Jaybird Quilts

do you read this list all the time & wonder how to get your giveaway listed?
it's easy!!
send me and e-mail... it's best if you send it to me over the weekend or monday... so i have time to get it into tuesday's post when it posts. i can't promise all giveaways sent to me will be listed... but i try & list as many as i can each week!
-julie

all giveaways from this week have ended!

grab this code to add the giveaway button to your blog to help spread the word!

Monday, July 19, 2010

find your tribe

months ago i posted about breakdowns..and breakthroughs

since that post i bought kelly's book... read it
& a lot of it has stuck with me

especially the part about "finding your tribe"

If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

i'm am very lucky to have an amazingly supportive family

karin, aliyah, mom, elijah, brad & dad

in addition to my family..

i have a growing "tribe" in my life

and today i'm headed to LA...

to see karin, aliyah, elijah & brad

and..

natalie

when i think about the fact that i only met natalie last year... it's a bit crazy.

because i feel like i've known her forever.

natalie is one of those incredibly rare people...

she has a beautiful spirit

always knows the right thing to say

is incredible creative

fabulously generous

welcoming

and i could go on and on

the last time i was at natalie's house...

she made me run to the beach... take my sneakers off...

and stick my toes in the sand..

{ at around 10pm at night... }

this trip i'm coming prepared... with my flip flops...

and plan on spending some quality time with the sand...

and besides the beach...
we will be busy getting ready for the international quilt festival in long beach!

if you are in the area.. come visit!
we have booths 937 & 1036

i'll be doing demos of circle around

and my hexagons from the hexagon quilt a long!

and in true beyond the reef fashion...
natalie has lots of yummy hawaiian & beautiful prints!
some of which she just added to her new online shop

i'll try to take lots of photos of the show to share!
{ and do my best to not buy a ton of fabric... eek!!! }

but back to my tribe.
i have a great tribe.
rachael is in my tribe
as well as many others.

and nat...

natalie has been a great addition to " my tribe"
:-)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

sunday stash..wk29

busy work week = not a ton of sewing.

or shopping...

IN

nothing!!!
shocking i know.
it is actually the 7th time it has happened this year...

OUT

i sold my bliss fat quarter bundle from market
10 yards out

i've got a few other goodies from market & my stash that i'm selling...
i need to make some room in my studio!

3.36 yards on another circle around quilt
hawaiian fabric is from natalie @ beyond the reef
mixed with black kona crush

i love the contrast with the black!!

and .43 out for a few more spider web potholders
i took step by step photos
& i'll post a tutorial on how to make them later this week...
easy as can be!

i also just finished quilting my remix hexagon quilt..
but i counted the backing last week since i already had it pieced

up next...
hand sew the binding on the potholders
and cut the binding for the above 2 quilts!

so this week

zero in

13.79 out

YTD totals

purchased: 474.27 yds
busted: 336.04 yds
net: -138.23 yds

Friday, July 16, 2010

modern siggy swap sorting recap

i'm tired!

wed night was spent sorting over 13,000 siggy {signature} quilt blocks!

i could not have done it without help.

tricia

candi

& jackie

all came over for a 6+ hour night of sorting.. pizza.. and laughter!

{ lots of laughter!! }

for those who don't know about the modern siggy swap

all the info is in the flickr pool

my blocks

uploaded on flickr by me

the blocks beginning to pile up at the end of june...

uploaded on flickr by me

we started sorting on the floor

and then we moved to the table once we had all the original packages off the table

if someone didn't send 101.. and sent less.. we put their blocks aside with their envelope & they didn't get their own block back... we didn't keep track of who fell into this category... but more than 15 people did!

for most of the night the blocks were all organized in a grid like this

but eventually they got separated into piles of 10 and 20 since we had 130 piles but only 100 blocks to distribute each time... we started slow but then got into a really good rhythm!

this was how things looked at the end of the night... piles done and envelopes on top of the piles they belong with! my helpers left once we got to this point... so now i have to package them all up... i got 22 packages out yesterday & i'm panning on getting as many out today as i can!

like i said.

i'm tired.

and if i see another siggy block.. well....

p.s.
thank you to candi for taking all of these photos on wed night!
i was too busy talking & sorting... ;-)

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

inside quilter's home

you'll find this..

on the last page...

i was interview for quick cuts!

{ i was tempted to leave the bookstore like this... but i didn't! }

on newsstands now..

