Size Backing the Easy Way!

In today's video, I'm sharing how I use fabric tearing to quickly and easily trim up quilt backs before quilting. Enjoy!  http://vimeo.com/75003307

Two Great Free Offers!

I have been working hard on my latest project, creating a series of helpful worksheets, reports, and free downloads to help you with your quilting! Phew, I've had to learn Photoshop, automated email, publishing, and more! I'll be working hard to make sure these just keep getting better and better!

Here are my first two products, and you can get them absolutely FREE!

It's an honor to be able to help you with your quilting and share my passion with the world! Please enjoy these free gifts, and be sure to let me know if you find them helpful. You can connect with me daily at www.facebook.com/crazyforquilting.

Quilt With Passion!
Sincerely,
Mindi Johnson

Who's Ready for a Quilt Challenge With Me?

I am so excited!!!

At the end of each year, Moda sends me a calendar planner as a thank you for carrying their fabric.  This year's planner has a beautiful outside cover that is a quilt made with a Collection for a Cause fabric line. These fabric lines are unique because each collection donates its profits for a different cause.

But, what really sets this quilt apart is the design. It's a beautiful star quilt, complete with set-in seams. The fabric line is reproduction done in a civil-war style. Many times I've looked at my calendar and thought, wouldn't it be awesome if I could find that pattern!

Imagine my surprise when, while browsing online for something else entirely, I ran across Moda's kits for the exact same quilt!  I didn't know exactly what to expect, the kits will be priced at $149.99, so I was a little nervous about how many I can sell, but I hurried and added 4 of them to my order. One for me, and 3 for customers who might love it as much as I do.

Today the kits arrived, and They.....Are......Awesome!!!! My girls think I'm crazy because I am so excited by a quilt kit, but the kits are gorgeous! They are boxed in a fabulous matching, quality gift box. They contain a giant stack of layer cake squares, a jelly roll, background fabrics, and an even more giant stack of charm squares. Plus, full color directions. Everything but backing is in there!

Yes, this quilt in all of it's glory does require set-in seams. Those can be a little scary. But, I'm up for the challenge. Maybe some of you are up for a challenge to! If you are, don't delay. I only have 3 kits to sell, and although I might still be able to get more I wouldn't bet on it.  Plus, Habitat for Humanity will receive the proceeds from any sale of this fabric collection, including this kit.

So, if you're ready to take on a challenging quilt for a huge payoff, this is the quilt for you!

Get Your Warmth Quilt Kit here!

Diane Kimono Dress

This week, I've been busy every night preparing to travel to the Moscow, ID Palouse Patchers' Quilt Show as a vendor. Granted, I only have to "travel" 20 miles to get there, but it does involve a lot of pre-planning, last minute quilt making, and general organization. Not to mention...loading all that stuff into a trailer, and then unloading it and making it all look pretty! Whew, I'm tired just thinking about it!

It occurred to me last week that I usually make something to wear to the shows in the Spring each year. I hadn't even thought about what to make, or when exactly I was going to find the time this year.  Then, I walked by the Accu-Cut in the back room at the store, which my mom so nicely organized last month and covered up with a large piece of fabric.

Wait! That's not just any fabric! Mom had used the teal blue with brown hearts piece of fabric I've been hoarding for over a year now, with big plans to make another dress.  The fabric had been stuffed in a bag and stashed on a shelf in the back after we moved the store last Fall. 

For some reason unknown, just like that, the mood struck me, and I have been a dress-making, mad-sewing crazy person all week. Not to mention, I have watched 2 full seasons of Star Trek Voyager on Netflix while I whipped up my latest garment.  I guess sometimes, insomnia can be a productive thing!

My Never Ending, Futile Quest for the Perfect House

People spend their spare time and money on a whole host of things, from booze and gambling, to more wholesome activites like golf and travel.  Me? I spend mine on My Never Ending, Futile Quest for the Perfect House.

"What is that?" you ask?

It could be described as a genetic predisposition to obsess about the style, appearance, and functionality of my home. (Thanks Mom) 

Or, you might think of it as an obsessive, extreme desire to make my house look like it just stepped (if houses could step) out of the pages of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Some people crave alcohol. I crave hugely messy, always more expensive and twice as long as planned, home remodels.

Weird, right? I know.

I almost had it once, that ellusive BH&G house. But,shortly after it was built my (ex) husband developed an affinity for bars and blondes, and I discovered there are some things I'm just not willing to sell my soul for.

Today, I continue to follow my quest in my current home. It's proving to be quite a challenge, as it's an older home, and old homes need special help. It's not quite the same when your remodels are dictated by the next thing to break, fall apart, or stop working. Combined with a very limited budget, and a carpentry and design challenged husband (she says with love), I am climbing quite the mountain of futility these days.

