What time is it?

It's gardening time, well at least indoors it is. 

The seeds have officially been started.

Doll Quilt Swap & Just One Star

I'm participating in the Doll Quilt Swap, Round 10...which I was so happy to be a part of since the participants are chosen by a lottery system, and the level of talent is crazy amazing.  If you haven't heard of the DQS, I highly encourage you to check out their Flickr page.

This is the quilt that I made for my partner Elisa.  Her inspiration mosaic was filled with applique ideas, and while I had never done applique before, I figured I'd give it a try.  I am pretty pleased with how it turned out, and I learned alot of lessons along the way.

This is the quilt that I received from Kolleen.  She also included a few other goodies in the package which were just icing on the already delicious cake.

Once my studio is cleaned up (because it's kind of a mess right now), I'll be able to give it a proper spot on the wall.

In other news, I finished my bee block for the Simply Strings Bee.  The month of March belongs to LisaJan, who asked us to make a string block using a variety of blues/yellows, most of which she provided.

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Finally I wanted to share with you something really great that is going on in the Quilting world right now. Moda Fabrics is challenging quilters all over the US, to participate in the Just One Star Project.  They have set a goal to donate 100 quilts to the Semper Fi Fund by June 14th (Flag Day); which is an organization that helps our U.S. Armed Forces and their families.

If you would like to help out, here is all the information you need to know.

I learned about this challenge at our last St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  All members are being challenged to make a block and bring it to the April meeting.  Here's my contribution.

What season is it?

Why yes, that fluffy white stuff is snow. 

No, your calendar isn't deceiving you.  It is March 26th.

What did you say....hahaha...you are right, it was 75 degrees on Monday.

Welcome to St. Louis, Missouri



Destashing Giveaway --Winner--

So last week I wrote this post and offered a giveaway.  The giveaway has now closed and I'm here to announce the winner.

Would ..................... please come on down, oh wait random generator hasn't selected anyone yet.

Let me just fix that right now. 

...entering #s
...pressing button
...out pops #

Okay, the winner of the Destashing Giveaway is #44.

Happy Cottage Quilter said...

Today I am working on some UFO's that will be sent to Japan for the relief program. I posted about it on my blog today :-) Thanks for sharing.

3/21/11 9:24 AM

Congratulations!!  Happy Cottage Quilter.

I have sent you an email.  Please get back with me before Sunday 3/27 at 10pm, so I can package up your goodies and get them out to you.

Thanks everyone for visiting my little blog.

I really enjoyed reading what projects you are working on.

Quilt Show Quilts...Just a few

If you are looking for my giveaway post, you can find it here.


In my last post, I mentioned that I attended the Thimble & Thread Quilt Show this past weekend.  I didn't take pictures of all the quilts, and my camera didn't cooperate fully either...don't you hate that. 

Here's just a tiny selection of what I saw... 

Disclaimer:  Please excuse the strange cropping of some of these, as there were several instances when no matter how many times I went back to see the quilt, there were just too many people crowded around to get a clear shot.  Also, please note that I've tried to include the quilt creator's name.  If there is an error, or in the case of the one unknown below, please let me know.  Also, if you are the creator and would like your quilt and or name removed from my blog, please let me know.

Of course, us Modern Quilters know this pattern as New Wave by Elizabeth Hartman.

This particular quilt was created by Nancy (sorry I don't have your last name), who I met on Flickr last year.  You can find her Flickr photostream here. 

Refract by Anna Youngyeun -2008

This is actually screenprinted fabric, not individual pieces.  Cool, eh?

Circle Study by Rebekah Harmon -2009

This too is handprinted fabric which was later quilted.

Circenses by Janna Langholz -2008

I believe this too was printed and later quilted; but don't quote me on that.

Silk Feathers by Dolores Keaton -2009

Barn-Raising Stripes by Jerri Stroud  -2009



When Two Hearts Collide by Miriam Coffey -2008 2011

Unfortunately the picture I took of the label documenting who this belonged to was unreadable.

If you know the title of this work and who created this, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

Pink Enough by Grace Baker Walk Springer  -1950 1960

Although this is an oldie, I really like it.

Streak of Lightning by Lynn Isenberg  -2001

I have a soft spot for log cabins, always have, always will.

---Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the show.---

Quilt Show, Fabric Find, etc

If you are looking for my giveaway post, you can find it here.

My Mom and Aunt are charter members of the Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild in St. Louis; which is, I believe one of the largest in the state.  This weekend is their Quilt Show and I went to check things out.  I'm still sorting through the photos I took and will be creating a separate blogpost highlighting alot of the quilts that I saw. 

Shout-out!! to all of my fellow STLMQG members that I saw at yesterday's show.

Today's post is about the goodies that I took home from the event:

Isn't this a cute way to fold a FQ?

This is a composition book cover that one of the T&Thread members makes.

My Aunt told me about these and thought I'd like one. 

When I pulled this one out, she excitedly said everyone told her that was the one I would have selected.

I picked up all of these magazines for a cheap price of 50 cents apiece.

I got REALLY excited at the Quilter's Home (on the right) because I had been wanting a copy of that one.

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Now my Sister and I went to Hobby Lobby on Kirkwood Rd/Lindbergh Blvd. yesterday afternoon and normally I don't look at the fabric; yet after hearing some of my fellow STLMQG members have good experiences there, I checked it out.

Look what I found...



I got SO SUPER excited when I found this print.  I didn't bother to look at who the designer was, I just knew that I had to have some...and by some, I mean ALOT.  When I put the bolt on the cutting table that is when I saw that it belonged to Alexander Henry and was called "sew now ! sew wow!"