{ & i'll have a few copies in the shop soon! }

a BIG thank you to jared for taking the picture of me that the magazine used!

the magazine wanted a shot of me looking at the camera...

and when jared came to photograph me working in my studio

...i never looked at the camera!

so he came back to do a second shoot with me!!

and like i've said before getting my photo taken usually results in a bunch of photos of me laughing...

i'm a quilter.. not a model!

and in case anyone is wondering...

this isn't my studio!

it's my moms!!

she has so much thread... i'm jealous.

so go grab a copy of quilter's home..

and learn all kinds of things about me that you didn't know

like...

Any brushes with fame?

Are you a work-in-silence gal?

and more!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

giveaways going on in blogland... wk28 {ended}

all giveaways from this week have ended!

grab this code to add the giveaway button to your blog to help spread the word!

Monday, July 12, 2010

me & my sister bags

have you ever made a bag from a me & my sister designs pattern?..

if the answer is no.. you should try one!
full size patterns...
& easy to follow color instructions in a book format!

the first one i made was the pinafore bag

the pinafore bag can be found here

i used freebird fabric

...added some pockets... and never got around to making the tie

but the pattern is very well written.. and i love this bag

{ this was my spring market bag i never got around to showing you }

{ fabric available in the shop }

email me if you want a kit of fabrics for this bag

then at this most recent market they showed the juliet bag

{ i joked that they named it after me... even though the name has a better story.. ask them! }

the fat quarter shop has the juliet bag in stock

again another very well written pattern

fabrics are meadowsweet & are available at cloth & bobbin

and above all fabric

i like how the tie comes out & can be changed

i did add a snap & a few extra pockets

{ i like pockets! }

here they are together to compare size

the pinafore is a lot bigger... much more of a tote

and the juliet is smaller.. more of a purse.. with longer straps

sorry all the photos are by the door...

but this is what the garden looked like this morning...

and i didn't want to get the bags wet!

here was barb & mary's booth at spring market...

they had 7 juliet bags.. one in each color!

and this photo was from fall market..

it's barb & mary showing their half square triangle quilt

from schoolhouse

barb & mary have a blog...

which you should follow

because they post some funny stuff & have giveaways too!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

sunday stash..wk28

i love when i hear a truck pulling up the the house...

and this week the fedex man brought me a yummy box of fabric!!

8 yards of Mon Sheri by Khristian A. Howell

yummy new fabric for Robert Kaufman that will be available this fall!

OUT

i didn't wait long at all to cut into my new fabric!

6.5 yards all cut...

with my new AccuQuilt Go!
i'll tell you all about my experience with the AccuQuilt cutter & show you what i'm making very soon!!

2.22 to finish a quilt top
4 yards backing for the same quilt
and .44 for binding...

1 1/2 yds of backing for hexagon quilt #2

& yard of green for remainder of my selvage spider web quilt blocks... cut & ready to use

so this week

8 in

15.66 out

YTD totals

purchased: 474.27 yds
busted: 322.25 yds
net: -152.02 yds

almost twice as much out as in... not bad!

Friday, July 9, 2010

circles everywhere!

lots of circle around quilts!!

so i thought i'd share!!

i taught the quilt recently at cloth & bobbin

here is laura's quilt

we used the floor as design walls

here is Nina with her quilt top finished!

Casey is hinding behing her quilt...

she chain pieced her blocks & made a lot of progress!

here is Kelley working on hers...

after she had her layout.. she collected her blocks

and turned each row as she made a pile so that she wouldn't loose track of her rows

here is Kelley at home with her top done!

and here are some blocks from Heather

we had a great time in class!!!

some people have emailed me photos of their quilts...

here is Carol's

and nicole's

and michelle's

& lots of people have put their photos on flickr!

Uploaded on July 6, 2010

by Kellis Pieces

Uploaded on July 5, 2010

by traceyjay

Uploaded on July 5, 2010

by Barb in MI

Uploaded on June 30, 2010

by simplykidsocala

Uploaded on June 19, 2010

by ladybug quilting

Uploaded on May 23, 2010

byimjustaguywhoquilts

lastly...

on sunday i showed a sneak peek

but here is a better picture of the circle around quilt i'm working on

beyond the reef style... for the long beach quilt festival!

if you are interested in these beautiful hawaiian fabrics...

they can be purchased here

i got a few emails asking about kona crush..

so i took a few closeup shots to try & show you

it has a really great texture to it..

i'm thinking about carrying it in the shop... if enough people are interested.

i'm looking forward to quilting this over the weekend!!

side note..
i have sold out of the kits for this quilt as it was featured in Quilts & More magazine... thank you to everyone who purchase one! i do have some freebird yardage available in the shop!

have you made something from one of my tutorials or patterns?

if so add it to the flickr group to share it with everyone!!