Madrona Road

I finished my Madrona Road quilt just in time for the "Reveal" at the ECMQG meeting on Saturday.  This not-working thing has its advantages.  The pattern is Heximetry by Ali Winston.  I added scrappy MR borders, but I have to admit that I liked the clean lines in the original pattern.  Still, I'm not displeased with it.

I got carried away cutting 3-inch squares for the border, but they were perfect to widen the back just enough.  I like the effect.

I echo quilted the hexagon shapes throughout.  And I didn't realize until I took the photo that I forgot to remove my water soluble pen markings.  I need to do that.  Please pretend they aren't there, OK?

Voila!

13 in 2013 - March Goal {and a Recap}

I am feeling pretty good that I managed one completed quilt so far this year (not counting Swoon) - the first from my list of 13 finishes in 2013.  But apparently I'm too late to enter it in the contest for A Lovely Year of Finishes on Flickr.  Oops.  Oh, well.  The finished quilt should be reward enough, shouldn't it.

My Jelly Roll Race is my goal for March.  It is about half quilted, so it should be a do-able goal for the month.  Now that I am a victim of the economy and not working I have a lot more time to finish projects.

I'm also working on my Madrona Road Challenge quilt.  I recently joined the Emerald Coast Modern Quilt Guild (see this post) and apparently they didn't get their fabric in time to do the national challenge, so our deadline is this Saturday.  I didn't get the fabric Michael Miller distributed, but I had already purchased a FQ bundle from my favorite little fabric shoppe (yup!  Westwood Acres) and so I decided to join in.  The pattern is "Heximetry" from Ali Winston (a2w) and Ali originally made it as a baby gift for my sweet little grandson Britton.  It's a really fun pattern to make and even the Y-seams aren't that tricky.  I added a scrappy border to make it just a little larger, and it's coming along nicely.  My Madrona Road yardage got here just in time, so quilting on this little guy is
underway.

 And I've got one more row to add to my GMFG, and then the half-flowers for the sides, and I think it will be done.  I'm debating sending it out and having it quilted.  What do you think?

And finally, here's a peek at what I was doing on Saturday.  My Little Apples quilt went on a road trip to the Emerald Coast Quilt Show.  He wasn't made as a show quilt, so I didn't have any expectations, but it was fun to see him hanging there with such beautiful masterpieces.  Sadly, I got there after most of the festivities were over, and they canceled my demos because most everyone had gone home, but it was a nice quilt show.  I enjoyed looking at all the lovely quilts and checking out the various vendors (and I was very proud that I didn't buy anything - it probably helped that I had just gone to A&E before I left for Destin.)

So that's what's been going on in this neck of the woods.

What's on your list?

Be a Hero!

Late in 2011, I was surfing blogland when I discovered that Val of Pink Please was doing a Heroes quilt to raise money for cancer research.  She raised $1000 with her quilt.  I think that's fantastic!

At the time, two of my co-workers had just been diagnosed with cancer, so I offered to make a couple of blocks. My friend Chris lost his battle with pancreatic cancer last January at the age of 46.  My friend Jeannie, only 29, just celebrated one year since her last cancer treatment a couple of weeks ago.  This disease sure hits close to home sometimes. 

This year, Val is doing a wonky circles quilt.  I think these blocks are so fun.  They waste a ton of fabric, but they're really fun to make.  I hope I can find a use for the scraps.

Val asked that we use solids, and I don't have a ton of solids in my stash - hardly any, in fact, except the yellow for the GMFG quilt "fences" and a bolt of Kona white that I bought for the Swoon quilt.  Ironically, I won one of the door prizes at the very first meeting I attended of the Emerald Coast MQG, and it was 6 FQ solids!  Isn't that just a bit of serendipity?  Love it!

I had a little trouble at first getting them wonky - can you tell?  Yup, I made the yellow one first.  The bottom three rings are almost perfect - and they were cut freehand.  Most times I can't do that well with a template!

I did a little better at wonkiness with the second one.  I have to work to be wonky.  LOL.

So, these blocks are for anyone who might be struggling with cancer, but this year, especially Devie and Renee, and the doctors who are treating them.

