Melia Mae Quilting

Star Surround Quilt Along - Cutting

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Melissa from Happy Quilting is hosting a Quilt Along called the Star Surround Quilt Along. I usually don't join these types of things because they are usually too much work for me to keep up with on my busy schedule of almost working full time, taking care of two little girls and a husband, a home, etc etc. Okay, sorry if that sounds like whining, I only meant it a little because I love my life just wish I could create more "time". Anyways, Melissa did an excellent job making sure that EVERYONE can participate. She set it up so you can really do whatever size project you want based on the pattern. You can make a one block pillow all the way up to a queen size quilt. This was definitely a lot more work on her part to set up, but I let her know that it was greatly appreciated! You can find the information for her Quilt Along here. She is also keeping the linky's open each week until the very end of the Quilt Along as well, so you can join in at any time.

Since I am late joining in because it started July 15th and I don't have a lot of time already due to my sister's wedding this weekend, I am just going to do the one block pillow. Since I am on a mission to decorate my house for Fall I am going to use some of my Boo Crew collection by Sweetwater for this project as well.

Our first assignment was to cut the fabric up for the project. So here it is. All cut and ready to move to assignment #2. Aren't the spiders and monsters so cute!

Linking up to The Star Surround Quilt Along hosted by Melissa at Happy Quilting.

Happy Quilting!

2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - August Goal

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

I decided to take last month off from joining in on the "Lovely Year of Finishes" because let's be frank not a lot of finishes have been occurring around here lately, so I felt I needed to take a break from it. However, this month I fully intend on getting back into the saddle and actually finishing something.

A week or so ago I saw a really cute fat quarter bundle of 8 fat quarters of Boo Crew for only $20.00 on Etsy by Sew Lux Fabric. I have been admiring this collection for quite some time, so I really couldn't pass this purchase up. I received it over the weekend and look at just how adorable it was packaged!

Okay, I know what you are thinking, what happened to my fabric diet? Well.... I cheated a little bit, but now I am back in the saddle after my weekend purchases. We will see how long that lasts. At least I did admit that if I could get my pretty little hands on some of the Boo Crew or Flats collection, my diet might go to the wayside. Thankfully the Boo Crew craving has been filled, but really who could blame me. Look at how adorable this collection is. I just love the little monsters and in the next picture you will see the little spiders. Scary, but not too scary for my kids.

While I was at the Polish Festival in Boyne Falls, I went up to a modern quilt shop in Charlevoix, MI called "Hearts to Holly A Quilt and Gift Shop" and picked up some additional fat quarters of the Boo Crew fabric collection there too. See below. It really was a beautiful fabric shop and I will take pictures of it when I go up there next year! They had a lot of really great fabric collections such as Happy Go Lucky, Boo Crew, Curiosities etc, so if you are ever in the area you should really check it out.

I am so excited that I was able to pick up some of this collection to make a couple of decorations for our home for fall. It is about time my house starts to get decorated! The first thing I plan on making is a smaller version of Judy's Pumpkin Table Runner, which you can find the tutorial for it on her blog here. My goal is to make this table runner by the end of the month!

Linking up to 2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Fiber of All Sorts.

Happy Quilting!

Let's Get Aquainted Blog Hop Week #8

Sunday, July 28, 2013

I can't believe this is the last week of the 2013 Let's Get Aquainted Bloggers Blog Hop. It really has been a lot of fun and I know that I have enjoyed reading all the great posts and learning more about my fellow blogging friends. Thank you so much to Beth at Plum and June for hosting such a great event. See below for the final week's bloggers' posts:

Vicki @ A Quilter's Mission

RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts

Emily @ Sew E.T.
Elise @ Lovelea Designs

Elizabeth @ In The Boon Docks

Em @ Sewing by Moonlight

Jenny @ A Note To Follow Sew

Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts

Sonia @ Fabric & Flowers

Linking up with Plum and June Let's Get Acquainted Linkup.

Happy quilting!

Let's Get Aquainted Blog Hop Week #7

Sunday, July 21, 2013

I just got this cute little shipment in this week from the Fat Quarter Shop. I needed some border material for a quilt I am working on.

I just wanted to remind everyone to stop at the following blogs that are part of this week's 2013 Blog Hop:

Karen @ Little Birdie Quilting Studio

Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures

Katie @ Snuggle Up With A Dish From Karma

Alison @ Making Happyness

Kelsy and Amanda @ Everyday Fray

Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room

Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

Nicole @ Modern Handcraft

Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya

Linking up with Plum and June Let's Get Acquainted Linkup.

Happy quilting!

Let's Get Aquainted Blog Hop Week #6

Sunday, July 14, 2013

I was so excited because I have never won a contest before until several weeks ago. Sherri, from A Quilting Life, held a contest on her blog which was sponsored by the Rustic Rooster. Trina from the Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop was giving one of Sherri's lucky readers, which happened to turn out to be me (Yea!), this adorable charm pack and jelly roll of "Simply Style" by V and Co.

Aren't they just adorable? I am very excited to add them to my fabric collection. Trina really carries beautiful fabric in her shop. She has both precuts and yardage available.

