Found: My (quilt) top!

 So I decided to clean out my sewing/laundry room. I know...you thought I had a much larger space to work in. But no. I work in this little place that's supposed to stay organized like this all the time, but I could never keep it like this during pre-market madness...which is just around the corner. I decided it would be best if I at least had a clean start this time. 

 Doesn't it look nice?

Anyway...so after I organized everything, I made the quilt top that I posted about recently. The one that looks like this:

I had folded it up and put it on the counter top by the row of fabric bolts, figuring I would get it machine quilted and bound when I got back from my trip, to post about on the blog. But when I came home, it was nowhere to be found. I grilled all of my children, individually under hot lights. Each person was cross examined over and over, because I was sure someone had done something terrible to it, and thrown it in the trash (which was hauled away) so I would not find the evidence. I resorted to cruel prisoner of war tactics, threatening to do all sorts of...things to them. (not really, but I was pretty upset)

So then my husband intervenes. He says to me: "What will you do for me if I find it?" I look around sheepishly, trying to think of something that would satisfy him without making me work too hard. We decided on a foot massage, (or something like that). He disappeared into my sewing room for a few minutes, and then emerged looking all pleased with himself while hiding something behind his back. "You found it!?" I said..."Where? Where was it? Did you hide it from me?" He then shows me the quilt top, still neatly folded. 

I tore that room apart. It was not in there. I swear on my favorite sweatpants that it was not in the sewing room.

He says he found it behind the bolts of fabric, sandwiched between them and the window. 

Now how did he think to look there? This never happens, mind you. He never finds anything. I am the one who miraculously finds things that no one can find. Not him. So this was like the biggest event of the century for him. He is going to lord this over me for years to come.

Not to mention the ridiculous "foot massage" I am going to have to somehow get out of.

More to come on the quilt...

Goodbye Cabo...

I guess all good things must come to an end. 

Ain't it the truth?? (I actually believe there are a few good things that never end. But that's a topic for another day!)

I just returned from a lovely time with friends in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was truly refreshing and relaxing.

We stayed in the same lovely home (owned by our good friends Jackie and Kirk) that we have stayed in before. You may remember it from posts past...

 
 These, above are shots of the interior main floor. They don't do justice to the space at all. I wish I had taken a better shot of the domed brick ceilings! 


And these next three are shots off the veranda, catching in a bit of the pool, and down to the beach which is breaking just about 50-100 or so feet below.

 

 Once again, the camera can't do it any justice. The view is absolutely breathtaking! And to hear the waves crash below as you sit by the pool is simply beyond mesmerizing.


 This, below is a shot off the breakfast deck, showing Kirk, Jackie, and my husband Hal relaxing in the pool. It was the PERFECT temperature.

   

 Hot tub...

 A view of the interesting architecture on the rooftop of one of the homes below, nestled into the rocks on the shore.

 

 This stretch of beach is just to the right from where I stood on the veranda, looking out over the Pacific. It is the same stretch of sand where the movie "TROY" was filmed. Or close to it.

And this is (a very fuzzy) picture of my friends Carrie in black, myself in the middle, and Jackie in the purple...her signature color!

Anyway...I'm sure I could put up more pics, but I did not want to bore you all to tears with my travelogue.

It was a great getaway for Hal and me, all thanks to our dear friends who invited us there to stay! I am grateful for such blessings in my life. The friendships are the most important part of all of it, of course. They make it all so much more fun!

Thanks again Jackie and Kirk, and Carrie and David, for a wonderful trip! 

Now back to the quilts I have to finish!! Remember those?

I'll keep you posted...

Sewing Fever

Hello All...

Today, well a few days ago... I got the hankering to make a quilt. Quite honestly, that doesn't happen often, like it should, because I am too busy doing other things to support myself in the "quilting industry" to have time to think much about making a quilt. But, it happened. I realized that my son Cade, who is 24 and going to school and working and living in an apartment with roommates, did not have his own quilt for his bed. Blankets, yes. But not a quilt that I had made for him. For shame!! What kind of mother am I???

(Now I will have to make quilts for all of my other kids too...)

So I thought of what I would choose if I were to make him a quilt. I got online for inspiration. (None of my own fabrics would work, as you can imagine.)

After perusing around a bit, I decided upon this group of fabrics from Ty Pennington's Impressions collection for Free Spirit. (love Ty...he's such a big heart...)

I picked them out because Cader boy is a blue boy. He has beautiful blue eyes, and always looks quite handsome whenever he wears that color, if I do say so myself.

