Swimmin' in a Rainbow

Still chuggin' along on this Scrappy Quilt-Along over at Ellison Lane Quilts and working on getting all thses blocks made!

I thought I was all done, even made a couple of extras but when I had it all laid out in my kids' room my daughter informed me that she would like this quilt. So I'm thinking ahead and trying to make it a twin, which now I come to find out is HUGE! 72"x98" is what I'm shooting for which apparently is still cutting it a little short.

Never in a million years would I have thought that browns and yellows would be my favorite colors and blocks out of the bunch! Well maybe in a hundred years...I do LOVE Fall.

Really likin' the reds too and making a few more of those now.

It's funny. I assumed I was a modern type quilter but I'm beginning to find out that although I ADORE so many cool designs in the modern quilt world such as this (isn'tthat just to die for??) and this I am liking the shabby look a little more these days. With that in mind I was drawn towards cute little vintagey calicos more than my modernish fabrics. BUT I'm not one to reside in a small genre and pride myself in being able to transcend boundaries so you may see my next quilt an ultra modern solid print quilt. I go through phases.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Read All About It!

Welcome Quilt Festival Goers!! 

#103

Quilt Stats are 72"x60" and  I'd qualify it as a bed quilt (where it is cozily lazing around right now;) and home machine quilted oh and you could if you so pleased nominate for best quilt photography...Thanks!

Read All About It! Thats the name of the quilt! Why? Well its got a bunch of my *favorite* text prints like the old school handwriting, and architectural diagrams from cathedrals in Paris type thing. Also showcased Lakehouse Goods Seed Cataloque print. ~sigh~. I love that one. I am a gardener; must be why. Seeing words like Seeds, Cherries, and Flowers in a Farmer's Almanac-type style just makes my heart skip. And those flower head prints? Lovin' those too. The pattern is from this awesome book (and no, I'm not gettin' paid for that;)...Started this quilt awhile back and picked it back up after a hefty move to a new house. Wasn't as bad as I thought..(not the move...that was hard) but picking up a quilt long sequestered to WIP status. Sometimes it seems too hard to dive back in and that mental block just keeps growing and growing.But let me freakin' tell ya, I feel lighter now with it done. Like I can attack all my WIPs and */gasp/* start new projects! (doin the happy dance on that thought). Did some fun free motion quilting on it on my new sewing table...the one that my sewing machine actually sits in. I could finally bust out my Supreme Slider that I've had forever and occasionally would bring out and pet, before I had a surface to use it on. I am pleased to report it works like a dream. Thanks for droppin' by the ole bloggaroo. I'm in and out but would love to hear your thoughts on my quilt and lookin' forward to perusin' everyone elses' creations. Cheers!

Sewin' Mojo!

Its been awhile, dear friends. Finally settled in our new digs enjoying n' squeezin in sweet fleeting moments, kids a napping, coffee warm and sewing machine a purrin.

I jumped into (feet first n saddles ablazin I might add), to the  Scrappy Stash Quilt-Along over here at Ellison Lane Quilts.

Tried one, found it fun to guest star all the different vintagey n' shabby prints together, and just kept going!

So good to be back. I'll introduce you to my new sewing studio home soon, complete with -*eeek*- a new sewing table with sewing machine lift, custom built by a woodworker friend through a barter. Dontcha love trades n' barters?? Anyhoodles, thanks for stopping by and have a great week. We'll chat soon;)

Giveaway winners!

With all my might I couldn't paste the random number generator on here but I can tell you, cross my heart, the winners were chosen using it!

Winner #1 of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway fabric is Sarah! Out of 620 (yayeah!!) comments Sarah was #337 and had this to say :

SarahMay 23, 2012 06:32 AM

I listen to the radio, usually BBC Radio 4 so news and documentaries.

Thanks to everyone for their awesome input on the lace and for all the other lovely comments! Hope y'all win something nice. 

Bonus Giveaway* Because I got alot of new members on the site from the Bloggers Quilt Festival and from SMS Giveaway Day, I wanted to show my gratitude by picking someone randomly from people signed up to the blog through Google Friend Connect. Random Number generator picked # 27. I counted from the top down and Margaret has won a surprise fabric parcel that I will put in the mail before June 1st! I promise if you like the above stack of fabrics you will enjoy your parcel! 

It was great to hear what everyone listens to when sewing. Lots of playing kids, napping kids, lots of NPR and BBC, background TV watchers and many who love the sound of summer out there, chirping birds, wind chimes. 

I do the whole gamut myself from wonderful podcasts to local radio. I adore the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, Coast to Coast AM(when a show is good, its oh so goood:), Kids Music, anything by Masterpiece, and like many of you quiet and calm. We have an amazing local radio station around here and I love to listen in too!

Wow!

What a turnout! Thanks so much to all the gals (sorry dudes if any slipped by;) who commented on my quilt entry to the Blogger's Quilt Festival and everyone who entered the giveaway. And to all my new members...Welcome. Because I got so many new subscribers I'll be picking one with the random number generator and giving away another prize. I really appreciate all the love!

I love seeing quilts in vintage kids books when I read to the kiddos.

Like I mentioned before we are in the throes of a giant move. 

This is my sewing table (in a moment of tremendous disarray)...

