Making it offical!

I have been working on this baby for quite a while and it's finally time to announce it to you all! My first book will be making it's debut at International Quilt Market this spring (May!) I am super excited. In April I will be listing it in my Etsy shop for pre-orders.

YEA! :o)

I can SEW a rainbow!

On friday I told you I was sewing a project in honor of National Quilting Day and St. Patrick's Day. Well, I stayed up late last night and got up early this morning just to finish the quilting (but no binding yet).

I'm calling her 'I can SEW a rainbow'!

She got that name because I kept singing 'Red and Yellow and Pink and Green, Purple and Orange and Blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too!' the whole time I was putting her together. :o)

This quilt came about because I've had a Kona brights charm pack laying around for months. I've layed out the squares several times but each time I ended up just shoving it all back in a box because I wasn't sold on the layout.  

Fat Quarter Shop (dot) com

Then I went to a retreat a few months back and saw a project Amy was working on. It was so beautilful!!!



Amy Smart @ Diary of a Quilter



I had never sewn a rainbow quilt before, but Amy's quilt definately gave me the desire to do it.

Skip to last week when I was walking through my local mall. I've talked before about how I'm inspired by things everywhere. Lots of the time its clothes that I see!

American Eagle

I saw these board shorts in a window display and LOVED them for their inspiration. And then the wheels in my brain started turning.  

I combined the Kona charms with the rainbow of Amy's quilt with the color blocking of these shorts and the rest was history. I couldn't wait to get started and luckily I had 2 good reasons.

  

 I used ONLY fabric that I had on hand. Most of the squares came from the charm pack. I also used a few Sandy's Solids. My favorite solids came from the Cotton Couture fabrics that I used. I don't think I've ever sewn with them before (Really!?) The colors are gorgeous and the fabric is a perfect weight. A little lighter than some of the other solids I've used so it was nice to work with. Solids are HOT right now and these are my new favorites! (and I'm not just saying that because they're from Michael Miller :o) I'm definately going to use them from now on.

 

The only row I'm not thrilled with is the purple/violet. I only had a few solids to choose from in my stash. I thought about running to my LQS but decided to use what I had. There's more contrast than I wanted but it adds personality and depth to the quilt- I just wish the fabrics blended more.

My final piece of inspiration came from HERE. I love her quilting. I have always wanted to do some heavy quilting and this was the perfect opportunity. I used several shades of thread on each color row. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

Now I just have to figure out what to bind her with! Any suggestions?

Feelin' Green?



From ModaBakeShop- Luck of the Irish table topper

Tutorial HERE!

Tomorrow is National Quilting day, did you know? It's also St. Patrick's Day. You should plan to wear green and go to your favorite local shops because there's bound to be some fun sales. I know there's a good one at The Corn Wagon. :o)

I'm celebrating National Quilting Day by making a quilt. And I'm celebrating St. Patty's Day with the quilt I am sewing.

Can't wait to show you on Monday!!!!

Are you sewing anything special for St. Patty's? Oh, do share!  :o)

Piece of Pie

Yesterday was Pie/Pi day (3-14). I really wanted to post this yesterday but I was otherwise incapactiated. Ok, not that bad. But I did manage to catch the nasty cold that teh rest of my family has had for the last week. I mean, all I did was cater to theri every need including lots of snuggles and hugs. Make me wonder how I managed to get it!? (sarcasm- love it!)

I'm feeling somewhat better today much in part to my hubs picking up where I've left off the last couple days. Thanks hubs!!!

So in honor of PIE day- I prefer to celebrate this way since I'm not mathematically inclined in the slightest- I wanted to remind you about the

Pie Plate Patterns

SUPER SPRING RETREAT

April 18-21

It's gonna be a party ya'll!

 (said in my best Paula Dean accent  :)

I'm teaching CLAMBAKE 

 and it's not too late to register!

Hope to see you there!  :o)

Storytime Fun

At the local elementary school where my children attend, the PTA does a fundraiser towards the end of the year. The past few years they've made story baskets for each class then auctioned them off. A little over a week ago I was asked if I was going to donate a quilt again. AGAIN!? I didn't even remember that I had donated one last year! :o) I think it was one from my stash that was just sitting. Anyway, even though my plate is overflowing with work these days I agreed to donate another quilt.

Each teacher picks a book as the theme for their basket. The basket is filled with fun little items that correlate with the book. Once I found out the title of the book, I knew I didn't have anything to go along with it. So I started searching for fabric. I finished the quilt for my daughter's class on Friday and decided that I should probably make one for my son's class too. (CRAZY!) Again, a quick search of the Internet and calling a few shops and I had the second fabric in my hand. I just barely finished sewing the binding on and it's off to school this morning.

I didn't get a picture of the first quilt, but this is the fabric I chose:
 

Dino Dudes- Michael Miller



to go with this book: 

(click for more info. from AMAZON)

I managed to snap a quick pic of the second quilt this morning (in horrible light) just before I sent it off to school with my boy.

I decided to go simple and sweet. Wholecloth print with a simple border. The other quilt was done the same way with a fun lime green fabric for the border.

This is an up-close picture of the Monster print:

 

Monsters- Michael Miller

This fabric is SO FUN! I really like the dinos too, but the Monsters go perfectly with many of the prints from Hall of Fame! I used the Red numbers on the border, the blue turf on the bunding, and the yellow spots for the backing. 

(click for more information from AMAZON)

Now that those are done- back to my regularly scheduled quilt related work. :o)

(Don't forget to VOTE for your favorite block!)