Get your kleenex and get going

How about just the thing for a quiet Sunday morning. Head on over to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and sign up for the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge. The button is on my side bar (shift eyes ever so sightly to the right) or just click on the link above. Read all about it and WATCH the You Tube video- (spoiler alert), if you are anything like me, (beating heart, and breathing), you will need kleenex.

Quilts for Japan

My local guild, Front Range Modern Quilt Guild (Colorado), is participating in Quilts for Japan. I found out that some of the quilting magazines published in Golden, CO have a "sister" relationship with a popular quilting magazine in Japan. I mailed my quilts off on Wednesday. I tried this approach to this gift,  I spoke about this (sending a quilt to Japan to the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami) to both of my children, ages 12 and 16. I asked them to pick, from their quilts one they would like to give and to tell me why they wanted to send that particular quilt to someone in Japan. My son, age 16, chose his favorite baby quilt. Pale blue with a corded binding and colorful balloons floating all over the top. I don't think he actually remembers this quilt from his childhood, but he is a softie for little kids and he thought that it  might make a little one smile. My daughter, age 12, picked a bright colorful flannel quilt (this is the quilt she takes on school trips when she is away from home without her family- I had to stop myself from saying, "are you sure?"). She had heard on the news that it was cold still in Japan and this was the warmest and softest quilt she had. And for myself, I sent the quilt that started it all- my first. All the quilts were washed and dried and lovingly packaged with a note to whomever gets them. I was sniffling when I packed them up, not for their loss, but that both of my children were really thoughtful about their selections. This is what you hope for as a parent right? I would have LOVED to make a few more, but mainly, I REALLY wanted my children to be part of this gift. Enough already!  Here are the pictures of 2 of the 3 quilts we sent. (I have no idea why I do not have a photo of quilt #3- the baby quilt with the colorful balloons, I though I did).

my daughter's selection

My first quilt, and my selection

Finished! (yay)

It's done! Perfect timing. It was sunny and nice outside and while you may think that has absolutely NOTHING to do with sewing it sure helped with taking a good picture (much, much better than my subterranean sewing room). So, partner, I sure hope you like it. You can arrange the leaves however you like and rearrange at whim.  I'm also sending along some fun treats too (they are all part of the theme)! Great Swap, thanks and Happy Spring!!!

Seemed like the garden was the only place to take this picture. 

Top of sewing cover (the sky looking up) and a sweet little bird.

The Sweet is on

Well, I'm nearing the home stretch on the Sewn Spaces Swap and my sewing machine cover is ALMOST done! I posted a sneak peek on the Flickr group site, (since I'm terrible at 20 questions), and I'm enjoying reading all the comments.  Here are some more photos of the cover and it's hidden goodies.

beaded flower centers, embroidery stitching around the flowers and miss lady bug on the positionable 3-D leaves

close-up of the bee (this is the photo I used on the Sewn Spaces Swap)

top of cover, clouds, breeze and a bitty bird

bird in the clouds, "resting" on the breeze, close-up

cover just needs the binding at the bottom

Here is the scoop on the cover and what I was thinking about when I was putting all the pieces together.  I used the same blues all over but staggered them on the front; keeping it simple on the sides and the back. I did some quilting, 1/4 of an inch from the stitch lines in metallic silver thread, on both sides and back (if you squint you can barely make it out). I quilted as I went on the front. There is a lot going on on the front and I wanted to keep that "simple" (ha).  I continued the bees onto both sides and used different bee buttons- I know, I know.  The top was tempting, almost as prominent as the front and since we were in the garden, what I see when I look up is the sky. So, I randomly pieced what I had left from all those lovely blue strips, added some fluffy clouds, some edge stitching, some metallic silver paint (the proverbial silver lining, no?), embroidery "breeze", and a bird. I kept the grass only on the front although I tell you I was tempted to go all the way around.

As you can see from the bottom photo, all I need is the binding.  Now, here is what I would like to know. Would you fiddle with the binding, making the front green and the sides and back blue? or would you go with the same binding all the way around and if you would keep it all the same color,  what color would you use? I'll leave the binding up to all of you, so go ahead and tell me what you think. 

Go here and win!

