Exciting News!!!! I opened a Quilt Shop!!!!

 Exciting News!!!!  I opened an online quilt shop!!!!  The Quilted Mule!!!  It's been a dream for a while, and I did it!  Currently, it is online only.  I want to offer quality fabric at affordable prices.

I just opened it a couple of weeks ago, so it's not fully stocked yet.  I will be adding new items weekly so please keep checking back often.  Currently, I only have fabric, but I will be adding more fabric, patterns, kits, notions, etc.  

All orders will ship out the following business day!  

FREE GIFT with purchase of $50 or more.  

Here are a few of the fabrics that I have in stock.  It's not all so please check out the website.  

That is just a small section of the fabrics that I have.  I have more on the way!

This is something that I have prayed and prayed about.  

Fabric Haul and tile

Here is the small fabric haul that I did Friday.  These were all purchased at Hobby Lobby.  I have no idea why this pic is upside down but it will not flip.  :(

Here are the fabrics already cut for a lapsize rag quilt.  The backing is the grey flannel.  I had a customer request it and also a Denver Bronco themed one.  I have that fabric ordered.   I've actually already started sewing on this one.  You can see in the pic that I also cut a stack of batting for it.  

The top fabric with the swirls is for a project of mine.  I started piecing the mushroom quilt from Lori Holt's new book and I ran out of background fabric.  I'll post pics of it once I drag it back out.  I just picked it up while I was down there but no clue when I will actually get to work on it again.  

The red/white polkadot it just a half yard that I picked up for my stash.  It was 50% off since it was in the Christmas fabric section.

Everleigh fell in love with this Santa panel.  They had it quilted and hanging up.  She noticed it and kept saying "Santa" and "pretty pretty"  :)  I actually bought 2 of them and plan to quilt them both.  I'll keep one for Everleigh and give the other to my sister for my niece and nephew to enjoy.  They were actually only $4.50 each.

I picked up a yard each of these 2 fabrics.  My nephew, Tucker loves dinosaurs and the solid is a flannel.  He is only a couple months older than Everleigh.  So my plan is just to quilt this up quickly for him as he loves dragging around a blankie.  

I worked on the rag quilt a little this evening.  I wanted to get more of it done but Richard and I took a little motorcycle ride.  It was a nice day for it.  We actually stopped by a place and looked at tile for the shower walls.  Ended up finding a really good deal on some that I liked so we paid for it because they didn't have a lot of it.  I will go back Monday morning and pick it up.  Didn't expect to find tile while on a motorcycle ride.  LOL!  

Not sure when Richard will actually get around to doing it but soon I hope.  

After Church I hope to get back to sewing on the Dallas Cowboy rag quilt.  I want to have it finished before the other fabric comes in.  I also need to do some embroidery work before my next craft show.  Also a couple of tshirt quilts that I need to do for a lady.  

Lots of Progress! (Photo Heavy)

I'm made a lot of progress over the past week.  About a month or so ago I made a baby quilt as a gift.  I posted a pic of it on my blog and facebook.  My SIL's mother wanted me to make 2 of them for her as gifts for twins of her niece.  They will be 2 yrs old this summer.  I added a border on these to make them a little bigger so they could use them for several years.  

 They ended up being 52" square.

 I quilted a simple stipple on them.

 I did the binding on them Saturday morning and she picked them up Saturday afternoon.  She seemed very pleased with them. 

 I also made a few pin cushions.  :)  I did not make the pretty one with the tiny flying geese.  That one was a gift from a dear friend several years ago.  I use it all the time.  I actually made 4 but didn't get a pic of the other one.  These were all made from leftover blocks or small orphan blocks.  I filled them with crushed walnut shells.  I like the weight that it gives to them.

 I have a huge jar of vintage buttons that I picked through and used.  I want to make several more when I get a chance.  I think I would like to use some of them and also put several in a basket to display. 

 I also started a new quilt for myself.  I feel the need to work on a few things of my own between customer quilts.  I need this!!!  LOL! 

 These colors are not my usual so it's totally out of my comfy zone!  I guess that is a good thing!  My plan as of right now is 30 blocks.  I was going to do just a bunch of random fabric colors but once I started I wanted to do blues and greens. 

 By the time that I got ready for bed last night I had 10 blocks pieced.  I'll get better pics of it when the lighting is better. 

 I signed up for the Fat Quarter Shop monthly subscription of reproduction fat quarters a few months ago.  It alternates between Civil War and 1930's.  This is what I received this time.  Love them!!!

 This is the line that they are from.  It's not the whole line but just 12 each time. 

 These purples are my favorites!  I have been on a purple kick lately.  I need to make a purple quilt! 

 Other life happenings this week...  

Andrew's cash offer on the apartment building was accepted!!!!  He is very excited and this momma is very proud of all his hard work.  I'll post more details as time goes on with it.  