I actually do have a very special plan for these fabrics. Someone close to our family was just diagnosed with Cancer. It is a very rare form of cancer and she is only 28 years old. Her type of cancer is extremely rare and there have only been 12 documented cases of it in the world. No one in Michigan would actually even treat her, so she has to travel to Texas in order to receive her treatments. She has to have 6 different treatments, one every 3 weeks. She just finished up the first treatment and is now back home with her family, which consists of a husband and a son who is 1 years old. For some reason this has really hit close to home for me. Maybe because she is so young, or maybe because she is a wife or mom to a small child like myself. I just feel that I really need to make a quilt for her. Something to keep her warm as she undergoes her treatments, or to cover her as she rocks her son to sleep at night. However, she intends to use it, I really hope that it comforts her to know someone is thinking about her and praying for strength for her to beat this.

Now on to a more "happier" note, I do encourage everyone to visit this week's blog hop participants, which are shown below.

Friday, July 12th

Karen @ Quilty Creations

Anne @ PlayCrafts

Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...

Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm

Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain

Cath @ Wombat Quilts

Sarah @ {No} Hats In The House
Christen @ Love by Hand
Julie @ 627handworks

Linking up with Plum and June Let's Get Acquainted Linkup.

Happy quilting!

Just a Little Crazy - Part 2

Thursday, July 11, 2013

My friend Heidi, at the Fabric Mutt, made the most adorable bags for her girls last weekend in preparation for the trip she was having. You can find her post about them here. Her husband thought she was a "little crazy" in trying to make something for the kids when she should be packing for their trip. However, I totally understood. I will do whatever it takes to avoid packing as well! Plus anything you can do to make the "drive" a little bit more tolerable is even better. She had an 8 hour trip with 3 girls under 7! Yes, she is super courageous.

Anyways, this weekend we are taking a weekend trip to Detroit to visit my husband's brother and his family. Well this trip is 2 1/2 hours long and let's just say, my 2 year old does not travel well. Which meant what? You are correct, my girls needed "travel bags" as well, so I immediately hopped on the bandwagon and started sewing.

I used a couple of fat quarters from Riley Blake's collection "Sweetcakes", which can be purchased from the Fat Quarter Shop here. The rim and the handles were made from the red and white polka dot of Camille and Bonnie's Vintage Modern collection. I used the following tutorial by Ayumi, at the Pink Penguin, which can be found here. I have never made a bag or a wristlet or anything of that nature before. I usually am rather slow in stretching my "sewing chops", so this was first time using a fusible interfacing. Surprisingly enough, it was rather easy to use. Also Ayumi's tutorial was awesome. The directions and pictures were great! It took me only 3 days to make 2 bags! I was so happy with the results. My girls will just love these.

The only thing I would have done differently on Melia's bag (2nd picture down) is I would have made the "cakes" going vertical rather than horizontal, but I was 2 inches short on fabric the vertical way, so what can you do. I am really trying hard to use fabric from my stash because I placed myself on a "fabric diet" in May when I started to clean up my sewing area and saw how much fabric I actually did have. It was kind of scary, so I am really trying hard to use up what I currently have as much as possible! However, if someone is selling Boo Crew or Flats and has a sale, I could be easily persuaded to purchase more fabric.

I couldn't believe how much stuff fits into these bags! I still need to add the fruit snacks and the goldfish crackers yet! I think the girls should be all set for our trip. What do you think?

Linking up to Needle and Thread Thursday with Kelly.

Happy quilting!

Let's Get Aquainted Blog Hop Weeks #4 & #5

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Not much sewing has been going on around here lately due to all the holiday festivities; however, I do plan on making more of a headway over the next couple of weeks on my Flower Patch Quilt Along wall hang using the fabrics shown above. I am making mine smaller then the required pattern because I want some smaller quilts to hang in my new quilting studio.

I am pretty excited. My studio is in the basement. It will actually take up the majority of the basement, but we never did anything to that area of the house when we moved in. The previous homeowners sort of finished it but they didn't completely finish it I would say. They painted some parts with white and gray paint, just primed other parts, and left bare wood on the remainder, so my plan is to finish what they started. I do think they were on the right track with what they were doing, but moved out before they completed it. My plan is to have it completed just after Labor Day so I can take on customers in the fall. I want them to have a nice area to come and drop their quilts off at. My plan is to take before and after pictures all along, so I can post my progress here on the blog. I am excited to see how it will turn out.

In the meantime, please don't forget to stop by the following blogs this week to see some of their great posts. I have been following along and I think everyone has done a really great job sharing more about themselves as well as different quilting tips and tricks.

Week #4

Green @ So Sew Green

Gwendellyn @ The Rainbow Revolts

Jessica @ Stitched In Thyme

Amira @ Little Mushroom Cap

Kathy @ Kayak Quilting

Michelle @ Factotum Of Arts

Paula @ The Sassy Quilter

Kris @ Sew Sunshine

Camilla @ Faffling

Week #5

Christa @ Christa Quilts!

Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce