Blogger's Quilt Festival: Entry 2

Post #2 today:  I'm entering another quilt into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, over at Amy's Creative Side!  Head on over there and check out all the amazing-ness!

I decided to enter my bee quilt from March (the awesome gals of the Believe Circle of do.good.stitches helped out on this one), into the Quilt Photography Category.  I know what you're thinking:  Why not the Group or Bee quilt category?  Well, I've had so many comments and compliments on IG, Flickr and Facebook regarding how the quilt is photographed, that I figured I'd take a shot!  I got lucky on the photo:  a quick morning shot of the quilt on my glider on my back patio with my little o' Iphone!  

March quilt for Believe Circle of do.good.stitches

The story of this quilt:  This is the March 2013 quilt for the Believe Circle of do.good.stitches.  I asked my beemates to make Wonky Crosses in colors of blue, green, gray, yellow and orange.  I assembled the blocks, quilted it and bound it.  This was my very first foray into free motion quilting! Lots of fun, for sure, but not the prettiest job.  But, good news is that once it was washed, the imperfections were far less noticeable.  

Quilt Stats:

Size:  48" x48"
Fabrics:  Stash from the Believe Circle of do.good.stitches in orange, green, blue, gray, yellow
Block:  Wonky Crosses by Elizabeth Hartmon
Quilting:  FMQ by me
Recipient:  My Very Own Blanket

So, there it is!  My entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I also have my Churn & Dash baby quilt entered too, so go check that out!

Enjoy all the eye candy and I hope you get inspired to make some awesomeness!

Cheers-
Nicole

Churn Dash Finish and Blogger's Quilt Festival

I finished up the Churn & Dash baby quilt for my cousin's new baby.  He is supposed to enter this world next weekend, so I wanted to finish this project up before his birth!  And, as luck would have it, Amy, from Amy's Creative Side, is hosting her Fall edition of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I am going to enter this quilt under the Baby Quilt category.  This will be my first ever entry into anything quilt related.

Henderson's Churn & Dash Quilt

The story of this quilt:  My cousin, Ken and his wife, Jennifer, are expecting their first child in early November.  This will be the 4th great grandchild (my sister has the first 3, and the youngest of those is 6), so we are all super excited about having another baby around.  Ken,(the soon-to-be father), was definitely one of my grandfather's faves (tho my grandfather would say he had no favorites). My grandfather would be so excited and proud to know that the Swift name will be carried on.  My grandfather passed last summer, at the age of 99.  He was a farmer and raised horses, so the farm theme of Madrona Road is perfect for my family's history and heritage.

I have been hoarding my collection of Madrona Road for a while now, just waiting on the perfect project.  The quilt design is one that I have had sketched out for a while, and I thought the Madrona Road fabric was just perfect for this project; but I needed a reason to start a new quilt (you know, 'cause I've got a TON of wips!).  When I found out that Jennifer was preggers, I had my excuse!

I am over the moon about how this finished up!  I think I'm going to make one for me in the pink colorway of Madrona Road.  The churn dashes vary in size from 3" to 12".  I ended up doing dogwood/orange peel free motion quilting.  I am still learning FMQ, so it's not perfect, but I am so pleased with the outcome.

Another front shot

Pieced Back with leftover blocks

Front details!  Love the Donkey!

Back details:  leftover 6" blocks and fabric
remnant for signature

Quilt Stats:

Size:  48" x 56"
Blocks:  Churn Dash, 3", 6", 9" and 12"
Layout and Design:  By me
Fabric:  Madrona Road, blue colorway
Quilted:  Free Motion Dogwoods, by moi

Pretty stacked

So, if you'd like, head on over to Amy's blog and vote for your favorite quilt.  There are lots of categories!  I love this online festival; there is so much good work!  I hope you get inspired to create!

Cheers-
Nicole

Thursday Threads

I've have finished the quilt top for my cousin's upcoming baby!  And the back too.  Now I have to put it together.  

I pieced this and finished up the layout at the Mother-Daughter Sew Down, which I blogged about here.  But it wasn't until last night that I finished sewing it all together.  I changed the arrangement slightly, but I'm very happy with the results.

Henderson's Churn & Dash quilt top

Love the tiny churn dash!

And the truck and donkey

I hope to have this finished up by next week; the baby is due in early November!

I'm linking up to Thursday Threads!

A Little Mother-Daughter Sewing

I am back from a wonderful weekend of Mother-Daugher sewing!  I went to the Ponderosa Quilt and Sew Retreat this weekend with some of my buds from Sew South and their moms.  We had an amazing time! 

Ponderosa (photo by Lee Monroe)

Here's the back story:  My mom and I both went to Sew South this year, and we met Chrissy (Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts) and Lee (May Chappell).  Both of their mom's sew. Awesome!  So, Chrissy thought it would be amaze-balls to have a weekend of sewing with our moms.  She got the ball rolling and we made it happen this past weekend. The place we stayed is owned by the Moda rep that Sew Lux buys from, Kim, and she is awesome.  Her center is huge, has plenty of room for sewing, laying out, ironing, whatever.  And talk about tools:  we were like kids in a candy store.  She had every ruler know to man, plus more.  I got to try the Go! Baby AccuQuilt for the first time.  So awesome!  She has a ton of dies, so that was fun.  

The retreat has great beds, a fantastic kitchen and it's just outside of Asheville (in Waynesville).  Super easy to get to.  The weekend was so fun and so productive!

Look at all the books!  (photo by Chrissy Lux)

The kitchen

Lee finished, 2, count 'em, 2, quilt tops from her awesome new Lazy Sunday quilt pattern.  You can get it as a kit through Sew Lux in both Sweet Serenade and High Street. See Lee's quilt tops below.

Lazy Sunday quilt pattern by Lee Monroe (photo by Lee Monroe)

Two finished quilt tops (Sweet Serenade-left, High Street-right; photo by Lee Monroe)

Ann, Lee's mom, finished up a awesome Lazy Sunday quilt top made from Sweetwater's new Road 15 line.  Sew Lux sells this too!

Road 15 quilt top in progress (Lazy Sunday pattern-photo by Lee Monroe)

Amanda turned out some awesomeness:  a wall hanging, mini quilt and quilt top!  They looked amazing!  Sew Lux sells the mini quilt as a kit.  So great for Halloween!

Amanda's quilt top (photo by Chrissy Lux)

Beverly (Amanda's mom) make a cute apron and make her very first quilt block.  She's hooked now.

Linda (Chrissy's mom) brought several UFOs.  She finished 3!  

Chrissy finished a Super Tote in Kate Spain's new Sunnyside line!  They have it in the shop!

Chrissy's tote! (photo by Chrissy Lux)

Vickie (my mom) brought a mug rug kit to make (available at Sew Lux) and a cute fabric bucket to make.  She cranked out both of these!  

I finished making the blocks for my cousin's baby quilt.  I even got most of the piecing done!

Churn Dash quilt in progress (prior to piecing)

We all had such a fun time that we've planned another one for early 2014!  It was great to connect with my mom and get to know my friends' moms too!  I can hardly wait for the next one!

Happy stitching!
Nicole