Why Not Sew darling Mini quilt...

Okay, we found this cute quilt from Bloggers Quilt Festival. Seriously right? Okay, I just had to copy and paste her entire header! LOVE it so much! Megan asked to make her one for Christmas, I might try!  Erin from Why Not Sew is one crafty girly and be sure to head over to her blog for more inspiration! You may be stuck there for a while, but it will be well worth it!

For my entry in the Blogger's Quilt Festival I chose my Birdies Holding a Quilt quilt. I thought I should go with a bigger quilt but finally decided on this one. I've made quite a few of these and I think this is my quilting niche. I feel so happy and creative when I make them. For this quilt I used hexagons for the leaves which I really had fun with. All of my birds are on a line or branch. I thought for this I had to include my favorite thing in the quilt, a small quilt. I love the freedom of doing anything I want with these quilts. The free motion applique is like drawing. I really love that technique.

All of my quilts have special meaning to me. This one I keep in front of my sewing table. I think one of the reasons I love it so much is because of the pure joy I experienced making it. Absolutely no frustration. It's what I think quilting should be. FUN!!! I hope you like my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Quilt in the Garden from Quiltscapes

Hello!  Ah, another fabulous Fabric Tuesday yesterday leaving Heather and I with so much inspiration, we love it!!  As I sit here writing this post for today's feature, my little guys are happily playing in our backyard and I can see them through my window.  It is almost too hot right now (in Phoenix) and I am just scared for the next couple of months.  The heat.  Oh the heat.  I'll just enjoy it for now, right?

Deonn from Quiltscapes is a very talented quilter, no doubt about that.  And if you're lucky enough to live near her in Utah, you can even participate in her classes.  I especially love her UFO Page, a black and white reminder of her things on her plate!  I love it because I can relate I guess :)  Here is another one of her great finishes.

Finished:  "Quilt in the Garden"

Inspiration:  Daughter Lauren's poster design for the UQG
Quilts in the Gardens show at Thanksgiving Point, 2008.

  

Quilt in the Garden 31" x 31" wall hanging

I love this picture.  The girl.  The smile.  The poster.

She had just won the Utah 4-H state contest
for Family/Consumer Sciences
 with her "Quick Quarter-Square Triangles" quilt demo,
with the prize of a fully sponsored trip to Denver
for the national competition.  Woo Hoo!
We stopped at a quilt shop on the way home

where she spied one of her posters.

Best. Day. Ever!

So adorable!  Quilters around the world had lots to say about it HERE!

Sue Spargo Robin Run the Hedge

Today's feature is of a super talented quilter/teacher/designer Sue Spargo. Sue used all sorts of mediums on her quilts, felts, scrap, beads, and embroidery. Her designs are fresh, new and very detailed. We are truly inspired by her work. She holds several workshops all over the country, and some out of the country. Sue is truly an inspired quilter and we are honored to feature her work here. Make sure to go check out her website and her blog.

Each year I do a BOM on through my website. It is very popular and is limited to 300 participants. The center of this quilt was the BOM from last year. I absolutely loved creating it. It was inspired by my visits to Italy and the wonderful birds that flew in and out of the hedgerows in the Tuscan hills.

It has 13 different birds on the vine which are all embellished with different ribbons.  The background is a combination of different hand dyed wools and the applique is fun cottons, hand dyed wool and velvet and taffeta silks.

 I am very fortunate as my sister Wendy does all the dyeing of my wools and velvets so I have a wonderful assortment of colors to pull from. Once I had finished the center I decided to make mine into a queen size quilt adding the large applique borders. I am very please with the finished quilt.

I wrote a book 'Robin Run the Hedge' in May and now you have the opportunity to make a wallhanging or bed quilt for your self. I have taught this quilt many times which can be viewed on my blog using different color combinations.

Sue will be posting her new BOM for 2011 this week. It will be called 'Imperial Blooms' - large flowers heavily embellished with stitching.  This will be very popular, so get signed up!

Thank you Sue, gorgeous work!

Love birds wedding quilt from Pickledish...

