Romance Garden Fabric Blog Hop

Sherry @ Powered by Quilting is hosting a blog hop for her new signature Island Batik fabric line -- Romance Garden.  This is a great collection of pink, green, and purple fabrics.

I made a baby quilt (48 x 48 inches) using a modified rail fence pattern to showcase the great prints.

The colours are vibrant and bright.

Head over to Sherry's blog post to enter the giveaway and to see all the bloggers participating in the blog hop.

I keep the quilting simple -- an all-over loop motif using light green thread.

TGIFF - Nova Scotia Sea

Welcome to this week's edition of Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday.  TGIFF is the opportunity to share your finish from this week.  You can find out who is hosting each week by heading over to the TGIFF blog.

My finish this week is a quilt top I finished in December 2021.  I made the Storm at Sea pattern using a signature fabric line by Sherry @ Powered by Quilting -- Calm Lagoon from Island Batik.

As this quilt will be hanging in a concurrent quilt show at Quilt Canada 2023 being held in my city next week, I have named it Nova Scotia Sea.  Naming quilts is hard, but this one was easy.

Quilts for the show had to be delivered to my friend Brenda so I took advantage of a photo shoot at her house as she has many canoes on her property.

I quilted wavy organic lines using a blue variegated thread by Connecting Threads.  The batting is Hobbs Heirloom Premium 80/20.

I'm hoping this will give me some motivation to finish up my ever-growing pile of quilt tops.

It's time for you to link up your finishes from this week.  We encourage you to visit a few of the link ups to get some inspiration and to share some quilty love. ♥

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

WIP Wednesday - Block Printing

I have participated in a few virtual block printing workshops with Marni @ Haberdashery Fun.  The workshops are fun and informative.  I may be addicted to yet another craft........

We learned to make our own printing templates using Speedball speedy carve.  But I wondered if I could use stamps I had used for card making.  I printed some daisies with blue centres and made a Lined Drawstring Bag.  I love this pattern, and it's worth purchasing the pattern to get the additional sizes.

I then pulled out my Girl Guide Trefoil stamp (sadly not the current logo) and made an Open Wide Zippered Pouch.  This is my favourite zippered pouch pattern.

So what to put in this pouch?  Girl Guide crests of course!  I am so far behind sewing crests on my camp blankets.  These are few crests from the top of the pile currently in my bedroom.  I decline to comment on how many crests that need to be sewn on, or how many various places I have them stashed.  😉  If you have a good eye, you'll see my personal woven patch when I was Area Commissioner.

Now that my time is not consumed with dealing with the basement flood I had four week ago, I have time to sew.  And it feels good!

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter

Love and Kisses Blog Hop

I'll be participating in a blog hop in December to showcase the new fabric collection by Sherry @ Powered by Quilting.  The collection is called Love and Kisses and is created by Island Batik.

Here is a sneak peek of what I'm creating.

I borrowed this photo from Maryellen McAuliffe -- her photo was so much better than mine.  😊

Photo by Maryellen McAuliffe

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more sneak peeks and the blog hop schedule.  Make sure to follow Sherry on her blog and/or Instagram so you don't miss anything.  

2019 Island Batik Ambassador

So this happened...I'm a 2019 Island Batik Ambassador.  When I applied back in December, I had no expectation that I'd actually be chosen.  I'm both excited and nervous.

A few weeks ago, two boxes were delivered to me.

One box was full of fabric and batting, including a Surprise package that I can't share until August.

Thanks to Island Batik and sponsors Hobbs Batting and Aurifil for all the wonderful goodies.

Here's a peek at two of the fabrics I received.  I'll share more of the fabrics over the coming months.  Each month, the Ambassadors will have a specific challenge to create something.  February's theme is Magnificent Minis.

The second box was a huge surprise...a GO! cutter from Accuquilt.  So very exciting!  We also received dies and a pattern book.  Thanks Accuquilt!!

I hope you'll join me this year on my journey as an Island Batik Ambassador.  Let the creativity begin!

Yin and Yang Blocks

It's Day 4 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.

Back in June, I won some Art Gallery fabric on Twitter.  It was a black and white collection of fat quarters called "Yin and Yang."

I made a decision to use a tutorial by Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation -- called 2-4-6.  Kelly was gracious enough to figure out the math so I could maximize the fat quarters.  I had mentioned that I was going to modify her dimensions, and before I could do the math, she had done it for me.

I began sewing at our August guild sew in.  Chain piecing is a good choice for sew ins because I often get sidetracked socializing.  😊

Now to find some time to lay out all the blocks and get them pieced together.

