Early Reveal

If you have been a regular reader of mine, you know that I have been making wedding quilts...in fact 3 for weddings this year!  

One of them is for my DD2 and future SIL for their wedding this July. 

I have given sneak peeks before here and here. 

Well, for a very special reason which I cannot tell yet, 

I will now give a bigger {yet not complete} reveal of their quilt.  

This pattern is called Lover's Knot! 

Isn't that perfect for a wedding quilt? 

It is put together in a similar manner as a log cabin with a little twist. 

The fabric I used is from the Eden collection by Lila Tueller for Moda.  The backing is a yellow polka dot with some piecing from the collection.  

It finishes at about 78" x 90".

Isn't it so pretty?

Giveaway Winner

Wow! I am overwhelmed at the response to my giveaway.  I usually respond to each comment directly but I have received over 200 comments and 56 new followers.  Do know that I read every comment and appreciate all your kindness.  Thank you!!!

So in case you are wondering, fall is the overall favorite season. The crisp air and lovely colors were the reasons for this season's love.  34 of you love summer just like me!

Here is picture of the goodies that were peeking out of the wristlet that I will be sending to the lucky winner.

So with the help of Mr. Random Number, the winner is #58 Suzanne.  Suzanne's favorite season is fall! Congratulations!

Note to Suzanne: I sent you an email and must hear back from you by Friday evening in order for me to get your prize in the mail by the deadline.  I will choose a new winner on Saturday morning if I don't hear from you.

Giveaway Days!

This giveaway is closed. Stay tuned for winner posted tomorrow.

Today is Giveaway Days at Sew Mama Sew!

This day is special because many bloggers participate and giveaway handmade items, supplies and/or materials to lucky winners.  Hope you win! 

Before I get to my giveaway, I want to shout a BIG HELLO and a warm welcome to all my visitors.  I hope you'll take some time to peek around a bit and come back for another visit.  After all, we all have a lot of blogs to visit this week.  

 {It just so happens that this is my 100th post and I will have another giveaway shortly after Giveaway Days end...so stop by again.}

For this giveaway, I'm offering a handmade wristlet and I'll fill it with some goodies.  This wristlet is made from a pattern by Sew Spoiled Designs by Leah Williams.  

It has a detachable key Fob.

Look closely here and you will see a peek of what may be inside.

So if you'd like a chance to win, please leave me a comment telling me your favorite season.  Mine is summer!

If you would like a second chance, become a follower of my blog (if you already are a follower, GREAT!) Leave me a separate comment saying so. 

Up to 2 chances to win! 

 *All are welcome to participate.

I'll randomly pick a winner on May 25th. Gook Luck and thanks for playing.

*Please make sure you leave a way for me to contact you if you are a noreply blogger.

Now visit Sew, Mama, Sew for a list of participants.

FNSI Results!

Sometimes things don't happen as we expect.  

My intentions for FNSI were to sew along with everyone else but I ended up cleaning and putting back in order the room that DH & I started redoing last weekend for most of the evening.  

When we finally called it done for the night (in case your wondering...no, it is not finished) and sat down to relax with a glass of well deserved wine, I was determined to finish stitching my Birdie BOM for May.  

All the flowers were already finished.  

So last night I started and finished the birdie.  Even though it wasn't much sewing, it is a May finish! That makes me happy!

So what did you do for FNSI? 

 Head over to see all that was happening at Heidi's!

Spring Bloggers' Quilt Festival

It is time to join in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival over at Amy's! 

This is my second time joining in with sew many talented quilters! If you are new to my blog, welcome! I hope you enjoy yourself and come back again! If you have been here before, thanks for coming again! I love my readers!

Today, I wanted to share a quilt I made about 2 1/2 years ago.  I made this quilt once before for a gift and fell in love with it.  It went on my 'to do' list for some time.  Then I made this one for myself!  It is called Red Herringbone.

It is made with several different coordinating homespun striped fabrics.  The diamonds and triangles are made with a lame which gives it a shimmer.  I first made this quilt in a class using homespun and flannels in browns and greens for a very masculine quilt.  The technique was fun to do and easy.  

Making this quilt did bring on a challenge working with fabrics that are not as stable as quilter's cotton.  I am pleased with the results.  Do you like it?

Now hop over to Amy's to check out all the other talented quilters!  I'm linking up here...

A long car ride or two

For the last 2 weekends my DH and I spent 

many hours in the car.  What do you do in the car to avert many hours of boredom?  

I stitch, or knit or crochet, or make hexagons.  

On Good Friday, we headed to Indiana to pack most of our DD3's 'stuff' and bring it home.  {Round trip...8 hours.}  She had finals the week following Easter and we needed to get her 'stuff' before then because...

on April 29th {exactly one week later} we headed to South Dakota to bring DD2 home.  She moved there right after college graduation.  One year later, she is moving back for the final preparations before her wedding in July! 

 Future SIL will be moving back next month.  

We started out early on Friday morning and settled in for the long 14 hour drive.  Saturday we packed up her house and loaded our van and a trailer with an unbelievable amount of 'stuff'.   

{They hope to settle somewhere in the midwest but need jobs...anyone know of a photography and/or writing/publishing job?} 

Early Sunday morning, we were on the road again, heading home.  

{Round trip...28+hours}. 

So you ask what did I accomplish during all these car hours?  

First, I was determined to finish the hand quilting on my little vintage quilt.   

Only a few months after starting my blog, I found Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Days and visited many blogs.  One blog was Sleepytimesewing and I won this  lovely little stack of vintage 2.5" fabric squares.  The stack sat on my shelf until about a month ago when I was inspired to make this little vintage quilt.  I laid out and arranged all the squares and sewed them into a little grid. I used Bella white for the sashing strips.  After searching through my stash, I found this sweet vintage print in gray.  

I loved the neutral look it added to the vintage sampler. For the backing I used a solid gray to match and one pieced 4 square block from the left over squares. The binding is in a vintage pink.

Again to add to the vintage feel, I tried my best at big stitch hand quilting.  I quilted around each 2 1/2" square and in the border added 2 rows of big stitches.  I didn't want it perfect and it certainly isn't...

{note to self...still need to work on stitch size consistency!}

Anyone recognize any of these fabrics?  

I love looking at all the different ones and picking out favorites. 

Some just make me laugh...like the cowboys around a campfire {orange} or the Asian boy carrying bundles {green.}

It's like an I Spy quilt for grown ups!

I also worked on some stitchery for my Give Thanks BOM {sorry no picture} and stitched away at some more hexagons!

My Hexagon kit! 

Slowly, I'm getting a stack.  I guess I need more hours in a car...NOT!