Sew Mama Sew Winner!

The winner of the two Moda Bella charm packs is Lynaeve, #80.  Thank you to all that entered for stopping by and sharing your comments about solids. 

Happy Mother's Day to all the other Moms and Grandmas, hope you have a great day with your families!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

Thanks for stopping by for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day!  I am giving away two charm packs of white Bella Solid by Moda.  This giveaway is open to international friends too.

I have always wanted to order a yard or so of every brand of quilting solid to compare side by side to pick out a "best one" but just have never done it. There are so different brands available: Kaufman Konas, Moda Bellas, Riley Blake, Freespirit, Michael Miller Couture Club and Dear Stella and possibly more?  I have used the Konas', which are a bit coarse and also Moda Bella and Riley Blake solids both of which seem ok?  But there are many others I haven't tried...

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment telling me which brands of solids you have tried and which is your favorite. This giveaway will be open until 5pm PST on Friday, May 10th. Be sure to check out all the other giveaways this week as listed on the Sew Mama Sew blog.  Thanks again for stopping by!

Friday's Finish: Dakota Maid Pillow

Finally a finish for a Friday! Life has been busy and I think I have a few too many projects in process at once so that I haven't had a finish in far too long.  This a pillow for my family room that I designed around a reproduction Dakota Maid Flour sack.

I used a combination of mostly scrappy reds and navy's with low volume backgrounds to create the hst & flying geese border to fit the pottery barn 16x26 pillow form I had on hand.  I used aurofil 40wt (green spool) for the straight line quilting.  For this project, I loved the slightly thicker look of that weight of thread.

 I'm linking up with Amanda's Finish it up Friday.  It is a snowy afternoon in MN so perfect time stay home and relax and check out all the inspiring finishes! 

On the MSP Mod Guild Blog: Finding OOP Fabrics

(Lush by Erin Michael for Moda, OOP but being reprinted this summer)

When I was a new quilter, it seemed like I was always falling in love with collections that were out of print and sometimes these days by the time I try to finish a project and need a bit more fabric, it is out of print and difficult to find. 

Yesterday I shared my obsessive process for finding OOP fabrics on the MSP Mod Guild Blog...

Monday Miscellany

It's been nearly a month since I posted...and it's just been a blur...like your foot got stuck on the gas pedal and you can't stop going.  Surprisingly, I did get a tiny bit of sewing in.

Above is a patchwork pillow top I pieced using a repro flour sack towel.  I have a couple of the 16x26 forms from Pottery Barn that I want to cover for my basement family room.  After undoing the meandering quilting I started with, I'm in the process of quilting it with diagonal lines...hope to finish this one soon.

The week before last was spring break for the kiddos.  My 6 year old had hand pieced a few ugly scraps at Grandma's house last summer and then quilted it this fall...all by hand, by himself.  I added the binding for him this week so he now has a finish!  I set up my old machine and both boys took a turn at sewing on the machine too.

My Woolies quilt is back from the quilter and ready for binding...decided I didn't want to brave the flannel.

Other stops on this month's blur of a ride include:

• Science projects for the kiddos  (did you know a wet Viva paper towel holds over 4lbs? and Pop-Secret popcorn has the highest popping ratio?)
• Husband in Brazil on business for a week
• Dishwasher stops working day after husband leaves, out of order for 10 days
• My parents came for a visit near the end of my husbands trip but sadly both got colds so we had to scale back a few plans.
• Husband left for a 4 day ice fishing trip
• My sister came to visit for a long weekend 
• Food Allergy Awareness walk at MOA
• Went to many, many baseball practices
• Quick waterpark visit with the kids - my 6 year old is braver than anyone else in the family
• Dryer breaks down night before leaving for waterpark so I leave my house with clothes hanging everywhere to dry.Then once repaired we were advised to clean vent...wow lots of lint!
• Taxes completed (yeah!)

 When my sister visits I usually put her to work and have a massive sewing list.  When I was cleaning up my sewing room/guest room for all the company I was reminded that I have a bit too much fabric so decided to see if we could whip up a few quick tops?! I have had one of Elizabeth's 12 + 2 =Q quilts on my list for a few years... I have a naked, quiltless bed I'm ashamed to say.

My sister picked out some Hope Valley blue fat quarters and paired it with some of the Aunt Edna prints that were navy/rose colored and added these to a charcoal gray ikea sheet for her top. (sorry no photo it was late the night before she left!)

My top is an odd conglomeration of eclectic prints to tie in current artwork, and a few of the quilts I've designed in my head for my bedroom.  I'm using a tan kona for my solid.  These are the patchwork strips... I just need to piece these with the kona strips to finish the top.

So what's new with you...how do you handle getting sidetracked (or trying not too) by life?  Might have to go back to my night owl ways now that spring is finally coming...

Woolies Flannel top finished!

Here's part of my finished Woolies Flannel quilt top.  Since there isn't sashing I was a bit nervous it would stretch if I hung it up for a photo so this is an odd angle taken on my entry way floor. (Though I did stitch 1/4 all the way around the top.)

The design is from Terry Atkinson's Happy Hour book and is called Between Friends.  It is a nice design for larger print fabrics and fast to piece.  The top is 72x84 so it will be nice for stretching out on the couch in our basement family room.  It's a bit near the current size limit of my quilting bravery and of course stretchy so it's off to be long arm quilted.  I'm trying out a new person, so I'll be sure to share the end result when it's back!

Out with the Old Fabric Challenge!

 For the New Year, our local modern quild had an out with the old (fabric), in with the new challenge.  I wasn't at the January reveal as that night we were hosting a birthday sleepover for my now 11 year old... I actually didn't start my project until after that but in pursuit of a smaller stash and shorter UFO list this was a needed challenge.

I had some flannel my mom gave me...actually leftovers from pjs from when I was a kid.  These pieces were turned into the two pair of pj pants above for my oldest son.  The plaid pants were made with Burda 9747 in a size 11 and were pretty true to ready to wear sizes, but the striped pants made with Butterick 5153 in a size 10-12 probably won't fit him until he's 13!

Then I moved on to some embarrassingly old UFOs.  Before my youngest son was born (back when I sewed in our unfinished basement) I cut out navy knit pjs for my oldest son and my husband (above) along with another pair of flannel pj pants (below).  These are all now complete and my 6 year old is wearing the pjs I cut out before he was born?!   Certainly not exciting projects, but yeah! for stash and UFO busting!

 And here is a peek at my current WIP... piecing together some Woolies flannel blocks from a few years ago.

And of course the inspiration for all these flannel projects is snow and a cold Midwest winter that is lasting far too long... Hope you have a warm & relaxing weekend wherever you are!