And the Winner is...

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway!  It was so wonderful to read all of your comments! 
I really do appreciate all your support and you continue to inspire me to share my process and quilting projects with so many wonderful readers.

I tried to reply to as many of you as I could but I just couldn't get to everyone!

The lucky winner of this fabric and thread is Kim who blogs over at MegSue Designs.  These fabrics will work perfectly with the charm pack of Eden she already has in her stash.  

Congratulations Kim!

(I will be emailing you soon...)

 

Sunday Stash - More fabrics to share

 

Two weeks ago, I shared the wonderful prizes I won from Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts as part of the True Colors Blog Hop.

well....my luck continues with a few more goodies delivered this week by my postal carrier.

I received a $25 gift certificate from Southern Fabrics that I immediately spent on 4 yards of Mirabelle fabric for the backing of a quilt I am finishing up.

Perfect timing!

Thanks Heather and Megan at Quilt Story for hosting First Giveaway Friday!

And check out these adorable Alexander Henry prints I won back in February as the comments winner on a Sunday Stash hosted by Kate Quilts.


I can't wait to cut into these.  I already have a plan for them!

To pay it forward and to share some good fortune with others, I am hosting a giveaway for my readers so be sure and go here to get signed up. 

Getting packages in the post can sure make your day!

Molli Sparkles should be hosting Sunday Stash this week.  I will also be linking up with Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch.  Hope to see you there!

Scrap-A-Palooza! Quilt #3 Finish (Part Four)

I cannot believe we are already finishing up our third quilt in the Scrap-A-Palooza scrap series!  My how time flies when you are having fun!  I can actually say I am finally seeing the tiniest of dent in my scraps...now that is something to celebrate!

If you are ready to sew up some of your scraps, all of the quilts from the series can be viewed in the Scrap-A-Palooza quilt gallery tab above.  Not only can you see the quilt I made but I love to share what others have done.  There is all sorts of inspiration!

A review of the steps so far on this quilt...

In Part One, we narrowed our colorways and pulled our scraps.

My full color bins inspired my fabric choices on this one!









We also spent the first week cutting our strings to length.

Part Two had us sewing our strips, squaring up our blocks and sewing a sashing strip to each side

Last week in Part Three, we put our blocks up on the design wall and picked a layout.  After some easy piecing, the top was completed.


And as always, we talked about some possible quilting ideas.

 

I decided to go with a more random layout.

This quilt is great for using up those bright colored strings.  It goes together so quickly and easily!

I did take the easy way out on the quilting of this one.  I just used a playful "Popcorn" pantograph.  I knew I was going to be quilting this one up in the wee hours of the morning so I went with something that didn't require a lot of thinking.

And you need to wear your sunglasses to view the back!

I knew this older floral fabric would find a home eventually.

And now for a few statistics:

Small Lap Quilt

Size: 40 x 50"

Fabric: Various width strings from the scrap bin

Total Pieces: approximately 100 strings

Total Blocks: 20 10" blocks (including sashing)

Sashing Fabric Used: approx 1/2 yard

And some other photos to share using this pattern:

 

Alycia is working on her final layout.  She has named her quilt 'Sticks'. I think this one has a very patriotic feel to it.  You can see her other layout options on her blog.

And Barb over at Mountain Quiltworks just finished up this fresh looking quilt!  Rather than choose a specific color for each block, she went with a more scrappy look.

All those lovely pastels, just in time for Easter!!

One of my layouts for this pattern has inspired the project for April.  We will be working with just two colors and a background fabric.  Hope you check back to see what I have up my sleeve.

Why Scrap-A-Palooza?  Because Quilting is more fun than Housework!

And in case you missed it, I am hosting a giveaway for my readers!  Hop on over here to enter!

This quilt is one of the NewFOs I had on my 2014 Bloom Project list at Joanie's Trendy Quilts so we can check the March Scrap quilt off the list!.

I will also be linking up with TGIFF, Richard and Tanya Quilts, Crazy Mom Quilts,  Scrap Basket Sunday, Sew Can She, My Quilt Infatuation and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

If you are sewing along, don't forget to link your Scrap-A-Palooza quilt over at FairyFace Designs for Sarah's Put Your Scraps To Work series.

