Hello and welcome to the Sweet Celebrations blog hop.
We are mother and daughter team Jo Kramer and Kelli Kramer and we are proud to say we have three projects in this book, “Sweet Celebrations”.
We took this picture a year ago to the date back when we were frantically trying to get a picture of ourselves as part of our submission to the Sweet Celebrations book. Â We wanted to take the picture with our beagles, Puppycat and Gracie. Â It was quite the day! Â They weren’t cooperating, and to be honest, we weren’t cooperating the best either. Â Just recently Gracie passed away and there is a new puppy on our horizon…I can promise you, it will be a beagle. Â In fact, we just picked out a new puppy.
We are casual country farm girls. Â Notice we didn’t even dress up to get our picture taken. Â The guys in our lives are farmers and work long hours. Â We sew to pass the time.
As part of the blog hop, we were given a list of questions to answer. Â We decided to split it up leaving some for Kelli to answer and some for Jo to answer. Â Here’s Kelli’s questions:
What is your favorite part of quilting–fabric selection, piecing, quilting, binding–and why? My favorite part of the quilting process is choosing the pattern, the fabric,and getting all of my fabrics ironed and cut. When I make a quilt, I am very picky about the process. I like doing all of the ironing at once, all of the cutting at once (and organizing all of my cut pieces into nice little piles), and all of the sewing at once for each step. I don’t like to sew three blocks to see how it will turn out and then continue on. Quilting is the part of the process that I like the least. Binding is a bit of a bittersweet process for me. I like knowing that I finished another quilt, but it’s a little bit sad because the quilt is finished.
Do your pets/kids/spouse help of hinder your creative process?   I really don’t have too many hinderances when it comes to sewing or my creative process. My beagle Puppycat usually sits in a chair in the corner of my sewing room carefully supervising. Sometimes she sits on my sewing bench with me, but sometimes she decides that she wants to play fetch and will grab a toy and sit at my feet whining until I throw it, as she knows I won’t say no. As my boyfriend farms, he usually doesn’t come home until 9 or 10 at night depending on the season. By then my back is usually a bit achy and I’m ready for a break. Overall, he’s pretty supportive as he has learned the hard way that sewing is my therapy. When we moved last summer, he even gave up a dining room so that I could have a sewing room downstairs. I think he’s a keeper!
If you and your dearest friend were going to dress as a horse, would you be the rear end so she could be the front? Tell us how you became friends. This is a quite interesting question. Me and my best friend/mom became quite close friends as she housed me for 9 months prior to making my appearance to the world and she’s been stuck with me ever since. There were a few years when we didn’t get along/I thought I knew everything. I swear though, the older she gets, the smarter she gets….or maybe the better I get at listening. In regards to the horse situation, I would definitely allow her to be the head. She’s better at presenting things in a more complete way and definitely thinks before she speaks. I tend to be a bit more stubborn and drag my heels a bit. I also have to be pushed, poked, and prodded to do things…like add borders to a quilt or finish a binding. Over all though, we work quite well together. Things that I don’t like doing are things that Mom enjoys and things that really bother her are things that I love doing!
What sewing accomplishment are you most proud of? My biggest sewing accomplishment to date is being featured as a Moda Bakeshop Chef. I had previously dabbled with designing, drawing, and coloring blocks here and there, but never really done anything serious. One day I sent a copy of a quilt I had been working on to Mom and after much proding and poking (I’m the horse’s rear end remember) she made me submit it to Bakeshop. When I found out that the quilt was accepted, I was so excited. It validated the hard work I had put into working on matching up seams, keeping a true quarter inch seam allowance, and the design work I had done on the quilt. When I finished the quilt and showed the Bakeshop readers what I had created, all of the kind comments and works of encouragement really made my day and I knew then that even though I was relatively new to quilting, it was something that I had done and done well.  Next on our horizon is a project that will be featured in a national quilting magazine.
Here are Jo’s question:
What have I gained from the online quilting/sewing world?
Wow..how do I answer that question quickly??!? I can’t.  I can say that I have gained the best batch of friends a gal can ask for.  Serious.  When I recently purchased my new APQS Millennium,  I asked fellow blogger Judy from Patchwork Times for some advice.  She was right there and answered right away.  I have made connections with so many companies in the quilting industry through my Try in on Tuesday’s posts where I try out new products and publications.  I’ve got great reader friends who understand the sorrow I’ve been going through when my beloved beagle Gracie died.  I have friends who send me fabric scraps so I can keep working on my pineapple blocks.  I’ve met amazing friends who are Bonnie Hunter groupies like I am.  I got connected with the gals from Country Threads and had an opportunity to go to quilt market in Cincinnati with them.  I’ve gotten real close to fellow Moda Bake Shop Chef, Michelle from Michelle’s Romantic Tangle.  I’ve been blessed by sweet Ila who always is sending us goodies.  The list goes on and on…..From the time I started blogging 3 1/2 years ago to now, my circle of friends has grown globally and I LOVE that.  In our small home town there aren’t a lot of people who are quilt crazy like I am so all of you help me feel “normal” and I thank you for that.