(This is Cade...wish he had on a blue shirt so I could show you what I mean.)



Look how he is trying to be happy even though he doesn't have his own quilt:)

...Of course the grey-green fabric adds contrast, and I love that, so I added them into the mix. I put them into my shopping cart, and made the purchase. But when they arrived, I realized I may not have bought enough fabric. Story of my life. So I did what any seasoned sewer does and I utilized my "stash". 

Would-ya-looky-here what I found in and amongst the feminine fabrics of all kinds...

These  two wonderful beach inspired cottons were right there staring me down! I grabbed them greedily and combined them with my collection.

The result was just about perfect, as if I had planned it.

 

So now I am ready to go. If you are like me, you don't want to waste a lot of time wondering what quilt design you are going to do. So I just imagined up something in my little brain, and came up with what I decided was going to be perfect for Cade. He's not the kind of kid who looks comfortable sitting there cleaning his gun in a log cabin. And I wouldn't exactly call him the modern man either...he's just simple. Straight forward. Not trying to be any certain style. I had to design a simple quilt, and although I am sure there is probably this very design out there somewhere, I will claim it as my own because I want to;)

At least I hope it will be super fast and easy.

This quilt will be about 57"x 88" when finished, if my calculations are correct. (Don't laugh)

I'm starting this tomorrow (Friday). I'd like to involve you all in the process. 

Let me just make this one disclaimer:

I have never said that I was a great quilter. In fact, quilting is something I have only dabbled in here and there... and I never took a class, so don't judge me! This is so that any of you who are novices like me can feel OK about sort of stumbling through a quilt project, because you have lots of company! If you are a pro, try to keep your criticism to a minimum;) Thank you.

I have created a few very simple steps for myself to follow. This is done in the manner that my brain operates. If it does not make sense to you, just...consider the source, and write your own directions!

(The easy steps are on the left, and my explanations are on the right.)

...So I chose my 10 fabrics. I'm going to wash my quilt after it is all finished, so I won't pre-shrink.

I am going to make myself a template from template plastic to make this process easier. Since I need 54 squares to make the quilt, I am going to cut 6 10" squares from each of my 10 fabrics. That will give me 60 squares; leaving me some extra squares in case I need more of something. I think it will help me to match colors how I want them. Besides, its easier to just cut six of everything.

Since I will have some left over, maybe I will make a pillow sham to match!

                                           

I am thinking I will stack about 4 squares at a time, and lay them on my cutting mat, lined up  neatly with a vertical line so I can lay my ruler about 4" from the top left edge, and at about 4" from the bottom right edge. You can change the angle as you wish, but be sure you cut all your squares at the same angle. Now I'm going to repeat that process till all of my squares have been sectored. (I like that word)  

  Now comes the fun part... or the part that drives you crazy...depending on your point of view.

Mix up the sectors in all the ways you can think of, and then again and again till you have used up all your stuff. Stitch them diagonally, right sides facing each other, in 1/4" seams, and press the seams to one side.

 This is what they should look like, pretty much. Except I just realized that now it won't be a perfect square anymore. It will be taller than it is wide. I really hope that won't matter(!)

My little brain won't know that till I make this for-reals.

Now lay them out on the floor or a table, and arrange them into 9 rows of 6 across. Work with it until you have a pleasing arrangement. (That's the part that will drive us crazy...or be tons of fun:)

I'm hoping I won't have to use my seam ripper! 

Set your extras aside.

Remember to make it look like the picture up above, or I guess you can arrange them however you darn well want to! Luckily this is not a science project, and I won't be grading you on it:)

I am going to share my top when it's finished, and I don't want to hear any snickering.
Stitch the blocks together in order into horizontal rows. Press seams all one way. Now stitch the rows together till you have it all stitched up.

OK. This last step is the part where we lose lots of would be quilters...where millions of finished tops disappear into the quilting "black hole" of the universe. Don't go there! Finish the darn quilt!! I am speaking to myself here...in the future...because as of yet this is all in theory.

When I get to this point, I will describe to you the process that takes us from quilt top to finished quilt. I will not fail you...it will happen.

So that is my great plan! I would love to have some of you accompany me...if you want to make a similar quilt for fun, or for someone special. Gather your supplies, and I'll see you after I've stitched some blocks!

XO,

UPDATE!

One of my brilliant commenters suggested that I add 1/2" to the width of the square so now it will be 10 1/2" W x 10" L. I had thought of the same thing last night while I lay in bed, so I guess that's that!