 

 

And a final entry into A Stitch in Time March Finishes Linky Party.

A Big Thanks in the form of a Giveaway!

When I started blogging a little over a year ago, I never imagined I would receive so much support and encouragement from so many wonderful quilters.  Every day I am uplifted by your comments.  So I want to take this post to let all of you know how much you are appreciated!

And what better way than to give away some fabric!

I have been pulling fabrics from my stash for days trying to decide what would be the perfect bundle.  It had to be perfect as you are that special to me.

Then I remembered I had a nice 3/4 yard cut of this great Lila Tueller Moda floral called Eden that many of you commented on when I used it on the back of a previous quilt.

I then added some fresh spring green fabric and a coordinating dot fabric into the mix.  

Each a half yard cut!

That is now just under 2 yards of fabric for one lucky reader.

And because it still just didn't seem enough, I decided to throw in two spools of Presencia thread - at over 500 yards on each spool, the winner will be able to sew up a number of projects!

Thanks again to all of you for all your encouragement and friendship!

As this giveaway is to thank my followers for their support, you just need to leave me a comment letting me know how you follow along.  That's it, no other hoops to go through.  If you want to follow me other places, you can also find me on Facebook and Pinterest. And as this giveaway is open to all of my followers, I will of course ship internationally.  

(When you leave your comment, please make sure I have your email address!  No email = Sorry, no entry.  So if you are a no-reply blogger, please include your email in your post.  Thanks.)

I usually try and respond to comments but with this post, I may not be able to keep up.  This giveaway will be open until midnight (PST) on Sunday March 30th. 

Good luck to everyone who entered!

***Sorry, this giveaway is now closed!  Best of luck to all that entered!*** 

The giveaway winner is Kim of MegSueDesigns.

 

 

Sew Kitschy March Block

Still making progress each month on my Sew Kitschy paper-pieced wallhanging for my kitchen.  Here is the finished block for March....Isn't it cute!

Not only am I making progress by finishing another block, my paper piecing skills are definitely improving too.  I don't think I had to grab my seam ripper once for this one!

With January, February and March's blocks finished, I am a third of the way finished.

 

Kristy over at Quiet Play is hosting this Sew Kitschy Block of the Month.  You can  buy this pattern set along with other great patterns in her Craftsy shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To thank all my many wonderful readers, I will be hosting a fabric giveaway in the next day or two. So be sure and check back!

 

 

Linking up with Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch, Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River, Show and Tell Tuesday at I have to Say, Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story..  I will also be linking up with Kristy at Quiet Play.

A Sassy Quilt Along

Have you heard that Paula over at the The Sassy Quilter is hosting a Triangle Quilt Along? Ever since I saw the first announcement, I have been telling myself I have too many things going on right now.  

Well, if you know me at all, you know where this is going!

As I was pulling some fabrics for an upcoming giveaway I will be having in a couple of days, I kept tripping over a bag of fabrics.  After about the third time I kicked it out of the way I finally picked it up to see which project it was.  As soon as I realized it was just a bag of leftover fabric from a finished quilt, I knew I was going to be joining in and these are the fabrics I am going to use.

I will need to probably find a few more orchids from my stash but these colors should do nicely.

Love it when the fabrics come together like this!










So are you joining in?  There is still time to get your fabrics together and get signed up.  If you want to see what fabrics others are sewing with check out their links here.   Hope to see you there!

Spring Flowers - ALYOF

Happy spring everyone! (Or at least it is spring for those in the northern hemisphere.)  

A few flowers in my gardens are starting to bloom and I finished up a project so now there are fun flowers blooming in my home!

At the beginning of March, I dug this appliqued wallhanging that had been done for eons and made it my March goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes with Sew Bittersweet Designs'.  I finally found some time to quilt it up so it is all ready to share.

