Cherry House Quilts

Merry Christmas, and a winner!

A special thanks to everyone who left a comment in our drawing. I was so very touched by all of your sincere Christmas wishes!  So many of them were wishes for others safety, health, happiness, wellbeing, and goodwill towards others! The hearts of quilters are warm and kind indeed! 

Since Luke is here, I asked if he would like to select the winner of our drawing, and he picked Patty, who's comment was this...

My Christmas wish is for my brother,who has kidney disease, and is suffering from depression will ove come the depression which will allow him to get the next step to recieve a new kidney. I also wish for peace and prosperity(spiritual as well as monetary)for all.
Merry Christmas

Well my friends, I'll be taking a few days break to enjoy some special time with my family while we are all together!!! 

In honor of this special time of year, Cherry House Quilts is having a sell!  10% off all patterns in our store.  To receive the discount, enter the code FAMILY.  The sell will be in effect through January 1st.

Merry Christmas everyone!

much love,

Cherri

 

A Christmas Wish and giveaway!

First, and foremost - Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, and prayers for Melissa and our family during her medical ordeal.  She is getting stronger daily which is wonderful!  She read all of your messages and comments, and was very touched by your kindness ♥♥♥

Is everyone ready for Christmas, just one week away?  I am so excited, because for the first time, in a long time my entire family will be together.  There is nothing more important to me than my family, and I am so grateful we will have this time together.  This Christmas will be a little bittersweet, as I've mentioned before, Luke is leaving in February for one year, and I'm having such a hard time with this.  When he was 19 he went on a mission for our church; he was gone for 2 years, but it was something that I had prepared for since his birth, so it was very different.  But he is going to serve our country, and I am very proud of him for the choices he is making. 

In honor of Christmas, and all of holidays celebrated this time of year I thought we needed a giveaway; most Mom's I know do lots of giving, and not as much receiving; so this is a gift just for YOU! 

The prize?  A bundle of Amy Schimler's fat quarters, a bundle of Kona Cotton Fat Quarter Solids, and some other goodies I've gathered throughout the year! 

The drawing?  December 24th...just in time for Christmas

How to enter?  Leave a comment, and share your Christmas Wish...I'll start:  My Christmas wish is that my son will return safe from serving overseas.  

May all of your Christmas wishes come true,

xoxo,

Cherri

From this to this

 
This is a portion of my quilt City Lights while on the design wall; this quilt is on the cover of my book City Quilts, shown here:

The idea behind the quilt is downtown buildings at night, when the city is dark, and buildings are lit from within.  The Kona pale pastel solids used throughout the quilt create a glowing effect.

It is my personal policy to not wish time away, but I can't wait for May 17th...the day my book releases!!!

Cheers,

Cherri
 

away and back again

As you may have read over here my little Melissa was involved in a freak medical accident, one worthy of a freakish medical show on TLC.  Poor little thing required emergency surgery, and her souvenir was a 6'' vertical incision on her tummy.  She is home in Houston now; I went to care for her for a few days before she was well enough to travel, I did her laundry, shipped home a 100 lbs of school books (she missed her finals, and will now have to make them up).  I was finally able to bring her & her little cat Minkee home...is she a quilters' daughter or what?

That is why I have been away, and have been unable to post :-(   Consequently no post, and no update on the Scrap Quilt Along.  How are all of you coming on your project?  I hope you will start adding photos to the Flickr group.

This trauma with Melissa has been so difficult, and upsetting...there is no way to make sense of the whole event.  All I can do is try to take care of her, and help her move forward.  Each day has been getting better, and that is a blessing.  Last night Lizzy and I were at JoAnn's picking up something that she needed, and I'm thinking to myself, "okay, things are returning to normal; this is good, I can keep going".  Shortly after thinking this comical thought, I get a call from Ashlee, who had just been in an car accident on black ice; she will be okay...only a banged up knee.  I thought to myself, if my children don't stay safe I'm going to have a nervous breakdown.  Lizzy's on her way back to Idaho, everyone think good thoughts for her please, and consequently for me too!  Luke is going to Iraq in February, but I'm not even going to start focusing on that.  Being a mother is hard work; long distance or not.

Alright, I've cried on your collective shoulders, and I thank you!  I'm going to try to gather what remains of my sanity, and do what always helps me find my way.  Pray and sew...often, praying while sewing! 

Thank you my friends,

Cherri

Fruit Sliced Gum quilt layout options

Hey quilty friends,

How are you coming with your quilt? Are your blocks ready to sew together?  I'll show four layout options here for quilt tops using 30 blocks.  Feel free to use one of these, or create your own!  There is no right or wrong, just whatever looks best to you.  I like these all so much, I want to make one of each...what cheery scraps!

Option 1 
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4
   
Here's last weeks instructions to print Download Fruit Stripe Gum Part 3

Okay...time to sew!  Next, quilting our quilts - the best part maybe?  What is your favorite part?

