Happy Monday To You!

Happy Monday to you!  It is a Happy Monday for me because I'm heading over to the Quilt Foundry to do some stitchin' and I can't wait :)  My Birthday present to me.  Thank you to everyone who remembered that yesterday was my big ole birthday....48 never looked so...well....lets just not discuss it...LOL.

 On the "Flamingo Front" the babies seem to be doing just fine.  You'll see them in the far left of this photo...still in their nests.  The other siblings had a game of pick up basketball over the weekend.

Ya all know who this is, right?

 Yes...it is Ami Simms!  She was at the Toledo Gathering of Quilters, last week on Thursday.  I have not had the pleasure of hearing her speak before and everyone I know says, "don't miss her."  So off Waldo and I went to the meeting.  Ami is everything people say she is....genuine, warm, funny, kind and colorful.  I loved here jacket.  It is her pattern, Rag Fur Jacket.  She said the one she is wearing in this photo is 6 or 7 years old....and look how good it looks.

Ami's program was, "How NOT to make a prize winning quilt."  I can vouch for her....she definitely knows how to do that well.  So much of what she said resonated with me and my start with quilting.  I also made a baby quilt and every single corner is mitered differently.  I had no clue....but I sure was proud when I was finished.  Oh the freedom we allow ourselves when we just "do it."  I'll tell all of you what I was told, "if you get a chance to hear Ami speak....don't miss it."

Ami is the founder of the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.  Did you know that you can make a quilt that is 9" x 12" OR Smaller....but absolutely not bigger....and donate it to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative and they will sell it to raise funds for research?  Sooooo....while you are practicing a new skill, making a teeny tiny quilt that is embellished with beads, or you've never made a small quilt...you may just want to head over here and read all about it. 


Remember last week when I was busy embellishing everything?  I decided to embellish a few straight pins....for no other reason that because I could.

 I cracked up when I saw these femo heads on the end of my straight pins.  It gives new meaning to quilting with your friends :)  I thought the thread spool was cute too.  I stopped at three...I didn't want to get too carried away you know.


My co-workers were invited to a birthday party on Saturday.  The little girl who's party they went to just so happens to be a little girl that I  adore.  The boys gave her their gifts and I wanted to give her something special....so this is what I made for her:

I used Sarah Vedeler's Hearts Machine Embroidery Design.   I really like all the choices I have on that CD.  I think the birthday girl is such a Star, so I chose the heart with the star in the center.

Hearts by Sarah Vedeler

Tajiana's favorite color is green so I made sure that the fabric was green and I used 7 or 8 different shades of Floriani thread for the design.  Her name had to be hot pink....after all...she just turned 9.

After I did the machine embroidery, I added some bling with my new Professional  Touch Crystal Applicator.    I think the crystals added a little zip and besides....I had to have an excuse to use it again right?  I inserted the design into a Quick Stitch Desktop Organizer.  Tajiana can either use it for pencils and pens or she can keep it in her bathroom for her tooth brush and tooth paste....or where ever she wants.  When she opened the package...she had a big beautiful smile on her face....that's all I needed.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend as well.  Happy belated National Quilting Day and St. Patrick's Day too....I was just too busy to blog...I know you understand.

Smiles,
Kelly

Sarah Vedeler's AccuQuilt Dies are Now Available

For all of you who have been patiently waiting, the wait is over!!!  All of the Exclusive Sarah Vedeler AccuQuilt Go! Dies are now available.

Many of you will remember these photos that I took at Fall Quilt Market in Houston this past Oct/Nov.  The dies are just now available and I thought many of you who expressed interest in the Machine Embroidery Designs and AccuQuilt GO! Dies would want to know.

This tree skirt was made using Sarah Vedeler's Sparkle CD.

Sarah's award winning, GO! Bedazzled CD was used to make this amazing quilt.

Sarah's Stars CD

Here are all of the Brewer Quilting and Sewing Exclusive, Sarah Vedeler GO! Dies by Accuquilt.