I was out shopping with mom and Chantal a few days ago and found a big cactus that I bought! Actually in the cart you can see two but we actually bought three.  We each got one.  I've been looking for one of these big ones for years and finally found one.  20+ years ago I had one that was over 6 ft tall.  I had over 50 houseplants.  At that time I was married to my first husband and went back to get my plants about a week after I left only to find that he had poured bleach in every one of them.  I lost them all.  The huge cactus was my favorite.  Anyway...that was a long time ago and I now have another one.  :) 

 Today my niece, Addison turns 4.  Hard to believe that.  :)  Her birthday party was Saturday.  She had a blast of course.  She owns my heart.  :)

 Here is a pic of her cake!  She had a beautiful Barbie cake and 36 cupcakes.  :)

 Hunter has been on Spring Break this past week and goes back to school today.  I will sure miss him.  I have always loved it best when everyone is home with me.  That is my "happy time" 

Oh and I didn't get pics but Richard and I were able to take another short motorcycle ride on Thursday while he was off and the weather was nice.  I think sometime in the near future we are going to get a GoPro to attach to his helmet to video some of the beautiful rides that we go on.  

Today I have a customer quilt that I need to do some repair work on and hopefully get it quilted and the binding done as well.  Fingers crossed that I get it done.  LOL!  The top belongs to a coworker of Richard's.  Her sister had purchased it for her in PA.  It's all squares and hand pieced.  Someone has washed the quilt top and it has came apart in several places.  The seam allowance is very narrow and the stitches are pretty big.  I actually worked on some of the repair work yesterday but I hope to finish it up today.  I also need to quilt and machine bind it too.  I'll post pics of it tomorrow. 

Started a new one...

 Thanks for the wonderful comments on my SIL's quilt.  :)  She gave it to my brother and he loved it.  :)

I worked on my applique block.  I had it ironed to the background but hadn't stitched around it.  I got all of the green done but not the tulips yet.  After I get this first block done I will prep another.

 While I was working on the applique Richard built a grape arbor for me!!!  He is just so awesome!!!  I love it!!!

 He's still on vacation and Thursday had some nice weather so we took the motorcycle out for a little ride.  It was nice but a little windy.  We had a wonderful time.  In the pic we had stopped by the lake.  We rode about 110 miles.  Can't wait for warmer weather so we can do more riding.  :) 

 Friday we had errands to run.  Richard took his bow and had some work done on it.  He loves archery.  Picked up a few things from Sam's.  Stopped by Joann's and picked up these fabrics.  Not for any particular project but just to add to the stash.  :)  I got 1/2 yard of each.

 This came in the mail so I thumbed through it a bit after we got home.  I was tired so I really didn't feel like doing much.  I've been eyeing this book for a while.  I love the quilt!  I know that I really don't have time to start this quilt but I did do a block.  :)

 This is Block #1.  I'm not using the fabric colors suggested in the book, I'm just going to use my scraps for it.  Not in any big hurry for this quilt but I figure I could do a few blocks a week on it and eventually get it done.  As the cover of the books says, the blocks are 4x5 inches. 

 Shew...this momma is nervous.  LOL!  Andrew put in an offer on an apartment building.  It's a 3 unit building.  He has always wanted to have rental property even as a child.  He is now 26 and works 100+ hours a week.  He has been working hard for this.  Praying that the Lord will guide him in the right direction with this.  Right now the building is full with tenants but he may end up living in the smaller unit and continue renting out the other 2 apartments.  Not sure yet.  Anyway he put in an offer and now we wait...

Today I hope to work on a couple Lori Holt blocks and maybe another Anthology block.  Oh and maybe work on the purple tulip applique.  I don't like much finishing up that block.  I also have a customer t-shirt quilt that I need to work on.  I am so grateful for the customer work but I'm feeling a tad burned out right now.  I'm sure that will pass.  All that I can think about is wanting to work on something of my own.  LOL!  

A Special Quilt...

 Roughly 6 weeks ago or so my SIL, Kellie found a panel on Ebay I believe that she fell in love with.  My brother is a huge Civil War buff and she wanted to piece a quilt for their upcoming 19th anniversary. 

 She mostly does English Paper Piecing but is really good at piecing on the machine too but she just doesn't have enough confidence in herself.  I've quilted her machine pieced quilts before and they are good and square.  :)  Sooooo....she told me what she had in mind for the quilt that she wanted to make for my brother.  I told her that I would help her get it assembled. 

 I did cut and frame up the panel and attach it to the surrounding tumblers and she pieced and pieced hundreds of these tumblers.  She did every bit of those tumblers at WORK!  Yep!  At work!  She is a nurse at a peditrician's office and he is awesome about letting them quilt.  There are 3 ladies that work there and all 3 of them do EPP.  He says that as long as all the work is caught up and patients are taken care of that he doesn't mind at all.  He actually encourages them to be productive with something.  LOL!

 So we decided to do a fairly loose stipple and not over quilt the panel.  I also made sure that I quilted around and not over their faces because I didn't want to distort them. 

 She has a ton of awesome fabrics in this quilt.  Their anniversary is Monday April 1st so I figure she will give it to him this weekend.  I told her to video it as I can't wait to see his face. 

