I'm BACK....

Can't believe that the last time I blogged was April 1st...yikes...

well...I'm back!

Tomorrow I leave for Spring Quilt Market in Portland Oregon

This year I decided to do some hand work on the plane besides the normal

hand embroidery that I always carry with me. Along with the embroidery I've decided to

take along some English Paper Piecing and Yo-Yo's.  

The EPP I've been cutting for

several days but decided today to precut some five inch squares for my yo-yo's so I 

went through my fat quarter stash and pulled out a bunch of 30's prints. To make

the job easy and quick I also pulled out my Deb Tucker - Tucker Trimmers. Normally you

use the Tucker Trimmers to square up half square triangles but y'all know that I'm 

really not that normal. The Tucker Trimmers are perfect rulers to cut your fabric into squares and

yes even strips. Check this out...

I'm using the Tucker Trimmer III and Tucker Trimmer I

Using the Tucker Trimmer III to cut 10" squares or part of a layer cake, I simply trim up the side 

and using the 10" line I sliced off 10" square, 5" square and 2 1/2" strip

Using the Tucker Trimmer I ... I subcut the 5" strip into 5" charms.

I swear by all sizes of the Tucker Trimmers to square up my half square triangles but

to get more out of this ruler I use them to cut my squares, super easy and quick. One side

has whole sizes the other side half on the Tucker Trimmer I and III and the quarter and three-quarter

on the Tucker Trimmer II.

Now that I have my squares ready for my yo-yos I'll be gather all my supplies and packing

for five busy days in Portland. My goal is to blog daily while there but if not you will see

me posting on my Facebook page.

Lovin' my new cutter...

Last fall I popped into the Olfa booth and got a sneak peek at their

new Rotary Cutter Splash. I was super excited when I contacted them about

donating a prize for my cruise and I received one of the, yet to be released, Splash Cutters.

Fran won the rotary cutter and was the envy of all the quilters on the cruise.

We arrived back on Monday and while ordering notions for the shop I saw that Splash had been

released...AGAIN...super excited because I wanted one and couldn't wait to get my hands on

the newest addition to the Olfa Rotary Cutter line. The first 10 arrived in the shop and before the end of the weekend I had to order another 20...yes everyone was like me and wanted one.

Here is the picture I shared on my Facebook page

Aren't they beautiful???

Sunday I was cutting out the first month of the Swirly Girls Clubhouse and loved

that my rotary cutter matched my fabric...how stinkin' cute is that?

So in case you are wonder what the difference between the new Splash Rotary Cutter

and the original 45mm Cutter...see for yourself..

The Splash handle is tapered and fits more comfortably in your hand...

They both open the same....

Wait...what's that on the back? You see the old one with it's little black screw...the new Splash

has the easy peasy quick change slide...SWEET...

Look...the Splash blade just pops off...and the older one you have to unscrew and remember

to put the washer in between the bolt cutter or your blade will flop all over the place.

Here's how easy the blade is to replace

Just give the slide control a little push...

and VOILA...your blade is changed and ready to go.

If you're wonder where to get one of these fancy new Splash Rotary Cutters

have I got just the place. Kelly Ann's Quilting we have them in the shop and

in our online store...and the price..a very sweet $17.99, can't beat that.

So tell me...do ya like the color? It's more a teal blue then a blue blue like the pictures.

Until Next Time

Be Kind

Kelly Ann

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to each and everyone one of my Peeps....

Until Next Time

Be Kind

Kelly Ann

Quilters Cruzin'

Last year my friends Susan & Christine of Swirly Girls Design asked me

if I wanted to be the shop sponsor of their cruise that was going to take place in

March of 2013...sure...why not I said. Well maybe I didn't say that right off

the bat but what it comes down to is I did say yes and one year later we just returned from the

Caribbean and am already planning next years cruise with them, and you can sign up now!

We had quilters from all over the place, even Valerie from Canada came along for the ride. A wonderful group of ladies from Michigan, Ohio, loads from Virginia, Maryland, Alabama and Pennsylvania. Hopefully I didn't miss a state...they really were a great group to play with.

I thought I took a ton of pictures of the ladies quilting but it appears that the only

pictures on my camera were of the after quilting fun. But I can still show your those...

Michelle from Quilt Retreats at Sea set up a nice little cocktail party for us, what a blast that was.

Our first port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico.  We arrived a few hours late so ended up having 

some free time to explore the streets and eat in a local place that Andrew's friend Nick told him about.

On the way back to the ship we stopped for some quick picture taking..don't we make the cutest couples?

St. Thomas was up next, we spent the day exploring, then back on the ship for some relaxin' in the sun, well, relaxin in the shade but it was still a lot of fun.

We had two formal nights, we chose to only do one and I'm glad we did. As you can

tell...lots of happy faces and beautiful people...

Here are our sea creatures that awaited us when we came back to our cabin..

what a hoot!

Next year I will taking lots of pictures of the quilters. Lots of quilters finished their quilt tops and

there was a bunch of hand projects finished. Dang, now I wish I had taken pictures of the thread catchers, hand embroidery design, strawberry pin cushions and english paper piecing. Lots of goodies

were given out during the 9 days but the biggest giveaways happened on the last day on the ship. We gave away more then 30 prizes to the lucky ticket holders...lots of chances to win!!!

If you've ever thought about taking a quilting cruise but didn't know where to turn for answers to your

questions just drop me a line...I am more then happy to share. Kelly Ann's Quilting will be sponsoring

a second cruise in April 2014...wouldn't you love to join us? We'll be cruising out of New Orleans and

making some great port stops along the way. 

Won't you join us...sign up now and let the fun begin!!!

Until Next Time

Be Kind

Kelly Ann

2/7/2013 Your Name

Any way you say it...

Until next time

Be Kind

Kelly Ann

aka

KA

2/6/2013 Soft

The picture for yesterday was Soft....

nothing softer then a puppy dogs ear...

Until Next Time

Be Kind

Kelly Ann

Something You Smelled

BACON

Until Next Time

Be Kind

Kelly Ann