If you would like to make a block for Val's 2013 Heroes Quilt, visit Val's Pink Please blog or join the Flickr group.  There's an easy tutorial and the blocks really are a lot of fun.  Do it for someone you know that's fighting this ugly disease.

God bless.

Friendship Bag Swap

Well, my resolution to ease up some on my swapping barely lasted a month, but this one was just too good to pass up.  This was an easy little project filled with fun goodies for my partner.

It started with an adorable little quilted gift bag made from Rachel's tutorial (of psiquilt fame).  And isn't it so much more fun and environmentally friendly than those cheap paper ones you buy at the dollar store?

For the outside, i used strips from that same FE bundle of Bonnie & Camille's Ruby that BD#1 got me at Sample Spree a couple of years ago - yup the same one that I made the Simple Merry Christmas Quilt and the Love Pillow from.  It's really amazing how far a FE bundle will go!  I used a scrap of texty print from the Waterfall pillow as the base.

My partner said she liked texty fabric, so I lined it with a texty print in the same colors as the outside.

And then the fun began....

I started filling it up.  I had the best time!  I hope there's something in there that will make my partner feel special.

Because that's what friends are for.

HR FQ Giveaway - A Winner (and a Loser)

I have to apologize for the tardiness of this post.  I had promised that I would pick a winner on Sunday, but the prsd4tim2 household was taking turns feeling a little (lot) under-the-weather yesterday and it just didn't happen.

I really enjoyed reading everyone's comments about what makes the perfect tote bag.  Everyone seems to agree that pockets are the Number One Thing, followed by straps, and then other random and/or innovative details.  I will be doing an update of my 1-Hour FQ Tote on Leona's blog in two or three weeks, and I plan to incorporate many of your suggestions, so thank you all for your input.

By the way, if you like Tula Pink, Leona is giving away some OOP fabric this week.  When you finish here, why not hop on over and enter her bloggy giveaway???

And now, it's time to pick a winner of the super fun Heather Ross Crafty Chloe fabrics...

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 96 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Well, I never have figured out how to get the little widget thingy to work, but this was my first pick.  And wouldn't you know, #96 is Debbie, who is a no-reply blogger, isn't a follower, and didn't leave an email address.  Thanks for stopping by, Debbie, but you may want to adjust your email and privacy preferences, or leave an email addy in your comment.  I'm sorry I can't give you this yummy fabric because I don't have a way to contact you.

So, as promised, I'm off to pick another winner...

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 70 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And #70 is Jessica, of the Quilty Habit blog.  I'm so excited I actually have a winner!  Yay!

#70

Jessica February 18, 2013 at 8:09 PM

I think the perfect tote bag needs a pocket somewhere!

And Jessica seems to echo everyone's first choice in tote bag perfection.

So thank you to everyone who entered.  I'm off to email Jessica now.

Be sure you stay tuned - I'll let you know when the Tote Bag Perfection post will appear on Leona's blog.

 

Last Day - Heather Ross FQ Giveaway

Today is the last day of the Heather Ross FQ Giveaway!  But don't enter on this post - be sure to go here and follow the instructions to enter. 

I have really enjoyed reading all the comments about what makes a fabulous tote bag.  I'll be incorporating many of them into my guest post on Leona's blog in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, head on over to the giveaway post and enter.  You never know  - it may be your turn to win!

13 in 2013 - First Finish!

Note:  If you are looking for the Heather Ross Giveaway, go here!
 I just finished the first quilt on my list of 13 finishes in 2013, and I'm feeling pretty "chuffed" as my British friend says. 

This finished quilt top has been sitting in the WIP pile since last spring, so I'm glad to get it on its way.

I haven't had the opportunity to take much in the way of photos yet, because the weather hasn't exactly been conducive to outside photos - or it's been dark when I got home, but I hope to do that this weekend.

I also got my Jelly Roll Race quilt about 1/3 quilted, so it's feeling like I'm really making progress.  Hope to get the quilting done, at least, this weekend (along with a list a mile long!)

And I'm making progress on the Grandmother's Flower Garden.  I'm beginning to think I may actually finish this one!  So excited.  It's going faster than I ever dreamed it would.

All three of these quilts were on the 13 in 2013 list, so just maybe I'll get at least some of the list crossed off.

Doesn't that feel good?

Happy stitching!