Happy Sewing,

Cherri 

A quilt for Hayden

This long weekend has a been a good time to wrap up a bunch of unfinished projects, because the little lull that I've had since finishing the book is about over. 

The quilt that I'm finishing currently is for my BFF's little grandson named Hayden.  I'm using some of Amy Schimler's adorable frogs, and lots of Kona Solids!

I've scattered colored dots across the surface of the quilt...a frog needs somewhere to jump to right?

I'll finish it up in the next few days, and send it on it's merry way!

How is everyone coming on your Fruit Stripe Gum quilt along?  Let me know how you are doing, and if you have any questions.  Remember, Thursday, putting our top together.

Have a good week,

Cherri

Fruit Strip Gum Quilt Part 3

Before we begin, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!  Though an American holiday, I think many countries have a day of thanks. What a wonderful way to spend a day; giving thanks for all that we are blessed with.  There is so much that I am thankful for, my family first and foremost, they are more precious to me than gold, and I love them without measure.  I am thankful for all of you, and I am thankful for quilting...it is so much more than the sum of its parts!

Okay...onto our scrappy quilt along

Here is the pdf of last weeks' instructions Download Fsgum part 2

This is what your completed block should look like prior to trimming.  Try not to be anxious about the excess fabric, remember this is a scrap project, and the goal is to use up our fabric!

This is the block from the back, trim the block from the back, to loosely align with the NFNW interfacing, in order to steer clear of those pesky bias edges.

 Line up your 9.5'' ruler on the diagonal, with the longest white strip in the center

Trim away the excess

Ta Da...a finished block!  29 more to go!

Trim those blocks, next week, making the top!

Remember, keep the white strips in the center of the blocks...this will give unity to your scrap quilt.

Can't wait for everyone to start adding your blocks to our Flickr group! 

See you next week!

Cherri

Take a peek!

Here's a peek at City Green, one of the quilts in my new book City Quilts.  This photo was taken of the quilt on the design wall, pre borders, pre quilting, pre being finished, but I had to capture these clear, beautiful colors.  I can't say enough about the beauty of solids, I think they almost have the appearance of colored glass.  Yesterday, I was searching around on the internet for something, and found a link to the work of Josef Albers...whose work I was a little acquainted with, but not very well.  I found this, which I thought incredible, and a little like my quilt.  It made me happy, and made me think that my work was on the right track.

I'd like to tell you a little about this quilt, if you would indulge me.  The quilt has 100's of small blocks, with very narrow sashing.  The colors are meant to shimmer, like sun and shadow through the branches on the ground, in the woods.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to arrange the blocks, or explain the concept in a pattern.  I was truly struggling, trying to convey what I had envisioned, without much success.  So I did what I have taught my children to do, from their youngest days...I prayed.  I pleaded with God to know how to do what I was trying to do.  In an instant, I knew.  I was shown how to arrange the blocks, how to sew it together, everything.  I was, and am so grateful for answered prayers. 

The entire book from concept, to the quilts, and all the work involved was a journey that I felt compelled to take, pushed a little even. 

My sincerest thanks to everyone for your kind words, and good wishes about my book.  I hope you will love it as I do; and of course I hope you will make lots and lots of quilts.

Cherri 

Fruit Stripe Gum Part 2

Ready to sew...here we go!

Here are the cut NFNW (non fusible/non woven) interfacing squares

Take your sorted strips of fabric (remember to sort by color)

Take a square of NFNW interfacing, lay it down on the flat surface, on the diagonal.

Place a white fabric strip in the center right side up, and lay a colored strip on top of it, right side down, stitch (1/4'' seam allowance), press open. **Important note: Reduce the heat of the iron to medium when pressing open the strips.  A too hot iron will cause the NFNW interfacing to shrivel.

Add another strip of white, stitch, press open

Continue to add fabric until the entire block is covered. 

Here are the colors, and # of blocks included in the Fruit Strip Gum Quilt:

Yellow 5

Green 5

Orange 4

Pink 5

Blue 6

Purple 5
 
 Next Thursday, trimming blocks!

If you have any questions, leave me a comment, and I'll answer them in the comment section as well.

Thanks for joining me, and remember to have FUN!!!

Cherri
 
 

Look at what you made possible

     

Yesterday was the delivery of all of the quilts to Fort Hood.  There was an informal gathering to photograph the quilts, before presenting them to the hospital Chaplain.  Even among the tough military personnel, at the sight of all quilts; tears were shed.  Luke had the honor of handing out the first quilt to one of the wounded in Darnell Hospital.   

Thank you so much to everyone for your individual and group contributions! 

lots of love,

Cherri

News, News, more News...the happiest news in all the land

   
Dear Quilty Friends,

I am so excited to tell you that I have written a book with C&T Publishing!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see right over there <---- it is called

CITY QUILTS - 12 Dramatic Projects Inspired by Urban Views

12 quilts - all solids, nothing but beautiful Robert Kaufman solids!!!!

