Quilting in Paradise

Occasionally there are times in our lives when we get to sit back, sigh and be truly grateful. I recently had a weekend where I got to do just that. I was invited to teach a Toddler Bib class in beautiful Key West, Florida at The Seam Shoppe on Truman. First, I get to actually work doing what I love to do most - quilt! Add to that that I got to do it in a setting like Key West? Are you kidding me? I hit the karmic jackpot on this one. Ahhhhhhh....

I had a great day and I got to meet more amazing, fun quilters. Aren't quilters just the best people to hang out with? First, let me introduce you to the wonderful lady above. That's Meg up there pinning her bias binding on the bib. She lives in Key West and came to The Seam Shoppe to take the class. She was a wiz at sewing and I loved her fabric choices. The watermelons were so cute, and she left with a darling bib ready to catch melon drips!

This lovely lady, Lynn, (above) has a grandson she is sewing for. He lives quite a distance from his Grammy so she is going to be shipping many packages overseas. After some rather frustrating sewing machine issues (we've all been there!) Lynn took right off and was stipple quilting like a pro. Lynn, I'm waiting for a photo of that finished bib......

Above is the firecracker, Betty. She has been sewing for awhile. Betty, however, tried to cut a corner or two and not stipple the entire rectangle, but I caught her. Slacker....wink wink. Either way, she did a wonderful job on her bib and if I'm not mistaken, she finished first. We won't mention that she jumped ahead by making the bias binding at home before class. Hey wait, I think Meg did that as well... there's usually only one over achiever per class. This class seemed to have two! That's not in keeping with the laid back Key West way of life, now is it?

And this photo shows the view from one of my favorite places in the Keys. A boat! This was taken while we cruised through a great section of the Channel Keys on Sunday before we headed back home.... Ahhhhh.... what a wonderful weekend it was.

One Thing Led to Another...

You know how one thing just leads to another? Well today, for me, is a perfect example of how this happens and even the best laid plans can go astray. It all started last week when I stopped by my favorite fabric shop in Key West, The Seam Shoppe. It is located on Truman Ave and I have been going there for 15 years. That store always puts a skip in my step - they have the best batiks and island prints anywhere! As luck would have it they carry my Quilted Toddler Bib pattern and I needed to stop by and pick up some fabric to use to make a sample bib for them to display in their shop. The bib to the right is the sample I made for their store. Then, as is often the case when I begin to sew, one thing led to another, and another, and another, and that's why I didn't get any laundry done today.... isn't it?

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While I was sewing the sample for The Seam Shoppe, I remembered the fabulous citrus fabric I had bought there a while back and I decided to make my darling Granddaughter, Lucy, a bib with the remains of that fabric. Isn't it grand?

Here is the back. I love it!

And then, as luck would have it, I had just enough left over to make Lucy TWO "drool bibs." Here is one of them.

And when I finished the drool bibs, I remembered the fabric I had left over from the aprons I made my daughter and her girls for Mother's Day, and, well, that led to this bib here on the right ------->

Then I remembered another sample I had made for a machine embroidery website, so I started digging through boxes until I found that bib so I could include it with the other bibs I had made today. I couldn't send the box without this one in it, right? You wouldn't believe the stuff I found while hunting for this bib.... but that's another post entirely...

So all of that is why I didn't get any laundry done today. Or dusting. Or bookwork. Or the newest pattern uploaded to the Library of Congress. One thing just led to another...

Hey! How did Lucy's photo get on here? Now that it's on here, I certainly can't delete it.... Isn't she darling? Just look at those eyelashes!

Quilty Indulgence Goes Live!

Happy Friday! I have finally finished the big secret project! I have completed the copyright for my bib pattern, the Quilted Toddler Bib!   I have some more patterns that I am working on and will get them copyrighted and posted soon.

The bib pattern grew out of necessity as I watched my angel of a granddaughter eating her first little bowls of baby food. Her daddy would warn you to watch for what he termed “blow back”. Then there was the “waterfall of food” and a number of other potential actions that were a constant threat to whatever my little darling was wearing. I immediately saw the problem and needed to think of a solution. Thus the Quilted Toddler Bib was born. I chased my granddaughter around the house with an old T-Shirt, snipping and clipping to get it to fit properly in order to make the pattern and then, because she wasn’t the most patient of models, I kept modifying it at home and taking it back for fittings. We finally got it just right and I started making them for her.

That’s when the fun really began because as the parents of my granddaughter’s friends saw these bibs, they wanted some for their own children. I became a bib making machine and then a light came on in my head and I realized that I really had something here. I just had to get it all down on paper, and then get that paper printed!

I wanted the actual bib pattern to be full size (not one you had to tape together), so that required “big girl software” so that when I took the final drawing to the printer, it would print all in one piece. The paper needed to be 24 X 30 inches and my home printer certainly couldn’t handle that task. During this time my granddaughter turned two and outgrew the original bib, so I then I realized I had to make a larger size. So back to the computer drawing board I went, and I overlaid the larger size onto the same paper, like you do with sewing patterns and back to the printer I went. The printer I was using specializes in construction blueprints and such, and talking to him about sewing patterns was quite a lark. He just couldn’t wrap his head around what I was trying to accomplish until I stated, “this is the blueprint to build a bib.” Suddenly we were on the same page! The rest, as they say, is history.

Stop by my etsy shop, if you will, and have a look around. I love company! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Oh, and the inspiration for the bib is the little princess below, Miss Madelyn Mary!