Open Gate Blog

I've been working on Block #3 by Helen Stubbings.  Part of the fun is picking out the fabric.  This is one of my favorite things to do when I'm starting a project.  Imaging what it will look like and playing with the different combinations.  My husband teases me about petting my fabric...you get it right?!   His favorite quote of mine is:  "I just want to stay at home and play with my fabrics!"  What more could you want?!   Meanwhile, here is Block #3.  This one had both applique and embroidery.  I will admit that I am a bit rusty on my embroidery but I pulled out my case full of thread and stitched away.  I googled how to do both the backstitch and the running stitch and that was super helpful.  It's like riding a bike, once you get going, it all comes back to you.  I'm sure there will be more embroidery so I will get to "ride my bike" again.   If you want to sew along with us, click o...

Hi All! Last year at Quilt Market in St. Louis, I stopped to chat with Pat Sloan.  She is super nice and a go- getter!  She mentioned that she was doing another Splendid Sampler.  I asked if I could join and I am honored to be included! Here is the cover for Splendid Sampler 2 : I am also participating in the Sew-Along and our first block was last week.  I decided to do the Sew-Along in Coastal Chic Batiks and here is my version of first block by Alex Veronelli called Quilt Market.  I used my Fit to be Quarter 6.5 ruler to square my block up.  It worked great!  I also used spray starch before I squared it so the bias edges wouldn't fray and distort. The second block is called Milk and Cookies and is by Rebecca Bryan.  It was so much fun to reacquaint myself with applique!  I decided to do needle-turn and used the Olfa Circle Cutter to get wonderful circles out of freezer paper. Join me each week to see the bloc...

Hi all! It has been busy!  Not only did we attend Quilt Market, I debuted a new fabric line and several new quilts. Here's the recap: Quilt Market was awesome!  We had a chance to conduct a Schoolhouse to show how to use pre-cuts and my new fabric line, Coastal Chic Batiks.  They were lined up outside the door to come in!  Crazy!! Our booth was by Maywood's so we could show our fabric and new quilts.  Here are pictures of our booth. Mark showing off his Coastal Chic Batik tie I made for him Corner View of Booth Juicy Cactus The most exciting thing about Market was the debut of Coastal Chic Batiks .  I know...that doesn't look like me!  But, Maywood is wonderful and let me try something new and different.  I've been wanting to design batiks for a while and finally with the inspiration of our wedding in San Diego, I was able to!  Love them!  They are a rich combination of purples, blues, teals, sands and creams...so...