Blue Nickel Studios

admin March 7th, 2010

Last weekend, it was just so pretty out, so I grabbed these flowers to share with you.  I love Spring and the hopeful, cheerful message it brings that Winters don’t last forever, and more beautiful days are ahead.     

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And of course, Spring wouldn’t be complete without these in the lawn, would it?  If it weren’t for these and Moss, I would probably have a dirt/rock yard….ok, we have SOME grass, but not the pristine country club kind, that’s for sure. 

I am out of the doldrums already…thanks to those who wished me well during that time.  I knew it wouldn’t last forever, and I know those days will come back again…

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One more quick thing to share, and then I gotta get back to ….cue the ominous music …..the “Project List”  ....

A couple quick snaps of my project for the Doll Quilt Swap 8 .... of course I am behind, what else?  I had these grand aspirations of getting it done and sent on time….but..well, yeah, it didn’t happen….but here are some snapshots, and to my Doll Quilt Swap 8 partner go out big apologies….but I will send extra fabric so you can score there…

  And just so you know Swap Partner, I haven’t used the scissor fabric for anything for myself yet, so I hope you really know how special it is for me to put it into your quilt, Ok?? 

Happy Spring everyone! Talk to you soon…hug someone you love, and if they are close enough to kiss….then give them one of those too!!

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admin March 2nd, 2010

Okay, so tonight, I am just feeling ”brooding”......is that a feeling?  the kids would call say “meh” if they were feeling like I am feeling tonight.  Can’t say why exactly…..just don’t feel in the groove, ya know?   In the past, when I was younger…like last week….I would have been upset about the ”funk” of it all….but now, I know this too shall past …..

Nothing really to complain about….okay, well, I could always find something to complain about.   But I have never really thought that did any good….when I discover I am complaining, I try to stop right away, cause I know I have a whole heck of a lot more to be grateful for. 

But I don’t feel quite so happy as this guy….. probably the sparkles are what’s doing it for him…maybe I need more sparkles….    

so, I am just here in blogland to say howdy, and share some non quilty bits…just cause sometimes even I get bored with just quilting, quilting, quilting…..

Here is a wonderful scissor case my Mother-in-law made for me a few years back….she sells them if you want one, let me know, I am sure she would do one in your colors.   But I am not really here trying to push her wares, I just wanted to show y’all…  

So that’s it for tonight.  Can you believe its March already???  Last weekend I took some great pictures of the earliest flowers here at Shiloah Cottage.  I will share them when I get a chance

Hey speaking of  “brooding” you should check out my friend  Melissa’s sketches of Mr. Rochester and Jane from Jane Eyre over here.   Pretty good, huh?   It’s raining here tonight…perfect brooding weather…..

It was a dark and stormy night…..

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admin February 28th, 2010

Thought I would start off with a pile of fabric to entice you into reading this post….did it work?  I can’t believe I have written in here since the 14th!  What a bad blogger I am ….actually just a very busy one.  In late January,  the Michael Miller Fabric company asked me to make a quilt for their new line the Big E collection  (I would have links here, but it looks like the MMF site is down at the moment…so I will try to come back and add the links when I get the chance)  They wanted it pretty fast, and as usual, I thought I could get it done fast, but couldn’t.   (thanks for being so gracious, Christine at MMF….)  but it is done now, and the pattern should be available on their site soon.  I will let you know when it is actually up. 

Here are just a few pix of the process I usually go through….sketches in my quad composition book…I LOVE these books for sketching quilt designs in.  I don’t know why, I just do…they aren’t often “big” enough, but I like the hard covers and the gridded pages.

And here is some playing, experimenting, etc.

And  here is the quilt top before quilting.   I am pretty sure that I didn’t get pictures of it quilted.  And after I finished the binding, I needed to send it off straight to New York City to the MMF offices.  So this is all you get until the pattern comes out online.   I will link to it from here too on the Downloads page.

     When I first started it, I thought….oh, this is going to be too busy again, but I think it came out with a nice mix of an old-fashioned, yet tragically hip look to it….oh, and yeah,  I named it the Big E-asy Quilt cause it is pretty easy, and the collection is called the  Big E collection.  .....yeah, kinda Ch-EE-sy I know, but that’s kinda how I roll sometimes.  Ask Linda, she’ll roll her eyes in silent-shaking-her-head-agreement….

Anyway, I even felt compelled to make this runner from the scraps….it still needs binding….but having it quilted makes it that very much closer to being finished.

I am now trying to wrap up a big quilt from a Paula Prass collection for a magazine, and as usual, I bit off more than I could chew with it.  It is a big quilt all in 60 degree triangles, and it is very time-consuming.  I love and hate it at the same time right now.  I know when it is done, I will like it. It is coming along well, but I am already bored with the piecing and there are over 1000 triangles in this baby.  I just want it done.  I think I get that way more when the fabric is all from one collection, but I dunno.  I will show you some sneak peeks at the scraps from that project later.  Since it is magazine bound, I can’t reveal any more about it here…...but it will be pretty nice in my humble opinion.

