Quilts for Painting

7:37:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 18 comments

If you're a regular follower you know I have a friend that is an artist, Jan. Jan has painted me some of the most wonderful paintings in trade for quilts. I'm always happy to trade as I know I'm getting the very best of the deal. I treasure those paintings so much.
A few months back Jan brought me a new painting, fully framed. It is a late summer scene showing the bounties of a garden in still life with beautiful China dishes. Things I love. And I

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Fabric Friday Suzuko and Kimberly

8:11:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 14 comments

Hello everyone. I hope everyone has had a productive week. It has been a very very busy week at the hive with most of my family here. My house looks like a bomb exploded but I hope everyone will help put it back together soon. HINT HINT Girls.
Ayumi from Pink Penguin sent me a little package of Suzuko fabrics. They are really fun. Plus I think the pink Alice fabric is from Ayumi herself. Thanks so much Ayumi. If you haven't looked at Ayumi's blog in a

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Quick Peek

9:17:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 30 comments

I've got a busy day today with work, family and Allison visiting me this week but I thought I'd stop a moment and show you what I'm working on. Baby quilts.
Just a peek at this little girl quilt. So fun to use my Flower Sugar by Lecien. I love love love this fabric.
Here is a little boy quilt. I'm putting his name on this quilt by fussy cutting letters. I'm making this quilt twice since this is for the new twins born into our extended family.

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Happy President's Day

7:50:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 12 comments

Happy President's Day. When I was just a kid we had a candy store in the middle of our block in the basement level of a home. They would always decorate for holidays and have seasonal items in the store as well as candy and treats. Each February Mr. Schumacher would get these little double cherry candies in his store for Washington's birthday. I would spend a nickle for a double cherry. They were really fun. I found these (above) at an Etsy shop. They are a little

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International Quilt Market Spring May 13-15 - Save the Date

6:34:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 17 comments

International Quilt Market will be held in Salt Lake City May 13-15, 2011. Show of hands: How many of you will be there? Oh darn. Too hard to count. Well I'll be there for sure and so will many of your favorite bloggers, suppliers, designers and fabric companies. Quilt Market is a trade show and not open to the general public but there will be fun events that week and maybe you can scrounge a ticket into the show some way.
Utah has so many great fabric bloggers and

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Freda's Hive International

5:36:00 PM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 25 comments

Isn't the combination of blogging and the internet just the most amazing thing? It is incredible to realize that people around the globe could turn on their computer and see what Nanette in little Alpine Utah recently made! It is almost magic. It is hard to imagine that the first pattern I recently sold for Dreaming Princess was to a quilter in Sweden. It is like bringing the world into my sewing room.

Two international experiences recently came my way:

Last year I had an email from Tineke, the

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Panguitch Quilt Walk Festival - Come take a class with me

7:59:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 12 comments

I'm so incredibly excited to be teaching this year at the Panguitch Utah Quilt Walk Festival. Panguitch is one of my very favorite place to teach. The women are so incredibly nice and talented. I feel so at home there and welcomed as a teacher. I really am crossing my fingers that my classes fill up and I hope you'll consider coming to sew with me in Panguitch. I'm teaching Friday and Saturday. Take a look at the classes here. There are so many fun projects to choose

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Happy Valentine's Day

7:42:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 17 comments

When I was a kid I loved Valentine's Day. Getting that pack of store bought valentines and my "class list" was so exciting. I would sit at the kitchen table and paw through the valentines picking out valentines for each classmate that matched my friendship or feelings for them. Ahhh. Good times.
Valentine's Day is pretty low key. I love red and love those vintage valentine images. When my kids were little we'd do fun things with them and for them on Valentine's Day like red scrambled eggs

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Fabric Friday - Choosing fabric for Game Board Quilt

9:53:00 AM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 23 comments

Whew what a stressful few weeks we've had. I hate to get negative on my blog but life happens. I won't go into details but I'm certainly ready for a change of luck and praying for blessings.

On to Fabric Friday. I am almost done with my checkerboard for the Game Board Quilt. If you want to sew along or follow, see Syd's blog at Alpine Quilt Retreats. It is going to be a fun and unusual quilt to make. (I swiped some of my photos from Syd's blog,

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My 2010 Alpine Quilt Group Quilt Finished

7:41:00 PM
Posted by Nanette Merrillin 29 comments

I really loved our 2010 Alpine Group Quilt Project designed by Jina Barney. I am really proud of myself for keeping up with the project and completing the quilt in a timely way.
I love how it turned out. We started the quilt in the center and every month added blocks onto it. I kind of backed myself into a corner when I started the quilt with that black dot border in the center. But it worked out when I chose the big dot for the outside border.
The quilt

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