Design your own fat quarter bundle for a chance to win it!

The image above is "Summer in Grandma's Orchard", my fat quarter bundle entry* for the giveaway over at The Fabric Shopper Blog.

Melanie, Fabric Shopper extraordinaire, is hosting a giveaway courtesy of Whipstitch Fabrics.

Here's how it works: you design your own fat quarter bundle of 12 or less from the Whipstich inventory, then post it on the Fabric Shopper Blog for a chance to win it!

She's got other chances for entries as well. You should check it out!

*My selection "Summer in Grandma's Orchard" includes: (shown above, left to right)
1 Metro Market apples in aqua, from Monaluna
2 Kona cotton solids, petal pink
3 Apples and Pears in blue, from Alexander Henry
4 Alexander Henry Granville in pink
5 Kona cotton solids, grass green
6 Kona cotton solids, lemon
7 Carolina Gingham in pink, from Robert Kaufman
8 Fortune in sun, from Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks
9 Carolina Gingham from Robert Kaufman in Apple Green
10 Sandi Henderson Farmer's Market Apple Dot in Spring, Michael Miller cotton fabric
11 Bird Seed in yellow, from Alexander Henry
12 Metro Market Chickens in summer, from Monaluna for Robert Kaufman

Hello Betty Quilt Layout

I laid out my blocks yesterday evening and photographed them. I ended up adding a bit of a pattern of order to the quilt because so many of the prints are a bit chaotic. I will be switching the closest block in the right corner (row 4, place 1), with that in the opposite corner (row 1, place 6).

My blocks are finished!

Here are my eight block strips before I cut them into 11.5" squares.

I now have 24 11.5" blocks. Some of these blocks are a stack of 2 or 3 of the same. There's just not enough room in my sewing room to lay them all out. I'll have to clear a space on the dining room floor tomorrow to arrange them. More pics soon!

More fun with fabric!

I decided to buy 4 more pieces of fabric, 1/4 yard each, in order to stretch my jelly roll a bit further.

I dropped by Piece by Piece here in Eugene, hoping they'd have some matching colors or even Hello Betty.


She didn't have any Hello Betty, but I found a ton of great fabrics and narrowed it down the the four on the left. I was too busy drooling over the selection to remember to write down the designers of these 4 fabrics. I do know, however, that the one on top is from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern collection.


Here they are all sliced up!

Strip teaser!

Ok, so I got the jelly roll fabric for my Quilt-Along yesterday. Check out the group at the Red Barn 2009 Quilt-Along Flickr page. Here are my strips laid out:


I really need to try to take pics during daylight hours. Otherwise they turn out like what you see on the right. *sigh*

I'm not sure that this will be enough fabric.

I ordered this jelly roll at the same time:

I'm not sure how well they'll coordinate. I have some more quilting fabric on the way, but it won't get here until next Wednesday. Plus, I plan to put a bunch of it in my etsy shop to generate some business.

Speaking of etsy, I just posted some ribbon in my shop. Check it out! www.sanourra.etsy.com.

Awww!

Shown above:
The new banner for my etsy shop that my husband surprised me with yesterday. How sweet! I had been working on something the evening before, but hadn't yet arrived at anything compelling.

He has spent a little more time lately with photoshop, so he thought he'd give it a shot. He arranged a few of my fabrics, photographed them, tweaked the photo, then played around with the text until he arrived at the outline of the text shown. I asked that he add the layer of black text for legibility.

My Word

I saw this and decided I needed to know today, right now, exactly what MY word is. :)

Your Word is "Think"

You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations. And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in. You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now. When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced.

What's Your Word?

Crafting happiness, every day

I read something this morning that struck me as something I should hold onto, as well as pass on to others. It's a list of things that tend to circle around inside most peoples' minds and keep them from being happy or successful.



It reminded me that happiness is such a fleeting emotion. It is found moment by moment, and often only if you're looking for it. You can choose to craft those moments that make you happy. Perhaps that's the secret to a successful life as a happy person.

Haleakala Sunrise and Visitor's Center by Megan Harris, 2007

Learning to Quilt

I just joined this Quilt-Along at Old Red Barn Co. I've done some piecing, and smaller patchwork projects, but no quilts so far. There is a prize associated, a Janome 6600P sewing machine. This thing makes me drool.

Thanks to Mare for finding the tutorial and contest! Unfortunately, it's already on week 3. Can I do it? I think I can!

To save myself a bit of time and to be able to catch up, I just ordered this jelly roll. I've had my eye on this fabric for awhile, and it sure helps that it's now on sale! I think it should turn out quite nicely.

DIY Sandals

Lookee what I found!

Check out this tutorial at M&J Trimming to make fabulous fringed and feathered sandals!