Lots going on this week too….Dinner with this famous guy on Thursday….and more that I can’t even talk about yet…..but hopefully soon….wish I could stay in Blog land longer tonight, but I gotta get working on a writing up a pattern for a book by above mentioned famous guy that I will tell you more about later too…..so stay tuned…....

Thanks for droppin’ by the Blue Nickel, my friends…...

Keep happy, Keep sewing!

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admin February 14th, 2010

a bit late to the party, but here you go….much blog love to everyone!

Hope your Valentine ’s Day was filled with love and beauty!

Peace out, Scott

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admin February 5th, 2010

.....but since it is in the studio’s name, I have tended to pay more attention to it recently…here’s an example…

I made this last weekend when I was cleaning  moving stuff around in the studio…. 

The frame is some old “rubberized” embroidery hoop kit thingie with the little hook…the seahorse was some souvenir thing from an ocean trip years back.  I think the fabric is from Art Gallery Fabrics, but I am not sure… and Linda had the microbeads.  I added a little glue and invisible thread…and there it was: instant seaside art for our half-bath with the beach theme.

Other news here at the blue nickel…..Cadbury Mini Eggs are out on the shelves…and working against this plan most torturously!!  (okay I am just joking on that last link, alright? I am not dumb enough to believe that is so “easy”)

Back to the studio for an evening of fun!  maybe even something productive…after I gnosh on a few more Mini Eggs though….

S.

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admin February 4th, 2010

not much time to post today, but wanted to let you see this quilt too.  It actually hasn’t come home to me from Fons and Porter yet but I wanted to show you anyway…this one is from Laura Gunn’s premiere line Lantern Bloom from Michael Miller.   Click on the picture to link to the free downloadable pattern for my Lantern Bloom quilt that I call Lantern Lounge. 

Simple, traditional and modern at the same time.  Make one up in Lantern Bloom, or your own fabrics, then send me a picture or download it onto the Blue Nickel Studios flickr page.   I wish I could stay longer, but I really have to get back to the studio.  I’ll be back….soon as I can!

Oh, and you can read a bit of my “history” at Quiltmaker’s Blog Quilty Pleasures, here.   Ciao, all!!

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admin February 1st, 2010

.....is (are) my kids….I love them so much….they are growing up way too fast….

especially this one…Noel, my oldest, turns 17 in17 days….sigh…he is so hard to get a good picture of…. 

But when I do get a good picture…it is so worth it….He has his mother’s eyes….I simply adore his smirks….generally he’s a pretty old soul…but not always thank goodness!!

Here is the generally happy Max who just turned 14 in December….lately he’s been not so happy…I think sometimes his braces are cranked up too tight…Linda says it’s hormones…I am not exactly sure how that affects moods, but I keep hoping he will be happier again…he is named after Maxfield Parrish, and seems to be an artist as well.  

see he still smiles….so I am happy with that… 

and then there is our Princess who packs a punch…sometimes literally….Mimi, who is really Amelia but became Mimi when Max couldn’t say Millie which is what we were going to call her, is 12.5 years old and busily planning a “japanese” anime summer Bday party already…Mimi would be without a doubt the loudest in our home, I think just to make sure we don’t forget she’s there..Like that would be possible!!   Mimi has become seriously into fashion of her own choosing, often not the status quo….   She is intense, but can be most loving at times as well…a strong will that we hope will serve her well, if she can keep it in check…  

That’s them….my best projects ever….and I didn’t do it all alone…most of the credit goes to Linda I think….she is the best mom in the world…and you can tell her I said so…

Have a great evening or day peeps whenever you are reading this…if you have kids…give them a hug for me…I’ll do the same here for you!

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admin January 31st, 2010

Okay Peeps, for starters…I was horrified to find out today that a BUNCH of you commented on the last two entries…and I didn’t even know they were there waiting to be approved!  I gotta talk to my Web Guru and see what’s up with that.  Usually I get an email right away asking to approve or not approve all comments to keep the spammers out…I didn’t know you were all in there waiting to talk to me!  Please accept my apologies…along with those to my contest winners whose packages STILL are sitting there. Yikes! I really gotta get those done!

I am kinda in a rush this evening, as I have still some of those same deadlines looming over me…but I wanted to share this newest quilt that is actually in a magazine that you could actually still get, because it just came out! 

I just got this quilt back this last week and a couple of issues as well…I will be in a guest blog over at Quiltmakersometime later this week, and there you will be able to see a picture of the inspiration for this design.  It is based on a horrendous whole cloth comforter we found somewhere (side of the road maybe)  but we thought it would work for the emergency kit in the car… I will post a link to that entry when it gets posted over there…(Ha, I still need to write it up!)

    
I can’t take credit for the name which I absolutely love for this quilt…When I was naming it..I drew a blank…I ended up calling it the Eva quilt after the line of Moda fabric it is made from…but I guess when the Quiltmaker peeps had it at Houston Quilt Market they were showing it in a Schoolhouse session and asked for name suggestions…and someone there gave it the name Lime Grape Fizz…I totally love it, and I would never have come up with it….If you were the one who named this quilt…I really want to know so I can send you a little something (eventually )   

and here is the cheesy designer photo shot…I gotta get a better picture for these things….  

