I'm A 2019 Finish-A-Long Host!

I'm so excited to announce that I'm joining a fantastic group of bloggers from around the globe as a host for the 2019 Finish-A-Long. If you've followed me on my blog the last few years, you've seen me post some of my FAL goals at the beginning of each quarter and my finishes (although never as many as I had hoped for) at the end of each quarter. If you don't know about the Finish-A-Long, check out my FAL page for all the details here. I'll still be working on my UFOs but now I'll be cheering you on as well!

The 2019 Finish-A-Long Hosts: 

Sandra of Sew of Course - Ireland

Marci of Marci Girl Designs - USA Louisiana

Leanne of She Can Quilt - Canada

Ella of Throw a Wench in the Works - USA Georgia

Karen of Capitola Quilter - USA California

Lynne of Tinking Along - USA Maryland

Izzy of Dizzy Quilts - Canada 

Sarah of Sarah Goer Quilts - USA California

Julie of That's Sew Julie - USA Iowa

Sarah of Cedar Fork Stitches - USA Montana

Sharla of Thistle Thicket Studio - USA Kansas (That's Me!)

Nicole of Handwrought Quilts - Canada 

The 2019 Finish-A-Long Schedule:

Q1

10 January (Thu) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup opens

18 January (Fri) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup closes

1 April (Mon) Finishes - Linkup opens

2-6 April - Tutorial Week

9 April (Tue) Finishes - Linkup closes

Q2

10 Apr 2019 (Wed) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup opens

18 Apr 2019 (Thu) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup closes

1 July (Mon) Finishes - Linkup opens

2-6 July - Tutorial Week

9 July (Tue) Finishes - Linkup closes

Q3

10 July (Wed) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup opens

18 July (Thu) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup closes

1 October (Tue) Finishes - Linkup opens

2-6 October - Tutorial Week

9 October (Wed) Finishes - Linkup closes

Q4

10 October (Thu) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup opens

18 October (Fri) Proposed Finishes List - Linkup closes

1 January 2020 (Wed) Finishes - Linkup opens

9 January 2020 (Thu) Finishes - Linkup closes

Just an FYI, the 2018 Q4 Finishes linky opens on January 1st. And then....let the 2019 FAL fun begin with our official start on January 10! Hope you'll join me! If you do, here are a couple of logos you can copy to use on your social media pages!

~Sharla

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Merry Christmas (And A Christmas Collection To Share)

Seasons Greetings. Happy Holidays. Feliz Navidad. However you say it, I'm sending you warm wishes during this joyous season!

I wanted to share a few designs from my Christmas collection that I showed at quilt market in November. The reindeer print above is the hero print and these are a few of the coordinates.....

And here are a few of the mockups I made for my portfolio to showcase the collection.....

And, of course, I had to design a tea towel!

I also designed a quilt that I am hoping to get written into a pattern in the next few months. I also have another announcement coming later this week, so stay tuned!

~Sharla

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Burlap Christmas Stocking Ornament

Last night my quilt guild celebrated Christmas with a carry-in dinner and gift exchange. Always a night of good food and catching up with quilty friends. I may have mentioned that next year I will be president of the group, so I wanted to do a little something to give them a sneak peek of some of the programs and activities that they can expect in the coming year. I ended up putting together Make It & Take It gift bags with kits to make a burlap Christmas stocking that can be used as an ornament, package adornment or gift card holder.

This is a quick little project that was fun to make and turned out so cute - if I may say so myself - so I thought I'd share it with all of my online quilty friends too!

The supplies I used were:

• 5" wide burlap ribbon x 12.5" long
• muslin rectangle 5" x 12.5"
• fusible web such as Steam-A-Seam 5" x 12.5"
• 2" wide lace trim
• cordonnet thread, size 3
• jute twine
• assorted old buttons
• tapestry needle

I fused muslin to the back of the burlap ribbon using fusible web. Using the stocking pattern below, I traced the pattern onto the muslin and cut out two stockings, one facing right and one facing left.

Then using your favorite embroidery stitch - I used a blanket stitch and a reverse blanket stitch on mine - sew the front and back stockings together (muslin sides together) around the edges, leaving the top open. 

Embellish your stocking. I hot glued a piece of lace around the top, then hot glued an assortment of buttons. Lastly, I hot glued a jute bow on the center button. On one stocking I even cross stitched a simple wonky little heart. You can finish off the stocking by attaching a hanger using a piece of cordonnet thread or jute.

I think I'm going to make a few more stockings and hang them from an evergreen garland that adorns the top of an antique wardrobe in my entryway. If you make any, let me know how you use them!

~Sharla

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Merry Mail

Tis the season of daily visits from UPS delivering packages destined to be wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree until December 24th. So I didn't even look at the return address to see who the non-descript gray plastic sack was from because I just knew it was one of several gifts I had ordered. 

But what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a bundle of 22 beautiful fat quarters from Benartex from an Instagram giveaway I was blessed to have won recently! Ok, so it doesn't rhyme like "The Night Before Christmas", but I bet I was just as excited as the character in the poem when he tore open the shutters and through up the sash to see Santa in his miniature sleigh with his eight tiny reindeer!