 After I got the center panel ready and back to her she sewed like a crazy lady getting all of those tumblers done and back to me.  I then trimmed it up and sewed the outer borders on.  Now like I said, it's not like she didn't know how to do it but she also didn't have a place to actually use the machine and get those sewn on without him seeing it. 

 Oh I forgot it is backed with a brown Minkie and we used Hobb's batting.  I will be doing the binding on it today.  She is so excited to give it to him. 

In the mail yesterday I received this charm pack.  I signed up for a monthly delivery at Green Fairy Quilts for a charm pack each month.  It's $9.99 and FREE SHIPPING!  The charm pack that I got is called Remix.  Not really my style but I'll keep them and use them in something.  :) 

 All for this post...

Two New Quilters and Two New Blocks

 Took me all day to get two more blocks finished yesterday.  Feeling some better but still not good.  My day pretty much went like this....sew, bathroom, nap, sew, bathroom, nap.  LOL! 

 This is the first one of the day.  Hard to really tell from the pic but the coral squares have a silver metallic polka dot, so not my normal.  :)

 Next was the house block.  It went together pretty quick.  Total of 4 finished and I think they are up to block 12 or so.  I'm hoping today that I can actually get to the longarm.  I tried yesterday but I just couldn't do it. 

 Saved these little pieces from my cutoffs.  The 1.5" squares will go in my tub and the little triangle snippets will go to a new quilter...my little 3 yr old niece, Addie.

 The 2 new quilters that I mentioned in my title are my sister, Chantal and her little daughter, Addison.  This pleases me so much!  Mom is back to quilting so since she retired and you guys know that I always quilt and my sister hasn't shown any interest until now.  :)  Addie has a little toy sewing machine that goes with her Barbie's.  She pretends to sew and says, "I'm making a kilt"  LOL!  She's 3 so it comes out "kilt" instead of "quilt".  She then takes her little scraps and glues them to construction paper.  :)  So I am saving her all of my little snippets that are too small for me to use.  She glues faster than I can cut and sew so I'm having trouble keeping up with her.  She could go through a shoebox of snippets in a day easily.  Even at 3 she needs to be encouraged to be creative.  My plan is to buy her the little Janome machine when she gets a tad older.  For now I plan on getting her the toy Singer machine in the toy department.  She will love it!

 As far as Chantal, we were all out shopping and mom and I needed to stop by Joann's.  We were looking for a new thimble for mom and looked across the store and Chantal was looking at fabric.  So I nudged mom and the conversation went like this...
ME:                "ummm...mom, look"
MOM:            "what is she doing?"
ME:                "no clue, has she said anything?"
MOM:            "nope, go see why she is looking at fabric"
ME:                "whatcha looking at?"
CHANTAL:   "well, I don't know.  I was thinking that I might want
                        to make a hexagon quilt for Addie so that she will
                        have something that I've made."  

So then it was on!  LOL!  We were in that store forever!  :)  First we were trying to figure out what she had in mind and went with it.  This is her progress so far...

 She seems to be enjoying it.  We've told her that it is not a race and just do what you want, when you want.  It doesn't matter if it takes 6 months or 5 years to just enjoy the process.  :)  

In other quilty news... I had a good mail day yesterday too! 

 Both of these are from the Fat Quarter Shop.  The bundle on the left is for my stash.  I signed up for their monthly subscription of reproduction fabrics.  It's 12 fat quarters of a new line.  The other bundle is for a custom customer quilt that I have coming up in a few months but wanted to go ahead and order the fabric.  Sadly it is 5:45am and I don't remember the name of either and I'm not in the mood to climb the stairs.  LOL!  

Oh and one last thing...I talked to Addie last night on the phone and she asked that when I was feeling better if I would come down to her house and play baby zombies with her.  LOL!  That should be interesting.  Hehehehe!  I live on top of the hill and she lives 1 mile away at the bottom of the hill.  :)

Back to the real world...

We got home late Saturday night so I guess it's time to get things back on track.  :(  Sunday morning we were dragging and sadly we didn't go to Church.  I just couldn't seem to get things going.

I did do a little sewing while on vacation.   I know it's wrinkled but you can still see my progress.  I have several more sewn into strips and I will keep working on it during my down time.  I love EPP and handwork.  

 

 I did pick these fabrics up while on vacation.  Nothing really special.  The dark blue and the red ones are 1 yard cuts.  I thought the little fat quarters were cute and also beach themed...starfish, seashells and such.  Not sure what I will make with them but I need to find a pattern to use them with then pick up some white for background and maybe some light grey as these fabrics have a little grey in them.  A total of 10 fat quarters with 2 of each.  I'll have to find something to make that will remind me of this vacation.

 So this week things should get back to normal and hopefully I can get back to sewing.  I have big plans!  LOL!  We'll see how that goes.  

Richard went back to work this morning.  Mom and Andrew had to go back to work yesterday (Sunday).  :(  They were really tired.  We all had the best time!  14 people in the same house for a week and we all survived.  

A few more vacation pics...  This was as we were leaving early Saturday morning. 

Here we are just goofing off...

Us on the beach....

My world...

That's all for now and back to quilty posts.