Sneak Peak at a new line and a new nephew!

I finally got another project finished for P&B Textiles! This is a new line called Floral Carpet, so I am giving you a sneak peak of the fabric, can't give away the quilt design just yet. This will hang at Houston Market this fall. It always feels so good to get something more finished!

Some of you probably have seen this Wildflowers pattern by Smith Street Designs. This has been by far my most popular class. The blocks are machine embroidery applique and this one is done all in batiks. It is finally home with me now, hanging over my bed---it is so big that my headboard covers the bottom, but I couldn't bear to put it away in the closet! I have seen so many beautiful colorways in this quilt. It is really one worth doing, so get out those embroidery machines!

I have a great little pic of my new nephew, Brady! Isn't he the cutest ever?!!!! He looks just like his Daddy and is already lifting his head, and he is less than 3 weeks old! We can hardly wait to see him in person.

Here is a Kona Squares quilt that I just got back from the quilt shop that I made it for, and it is a fun and easy quilt to make. Go to http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/colorful_kona_squares/ for the link to the free pattern. Great for a contemporary punch in a room or a boy's quilt. It's made with all solids, which you don't see much these days! Almost gives it that Amish look. Will have more for you soon, until then--keep quilting! Diane

Hi Everyone! I just got back from a retreat at Duck Creek, Utah, where I attended a Cathedral Window class at my friend, Kelly Hill's cabin. Johna Lee Burke of http://www.thescrappyappleyard.com/ taught us this new technique from her pattern.

This is moi' with my cathedral window in progress, yet to have more rows added on. Don't look too close, as we don't get around to much makeup or hairdo fixing at the mountain, however Kelly, below looks just georgeous!!

Kelly Hill, who held the retreat at her beautiful cabin, is at the cutting table.

Kelly plans to hold future retreats at her cabin, and it is a wonderful place to get away and sew your heart out!!

It was cool and beautiful weather, even had a few rain storms in the afternoons. The food was wonderful, the company was great fun and it was hard to come home again!

Here is a holiday redwork quilt I taught at the cabin about 6 weeks ago, by Lynda Howell. This retreat was held by Darlene Finney of Henderson, NV.

It is over 8,000 ft at the mountain, but the roads are very good and we even saw an antelope on our way out. Lots of wildlife and quiet. Now that's only outside, because inside we were having a ball, and making all kinds of noise--you don't really expect a room full of quilters to be quiet, now do you!!?

A new baby---I am a new Aunt!

We are so excited--my husband's sister had a new baby boy tonight, so my husband is an Uncle for the first time. Mother and baby are doing well, and we are all thankful for that. Now we can hardly wait to go see him in Calif. Wonderful news!

I just finished up a longarm quilting job today, and it came out really nice. Here's a pic so you can see it. No baby pics to share yet, so the quilt will have to do! It is a new pattern from Laundry Basket Quilts http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/ called Shooting Star. The points on the stars are folded--it'a a 3 dimensional technique. Anyway, my friend Kathryn did a beautiful job on the top and I was so happy with the quilting when I was done that I wouldn't mind one of these myself!!

This has been a crazy week, I have been designing already for the upcoming Houston Market for 2 companies and just got 4 designs approved. Friday I am leaving town for Duck Creek, Utah, for a retreat at a beautiful cabin in the mountains, and boy am I looking forward to the cooler air and some down time! We are learning how to make a cathedral window using a method that will "quilt as you go". Johna Lee Burke, of The Scrappy Appleyard in Panguitch is teaching her method. Will be so fun to visit friends, make new ones and have nothing to worry about but sewing and eating!! Ha! Can hardly wait! I'll send along new pics after the weekend.

So until then----keep quilting! Diane

The Pantry top is finished!

Well, it is finally finished, and I couldn't hang it on the wall, so hope you get the idea even though this is bad bad photography!! LOL!! It was fun to do and easy too. I don't exactly love paper piecing but these blocks were pretty simple, for paper piecing, that is! The rest are rotary cut. I couldn't resist the eggs from a line of chicken fabrics I bought a long time ago! I am still in the process of getting the pattern ready. I will be teaching a class on it soon.