I couldn't help but pull fabrics for my next quilt project...in line behind a few small projects that I will share soon...Yep, I'm kind of a freak, I mean to be doing this when I should be packing. :) A sneak peek of one of those smaller projects here...

While packing I got hit by some major inspiration and jotted it down in a notebook.

Evertime I move after cleaning out a room to its bare minimun I ALWAYS ask myself why I don't do this while I'm living there. It feels so good to get in there and clean up any stagnant energy. Freshen it up and liven it up if you will. So I made a note to my future self to do this;)

I will be missing this view but also I love change so looking forward to the future and I'll be staying busy with lots of projects on the blog so stay tuned! 

In the meantime I'll be chasin this turkey while dodging moving boxes! 

GiVeAwAy DaY!

Welcome Giveaway Friends! The first year I entered the giveaways at Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway day I ended up winning like three or four giveaways! Sooo now I am joining the fun from the other end and giving away some yummy fabric. These pieces are more or less 1/3 yard cuts. (The red is a FQ).

I'm giving two chances to win this stack... 

Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, Tula Pink, Anna Marie Horner

                      Hoops Baby (just a little jump;)
1. Leave me a comment telling me what you like to sew to; radio, music, podcasts, tv, the sound of the wind.

*Bonus Entry* Join this site with friend connect and let me know in a comment. If you're already a member, leave me a comment letting me know (one entry).

The giveaway will stay open until May 25th at 5 p.m. PST.

I will use the random number generator on the web. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave your email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win.

The giveaway is open to everyone even international friends:)

*P.S. I have a question and you can use this as another entry for the giveaway.*

QUILTING GALS: Can you answer my question? My grandmother gave me this old lace and I've had it for awhile now and there are these horrid spots forming on them...Do you have any ideas how to stop this and how to remove it from this delicate antique lace?

In other news, I am moving so I have set up my sewing kit to be handy even in the move.

I mean just because I won't have a room dedicated for sewing, a kitchen or bathroom all unpacked and ready to go a girl still has to sew right??;)
Good luck Friends!

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2012

An old friend, a part of the family, a cherished piece of the whole. That is what this quilt has become in my family. Made with no batting*, pieced with love, this quilt was made awhile ago and never properly introduced. * Earlier I wrote that this quilt had no batting but was rereading an original post and realized it does actually have a thin layer of batting. Whoops.

And so....

I introduce this quilt, unnamed, but so very loved. So many purposes, so many roles. 

And so many favorite fabrics in there. Underwater Sisters, Amy Butler prints, an old feedsack, other Heather Ross prints. (Heather if you are reading please reprint our beloved Mendocino...please. I beg of you.) 

This quilt is monstrous in size. I compensated by justifying no batting (its a coverlet) and shoved this baby in my machine with force, choice words, rolled, smashed, sweat beading on my forehead...for days.

This is what a quilt becomes, a place for chubby, silky baby thighs to rest, a comfortable place for tears to soak in, the passing tides of time, graduations, moving homes, births.

A part of the family.

HST Eye Candy

With an overcast sky, the time was right to hop on out and get some good photos of this girl while there was a chance (In a fit of excitment I posted some, may I confess, horrible photos of this quilt in blaring sunlight in a previous post, I know, I know...)

Anyhoo...Linking up to the Half Square Triangle Quilt Fest over at Canoe Ridge Creations, well because I slaved n slaved over all these HSTs and anyone who has done a HST quilt this size, and trims all their squares down, can feel my pain. Heck I know any quilter can ;)

Its totally embarassing that I am sharing this quilt (again) with the binding hanging off, threads a hanging, like its approaching February and the tree is still up...gulp...

but there is no way to salvage any hand sewing time lately, and I am not machine binding it...I'm just not that good at it...and I am NoT practicing on this beauty:) 

*I might or might not have gone a little crazy saturating this one on pixlr* but doesn't it just shine here?:)...

Photoshop got wiped out of my computer when I upgraded my OS system..grrr...anyways I found a free program like it, pixlr and its awesome!! 

And did I tell you that Jeni from In Color Order picked a photo of this quilt (in its design wall stage) as a favorite? Yeah that was fun to see!

Have fun checkin out all the other quilts in the festival and big thanks to Canoe Ridge Creations for hosting:).

Thanks y'all for stoppin by. Have a great week!

(boo it wouldn't let me put the Festival of Half Square Triangles button on this post...oh well check it out in the sidebar;)

W.I.P. Baby and a finish

I finally got this quilt top all nice and pieced and just have to baste now which I keep putting off because that would mean cleaning my kitchen floor:)

It has a bunch of my current favorite fabrics in there and I love quilts with black.

And then I finally attacked my Warm/Cool quilt with binding. I just have to hand sew it down and that'll be ready to go. *shhh* but it has gotten a fair amount of use around here even unfinished.;)

It was a difficult decision to go with a cool binding instead of warm. But the flannel backing is in the pink family so it needed to be cooled down.

With sick kiddos this week I have hardly been able to look at my machine but I did manage to sneak some sessions in to make the hubster a birthday pillow. "You've never made me anything." he said awhile back. Hmmm I guess if you don't count the lap quilts and pillows we curl up with when we watch movies or the huge quilt on our bed. Anyways any excuse to get quilting!