Friday, December 30, 2016

Precut Quilts OR.........Tricia's Quilting Channel!

Yesterday I received a HUGE box from Annie's/Quilter's World magazine.  Inside were five or six quilts that I had made for them as well as couple advance copies of publications.

I really had to smile when I perused the new Annie's Quilting With Precuts Special Interest Publication.



I had made a couple new projects for this one, but Annie's cleverly added previous precut projects that I had made for them in the past.  All in all, there are a TOTAL OF 10 OF MY DESIGNS IN THIS PUBLICATION.  That's 10 out of 25 projects that carry my name.  Sheesh!  Isn't that just crazy????

I'm thinking they'll need to change the name of their publication if this keeps happening.  :)

Hmm.

Tricia Quilts?
Quilts by Tricia?
The Tricia Maloney Quilting Collection?

Oh sew many possibilities.....

Don't forget to grab your own copy of this great news stand publication -- you know, Tricia's Quilting with Precuts......

And since I totally skipped blogging over Christmas, I'd like to send out a Very Merry and Happy New Year to everyone!



Here's to all of the good quilty things coming in 2017....including a blog hop for my new book.  Yay!

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Ho Ho Ho for Me! I Love Precut Quilts! Book Review

I am SEW EXCITED!  Deirdre at C&T forwarded me the link for my first book review.

The book review below is from Yarns and Fabrics in the UK.




I Love Precut Quilts by Tricia Maloney



I Love Precut Quilts by Tricia Maloney, softback published by C&T Publishing, ISBN 9871617453427, price 14.99 available in the U.K. from www.searchpress.com

Forget the hassle of cutting fabric and use jelly rolls, charm squares, layer cakes, fat quarters and more. Cutting takes time and is often where mistakes are easily made, so you can save time buying pre-cuts and put all your effort into the design and make-up of the quilt. See 16 fast and fun projects to use pre-cuts. For each design, you get a full colour image of the finished quilt, the measurements, shopping list, cutting, construction, making and finishing, plus a diagram so that you know how everything goes together, and alternative colourways. I have been looking for a simple idea to use my favourite Morris charm pack and I think the first design in this book Around and Round might just fit the bill. I can see easy ways of adapting this design too. I like most of the designs, but some stand out for me Divide and Conquer, Big Bow Ties and City Houses. get quilting without delay.

Thanks sew much for a lovely review, Yarns and Fabrics!

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Playing With Christmas Part 2

Okay, it was so much fun designing quilts based on favorite Christmas songs, that I'm back with some more!


I Saw Three Ships



O Little Town of Bethlehem



 Here Comes Suzy Snowflake


 Walking in a Winter Wonderland



Frosty the Snowman





It Came Upon a Midnight Clear


Saturday, December 10, 2016

Favorite Cat Christmas Gifts

My plan for this blog post was to continue with my Christmas song inspired quilt designs using my Electric Quilt software, but well, you know what happens.....

My cat had to have emergency surgery the other night.  We noticed that her belly looked really bloated on Sunday.  On Monday it was worse so we called the vet like good pet parents and were able to get an appointment on Tuesday.  Well, things went south from there.  Poor Callie had a terrible infection -- pyometra and had to get spayed ASAP.  So we had to take her to another vet who could do the surgery that night because waiting might have caused everything to burst.  Ugh.  Poor kitty girl.

Callie made it through surgery just fine and came home Wednesday afternoon.  She is not a very happy camper wearing her e-collar.  She also happens to be difficult to medicate and is stubborn -- charming, right?  Anyway, since her incision is huge she won't get her stitched out for 12 days (instead of the usual 7-10).  Ouch.

 Here's Callie (the tortoiseshell) with her favorite companion, Joey, before her surgery.

So in honor of Callie's recuperation, I thought I'd write a post about some fun gifts you can make for your favorite kitty children.

1.  Sushi Cat Toys by Pet Project



 Aren't these just too cute for words?  Add a little catnip and the kitties will go wild for sushi.  LOL!

2.  Recycled T-Shirt Toy by LVLY


Who doesn't have a stack of  old t-shirts siting around?  Although this toy is suggested for dogs, make it smaller and spray a little catnip spray on and kitty's got a great new chew toy.

3.  What about a special bed for kitty?


 I just did a quick search on the Internet for "homemade cat beds" and OH MY GOODNESS -- people are SEW CREATIVE!  I saw beds made out of old TV's, wooden crates, suitcases, hammocks, computer monitors, book shelves, and just about everything else!  Whatever happened to the cardboard box with a pillow inside?

Looks like I need to get in the groove and make my kitties something more fun than a store-bought round fleece bed.  LOL!

4.  Tuna Crunchers Treats by Doggy Dessert Chef


Just a couple ingredients and flour free.  The added catnip with really get kitty going.


5.  What about a cat quilt for your furry buddy?


Whenever I'm working on a quilt, I have at least one furry baby trying to help me out.  You know, curling up in the middle while I'm binding, or pouncing on it while I'm machine quilting, or maybe just hiding under it.

I haven't made a cat quilt for a while, but I did make one for my furry baby Sandy a long time ago.  Sadly, Sandy's no longer with me, but he sure loved his quilt so we buried it with him.

A simple little scrap quilt with left over quilt blocks perhaps around 30" x 30" would do for most kitties.  To make it more cozy, use flannel fabrics and a flannel or fleece back.  You could even just quilt some printed fabrics together for a super quick quilt.  I wouldn't suggest tying a pet's quilt, however, because he/she might try to eat the yarn which would not be healthy at all for your furry friend.


Well, I hope these ideas inspire you to make something special for your best furry friends this holiday season.  They sure inspired me!  I'd better get back to my studio and start whipping up some goodies for the furry kids.








Thursday, December 1, 2016

Playing with Christmas

I love my local radio station because they start playing Christmas music the day before Thanksgiving and play it continuously until the day after Christmas.  That's a lot of Christmas songs! 

Listening to Christmas music when I'm heading to work, to the gym, to the grocery store or wherever  really helps to put me in the holiday mood and I just can't help singing along.

Listening to those wonderful holiday tunes inspired me and made me wonder what would happen if I played around with some quilt designs in Electric Quilt inspired by my favorite holiday songs???????

Well, let's see what happens.


Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree 


Silent Night




 

Let it Snow!  Let it Snow!  Let it Snow!



 

Silver Bells


 

Joy to the World


O Christmas Tree

 

Blue Christmas

 

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

 

Well, that was a lot fun and now I'm excited to play with this idea some more.  Stay tuned to see what I come up with in my next post.  

Who knows?  Maybe this will inspire your next project, too.