The monsoons are starting to roll into the desert and I couldn't be happier to see them! It has been, shall we say "toasty" out here----heck, it has been down right HOT! I can only take so many 110 degree days in a row! The storms help cool things down. I know you'll think I'm crazy but I love the thunder and lightning, and from my back patio I can sit out and see the clouds roll in from the southwest. (I do go inside if it gets too close) And Cindy just doesn't agree with me, she Hates the thunder!


Here she is with her own quilt.

Thanks to all of you who have been visiting my blog, and for all your wonderful comments. Happy quilting to you all!
Diane

Our family reunion in Lake Tahoe was 2 weekends ago. It was great to see family members and catch up on all the news. The weather was wonderful in spite of the Calif fires. The smoke wasn't too bad at our location on the north shore. Here are some flowers along a wall. The flowers were everywhere, and after being in the desert for 4 years I really enjoyed seeing them in such abundance again.

So what have I been up to lately? Here is a sneek peek at my latest new design called The Pantry! Some of the fabrics are called Farmers Market by RJR. I hope to get this top put together by the end of the day. I have been saving fruit and vegetable fabrics for awhile now, even different basket weave fabrics. This one is an older line by Lakehouse. I've always wanted to get something put together. They almost look good enough to eat!

Yesterday a package came in the mail to me from Anne Sutton of Bunny Tails! Thankyou Anne! I can hardly wait to start this quilt, and the fabrics are so perfect for the project. It was a great feeling to send magazines off to our new friend, Julia , in Germany, and I'm sure I will be sending more in the future. Thanks for helping us participate--I wouldn't have missed it for anything!

Until next time........

Diane

Happy 4th weekend!

What a beautiful weekend! Living near Las Vegas can really be fun! We had friends over last night for fun times and good food. We went to the Del Webb rec center that sits on top of our hill, overlooking the city. We watched fireworks going off all over the city---what a beautiful site! It was warm and comfortable, feet dangling in the pool and city lights with fireworks in any direction you wanted to look. A moment to remember for sure. Today we head to a potluck get together at our friend, Dody's, house. These are some of my favorite times.

In keeping with the holiday, thought I'd share a free pattern with you for a quilt I designed for P&B Textiles using the new Austin Manor line by Harriet Hargrave! http://www.pbtex.com/html/austenmanordresdenplates.html will take you to the pattern!

Very exciting to hear that we have a new blogger in our midst! Minick and Simpson is joining the blogging world with us! Congrats to them! I LOVE their lines of fabric!

Everybody have a great weekend! Summer has certainly arrived! It was 110 here yesterday, but the evenings after the sun goes down are just magic.

Diane

After a second attempt, I have figured out how to add my pics! This IS a great day!

A new day

Today is a new day! Thankyou to Anne Sutton for all her help with my new blogging experience. Anne, you have been so kind in taking time out of your day to help me and I sooooo appreciate it! Thankyou also to Janet and Chook who wrote me well wishes on my new blogging adventure. I will add you both to my list!

I had an upside down day yesterday! It was my birthday which was great, we had friends from Santa Barbara over and they took me out to dinner for my birthday which was really fun. While they were here, my longarm lost an adjustment, and I spent 2 hours trying to reset it to no avail so I was very frustrated to say the least!! My sweet husband stayed home from work this morning while we called the factory and we got up and running again. I am so happy! Nothing is worse than having the machine down, when you have 11 quilts to do and bills to pay! So I am very relieved.

I thought I'd ad some pics of my sewing room for you to see (hopefully I can figure that out)! Our only spare bedroom became my quilting studio and I painted it a light yellow and did my best to get the most out of 13'3"!!! I have an eastern window that gives me morning light and it always feels so cheerful in there. I spend most of my time in my sewing room! I have my embroidery machine set up next to a piecing machine so I can do 2 things at once, when I am not on the longarm. We found resin pegboards at Lowes for my tools and patterns which is so nice hanging above my cutting/pressing area. Some of my quilts are on the walls and storage is at a premium, but I like it to be cheerful and full of my favorite things! Hope you like it!