Going to the store right now to get the template plastic I need before I start cutting. Gonna pick up a nice backing fabric and something for the binding too while I'm there. I have a gi-normous roll of cotton quilt batting in my studio, so I don't need that.

Ready-set-go!
After I have a diet coke.

UPDATE!  (again) 

Here is the picture of my finished top! It did not take that long... I started cutting last night, laid it out and arranged the rows, stayed up sewing for a couple of hours, and finished it this morning in about another 1/2 hour. 
I ended up adding a couple more fabric options, and looking at it now, i can see things I would change,  but over-all it's great! 
It was randomly arranged, but I think I would like to see it done in a different way. Maybe next time;)
 

Announcing the winners of my giveaway contest!!

Hello everyone! As I said on my facebook post today, this is always a difficult decision for me: choosing just a few winners from all of the wonderful and kind comments I received! Therefore...I decided to add more winners in a few of the categories!!

I have already chosen some winners from my facebook commenters, but I also have a list of winners from my blog entrants. (That's you.)

So here we go!

Pattern Pack winners:

Suburban Stitcher!!!

Trillium!!

Bag-O'-Scraps Winners:

Colorado Lady!!!

Mean Sarah Jean!!!

Retro Groovy Bag Winner: (facebook entrant: Anna McCurdy!!!)

Snazzy Bag pattern and Soire'e Honeybun winner:

Tiffany!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE WINNERS!!

Please email me your mailing addresses so I can get your prizes to you!

Email: Lilatuellerdesigns@gmail.com

Thanks again to everyone who entered! I love you all:)

Have a great Valentine's Day on the 14th!!

Giveaway Time!!

Hello everyone!
If you came over from my FB page, welcome! Today I'm doing a giveaway!!
Here's what I'm gifting to random commenters to this post:

1) 1 Pattern Pack: includes Metro Bag, London Peasant Top/Dress for Women, The Stella Skirt, and the Sophisticate Skirt

 

2) 1 Bag-O'-Scraps: includes lots of my fabric scraps and cuts from my studio!
 (I don't have a picture for this, you will just have to trust me:)

3) 1 Retro "Groovy" Bag handmade by me. (Actual bag, not the pattern)

4) 1 impossible to find "Honey Bun" from my "Soire'e" Collection and a Snazzy Bag pattern to go with it.

 
That's the whole enchilada.
So...that means there will be four winners!!! Yes, that's right. But wait! There's more...if you call now we'll throw in a...
just kidding:)

Please comment either here, or on the facebook page. Here's that link.
Good Luck!!!

True Confessions

Have you ever had a task that you knew HAD to be done, but you also knew that you really DID NOT want to do it? Have you ever thought about said task with serious dread, for no logical reason? I have TWO of these on my list right now. It's an imaginary list really...it exists only in my brain. It's the part of my brain that contains memories of my most embarrassing moments, scarey movies I have seen, and other things that I'd rather forget about, but can't. The contents of this part of my brain follows me around like an annoying gnat or a mosquito. I try in vain to ignore it, to look the other way, so to speak. But I know that it's there. I know that the only way I am going to make the gnat go away is to face the darn thing, and do what it takes to get rid of it. It's funny, because these little annoying thoughts should not be that big of a deal. But I have succeeded in blowing them all out of proportion, and now I don't know if I am able to face them and conquer. 

Here they are:

1) I need to put away my Christmas decorations.
I know what you are thinking: "You haven't taken those down yet? I had mine down on the 26th! (Or even on New Year's Day.) How can you stand it?" I don't know why this task seems so unbearably daunting. It's not like I haven't done it a gazillion times before. But this time, for some reason, I just keep looking at those decorations and I feel totally overwhelmed by the thought of the process of the take down and pack up. 

2) I need to get a mammogram.
Yikes! I sooooo don't want to do this!! I know it's super important for women my age (over 50), but I have never done it, and I am so nervous. My daughter keeps reminding me. She started out with gentle reminders. Now she is becoming quite adamant. I don't blame her. She wants to know that she has nothing to worry about. So do I! But I keep avoiding it. Do I really have to? I mean...why do we have to let doctors mess with our female parts? It's really none of their business. Don't answer that question. I already know the answer. But I still don't want to!! 

OK. There you go. I'm sure there are other items on that list...but I have pushed them so far to the back that I don't remember them right now. All I can think about are these two. 

