Giveaway Day!

Welcome to my blog for giveaway day. I'm excited to see what else people are giving away. Be sure to check out SewMamaSew's master list here. Today I'm giving away a small quilt--it's 43" x 53.5".

I did it for a class, and it was really fun. The technique involved sewing the whole top together and then cutting it into three pieces, which were then re-arranged. What's neat is that you get a quilt on point without having to cut a single triangle! Well, I guess if you count cutting the quilt into triangles, but I don't. Anyway, it doesn't really go with my decor, so I figured some other person might enjoy it. If you'd like to win this quilt, leave a comment about your favorite (or most interesting) quilting or sewing technique. I will pick a winner using a random number generator. The deadline is May 31st at midnight CDT.

Thanks for stopping by!

A secret revealed

Whew. I can finally blog about this quilt. So many people have seen this and loved it. It was a really fun pattern to do--my mom had it from a McCall's Quilting Magazine from 2001. The pattern is called "Sweet Dreams". The fabric is all Anna Griffin's Alix collection, except for the binding, which is Paula Prass Flights of Fancy.

It's fun because it is basically a bunch of building blocks of different sizes. Then you put them together into four large pieces that are then flipped around to make it look more random. It is a birthday present for my friend Sara, who was the maid of honor for my wedding. I've known her for a long time and yet I've never made her a quilt. She and I made two quilts together, both LARGE. One was for her parents' 25th wedding anniversary (we were in high school at the time) and another was a high school graduation gift for a friend who was a year ahead of us. I think it's high time she got her own quilt. I picked the fabrics based on the fact that she lives a few blocks from the beach and she loves to surf. I wanted to make something surfer-girl without being too cheesy. I really like these fabrics from Anna Griffin because they are fun and beach-y without being over the top.

I had a bunch of scraps left over from the top, so I pieced the back. It was really fun practicing my improvisational quilting.

I quilted it myself, and boy, was it a beast. I usually quilt smaller quilts, so managing such a large quilt was challenging. What made it more challenging was that I wanted to follow the blocks in echo quilting, but turning the quilt each time for the rectangles was tough. I might send it out to long-arm next time.

She just called me because it arrived in the mail today, and she loves it. I guess she just re-did her bedroom and the colors match perfectly. Am I psychic or what?!

I'm glad she loves it. She is a wonderful friend and quite deserving. Happy birthday Sara!

A Red Letter Day....

Today was a fantastic day. I took a certification exam for work and I passed! I am so glad to have it over. In addition, I got two packages of fabric!

This is Red Letter Day in Pond by Lizzy House:

These are some batiks I'm going to use to create a duvet cover for my bed. I had to pick something non-girly because my husband has to sleep under it too. I really like the colors, and I think it will complement our espresso-colored room nicely.

I also got my Kona Cotton Color Card. Very exciting. Now I can order stuff online and not worry about whether the color will match my other fabric.

These are some Kaffe Fassett blues I got in the package too. I'm collecting blue/white fabrics for a "someday" quilt project based on our honeymoon in Portugal.

And finally, I'm performing again tonight, but a much more low-key performance than the show on Saturday. And since I felt like I nailed the show on Saturday, I am psyched to do it again!

Edited to add: I got my Color Card from Hancock's of Paducah. They are often out of stock, but if you order it anyway, they'll send it once it comes in. They also have color cards for Hoffman Balis, Kaufman Fusions, and Bella Solids.

A Virtual Quilting Bee!

I am so excited! I have joined the "Live Piecefully 2" Quilting Bee. It'll be my first bee, and I am really excited to meet some new people and be exposed to some new fabrics that I might not normally work with. I'll have to start planning what fabrics to send and what to request in my blocks...

Upcoming Giveaway Day May 27th

SewMamaSew is hosting another giveaway day. I'm excited to enter. You can join the fun too, and come check back on May 27th when I post what I'm giving away and what you'll need to do to enter.

Whipped up

So I whipped up this quilt pretty quickly.

My mom had sent me some fabric that she thought I would like--I paired it with some odd pieces in my stash that actually worked really well. I loosely followed the pattern "To The Nines" from the book "Rectangle Pizazz". I often use books and patterns for inspiration and then go from there. I wasn't sure I was going to like this as I was working on it, but as it came together, I really like it! I think I'm going to call it "Six Patch"

Overhead shot:

Detail:

Back:

I had really meant to finish two quilts this weekend, but I'm studying for a certification exam at work, and I'm practicing for a swing dance performance next weekend. So not as much time quilting as I'd like. But here's a preview of the next top to get quilted and finished.

It is patiently waiting its turn.