Barb of Bejeweled Quilts

Barb was a fabulous sponsor last year, for the Pets on Quilts Show, and we appreciate her sponsorship this year!

Many of you know Barb for her great patterns. She has such cute ideas! That one above is something that would look great in a corner of my kitchen - how about yours?

You can check out the selection at her Etsy shop, over at this link.

This is one of my favorites - it's a great change-up from rectangular table toppers!

Barb spent time in Samoa, so these lovely fabrics are near and dear to her heart. They feature in some of her quilted projects.

Bejeweled Quilts can also be found on Craftsy -- click on this link to hop over there! You'll find a variety of free patterns that will be great for quick projects and gifting!

Barb is offering THREE of her great patterns to one lucky winner at the Pets on Quilts Show in August! Yay! That's going to make somebody happy!

Please take a moment to click on one of the links above and check out her patterns -- or drop by her blog and let her know we sent you! Better yet, leave a comment here to thank her for being a gracious sponsor of awesome prizes!

Thanks, Barb, for sponsoring our show! We love ya!

Love,

Update on Moses, the Official Studio Cat

All of us here at the Lilypad would like to thank all of you special peeps and purr-friends who have stopped by and offered words of encouragement.

You rock!

We appreciate you very much.

I wanted to give you an update on Moses, our Official Studio Cat here. I suppose he should be called the Official Sewing Room Cat, because we don't have anything fancy enough to be called a Studio! (Grin)

Here he is, with his "I don't trust you right now" face on.

This was a few minutes after I gave him his morning dose of The Awful Medicine. The doc warned me that it tasted terrible.

But it has helped! His appetite has increased, and I think, I'm not sure, maybe I'm being too hopeful.... I think he has put back an ounce or two. It feels like he is not quite as bony at the shoulders and hips.

He still is very careful how he sits and lies down. I imagine that tumor makes it uncomfortable, but he still enjoys his sun puddles on the screen porch, and watching the birds and squirrels.
And that is what I'm aiming for -- for him to have as much time as possible to enjoy the world he loves, and have lap time when he wants it.

"Aw, mom, you're embarrassing me."

So, thank you for your kind words. We will see if he is able to get stronger, before we decide if an ultrasound exam would stress him more than help him. The vet says that even if we are able to do a surgery, it may not be worth it, for what it would put him through. So we may be looking at keeping him comfy until it is time to cross over the bridge.

All of you special folks who left us love are the best! Keep purring and sending pawsitive thoughts in this direction!

Love,

Terry Stegmiller sponsors again!

Terri Stegmiller sponsored a prize last year, and she is back this year for the fun! Terri is a talented designer, and dreams up beautiful and sometimes whimsical patterns for lovely quilted projects. Take a peek over her shoulder and see what I mean!

Isn't that the cutest? Love how one kitty is expressing his individuality. We all know a cat like that, am I right? That is called "Purrfectly Patterned" and it was accepted to "Patterns," the 2016 Dinner at Eight Artists exhibition, which will debut at the Houston International Quilt Festival this fall.

I first "met" Terri in blogland when I had the honor of testing a pattern for her. Remember this wallhanging?

It was so much fun to make! I added some 3D touches, and I love how Terri's design really brings those kitties to life!

Terri is an artist and designer, and her focus is on textile arts -- she is multi-talented and works in art quilting, painting, stencils, and more.

She offers tutorials on her blog for projects that we can all enjoy. The tote bag above is one of those tutorials.

The photo above is from her thread sketching tutorial. You can learn from her tutorials how to bucket dye, to make faux batik fabric, and to construct a folio, an eyeglass case, or a pillow cover!

Have you ever wanted to sun dye fabrics? Or have you wanted to print on fabrics? You will find instructions and inspiration in Terri's world!

I enjoy keeping up with Terri's blog, and I hope you will hop over to see her. It's particularly interesting to see how she uses stencils and Thermofax screens to make lovely, one of a kind fabrics. 

