I Am Thankful!!!

It's always good when this time of year rolls around and we take extra special notice of all the wonderful things we have to be grateful for. Family, friends, jobs, faith....just to name a few.

Here are some of the people I'm thankful for:

My family Oct 2010

My Dad

The Dastrup Tribe

And KELLEN!!!!

Thank you all for being part of my life!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Kellen Turns Two!!!

Our little grandson Kellen has had quite a life in his two years here on earth. It's been full of concerns and worries, but full of love and pride from all of his family. Kellen has made the world a better place for us. His sweet smile can melt his Grandparent's hearts. He's a special little boy that Heavenly Father saw fit to send him to two very special parents.

We are so blessed to have him in our lives and want to wish him a very

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!!

We love you!!!!!!

Chirp, Chirp,
Robin

Quilting Friends From Across the Country

Designing patterns is so much fun! Especially when someone from across the country buys that pattern, makes the quilt and then is nice enough to share the final result with you.

That was the case when I got the nicest e-mail from Mary in South Carolina.

Here's what she wrote:

Dear Robin,

Last spring I visited a quilt shop in Madison, Indiana, and saw a shop sample for Charms Gone Wild, and I purchased your pattern. When I get into a "quilt slump", I enjoy fun projects with charms and jelly rolls. They make up quickly and some of the work has already been done (fabric selection and cutting).

At any rate, I am almost finished with my quilt top and have been so pleased with the process.

Everything is going together beautifully and quickly.

This project was so much fun that I have already purchased charm squares and border fabric to make another one from the same pattern. And after visiting your website, I see some more patterns that I would like to try.

Sincerely,

Mary

Beaufort, SC

Well....yesterday I got another e-mail from Mary and she finished the quilt! She also shared two pictures. And said this:

Hi Robin,

Just finished my quilt top and wanted to show it to you. I am so pleased.

This project was so fast and so fun! I will definitely make another quilt with the same pattern, as soon as I complete a few things on my "to do" list. (I have quite a stash of charm packs. They are addictive.)

I used "Wrapped in Paisley" from Moda for this quilt.

Happy Quilting to you!

Mary

Charms Gone Wild - Sewn by Mary in South Carolina

Thank you Mary for your feed-back and taking the time to share!

I just had to do the same.

Thanks again Mary!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Super Fast Jelly-Roll Quilt

Approximate finished size: 65" X 79"

A friend shared this idea with me.

I've written it up so I can share it. Enjoy!

What you will need: 1 Jelly roll

First border: 1/2 yard
Second border: 1 1/4 yards

Directions: Sew all the jellyroll strips end to end in random order. Cut the selvages off as you go. You will have a very long strip of fabric approximately 1600 inches long.

(40 strips x 40")

Important: Cut 20" off of the beginning of the long strip of fabric and throw it in your stash. You won't be using it. This will make it so your seams will be staggered as you sew them together.
Now find the 2 ends of the strip and put right sides together and start sewing!!!
Sew down the long side of the strip to the end and cut the loop at the end of the strip.

You now have a very long strip that is 2- jellyroll strips wide.

If you want to at this point, you can press them open, but pressing is really not necessary until you have the whole thing sewn. Remember this is supposed to be a fun and FAST quilt.
Don't stress over anything!
Next...find the two ends of this long strip again and put right sides together. Sew all the way down to the end and cut the loop at the end again.

You will now have a strip that is 4- jellyroll strips wide.

Now...find the two ends of this long strip and put right sides together. Sew all the way down to the end and cut the loop at the end.

You will now have a strip that is 8- jellyroll strips wide.

Again...find the two ends of the long strip and put right sides together. Sew all the way down to the end and cut the loop at the end.

You will now have strip that is 16- jellyroll strips wide.

For the last time.... find the two ends of the long strip and put right sides together. Sew all the way down to the end and cut the loop at the end.

You will now have a strip that is 32- jellyroll strips wide.

You are finished!!!!

You now have the center of your quilt... It should measure approximately 50" x 64".

Square it up.

Borders are next:

First border: Cut 6 - 2 1/2 inch strips. Join together. Measure and apply borders as shown.

Second border: Cut 7 - 6" strips. Join together. Measure and apply as shown.

Checking in...

Just didn't want anyone to think I'd totally abandoned my blog. I've been busy doing lots of things, but couldn't tell you what they are at the moment. Isn't that the way life is? We are so busy all the time, but then when you are asked to make an accounting of it, you are at a loss.
Here are a few pictures of Kellen and other things.....

Kellen and his Daddy making beautiful music together.

"I think I can reach it!!"

Another version of my pattern, "Charms Gone Wild". This one is made from the fabric line: Birdy by Moda

I've had a great time sharing some things with my friends over at the Quilting Board.

It's really fun to share and talk with other quilters around the country.

I just recently posted my free pattern for "Super Fast Jelly-roll Quilt" and it was a big hit.

Check it out: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-44258-1.htm

Well, that's the news from my nest for now.....

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

New Pattern Front

I love this new cover for my new pattern, Charms Gone Wild.

Great friend....Great quilt.

I am one of the luckiest people in the world. That's because I have great friends in the quilting world. More specifically, Christie Bess! She was nice enough to make this version of my new pattern for our local quilt shop, Fortuna Fabrics.

