Blueberry Buckle

I'm Ready to Quilt Now...

Day 5 of post-knee surgery recovery, and I'm dying to get back to the Blueberry Buckle studio! Actually, I was ready to quilt at Day 4, but as my knee is not ready yet for standing at the cutting table or sitting at my machine, I'm still stuck on the couch. Trying not to go a little crazy here, I've been knitting (one hat and 1/2 of a man's vest finished), reading, watching way too much television, and planning some new quilts.

My quilting to-do list grows longer and longer each day I'm not in the studio:

I have a new design ready to go for the Love U fabric line by Deb Strain for Moda. It uses one of the ABC panels and fat quarters of some the other fabrics in the line. It is quick and easy and will make a great baby gift. I can't wait to make a sample to show you.

I have two other new original quilt designs that I'll debut in February, one for little girls and one for little boys. It's been fun to play around with drawings and graph paper, but my real love is the fabric, so I'm itching to get started.

On a personal note, I have a stack of Civil War quilt repro kits to put together in 2010. One of my goals is to learn to do custom heirloom quilting on my TinLizzie, particularly for these quilts. I also have a bunch of quilts that I'd like to make for the kids. Some are just ideas, some are patterns, some I even have fabric for. The list could go on and on...need more time to quilt!

I'd better do some leg lifts now! The sooner this knee is better, the sooner I can get back to work!

Happy Quilting!

Sue

Manic Monday at Blueberry Buckle Quilt Studio

So many quilty things to do, so little time to blog.

Cutting.

 

Fabric bound for Portugal and Iceland. How cool is that?

Piecing.

 More Figgy Pudding fabric love. 

Quilting:

Shade Garden fabrics by Michelle Engel Bencsko for Henry Glass. Find it here.

Binding.

Now it's time for sleeping. Good night!

Sue
 

Which Fabric Do You Desire? (Another Giveaway)

My Moda salesman was here on Friday, tempting me with samples of all the fabric lines that were introduced a few days before at Quilt Market in Houston. I'm attempting to maintain a style of fresh, modern, designer fabrics to use in my quilts and sell in my etsy shop, so it was easy to say no to the traditional prints, reproductions, and soft, florals. Then came the hard part. There are SO many really great modern fabrics by really good designers.

Then, Michael Miller Fabrics called me yesterday afternoon to show me (via the web) all of their new fabrics from Market. Then I thought about all the Kona Cotton colors I need to reorder as my stock is getting low, and the colors I would like to add to my stock.

Not to mention Kaffe Fasset and Amy Butler...

Overwhelming? It wouldn't be if I could just buy it all, because it's all so pretty!

Being on a budget, like most people, I need to be selective and limit what I buy. (Until I win the lottery, lol.) It's still risky, though. What if I buy fabric and no one else likes it? Oh! The pressure! Haha.

Yes, I ordered some Moda lines. Won't see those for months, though. Needing something fresh for the shop now, and I've narrowed my options to two:

1. Restock the Kona Cottons that have been selling well and add 10 more colors. (Very tempting.)

or

2. Go out on a limb and order these Michael Miller fabrics, which I adore:

 

Which fabric would you most desire?

So...here's a little giveaway for you. This week's prize is...

an Objects of Desire Jelly Roll, by Sandy Gervais for Moda. What a great prize!

Here are the rules. Pay attention, please, so you can earn as many entries as possible.

Comment on this post and earn:

1 entry for voting on option 1 (Kona Cotton Solids) or option 2 (Michael Miller prints).

5 additional entries for telling me what type of fabric you use the most. Moda? Amy Butler? Reproductions? Solids? Cotton/linen blends? You name it.

10 additional entries for linking directly to this post from your blog.

No extra entries for linking to your own blog, but please do, because I'd like to visit!

Comments will close on Sunday, October 25 at 7:00 am Eastern Time. The winner will be announced soon after and posted here.

Let the commenting begin!

Sue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Behind the Scenes of a Grand Opening

There has been so much activity here at Blueberry Buckle, I'm not sure where to begin! Here's a brief overview of what I've been up to in preparation for the grand opening. I'll tell you more about everything over the next week.

Designing Quilts

I love coming up with new designs that show off great designer fabric collections. Six modern quilts, each in two sizes, will debut in the next few weeks. I'm so excited to show them to you very soon!

Ordering Fabrics

I did not anticipate the amount of time I would spend selecting fabric, especially from lines that will not be released until months from now! I though I would just order, and, voila! Fabric would arrive in a week or two and quilts would be in my shop! What an education I'm getting, lol!

Setting up the Studio

Blueberry Buckle now occupies most of the lower walk-out level of our home. It didn't take long for me to realize that I like having space to spread out. To my large sewing table, I added a cutting table and made an ironing table.

Sewing!

This week you get to see the very first quilts to come from the Blueberry Buckle Studio. They are fresh, modern and I can't wait for you to give them good homes.

This is going to be a big week!