Scrappy Giveaway :-)

The fabric in these scraps are all over the place! A little Amy Butler, to some Sanctuary Charm Squares with some Figtree thrown in. I also have some white on white and cream on cream yardage included.

If you are interested, please leave your email address. I will draw a name on Wednesday.

Hugs,

Cathy

Whirlygig Quilt Top is Finished!!!

How gorgeous is Verna fabric? I just love this stuff!!! And because I wanted to cut into my fatquarters from yesterday, I made myself finish my whirlygig quilt. And I love it......what's not to love about such beautiful fabric and such a fun pattern.Mollie always seems to get into my quilt pictures. ;-)
I had to include this picture of my sweet hubby and his Brodie.....he loves that dog so much and Brodie loves him just as much.

I will be having another scrap giveaway tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Have a great Friday,

Cathy

Sometimes you just need a splurge!

Or to stop surfing internet fabric sites! LOL But, I prefer to think that one needs a little spring fabric in the gloomy month of Feb. I received this today in the mail and can't wait to cut into it. I will finish piecing my whirlygig quilt first though. I will, I will, I will!!!!

The fabric is "Dolce" by Tanya Whelan for Free Spirit. I just love the combination of aqua, pink, orange and grey.
So pretty! I got it in 2 days for a great price from http://stores.burgundybuttons.com/StoreFront
I have been meaning to share that I ended up using flannel as a backing for my daughter's last quilt and it turned out really well. It was from JoAnn's, but I washed it in hot water and dried it on high before I used it and didn't have any extra shrinkage beyond what you get with a cotton backing. I put regular batting in it and it is so warm, especially for a 25 year old on their own and paying for their own heat! ;-) I was concerned that it would shrink out of proportion, but it didn't.

Take care all,

Cathy

Beautiful Great Niece and Nephew!

Here is a picture me holding my beautiful great niece and great nephew......the recipients of many hats and quilts. I just love having babies to sew for. I made the bumper pads, crib skirt and pillows for Maggie. She has a quilt hanging on the wall that goes with the pillows. I also made a quilt and pillow for Benjamin's nursery. As long, as both of my nieces keep accepting the stuff, the more things that I will make for them! ;-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend,

Cathy

Went a little pillow crazy today!

I discovered some wonderful embroidery designs on etsy yesterday. The designer is Meringue Designs. I promptly made this one for my daughter who loves all things "Mommy Made". ;-)And this one for my husband. I had some linen fabric that I bought a couple of weeks ago from JoAnn's that worked perfectly for the pillows. I don't do much machine embroidery because I have a hard time finding designs that I like and really don't like to do color changes. These designs were minimal color changes.
I will get back to my whirlygig quilt tomorrow!

Take care,

Cathy

What quilt do you have hidden away that needs to be finished?

Do you have quilts lurking in baskets or boxes that haven't seen the light of day in weeks, months, maybe even yikes! years???? Probably a lot of us do. I was reading on a message board the other day all the projects that quilters were working on and I think just one person said that they only work on one quilt at a time. The rest had loads and I mean loads of projects going on. Well, this little quilt needs to come out of hiding and get finished!I have been working in little dribs and drabs on this thing for 2 years now. I still love the way it looks, thank goodness, and will be so pleased when it gets finished. It has the be the most intricate quilt that I have made.
My goal, is to put the box out where it will be seen whenever I am in my sewing room and work on it a little bit before I work on anything else. One day it will be finished!!!
Do you have a project that needs to come out of hiding....please let us know and maybe together we can get that special UFO finished!

