The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

And probably the most stressful! 

Just a short note today from those of us at Quilting-By You.

We hope that you and your families have a wonderful Christmas - and that all your travels are safe.  May all your crafting endeavors turn out to match the picture in your mind's eye and may you have to rip out far less than you sew!

Happy Fa-la-la-la-la-ladays!
 (I listen to way too much Radio Disney these days)

Quilting By-You

It keeps getting closer!

Remember when January hit and you thought, hey this would be a great time to get started on making quilts (or whatever you have in mind) for Christmas?  Then July rolled around and you thought, well, I really should get started on those things for Christmas now so I can get them done so I'm not driving myself crazy on December 24th.  Well, now it is December and crunch time is here!

We have a few slots left if you have items that you need to get quilted (or have quilted) before Christmas.  Our days are now numbered! If you are looking for some items already completed we do have a few things in the shop - stockings, some place mat and napkin sets, doll quilts, wall hangings and some tissue covers for those travel sized packs of Kleenex.  If you are in the neighborhood and are looking for some last minute items that are complete and ready to go, please stop in and see what we have to offer.  We might have that item that is just right for you!

Hopefully though you are not feeling too much of the crunch this holiday season.  I would like to say that Char and I aren't but truthfully it seems like December sneaks up on us every year.  I suppose that is just the way Life likes to keep us on our toes....I could think of better ways than surprising us with December.

Happy Holidays!

It's time to start creating!

Yes, that's right!  It is time to start creating!  And just what do we have up our sleeves at this time?  Well, we are working on our next Block of the Month quilt.  I know, block of the month quilts have been around for a while.  Most of the ones now seem to be the really complicated ones in civil war patterns that are similar to Dear Jane.  We decided to move in a different direction.

Our Block of the Month for 2012 was a round robin quilt where we did border treatments.  Our goal was to teach how to add borders to any size quilt and have them come out passable as well as to try some different things that you may not already be doing to your quilts such as pieced border treatments.  This series was a lot of fun and all of our quilts turned out differently.  I'm hoping that we will get some pictures of them at our meeting in January when we will (hopefully) have time to work on them and at least get them close to completion.

Now, you're probably wondering what could we be doing different this time?  Well, this time we are planning a row quilt.  Yep, a row quilt and and we're looking for some of those rows to also offer the same opportunity to encourage you to try some things that you may have not tried before to add some complexity to your quilts.  I believe we will begin to offer this in the spring.  The design is almost completed and then we should have some samples in the shop before the class gets underway.

If you would be interested, let us know! We're always happy to take sign ups in advance!

Happy Quilting!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy the short week everyone!  If you have family traveling, or are traveling yourself, we hope everyone arrives safely at their destination.  May your turkey be delicious!

If you are looking to stay out of the crowds and get some quality sewing time in this weekend, you can find a new mystery quilt project at www.quiltville.com.  Bonnie Hunter is going to be starting her latest (and I'm sure greatest) mystery quilt.  Currently you can find fabric requirements on the site with the first set of directions coming on Friday.  Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

I know....

I know, I spend a lot of time talking about how fast time goes by....today is no exception.  Why?  Well, I looked at the calendar today and realized that Thanksgiving is next week!  Can you believe it?  I know I can't.  Because then the next think you know it's going to be Christmas and I still have so much stuff to make!  Do you have a long list of gifts that you make for Christmas?  It seems like my list gets longer and longer each year.  I have always tried to "mass produce" one item that can be used as a gift for everyone.  That has kind of fallen by the wayside.  I've done table runners and angel wall hangings and chenille snow dog wall hangings and crocheted scarves.  Now it is to the point where I don't like to do such mass production because I get bored.  After all it's mainly the same color scheme and the same blocks and the same finished project and there is less joy in making 12 of something than there is in making one or two of something.  I guess that has to do with keeping it fresh.  Now that it is November I am faced with finishing an afghan (or perhaps restarting it with some different yarn....haven't made up my mind on that just yet) and quilting up a table runner with some matching place mats.  I know, that's not very much at all.  And you are right, it really isn't.  However, it means that I haven't begun to use my creative juices to come up with other projects that will fill in any other gaps for gifts.

So, what do you have going on?  Are you a maker or a buyer of gifts?  Be sure to be specific as I'm looking for ideas!

Getting back into the swing!

Whew!  Now that election day is over we can put all those lovely ads and junk mail behind us and get back to what's really important - quilting!