We were asked to share a recipe with you. Â We made our recipe quick and easy. Â We know all you would love a yummy treat to celebrate the Fourth of July…this one requires little prep time so you can quickly get back to sewing.
Here’s the recipe.
Are you are wondering what our project is….well we don’t want to reveal too much…but we can say, these quilts are our designs.
You can actually make both quilts at once. Â How neat is that?!?!
We also have another quilt in the book! Â We had so much fun working on projects for the book. Â Can you image? Â We made the three quilts in just over a month!
Now here comes the best fun!! Â All of you have an opportunity to win a Moda precut…we LOVE fat quarters packs (don’t you??) and your very own copy of the book, Sweet Celebrations. Â Just leave a comment here telling me what your favorite Moda precut is.
If you want more chances to win and some great recipes, hop over to see some of the other featured Moda Bake Shop Chefs.
October 1 – StashBooks and Moda Cutting Table
October 2 – Melissa Mortenson and Melissa Corry
October 3 – Mary Lane Brown and Natalia Bonner
October 4 – Lissa Alexander and Corey Yoder
October 5 – Jane Davidson and Angela Yosten
***October 6 – Jo & Kelli Kramer (THIS IS US) and Stefanie Roman
October 7 – Sherri McConnell and Megan Jimenz & Heather Andrus
October 8 – Angela Mitchell and Ellie Roberts
October 9 – Katie Blakesley and Aneela Hoey
October 10 – Amy Smart and Angela Pingel
October 11 – Vanessa Christenson and April Rosenthal
October 12 – Moda Bake Shop
October 14 – Readers have until midnight on the 14th to comment on all the blogs for the giveaways.
October 19 –Winners announced on all the blogs.
Thanks for stopping by.
Right now, charms are my favorite precut. We are in a tiny apartment while we build a house and charms are the perfect size to pull out, sew up and put away! Lisa in Texas
I’m new to quilting, and a student at university — so as much as I like the idea of fat quarters, charm packs are much more affordable and still allow many possibilities! Amazing what charm packs and jellyrolls can combine to make!
Bonnie & Camille Marmalade is my current favorite. It is so bright and cheerful!
I like charm packs the best!
Jelly Rolls — I think for the next project I’ll try your way of the process (all cutting, then all sewing) rather than cut enough for a section and then putting together that section.
Fat quarter bundles! :) I love them!
I agree about fat quarter bundles! You can cut so many things from them!
I LOVE Fat quarter bundles but they can be pricy. I’ve found Layer Cakes to be pretty flexible and fun though.
I love, Love, LOVE Moda Candy!
I love Jelly Rolls! So much fun just to say the name! Then again, Fat quarters are great too, as are Layer Cakes and charms. Nah, Jelly Rolls are by far my favourite of them all!
love your quilts congratulations on your book would love to win .
I love those fat quarter bundles too Jo. I have been so busy I haven’t even dropped in to say Hi, but I will now. Hey Jo, how are you girl? I will try to stay in touch better. If you all don’t know, Jo was my very first blog that i followed and she helped me in countless ways to enter the blogging world. Hugs to you lady. And thanks for a chance to win.
I luv the bundles, everyone they have. I really have to many favorites to say which one is my favorite, but to be fair I am in love with Modas solids. They have such a great choice of colors.. Thanks for the chance to win something .
I love all the bundles. It is great to have fabrics that coordinate without having to do any work!
I like all the precuts, but I am feeling that the layer cakes are particularly versatile these days.
I’m not picky, but I think I like the layer cakes – it gives options to go smaller or just keep the precut large!
I just finished a quilt top with Sunkissed charm squares. It only took me a year and a half (one house move in between) …Now to back it!
I definitely love the fat quarter bundles.
I love bundles, but I am starting to collect/buy more that I have used, just because they look pretty on the shelf.
My favorite Moda precut is the Marmalade charm pack by Bonnie & Camille. I just love the colors and the fact that the charms are all cut out for me when I want to make a quick quilt.
Fat Quarters!!!
My favorite is fat quarters! I also like to use fq’s for other projects like pouches & small bags. Thanks for a chance to win! :)
Ooh FQ bundles all the way. :) Not really sure what to even DO with the other cuts…
Tho… I *do* have a quilt to make from those 2″ strips…
Layer cakes are so fun for a lot of variety
Love jelly rolls and my favorite are the Berries and Birds and Simply Color.
I love FQ’s but also love to use other precuts, especially jelly rolls!
Pingback: Sweet Celebrations Winner
I know the winner has been selected. I just wanted to say THANKS. After thinking about your recipe, I realized that it was the perfect thing to do for Christmas gifts for co-workers. I have been making up quilted “Mug Rugs” for gifts. Now the gift will also include a coffee cup, and a pre-mixed batch of your recipe. Have you tried this with chocolate cake mix? Thanks again.