The fabric collection is called Printology and is by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr of Modern Quilt Studio. It's a modern eclectic collection of prints in bold colors and I can't wait to start looking for ideas to use the fabric (here's a free quilt pattern from Benartex using the fabric) . But it will have to wait until after Christmas because I have a tree to put up and a house to decorate and some secret sewing to do in preparation for a new project I'm going to be sharing with all of you in the New Year. So stay tuned!!!

~Sharla

P.S. I was so excited about the fabric I almost forgot to thank Benartex for such an awesome giveaway and for such a wonderful gift. XOXO

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My Trip To Quilt Market As A Designer

Really? It's almost December? And I'm over here still trying to recoup from my trip to Quilt Market and the Immersion Retreat that was at the beginning of the month!

As I've mentioned a couple of times on the blog, this year I spent quite a bit of time learning Adobe Illustrator and surface pattern design. The culmination of all that work was a portfolio containing three fabric collections that I showed to a few fabric companies at Quilt Market in Houston. I approached the opportunity as a learning experience to gain feedback on the direction of my style and designs.

I went armed with my portfolio that I made myself. The cover features the focal print in the fall colorway of my collection "Lena", and the bow is one of the coordinating prints. I had the fabric printed at Spoonflower. 

The inside cover and title page also featured coordinates from the Lena collection printed on paper. I named the collection Lena because the collection was inspired by a piece of fabric that I inherited from the hubby's great-grandmother Paulina "Lena" Dierks.

I designed a tea towel that coordinated with the collection and featured Lena's recipe for peppernuts or pfefferneuse. The above photo is of the page in my portfolio featuring the tea towel.

I had the tea towels printed at Spoonflower and gave a tea towel (with a USB drive with my portfolio tied to the ribbon) to each art director I met with. I also had business cards printed featuring the Lena floral on one side and a coordinate with my contact info on the other side and attached them to each tea towel ribbon tie also.

Of course, if any art directors happen to be interested in seeing this collection, please contact me via the email on my contact page and I'll send you a link to my online portfolio.:)

Stay tuned and I'll share snippets of the two other collections in my portfolio soon!

~Sharla

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Immersion Retreat

Whew! It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. With my mom riding shotgun, I headed to Texas for some spoiling of grandkids, shopping, antiquing, visiting family, International Quilt Market and finally, the Immersion Retreat.

Bonnie Christine, Skye McNeill and me at the Immersion Retreat. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

What is the Immersion Retreat? Well, it was one of the most amazing experiences I've been honored to participate in. The Immersion Retreat evolved from the Surface Pattern Design Immersion class that I took this spring from instructor Bonnie Christine Forkner. Bonnie is a textile designer for Art Gallery Fabrics, Skillshare instructor extraordinaire, and such an inspiring and genuine person. I learned so much in the Immersion course about using Adobe Illustrator, the textile market, and the business of surface pattern design. It was such a great learning experience that no one wanted it to end. And then Bonnie came up with the awesome idea of holding a retreat so that her students of the class could meet, share, bond, and learn from each other. 

We gathered outside the Quilt Market hall for our first lunch together.

My retreat experience started on the first day of Quilt Market in Houston, where several of us met up with Bonnie for lunch, followed by a walk of the market floor. Somehow, though, we all kind of went our separate ways after lunch and never walked the market floor together. I think we all had appointments and other things that we had planned while at market. I was so busy I forgot to take any photos, except for this photo as we began to gather before lunch. I'll be sharing more of what I did at market in later posts.

As we arrived at the Immersion Retreat, we were greeted by warmly lit, rustic buildings and a cozy campfire.

The Pearl Barn at The Prairie At Round Top. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Table setting inside the Pearl Barn. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Another shot of the Pearl Barn. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

On the second day of market, I traveled to The Prairie At Round Top where our Immersion Retreat was held. The Prairie is a beautifully rustic bed & breakfast. The historic homestead was originally renovated by the creator of shabby chic, Rachel Ashwell. The Pearl Barn, where we ate our meals, was decorated by the Junk Gypsies and featured on their TV show. The setting and décor was such a laid back relaxing atmosphere, and was a perfect reflection of our instructor Bonnie's style.

Bonnie held a 2 hour Q&A, sharing her knowledge with us.

Bonnie also shared her talents with us, painting linen goodie bags for each of us. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

A moleskin notebook covered in one of Bonnie's fabrics was inside each goodie bag. Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Bonnie is such a caring and giving soul, and she is willing to share so much of her knowledge and talents with everyone. I have learned so much from her.

Photo by Callie Lynch. www.callielynch.com

Although the location was amazing, it was the 36 creative women who gathered together for two days of sharing, supporting, creating and encouraging each other that made for such a tremendous experience. I truly feel like I made some life-long friends who will be there to support me as I pursue my creative dreams.

Flower sketch.

But alas, after an evening of drawing, it came to an end all too quickly and mom and I had to head back home to Kansas. I left with a renewed motivation and a ton of ideas that I want to tackle all at once (which means I'll probably be spinning my wheels for a few days until I settle in and start working down my checklist). 