It's time to dust off those pilgrim hats and cornucopias because Thanksgiving is just around the corner!  Do you have a special Thanksgiving Day table runner that you have made for your table?  If so, send us a picture!  We love show and tell and can put your handiwork on the blog for everyone to admire. 

I am more of a Christmas gal so I don't really have any special Thanksgiving decorations.  Maybe one of your will inspire me!

Don't forget - we will be at the Holiday Market this Saturday from 9am - 1pm at the Hauberg Civic Center, 1300 24th Street, Rock Island.  Stop in and look around and don't forget to say Hi!  There are sure to be lots of goodies available!

Just a couple of new things!

Whew, can you believe that today is Halloween already?  I know, where did the year go!

We have a couple of exciting new things here.  There first is that we will be able to start accepting credit/debit cards.  What?!?  Yep, that's right.  We have decided to give Square a try.  Bear with us as we get things figured out.  We are hoping for a small learning curve.

The next exciting thing is that we will be at the Hauberg Civic Center in Rock Island for their craft fair.  Looking to do some Christmas shopping?  Be sure to stop in there!  It will be November 10th from 9am to 1pm and is located at 1300 24th Street, Rock Island.  Hope to see you there!

UFO's always seem to take over.

Happy Monday and boy is it a dreary one out there today! Looks like a great day to curling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea.  Or perhaps a hot cup of tea a good movie and a fun sewing project.  Perhaps a UFO that needs finishing?  If you are anything like us, I'm sure you have plenty of those!  I know my list has gotten pretty lengthy as far as UFO's that I would like to see finished.  I'm not sure how far I'll get before the end of the year though.  We will just have to see how that goes.  Currently I'm working on finishing some pajamas for my son that I had started over the summer.  I only have to put in the elastic for the waistband on the pants.  That's it.  I've gotten 3 pairs finished now and have 2 more to go.  But I also made shorts as well as long pants so I will still need to finish the shorts so he will have them for this spring.  I know I have plenty of time, but I'm on a bit of a roll so I should probably just get them finished and put away. 

Sometimes UFO's confuse me.  I know that when they became UFO's one of two things happened.  I ran out of time to get the project completed and moved on to something else, or I had some trouble along the way and got frustrated and quit before I did something silly.  Sometimes when I pick those projects up now I wonder what was so frustrating about that project that I put it to the side.  Other projects I can pick up and see right away where my frustration came to play.  Those I usually put away again to percolate some more unless I am feeling in need of a challenge.  Believe me, most days are challenging enough that I usually just put them away again for a later day.  Do you work the same way?  Do you have UFO's stashed around where you just got stuck?  If you need some help with them, stop in some time!  We love show and tell and you never know if a different perspective will help get you ready to work on that project again.  Who knows, maybe I'll bring out my trickiest projects and see what someone else has to say about them.

Good Morning!

Good Morning Quilters!  Things are starting to settle down again now that we are both back from vacation and have had a chance to get acclimated to our regular schedules.  You always think that you can just slide back in to where you left off, but that just doesn't seem to be the case.  At least for us!

This week we are finishing up some quilts needing to be quilted so once again our wait time is very short.  If you are working ahead on Christmas presents and need some things quilted, now is the time to bring them in! 

If you are looking to do something fun this Saturday, we will be having our Scraptastic Saturday Class (starts at 9).  Char will be covering at least 6 different patterns that involve pulling from your stash.  Cost of class is $50 and a soup/sandwich lunch is included.  Space is limited and so if you would like to join us for this, let us know as soon as you can!

I know, I sound like a commercial don't I?  I'm sure you'll forgive me this time.  Currently I am working on trying to design a quilt with a modern flair.  Stay tuned as I hope to get it figured out soon and we can offer a class for our newest creation.

Stay warm - it's been feeling chilly out there! 

Happy Quilting!

Time to get back to work!

Well, our vacation season is now officially over.  We tend to go in the fall rather than the summer for some reason.  I headed south for the humid climes of Disney while Char headed East for the cooler climes of Vermont.  Now we are both back in town and ready to get cracking!  I'm not sure yet what exactly we are going to get cracking on, but I can assure you will probably have something to do with classes for the shop.  Perhaps some easy things you can do for Christmas presents?  Maybe we'll take a stab at designing a modern quilt pattern?  You never can tell here!  Stay tuned!  Or, if you have requests please let us know as we are always looking for feedback!

Can you believe it's October?

I know, where did the summer go?  And now that it has turned into fall its time to start thinking about Christmas.  I know, you are all telling me to bite my tongue.  I can't though.  As a quilter I tend to make a lot of holiday gifts and I'm sure you do the same.  If your list is as long as mine that means you really need to start the day after Christmas or at least the day after New Year's.  Do you find yourself in the same boat?

I also say that as a long-armer that this is where it starts to get into busy season with folks wanting to get things done in time for the holiday to decorate their homes or give to friends and family.  We always like to try to start the planning early, but it always seems like the nice weather comes and I want to go outside and play saving those projects for rainy or bad weather days.  Isn't it always amazing the things that seem to pop up when we aren't looking?

Well, if you are like me you are starting to seriously re-evaluate the list you wanted to accomplish and have started to pare it down to a more reasonable size that won't cause you undue amounts of stress this holiday season.  If you are like me a few years ago you are still thinking that mountain of a list is still manageable as long as you can reach some daily goals (which may or may not be reasonable goals).  I like to think that I've learned somewhat of a lesson over the years.  However, I'm sure my husband will disagree with me when we reach that dreaded 11th hour and I'm surrounded by not quite finished yet projects.

Feel free to share stories!  I know my best one is the year I made the most adorable chenille snow dog wall hangings.  I was hurrying through either the quilting or the buttonhole stitching and managed to sew through my finger.  Yep, needle straight through the nail and the tip of my finger.  Thankfully I didn't jerk or continue to press on the foot feed of my machine.  I did yell for my husband who was upstairs and *ahem* indisposed as I was yelling for him to come down to hand me my scissors.  I did manage to extricate the needle from my finger by tapping the foot feed once and since I now had thread through the hole it was doing me the favor of wicking away the blood so I didn't bleed on my white chenille snow dogs.  However, I couldn't move to get my scissors which were across the table from me so I had to patiently wait for my crabby husband to come downstairs to see why I was making "all the fuss".  He did feel bad when he saw my predicament and helped me remove the thread and bandage up so I could carry on.  After all, Christmas waits for no one!

Happy Fall everyone!  Enjoy the crisp sweatshirt and warm apple cider weather!

And just where have you been???

I'm sure that is what you would really like to ask us.  Well, Jen traipsed off on vacation to Walt Disney World and Char doesn't blog.  I can hear you already, What?  Char doesn't blog?  Yes, it's true.  She leaves that all up to me.  I'm sure that will surprise none of you.  :)

You are probably wondering if there is anything new going on at the shop and I am happy to say that, yes there is!  We have recently taken a couple of plunges.  The first is that we hosted a booth at the Quad City Marathon packet pick-up fair.  I know, we don't exactly look like runners do we?  We were there to talk to runners about turning their t-shirt collections into t-shirt quilts.  It was a very busy day and we had the opportunity to meet lots of new people and hopefully we will be able to help them turn those shirt collections into usable memories in the form of a quilt.

The other exciting thing that we are preparing to debut is the use of Square to accept credit cards.  Now, we haven't tried it out yet but will be offering this option to our customers very soon!  Like I said, there are a couple of exciting things going on over here!

Be sure to check our vacation schedule for hours as the next couple weeks are a little crazy but as always you can drop us an email or give us a call if you aren't sure or need to schedule an appointment.

Happy Quilting!

Boy we blew it!

So much for us posting every Monday!  Hopefully you weren't too terribly disappointed when we didn't have a new post last week.

This week at the shop we are working on T-shirt quilts!  Yep, you heard that right - T-shirt quilts.  Only we like to be able to do them differently.  Everyone has seen the usual shirt quilt setting of uniform squares sashed with and without cornerstones.  What about using a regular quilt pattern for them?  It can be done!  We have a customer who pushed herself to do more creative settings and it has really inspired us to open the door for some non-traditional layouts for the t-shirt quilt.

So, this week I'll be working on creating a unique layout for some shirts of my husbands.  Don't worry, I didn't take them without his knowledge or permission.  Currently the shirts have been cut up the sides and across the shoulders to give me a nice piece to work with for choosing the sizes for each design and applying stabilizer before I begin cutting them into usable blocks.

Hmmm...maybe I should really get back to work on those so we can have some pictures of the work in progress!

Happy Monday to you and if you find that you (or your child) have an overabundance of t-shirts that you would like to have turned into a longer lasting quilt we can help you with that!

As always, Happy Quilting!

Gooooooood Morning Quilters!

A happy Monday to you all!  Boy, that makes us sound all chipper and happy doesn't it?  This is the first week of our new hours so be sure to make note of them on our website/facebook page.

I know, I kind of blew it this time.  You all probably came out here on Monday looking for a new post and found - Nothing.  Well, at least nothing new.

This week we are really giving Gertie a work out!  If you're not familiar with her, she is the older long arm in the shop that most folks are afraid to use because she doesn't have a stitch regulator.  She seems to be pretty happy though and it's nice that she is still in good working order!  Of course it does take a little time for her to warm up, but at least she is still up to the challenge.

Today I'll be embarking on t-shirt quilts.  Why you ask? Well, it is one of the services we offer and it would be nice to have some samples of non-traditional t-shirt quilts.  I happen to have cleared out my (and my husband's) t-shirt "collection" so I have plenty to work with!  Today I'll be working on sorting those shirts into categories (we have some Greek and my husband has some concert) and snipping the sides open so I can easier press stabilizer onto the areas that will be used in the quilts.

Do you have lots of t-shirts from running marathons or left over from college?  A quilt is a great way to save them and still get some use out of them.  If you are not into making t-shirt quilts drop by and see how we can do that for you!

Well, considering I have a Rubbermaid tub of shirts awaiting me, I should get to work!

Happy Monday!

You may have already realized this, but it never hurts to say it.  As we are getting into the hang of blogging we will be trying to keep a steady update of every Monday.  I'm sure as we get going we will start updating more than once a week so stay tuned!

This week we sent out our newsletter for fall.  If you need a copy, send us an email and let us know or you can check it out on our website and Facebook.  We are getting ready for our fall classes now.

First on our agenda is our Scraptastic Saturday!  We'll be looking to help you bust your stash with some easy and quick block construction layouts and methods. 

We'll also start offering a monthly time to come in to get help with any UFO's that you've struggled with and have put away until there was a "better time" to work on it. I know i have enough of those myself!

I'll let you check out the newsletter and website for the rest of the details!

In the meantime we are still steadily working on our UFO's.  Char has been working on the next round of our Border of the Month and next week we should have a photo for you to enjoy.  In the mean time, it it still in the works!  Hopefully I'll be getting caught up on mine very soon as I have some other UFO's that are currently begging for attention.  However, they will have to wait just a little bit longer.  Have you heard any of yours calling your name recently?  Feel free to share!  We always love show and tell!

Happy Quilting!

Happy Quilting - This time it's a challenge!

I hope this week finds everyone doing well and able to enjoy their favorite projects!  Char and I have a bit of a challenge going between us about getting our UFOs completed.  Or, if not completed at least one more step towards completion.  So far my list is rather lengthy, but I am happy to say that I am able to cross two items off my list!  That's right.  Two whole items.  The first is that I FINALLY finished some play mats for my son.  I figured if I didn't get them done now he would be past the age of playing with planes, trains, and automobiles.  The second one I completed is putting together the body of a strip quilt.  Now I just need to find a border for it, but that is another item on my long list of projects to finish.  We'll see how long it takes me to get that taken care of.

If you find yourself in the same position that we do, with lots of projects to complete and no real motivation to complete them, perhaps setting up a challenge between you and some quilting friends will help you find the inspiration to complete some items that have been waiting a day or two (or if you are like me it may be a year or three....).

We find ourselves gearing up to release our latest newsletter and class list.  Keep an eye on your email inbox for that to arrive within a week or so.  We will be announcing our new hours at that time as well.  If you are not on our email newsletter list and would like to be, feel free to leave us a comment or email us your email address  to quiltingbyyou@yahoo.com and we will be sure that you are added.

Don't forget, this year is a quilt show year and if you have projects you need to have quilted in time for the show, now is the time to make your appointments to either quilt your item or have your item quilted by us.

Of course, I couldn't leave you without pictures of those finished items!

  Here is the strip quilt I completed from my stash.

  Here are the play mats.  Don't they look like fun?

Happy Quilting!

Well, Look at that!

We now have a blog!  Feels like we are becoming more modern by the minute!  Actually, we thought that this was a good way for us to keep in touch with our quilters and let them know what is going on in the shop.

Last Saturday we had our Introduction to Paper Piecing Class.  Jen designed the block and the project, which she was very excited about.  It seemed like everyone was having a good time and that they were able to go home with a better understanding of the process.  Here you can see Jen's completed project. 

We are also working through our Border of the Month Club.  Stay tuned for some pictures from that fun quilt.

If you have any questions about things going on at the shop, please feel free to stop in or email us.  We're always happy to field questions.   Also, if you would like sign up for our email newsletter just let us know your email address and we are happy to add you!