Okay I am in LOVE with this quilt and I wish Lesly was my friend and she could have made it for me as a wedding present, or just for my birthday! I am not normally drawn to these vivid colors, I am normally a muted tones type of girl...not neutrals, just soft colors...in my fabric choices, and on my walls. Anyhow, I saw this post and asked Lesly of Pickledish if we could pretty please feature it, and she kindly said yes. Lesly is one of those girls with eleventy billion finished quilts on her sidebar. (Oh how I wish to be one of those girls) go check her out for some great quilts!

This one went down to the wire, friends! I stayed up very late to finish the quilting and sew the binding to the quilt sandwich.

I watched many episodes of The Jewel in the Crown while I was doing the FMQ - I had forgotten what a good series that was! It was a pleasure to see it again. I couldn't finish off the binding - I was seeing double by the time it was sewn to the quilt top, and it was 3am before I found my bed. I forced myself out of bed at 7 to baste the binding and then sew it on. I don't know how people manage to machine-sew binding on when it is held in place with pins - my hat is off to them!

I would have hand-stitched the binding in place, since it was for a wedding present, but there was no time. As it was, I packed my overnight case while the quilt was in the wash, and took my shower while it was in the dryer. I whisked it outdoors for some quick photos while my husband was tapping his foot and looking pointedly at his watch.

We raced down the 401 to Toronto and checked into the wedding hotel - which, as it happens, was the same hotel where we spent our wedding night, 24 years ago!

I was very happy with the label for this quilt. I printed it on one of those Printed Treasures sheets, and then pieced it into the back, with a piece of the linen showing the two lovebirds. I've used these printing cotton sheets before, but this is the first time I've pieced in into the back. I like it!

The groom has been a friend of ours for many years. This was his second marriage, and his son and daughter were the only attendants. I had never met the bride, and I hoped she liked purple. While I felt fairly sure that Denys would like it, I had certainly been second guessing myself as I put this together - what on earth was I thinking, making such a hugely and utterly purple quilt for a woman I had never met! Purple isn't everyone's cup of tea - maybe she would be a purple-hater! Imagine my relief to see that the underslip to her elegant lace gown was a beautiful soft purple!

Thank you much Lesly, I am sure you have inspired many with this beautiful quilt. I hope they all loved it , and I hope you got alot of ooohhhs and ahhhssss...  make sure to visit pickledish.

And we still have our amazing fabric giveaway courtesy of Ladybug Quilt shop going on here, so make sure you've entered!

A new modern boy pattern and a giveaway...!

This is a story of Little Baby Brother Buddy Dude.  Seriously, do you love him? Do you want to bite his cheeks?  From the very bottom of my heart I really didn't think I was missing anything by not having a son. My four daughters filled my heart. I thought a boy would just be for my husband. I knew I would love one, but absolutely did not know how much I would adore him!

He came into our lives 1 year ago. He reminds me of Big Baby on toy story. He is giant. 98% height. Super bald. And pure perfection! Finally getting a boy meant tons of new decorating options...which brings me to this quilt...

I named this quilt "Mod Tweet",  sort of the modern "Sweet Tweet". (My original pattern that has been very good for our little business...)  Anyhow, when I thought to decorate a boys room I didn't want to do the blue and brown thing. I feel like I have done that, and I wanted to different than what was being done in most boy nursery's. So I thought and thought and finally came up with gray and aqua. I LOVE how this quilt turned out. Within a month I will be posting this guys nursery over at our FRESH POPPY blog, and it is darling!

Plus, check the minky backing. Have you seen anything so magnificent? L-O-V-E !

I went back and forth about making it a pattern or keeping it original for my baby. In the end I sold him out for a little extra cash...(that is the kind of person I am...)  So here you have it...

If you buy this pattern, just think of Big Baby Brother Little Baby Buddy Dude. Please. Click here if you are interested in purchasing this pattern.

Last but not least. We are giving this pattern away to 5 different commenters here and on our FRESH POPPY blog.

* Leave a comment and tell us which is your favorite pattern of ours, 1 entry.

* Become a follower or subscribe, 3 entries. 

(Just tell us in a new comment if you are already a follower/subscriber) 

* Hop on over to Fresh Poppy Design and repeat, 4 entries.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED