Wednesday, July 27, 2011

pinwheels in the park

Oh, how I love pretty pinwheels!! When I saw this cute Pinwheels in the Park quilt and tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew! it went straight to my list of quilts to make. Andrea from Knitty Bitties and I are going to make the Pinwheels in the Park quilt during the month of August!! We'd love to have anyone who also wants to make one join us so we can cheer each other on and have a finished quilt by the end of August!! Here is the schedule we set for ourselves~

August 1-7 ~ Cut Fabric/Blocks
August 8-14 ~ Sew Blocks
August 15-21 ~ Finish up blocks & sew quilt top
August 22-31 ~ Quilt & Bind

Make sure to checkout the tutorial, it is super easy and gives step by step instructions. Andrea and I will post pictures of our progress during the month to cheer each other on!! Let us know if you'd like to join in too!! We'd love to have ya quilt along with us!! :)

Here are the 12 fat quarters I chose for my quilt! I went with 6 darker and 6 lighter fabrics.

Also, here are my week 9 blocks for the fwqa, Mothers Dream and Broken Dishes!!

{58} Mother's Dream


{11} Broken Dishes

I had fun making a cute shabby chic clothespin by painting, sanding and then adding a little fabric to it!! I saw one kind of like this on Etsy so had to make one!! Now to make some more and in different sizes!


I'm heading out of town tonight, for the rest of the week! I get to have a little girls retreat to the coast of Oregon! My hubby will be keeping up shop and I'll check in here and there. :)

See you when I get back!!


Monday, July 25, 2011

a vintage hankie pillow

A couple weeks ago I saw the sweetest vintage hankie pillow on pinterest!! With my growing collection of vintage hankies I knew I had to make one!! I didn't have any that had crochet trim like in the one I had seen on pinterest so started to hunt for the right one. I was so excited when I found one, and when it came in the mail I started a pillow right away. :)

some sweet vintage pink crochet bias trim i had in my stash!! i was saving it for the perfect project, and love how it adds that delicate touch to the edge of the pillow!!



Would you like to know who won the giveaway?!? The lucky winner of the yummy Annie's Farm Stand and Japanese strawberry fabric is...

number 307, Steven and Ginger


Steven and Ginger said...

I love having on open schedule. We can be so spontaneous!

THANKS so much to all my sweet online friends who entered!! It was fun reading what you love about summer!! Hopefully we'll start getting more sunny days here in Washington. I think we are the only part of the US that missed the heat wave, so I should be thankful!! :)

Make sure to come back later in the week to hear about a quilt project I'll be doing next month and would love to have you join in the fun!! :)

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

strawberries & a giveaway!!


This last week-end we had such a wonderful time going strawberry picking!! It is one of my favorite summer activities. With the season being late because of weather, we were lucky to still get to go in the middle of July!! We've had fun making jam, pies, and strawberry crepes with them already!! :) For my fwqa blocks I've done a couple basket blocks with using some sweet little strawberry fabrics, along with a cute block using some of the Little Strawberry fabric!! It has been a fantastic week so far!! How can it not when you are surrounded by strawberries, sewing, and cute little ones!!

Here are some pictures of us having fun strawberry picking!




a happy dirty face!!

strawberries at my feet!!



My blocks I've done for the fwqa with the theme of strawberries! I'm officially caught up with the group!! Yippee!!

{3} Basket

{42} Fruit Basket

{54} Kitchen Woodbox

My week 8 blocks!

All 16 blocks together!! I'm so excited to keep this going!!

Now that I've shown an abundance of strawberry pictures, would you like to know about the giveaway!?! I thought it would be fun to giveaway some strawberry fabric!! Who doesn't just love strawberry fabrics!! :) I'm giving away a fat quarter bundle of the new Annie's Farm Stand, and a half yard of a few red and aqua Japanese strawberry prints!!

Annie's Farm Stand by Lakehouse

Red and Aqua Japanese fabrics


So...would you like to win some yummy strawberry fabric (all my international friends are also welcome to enter)!?! Here is all you have to do~

You have 3 chances to win.

1. Tell me what you most love about Summer!
2. Have commented on my blog before, and/or a follower of my blog
3. Have bought from my Etsy shop.

Make sure to leave a separate comment for all the ones you qualify for. I'll be using random.org to pick the winners so if you don't leave a comment for the ones you qualify for you will only get one chance instead of up to three.

The giveaway will be open till Sunday July 24th, and I'll announce the giveaway winner soon after!

Good Luck!!!


Monday, July 18, 2011

fwqa week 7!


I'm a little late posting my blocks from last week!! I'm still trying to catch up with the group and hopefully I'll be this week or next!! :)

{44} gentleman's fancy
Another cute one with sweet little mushrooms in the corner! You may see this a couple more times. :)

{19} checkerboard

{17} cat & mice

{71} puss in the corner

a bit of a close-up of all my week 7 blocks!


I really love how these four turned out, and they were fun ones to make!!

Make sure to come back later in the week as I'll be having a giveaway! This week I'm going to be working on some basket blocks with strawberry fabric. For fun, I'll giveaway some strawberry fabric!! We went strawberry picking yesterday, so I've got strawberries on my mind!! :)

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

grandmothers flower garden!


A few weeks ago I got together with some of my sweet Sil's and Mother in Law to work on some quilts for Japan!! We each worked on a quilt top and pretty much got that done during the day!! Working with the sample squares made it quick, easy and fun!! Also, anytime you get together and have a sewing day with friends or family it always ends up being a blast!! Always lots of laughs!!

In the evening and the next day Tasha and I worked more on our quilts, and got them quilted!! All I had to do was the binding, which took me a couple extra weeks to get that done (I got a bit sidetracked with the fwqa blocks :).

I did a grandmothers flower garden quilt in a disappearing nine patch!! With the squares so large it really came together so quickly!! I love how you can see each print and it really showcases the Grandmothers Flower Garden collection!!

Doesn't the quilt look pretty in the flower garden!! :)

A couple close-ups!

Tasha and I's quilts together! Tasha did a Chum Chum Bear disappearing 9 patch with some of the Grandmothers Flower Garden fabrics too! I love how they look together!



Now I need to get these packed up and sent to Lecien, along with the other ones!! Hopefully they will all be loved by some families in Japan!!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

addicted!


I am completely addicted to making the farmers wife quilt blocks!! They have me mesmerized!! As I've been working to catch up with the group (I think they are on week 5 or 6 now), I've been loving each block and it's process!! I think the most time consuming part for me is choosing the fabrics for each block! I had my little stack and just couldn't stick to just those ones. Too many cute fabrics that coordinated were calling out to me. It isn't surprising though since I've never stuck to one collection when making a quilt. :)

{40} Friendship Block

I think this one is my favorite so far!! Tasha's Little Red Riding Hood is just so cute, how could I not add her in one of the blocks!!

{2} Autumn Tints

{15} Buzzard's Roost

{10} Bowtie

{6} Big Dipper

For the Big Dipper, I really loved how Tasha showcased the pinwheel so followed suit after her block! When I first saw this block I only noticed the triangles as hourglasses, so loved how she focused on the pinwheel. :)

{51} Hovering Birds

{16} Calico Puzzle

I've also learned through making my first nine, that some of the blocks I really love more than others, but seeing them all together so far makes me really love them all!!

All nine blocks stacked up!

My blocks are a little smaller than most, being 6 inches square. I know it must be my printer, but all the settings that I can figure out seem to be right, but there must be something that is set wrong and is printing them a tad smaller. I've decided to just go with the 6 inch blocks since they will all be consistent and with making a lap size, I'll get to choose more to be in it. :)

Happy Tuesday!