~Sharla

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Finish-A-Long Q4 Goals

Or rather 'goal'. With some travel plans for quilt market and the SPDImmersion retreat (with time to spoil the grandkids too), and with the holidays upon us, I have decided to narrow down my sewing goals for the last quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long to one. This summer I joined the newly organized Quilts of Valor group for my area. They have hit the ground running, already holding three presentations for approximately 20 veterans since their first meeting in May! I am amazed at the amount of quilts these 5 or 6 women have made in such a short amount of time. Unfortunately, I have not contributed yet, so my focus this quarter is to complete a quilt for the cause.

I had some yardage of sunflowers on a navy background in my stash and decided that since we are located in Kansas, it would be perfect to use. I picked up the other fabrics while I was in Lincoln, NE last month for the Mark Dunn Collection opening at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.

I found a mockup of a free quilt pattern on Robert Kaufman Fabrics that I used as inspiration for this pattern. I'm hoping to sew the blocks during my travels then complete the quilt after my return home. Fingers crossed!

I'm linking this post up with the FAL Q4 link up.

~Sharla

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Play All Day At Camp Quilt: Q3 Finish-A-Long

Wow, time is flying by!!! Here it is a week into October and another quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long has been completed. It's been a busy quarter for me with being a camp counselor for the Moda Bake Shop Choose Your Own Adventure QAL and preparing my first portfolio of fabric designs. So, of course, that means I didn't get much sewing done, except for my MBS summer camp quilt. Although I've already shared my quilt back a few weeks ago, I'm sharing once again so I can link it up for 3rd quarter of the FAL.

I had so much fun being a camp counselor for this quilt-a-long and had a great time working with the other counselors to create this quilt and QAL for the Moda Bake Shop. It was amazing how it all seemed to fall into place, from the theme to the design. And we received lots of great feedback about how everyone really enjoyed the QAL.

For all the details about this quilt, click here. To see my Q3 FAL Goals, click here. To check out all the projects linked up for the FAL, click here.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Sharla

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War and Pieced

I'm back to share a little more of my trip to the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska a couple of weeks ago. By far, the most amazing exhibit on display was "War and Pieced", a collection of quilts from the 1700 & 1800's made from the wool of military uniforms by men in the service. The term 'quilt' is used loosely as most of these textiles were not quilted, had no batting, and were almost never backed. Most were used as wall hangings, or sometimes table coverings, and others were used as game boards.

Click here for information about this quilt

The textiles were all very intricate, many created with thousands and thousands of tiny pieces. Most were very detailed and orderly, much like the military backgrounds from which these men came.

Layered appliqued cornerstone of the above quilt.

Close up of the incredibly intricate layered applique border from the above quilt.

Yet, some had a softer touch, as if they were trying to bring remembrances of their civil life back home to the war zone.

Click here for information about this quilt

Two of the quilts on display were appliqued pictorials created from photographs of actual events with elaborate floral borders surrounding them.

A close up of the appliqued pictorial.

It's hard to imagine a soldier battling in war by day and embroidering on this detailed applique by night.

Close up detail of the embroidered and appliqued border of the above quilt.

The detail in the floral borders was beautiful. I can't imagine the hours of work this took. (And to think, I don't have the patience to finish the binding on my quilts!)

Close up of embroidered and appliqued soldiers. The piping in the block seams adds another dimension to the quilt.

This was truly an awe-inspiring exhibit - be sure to go if you ever get the chance to see it. Unfortunately, the show is no longer on display at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. For photographs and more information about each quilt in the "War and Pieced" collection, click here.

~Sharla

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It's Finished!: MBS Choose Your Own Adventure QAL

Finally finished!!! I made myself sit down and sew the binding on after I returned from my road trip to hear Moda Fabric's Mark Dunn speak at the International Quilt Study Center & Museum in Lincoln last weekend. Of course, the Kansas wind then had to blow for a day or two before I could get a few photos.

This is my "Play All Day At Camp" quilt. The name is derived from the fabric used - Play All Day by American Jane for Moda, and the camping theme of the Moda Bake Shop Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt-A-Long. If you follow me here, you know I was one of the camp counselors and designers for this sew along.

I really enjoyed this QAL. Everyone jumped into the theme and played along as we shared about our 'camp' adventures on the Moda Bake Shop Bakers Facebook page. All of the interaction with other quilters made it so much fun. And my fellow camp counselors were awesome to work with!!

Of course, my favorite block in the quilt is the Arrowhead Lake block that I designed. I just thought it was on target (get it?! Ha, Ha!) with the summer camp theme.

I also enjoyed designing the label that participants could download and print off from the Moda Bake Shop website. I even added a little poem to commemorate the QAL.

Quilt Stats:

• Fabric, Top, Backing & Binding: Play All Day by American Jane - Sandy Klop for Moda Fabrics
• Pattern: Moda Bake Shop's Choose Your Own Adventure QAL
• Thread, Piecing: Aurifil 2309
• Quilting Pattern: 1003 Daisy Days E2E by Kay Oft
• Thread, Quilting: Signature 100% Cotton thread in Parchment
• Batting: Hobbs 80/20
• Longarm: Gammill Statler Stitcher

~Sharla

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