And speaking of one of a kind fabrics, just take a peek at the prize that Terri is providing for one lucky winner at our Pets Show in August:

May I hand you a tissue? You are drooling on your keyboard. (Grin)

Those gorgeous fabrics are the bundle of fat quarters that Terri is sponsoring. Beautiful!

I'd like to encourage everyone to check out Terri's web site, and her blog, too.  (While you are there, sign up for her newsletter. Inspirational!) 
Take a cyber trip and visit her shop, and be sure to look on her tutorial page for the videos she has posted. There's one of her creating one of her art pieces -- and it's fascinating to watch!

(Waving)
Thank you so much, Terri! We love our sponsors, and appreciate your sponsoring a prize again for our Show!

Love,

Pawsitive thoughts

Just a quick update and a sincere "Thank you" to all of you -- all of the purrs and prayers have been much appreciated!

Moses' blood work does not look good. His white blood cells are high, and his albumin is low; coupled with the mass in his tummy, the doc says he is reasonably sure this is cancer.

Now we move to phase two . . . trying to see what we can do to maintain a good quality of life in an elderly cat. He's probably not a good candidate for surgery, but research has brought up some ideas of meds that might slow the growth of the tumor, and increase his appetite, so that he can be more comfortable and enjoy life here in the studio.

After all, what would I do without his help in arranging my quilt blocks? (Grin)

And he is a great duckling baby-sitter, too!

Please keep those pawsitive thoughts coming as we try to come up with a strategy for Moses. We're not ready yet to throw in the towel, though we know that day will come. Hopefully he has some time left with us. We want to do the right thing for an old friend.

Love,

Purrs and prayers needed

Frogs and dragons and cats, oh my!

You see a lot of these boys frolicing around here at the Lilypad. They are supervised by the Official Studio Cat, Moses.

Sometimes he's a little grumpy, but that's OK. He's fifteen now, and he's entitled. (Grin)

He's in time out here, for being way too grumpy.

Hope all of you pawsome peeps and pets out there will send up purrs and prayers for Moses. He's lost some weight lately and is off his feed. Just got back from the vet and hope to hear about his bloodwork tomorrow. Not sure what we are dealing with, but he does seem to have a mass in his belly.

Love,

Weekend projects and an Etsy shop tip

Want something fun and fast to do this weekend? You know, the instant gratification kind of project?

Hop over to Jenny's and check out her tea towel project. She has a tutorial, too, and is offering the pattern for the sweet birdies in her Etsy shop.

Speaking of shops, I have a tip for you . . . scoot over to Etsy and check out the gorgeous thread holders that Bea of BeaQuilter is offering. 

Letters with dowels for thread and enough room to organize with the bobbins, too!

You may want to put that on your Christmas wish-list, right? Or just get one now, and don't wait till Christmas! (Grin)

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Love,

I do love me a . . .

. . . a squared-up HST!!

What did you think I was going to say? (Grin)

Been making a bunch of these critters lately. I like the instructions that Jacquelynne Steves gives in her Maggie's First Dance pattern. You cut your pieces a teensy bit larger, and then square up those bad boys and add them to your block!

And I have the most awesome tool for doing just that!

Let me show you . . .

Here is one of our lil cuties, ready to be used in the block. He fills up that two inch square just perfectly. Did ya think he came that way?

Nope.

He started out like this:

Now, don't talk too loudly -- don't want to scare the lil guy, or make him feel bad. But you can see he's kinda wonky, right? (When I first started teaching myself how to quilt, no one told me that you should square these up, and I had some really "unique" looking blocks, let me tell you!)

Here is the tool; you may already know and use this one:

Here is the magic part of the Bloc Loc ruler, the part that makes my day (it's groovy, I swear!):

Can you see it? It's a groove on the back side of the ruler. What for, you ask?

OK, I understand, I'm a visual learner, too. I will show you.