The Stylish Blogger awards have been propagated and have grown into beautiful things. Go visit Cassey at Domesticass and enter her give away. You should, it's really good!

April's showers bring.....

Stylish Blogger awards, (blushing), gosh, really! I'd like to thank my sewing and blogging friends for this award. Leanne, especially, at She Can Quilt for bestowing this award and Kelly at blue bird sews. Thank you, really, total surprise, my competition was fierce. I will cherish it, and hopefully keep up the good work. My award does come with some "duties", of which I am more than happy to fulfill. I must bestow the award on 6 other bloggers, a little like doing a good deed and having someone pay-it-forward. Should be how things work anyway- world would be a much nicer place, if I do say so myself. So, (drum roll please), the next six recipients of the Stylish Blogger award go to (in no particular order):
1. Kiera at It's Sew kiki
2.Cassey at Domesticass
3.Mary at Fairly Merry
4.Wendi at prsd4tim2
5. Anna at Sewing through the muck
6. Laura at Creations on the Island
Congratulations! you deserve it. Now, your duties, as recipient of the Stylish Blogger award, each of you lucky people need to thank the person who gave you this award, (that would be me), and link back to my blog on your blog. Then you need to find 6 newer bloggers to pass this award onto. Like passing on a big blog hug. Then, so that we know more about you, you need to share 7 things about yourself in your blog post.  I would like to add one more "duty", go ahead and follow the person who gave you the award. If you look, I follow you!
Here goes, I just got back from a fabulous vacation to the Island of Maui, Hawaii. The weather was lovely and we did lots of fun things (snorkeling, biking, hiking, playing in the warm water, eating great food, visiting friends). While there, I made a trip to the Maui Quilt Shop, which just happened to be across the parking lot from the Post Office. I only travel in carry on luggage, so the quilt store purchases went into one of those nifty flat rate boxes. I'm waiting for it to arrive in Colorado. Let's see, a few other things. I love to read but I didn't bring a book on this trip. I did this instead, made hexi's, LOTS and LOTS of them. I have to iron these and get going on some little projects, like mug rugs. 

I have 2 mug rugs to make and a sewing machine cover for a secret swapper to finish. We are supposed to leave little hints for our secret swappers, I have discovered that I am not very good at this. I read what others have posted and just sigh. I have not neglected finding out things about my swapper however. I read her answers to others questions. I visited her blog, but alas, I'm not that good at 20 questions, or in my case, even 5 questions. Oh, well. Congratulations to all the new recipients of the stylish blogger awards!  (ps: you can cut and paste the Stylish Blogger Award photo for your blog). Have fun with that!

a low calorie addiction

I've been avoiding these. Mainly because I knew if I started I might not be able to stop. I searched around and found some great directions and printed up some hexi paper and then I was hooked. As a disclaimer, I do not like cutting out all those paper hexagons. But once that is done, OHHHHH!  I have found a new thing to do in the car while waiting for school pick up, tennis lessons, violin lessons etc., etc. I might actually be able to turn those endless hours into something beautiful. Perhaps I secretly wish I had know about these sooner- perhaps not. To top it off, concurrent with the hexi's,  I stumbled upon an addition that's taking over the on line sewing/crafting/quilting world- I mentioned this is a previous blog...... mug rugs. I've made one, have one minus the binding done and 2 tops without their batting, backing and binding. I'll show you what I've done so far and you can decide....... if you get the mug rug madness click on the mug rug swap on my side bar and sign up.

hexi's and the front of my almost finished mug rug

back of the mug rug

I've been busy, you?????

That about says it all. BUSY!!!! A couple of bee's, a mug rug swap, quilts for Japan, the Robert Kaufman solids challenge,  and my  Flickr sewn spaces project- a sewing machine cover for my secret swapper. I know who they are but they don't know who I am. So, as a tease, I'm posting a few pictures of my work in progress. Perhaps my partner will see them and and leave a comment.... you never know, she may be busy too!

pieced front

adding the flowers, they are pieced too

grass at the bottom, 3-D leaves, flowers

I still have to make 2 sides, the top and the back.  Then sew them all together, put a nice binding on the bottom and take a deep breath. I REALLY hope she likes this........ and I'm linking this up at Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory just go and click on their button on my side bar.