Kiwi Mail & February Recap

I received this lovely package not ten minutes ago!

I have a finish to share today, but first,

the birdie and pulltoy fabrics are absolutely gorgeous, yes?

I participated this year in the Grow Your Blog linkup, and my name was selected for this wonderful giveaway by Wendy at Wendy's Quilts and More - I feel like I won the Lotto!

 

What great timing too, as I was just sitting down to post my February Finale Post:-)

 

Introducing: Purple Kisses!

A 2013 QAL by Christa at ChristaQuilts.

A perfect way to use scrap fabrics of all sorts, vintage and new...

Quilting:  Complete

Binding:  Complete

Finishing Purple Kisses was my goal when I linked up with A Year of Lovely Finishes back in January! When I did not reach the goal, it became my February goal, however when I mentioned that in my Feb. post, I did not link up to the party. I am thinking it is another month without qualifying for a prize, but I will get better at this & enjoy the party for it's purpose!

Anything that brings finishes about is good for me:-)

We are having some rare rain and dark conditions her in Nevada, along with normal desert winds, and I had to fore-go my usual outdoor photo shoot. I posted a flimsy shot here. I managed to capture quilting shots that are not too dark and blurry though.

I used no marking, and just very little scoring and free-motion quilted this on Mr. Juki with no walking foot. After some debate, I ended up doodling hearts at the intersections of the purple connectors and a simple grid for the round centers.

The back is one of my first scrappy backs:-)

The quilting is fairly heavy, so I blocked it prior to adding the scrappy binding.

 

Once all the hand stitching was complete, I was able to get back to my January NewFO, inspired by the BookIt Linkup that I never joined (How do ya'll do it all anyway?!). The book I selected is Jinny Beyer's Patchwork Balls. Here is my progress so far,

A bit slow, but it has moved anyway:-)

 

March is time for my annual Stashsweep. Honestly, I don't remember what month I did it in last year, but it seems right. I began re-arranging and deep corner cleaning yesterday, and fabric will be pulled and piled in utter chaos while I sort through the weekend. Hopefully I can finish by Monday and begin to reap the reward.

Thank you for reading today!

 

Linking up with

 AYOLF at Sew BitterSweet Designs

January New FOs at Cat Patches

TGIFF held at Mila + Cuatro this week

Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOM's Away!

I finished up my February Sew Kitschy Block!
I am getting more comfortable with paper foundation piecing :-)  I have found that choosing fabrics I do not have much of makes it a bit more challenging - um, 10" squares from layer cakes!

The colors I used were inspired by the S & P shakers we kept in our camping box as a kid. Assuming you did not have a set in your camping box, I found a pic to share:

OK, so it is not quite a match, but these are what I was thinking of when I pulled the fabrics. Good thing I did not look at a picture first, who knows what I would have come up with,

I also whipped up this Mother's Day Block over the weekend. It is part of a monthly block tutorial series - each month is hosted by a different blogger. Designed by Amy at Stitchery Dickory Dock,  I love the color selection and placement, so I kept mine very similar to hers. I shared it with the Aurifil Thread Flickr Group for a chance to win a big box of Aurifil Thread! I found the pattern HERE.
Sew sweet...

I used to have a dog like that, mine was a Jack Russell.

I also wanted to share my Hello Moon flimsy today, but it is still on my design wall:

The blocks are all complete and squared. I've taken couple days to consider adding a 1" sashing with the dark fabric in each block. I have 90% decided now to whip it up as-is.

I just finished the block on the lower-right as well. It will be a pillow, a Christmas gift:-)

Linking up with several parties on this lovely (sunny, 68degrees) Monday morning:

 

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Anything Goes at Stitch by Stitch

BOMs Away with Lyn at What a Hoot

Sew Kitschy Feb Linkup with Kristy at Quiet Play

 

 

EPP Patchwork Puzzle Ball

Not too far along yet, but here is my most recent start!

I have been using this cute wooden box my sister gifted me to haul the project around.

It has a slide top that serves well when I need a firm surface.
I had several various appointments this week, but I never sat to wait more than a few minutes.
Darn, right?

The impulse to begin a new project was triggered recently by the Let's Book It Linkup held by Vrooman's Quilts. I thought her link up is such a great idea, and I pulled a book I have by Jinny Beyer, Patchwork Puzzle Balls.

Jinny provides instruction to piece her puzzle balls by hand,

but they are small pieces so I decided to paper piece mine.

Here is the ball I selected from her book:

 

And here is the layout I am working to complete:

 

 I have a good start on the puzzle ball, perfect timing for Hydee's In Hand EPP Linkup, however I dropped the ball on the Let's Book It linkup:-) Oh well, thought I would mention it anyway!

Linking up today as well with Kelly, and all the cool folks partyin' at Needle and Thread Thursday!

Tuesday BOMs Away!

Decisions are made, and sashing is in process for Hello Moon!

Well, I am not sure it is called sashing - rather a pieced setting. The plan is to join these blocks without sashing, but I may add a 1" strip of the background if it needs it. We will just have to see how they come together on the design wall!
Sorry bout the flash, I took this one last night...

Each block has a different background fabric, and they are all cut, stacked, and ready to roll...

Over the weekend, I also managed to complete two border-blocks for the Add a Border Block Swap I participate in. Honestly, this group has been more of a challenge than I anticipated. I have gone back and forth as to whether I will continue participating. Overall, I finally determined, I love the challenge of adding to random quilts. It is a 'growing' experience for me. I LOVE the add-a-border concept and I will continue with the group, limiting myself to one at a time though!

I added a 3" pieced border to bring this flimsy to 24". It is a Round4 block, now finished (with the swapping!), so I will mail this away, and then I will be eligible to choose my second flimsy.

This was a really hard one for me! The quilter who made the original 6" block named it Easter Candy. After I sat on it way-to-long, I figured I better dig in and gitRdone before Easter!  I like my finished borders so well, but it was not quite the save I was looking for for the quilt. I briefly considered keeping them for a new block of my design. But when I held it up to fabric to vision it with additional border options, it actually does work. And I am happy happy to be moving on..

The next one was much easier! This one is Round 3, so it is now 18.5".

A day late, I am linking anyway to share with Lyn's Block of the Month Linky Party, BOM's Away!
Thank you Lyn!!

Go Hawks! ... Mixed Bag Winner Revealed ..

Anticipating the Superbowl as it approached last week was pretty exciting! Ty and I even made a visit to the Sportsbook to place a small bet. (I mean when it Rome, right?) Although it was great fun to watch our hometown win, I get homesick pretty easily, and yesterday was bittersweet for me, much like a holiday.

All week I thought about Game -Day-Sunday...
Somehow, in my mind, I connected my BFF giveaway up with Superbowl Sunday.

Following the game, I went to the computer to draw a winner, and AGHH(!), I was supposed to draw a winner on Friday!
Sorry for the delay, and without further ado, the winner is:

Comment #1, Betsy of Quilting Fiesta!

I must admit, I did not draw a name from a bowl the way I usually do. It was following the big game, and I wasn't up for it!. Instead, I asked Ty to pick a number between 1 & 13. He had #1 out of his mouth in less than a second, and then he added, " #1 never wins!"

Congrats to Betsy, I will send an email now!

Thank you ALL so much for the great comments!
I had fun reading about quilty, (and not-so-quilty!) friends!