This project has taken 1+ years, and it has been the best, hardest thing I have done, aside from raising my children.

I hope you will love it, and I hope you will buy it!  As Linus says to Charlie Brown about the Great Pumpkin, " He'll come here because I have the most sincere pumpkin patch and he respects sincerity."  This is a most sincere quilt book, and everyone respects sincerity!  I have so much to say about the journey, but I'll save it for another day. 

Thank you for being my friends,

Cherri

P.S.  Meant to say that it is due out in May 2010

Fruit Striped Gum Quilt Along...all the details

Ready to get started on our Fruit Striped Gum Quilt Along?  Ready to use up those scraps?  Here's how we will get started...

• Gather all of your scraps in white - whether solid, tone on tone, any thing in this neighborhood - you will need lots of white fabric
• Gather all of your pastels...anything really light to medium in color 
• Sort the scraps into color families...all the yellows together, all the pinks, all the greens, purples, blues, etc.
• Length of scraps 4'' to 15''
• Width of scraps 1'' to 3''
• How many scraps?  Lots and lots...there is no definitive answer to this, remember it started as a project to use up all of my scraps
• You will need a foundation for sewing your scraps to...I prefer non fusible, non woven interfacing (NFNW) lightweight, this is sold by the yard or in packages.  I purchase mine by yard, which is 22'' wide.  This is my personal preference, feel free to use this, or a lightweight muslin.  I use this because it provides stability to the various weights of fabric, as well as eliminating any issues to fabrics that have been cut on the bias.
• 4 1/2 yards of NFNW interfacing, or other foundation material (this is for 22'' wide NFNW interfacing), recalculate if using a 42'' wide material).
• Cut interfacing/foundation material into 10" squares
• 9 1/2" square ruler - for squaring up later
• sewing machine, iron, rotary cutter, rotary mat - all the usual quilting supplies

Quilt Block - 9" finished

Quilt Size - 44" x 54" in a 5 by 6 configuration...you can make yours larger, or smaller depending on how many scraps you have

Here's the link for the Scrap Quilt Along Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1286594@N21/

Here are the badges:

150 x 150  

200 x 200   

link to www.cherryhousequilts.com

Click here to Download Scrap Quilt Along pdf

You are ready to get started!  Gather all your materials, sort as noted above, cut your foundation material to size, and on Thursday will be begin sewing!!!

Thank you for joining me on this journey!  I hope you will have a great time, that you will use up your scraps, and have something of beauty when it's all said and done.

Cherri 

I am so silly

I was contacted by a customer in the UK who said they couldn't purchase a pattern through the pattern store, a message said we didn't ship to the UK.  I thought, what the heck...of course we ship patterns overseas all the time.  Looking in the help guide for the e-store didn't help, so I contacted customer service.  They politely emailed me back, stating I had only set up shipping for the US.  User error - completely my fault, what a silly I am.  So any friends overseas, all has been corrected, and you can now purchase anything we carry, to be shipped where ever you may be.

Here's a great picture I came across of the photo shoot of City Blocks a large 72'' x 82'' quilt seems minuscule in this atrium setting.

Have a silly day,

Cherri

Fort Hood Quilt update 11.13.09

Happy News - yesterday 15 quilts arrived!!!  Many of you have asked for confirmation of when your quilt(s) arrives.  Since the quilts are being shipped to my son's house in Killeen, and not my own; this presents the tiniest challenge.  Luke is logging all of the quilts as they come in, and he will send the list to me, and I'll post it soon. 

Luke and I discussed last night the wisdom in holding all of the quilts until the 31 arrive, or delivering the quilts in batches, since some of the wounded have been released, and others are in one of three hospitals.  What we decided was to for him to take the quilts he receives over the next two days, and deliver these to the Chaplain's office on Monday.  Several of you have said that you are planning on shipping your quilts today, or this weekend so by the end of next week everything should have arrived.  He will then deliver the remainder to the Chaplain. 

The Fort Hood Public Relations Officer will be photographing the quilts prior to them being turned over to the Chaplain; I'll post the pictures as soon as I receive them.  Rest assured that everything is being documented, and that your quilts are in loving hands!

Cherri

P.S. With the quilts that have been committed, I believe that we have all of the quilts needed for the wounded.  I've been in contact with the group Home of the Brave Quilts, who will be providing quilts to the individual children, and families of those that were killed.  If you have a quilt to donate for this cause, please email Sandi at homeofthebravequiltsnational at yahoo dot com

 

We made the paper!!!

Check it out dearest quilty friends!  Our quilt drive efforts made the news...

http://www.forthoodsentinel.com/story.php?id=2399

Cherri