First, you take your pressed square, and slide the ruler onto it, so the groove kinda "hooks" onto or over the lil hump of the seam. Like so:

Run your handy-dandy rotary cutter along those two sides, and you have this now:

Then you turn the ruler. No, no, no, don't lift it up. Just turn it!
It's going to take the square with it! (Trust me!!)

Then you slide the ruler so that it is like this:

Trim those two sides, and you're done!

Oh, OK, I admit it. I needed to watch the video, too. Here is a link to the hugely wonderful video instructions.

I'm telling you, the best quilting tools are made by quilters, for quilters. Am I right? Check out the story behind these great rulers and squares: click here to see the home page and then scroll down to meet the peeps behind the tools. 

I'm looking at all the other cool tools they have, and making my list. Let's see, I need that flying geese one, and . . . (Grin)

Do you have a favorite quilting tool?

Love,

Clever Tools sponsors again! Huzzah!

Clever Tools sponsored a prize for our show before . . . they are back for more fun this year!

Not to bore you with details, but a degenerative condition in my thumbs was really making my free motion quilting a chore. A painful one.  Quilting is supposed to be fun, right? (Grin)

Enter Ellen Holder of Clever Tools! She's invented the "Grip and Stitch" tool for us quilters!

What exactly are "Grip & Stitch" discs? Check out the Frequently Asked Questions on the Clever Tools site!

This brought the joy back to my quilting!

Padsworth thinks they are "ribbet-worthy" too, and not just because of their cute mascot!

These look deceptively simple -- but what a difference they make! With my gloves, I was still in pain. The Grip & Stitch pieces are so easy to hold, and they do an awesome job of moving the fabric sandwich around with a minimal amount of effort from me! 

No pain, just fun again!

I love 'em!  I hope you will click over to Clever Tools and watch the video, and maybe order a set for yourself! (A portion of the proceeds goes to a non-profit that supports Camp Korey and also American Hero Quilts.) 
And one lucky prize winner in August will get a set of these!

(Waving) Thank you, Ellen, for sponsoring a prize at our August Pets Show! Can't wait to see what new products you dream up next!

Love,

Pet Show Sponsor - Fat Quarter Shop

(Clip art courtesy of SweetClipArt.com)

You know what goes together like peanut butter and jelly? Or maybe you prefer peanut butter and chocolate?

(Grin)

It's the Pet Show and the Fat Quarter Shop! Our buddies at the Fat Quarter Shop have sponsored for several years now, and we sure appreciate them!

Many of us have their online store favorited on our web browser, and we keep kleenex close by, for when we are dreaming (and drooling) over their site!

But why not? They have so much to offer at the Fat Quarter Shop!

Are you a bargain hunter extraordinaire? You'll want to check their 24 Hour Flash Sales. Each and every day, click over to see what yummy treats are offered up at tremendous savings! (The day I wrote this post, a 40 piece set of 10 inch squares of gorgeous Hoffman batiks was on sale for only $11.98! Bali Crackers at that price! Unheard of!)

They keep the new fabrics coming in, fast and furious!

Got a pre-cut based project on your mind? Fat Quarter Shop has them all . . . jelly rolls, cute charm packs, and big, bodacious bundles!

They have all your favorite designers, and beautiful collections so that you can get yardage!

Want the guesswork taken out of your project? Fat Quarter Shop has lovely quilt kits! I didn't look away in time, and this one stole my heart! (You can get it in light, dark, and autumn colorways!)

Kimberly and her wonderful crew make sure that they provide us with a one-stop shop, too. All of the patterns, notions, and tools that we need are available in their store!

And if you need help, their customer service is outstanding! Their crew will send you swatches, advise on yardage, and much more!

This year, the folks at Fat Quarter Shop are providing TWO gift certificates for our random drawings and viewers' choice winners!

(Waving) Thank you, Fat Quarter Shop! We love our sponsors!

Get ready for our show! The fun begins on August 14th!

Love,