Maybe someone out there is a psychologist and can tell me why I am doing this. I would love to know! I seem to be able to tackle so many other tasks without a second thought... go figure. I hope that by confessing them I will now be able to overcome.

Well...Have a great rest of the week! And if you can relate to what I said, and you too are a procrastinator, take pictures of your house with your decorations still up and send them to me so I won't feel so bad! Maybe I will do a follow-up post: "Bloggers Who Don't Do Things They Should"!

Hugs to all,

JUST IN: "Bohemian Festival' strike-offs!

Hope everyone is having a Happy New year! (So far) How are your New Year's resolutions coming?

I made it the first day...kept all my resolutions for that one day.

Day two, again, kept the resolutions.

Day three: all @%#* broke loose. I won't elaborate because it involves graphic details that I dare not expose on a public site. Let's just say I am going to get back on the horse today...later.

Why oh why is it so hard to keep those resolutions?? Sometimes I wonder if there are unseen forces at play here...I could explain but it would sound weird.

oh well.

ON to the topic of the day: BOHEMIAN FESTIVAL!

"What is that??" you might ask.

It is not a week long glorified party thrown by gypsies that you are all invited to...rather it is the name of my summer 2012 collection due to arrive on quilt shop shelves in June to be exact.

Today I am showing you a little glimpse of it from the strike-offs I was given to look over, to check for any changes I want to make in color, etc. These are little samples of the prints that are done up by the factory early on in the process, for the purpose of proofing before the final yardage gets printed.

 Luckily...and this is very rare, there were only one or two little changes I needed to make. Such as: "Darken this yellow, lighten up this pink". 

I am loving how this collection is coming together! It is going to be so much fun to sew with for spring...I am already envisioning all kinds of delightful designs coming together with these prints and colors. 

Something new (for me)...all of these fabrics can be mixed and matched to create a ton of luscious combinations for your sewing pleasure!! Rather than having three separate colorways with only a few cross-over colors, these can all work together beautifully.

We at Lila Tueller Designs also have a few new patterns in the making, so watch for those coming on the scene soon!

Hoping all of you have a wonderful, satisfying, fabulous 2012!!

Happy new Year everyone!

Hope You Had a Very Merry Christmas!

This was our card last year

Our slightly altered Christmas card

Forgive me for my long vacation from posting! I have been consumed by other, more pressing concerns in the last two or three weeks, and have not had the time or the energy to be more regular in my updates. I'm sure that you all know and understand about such things. Therefore, enough said!

 Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We, at the Tueller home, have had a great time!

I thought I would share a few pictures from our Christmas celebration.

Add caption

We had anticipated having all of our family here for Christmas but my one eldest son, who is living in Taiwan right now. He told us he simply could not make it: no possible way, absolutely could not make it happen. That was to be very sad for us all, as everyone else was coming, and he happens to be the life of the party...the tease, the comedian, etc. How boring for us to have him missing!

Then...just before Christmas, he just showed up! He walked silently into the house unannounced and completely unnoticed by anyone, went upstairs to my bedroom and scared the "pageebers" out of me by walking into my bathroom as I was getting ready for bed. I nearly did a knockout karate kick to his jaw before I realized it was him.

Here is Trent just minutes after scaring me out of my wits.

THAT was a good surprise!

Having all seven of my kids under my roof, along with my son-in-law and two little sweet Grandbabies has been so much fun! Our house feels much smaller... and the aftermath of Christmas paraphernalia has threatened to take over the world, but I couldn't be happier about it.

"Waiting on the Stairs"

Matthew reading to Lola from her new Christmas book

 
 
 
 

I only wish you could have been here to watch little Lola play with our Bernese Mountain Dog "Maggie". The dog is MUCH bigger than Lola is, but she has absolutely NO fear. They have become best friends! And just to hear her little 18 month old voice very sternly say "Maggie, SIT!" gives me more pleasure than I can express!
(I have to get a good picture of this...all of them have been blurry because there is so much movement between the dog and the baby, as you can imagine)

So the story here is magical and heavenly, even though there has been much too much chocolate, toffee, nut brittle, carmels, candies, eggnog, Martinelli's, hot cocoa, cheese balls, sauces, gravies, and other decadent goodies consumed constantly, and not enough sleep to be sure, I have zero complaints!

Examining the "Santa" gifts`

Halle, Abigail, and Natalie at our Tueller family Christmas party

I hope you have all experienced the joy of the season as I have, and that you will have a warm heart from it well into the new year!

Love,