Because they sold out of the original fabric, they had to find another fabric line to use to make kits. Christie volunteered to make Charms Gone Wild using another Moda fabric called, Whimsy. It turned out great and photographs better than the original quilt. I'm going to make a custom pattern front using this picture so that it will match the fabric used in the kit.

Thanks again Christie!!! You are a great friend and a great quilter!!!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Hot off the presses...

Well, it's finally finished! My new pattern is going out to local quilt stores and national distributors. I've had so many nice comments from all my quilting friends. It's such a "wild" quilt it was kind of hard to have a picture do it justice. It's much better in person, but we do the best we can. I promise, if you give it a try, you will really enjoy putting this quilt together! If you would like to buy the PDF version it's available in my Etsy shop.

Grandma news: Kellen is doing so great! He's learning and growing everyday and really catching up on his motor skills. He and is parents recently went to a 6th Annual Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Day Banquet with the Midwest Heart Connection where this picture was take with his heart surgeon, Dr. Hammel.

Kellen's Mom and Dad had a great time with him too.

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Sneek peak....

Here's a picture of the my new quilt. It's called:

Charms Gone Wild

I think you will agree that the name is very fitting. However you will love making this super simple block from 5" Charm squares. I'm working on the pattern right now and hope to have it finished and going to my distributors next week.



Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today is a special day. It's my Dad's birthday!!! We all have special people in our lives, but our parents are the ones that have a great influence on us.

I have lots of great memories as a little girl with my dad. He was a industrial arts teacher in Sacramento, California for over 40 years. I remember going to his shop at school and spending many saturdays making things. I think that's why I love to create. I got my ability to solve problems and repair things from him. I don't think there was anything that he couldn't figure out a clever way of doing better.

I remember getting to go for rides on the motorcycle he owned for a while. Although I burned my leg on the tailpipe several times, I remember climbing on the back and putting my small arms around his waist and hanging on good and tight. What a thrill that was to a little girl.

I remember special summers with my Dad. One summer he took us to his uncle's cabin at Eagle Lake, CA. It was there he took me fishing for the first time and I caught my first fish. (Probably only since.)

Of course there are many more things that make my Dad special to me. The main thing about my Dad is that I always knew that he loved me. Even though through the years we haven't been able to see each other enough, I know that he would do anything for me.

My Dad is a blessing in my life and I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell him how much he is loved.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Kellen loves his drum

Kellen's grandpa found this fun toy for Kellen and had it sent to him. It looks like he's enjoying it!!! Just wanted to share this cute video!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Love this web-site.....

After reading some of my favorite blogs, I eventually ended up finding this fun web-site from Bunny Hill Designs. They have some really fun things that includes a free Block of the Month. This year is a year of snowmen, but last year was baskets. All of the instructions are still available if you want to do a really fun quilt.

With these cold winter months upon us, it's fun to have a great project to work on.

Chirp, chirp,

Robin

Binding...Binding....Binding....and more Binding....

I've been pretty busy lately getting some of my tops quilted at my local longarm rental place.

On New Years Eve I quilted for 6 hours and got 3 large tops and one medium size quilt finished.

Of course I then needed to do the binding. Luckily, I have a great way to do the hand sewing part of the binding. I've found that I can do in a couple hours what used to take a lot longer.

I thought I'd share it with my quilter friends out there in blogging land.

Using the Ladder Stitch for Binding

The ladder stitch is usually used in knitting when you want to join seams, but is perfect for the hand sewing portion of binding. It’s fast and almost invisible.
No need to use “clips” or pins to hold your binding as you sew.
Strong thread, such as quilting weight thread is recommended to avoid thread snapping in the middle of the process.

Here’s how:
Knot your thread and start by “burying” it in the layers that will be covered up by the binding. The needle should come out of the fabric just above your machine stitching line.
Fold your binding over and take a small running stitch in the binding between the layers. (the only thread that should be showing is the “ladder” rung)
Then take the needle and insert it directly across from where your thread comes out and take a stitch parallel, and close to the machine stitching line. Your stitches will be loose at this point.
Repeat as shown along the length of the binding until you have about ¾ - 1” of “ladders” and then “draw up” or pull on thread to tighten binding against the quilt.
Just keep going and you will be finished in record time, with perfect binding!

Sometimes if I’m having trouble seeing the thread, I will use a lighter or contrasting thread.
It doesn’t matter because it’s going to be invisible anyway. (As long as you pull up your
stitches properly.)

I think you will find that doing the binding on your quilts will be TREAT!
You’ll even look forward to it!!

HAPPY BINDING!!!!!

Now I'm going to switch from being a quilter to being a Grandma! Here is my latest picture of my sweet little Kellen. What a little cutie!!!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

Check out this great web-site!!!!

Hello everyone!!! Just wanted to share a great site I found for quilters. It's a great resource to find things that your local quiltshop might not carry. http://quilterblogs.com/

Check them out!!!

There is also a place where you can post a free classified ad if you have something you want to sell. http://www.freequiltclassifieds.com/

Have fun!!!

Chirp, Chirp,

Robin

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

From My Nest to Yours!!!