Getting UFOs Finished on Retreat

I was retreating last weekend with my sewing buddies.  We had a blast spending time with good friends, good food, good music and of course fabric!  On Friday, I used my friend's HQ Avante with Pro-Stitcher (computerized quilting system) and practiced some of the things we were learning while out at HandiQuilter training :)

Using the Pro-Stitcher, I finished this quilt top that my Mom had hand pieced and hand appliqued.  With a bit of help from my friend Mary, I put Pro-Stitcher computerized designs in the borders and the corner blocks, then I practiced meandering around the applique and put curves in the inner borders.  I'm totally counting it for my UFO Challenge finish for September.  (I have this same quilt top that I made and that was on my list for this month's UFO, but I did my Mom's first.)  The pattern is called Second Hand Rose designed by Jo Morton, and it's made with Jo Morton fabrics as well.

I also worked on swap blocks, a Round Robin Row, and a Guild Challenge pillow while Retreating.  I'll show those later, when I finally get to unpacking all of my Retreat projects and snap a few pictures :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn   

Enjoying Utah from Every Angle

 Flowerbeds were breathtaking, September is a wonderful time to visit Utah :)

 Views were spectacular!

 The Great Salt Lake

 We saw wildlife :)

 Can you spot the little coyote running away from me? (Center left)

 

 It looked much steeper in person, really...

More wildlife a little too up close and personal for my taste! (I had Bob take the picture for me)

That's the abridged version, but you get the idea ~ we had an amazing time that I'll never forget :)  Salt Lake City is definitely worth a stop if you ever have the chance!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

What a Quilter Does on a Trip to Utah

After studying quilting techniques for several days at the HandiQuilter Headquarters in Utah, Bob and I took a couple of days to sight see around the area before returning home.  And what does a quilter do when sight seeing in Utah?  Go to quilt shops of course! We did a few other things too, but my hubby knows me and found a way to fit in some quilt shops along the way.  The Quilter's Haven in Bountiful UT was my favorite, and as a Bonus it was located right next door to a yarn shop!

The ladies there let me snap a few pictures of their Ohh so inspirational decor.

They had two levels of many samples and a wonderful assortment of fabrics...

...And a few of those fabrics may just have come home with me :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

From a Quilter's Point of View

This was the view from my hotel for the last week :) Bob and I have just returned from Bountiful Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City where we attended training at the HandiQuilter headquarters.  Bob took refresher training on repairing/servicing all of the HQ machines, and I learned about set up, operating and sales for all of them.  
 

Here we were doing some hands on learning for getting the tension right on a variety of different weights and types of threads ~ Yes, he jumped right in there and is actually very good at machine quilting ~ isn't he the coolest hubby :)

We worked on sample quilt layouts and learned how to use the Pro-Stitcher computerized quilting system too.

(This was a collaboration that Bob & I worked on together)

We toured the HQ facilities and saw where they put the machines together and where they did quality control stitch outs.

We were told we could take pictures anywhere in the facility, and I did get some other shots in the factory...

...but we were also told that we could take pictures of the quilts hanging throughout the offices and training facility, so most of my pictures are like these...

 ...lots of quilting close ups (can you tell I'm looking for quilting ideas?)

That's what you get when the camera is in the hands of a quilter!

We stayed for a few days after the training and got to do a little site seeing around the area too (I snapped some other pictures I'll show you later this week).  We had a wonderful week in Utah and have some exciting things coming up here soon, so stay tuned!

For now, check out our HQFALLFUN sale going on right now on the Website!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little Bit of Everything

Yes...we're into a little bit of everything here at Spring Water Designs.  I like many different crafts, and play in a lot of different styles ~ I think that's what keeps it all fun :)  This little Colonial Bird punch needle project is our latest publication, and can be found on news stands now in the Holiday issue of Create & Decorate magazine!
 

And even more fun, this one is truly a collaboration ~ I designed it, and my daughter Heather made the sample for me!  She does a great job with any hand needlework especially counted cross stitch and punch needle :)    My favorite is hand applique. (I'm playing with this as an applique project now ~ more on that later...)

You can find Create and Decorate on most new stands and it's packed with projects in many different crafts ~ this issue has 40 projects!  You can click on the picture above and get a sneak peek of some of them :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn 

A Fresh & Fun Break

When I need a break from the tons of designing that I've been doing lately, I like to make up little crib quilts :)  This is my Fresh & Fun Modern Crib Quilt. 

It's made with one little charm pack of Moda's Salt Air fabric collection designed by Cosmo Cricket, some coordinating yardage from the collection for the backing and binding, and a little Kona Bone.

 I quilted it with an all over meander with a light pink variegated thread.
 

This is the cute fabric I used for the backing and binding.  The quilt's so easy to stitch up, I've made a couple for gifties, and one to ship out as a donation for Mountain Baby Blankets :) 

Kits for the quilt are available both on the SWD Website, and Our Etsy Shop ~ and they include all fabric including the backing and binding!  ...Or if a really quick gift is needed, you can just buy the quilt already made Here in the Etsy Shop, so spread the word :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Timely UFO

Popping in this holiday weekend to show my finished UFO Challenge piece for August.  I finished quilting and binding my Harvest Moon quilt top.  It's a pattern by Pat Sloan and can be found in her Folksy Favorites book.

Now it's for sale Here in my Etsy Shop...and on to the September UFO project :)

Have a Happy and Safe Labor Day Weekend!
~ Dawn