A little bunny told me

That spring has finally sprung!

This little bunny is from Melly and Me’s pattern called “baby bunnies.”  You can purchase the pdf pattern here.  He also told me he wished I had stuffed his feet a little better.  In my defense he is the first stuffed toy I’ve made.  My next one will be better, promise!  I already got my hemostats ready to professionally stuff the next one’s extremities.  And if you don’t know what hemostats are, they are very technical tools for stuffing homemade toys.

No matter, my daughter loves him and has carried him everywhere with her since I made him a few days ago.

And this little bunny also told me that it’s time to have a giveaway in celebration of spring.  Earlier this year I picked up a few charm packs for a giveaway…Hello Petal and Daydreams.  And then this past weekend I found some great designer brand fabric in the fat quarter bin at my local Joann’s…two Timeless Treasures nature prints and one Rashida Coleman-Hale Washi print.

One winner takes all!  In your comment tell me what project you are working on now.  I’ll pick a winner on the 17th and international entries are welcome.  Good luck! 

Southern Fabrics

It’s already January 22nd!  Have you finished your bee blocks yet?  Started them yet?  Thought of what fabrics you want to use?  I have a lot of bee block commitments this month and am happy to say I’m about halfway done.

The Make It Modern Quilting Bee is thrilled to have Southern Fabrics as one of our monthly sponsors!  Southern Fabrics sells on both their own website and Etsy. 

A few months ago I needed to round out my stash with some colors that were lacking, and just by chance I found Southern Fabrics on Etsy.  They have many different fabric scrap packs available—I was really pleased with how many strips were included in each of the packs I purchased!

I’d love to get this V and Co Simply Color Scrap Pack.

Of course Southern Fabrics also carries tons of charms packs, jelly rolls, and layer cakes, and has an amazing selection of fat quarter bundles and yardage.  One of the nice things about this shop is the daily deal.  You can score a charm pack or jelly roll for way below the retail price!  Like their Facebook Page to see the current giveaway and (if available) a coupon code. 

Thanks to Southern Fabrics for sponsoring our Make It Modern Quilting Bee!!!  This month Kelie and I will randomly pick a winner from all the people who posts a pic of their blocks by the last day of the month (which happens to be a short 2 Thursdays away).  The winner this January will have her choice of any charm pack at Southern Fabrics.  So get those blocks done, photographed, and in the mail to be in the running!

Finish It Up Friday

I just started a new project a few nights ago and already have the top almost finished!

My husband and kids helped me lay out all the blocks last night.  It was truly a family affair which was kind of fun.  It was also interesting to hear my husband talking about what he likes in quilts.  Turns out, it’s a lot like what he likes in ties, which is not really my style.  I also took photos of how I keep my layout straight in my mind.

I put a tiny post-it on the left-most block in the row.  Then I stack them all from left to right and pin the post-it through all the layers.

Then I can transport and store all the blocks in my sewing room without the fear that my kids will trample them and mix up the order.  One thing I have not figured out, though, is how to chain stitch in order.  My brain just cannot do it.  In fact, although I *always* stack from left to right, I still write “L-R”  on the sticky note just to keep my brain straight and avoid any panic attacks!

I also thought I’d share one of my bee blocks for September.  I am glad that month is over.  Both bee blocks I had to make were paper-pieced which is not my favorite.  Bea really liked this design, so maybe a similar quilt is in my future, but these blocks that use strips seem to use twice as much fabric as the finished product which kind of aggravates me, although they are pretty.

On a totally unrelated note, my kids are really into these Bizu bracelets.  Have your daughters seen them at school yet?  My daughter is in first grade and all the kids seem to have them.

Linking up to Finish It Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts.  I am off to get some exercise on this beautiful day.  I have lost over 30 pounds since May.

Have a wonderful day!

Harvest Hills

I absolutely HEART Sandy Gervais!  I have  hoarded collected many of her fall fabric  lines—Fall Back in Time, Pumpkins Gone Wild, and Awesome--and Grand Finale is no exception.  I bought two charm packs this past summer, and when I found out I’d be hosting Thanksgiving this year, got them out and got busy!

With three little ones at every meal, tablecloths are definitely out.  I wanted to make something a little fancier and more substantial than a tablerunner, so I came up with the idea of making a largish table topper that could be used for the Thanksgiving meal.  In fact, I added Insul-Bright to the batting to make it heat resistant, so many of the fixins can be served straight to the table.

After making the quilt sandwich, I asked my husband if I should do straight line or squiggle quilting.  He opted for squiggles.  I am kind of glad he did.  Sometimes I don’t have the self-control patience to keep my lines evenly spaced and neat.  Now that my squiggles are getting better, I prefer free motion quilting to straight lines.  I used green thread and love how it really “pops” against the purple. 

The Insul-Bright makes the quilt sandwich a tad thicker than  just the Warm & White, so I increased my binding from 2.5 inches to 2.75 inches.  That little increase seemed to work perfectly for machine binding.  All in all, this tabletopper required almost 2 charm packs, 1 yard for backing, and 1/4 yard for binding.