B&B Quilt Shop

Home Again and Ready to Go

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

This year started with me dragging my feet and having no real direction when it came to quilting.
Thanks to my blogging friends and their insight and support, I am now back on my feet.
Also, this week with my granddaughter has been so motivating.
Seeing her create in drawing, music, dance, fabric, writing, conversation, and play, was SO inspiring.
I took photos of some of her art pieces and plan to make some sort of quilted wall hanging based on her work. She also had this t-shirt that she said was her favorite because it looked like her.
I want to see what I can do with this image of her shirt. The shirt no longer fits her, so maybe I can make something from the shirt.

During my week away from my sewing studio, I got to visit with my friend, Nancy.
She is so full of ideas and creativity. I wish we lived in the same city and shared a sewing studio.
When we visited the Valli and Kim Quilt Shop, in Dripping Springs, I was in awe of all the beautiful fabric. I must have had a case of the Fabric Flu, though, because I left without buying fabric.
I was so overwhelmed with ideas when I saw the fabric, and I just couldn’t decide on what to do.
After a restless night, thinking of all the fabric, I knew the only way to cure the Fabric Flu was to go back to Dripping Springs. Luckily, my granddaughter’s ballet class is just a block away from the shop.
I got a bit carried away with my purchases, but I feel SO much better.

I also visited the B&B Quilt Shop in Buda.
I purchased some cute Bee fabric to make a Bee My Valentine pillowcase for my granddaughter.

They also had a bird/inspirational panel that I couldn’t resist.
It is for making a book, but I do not yet know  how I plan to use this fabric panel.

I know I may be fixated on birds, but why not stick with what you like?
I purchased this bird fabric and an inspirational word fabric.
This could be for a pillow or a wall hanging.

I have so much to think about now…Where do I start?

My plan to not buy fabric until I utilized my stash just went out the window.
I still plan to continue using up my scraps by making scrappy quilts and making fabric from scraps.
So much fun ahead!
Home again and ready to go!

Terrific Thursday

by Chela's Colchas y Mas
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What a Terrific Thursday it has been!
My granddaughter invited me to a Grandparent’s Day Lunch at her school.
There is NOTHING like eating lunch in a school cafeteria…I love it!
My granddaughter gave me a tour of her classroom before we went to lunch.
Lunch was filled with delightful conversation.
Then, of course, we went out to recess.
At the end of recess, my granddaughter lined up with the rest of her class.
As I walked away, I looked back and I could see her sweet face still looking at me.
I waved and blew her a kiss, and she in turn blew me a kiss.
I really wanted to go back and  hug her, but I didn’t want to embarrass  her.
  

Recess Fun

Afterwards, I made my way to the B&B Quilt Shop…just to look around. 
Nancy and Lori, the two sisters who own the store, are super helpful.
I just so happened to take my QAL blocks with me, just in case I saw something that might enhance the quilt.
My plan is to make a keyboard outer border with all the fabric pieces I have used in the Christmas quilt.
I have been looking for a sashing fabric that would make the blocks pop out.
My blocks are dark red and green fabrics with many patterns.
The sashing needs to be something a bit more subdued.
Nancy helped me find a gold-ish fabric that reminds me of garlands. I also found some beautiful fat quarters that might be useful in the remaining blocks.


I plan to make some fabric pumpkins with the fancier swatches in box of fabric my brother gave me.
The fabric is rich in color and texture, so I wanted the leaves and stems to be made with wool.
I found some perfect squares of wool at the B& B, at a pretty good price.

I will start on some projects tomorrow, after I return from a dental appointment. 😦
Even though I have a great dentist, this is one appointment I always seem to postpone.
It should be for a cleaning only.

On my way to the fabric shop, I received a call from my daughter-in-law, who lives  in Mckinney, Texas. She had received the box of Halloween things I made, and she was excited and happy about all of the items.
(Dresden Halloween Pillow, Sugar Skull pincushion, Sugar Skull Dresden table top, one large  and two small Halloween fabric pumpkins.)
We spent a good while talking about different ideas and tutorials. She is making a fleece and felt blanket that she designed herself. It will be a four seasons blanket. I can’t wait to see it.
Now, I am ready for Friday.

Friend+Quilt Shop = Fun

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Nancy came to visit.
She brought two beautiful felt birds as gifts.
One was blue and one was burgundy.
My granddaughter, who must have inherited the bird-loving gene from her grandmother and great-grandmother, immediately chose the blue one and had me hang it in her room.
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After catching up and sharing ideas, Nancy and I headed out to the B&B Quilting shop in Buda.
This shop is owned by two sisters, Nancy Brinkley and Lori Beckers.
They are so friendly and helpful.

The store has a large selection of beautiful fabric and other goodies.
I was looking for sashing fabric, and my friend, Nancy, gave me some ideas about colors and design.
It was difficult finding a white/cream fabric, since I had forgotten to bring one of my blocks.
I wanted to compare  and find a fabric that complimented the Kona Snow fabric that I used as the background for many of my blocks.
Luckily, a bolt of the Kona Snow fabric had just been delivered, and Nancy, the store owner, helped me find a white-on- white speckled fabric that coordinated with the Kona Snow.
I shared my design plan with Nancy Brinkley . With her suggestions, I fine- tuned my design, and I finalized the sashing plan.

I will be using the sashing ideas from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. tutorial.
The tutorial demonstrates using three, 1.5 inch strips for sashing.
Instead of using one white strip with a colored strip on each side , I will be using two white strips and a color strip in the middle. This will make it easier for me to spotlight the center block, which is the block that represents my mother’s house.
I had originally thought I would be using polka-dot fabrics, but these two Kaufman fabrics caught my eye.
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One of my goals has been to learn how to figure out how much material is needed for quilting projects.
I had done some research on figuring the amount of fabric needed in sashing a quilt that has 35 twelve-inch blocks.
Thanks to the tutorials I found online, I figured out what I needed.
Since I was not sure if I had done it correctly, I asked Nancy Brinkley if she could help me.

She kindly pulled out the calculator and some paper and proceeded to figure the yardage.
To my delight, it was close to what I had figured out!
Nancy presented a conservative yardage amount and I had added a bit more to be safe.
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Nancy B. scripted the cutting directions for me.
See…I told you they were helpful!

As we were figuring this out, my friend Nancy found some beautiful fabric for her projects.
It was a pretty productive day.

As soon as I return home, I will begin sashing the Tribute quilt.
There are still a few blocks that I have to even up, but Nancy B. gave me some great ideas on how to do this without ripping and redoing blocks.
It is well worth a trip to B&B Quilt Shop.

Quilted Christmas Tote Bag

by Chela's Colchas y Mas

My granddaughter chose this VeRy MeRry mini charm pack by Moda when we went to the B&B Quilt Shop last week.
I told her that I wanted to make a purse for my sister’s December birthday.
She also chose the coordinating berry fabric.
Yesterday, I purchased the cranberry moda fabric for the outside panel frames.

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I added Christmas buttons.
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