Old and Precious . . . New and Adorable

Many of you know my quilty kitty Shadow and all the fun and frustration she managed to provide in my studio while I worked. I even blamed her ("It's the Cat's fault") for one of my more challenging quilting experiences. Shadow always found every quilt I was working on no matter where it happened to be and made herself at home. Every quilt was Shadow approved. She sat on top of my laptop, on the keyboard (her typing skills were questionable), on the ironing board, on the cutting mat, on the fabric, and would have sat on top of the sewing machine if she could. Sometimes I was afraid her tail would flip under my rotary cutter or under the needle while I sewed like you'd expect on some silly cartoon . . .  thankfully it never did. She kept me company in my studio by day and on my lap in the evening while I read or sketched new quilt designs. I think she probably dreamed quilting along with me while she slept on my head by night.

Shadow . . . my precious baby!

On her last day with us, we were able to love and comfort her into her final sleep. Sad for us but a real blessing for her to be at home surrounded by love. This all happened in November and over Thanksgiving when our kids were home from college which was another blessing as well. It's taken me some time to be able to post about her. We had her for 15 wonderful years. She was and always will be my precious quilty kitty.

Needless to say there was a sadness around the house and we thought maybe by spring we might be ready for a new cat. School finished up and kids were once again home for Christmas break. Then out of the blue, I came home from the grocery store in mid December with loads of groceries and a brown paper bag full of not one but two little kittens. So very unlike me and so unplanned that it just had to be right.

Now a new saga begins and new challenges arise. Kittens like to play, and chew, and climb, and claw, and run, and eventually sleep. I see my studio now through cat eyes. How much fabric might be clawed. How many spools of thread might be unwound, how much batting might be batted about, will the quilt top on the design wall be pulled down, will a nose be burned on the iron or a pin swallowed? Yes, I've had to kitten proof my studio as best I can while still trying to be productive. And just when I think I have it safe for them and my quilting, they find something new to get into. I don't dare leave them alone in here . . .  who knows what would happen. I might even sit on them one day as they have taken to sleeping under the throw that covers my ugly studio chair instead of on top of it where Shadow liked to hang out.

They have won my heart. They are adorable. I'd like to introduce you to LuLu and Opal . . . my newest quilty kitties. I'm sure you'll get to know them as they learn the ways of becoming quilty kitties too. May they too live a long and purrrfect life.

LuLu (white face) and Opal (dark face) . . .
my adorable new babies!!

First Bee, First Block

I'm so excited to be participating in my very first quilting bee. The Mid Century Modern Bee was pulled together by Cindy over at Live A Colorful Life and I'm thrilled that she invited me. She brought together 13 talented quilters that I really look forward to working with. The mid century reference has a little something to do with our ages . . . enough said.  : )

We started off the year with a great little scrappy pink, orange, white, red block requested by Carla at Lollyquiltz. Here's my block. It was fun to make with a nice clear tutorial from Carla. I just love this color scheme. I actually have a couple of quilts in the design/planning stage that use the same general scheme so it was fun to pick the fabrics for this block and explore the colors a bit.

All the other blocks are really nice so I think Carla's quilt is going to be one hot little number when she gets done. Can't wait to see her finished quilt.

2013 Finish-A-Long 1st Quarter

I just happened upon Leanne's post about the Finish-A-Long a couple of days ago. Yes, I'm very behind in my blog reading. What can I say. It's another of my many New Years resolutions . . . getting better at blogging. Anyway, it seemed like the perfect time to commit to actually finishing a few things so I'm jumping in at the last minute.

To get a handle on my finished vs unfinished projects, I finally took an inventory last week as part of my big plan to get more organized and more accomplished in 2013. I really had no idea how many quilts I'd made over the years. I just knew there were far far too many unfinished ones. I'm embarrassed to admit just how many . . . maybe one of these days I'll confess.

So to start off the Finish-A-Long, I'm selecting just 2 of the many projects patiently awaiting completion.

The first is a small quilt inspired by a Valori Wells quilt a few years ago. I didn't like the direction it was taking and just kind of put it aside. But I do have a plan for finishing the top and it will be the perfect opportunity to try out a new machine quilting pattern that I'm thinking of using on another quilt. Good practice if nothing else.

The second, is a top I did back when I was first designing my pattern Facets. I've never gotten it quilted  and would really like to wrap it up. This too will be a good practice top for improving my free motion skills.

It's late so I'll figure out the button another time. Look forward to seeing what everyone else gets accomplished this quarter. Good luck to all.