Have a great day,

Cathy

A Little Retro for the Retro

My husband is my biggest quilting fan especially if he thinks that the quilt that I just made is for his beloved Airstream Trailer. Because the trailer is so retro looking, I decided it was time to make a special quilt for him. He loves it and I do too. This was such a fun quilt to make and I have loved this fabric since it came out.I just used a Moda Layer Cake , "Hello Betty" Retro by Moda and cut each piece into a 5" square, 2- 2 /1/2 by 5" rectangles and 2- 2 1/2" by 9" rectangles. It used all but a little bit of each cake layer. Then I cut some crisp white muslin in the same dimensions. Sewed it together and voila! A fun and frugal pattern!!!
Here is his baby.......of course it is probably covered in snow still. We can't keep it in our driveway because of homeowner rules so it stays at a storage place.
I had this on the bed which DH loved also. I tell you he loves them all, probably because they are in his "baby" and has nothing to do with the quilts at all. LOL

I finished another coin quilt, just have to sew the binding on. I am working on the stack of tops and am down to 4 to quilt.

I hope those in the MD, VA and PA area that got so hard hit with snow are doing okay. My husband works out of DC and went up today to see his dad in Arlington (where he stays when he is working there) and they were not able to find milk anywhere. They found half and half for their coffee so they were happy!

Take care,

Cathy

Large Whirlygig Directions

Thank you so much for all the birthday greetings!!!! They were so much fun to read. Yesterday was my birthday and I am now 55. I think anyone born on Groundhog's Day gets teased about it....it always made my birthday a lot of fun. ;-) I mean, come on who can say that get to share a special day with a groundhog!!! LOL I will have Oliver draw a name tomorrow.

Several people want to make their whirlygig quilt with scraps and make bigger blocks. Here are directions to make one that is 10". I did end up trimming the edges, because I was hurrying to get it cut out and may not have been as accurate as I could be.

Cut out your background fabric into 5 1/2 by 6" rectangles. Place your rectangle using your cutting mat as a guide with the long sides on the top and bottom. Come in 2 1/2 " from left to right on the top and make a small mark. Come in 2 1/2 " right to left on the bottom and again mark. Using your ruler cut up diagonally from mark to mark.
Do the same for your print rectangles, being very careful when you first cut them out to make sure that all fabric is right side up. Yes, I did it again and it makes half of your whirlygigs go in the wrong direction. You could get sort of seasick with them going all wonky. ;-)

Place them beside your sewing machine exactly as you will sew them. The pictures from the charm square tutorial show how to line them up accurately before you sew. Press to the print side and sew the 2 top squares together and then the bottom two. Place the 2 sides together lining up with the middle seam and sew. Press to one side. Trim up if you have little bits coming out.
Here is the "big boy" one beside the charmed one.
Please upload pictures for all of us to drool over, um I mean see!

I am running to JoAnn's with my daughter so please let me know if I have left anything out or not been clear.

Thank you again,

Cathy

I've always been a groundhog, but now I'm officially a speed limit too!

I know that my title probably doesn't make much sense, but I have a little giveaway for someone who is able to guess what I mean! Well, if you just leave your name I will still put you in the "dog eating" bowl to pull a name. (about a dozen or so posts back shows what I am talking about)This is a very colorful bundle of 12 fatquarters. Most, if not all is Kaffe Fasset fabric. It would look so nice in a whirlygig or pinwheel quilt. The background used would make these colors pop! I will also put in more goodies to fill the box up. One of my favorite things is to see how much I can fit in a flat rate box and still tape it shut. ;-)

Please leave your answer to what you think my title means.

I will post directions for a larger no trim whirlygig quilt tomorrow.

Have a great day everyone,

Cathy

Charmed Whirlygig Quiltalong

I can't believe that it is already February! We got about 10" of snow on Saturday, so it sure feels like winter is still here!

I have started the Charmed Whirlygig Quiltalong today and hope that you will join in. I decided to use the new charm packs that came this past weekend. It is Verna by Kate Spain for Moda. I fell in love with this line everytime I saw it on the internet.All cut and ready to sew.......
First of 42 blocks done. These go together really quickly.
If you decide to join in, please let us know what fabric you have decided on. I have never done a quiltalong before so it may take me a little time to get everything set up. Here is the link to the flickr group- http://www.flickr.com/groups/1347288@N21/ It can also be found on the side of my blog.

Take care,

Cathy