The shapes are all fairly simple so the hand turned applique was easy.  I had great fun choosing all the fabrics.  I custom quilted each background to match the shapes in the fabric and was really pleased with how it turned out

Until it finds a permanent home, I temporarily hung it between the front door and a window.  I can enjoy these flowers when the spring rains decide to keep me inside.

(...plus it is where I can share it with my friends and customers when they come see me!)

Thanks Sew Bittersweet Designs' for keeping me focused on getting some of these older projects finished up. It sure feels good to see them done!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Can I get a Whoop Whoop Friday, TGIFF, Fabric Frenzy Friday at Forth Worth Fabric Studio, Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tonya Quilts, Sew Bittersweet Designs A Lovely Year of Finishes and Show it off Saturday at Sew Can She.
 

Scrap-A-Palooza! Quilt #3 Part Three

This is always my favorite part of any quilt - getting to see the quilt start to come to life!

 

Last week's assignment for the third quilt in the Scrap-A-Palooza series was to sew up your strips. square up your blocks and attach the sashing. 


Now it is time to get them onto the design wall and come up with a final layout.








I decided to use 4 colors and sew up 5 blocks of each color.


The first possible layout is to simply align each color in columns and you can see by alternating the direction of the blocks, the solid on the sides of your block create a fun sashing!

Another possible layout is to lay the colors out diagonally.














If you have created blocks made with lots of colors, you can just place them randomly.  I think this one is very playful and works well with my color choices.
















And a "happy surprise" I discovered is creating a woven ribbon look.  This layout would take some planning on how many blocks to make and some color choices with more contrast than mine. 


This is definitely something I will be revisiting in the future!  Maybe hot colors one way and cool colors another?










This woven look reminded me of my picnic quilt I made a couple years back.  It is still one of my favorites.

...but back to this project.

Once you have your layout finalized, this quilt is super simple to piece.  There are very little seams to match up and if they aren't perfect, they don't show at all.  Love these easy scrappy quilts!

When you have your top sewn and your backing chosen (hopefully you can find something that already exists in your stash), it is time to quilt it up.  Here are a couple of ideas to get you thinking!

Simple squiggly lines could be really fun on this one.  Use the strips on the blocks to help you to keep your quilting in line.

Another option is to quilt just big loops.  Rather than making tight circles, I vary my loops from about 3/4" in diameter up to about 2".  I also find they look better when I keep them round versus teardrop shaped.

(Sorry - I wish I had a better picture)

I hope you try something slightly outside your comfort zone when you quilt up your scrap quilts.  They are perfect to practice on!

Here's an overview of the important stuff to do before the next step!

• Decide on a layout
• Sew up the top
• Dig in that stash for a backing (it is in there - just keep looking!)

 

 

And remember, you can check out all of the previous quilts by checking out the gallery tab. Not only are the steps to each part linked up but I have also shared quilts made by others so you can find lots of inspiration to sew up those scraps.

 

 

See you next week with my finished quilt!

I will be sharing this with the following linky parties. Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, and WIP Wednesday with Freshly Pieced.  Lots of other quilts to see at each of these places.

Finished QAL Quilt Top

Well, here it is!  The finished top for the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long hosted by Happy Quilting.  I decided to go with fewer blocks (4) in a bigger scale this time so each block is 28" making this quilt about 60" square. The print fabrics are from the simple marks line by Malka Dubrawsky.

There are only 4 different prints used in this quilt so getting the colors to balance was a bit difficult.  But I love all the different patterns this block creates so I am looking forward to quilting it.  Melissa definitely came through with another great QAL.

While it is hard to see in these pictures I used two background fabrics that are just a few shade apart.  Both are older Moda cross-weaves - one is wheat colored and the other is a burlap color.  I really like the effect it gives the quilt. 

Melissa will be sharing a parade of finished quilts on her blog April 2nd.  You can also take a peek at all the finished tops here.  It has been great fun seeing all the fabric and color choices in each quilt.

I have scheduled time at the end of this month to get this one loaded onto my longarm so I should be sharing a completed quilt in early April.  Now to start thinking about a design....

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times, Anything Goes Mondays at Stitch by Stitch, Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story and Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday.