Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Pink Castle Fabrics Giveaway!

Brenda from Pink Castle Fabrics is having a generously having a giveaway today!! Yay!  I love giveaways :)  

Pink Castle Fabrics

One of my favorite things about Pink Castle Fabrics is her selection...it's different!  In a great way!  I always spend too much time looking because she has a new variety of prints that I haven't seen.  She carries a lot of stuff that you know you'll want (lots of Moda, Free Spirit, Riley Blake) and then new designers and lines I only see in her shop!  And with market just having wrapped up I know she has some fabulous new fabrics on there way (you can see some of the yumminess on her blog).

Brenda is generously giving away
2 charm packs of Summersville
Summersville - Charm Pack

Here's a taste of the prints in the line (PS it's so cute and modern!!):
Scandi in London Bus

Town in Seafoam

Twist in Leaf

Weave in Coal

I think I need that last print (Weave) in all three colors, coal, London bus and seafoam.)  This is such a cute line!!

How can you win?
please leave a separate comment for each.
1. Stop by Pink Castle Fabrics and let us know your favorite collection.
2. "Like" PCF on Facebook (or tell us that you already do)

This giveaway is now closed.
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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Boys will be Boys Quilt from a maiden hair fern

We featured Linda from a maiden hair fern earlier this month with her Tanner Reunion Quilt.  Lots of times we get features where we know we'll be begging them to do another!! :)  (And to those of you who we've featured before...we most definitely feature twice! Or thrice!  So submit even if you've already been featured.)  Linda is a talented quilter as I mentioned before based on her impressive finishes.  I love this quilt she made for her nephew and the fabulous circle quilting.  Thanks again Linda for sharing!!



Shipped today to my new nephew.  Adapted from Reveille, of "another Bite of Schnibbles"Carrie Nelson's newest book.




 This darling fabric is from the Boys Will Be Boys collection designed by David Walker.  You can still find some on etsy.

UPDATE (5/3/12):  Last week I saw some of this fabric in Corn Wagon Quilt Shop, Springville Utah, if any of you happened to be headed there soon.


I used my new circle rulers for quilting.  They took some getting used to.  And I found that I preferred the 5" and smaller circles, more crinkle after washing.

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Monday, May 28, 2012

More GIRL and Fabric Tuesday #88

Because of Memorial Weekend I decided to announce the winner for our minky blanket giveaway from The Minky Boutique on Friday...so you've got a few more days if you didn't enter yet.  It is seriously such a sweet blanket you must take a minute to comment if you haven't :)

Next, if you didn't see my post on Friday where I had an announcement and shared some sweet little dresses (hint hint) I think you should!!  :)

It's Fabric Tuesday and I have more girly-ness to share...it's getting out of control and I can't stop myself. If I didn't need to use up all this fabric it would be a real problem. I go to sleep and wake up thinking of all the girl dresses/skirts/blankets/quilts that I want to make!!

I told my husband when I finished this last night that it may be the prettiest thing I've ever made.  I am smitten with this blanket!!!


The ruffles??  And birdies and roses and...I'm so loving this!  I got this fabric called Tweet from Skye Reve Fabrics a bit ago on a whim thinking "If I have a girl..." and I am so happy that I got it!  The fabric came just as we found out the baby is a girl :)  It is a great size, about 40" square.


Yep, backed in the snuggliest minky from my LQS.  I took a nap with it today.  Seriously. I made my husband snuggle it for a while too :)  This morning when I excitedly pointed it out to my 3 year old son, folded in a corner so you couldn't really see it, I said "Look at the cute blanket I made for the baby!" He took a quick glance and said, "I know already." Ha!  Boys really don't care about this stuff! That's why I have this blog right??

And then in the last week I busted out some skirts too, I'm trying to advance my clothing skills since I haven't sewn clothing much.  These were sooo simple.

 Coral Floral: Lark by Amy Butler
Cream Floral (above) Red Bouquets (below): Millie's Closet for Riley Blake
Gray Circles: I'm pretty sure it's something like Metro Dots for Robert Kaufman...anyone?
I also got most of these from Skye Reve Farbics

Isn't the trim sweet?  I got it at my LQS, it's just ruffled tulle.  Okay now hold on to your coffee mug, or chair, or dag/cat.  I've got a little surprise.


SNAP!
Oh yes I did.  It's two skirts, they're reversible :) It was so cute to make these and my boys actually did think it was cool that the skirt could flip and change entirely :)  There you have it for now!!

Fabric Tuesday #88
What have you been crafting?  Clothing?  Quilts? Home decor?  Can't wait to see!!

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Sweet quilt from The Days Dewings


This is such a sweet and personal quilt from Jennifer of The Days Dewings.  What time she put into this for her grandma, her whole life in a quilt!  So sweet!  Jennifer is the mother to 7 children under 10 years old.  Yes you read that right!!  She loves to be a mom, create, sew, craft, and quilt :)
My Grandma turned 90 this summer, in July, and she was having a surprise birthday party on July 9. I have always loved the idea of a memory quilt and so I wanted to use pictures from everyone in the family to make it. I used the quilt pattern Summer Squares, found on the Moda Bake Shop page, because I thought the pattern lent itself well to look like picture frames. I found the perfect fabric for her, which was “Summer Breeze” by Sentimental Studios. (I realize that they have since put to market a Summer Breeze 2 and I would love to get my hands on that! I loved this line!!)
I knew getting those pictures was going to be the hardest part of all, since no one lives near me, not even in the same state. So I talked to my family member in April about this.  I didn’t hear any thing, so I though they weren’t interested. At the end of May, my mother tells me that yes, they are all interested and they would indeed all send me pictures. I was anticipating having some trouble getting pictures from my mother. She mean well, but she’s a bit of a procrastinator. I am not.
And I was right. The last of the photos came a week before her surprise birthday party. Remember, those are the photos that are in the quilt? Yeah.
This is just the beginning of things not going smoothly.
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I didn’t want to buy the pre-done fabric sheets you can print on, for I know that over time, they will crack and peel, not to mention they are horribly expensive (at least when you have 40+ pictures!). So I did some research and decided upon a product called Bubble Jet Set 2000. It is a solution you soak your 100% cotton or 100% silk in and it makes it possible to print on fabric.
I ordered it but it was taking F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to get here from Eugene, OR. (I guess that’s what I get for paying for “economy shipping”). 7 days before I was due to send the quilt out, I learned that the ETA was July 6 when it needed to be in the mail no later then July 7! Not good.
So I did what any other quilter with a fast approaching deadline would do: I panicked!! I called around to various quilt stores to see if they carried the solution Bubble Jet Set 2000. Please keep in mind that we live in northern Wisconsin, aka “the middle of no where”! So it was no real surprise that no one did. The store in Rhinelander did have supposed pre-treated fabric, so I bought 3 yds of it, even though I thought it was way more than I needed. At almost $9 a yard, it’s not cheap stuff.
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The said fabric didn’t work! We printed out 42 pictures and the ink came out!! My heart almost stopped. Thankfully, the Bubble Jet Set 2000 and Rinse arrived the day after I bought all this yardage, which was earlier then supposed, and I was able to do a test run on some muslin to see if it would work. It did!!
So I used the rest of the not-cheap fabric, followed the directions, and let them dry over night.
On Sunday morning, we started to print out the pictures only to run out of ink half way through. Of course! Why not? The only thing to do was go to Rhinelander and get some at Wal*mart (we combined a little grocery shopping then too, so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip just for ink. Rhinelander is our “big” town around here, about 8,000 people and is 40 min away.). 4 hours later, we printed out the rest of the 45 pictures (by this time, I got the last 2 remaining photos), and held my breath.
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The one with the cranberry border was taken about 2 years into their marriage in San Francisco. It’s my favorite picture, which is why it’s center stage! If you look real close, you’ll see that the cranberry ribbon bled on the white. But it’s only around the perimeter, so I’m okay with it. It adds a little bit of dimension to it, I think.
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My Grandfather’s picture has the yellow border and my Grandmother’s has the blue one. Their wedding picture is in the quilt, but the photo is dark and faded, which is why it’s not in the middle.
On Monday morning, I started to sewing the blocks together, but I only got half way through and we needed to go to a family birthday party at noon. We didn’t get back until about 8 o’clock. I then proceeded to stay up until 4 am striving to get the top all together. I didn’t get it all done, but it was really close. I was able to cut all the Summer Breeze fabric up while I was waiting for the Bubble Jet (and pictures!) to get here. And I’m so glad I did!
I decided it was time to go to bed when I was clipping threads and nipped the quilt top a little.
On Tuesday, July 5, I was able to finishing all the applique, put the top completely together, add the borders, piece the back together, sandwich the quilt with the batting and back, and get it half quilted. I then took a break to go watch Adam play softball…..
We got back home around 8 pm and I stayed up ‘till midnight, in which time I finished the quilting and sewed the binding on.
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The center strip was quilted with an over-all meander (but not over the borders and pictures) and the rest of the quilt was quilted following the seam lines, both vertical and horizontal. I chose this to make each “picture frame” separate from it’s neighbor.
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I love pieced backs! Just because it’s the back, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be pretty too! Never mind all that puckering and pulling. This actually was only my 4th quilt, with 2 of the previous 3 being baby quilts. I’ve learned a lot since then.
The morning of my deadline to get it in the mail, July 7, I finished a little hand sewing that was needed and I was able to get it to the post office before 1 o’clock! I paid for the 2 day guarantee so it would arrive in time for her party. Whew!! Believe me, it took me about a week to catch up on sleep.
The end result was a quilt that I was quite proud of and was happy to send to my Grandma. She loved it!! It was the star of the party and people who come to visit her ask to see “the quilt”. That makes me feel good! Open-mouthed smile

Did I mention I was 9 months pregnant with my 7th child?

