Hi Everyone! The past couple of weeks have been really hectic but full of quilty goodness. The most exciting news is that I received printed copies of my newest pattern, Painted Stars, from the printer. Yay! Copies are available in our local quilt shop, Bolts & Quarters. They will also be available on this website as soon as I get a few details taken care of. As always, PDF copies are available for download now in the Pattern Shop!

UPDATE: This morning there was a hiccup with ordering/downloading the pattern. If paying by credit card, checkout was requesting name and shipping address (not necessary for a digital file). We have fixed the problem. So now the only info you will need to enter is your name and email address. Shipping address fields are still showing, but you DO NOT need to enter your personal information. Thanks to Julia for bringing this to my attention!

This quilt/pattern has taken me a year to finish. An entire year! I remember making the star blocks last March when I visited my sister in Pennsylvania. We were suppose to go to the AQS Lancaster show, but got 13″ of snow so we had an unplanned quilt retreat at her house instead. Even though I hated missing the show, we had so much fun. We rarely get more than a few inches of snow where I live, so it was really enjoyable for me to play in so much of the white fluffy stuff! (Click here to go to the post I wrote last year – if you scroll to the bottom you’ll see some outtake pics that are quite funny.)

Since this quilt was my own, I decided to just go for it with the quilting. I don’t get an opportunity to do crazy quilting very often, so this one was a real treat. I used rulers — my favorite type of quilting — and also included some free motion work. I loved quilting in ‘ghost’ stars and am so pumped with the way it looks.

There are two layers of batting in the quilt – Hobbs Polydown on the bottom and Quilters Dream 80/20 on top. I had originally planned to use wool but I didn’t have any when I was ready to start the quilting. Even so, I love the way the two battings make the quilting pop.

Making the quilt is fast and easy. All you need is 14 (or more for more color variation) fat quarters and some background yardage. This pattern is perfect for playing with different color combinations in the stars. You can get your PDF copy now for only $8 and it will be on sale through next Sunday, so scoop it up. If you want a printed booklet let me know and I’ll get one to you.

The other exciting project that has taken a lot of my time is the moving of our local quilt shop. The shop has moved from a 2500 square foot space to one that is about five times as large. Employees and customers are so excited for the owner and his partner and the space is soooo beautiful!

The retail space has tripled, and the classroom is huge at 1400 square feet. I can’t wait to fill it with a new group of beginner quilters! In addition to the classroom, there is a Sewcial Room for sewing and hanging out with friends. Here’s a close up picture of the color wall – look at all that lickable fabric! 🙂

The shop opened in their new space on Saturday and the place was swarming with people most of the day. My Painted Stars quilt was hanging outside the classroom door and we sold almost every copy of the pattern we had there, as well as most of the fabrics Warren ordered to have available for it. Oh, the fabric I used was the Brushline line from Andover. It looks like someone took a paintbrush to the fabric, therefore the name. The fabric inspired the name of the pattern as well. I love the richness of the colors. You might want to get your hands on some of this – it is a great blender to have in your stash!

In addition to all that craziness, Freddie Fusion decided to be fussy and take a few days off. Geesh! He had a gear go nutty and HandiQuilter had to send a replacement. (Which they promptly did – their customer service is great!) I got the part Friday evening, Tim put it back in on Saturday evening and I was ready to get back to quilting yesterday. But we had a wind storm and lost power for most of the day so I had an unexpected day off. Hopefully today the weather will cooperate and I can get the quilt I’m currently working on finished and back to its owner. Fingers crossed today is uneventful and productive!

So that’s my time – I’ve got to stop talking cause this post is getting really long! I don’t know if there will be a link-up for MCM this week. The service I use has changed and I spent most of Sunday trying to create a new account. If I get it figured out I’ll come back and edit this post so you can link. If not, we will have to wait until next week. Please know I’m working on it!