Charity Quilt

 It has finally stopped raining here along the Gulf Coast and we have had three nice days in a row!  Woo Hoo!  That must mean it is Spring.  This lovely dogwood is in my neighbor's front yard.  I love dogwoods when they are in bloom.

Spring also means it is time for the Opera's annual Ball and silent auction.  For the last several years I have made a quilt and my friend makes a sweater and booties and they are auctioned as a set.    Last year, I made a Whirly Wheels quilt out of Kate Spain Central Park for the event from a pattern I found on Moda Bake Shop.

 The quilt and sweater set made over $100 last year. 

This year, I was looking for an easy pattern, as I didn't have much time.  I had one Hoopla charm pack and a bit of another, along with a bit of yardage.  Luckily, my LQS still has some Hoopla because after I got the quilt made, I didn't have enough fabric to bind it.

Pinwheels are easy.  But apparently not for me.  Thursday night, I must have been more tired than I thought because I sewed the wrong end of every block.  They looked like deformed hourglass blocks.  I actually thought it might be fun to use them, but then the rows didn't go together right and I decided to take it apart - all apart - and go with my original plan.

Once I got the blocks together correctly, the quilt went together very easily.  Even the points match up.

I actually love how bright and cheerful this quilt is.

And I really am a sucker for brights on white.  There's just something so fresh about that combination that gives me chill bumps.  Weird, I know.

Happy spring!

Last Day to Enter for DS Quilts Picnic & Fairgrounds Giveaway

Don't forget that tonight at midnight is the deadline to enter my Week 3 Blogiversary Giveaway for the 7 fat quarters of yummy Denyse Schmidt DS Quilts fabric.  I think it is really beautiful.  BD#1 said that these fabrics are reproductions of flour sacks from the 1930s or 1940s (I forget which), but I believe it because last night I was petting my DS Quilts collection and one of the prints totally reminded me of the curtains my mom had on our kitchen windows when I was really little.  I suppose I'll never really know, but there is kind of a retro feel to these fabrics - in a modern sort of way.

And then she said that our Aussie friends are getting a different selection than these JoAnn's prints.  I looked at the photos in the Flickr group online, and there are a whole bunch of the fabrics that JoAnn's did not pick up, including the green leaves above in red and several more gold prints.  Looking at the Aussie selection (you can see it here) I really wish JAF had picked up the whole line.  Those prints really round out the collection.  Oh well, sometimes one must just be content with the yummy goodness that does come their way!

I'm trying to decide what my last Blogiversary Giveaway item will be...  Suggestions?

Another DS Quilts fat quarter selection of different fabrics?

A Hoopla charm pack and a couple of half yards?

A homemade item of your choice from items seen on this blog?  Hmmm... the last one is intriguing.  Maybe have to limit the selection.  How about choosing between

A sewing apron...

A sewing themed hoop...

A messenger bag...

Or maybe a market tote?

Maybe I would even make the item out of this DS fabric.

So leave your vote in a comment for one of these three blogiversary giveaways:
1) A different selection of Denyse Schmidt Picnic/Fairground fat quarters
2) A Hoopla charm pack and 2 half yards of Hoopla yardage
3) Choosing one of the above items.

Please help me decide!  But you only have one day to leave your comment, because I have to decide by morning.