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Friday, May 25, 2012

Announcement!

Megan here! :)  Well at the end of January my honey and I found out some very exciting news...that we were going to be having our third baby!  Baby's due date is October 11th which turns out to be 10-11-12.  Kinda cool huh?

Last Thursday we set out to find out the baby's gender.  Since it's a 30+ minute ultrasound we decided to leave the boys with a friend.  When we dropped them off we told them when we came back we would bring a balloon in the color of the baby's gender.  Pink for girl, blue for boy.



I am still in shock!!! It's hard after two boys to imagine anything but boy!  But my husband, boys and I are all thrilled :)

Which leads me to some eye candy.  The first thing I did when I got home was shop my fabric stash :)  Found some cute and easy girl tutes via Pinterest and before you knew it I had some little girl dresses and diaper covers in the works!


Aren't they sweet??  I haven't been able to stop admiring them all week.  And more poor husband.  And boys...this is going to be a long summer for them!  All I do is walk around with girl clothes, fabrics, and talk in a high-pitched voice :)  Luckily I have Heather and my mom to talk too and some nice friend who indulge me :)


The dresses were a tutorial from the sweetest Abby at Sew Much Ado, aren't they sweet?  Great tutorial, really easy to follow.  The size is 0-3 months.


The diaper covers are a tutorial from Made...another great tute, several sizes given to cut out.  The only thing I'd do different when I make them again is to cut the leg openings on the bias.  They were extremely hard to fold in and sew without puckers.  Luckily you gather them with elastic so you can't tell.  I just had to add some ruffles to the bum on the red one!!


I found the perfect little trim to add to this set at Joann's.  I was so happy when I saw it, the perfect little retro flowers in orange and yellow.  I plan to make a simple headband with the trim too :)

The fabrics:
Orange and white set: Kitty Garden by Alexander Henry

There you have it!  I've been dying to share and hopefully you had some fun seeing the girly stuff like me!! :)

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Minky Giveaway!

Well today is fun for two reason, first is it's Megan's last birthday in her 20's!!  Sniff sniff!!  And reason two is our fabulous new advertiser, The Minky Boutique, is giving away some soft yummy-ness!!


Have you used minky much in your sewing?  It is hard not to be in love with the soft cuddly feel and then add in the darling prints and it's a win-win.  Most often I back my quilts with minky, especially if it is going to be used by a child or cold weather :)  And it isn't scary to sew with!! (If that's on your mind!)

The Minky Boutique carries over 200 top quality minky fabrics.  Most of us know there is soft minky and then there is ultra soft minky, this is the good stuff.  I know because I just received some, plus I've felt (and have) many of the prints carried in The Minky Boutique.  She stands by the quality too, 100% satisfaction guaranteed!

Here are some prints that make me wanna snuggle up:

Minky Animal Print Fabric - Giraffe - Butter/Brown

Robert Kaufman Minky Print Fabric - Merry Cherry - Red/White

Minky Print Fabric - Jumbo Mod-Dot - Royal/Latte/Blue

Robert Kaufman Minky Print Fabric - Whale Watching - Orange/Brown

Plus every solid color you could imagine (almost :).

One last bit that you must hear...my favorite part. Denise has been a lifelong sewer so she knows sometimes you just want a certain amount.  Not only does she does custom cuts but she'll also cut custom sizes in two prints just the right size for a baby blanket, how awesome is that??

And what lovelies could you win?
This is extra fun because it's already made up, no work for you.



You can win one minky baby blanket and matching burp cloth.  So cute right?? I want to sleep with it tonight!

To enter to win the minky blanket and burp cloth:
leave a separate comment for each please, also include your email if you are a no-reply blogger

*visit The Minky Boutique and let us know your favorite piece

This giveaway is now closed.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Twister Quilt from A Quilting Jewel


One of the fabulous things about doing features weekly not only is inspiration...but it reminds me of projects I want to do! :)  I had a Twister Quilt on my list for a while and I forgot about it until I saw this quilt by Jen from A Quilting Jewel!!  I love the design, love the bright colors (It's A Hoot is such a great line!) just love it all!  Jen is a modern quilter with a great list of completed quilts and some awesome free patterns and tutes.  Check out A Quilting Jewel!

This weekend I finished putting the binding on my twister quilt.

I love the way it came out.  I used two It's a Hoot charm packs for the twister portion.  I then used coordinating fabric for the binding and backing.  The white around the outside of the quilt is a Kona white.

I quilted this little quilt on either side of the horizontal and vertical seams.  I was trying to think of some way to play off the twisting pinwheels, and realized that with this type of quilting, the quilting would go through the long point of every pinwheel.

 I love this mini quilt.  I think it would be a perfect baby quilt.  I know so many people having babies this year, so who knows, it could wind up being for one of them.

I can see myself making more of these twister quilts in the future.  They come together so quickly and look great.


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