Sneaky Peeky June 29, 2010

A little sneaky peaky at my Echino Turning Twenty quilt!

I’m just finishing it up by hand stitching the Kona Raisin binding…

and enjoying every moment of it.

This has to be my most FAVORITE part of the whole quilt process!

I can RELAX, watch a movie, and NOT feel guilty because I am actually accomplishing something ~ tee hee ;0)

Isn’t the long arm quilting by Barbara from Alewives Fabrics BEAUTIFUL???

Happy quilting,
Colette

Who Knew? June 28, 2010

Who knew that old Scrabble game my MIL gave us from when my Hubby was younger would come in so handy?

We LOVE Scrabble here at our house

and since Santa brought us a super fancy deluxe Scrabble game a couple of years ago

we really didn’t need the old game she gave us

so I was HAPPY to put the tiles to such a BEAUTIFUL use!

I am feeling very sentimental about wearing one of these tiles around my neck ;0)

R. and I had such a fun time making these…

she actually made the brown one on the right pretty much by herself!!!

This lovely one in the box is on its way to California for my Mum’s birthday ;0)

Do ya wanna know how we made them???

Kirsten at Three Dancing Magpies has a super great tutorial HERE

as well as DIY kits (including the beautiful Japanese papers) HERE.

But if you are one of my really good friends you won’t need to make one for yourself (hint hint!)

as these make FABULOUS birthday gifts =0)

Happy crafting,

Colette

Its Official! June 27, 2010

I am no longer a quilt class “dropout” because this time I’ve GRADUATED!!!

Rhea from Alewives fabrics (here) taught a “Virtual Turning Twenty Class”(of course I HAD to take it)

and this quilt I made for my Father was completed by me from start to finish

including the machine quilting and the binding!

Eeek!  I feel so legit now…like a REAL quilter ;0)

This is actually the second Turning Twenty Quilt I made using Rhea’s on line class tutorial,

but the first (here) I sent to her shop to be quilted and I have yet to add the binding…

hope to complete that this week!

Pappy this will be coming to you soon with LOTS of love from all of us!

Just as soon as I finish stitching my label made from this tutorial over at p.s. i quilt HERE.

Happy quilting,

Colette

this moment June 25, 2010

Look what showed up at our house???

A wild cat and her FIVE sweet kittens on our deck!

We’ll be fostering the kittens for the next couple of weeks while we try to find them homes…

and I think we might have to KEEP one ourselves!

Have a lovely weekend =0)

A Bit of Binding June 24, 2010

How silly was I to be so worried about binding my first quilt?

I honestly did NOT think I would like hand stitching the binding…but I LOVE it!!!

Its very ZEN!

At this rate (it is QUITE addicting) I shall be finished binding Pappy’s quilt by tomorrow ;0)

And then I can tackle binding my Echino queen sized quilt (I just wish it wasn’t so darn hot!)

Happy sewing,

Colette

Queen Bee June 23, 2010

Hooray I am “Queen Bee” for July in the Not Your Grandmas Quilting Bee!

I cut and put together packages with 6″ squares of eight Marylebone from Liberty fabrics

(that I blindly ordered from Sew Mama Sew HERE)

along with a 6″ x fabric width strip of the Kona aqua fabric for each hive member.

I absolutely LOVE these fabrics together with the aqua and can’t wait to see the Flying Geese blocks that I get back!

Now I just have to get to the post office to mail them ;0)

Happy sewing,

Colette

As Promised June 21, 2010

here is my finished pincushion for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap!

I fell in love with this Japanese import fabric and just had to get it for this project.

I stuffed it with Zilla Lizard Litter (really just crushed English walnuts!)

This is actually the backside…aren’t these goats just too CUTE???

And this is the front detail…

I used a variegated Gutermann thread and the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine

(the stitch length was set to .6) to separate the fabric squares.

I used the Petite Gateau pattern from Fig Tree & Co. HERE but opted NOT to make the pinwheel for the top and bottom.

I spent an hour fussy cutting some of my Heather Ross prints only to have them all cut off when I made them into circles =0(

That’s alright though because I LOVE how this one turned out!!!

I hope my partner LOVES it as much as I do ;0)

Happy sewing,

Colette

Pinnies June 19, 2010

So I’ve signed up for another swap…

a Scrappy Pincushion swap!

1. hexie flower garden pin cushion~ by nova!, 2. nancy ann square pincushion, 3. Untitled, 4. pincushion, 5. rose pincushion, front, 6. Hexagon hearts close-up, 7. wildflower pincushions, 8. gnome pincushion, 9. SOOOooo cute!!!, 10. Mushroom pincushion 3 , 11. Polkadot Hedgehogs, 12. quilted pincushions.

Pictured above are the picushions I found on flickr that I adore ~aren’t they LOVELY???

This is a blind swap, meaning you don’t find out who your partner is

until you receive your pincushion in the mail!

I’ve decided I really like these swaps soooo much more than bees,

as it is such fun guessing which one will be yours and there is also much more activity in these groups.

I’m working up a pinnie for my partner and as soon as my Hubby fixes my Adobe Photo Shop issue

I’ll get some photos of it up…soon I hope!

Happy sewing,

Colette

July is all MINE!! June 14, 2010

crazy geese quilt, originally uploaded by a quilt is nice.

All of these bee blocks I have been making will pay of next month…
July is MY month for the Honey Bees (Not Your Grandmas Quilting Bee).

This is my first month hosting and I can’t wait to see

all of the LOVELY blocks that my talented “hive” members will create for me.

I came across the lovely “Crazy Geese Quilt” pictured above from a quilt is nice HERE

a couple of months ago and knew right straight that I wanted one!

How great is it that your hive members get to choose to make a block that inspires them and lets their creativity shine?

I’m just waiting on my fabric to arrive so I can send it out…
and promise to share pics when it does!

Happy quilting,
Colette

Will it be you? June 10, 2010

If its not ME I certainly hope it will be YOU!!

Amy is giving one LUCKY reader a new Go! Cutter…

all you have to do is leave her a comment on her bog post!

I am feelin’ pretty LUCKY…

I’ve had the good fortune to win THREE blog giveaways in the last month

(thank you THANK YOU thank you)!

First I won “Whip Up Mini Quilts” from Fat Quarterly.

Then I won $75 in  supplies (one of the Sew Mama Sew giveaways) at Three Dancing Magpies

BTW also made a new friend with the sweetest gal Kirsten through it!

And to top it off I won TWO Kate Conklin patterns from (a la mode fabric) Heather’s birthday celebration (still going on!!)

I chose Sierra’s Forrest and Charm Bracelet HERE ~ love LOVE love them both!

And I have to say that Kate is also very sweet!

See real people do win these giveaways ;0)

Good luck,

Colette