New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

Yay! It's my turn to be apart of the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. Don't say that fast, you will get all twisted up. You went back and tried to, didn't you? That's ok, so did I, and I'm the one who told you not to. Ha!

My name is Jen Shaffer and Patterns By Jen (PBJ) is my baby. Well, the last of my babies. I have four real babies, who are now 20, 17, 15 and 12 (so not so baby-ish) and I run a family child care out of my home, so I get to play with other peoples babies. 

PBJ is my "grown up" baby (as in, I get to be an adult while running this), that morphed from Jennygirl designs. Jennygirl designs was something I had planned on naming my business for years. Then one night, I decided I wanted something catchy, something that would stand out (plus there was already a Jennygirl Designs for something else). As I tossed and turned Patterns By Jen just came to me, but the best part was the acronym. PBJ. It made me smile, and maybe giggle a bit, and since I love purple, I decided my business colors would be the colors of a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich. Mmmmm, it makes me hungry every time I see it, or think about it, which could really end up being a problem.

I made my first quilt my senior year of high school, a gift for my grandma. It used pre-cut squares of, I think, upholstery fabric out a sample book. I could be wrong, but it was a long time ago. I laid them all out, and wound up having enough to do a cross in the middle. Perfect for my Catholic grandmother. :)

This quilt was tied and my mom helped my bind it on the way to Grandma's house.

It took me 10 years to make another one. This time I chose to make 2 quilts for my boys. They were 6 and 3 at the time. I found a panel that I loved for my oldest, John, and then found a younger looking cowboy fabric for the 3 year old, Jacob. Then I had to come up with a plan. It was my first voyage into quilt designing.

They have been used and abused, the binding is fraying, the applique is coming apart. I love that they got so much love.

I have made my daughter a couple of quilts, the girl likes to change colors often. This one encompasses ALL of the colors. :)

My youngest loves America, and asked for an American flag quilt. Done. It's busy, but he loves it.

My favorite design that I came up with was a wall hanging for my father-in-law. He and my mother-in-law moved and I wanted to make something that would remind him of their old town, Mobridge, SD. He loves to fish for walleye, but as any quilter will tell you, walleye fabric is pretty impossible to find. Bass, yes, walleye, no. This forced me to design the entire quilt, and I can't deny that I'm very happy with the outcome.

I took a coloring book picture of a walleye and used fabrics to replicate it. Using some black fabric and stitching in black I made my version of the bridge. I say my version, because there is no way I was going to be able to replicate that bridge.

I filled in with fabric that had rocks, and made my own rocks, as well as the tree. It was fun to quilt it and give it some underwater life, but it was more fun to give it away. That is why I make my quilts.

I also love EPP, English Paper Piecing, and hand embroidery, and flamingos. Thank goodness my husband likes to drive, because that is the only time I sit still long enough to do handwork. I love this table runner, I have finished two of them. There are plans in the works for this to be a class.

I am particularly proud of the quilting on this one, especially the little acorns. CUTE!


Lets get back to the blog hop basics. There are four other bloggers in my "hive" this week that you should go check out and leave comments with. As bloggers, we live to get comments, because that means someone is listening!

Heide @ Heide's Quilty Hugs
Ann @ Brown Paws Quilting
Velda @ Granny can Quilt
Lorinda @ Laurel Poppy and Pine

You should also go give some love to Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs, Yvonne @ Quilting Jet Girl, and Stephanie @ Late Night Quilter the three amazing women that pulled the newbie bloggers together for this blog hop and gathered the sponsors for all of the great prizes. (Yes, there are prizes, go check it out!) Yvonee and Stephanie also have "hives" of their own, so go check out those awesome bloggers, too.

I have been encouraged and helped so much through this blog hop. I still have more to do with my blog, but it is so much better then it was.

Now the fun part, tips and inside info:

1) Blogging tip: Running a blog takes time. You can drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with it, literally crazy, and nobody wants crazy. At least in my house they don't want *more* crazy. Find a time that works for you to focus on your blog. I try every morning before my child care Littles show up to do bloggy type stuff. Sometimes I'm ahead of the game enough that I can get a couple of blogs written for future publishing. Sometimes it's catching up on emails, or getting watermarks on pictures for future posts. I try really hard not to work on it after that morning session (other then to take pictures for it). I have plenty of other things to do, so sticking to that schedule means I don't let other important items get pushed back, but also means I am still doing things to improve it.

2) Quilting tip: SLOOOOOOOOWWWW down. Seriously. When I am getting frustrated or start to feel like I'm behind and I *need* to finish this, I put my machine speed down a level. It's amazing how your blocks can once again go together like they should, and how your seams are more accurate. If slowing down doesn't help, then walk away. Walk around the block, lock yourself in the bedroom away from everyone for a while, pour a bottle of wine, I mean, glass! Glass! Pour a glass of wine. Quilting should be fun, and if you are frustrated/sad/angry, it's just going to get worse, so get out of there for a bit.

3) Questions time! What quilt is on your bucket list that you don't think you would ever do, because it's beyond what you perceive to be your quilting level?  Mine is the Mariner's Compass quilt. I love that design. Love, love, love it. I hate paper piecing. I'm so not good at it. Not at all. So it remains on my Quilt Bucket list.

4) Insider info. I love Anne of Green Gables. I love everything about her.  I've read the entire series so many times I could recite all eight books for you. I love the first two movies, but have never watched the third, as I have not heard any good things about it as far as following the story line goes. My dream vacation would be to go to Prince Edward Island. Really.

Yes, I think this is officially the longest blog post ever. Thank you for sticking around and getting to know me. Please, please, please head over to my fellow bloggers pages and check them out, and show them love.We need love in this world, lots of it, and we need to spread the love. Go spread it, and have a fabulous week!

Happy Stitching!
Jen