A finish, a start, and a gorgeous giveaway

I have to say I'm still thrilled to have finished my In From The Cold quilt ~ and even though it hasn't been cold I've been snuggling under it while watching TV this week.

I've been working on my Star Light Star Bright quilt this week and I've managed to get all my flying geese done ~ the final set still need some trimming.  I can't wait to see how this turns out ~ I've seen some gorgeous fabric combos on their Flickr board!

I stumbled across a giveaway this morning that I'm drooling over at Maureen Cracknell Handmade ~ Intrepid Thread is giving away this gorgeous bundle:

Love the colors in this Tile Pile fat quarter bundle of Petal Pinwheels by Michael Miller!

Linking up with Quilt Matters for TGIFF and Fort Worth Fabric Studio for Fabric Frenzy Friday!

A finish to start the week!

My In From The Cold quilt is finished!  That makes finish #4 in the first quarter of my 2014 Finish-Along  I almost wish the weather was colder so I could snuggle under it ~ I said almost.  Be careful what you wish for ...

Linking up with Anything Goes Mondays and Sew Cute Tuesday.

Some weekend progress

Lots of progress made so far this weekend ~ quilting is done!

I love the way you can see all the little mugs on the back when the light shines through :)

I chose the red snowflake fabric for the binding.

Keeping that little roll of binding on a spindle really makes life easier.

I'm half-way through hand stitching the binding to the back ~ hopefully I can finish it tonight!

What's next on the agenda?  

I picked up a FQ Frenzy Denim & Daisies bundle from Sew Lux a while back, so I decided to use it for the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-Along posted by Melissa Corry at Happy Quilting.  I know I'm late getting into this, but I love the pattern, so I'm going for it anyway!  I cut the print pieces today.

Feelin' pretty productive!

WIP Wednesday

One Big WIP for me this week.  Yesterday, I started quilting the border of my In From The Cold quilt.  I hadn't decided what to do with it  ~ but just before I got out of bed that morning I thought of cross-hatching it (not sure if that's what that design is called) and I liked that idea.  Sooo ~ I actually got out my Frixion pen and started marking the diagonal lines around the border.

My dilemma then was ~ do I do each line separately? or go back and forth?  If I did them separately, I'd have to bury all those threads afterwards.  If I did them back and forth, I'd be fighting with the quilt as I turned it in opposite directions.  (I can't imagine how people do those bed-size quilts on their domestic machines!)

I opted for the back and forth method and, like I said before, it's a good thing I'm keeping this one because I can really see my stitches as I travel to the next line and it bugs me, but it's not being judged and that's a good thing!  I may even just do the diagonals in one direction instead of cross-hatching it because I'm already tired of flipping the quilt around.  :)  We'll see ...

(what it looks like so far from the back)

This morning I started putting together a Shir-Crazy Wristlet that was ordered from my shop.  I used a couple of the same fabrics as the Aragon Bag I made last year.

I finished it and mailed it out this afternoon.  

I have an awesome friend, Cindy Nichols, who loves to do pottery ~ she made me this little sign out of clay and I have it hanging on the wall in my sewing space.  I wrapped a length of selvage to cover the wire.  I absolutely love it!

Linking up with WIP Wednesday.

It's a good feeling!

I was BEYOND excited to find out that my first quilt (FIRST, mind you!) won an Honorable Mention at the Naples Quilters Guild annual quilt show yesterday!  Definitely doing the happy dance!!

This was the first quilt show I've ever attended, much less submitted a quilt to, so I took a few LOTS of photos.  I won't bore you with them all, but these are my favorites.  Warning - picture heavy post ahead!

I don't know how the judges pick out their favorites ~ there are SO many to choose from.  And so many categories!  I'm humbled to be in such exquisite company.  :)

I'm about 2/3 done with the serpentine quilting for the center of my In From The Cold quilt ~ 

I like it, but I'm glad I'm keeping this one for myself!  There are a few kinks and the spacing isn't the best ~ but I like it!  I hadn't intended to quilt through the mugs, but it was a pain starting and stopping and I like the texture it gives them.  Thanks to those who helped me decide.  :)  That's what I love about blogworld ~ lots of great feedback!

WIP Wednesday

Quilting has begun on my In From The Cold quilt!  I finished the back and basting this morning and I decided to start with outlining the mugs ~ not IN the ditch, but close to the ditch.

 From there, I thinking of cross-hatching the background because I love that look on other quilts I've seen.  Or maybe I should go with something like the serpentine stitch on this gorgeous quilt by amandajean over at Crazy Mom Quilts?

Here's the back:

I did get 2 more 16-patch blocks done on my Good Night Irene quilt ~ I love the bright colors!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and My Quilt Infatuation

Projects in the works this week

This is one of those weeks where I'm in the middle of a couple of things, but I don't really expect any finishes anytime soon.

I finally got started on my blocks for the Good Night Irene sew-along (way past due, but that's OK ~ I'm going at my own pace!).  I decided to use "Delighted" ~ a collection by The Quilted Fish at Riley Blake that I've had FOREVER.

So far I've cut out 344 2-1/2" blocks ~ whew!  I'm sewing them together as kind of a "leaders and enders" project.  When I finish a seam on another project, I grab 2 squares out of my Delighted pile and sew those together.  Once I get eight pairs sewn, I put together a 16-patch block.  So far I have 2!

I'm still trying to figure out how to quilt my In From The Cold quilt ~ but in the meantime, I'm working on adding a strip of fabrics to the backing.

So that's where I'm at today ~ hoping to get a little further on these projects this week, but the Naples Quilt Show is this weekend, so that's going to keep me a little busy.  :)  My first quilt show ever!  I entered my Pinwheel and Postage Stamps quilt (my first), so I'm excited!! 

Linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts.

2014 Finish-A-Long

OK ~ Here's my list for the 1st Quarter of the 2014 Finish-A-Long hosted by Katy at  The Littlest Thistle.

A couple of things were moved from last year:

1 - This table runner I was trying to finish before the Jan. 8th deadline ~ which of course didn't happen. :(

2 - Verona Hourglass quilt.  I finished piecing the top in February.  The backing is ready and I've made the binding ~ so why has it taken me so long to finish?  Originally, it was the fear of doing the actual quilting ~ I've wanted to do free-motion quilting on this one and it terrified me.  I have since taken a FMQ class and I've been practicing, so maybe I can do it this quarter!  :)

Now for the new things on the list:

3 - My In From the Cold quilt.  I LOVED putting this together!  I'm gathering ideas on how to quilt this one ~ so I'm excited to get it done.

4 -  Cat Quilt.  This one was fun to do as well.  I've begun the quilting and prepared the binding, so I'm sure I'll finish this quarter!

5 - I decided to jump into the "2014 It's a New Year Sewalong" at Sew Can She.  So far I've only got my fabrics ready, but I'm heading up north for a week or so, so I haven't really done much else!  Looking forward to learning how to make log cabin blocks.

6 - I'd also really like to finish up the Tula Pink "City Sampler" Sew Along hosted by Sara at Sew Sweetness.  I think I'm up to block 70, so I still have 30 blocks to go.  

I think that's it for now!  Linking up with Katy at The Littlest Thistle.