I'm a Winner!

I think everyone out in blogland recently took part one way or another in the Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway Day.  So many people gave away so many great items....It was quite amazing.

To my surprise, I was one of the lucky ones to win one of those generous items from Pat at Color Me Quilty.

And I have to say, these little items were meant to be for me!  Even when I saw them, my eyes lit up and I made a little wish that they would be mine.  I must be living good...

 My package held 6 fat quarters and a half yard cut of some Kaffe Fassett shot cottons and woven stripes.  Yum!!  I was initially going to designs a little quilt around these items but I decided last night to start and incorporate them into a project I have been wanting to make for a long time.  It will be a slow process but I am going to make the Haze Kilim quilt from the Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts by Kaffe Fassett.  

(Love, Love, Love every quilt in this book!)

With what I won from Pat and the fabric I have collected over the years, my quilt will be more purple, blues and greens.  Hopefully I can have it finished by the end of the year and promise to keep you up to date on my progress.  Right now I am off to study the pattern...

 Linking up with Really Random Thursday, Whoop Whoop Friday and Sunday Stash.

Enough Color?

YIPPEE!!!  I finished up my quilt top.  Not sure I got enough color in this one!  (Giggles) 

I made it using the Shadow Box pattern by Mountainpeek Creations as a guide.  I added another column of boxes, used two fabrics for the "shadows" (versus one) and dumped the wide outside border (I have never been a fan.)

All of the bright greens really make this the perfect springtime quilt!  I am really pleased with how it turned out.  Now to get it scheduled onto my longarm for quilting.  Soon this longtime WIP will be finished!

Linking up with Blossom Heart Quilts, Show and Tell Tuesday, WIP Wednesday and We Did It Wednesday.

Starting a New Quilt

 I have had a pile of fabric sitting in my studio for about a year just waiting to be cut into.  I decided today was the day!  I am meeting some friends soon for a day of sewing so I thought I would have this project cut so I could assemble it then.

 Here are the focus fabrics and colors of the quilt.  I thought they would be a fun spring project.

The Jack in the Pulpit fabric is by Jane Sassaman from her older Sunshine and Shadows line.

This colorway is not something I would normally work in but as a shade gardner, I just love this print and couldn't resist when I saw a bunch of it for sale at a deep discount.

I snatched up some of this fabric when it first came out but in the blue colorway.  Here is a wall hanging I made that hangs in my hallway.  It is a piece I have always loved.

Well, back to cutting.  Hopefully next week I will have a finished top to share with you!

Linking up with Really Random Thursday, and Whoop Whoop Fridays.

A Quick Finish

Last month I had won a giveaway sponsored by Cindy over at Live a Colorful Life.  She was destashing and this is part of what arrived in the mail for me.  A total of twelve pieces in the seaglass and coral colorways of Moda's California Girl line.

Thankfully, Moda fabric is pretty easy to identify as Cindy is a collector of selvages!  The cute little pin she also included more than made up for the quick search I had to do to identify the line.

The piecing was simple and a quick ruffled swirl was quilted in a cream thread.

 

And before I knew it, this cute little quilt was done.

Thanks Cindy for the inspiring fabric!

A Glorious Finish

I have a very talented customer who loves to paper piece and about once a year, she completes one of Judy Niemeyer's beautiful quilt patterns.  We have teamed up on about five of them to date.  I just completed this Glacier Star for her and thought I would share with you some pictures of the quilting and her beautiful color work.

The entire outside border was quilted with a double line radiating to the center.  It worked great against the curved lines of the flying geese.

I did some simple line dancing to create an orange peel effect in the star points.  I also quilted in some "S" curve quilting in the white background to add a 3D texture.

To complement the straight lines in the outside border, I added some echo quilting in some of the smaller starburst blocks.

The wonky geese around the center star medallion also got some echo line quilting.

To accentuate the flowing flying geese weaving throughout the quilt, I tightly stippled in the background fabrics.  I also quilted pebbles in the dark navy areas to add dimension throughout the quilt.  An inner blue border on point also received some straight line quilting.

Here is a photo showing how the different quilted shapes worked to define various areas of the quilt.

Sadly, I don't have a space large enough to lay the quilt out to get a great picture.  The quilt is about 100" square.  On my own quilts, I usually spread them on my lawn but I won't take a chance with quilts from my customers.

The quilt will be displayed this July at the Sisters Quilt Show in Sisters Oregon. So if you get a chance to attend, you can see it there. I am hoping to get a picture or two of it hanging in all of its glory.  The customer and I were both really pleased with how it turned out.

When the customer picked up the quilt, she also brought her color plans for the next one, which is the Mariner's Compass.  I can't wait to see it once it is completed!

To keep up with other quilting projects, you can follow me on Bloglovin' or here on Facebook.

Linking up with Cindy at Live a Colorful Life, Leah for FMQ Friday and TGIFF.

Not my Best Work

To be truthful, I never thought this top would get finished.  It was definitely a test of my patience and I'm a bit surprised I stuck with it.  It was made using the Ballerina pattern made by Jaybird Quilts.  If you follow the pattern, the pieces go together beautifully. Unfortunately,  I miscut a number of my blocks so the entire quilt had to be reworked so the blocks would fit together. 

Not all the points come together as well as I like them to be but once it gets quilted and laundered, it will be less noticeable.  Right?

I really like the fabrics in this quilt top.  I mainly used Jason Yenter's Winter Solstice fabrics and back filled with some fabrics from my stash.  

This will be a Christmas gift so now I need to get it on my quilting schedule.  Any fun ideas on quilting?

Previously this year, I had quilted a quilt from the same pattern for a friend.  I like the texture of the straight line quilting in a few of the swirls.  The quilt above is far busier and I am not sure the quilting will show much.

Too many decisions!  Thankfully I have a few months to figure it out.

Linking up with Connie at Freemotion by the River, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced Quiltsy and Esther's Blog..

To Boston with Love

Today is the day of the Eugene marathon.  Following so closely after the Boston marathon, all those hit by that tragedy are in my thoughts.  It is so senseless that events like this even occur. I think when bad things happen, many of us are left wondering what we can do to help. I was very pleased when I saw the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild organizing To Boston with Love ~ a call for flag bunting that will fly in Boston this summer to bring support to their city.

Making these three little flags was very therapeutic and fun.  I hope their bright colors and loving message help to heal a city so violently shaken.

There is still time to make your own flag.  The instructions are here.  If you don't want to ship to Canada, I believe Amy from During Quilt Time is also working on flag collecting. 

Shipping details are here.