Hey Y'all!  I am so excited to share a beautiful project with you today.  Plus, it's close to my heart, because I'm featured in the book!  It's a super fun project you have got to get started on so you are ready to share all the joy by the time the holidays get here!! 

Peppermint Lane by It's Sew Emma is a block of the month book that has some truly unique and fun blocks!  From stockings to ornaments, to gingerbread boys and gift boxes, you will not be disappointed!  Month 12 covers finishing your quilt and the directions are clear and easy to follow.  Regardless if you start with the block of the month, or skip right to the bonus quilt in the back of the book, I promise you will love them.  The book is available now through The Fat Quarter Shop and it's the only place you will find these quilt patterns.  Get it while you can! 

This Bonus quilt is so pretty, you can plan to
keep it out even after the holidays have passed.  

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope you will try out these fabulous quilts, tag me if you do, I love seeing them, and I am always here to answer any questions!
​Look forward to meeting you on social media. 
Follow me on Instagram @gina_tell_carpequiltin 
Gina

There are many other talented quilter friends involved in the quilt along,
​I encourage you to go check them out!  
I hope you will join in on the Quilt Along fun!!
Please also visit some of the other talented designers that are quilting along:​
*April of April Rosenthal (@amrosenthal)
Bonnie of Sunset Family Living (@sunsetfamilyliving)
Cara of That Crafty Cara (@thatcraftycara)
Carrie of Moda Cutting Table (@modafabrics)
Denise of Pieced Brain (@piecedbrain)
Elise of Elise and Emelie (@eliseandemelie)
Gina of Carpe Quiltin (@gina_tell_carpequiltin)
Heather of A Creative Pursuit (@acreativemama)
Hilary of By Hilary Jordan (@byhilaryjordan)
Jan of Cocoa Quilts (@cocoaquilts)
Jen of Heritage Threads (@heritage.threads)
Joanne of Quilts by Joanne (@turtlequilterjo)
Kairle of Kairle Oaks Handcrafted Goodness (@kairleoaks)
Kendra of Good Starter (@good_starter)
Kristen of 3 in the Nest (@threeinthenestraleigh)
Kristina of Center Street Quilts (@centerstreetquilts)
Leah of Ponderings from My Heart (@ponderingsfrommyheart)
Melanie of A Bit of Scrap Stuff (@mellierc)
Melissa of Happy Quilting (@happyquiltingmc)
Pat of Pat Sloan (@quilterpatsloan)
Pat B. of Life in the Scrapatch (@scrapatches)
Patty of Elm Street Quilts (@elmstreetquilts)
Rebecca of One Wee Bird (@oneweebird)
Sarah of 123 Quilt (@123quilt)
Seema of SSK Craft Shop (@sskcraftshop)
Sherri of A Quilting Life (@aquiltinglife)
Sondra of Out of the Blue Quilts (@sondradavison)
Stephanie of Quilt 'n Party (@quiltnparty)
Tanya of Tanya Quilts in CO (@tanyaquiltsinco)
Teresa of Aurea's Kitchen (@aureaskitchen)
Vickie of Crocheting Vixen (@crochetingvixen)
​

Thank you for stopping by, hope to see you again on the 25th next month!
I'd love for you to follow me on social media, please drop in and say hello :)
Instagram   www.instagram.com/gina_tell_carpequiltin/
Facebook    business.facebook.com/CarpeQuiltin/
Much Love,
​Gina Tell

I'm sitting here this morning with a hot cup of coffee, the window open next to me with a Texas spring breeze lightly blowing on my feet, and my bulldog Oliver snuggling my lap.  My heart is full of love, and I am very happy with my life.  But, it's taken me a long time to figure out that there will always be people in my life that misunderstand who I really am.  People who look at me and think they have me all figured out, but they have no idea about the things that have made me who I am.  The deep scars that eventually got me here... behind the sewing machine.  Piecing my way through my own troubled thoughts, wiping my tears with the cotton fabric, and sometimes even laughing so hard my stomach would ache.  Quilting is my therapy. 
Here is my most recent quilt finish, and the story behind it....