So that’s it for this post..this Quiltmaker issue should be out there soon or already, so hurry up and get yourself a copy!
I have more to write about as usual (a lot more actually), but I have to get back to a project that Christine at Michael Miller asked me for using this line, and I am already behind on it.  It will be online eventually too.   The Sweetie Pie quilt will be available online soon too, maybe this coming week.  I will let you know when, or you can just check my new downloads page to find any of the free online patterns I have done.

Oh and on the six-pack battle I think the score is Donuts 8 / Washboard -6  ....sigh…tomorrow’s a fresh start, right?

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admin January 27th, 2010

What’s that? It already did begin? Don’t I have 2 more weeks?......

This is the typical feeling I have this time of year.  I hope to sit back, enjoy, reflect on the past, look to the future….and the year barrels on down the turnpike in front of me, pulling me by the selvage along with it.  I still haven’t mailed out the prizes from my 200th post giveaway and the little one I had right after it….

I just finished up my 9th quilt  for Free Spirit… and Micheal Miller  just asked me to work on a quilt for this new collection.  So it’s not like I need another project or something is it??  But I do have a quilt that I have drawn up but haven’t started sewing yet due for a magazine submission with this line.  If you follow me on Twitter, which if you want REALLY current info on me that’s the place to be…I also dropped an elusive statement about an email I sent today that I may regret later, but now am pretty excited about….but nothing I can say anything for sure about….so let’s just leave it there as a teaser, ok?? 

There that is the “calm” January/February I always hope for…not very, is it?   But it does keep me off the streets, so that is good I suppose. 

Just in case you were wondering where you can get access to all my WONDERFUL-ICIOUS patterns….I added a “downloads” page here on the site, and now when I get new patterns online for you for FREE…(everyone loves Free don’t they??)  you can come straight here and follow the links.  Let me know if you have any trouble with them.  I am by no means an expert on downloads/links/HTML/thewholenineyards, etc. 

And just so this post isn’t completely boring here are the pictures you were waiting for…  

This quilt was in Quick Quilts….yes, I am late telling everybody..sorry…I kept meaning to get it in here, and well December is just like that around here…you may still be able to get this issue if you try.         looks like my quilt was out in the barn to me….it came back okay though!    

It was a very fun quilt to design, and pretty easy to sew…just takes concentration to keep the chains organized…I really just love all the dots!!

Okay and these, well, I just thought they were the cutest design Kleenex has had yet…I bought all four boxes just for the design…       

Too cute!!  Okay…hopefully I didn’t lose all my “man” points for the cute factor here…Maybe I should use the word “clever” instead….too clever!! 

Okay so that is it for today. I actually have more to share, but it will have to wait until tomorrow or the weekend.  I have another quilt out in a magazine that is either in the newstands or coming soon…

and if you were a winner last month…I am still working on getting those out…sorry it has taken me so long..I think I do better with one or two winners at a time…giving away 10 prizes in a week overwhelms me…the good news for you winners, is that I did some cleaning last weekend, and stuff more fabric in there…so your patience will pay off!!

thanks so much for stopping by, I really love it when you visit…drop a comment, so I know you were here…Love to hear how your new year is going!

Oh, and next Tuesday is my birthday….are you bringing cake??

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admin January 15th, 2010

especially when that friend is the queen of Sis Boom herself…Jennifer Paganelli...Last spring at Quilt Market, Jennifer and I discussed me doing the promo quilt for one of her next lines….which at the time were going to be two and with completely different names than what came out ….  but So St. Croix is so Jennifer! 

So without much verbiage (yeah, right, Scott)  here is the process of the quilt I designed on paper back in May 2009…

Here is something….on the design wall…I really had it all planned out already…I just needed a place to hang it temporarily…what a mess!! 

When I drew this up back in May last year, Jennifer’s newest lines at the time consisted many more colors.  This line is pretty much just two…blues/greens and pinks…it is almost as if it was made for this idea.  I  have  just loved Sis Boom fabrics ever since she came out with Girlfriends back whenever that was….(or did she have a line before that?? I didn’ t know her back then….so glad to know her now) so I was VERY delighted to get this chance to work with her designs before anyone else does!!          

So the top is all done,  I am hoping to quilt it up this weekend and then get the binding on and the directions written up…should be avaiable online in a couple weeks…The fabric might be hitting the stores right now…I am not sure…pop on over to Jennifer’s and ask her…she’ll know for sure.  And wish her a happy Birthday.  I think it’s today…tell her Scott at the Blue Nickel sent ya!!

To all my dear contest winners of the last couple weeks….uh….your prizes are still sitting in a box on my studio floor…I don’t have all of your addresses yet anyway, but I do want to get this stuff sent out to you soon….I have had a couple new gigs come up, and the usual trauma of life and general business have been swirling here in the very grey-green of the Pacific Northwest….   so thanks for your patience, good people…and look to the west for a mailing from me one of these days.

Until next time, my very best wishes to you and yours….and a hundred thousand prayers for Haiti tonight…..

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