AccuQuilt GO! Diamonds by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! Sparkle Jumbo Tree by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! Sparkle Slim Tree by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! Sparkle Snowflakes by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! Sparkle Tree by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! 8 Point Star by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! Star Points by Sarah Vedeler

AccuQuilt GO! 6 Point Star Medley by Sarah Vedeler

Consider yourself updated :)

Since the website had some "issues" I've been spending my time getting it back to it's previous condition.  If there is something you want but the price has changed, please just e-mail me at IHaveANotion@yahoo.com and I can help you with that. 

Smiles....because I've also been sewing while working on my website....oh yeah baby....I'm loving it :)

Kelly

Sarah Vedeler in Houston Quilt Market 2010 - GO! Be Dazzled Takes First Place

Sarah Vedeler’s GO! Be Dazzled quilt has earned First Place in Houston.  Congratulations Sarah!
(Computer-Aided Machine Embroidery category the International Quilt Association in Houston)
I posted photos of her 2 entries, Heather Feather and GO! Be Dazzled, yesterday on this blog.

These are photos of Sarah's School House Presentation last Thursday, Oct.28, 2010.  Schoolhouse is a series of classes/mini-commercials/introductions to new products and designs sponsored by the various companies and occur the day before Quilt Market Opens.

This quilt was made using Sarah's GO! Be Dazzled Machine Embroidery Software.  It is amazing how quickly Sarah's designs have taken off and now there are Silk Fabric Collections ,AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutting Dies , Aurifil Thread Collections and Isacord Thread to go with her designs. 

I love this AccuQuilt GO! Die.....you don't need to actually put up a Christmas Tree this year.....Just make a wall size tree and hang it on the wall.....EXCELLENT idea!!!!  No cleaning up pine needles for the next 3 months :)  This is perfect for those who can't put up trees or don't want to be bothered by the work involved.  No one says you can't stitch on loops to hang ornaments either!!! :)

 

Although Sarah looks great in her silk shawl.....it is actually a Christmas Tree Skirt :) 

How did Mrs. Rosemary sneak into this photo?  She seems to turn up everywhere :)  Isn't the wall hanging Sarah's holding up absolutely stunning? 

Sarah was showing the Sparkle Thread Collection by Aurifil.  

Speaking of the Sparkle Thread Collection....IHAN is sponsoring the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at AmysCreativeSide Blog and our gift is a box of the Sparkle Threads by Aurifil :)  I hope you entered a quilt!

 Are you seeing Stars?  Me too.  Lots and lots and lots of Stars.  Not only has Sarah come out with this new Machine Embroidery Software but Brewer Quilting and Sewing have come out with some Exclusive AccuQuilt GO! Dies to go along with Sarah's Designs. 

Another Brewer Exclusive-Stars Silk Collection and Aurifil Stars Thread set to coordinate. 

 

These are the Brewer Exclusive AccuQuilt GO! Stars Dies I was talking about earlier.  Many of them are available now at IHAN!!!

Sarah demonstrated why she likes to use the AccuQuilt Dies in her designs.  She had used her Embroidery Machine to make a Star and then asked asked AlexVeronelli ,of Aurifil, to trim around the Star.

Here is Alex hard at work.  He was very focused.  I did notice he seemed a bit awkward with the scissors....do you think he's a quilter or a stitcher?  Me either.

He gave it a good effort and this was the result.    I don't have an Embroidery Machine but I can certainly understand why someone would want their designs to come out better than this!!!  Yikes

These photos were taken at the Brewer Quilting and Sewing Booth in Houston.   You certainly could not just walk on by without taking notice of Sarah's beautiful designs....and those Silks.....and Threads.....and Dies.....Oh My!!! 

 

Can you imagine something this beautiful under your tree?  Incredible!

 

 

Armed with a camera at all times....at least one....there were times I had three.....I seemed to run into Sarah everywhere I went.  Check out her bag.....I should have waited for her to set it down....but I was not thinking at the time...dang.

A glowing smile.....and that was before she won first place!!!! 

Ok, so photo overkill.....but you know what?  I enjoyed photographing Sarah's work and I enjoyed seeing her recognized for her beautiful Quilt Designs.  I hope you enjoyed them too.

