Eastern Michigan State Fair 2017

One of the biggest obstacles I have to getting anything done is TIME. There's only so much time to do the plethora of projects I want to do, and my job sure cuts into that time!


This year, I set myself a goal to finish a quilt in time for the Eastern Michigan State Fair. Registration ended in June, so I went ahead and spend the $15 to register, effectively giving myself a deadline. And it worked! I actually entered 7 items (though I only actually brought 6).


First, I finally finished this!

Most people that have seen this have said WOW! And wow is right. This just hits you right in the eye. Photos truly don't do this justice, though this photo is better at capturing the colors than my cell phone was. You can't help but follow the colors, spinning your eyes around with the changes. There are over 200 fabrics in this quilt, so every time you look at it, you see something new!



Next, I finished my Toothless!

This is a modified Sitting Dragon from Sew Desu Ne?, with parts borrowed from the Jackalope pattern from the same designer, and some pieces I drew up and added. (This designer now has a really adorable FREE Night Fury pattern that you should really get!)


Next, I entered this bag I sewed up from the Everyday Attache pattern from StudioKat Designs.

This was one of the most intensely complicated bags I've ever made, but it went together so smoothly! It's a little smaller than I would carry regularly though, I'm more of a Wrapsody girl.


I also entered 3 photos I took on our family vacation this year.


So how did I do? Pretty well!

Best in Show!

Blue ribbons on Toothless and my Everyday Attache!

 

And a blue for my dolphin photo (top right), a red for my marine landscape photo (lower left), and a white for the photo of my boys while snuba diving (upper left).

 

Not too bad for the first time I ever entered! I'm going to try a different fair next year though. I have several more quilts to finish, so I'm going to check the open book this year and see what categories there are, and what projects I can finish for those categories. This won't be my last fair!

Just wanted to share my first quilt design :)

I thought I'd share a picture of the quilt I designed for my 2 year old last year. It's a Thomas the Tank Engine quilt made from Cranston Village fabrics. My son absolutely LOVES Thomas! So, since I'd made the Fons and Porter Victory Lane quilt for my oldest (it's a Disney Cars quilt), I thought I should make one for my youngest too. But I didn't like any of the existing patterns out there. So I started looking for fabrics, and came up with this. I didn't get exact measurements of the pieces till I had the fabrics in my hands, but it went together very quickly after that!

I was going to try to put together instructions for how I made it, but one of the fabrics doesn't appear on Cranston Village's website anymore. So I will have to rework it a little before I can do that, but in the meantime, here's what I made.

This was the first quilt I ever designed, although I have a few more floating around in my head waiting to get out!

It's HERE!

Wednesday was the big day that my proof copy of "Monkeying Around" arrived! It seemed like it took forever, but it was really less than 3 weeks. Next time I order a proof, I'll spring for better shipping than media mail!

Anyway, here's a photo of my first ever book!

This pattern was inspired by the children's song "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." I've been working on it off and on (mostly off) since October of 2009. I just finished it in February and submitted it for publishing.

Getting the pattern itself designed wasn't a huge deal, but the formatting and diagrams took a while. I use AutoCAD for work, so that was what I used to do the entire book except the cover (which was done in Photo Shop). The book includes directions for five sizes of a fat quarter quilt, and directions and pieces to applique the five monkeys onto it.

I'm currently trying to upload the file with my changes, and by tomorrow I should be able to order another proof. That is, if I can ever get the file to process! Cellular internet doesn't seem to like me too much, but we have very few options where I live. It may have to wait till Monday when I get to work again. Either that or my little guy and I will have to make a stop for lunch at a local wi-fi hot spot.

I am confident that I've made all the changes I need to. It was all minor fixes. So as soon as they tell me that my proof has shipped, I'll approve it and it'll be available for sale!! I will post a link here on my blog as soon as it's available.

I always wanted to write a book. I always thought it'd be a novel if I ever did it, but here I am with a 36 page quilt pattern with my name on the cover. Snazzy!

EDIT: As of March 22, this pattern is available for sale! You can get your copy here:

http://www.createspace.com/3548723