Hello Moon, a Quilty Finish!

The final binding stitches were completed this morning, and I set out to take some photos of Hello Moon, the 2013 BOM I participated in from April Mae Designs. I have blogged a bit about it this past year, most recently here.

The Vegas wind had kicked up by the time I prepared to leave, but being that it is a small quilt, 36" x 48", I gave it a shot indoors. Actually, I gave it a lot of shots in hopes that a couple may turn out well.

To capture the entire quilt, I took the shot we all try to avoid - on the floor (yikes!)

Indoor photography is hard for my little old point-n-shoot Canon, especially at any distance. This is the difference with and without the flash.
I chose a poly batting for this one. It will be stored for a long time, and I wanted that puffy look. Plus, the perfect backing turned out to be one of the few poly/cotton blends I had in my stash, so it was a good way to use up both..

My finish was down to the wire! - Hopefully I am in time for AYOLF  linky for the Finishes Party at Sew Bittersweet Designs !

I am also linking up with one of my favorite link-ups, with Lyn at What a Hoot for BOMs Away:-)
And with Marelize at Stitch by Stitch for  Anything Goes Mondays, another favorite, and well, because it is Monday! BTW, Marelize is hosting a fun giveaway drawing there!

Thanks for reading, hope you have a great week!
One more photo, I love this one even though it is a  bit blurry...

Sunday Stash Share SSShhh

I fired up the old EQ6 software this weekend, playing with options for some delicious fabric I just picked up:-)
This fabric has been on my mind since I first saw it in February. I wish I could have bought a bit more! I went with 1/3 yd cuts, added Kona and a couple from my stash, and I am ready. Well, almost ready,
Hopefully I will be able to get to this new project soon, but for now I just had to post a pretty photo with some of the fabrics from the new line from Moda, Hearty Good Wishes by Janet Clare.

I have to admit, I am pretty excited about this fabric, and it is intended for a quilt that is long overdue and will feel soo good to gift!
I use EQ6 now and then when I want a better visual than my pencil provides. I sat down with a concept in mind and it came together pretty quickly. When I 'painted' the 'fabrics' in, I still wasn't getting the visual, so I scanned my fabric and imported the files into the EQ6 library. It was actually pretty affective. I had not done this before and it was easy,  but a bit time consuming. It was neat to be able to paint my actual fabrics in my design. After all that with the design though, I decided the it is not exactly right for the fabric.  I do LOVE the quilt I drew though, and I want to stitch it up with some solids one day. Great intentions of narrowing the list, but it is soo much easier to add projects than to actually check them off. ..

Also this week, a bit of a mystery to me, I landed this peculiar piece of 35" wide cotton.

It has a tight weave and somewhat crispy texture, yet quite lightweight. I'm hoping it softens up a bit in the wash. I do really like the color and design even though I have no vision yet. What I am wondering though, is what language the writing on the selvedge is?

Thank you for reading today!
I am linking up with Sunday Stash, located El Norte & hosted today by Work-in-Progress Girl.

I noticed some Hearty Whales also landed Down Under this week! Such great taste in the Molli Sparkles Studio!

Lotsa Blocks Completed!

I am on my game this month, but I still managed to miss the goal setting linkup with ALYOF! Aghh! I am 0/3, and this'll be the third month I won't be eligible for the lovely giveaway's.

It has been busy here with family visiting, but I did manage to get Hello Moon sandwiched, and yesterday I started in quilting the blocks and stars. I am determined to finish up Hello Moon by the end of the month and join the finishing party!

I have actually finished my BOM's for March, and will be linking up with Lyn at What a Hoot's BOM's Away to share them :-)

Sew Kitschy: The March block went smoothly, although I did not notice that the white pieces I found in my scrap bin are actually two different colors. Thankfully, the white one landed in the center. I have been playing with tissue paper as my foundation and rather like it. Linking this with Kristy at Quiet Play:-)

I love this month's Aurifil block, designed by Emily Herrick, I found the pattern HERE. I did revise the second border to add the star framing my house. I have blocks of my own I plan to add to this sampler I will have to share down the road. For now, I am linking this March block with the Aurifil Flickr Group

Next, I added borders to two blocks from the Add a Border Swap I participate in:

 The first one seemed pretty vintage, so I added a selvedge from the Smithsonian Institute.

And I think I chose well with the yellow for this one:-)

OK, one more for the road: In trying to clean my sewing room, I have trouble throwing things out. When I came across this leftover practice piece, I decided to practice my machine binding skills, and finished it as a doll size quilt. The neat thing is I can now mail this to my Grand Niece, and she will have a quilt for her dolly that matches one at her house:-) Sweet!

Thank you for visiting!!

Marimekko Fabric Score!

Lately I have had several fabric scores that have really 'grown' on me.
At some point during my treatment process, usually while pressing, I develop a passion for the particular fabric or embroidery, and it is then removed from the Etsy cabinet while I consider it's potential. These large remnant pieces from Saver's are a great example!

From the 'Irmeli' line by Marimekko Oyj Suomi-Finland Anu Luhtanen 2008 - That's a mouthful!

The fact that they are irregular sizes factored in when I decided to plan a quilt rather than list them for sale. My vision with these is a large-patch Christmas Quilt, and because this is a bit heavier than the typical quilt, likely I will tie it in the way my Grandmother did with sample books.

Linking up this morning with Alisa at A Stitch in Between, who is hosting this week's Sunday Stash (with a giveaway!)

and with The Nifty Thrifty at A Living Space - a friendly blog with a mid-mod vibe I really enjoy following!