My goal is to make it to seven days in a row for this challenge.  And then I'll strive for another seven days, and hopefully, I'll make it the full 31 days.

OMG Success - Stellar Stars

My May goal for One Monthly Goal was to finish the January and February blocks for the Stellar Stars 2018 Block of the Month by Cristy @ Purple Daisies Quilting.

✔ Done.  I even finished two of the March blocks.

This is Limelight -- a 12.5-inch block from January.  January's fabrics were red and pink.

As well as a 6.5-inch Ohio Star.

February's fabrics were orange and red.  This is Friends Forever -- another 12.5-inch block.

And another 6.5-inch Ohio Star.

Yellow fabrics made an appearance in March.  Another 12.5-inch block -- Fire Flower.

And...another 6.5-inch Ohio Star.

I gave up on the third block for March -- was having some difficulties with the applique.  I'll try again -- think I need to re-start and not try to fix what I have.

I received my May fabric today.  I think next month's OMG will be the April and May blocks.

If you need some encouragement to finish projects, head over to Patty @ Elm Street Quilts to learn more about the One Monthly Goal.  Did I mention there are prizes to be won!

NOTE:  I'm not receiving e-mail notifications of your comments on my blog.  This is an issue with Blogger.  I can't easily reply to your comments, so don't take it personally if I'm delayed in responding.

OMG May - Stellar Stars 2018 BOM

Back in December, I won an Instagram contest.  And boy did I win.  Not only did I win the pattern for the Stellar Stars 2018 Block of the Month by Cristy @ Purple Daisies Quilting, I also won the monthly fabric and thread collections.

These are beautiful hand-dyed fabrics.  This is January's collection.

Sadly, I've only managed to make one of the January blocks -- Ohio Star.

This is February's collection.

I can't wait to break into March's collection to get my hands on those oranges.

Loving the yellow and gray for April.

I don't think I'll be able to fully catch up this month (there are two blocks each month), but my goal will be to do the January and February blocks...with a hope to do more.

If you need some encouragement to finish projects, head over to Patty @ Elm Street Quilts to learn more about the One Monthly Goal -- there are prizes to be won!

The Great Quilting Adventure (and a Giveaway)

I can't believe I haven't shared my great quilting adventure with you.  Two weeks ago, my friend Dena @ No Frickin' Blog Yet and I left home at 4:00 a.m. to drive five hours to buy fabric, not including the 1.5 hours Dena had to drive to get to my house.  And buy fabric we did!!  Mardens in Calais, Maine, had a fabric clearance sale -- $2/yard.  Factor in a 5-hour drive each way, the exchange to Canadian funds, paying 15% tax to Canadian Customs, and the sheer craziness of it...it was so worth it.  I ♥ fabric.

Yes, there were some orange purchases.  😊

I may have purchased 65 yards of fabric.  But what makes the story even better...the clerk was generous with her cuts, so I actually received 65 metres of fabric -- 39/40 inches rather than 36 inches.

More orange...no surprise here.

I'm going to be an Auntie again in September, so a little pink.

Tired of looking at fabric yet?  I had two huge bags that were hard to carry because they were so heavy.

The many, many bolts of fabric were so overwhelming.  Dena and I were the only two in the fabric department, but we kept the two clerks busy cutting fabric.  LOL  I picked up some Michael Miller, Henry Glass, Riley Blake, Robert Kaufmann, and RJR Fabrics.

And if that wasn't enough, we stopped at quilt shops in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the way home.  I never need to buy fabric ever again....but we all know that I will.  😊

Part 1 of the great quilting adventure started a few days before -- I bought a used serger.  I've been wanting one, but didn't want to spend a lot of money as I wasn't sure how much I would use it.  Thanks to Brenda for facilitating the sale since she lived closer to the seller.  Here's my new $60 toy.

You'd think that was enough spending and fun for one week....but you might as well go big or stay home.  I got up early the next morning (I couldn't convince Dena to come with me -- we still had a full-day Sew In with our guild) and went to an estate sale and bought a Singer Featherweight 221 for $200.  ♥ ♥ ♥

She's off for a cleaning and tune-up.  I'm looking forward to testing her out.

Unfortunately, she didn't come with a case, but I did get the original feet and manual.

**Giveaway**

I need help naming my Featherweight.  Comment with your suggestions for a chance to win two patterns:  Candy Dish by Jaybird Patterns and Sweetpea Pods by Lazy Girl Designs.  The giveaway will be open until midnight Tuesday, July 11, 2017, and is open internationally.

Time to start washing fabric and making room in my sewing room...where am I going to put all this fabric???