Case in point: the deck with no railing. I'm finishing it this Spring, I swear!  Plus, it's been Winter here. Winters mean long months cooped up in a house just crying for a good do-it-yourself project.....or two, or three. Oh boy, have I had too much time to think! An empty house this week, while the kids are on Spring Break, means one big mess at my house. I'm like a crazy person who lost her straight jacket!

So, if you wonder what I do when I'm not quilting or chasing the kids around, here's a peak at how I spent last night.

Before

After

The original plan in my head was to paint the entire cabinet. But, when I got this far I kind-of liked it better than the all-blue cabinets in my head. So, $25 worth of paint and I'm one step closer to my kitchen remodel on a budget.

Now, moving on to getting that claw foot tub out of my hallway before Friday, when the kids return!

Glass Half Full

I haven't written on the blog for a long time. Plus, it's been even longer since I applied myself and wrote here regularly and often. My life is at best busy, and usually it's down right barely organized, teetering on the brink of insanity, chaos. This makes it easy to get caught up in the "poor me, I can't get anything done" syndrome.  And if I haven't done anything worthwhile, then what is there to write about, right?

I've decided I'm not going there anymore. Instead, my glass is going to be half full. I'm going to focus on the things I did get done.  You see, for everything on that ever-expanding to-do list, there's at least one thing per day that I actually did finish.  All I need to do is train my brain to see it.

Easier said than done. As I was preparing to write this, I needed pictures to share. That required finding the memory card for my camera, which has been MIA for a while now. But I was determined. My super awesome husband gave me a super awesome camera lens for my birthday, and it's time I put it to good use. So, I poured out my 30 pound shoulder bag and started digging.

I found my 1/4" sewing machine foot, which I keep forgetting to leave at the quilt shop, the notes I made to myself about the next Saturday Block I need to design (but haven't yet), the Challenger keys I forgot to hang back up (dang, no wonder he always knows when I take it for a spin), a receipt I need to scan.......do you see where this is going? Before I finally found the memory card, I was already mentally going to that place of the never ending to-do list.

Still, I'm determined, remember? So I picked up the camera to take a test shot, and here's what I saw.  

 Oh no, not another to-do list!  This is the one we keep in the office at home.  It's mostly for the kids. As you can see, they have as much trouble getting things done as I do sometimes. It is nearly April, and the second day of Spring, and "put sleds away" is still on their list.  Oh No! Maybe it's genetic...

But wait, I'm supposed to be focusing on a glass half full. So, to that end, I can say that one thing I have done is raise awesome kids.  Many days this list is erased before I get home, and they always remind me to make a new list for the next day. Yes, it appears I am doing something right.  After all, how many kids out there remind their parents to give them chores?

The camera is finally working again. On to the sewing studio to see what else got done today.  I know it might look like a dining room, but trust me, my house didn't come with one of those. Just this sewing studio that we sometimes eat in.

 Aha! I did do some quilting related task today.  I button hole stitched around 4 corner blocks and 2 out of 14 bat blocks for my Sew Spooky quilt, while listening to Bailey debate the pros and cons of Summer volleyball camp.  Hopefully, I can remember tomorrow that I need to cut one more beige rectangle to attach one last bat to.  Now, on to the quilting machine...

Here are two table runners I quilted after dinner this evening. The variegated thread looks great on the solid black. (note to self: order more variegated in this color. You're going to need it for the Deary raffle quilt)

Phew, I feel a little better looking at a few items I accomplished today.  Hopefully, this new approach helps me post here more often. Hopefully, I can inspire you to see your glass as half full too!

Hooked on Hats

I promised to share the new items coming into the store this Fall and Winter.  Having so much more floor space since I moved, and a larger variety of customers, means I can add items I love but didn't have the space for before.  So, when I ran across this great line of hats, I fell in love with them and just had to have them in the shop!

I love hats, they keep me warm when I'm usually cold, and they add fashion to even a boring outfit. Hats are a great way to add unique style to your wardrobe without a lot of cost.  Each of these hats sells for just $14.99!

Of course, wearing a hat for me requires taking an hour to straighten my naturally curly hair.  Otherwise, hats just make me look like a clown.  Sorta like this, only with a hat and better makeup.

Luckily, My girls have much more sleek hair than I, and they were more than happy to play hat models.
Here's a sneak peak at some of the hats in stock!

Kylee has been pining away for this hat ever since it came into the store.  I'm going to give it to her for Christmas.  Shhhhhhhhh...

This hat has a great braided accent.  It's a little smaller, and would be great for a younger child or someone with a smaller head.

 

The hat on the right is available in several colors. This is the blue.  There's also a pink one in stock.

These hats are geared more toward Spring and Summer.  The one on the left unbuttons in back to become a full brimmed sun hat.  The hat on the right has a funky, part sun hat and part bonnet look. It also comes in creamy beige.

Here's another view.

The hat on the right here also comes in different colors.  Pink, blue, green, etc.  Both of these hats are wool with silky lining. Super comfortable!

I haven't decided if I'm going to sell these on the website yet.  If you'd like to see them available for purchase online, please leave me a comment!