Orange Zest Win!!!

I had a jaw-dropping moment this evening... I WON more fabric!!  Woohoo!!!   I never won anything... but this year I've had 4 fabric wins.   This is so exciting!!!

I entered a comment on Alone in the Studio's Orange Zest Giveaway... and the Random Number Generator picked me... Entry #6.

This is the fifth Spring Sweeping the Studio giveaway.
 A total of 11 coordinating new fabrics--quarters, fat quarters, two half-yards, and one full yard.

Don't you just envision a lovely autumn quilt with these colours??!!!!!


THANK YOU, ALI, FOR THIS LOVELY WIN!!!

Old & New Fabrics & a Woolly Monkey

A few weeks ago we visited my husband's aunt who lives a few hours away.  We stayed the night at her place, and she pulled out some quilts that were my husband's great-grandmother's quilts.  

These quilts were ever so carefully pieced together & were so lovely!!

These quilts were sewn with remnant fabrics and were, of course, all sewn by hand.

Quilt #1

A close-up of the quilting & some detail embroidery.

Quilt #2

I received my winning fabrics in the mail.

Here's the bundle of fabric (5 yards total) that I won from Toads U Sew.

Isn't this fabric just lovely??!!

Included with the 5 yards of fabric was also a small pattern booklet.  

I recently have been doing crocheting or knitting in the evenings while sitting beside my husband, and chatting or watching tv.

One of my evening projects: A crocheted sock monkey.

I played around with a few blocks of the black & white fabric...

Nine-patch with white/light in the corners, black in between and red in the middle.

Nine-patch with black in the corners, white/light in between and red in the middle

Disappearing 9 Patch #1

D9P #2

I'm not sure how I'll piece these blocks together: sew them together as 1 large quilt or place sashing in between the quilt blocks.

I also received my 2nd winning fabric pack: 

A Layer Cake, "Modern Workshop" by Liesl Gibson for Oliver + S which I won from Moose on the Porch Quilts 

I have many other projects to finish, so that will give me time to decide how I will use these fabrics.  

The May quilt block for Freckles Scrappy Star quilt-along.

I Won... AGAIN!!!!!

Today was VERY exciting...

I found out that I won a Layer Cake (40 - 10"x10" fabric bundle) from Moose Quilts for my "Lollipops" Layer Cake Quilt Along. I finished the binding yesterday and I just LOVE that quilt!!

Check out the link to my "win":

http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/2011/05/final-layer-cake-winners.html

A few minutes later I received an email informing me that I won fabric. I was a bit confused, but then I realized what was happening: I had entered my name in a draw for black & white fabric a few days ago. Chloe from Toad U Sew asked people what colour would compliment black & white... my answer was the classic red. Well, the random organizer picked me!!! Yes, me... the one who NEVER wins ANYthing!!!

Check out the link...

http://www.toadusew.com/uncategorized/1850/

Here's a picture of the 5 yards of Montage Fabric by Benartex that I won!!

Now I will need a pattern for this lovely stash of fabric. Oh yes, I will be adding some red to it.

Wow, oh wow - how exciting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine that... two wins in one day!!!

(3 wins in the last month... I guess that might be it for wins for a long while.)

Fabric, Quilt Blocks & Quilts

Remember that I won "something" a few weeks ago from the Layer Cake Quilt-Along's draw?

Well... here it is... 3 very lovely, lively & fun fabrics (fat-quarters).

Aren't they just ever so wonderful??!!

(Hmmm... what to make with these fun fabrics??)

"Diamond Mine" quilt block for the Patchwork Squared Modern Solids Quilt Along (P2QA).

"Fourth Inning" quilt block for the Patchwork Squared Modern Solids Quilt Along (P2QA).

The 7 quilt blocks the Patchwork Squared Modern Solids Quilt Along (P2QA). The sashing will be brown.

Wonky Squares Quilt - finished a while back but I finally got a full picture of it.

For the Layer Cake Quilt Along, I did a second set of blocks using the "Collection for a Cause: Hope" fabrics by Howard Marcus. I added chestnut & hazelnut solids sashings then set it all on-point. I really like the border that I purchased at my local quilt shop.

This quilt, which measures approx 76"x76" will not be done for quite some time. I want to wait for fabric to be on sale on my local fabric store, and I'm not sure if I'll try quilt this one together on my machine or if I'll get it professionally quilted (which costs $). So, I'll wait for now.

Dreams & Projects...

I have lots of fabric to dream about... I travelled to the Vancouver area to see my family for Canadian Thanksgiving (Oct 11 this year), and my mother, sister, nieces and I drove across the border into Washington state... to buy fabric! Oooooh... there are so many more fabrics than the major fabric store in western Canada, and the prices are amazing!! Why does fabric cost so much in Canada?????

I bought the pattern for this cute tote bag:

These 3 fabrics will be used to make that tote bag.

Here's a stash of fabrics that I purchased that one day at Jo-Ann's. Some of the fabrics will be used for tote bags, others for quilting, others are undecided. I was "into" paisleys that day, can you tell??!!

I also bought some Fat Eights. I pay more than double that listed price of $5.99 at my local quilt shop!! Perhaps I'll make a small table runner?!

This was an interesting find at Jo-Ann's... a fabric panel with Baby Einstein book pages. Now I just need to cut out the pages, quilt them, & bind them all together. Brilliant! I should have stocked up on these panels.

I had ordered these 3 kinds of Charm Packs (2 sets of each) from Green Fairy Quilts. I'm not sure entirely what I'll do with them, but I'm thinking of doing at least 1 stacked coins quilt.

Pictured below: Origins, Bliss & Fandango Charm Packs.

The main reason for me going to Jo-Ann's was that I wanted to buy some fabric to sew my 13-month-old son a new sleepsack. At 75 cm (almost 30") he was outgrowing the one I had purchased at Sears for him.

I love this fabric... it's cotton on both sides with a sew flannel in between. Wonderful... that meant I didn't have to cut fabrics for the outside & the inside! I bought a 24" zipper... my mother helped me with designing the shape & cutting out the fabric, but I had to sew it all together once I got home.

Front of Sleepsack. The fabric on the inside has the same vehicles printed on the fabric but smaller versions & printed on a light blue checked fabric.

Back of sleepsack:

Close-up of the fabric on the outside.

In May 2010, I had been to Jo-Ann's for the first time. Then I had purchased these adorable, soft puppy panels. I finally quilted them together this past week. (It was something to do when my son was tired of playing with the toys upstairs while I edited photos for my photo clients.) The quilt measures 33" x 42". (This quilt cost me about USD$54.)

The quilt back:

Now... what craft project to do next?????

Waiting...

My son has been feeling under the weather, so he's needing lots of cuddles. That means I'm not getting any sewing done, but that can wait.

Here's my first quilt awaiting more sewing (pin basting done).

My first attempt at a tote bag is also awaiting my sewing moments. The brown with white swirls will be the inside, the brown pattern/flower fabric will be the outside of the bag.

A closer look at the interior fabric for the tote bag. (I used this fabric to sew a skirt for myself about 2 years ago. Hint to self: find skirt - perhaps wear this year??)

Another look at the fabric for the outside of the tote bag. I had purchased this fabric in Africa (Cotonou, Benin, West Africa) a few years ago thinking I'd make a skirt, but since it was sitting in my fabric box, I obviously have not done anything with this lovely piece of fabric.

"Lick of Lime" Fat Quarter bundle:

"Parfait" Fat Quarter bundle: