Flowers for Madeleine - An Heirloom Baby Quilt

My favorite finish this year!

This is the shower invitation that inspired me, shown on the backing fabric I chose:

 

Raw-Edge Applique is a new technique for me, and I really had fun with it. Quilting was the best part though, I just echo-stitched the flowers, cherries, and leaves with matching Aurifil 50wts :

Quilter's Choice cotton batting gives it a perfectly soft drape, and the large bubbles have a great texture for Madeleine to squish between her fingers

I love the lamb print for the backing:

And a cute little label to finish:-)

And Woo-Lah!

I had one final photo shoot before it was off in the post office!

I am entering this one in the Bloggers Quilt Festival Baby Category,

hosted by Amy at AmysCreativeSide









I am all about Scorin' Fabric This Week! - Sunday Stash

Sew Street Market was so much fun! I sold a lot of fabric, and picked up quite a bit as well! The event prompted me to open a new Etsy Shop for fabric-only. I have listed 60 new items there, with another 100 to go...  But first, I must share my lucky-winner fabric!

I recently donated a Quilt to our local Project Linus and linked it up with the 100 Quilts for Kids Charity Drive run by Katie at Swim, Bike, Quilt. Low and behold, I won a giveaway!
Pink Chalk Fabrics was one of many who generously donated to the cause - to entice quilter's like myself (who thrive on the opportunity to obtain score fabric!). I had never shopped at Pink Chalk, and I spent way too much time making my selections(!)
I tend to read an entire menu before making the 'right' selection, and they do have an amazing menu!
In the end, true to my frugal-self, I shopped in their SALE section, and look how far I was able to make the $20 stretch:

YUMBERINOS!

The package arrived promptly, and I was thrilled to see Pink Chalk is in the Pacific Northwest, my old stompin' grounds:-)

Although I have seen Road 15 all over the place, I never noticed the Las Vegas Blvd part, so I picked up the charm pack with no intent in mind. And I always love my geometrics, so I picked up a few from the Parson Gray Tour line.

The one I was most excited about is that green, my favorite color. I find I am actually picky about greens, and I don't have much in my stash. This stood out to me, a Kokka import called Folk Modern Medallion, by Ellen Luckett Baker - it is a cotton/linen blend. I have never purchased linen for quilting, and since this print was love at first sight, I ordered 1/2 yd to complete my order. But then it arrived in the post, and I touched it, of course, and I was surprised to find that it is the weight of home-dec fabric. OH NO! Had I overlooked this detail when purchasing? Back at the website, I see no mention of its' weight on the listing....

Hmm, This can't be what I am seeing quilter's use??

Regardless, I do love it. I have no idea what I'll do with it, especially since it is only 18", but I will find it's purpose:-) Perhaps a bag with some blue denim?

Also added to my stash this week is an Ebay score! I do not usually buy fabric on Ebay, but this irresistible lot of 8yds totaled $25, incl shipping(!).

Lovin the Aqua's!  That Buttercream has been added to fabric held for a quilt for Mom!

My LQS hosts an annual event called Sew Street Market that I participated in a couple weeks ago.
I could not resist shopping around toward the end of day, and did I ever score! (prepare yourself for serious fabric envy!!)

Some of these will be listed in my new Etsy shop, RedLetterFabrics, and one may become part of an upcoming giveaway (which one would you choose?). For now, I just enjoy admiring them and contemplating how they may work with my own stash. I think the Cosmo layer cake will stay in my own stash though! YUM!

I thought I was done buying fabric, but after packing up at the end of the day, I discovered Quiltique had an irresistible sidewalk sale of their own, and picked up these FQ's for $1 each:

I am fortunate to have a great LQS, eh? They have an awesome half-price sale rack!!

Linking up with Michelle at Squeak Crafts for my first Sunday Stash!
Anything new going on in your stash?

EEKS - It's a Rat Race!

My favorite block so far for the Add-a-Border Swap I participate with!

I have a WIP with a bunch of mice in gray & orange colorway, someday I will dig it back out, but for now this satisfied my urge to document a 'rat race'. So cute, this block is from a go-to book by Janet Kime, The Border Book. Fun Fun!

A bit of ROYAL MAIL arrived this week as well! Last Spring, Amy from Crafty Shenanigan's , made a call-out for house and tree blocks for a quilt she envisioned and named Wonkyville
I made a few trees and followed along to watch her village grow...

Photo stolen from Amy's site! Houses she collected from all over the world!  Isn't this the coolest idea?