It's Been A Good Day

It's been a really good day here at Springleaf Studios.

Craftsy chose my pattern Cascade to be featured as one of their favorite pattern picks!  I'm thrilled, plus it's been a nice boost to my sales. You can see this pattern here and of course over at Craftsy. Hope you'll visit and consider giving it, or my other pattern, Facets a try. All my patterns are available in my Etsy shop.

I'm also in the midst of sewing together a new quilt that Generation Q asked me to make up for an upcoming issue. I just love their magazine! It's full of all kinds of quilty goodness so if you haven't seen an issue yet, go check one out or better yet subscribe and you won't miss anything.

2013 is off to a great start. I've got lots planned including more attention to my blog so I hope you'll become a follower and keep visiting. Wishing all of you a great 2013 full of lots of fabric fun.

A Special Announcement

I have the most amazing daughter! Her creativity and imagination have always been an inspiration to me. From the time she was little, her artistic talents were quite obvious and it came as no surprise that she went on to pursue her art in college by majoring in metalsmithing.

Today, she is following her dream of having her very own small business by launching her Etsy shop featuring fine handcrafted silver jewelry. Her work is beautiful and sophisticated, elegant yet casual. Each piece is equally at home when worn for a special occasion or as a unique touch of class with casual attire.
Perfect as a gift. Perfect for yourself.

Please stop by her shop, EmilyClaireStudio, for a visit and help spread the word about her wonderful jewelry.

These are a few of my favorite pieces. I'm hoping I get one for Christmas.
Hint hint Emily dearest.  : )

This is my favorite. Beautiful natural pearls.

This one looks great with jeans.

Beautiful for a special occasion with your favorite dress.

EmilyClaireStudio

Bloggers Quilt Festival

It's time for another Bloggers Quilt Festival put on by Amy over at Amy's Creative Side. Some amazing work is being shown and I can't wait to settle in with a glass of wine and start visiting all the beautiful quilts. I've been out of town for the past 6 days and am just throwing together my post to get it in under the wire. I do hope you'll take the time to explore my blog a little too along with visiting many of the other quilts being shown.

The quilt I've chosen to show all of you is one of my favorites. First of all I love the colors. Lots of cool and calming aquas and greens with a splash of purple. It's a scrappy quilt made from mostly Kaffe Fassett prints. He is my all time favorite designer. I just love his use of color and pattern and can't have enough of his fabrics along with those of Philip Jacobs.

The design for this quilt hung above my desk for months before I finally decided it was time to give it a try. I knew I wanted to try a scrappy look and when my daughter decided on greens and purples for the bedroom of her first real apartment, the fabric selections just fell into place from my stash. All the aquas and green prints which are mostly florals and vegetation of some type along with the blue/purple tumbling triangles remind me of a hanging garden or looking out from behind a waterfall. That's why I named it Cascade.

After finishing this original quilt, I liked the design so much I played around with some other variations and ended up making at least 6 other quilts using the same basic design. Eventually that lead to publishing the design as my second pdf pattern. You can read more about it here. The pattern is available in my Etsy shop.

Even with all the variations I've done from the basic design, this one still remains my favorite by far. The colors are so refreshing and calming to me and yet the variety of fabrics always keeps me engaged. Luckily for me it's come home for awhile as my daughter lives here now and I couldn't be happier. I love having the quilt around, but more than anything I LOVE having her around.  : )

Bloggers Quilt Festival Stats
finished size: 60 x 85
designed and quilted by: Anne Deister
category: throw/lap, scrappy, two-color, home machine quilted

"Fitting In" the Finished Tetris Quilt

Do you ever get so lost in the linky parties that you actually forget to write your own post about something? I think that's what happened with my finished Tetris quilt. I wanted to include it in the parade Melissa had so I took pictures in a hurry and added the final quilt to her site and simply forgot to write about it. 

I was reminded today that I hadn't posted about it here when I got an email from Priscilla asking about the colors I had used. For the record they are Kona cotton in Deep Blue, Pacifica, Lagoon, Jade Green, Chartreuse, Kiwi, Clover and White.

So here's the finished quilt. 

I'm calling it "Fitting In" which is appropriate on a couple of levels. The little side pieces in the border are trying to fit in and, as a newish blogger, I'm trying to find my best fit within the huge blogging world of quilty goodness. 

I love how it turned out. Simple straight line quilting so as not to distract from all the gridded pieces coming together.

You can see all the finished quilts in Melissa's Tetris Parade here. Have you finished your Tetris quilt? Hope so. : )