For me, quilting has many layers of thought and emotion.  It's not just cutting fabric and sewing it back together.  Honestly, I have never made a quilt without a recipient in mind.  I have a hard time even starting when its just a random quilt for no purpose.  With each project that comes up, there is always a story behind it, many little stories actually.  Often times my son and my husband are involved, they both enjoy helping me pick out fabric or helping me arrange blocks on the floor, and my husband Scott, is the King of quilt pictures (ha ha)!  He has been wading through fields, climbing up cliffs, and tip toeing though sandy beaches all just to drag one of my quilts around trying to get the perfect spot so I can get a good shot!  We laugh, and he rolls his eyes at me, but we have fun.  Each little part, is a part of the story, part of the therapy that keeps a smile on my face and love in my heat. 

​Please enjoy some of the behind the scene pics from our most recent walk I made him take to find the "the perfect spot" LOL

When I first started quilting I couldn't afford to have them quilted on a long arm, so I had to incorporate that part into the process.  I practiced a lot, and I got a good arm workout with the free motion foot!  I found it to be an important part of the process, it really completes the "feel goods" when you look at one and know you did everything yourself!  So.... if you have never quilted your own quilt on your standard sewing machine, you should!  Give it a shot, it won't be perfect, but you'll feel so good about it when you are done.  But, if I have not convinced you to try, I would love for you to send them to me.  I offer full custom long arm quilting service, and I am currently accepting new clients.  I have a new Handi Quilter Avante Long Arm, I named her Mary Louise in memory of two special ladies I miss very much!!  Here are a couple close ups from the long arm portion of this story.  Since my long arm has no computer, I do everything free hand.  I decided to do these loops and swirls together because they kinda remind me of butterflies.  Butterflies are amazing, they start out ugly worms and end up colorful creatures that roam around the sky searching for flowers, and that thought makes me happy! 

Now, while I invite you to share in my deep family disfunction when I show you this, keep in mind, I have not yet gifted this one.  But, I know it's totally safe to tell all, because I am absolutely sure nobody in my family cares enough to read my blog.  The quilt is for my brother, he and his wife plan to have their first baby this spring and my gifts will be handmade.  They are having a little girl.  I'm a little sad with this project, my heart starts to race as I type because he is my only sibling, and this will likely be his only child, and while my parents divorce happened more than 20+ year ago, I am still living right in the middle of the line of fire.  It's complicated to say the least.  I would like nothing more than to see this baby girl bring the family back together (and I thought it was there for a little while) but the reality here is grim.  So I will counteract grim with COLOR!  I decided to use bright, beautiful scraps from my stash.  To me, the scrappy style quilt blends a lot of things that don't typically go together, and makes one piece that works in harmony. Yes, harmony, that's what every family needs, right?!  Scraps of Tula and Kaffe mixed with Alison Glass, and a shot of ombre' for fun!  It's a free pattern on The Fat Quarter Shop blog page and I loved making it!  My Sister-In-Law is not into traditional stuff, so I thought the hidden creatures in the Tula Pink fabric would be a fun surprise.  My brother hates girly colors, ever since we were children he would refuse to even stand next to something pink.  We once had to stop the truck while moving a sofa, because the blanket we used to protect the corners was purple.  I know you can see the irony here, right? 

Due to my brothers deep hate for pink, I decided to spare him as I made my selection for the backing fabric.  I searched for several days to find just the right fabric.  I looked locally, as well as several late nights in bed with my laptop.  My Sister-In-Law loves Zombies, I'm not sure the reason or any history behind this love, but I guess I don't really need to know.  The point here is that my choice has a meaning.... LOVE!  When it is time to gift the quilt I am going to tie a ribbon around it with the fabric salvage showing the "Zombie Love" and cute little Zombie images.  I really hope they see my intentions. 

I also made a few other little things to welcome my niece (pictured below) and I plan to gift them when she is born!  Once I know her name, I will do a quick embroidery patch with lots of hearts and hand stitch to the back. 

PS- If any of my family does happen to stumble on this post, please know that love is in my heart and I sure hope that someday we could be a family again. 
Here are my WIP pictures for the quilt.... 

Here is the diaper bag I made for them (the dogs helped a lot that day) :)
I was hoping my Sister-In-Law would see the significance behind the
Day of the Dead fabric,
​I know she misses her father very much! 

I am working on a blog post for this bag pattern, if you are interested please check back soon.
Thank you for stopping by.  
Much Love, 
Gina