And, lucky me, I am one of the recipients of one of the giveaways she offered as thank-you's!
A Wonkyville winner I am!

What a pretty package!

I am not one to wear a finger cushion, but when I opened the package, I new I had the perfect need for this! It is secured to my design wall, within reach of my ironing board, and handy when the A/C (soon to be the heater!) is blowing on my design boards. LOVE it!

Linking up this week with Lyn from What a Hoot, for BOM's Away,
And with Marelize of Stitch by Stitch, for Anything Goes Mondays!

Block Talk with BOMs Away

I am really enjoying the Add a Border Group I joined, and finished another border, and can now mail off the two 18" blocks I have been sitting on. This one did not take nearly so long for me to figure out. I happened to have the same fabric for the corners, simply mimicked the HSTs, and used a fun rooster print to liven it up.
I had hoped to have the 12" done for the post as well, but I chose to do some handwork on it so it will be another week or two, and I will save the reveal for then. After all, it is best to save the best for last and it is really cute!
Hydee over at Splish Splash Stash launched a new linkup party this week to share EPP projects. Of course, I dug out my old(est?) UFO, a traditional Flower Garden. I counted 20 completed blocks. Hopefully the party commitment will help me get this project moving since that is about one per year maybe..  I know I should be doing the border hexies, but I have yet to decide the border plan. I will post my most recent border thoughts in a future post and maybe get some feedback from the partygoers:-)
For now, the party did get my butt in gear enough to fussy cut some hexies for the 21st block.

Linking up to In Hand EPP , and with Lyn of What a Hoot for BOMs Away

Work is Progressing

Scrappy Carpenter's Square II completed this week!
114 pieces for a 12" block! 

Oh how I Love to slip a bit of my favorite vintage prints in with current fabrics ;-)

I was giving this cutie a final press, and thought of Hydee at Splish Splash Stash. She wrote an interesting post last week about the now-common practice of pressing seams open when piecing..

I have found I am much more accurate lining up intersections when I press to the side and nestle seams as I have always done. And I like that after pressing to the side, the seam intersections are then visible , making it easier to avoid cutting off points when joining rows. I do think that our wise old-timers are also onto something when they tell us that the seam will be less stressed when the thread is protected by a seam that is not exposed by being pressed open. However, as you can see in my photo, I do still press seams open when I join rows with lots of pieces.

 I make sure to use a bit tighter stitching when joining rows that will be pressed open, and I avoid quilting in the ditch on these seams as well. There will be a few short segments of the open rows that will be in the ditch for this block, but I will stay just off the actual seam line. This will be a larger set of pillows quilted in a similar pattern as the set I made for my Scrappy Carpenter Block Tutorial.

Saturday is coming up fast and I am busy preparing items to sell at SewMarketStreet, a bit of a parking lot sale hosted by my LQS. I think I may be over-preparing, however anything I bring home again can then be posted on Etsy the next week. I made seven more sets of Scrappy Carpenter II Pillow Kits. And if they still don't sell at Etsy, I will be 'stuck' with enough squares cut & ready for a full size quilt- it's a win/win!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday, and looking forward to visiting other quilter's goings-on!

Art in the Park & Congratulations to Terese Cato!

Ty and I are exhausted after the long weekend at the annual Art in the Park in Boulder City, NV, 

This was our first show & we now have a whole new appreciation for artist's who travel many miles to attend one show after another to make a living! Thankfully we live just 7 miles away, but still found ourselves working solid from pre-dawn til dark each day, and of course we are still cleaning up in the aftermath. I do wish I had taken more photos. Here he is with a customer who selected the Chinese Puzzle Quilt Block, and a small Friendship Star (at his feet)..

There were more than 500 artists at this show, and it seemed to me that the art itself was better than ever - we were really impressed with the variety and level of skill this year.
So, as if it wasn't exciting enough to find Terese Cato just four booths down the way from us, how thrilled I was to find THIS on the front of her booth!!

It was such a pleasure to meet her, and she was so genuine and warm, and sincerely touched to have won first place for contemporary crafts. And what a thrill to see a fiber artist take this honor in the midst of so many different artisans - it somehow made me proud as well!
Of course, I took a few more pics in her booth..

Isn't she amazing? I am sure she would appreciate a congratulatory comment if you have a minute to check out her website!

OK, back to the big clean-up, and hopefully some stitching as well :-)

Oh, but look what I spotted while making coffee this morning!

A new addition to the little ranch across the street!
This little guy will really make washing dishes more enjoyable:-)