Smiles,
Kelly

Sarah Vedeler at Spring Quilt Market 2010 in Minneapolis, MN

Prior to going to Spring Quilt Market,  I had never met Sarah Vedeler.   IHAN sells her designs, coordinating silks and threads but I had never met Sarah.  The most I knew about Sarah was from what I read on Facebook. 

Imagine my surprise when I learn Sarah will be giving a presentation at Schoolhouse.  I ran, yes ran (feel free to ask around....people definitely saw me running and walking extremely fast) to get to the room where she was presenting so I could get some photos and see her new designs.

Sarah Vedeler, I'm pleased to introduce you to the IHAN Blogifers.  Blogifers, meet Dr. Sarah Vedeler, designer, software engineer and mother :)

GO! Be Dazzled is Sarah's latest machine embroidery design and pattern.  Isn't it beautiful?

GO! Be Dazzled is a  block of the month quilt featuring AccuQuilt GO! dies. The multi format CD contains 49 individual designs as well as designs formatted for a 12 month block of the month program with illustrated instructions.

The GO! Fabric Cutter Dies Sarah used include:

GO! Circle-2”, 3”, 5”
GO! Feathers
GO! Funky Flowers
GO! Heart-2”, 3”, 4”
GO! Round Flower
GO! Star 2”, 3”, 4”

I am just amazed at how beautiful the combination of machine embroidery and quilting can be. I'm an old time hand embroidery gal, I had no idea such things could be so lovely until the last year or so. I guess I have been living under a mushroom.

Later I walked into the Northcott Schoolhouse where there were no seats left and I was waiting to see what yummy fabrics they were introducing when I noticed I was standing next to Sarah Vedeler.  I could not help but smile and ask Sarah if I could take a picture of her purse.  I honestly felt like I was in Hollywood , casually asking Anthony Hopkins for a photo....Quilt Market is the Red Carpet for us quilters and I LOVE getting to meet and see all these talented folks.

This was the pretty bag Sarah was carrying.  OM Goodness....can you imagine walking around town in a GREEN quilted SILK handbag?  I wanted to grab it but Sarah looked too much like a lady and I did not want to make her chase me down the hallway. (I bet I could run faster....only because I would be fueled with envy....the dark emotion with lots of power!!!...LOL)

By now you must be thinking I had followed Sarah around the entire Quilt Market just waiting for her to appear.  Truthfully, I just happened to be walking by the Bernina and Brewer booths and Sarah was there next to a Bernina 830 (ok....if you have one of these....keep it to yourself....honestly....I don't even want to know....because I don't know what I would do) that was embroidering one of her Heart designs.

This photo is just too cool for words....so I'll be quiet.  Hear that?  Yes....the silence!!!

Here is part of the Brewer Booth at Quilt Market.  There will be more photos in other posts but this one grabbed me.  Here is Sarah's Silk Hearts Collection:  The Silk Hearts CD, the Dupioni Silk, the Aurifil Thread and the GO! Fabric Cutter dies that coordinate.  Yes my heart was pounding being so close to all those delicious things.  I really should take Valium before I go because my central nervous system goes haywire and I feel like I have a hangover when I get home.  It takes me at least a week or two to recover....no kidding.

Sarah was standing right there, so of course I asked her if I could photograph her in front of her latest design, GO! Be Dazzled Quilt .  I know I take a lot of photos but I want everyone to feel like there are with me on these adventures.  If a photo is worth a 1,000 words.....then my posts are at least 100,000 plus words :)

I wonder where Sarah stores this quilt when it is not on display.  Do you think her co-workers use it?  (Sarah has two girls)  My co-workers think I make every quilt that I  photograph and I love that they actually think I could make something like this.  One of them will walk up when I'm writing my blog and ask, "Momma, did you make that?"  My favorite co-worker questions are when they ask if the photo is a picture of me when clearly I don't look anything like the photo.  They both though the Bionce you tube video post was me dancing....you gotta love kids!!!

 

This is the Isacord GO! Be Dazzled Thread Collection that will be released soon.  It coordinates with the GO! Be Dazzled CD and pattern.

All I have to say is Sarah Vedeler is one talented lady and I can't wait to see what she does next!!

Smiles,
Kell