August 3, 2021

Recent Happenings

It has been so long since I've checked in here! So much has happened at our house- mostly, the boys started school!!! That deserves like 10 more exclamation points. After the world's longest summer (1.5 yrs) they are finally back in-person! We are almost 2 weeks in to a year-round schedule, and it's going really well. The boys are tired, but so happy to be with peers and doing new things. I am slowly digging out of the pit of overwhelm that was homeschooling them (so much admiration for people who choose to do that!) and getting through some house projects and to-dos. I even finished the boys' bedrooms! The summer garden is happy and full of flowers, and I have done a bit of sewing, and fabric purchasing, which I'll share with you :) 

Last week I sent 4 different quilts to longarm, 2 to Knot and Thread and 2 to Paisley, Prints and Polka Dots. I have several lined up to longarm at home, and a couple of these I would have loved to straight-line or squiggle stitch myself on my domestic machine, but I still haven't figured out the spray baste dilemma. I shared on IG that my favorite spray baste changed formulas, and I think it's downright terrible now. It smells strong and awful, it's way too sticky, and causes all sorts of puckers. And I've never pin basted and don't intend to start now, ha! So while I figure that out, I've sent these to the professionals. 

The two on the left are High Tide and Pink Lemonade, both patterns in my shop. The two on the right will be free patterns in a few weeks!


I'm nearly done stitching around all the stars on my Star Kisses quilt, I can't wait to finish that one! I've got a blog post from a few years ago about adding big stitch hand quilting after machine quilting, if you have questions about that process. 

(This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you click a link and purchase something that I have recommended. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

I changed the $5 pattern of the month for August, and this time I did TWO! Summer Blossoms and High Tide Remix PDFs are both almost half off this month, so go grab them! 

Here are some things that I've purchased on Etsy in the last few months. 

Kitty Corn Charm Packs with Moda Bella Ruby Ice. You know I love Urban Chiks lines and I loved the soft colors combined with black in this one. Ruby Ice goes really well with the colors in Kitty Corn, and is the same background in the original First Snow quilt for reference. I drafted up a Charm Pack bat pattern for it which I'm hoping to get to soon! As a side note, this shop is owned by Sterling Quilt Co.'s mom, if you know her. If you don't, you should totally follow her, she's one of my favorites!

Halloween prints! There are some fantastic Halloween lines out this year. I made my bundle even more fun by adding some overtly Halloween prints from this shop that I know my kids will love. Really great selection here! 



I'm itching to make another solids quilts and these Kona Solids (Nectarine, Ice Frappe, Kale, Petal, Lipstick, Wasabi, Gumdrop, Bellini, Delft) seemed summery and fun!


It's so rare for me to buy an entire FQ bundle of one line, but when I do it's usually Bonnie and Camille :) I had to have all of Sunday Stroll! As much as I love navy, I have adored the addition of black to B&C lines, and I thought this one was so classic. 



A lot of people have been messaging me about my quilt pattern book Welcome to Woodberry Way, which was supposed to be out on Jul. 1. Martingale Publishing has experienced some shipping delays from Hong Kong. Amazon says it will be here tomorrow, finally! I don't know if that's true, but I do know that it will be here in the next month for absolutely sure. The books are in the US and being processed! Thank you for your patience on that. I hope it's work the wait, ha! If you really can't wait, the Kindle version is available now!

In September I will be teaching in person at a very exciting event in Utah called Garden of Quilts. It's hosted at a gorgeous facility and I will be teaching two classes. My First Snow class is full, but there are still a couple of spots open in my Big Stitch Pillow class. Come join me, it's going to be so fun! We will be sewing with Lori Holt's new fabric line and learning hand stitching and zipper installation. You'll go home with a super cute pillow cover, and my new book!

I have been doing Zoom trunk shows and Fabric Pull Classes here and there with guilds all over the country. It is always so fun to get an inside look at the sweet friendships within guilds and talk about quilts with quilt lovers. If you are interested in having me speak to your guild, send me an email! Woodberrywayblog@gmail.com. 

Lastly, if you have any questions about products I've shared in stories on IG, you can probably find them in my Amazon Favorites. These are things that I've purchased and loved, from kids activities to home decor. I adore all of them. I have so much fun making our house colorful, comfortable, and fun. 

I think that covers everything as of late. I'm excited about this new chapter of (hopefully) more sewing and sharing here. Thank you for stopping by!

4 comments :

  1. You should try Birdie Bird batting - no pin basting, no adhesive. The quilt top and batting magically adhere naturally to the batting. I have recently used it on two quilts that I quilted on my domestic machine and it works like a dream. No tucks back or front.

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  2. Kim of Chatterbox Quilts has a multipurpose homemade quilting spray. https://www.chatterboxquilts.com/blog/multi-purpose-quilt-spray
    I haven't tried it yet but plan to do that since I need to stay chemical free. And my knees are not going to be pin basting on the floor any time soon. The starch in the recipe makes things stick together. Easily washed out after the quilt is finished. Hope this helps, Sue

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  3. Wonderful updates! I'm looking forward to seeing your Kitty Corn project, I adore that fabric line and naturally have charm packs waiting...for something!

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  4. I agree! I love Birdie Bird Batting! I've made several kids twin size quilts with it. I use the flannel layer as the backing. Kids love it because the flannel is so soft and it doesn't slide off their bed. AND I save money on backing fabric!

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