought at a garage sale and spray painted red to match my red and white guest room.  It's great for storing quilts because the shelves are so deep, and the top is a great place to show your doll collection (or bobbleheads or beer steins or whatever you collect).  It's very sturdy and will hold a bunch of quilts.  It would be great for fabric storage, too.  So, this summer when you're out at garage sales, keep an eye out for changing tables (and pick up another one for me while you're at it - I need a purple one, too).  You can have a really cute shelf for about twenty bucks.  Don't be afraid of the painting part - enamel spray paint is a girl's best friend.  The only trick is keeping your dog away from the overspray so that you don't end up with a red enamel dog to match your furniture. 

After years of sewing in the guest room, I now have a spare bedroom to use for a dedicated sewing room.  One of my longed-for items was a really sturdy, large cutting table.  I thought a kitchen island would be ideal, and it was a great idea until I went to the design center and looked at the prices.  Yikes!  Back to the drawing board.  After talking to the designer, I decided that I could create exactly what I wanted for much less.  Here's what I came up with:

This cutting table is made from two upper kitchen cabinets (15" deep and 48" wide) placed back to back, with a 4" kick plate added under them.  When backed together, it looks like one solid unit, and the height is exactly right for cutting.  The top is a formica countertop, with rounded corners on all sides.  The front cabinet (seen in this picture) has shelves inside and is great for storage.  The back cabinet (below) I left without doors so it would be more like a bookshelf.

It's a great place to store books and magazines, as well as my ready-for-quilting tops.  (Yes, I have way too many UFOs!)  These were stock kitchen cabinets, so everything was pre-finished except for the backs, which normally would be against the wall, but in this case are against each other. 

The countertop extends beyond the cabinet by about 9".  That was made that way on purpose - I can slide a barstool under it and sit there and drink, depening on how the quilting is going  use my lightbox to draw out patterns, look through magazines for inspiration, etc.  I can also sit there and watch my blocks fall off my design wall, as you can see in the picture.  (Honestly, sometimes it's like watching it snow, and I wonder why I bother putting them up there.  But I digress.)

Another upper cabinet with kickplate is used for my ironing station.  We attached an ironing board to the top of the cabinet, and the Big Board fits on top of that.  I love it!  It's so much sturdier than an ironing board and gives me plenty of space to lay out my quilt project, plus there is a lot of storage under it.  (I'm not going to show you my Rubbermaid containters, but they're there.  They look like everyone else's Rubbermaid containters - stuffed to the gills with miscellaneous stuff I absolutely couldn't live without.  We quilters have kept the Rubbermaid company in business the last few years.)

These pieces were much less expensive than ready-made quilting furniture.  You can order the cabinets at a lumber yard or chain store like Home Depot.  They will be happy to make the countertop any size you want, and you'll have lots of choices (way too many, in fact) on countertop materials.  Base cabinets would work also, but they are much deeper.  I didn't have enough space to place two base cabinets back to back.  Cabinet backs are unfinished, since they are intended to be placed against a wall.  If you used only one, you would need to put something on the back to finish it off.

So, I hope this gives you a couple ideas you can use in your sewing room.  And come on over to Troublesome Creek Quilts to see what I'm making on my new cutting table!

If it's Sunday you know it is a day of ....

To another great week of terrific guest bloggers...

Thank you Quilting Ladies!

You AWEd us all!

I thought you would all like this graphic....

Ü

And being it is Sunday, day and of rest and all...-we don't want all

the husbands writing in... and anyway...

that darn comment gadget doesn't seem to be working...'

IMAGINE THAT?

( you are safe Nan.....)