If finding the fabric wasn't cool enough, all of their cotton fabric was 30% off...so I picked this up for $7 a yard.  When I showed my Sister, she said.  "That is like YOU in fabric form, you better get alot of it."

{{{Raising Right Hand}}}  I shall never underestimate Hobby Lobby again.

Destashing Giveaway

I decided it was about time that I did another Stash Cleanup after one of my shelves was so full of fabric that I couldn't find something that I knew I had.  Turns out it wasn't even on the shelf to begin with; but that's neither here nor there.

I remembered saving Jeni's post about fabric folding; which you can find on her blog In Color Order.

Back in October of 2010, I did a stash cleanup, yet after swapping fabric, online sales (yep, I blame fabric sales) and inspiration overload.  I needed to do it again.

It started out like this last year...

This is what the organization looked like after my October cleanup.  This is only one drawer.

Edited 3/21-Don't think I've cut back this much...there are 3 other drawers I'm not showing you :-)

And thanks to Jeni's methods, this is what the same drawer looks like now.  Okay, so some of the fabric just wouldn't fold right; but it's darn close.

This of course means that I found a couple of things that I no longer need or have too much of...which for you readers means giveaway time.  YAY!!!

Here is what I'm giving away to one lucky winner.

 1 yard of the above fabrics: Alexander Henry Hearts and a Robert Kaufman print.

The above nearly FQs (14x22) of 2 Kate Spain Fandango prints

And last; but not least the above larger "scraps"; which I know nothing about Designer/Collection wise.

So what do you need to do, you ask?

1 comment letting me know a quilting-related project you are working on.

1 extra comment if you are a follower (previous or new).

1 extra comment if you blog about my giveaway, including the link.  You must include your post link in the comment section so I can verify.

*Here's the Fine Print*

-Comment rules must be followed above.

-US Residents only, please.  Sorry Int'l friends, I still love you :-)

-No anonymous entries, your name must link me to an email address, provide a Flickr Name, etc.

-The giveaway will end Friday 3/25/2011 at 10pm (Central Time) and a winner will be selected at random.

-I'll announce the winner on Friday 3/25/2011 at 10:30pm (Central Time).

-If the winner is unreachable by Sunday, March 27th at 10pm, I'll select another winner at random.

-Please note that your comments WON'T appear automatically, they need to be approved because

I've been spammed in the past.  It's only precautionary!

---Giveaway is now closed with a total of 74 comments.  A winner is being randomly selected---

Swapping Integrity Pledge

One of the first things I did when I joined Flickr last year was create a quilting bee titled: Sew Scrappy Sew Happy.  At the time, there wasn't a bee that was looking for members so I just jumped into making my own.  It might have seemed crazy, being a newbie and all; but I weighed my options and in the end knew that I would be the best Bee Mama that I could be.  We hit a few snags along the way as we lost 3 members in total throughout the months; but quickly gained some new awesome members to compliment the ones that stuck with us. 

Being one of the Moderators of Quilting Bee Blocks, I've seen this topic come up a time or two.  Bee members dropping out unexpectedly, some even having the audicity to skip out after their month was over, etc.  The absolute worst that I've encountered was when the Adminstrator herself left the entire group hanging without even a peep.  Yet, don't let any of this frighten you from joining a bee or swap...because these people are the minority and as you'll see the quilting community is "fighting" back.

Let's be honest, there are a handful of legitimate reasons why you might have to leave a bee or swap, and while there is sadness, most times there are no hard feelings if you contact the adminstrator of the bee/group to let them know ahead of time.  Other arrangements are usually made by Angels or replacement members can be found and things go back to normal. 

I recently saw a post from Cherie at Sew and So Quilts, who linked to Tiffany at Lower Columbia Modern Quilt Guild  is the creator of the Swapping Integrity Pledge. 

I'm taking the pledge, how about you?

Fabrics In and Swap Stuff

The St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting was Saturday up in St. Charles, MO.  The only downside with these meetings is that I absorb so much inspiration that it usually leads to me spending money on the way back home.

Here's the trouble I got into at Jackman's Fabrics on N. Lindbergh...

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I mentioned in my previous post that I uploaded some fabrics that I was looking to swap.  Well, I immediately got a response on one of the items and made an exchange with Jaime from NY.

Here's what I got, a Charm Pack of Central Park by Kate Spain, and to my surprise she popped in some designer scraps too.

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In the mail this week, I also received my {Urban} Home Goods Swap package from Lauree (locodowo).  In it was a super-cute pillow cover (and form), plus a matching bunting. 

Thanks Lauree!!!

Destashing

So I came across 2 great Flickr groups yesterday called "Craft Room De-Stash (Let's Swap)" and Fabric Swap and it got me thinking. 

• Do I have stuff in my fabric stash that I don't particularly need?  Probably...
• Would I be willing to let go of a 1/4 or 1/2 yrd of something, if I had yardage of it?  Maybe...
• Could I swap the above to get things that I would use in my stash?  Absolutely...

I pulled open the drawers of the filing cabinet (where I keep my fabric) and slowly started going through it.  I found pieces of fabric that I've held onto for years and when I say years, I do mean years.  They've moved from one house to another and even another and yet I've never cut into them.  If it's been that long, it's probably time to go.

Then I came across things where I was lucky enough to have bought 3-4 yards at the time and would certainly not mind swapping some of it.

I started taking pictures, measurements and uploading photos to the Group Pool.  Here's what I'm swapping.

You can click here or on the pic above to see my Fabric Swap Set.  And if anything catches your eye...let me know.  Here's the type of stuff I'm looking for; but am open to all possibilities too.

P.S.  If you know what the name of this fabric is, know where I can get more, etc...please let me know.