Been Busy...

...sewing...working...sewing...working!
I cannot believe that it has been two weeks since I last posted.

Spring has arrived and the days seem sew much longer now...

I have been sewing up a storm!

(And practicing my free-motion quilting too!)

First up is a Baby Quilt for my niece...she is having a little girl!

I am stepping outside the box (for me) on this one and going a little modern.

The colors are wonderful and it went together fairly quick.

Now the quilting.  I am really trying to work on that free-motion without feeling stressed!

The straight stitch quilting is 1/2" apart.  The flower is a stencil I traced

and then I am attempting the free-motion following the lines...YIKES!

But honestly I do not think it is looking to bad so I will continue with it.

The outer borders are 5" wide so I will straight stitch the lines 1" apart in that section.

Still having a personal debate about the 2" spacers between the blocks...

leave them alone or quilt the 1/2" rows???

Then I am trying to finish the binding on this stripe table runner to send off to my daughter as a donation for my grandson's school Chinese auction in May.  I need to get this in the mail by Wednesday!

I also started to machine quilt my Crosses Mourning Quilt that I made in January (2012) LOL!

This was the first in the Kathleen Tracy Small Quilt Group QOM Project.

I am trying to finish it up for a display our guild is doing at the local library.

To top this off ~ my daughter called to say that she needed July 4th pillowcases for my grandson.

She couldn't believe that of all the holiday pillowcases I have made for him he doesn't have one Americana pillowcase!  Shame on me...so here they are in progress.

I just need to serge the final 2 seams and they are done!

And that's what I have been up to!
How about you?
Is everyone sewing everyday?  I hope sew!

Happy Sew Year!
Colleen

New England Quilt Festival...

...FANTASTIC!

That's right, last week I attended the NEQF in

Manchester, New Hampshire and had

one fantastic time!!!

The quilts were amazing and the vendors were great.

The classes were AMAZING!

I took two classes on free-motion quilting.

The first was Intro to Domestic Machine Quilting with Scott Murkin.

Scott is full of energy and really wants his students to succeed.
He was well prepared and his instruction was easy to follow.

I machine stitched some designs I never dreamed possible, I mean, they were very clumsy looking for my first time out but I could actually see myself practicing and getting better in time.

The class covered straight-line quilting and free-motion techniques.

Then I participated in a class called Beginner Free-Motion Quilting with Teri Lucas.

Another winner in my book!

Teri was fun and engaging.  She really made the students feel comfortable and able.

Teri talked about selecting the right tools for the process; needles, thread, batting choices, basting options and more.

We practiced straight-line quilting and curves and stippling.  Lots of fun!

I also took a class with Lisa Sipes on Applique in the Hoop.

I am now confident that I can do this kind of embroidery without any problems.

Sorry, there aren't any photos to show.  :(

I did take some photos of the amazing quilts in the show...and I do mean amazing.

The work is exquisite!

If you have never visited this event I highly recommend it for next year!

I must add that attending a show with great friends makes it that much better too!!

Happy Sew Year!
Colleen

And the winners are...

...not so fast!

Just wanted to tell you that

there were 8 entries in total.

And I wanted to thank each of you

for your contributions to charity projects...

whatever one is your charity of choice!!!

A few had trouble commenting on my blog

and others just couldn't see the page.

I wish I knew that answer as to why that happens :(

I don't!  :(

So, the three lucky winners of a book and a pin

as chosen by my very uninterested husband who picked your names out of a bowl are:

Cindy - from an online group I belong to...she cannot comment on my blog for some reason but I know that Cindy is an avid quilter, reader and donates a lot to charities!

Quilter Roz - you can see her comment on the original blog post!  Roz makes quilts for Quilts for Kids which is another fantastic organization.

Sandy - who sent me a message stating that all she could see was a black page with some red dots!  Very strange happenings I must admit.  

Note to Sandy ~ you will have to wait on a copy until I finish reading it okay!?!

So, if you are one of the lucky winners please contact me and I will get the book and pin to you ASAP!

Thanks once again.

I know that quilters are very generous people, we prove that every day!

Happy Sew Year!
Colleen

One more day...

...to leave a comment on the book giveaway post.

See my previous post or leave a comment here

by 11:59 pm Sunday, April 7 to be entered to win

one of three books and some pins...

see the post below!

Some visitors have said that they are having a hard time leaving posts.
If you are having this issue I apologize!
You can go to my profile and email your comment from there.

Happy Sew Year!
Colleen

Book Review...Giveaway...

...and stepping outside my box!

I was contacted by Mary Pomponio, publicity manager at Plume Books about reviewing 

The Giving Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini.  

It comes out in paperback this week!

I have not read all of the Elm Creek series of books but have read a few and I do enjoy them.  

Light, fun and easy reading!

This book revolves around a group of quilters heading to Elm Creek Manor for the annual

 "Quiltsgiving" quilt camp.

  The time frame is the week after Thanksgiving and the quilters devote themselves to making quilts for Project Linus, which gathers blankets and quilts for needy children.

The characters in this book intrigued me because in the group there is a quilt shop clerk...
I work in a quilt shop, 
and a librarian...while I am not a librarian I did spend the first part of my adult life (10 years) working in a library.

I am still in the middle of reading the book that has these women bonding through telling their stories and answering the question, "Why do you give?" 

If you are a fan of Jennifer Chiaverini and Elm Creek you will want to read The Giving Quilt!

This brings me to the giveaway!  Mary sent along three books and some pins.

Please leave a comment by next Sunday telling me which book of Jennifer's is your favorite or just tell me what your latest charity project is/was and you will be entered into a raffle for a book and a pin.

I will choose three readers (the third person will receive the book I am currently reading when I am done).

Sorry, I do not ship outside the continental United States.

Now, last night I was inspired by this book.

After a nice dinner out with my husband I decided that I would make a quilt to

donate to Project Linus.

I dug into my stash and came up with this.  A simple disappearing nine patch.

3 hours and quilt top done.  Now I need to quilt it.

I feel guilty that most of my donated quilts are for little girls so I will make a boy quilt

before donating to the local chapter of Project Linus.

Click the link above to find out how you can donate locally.

And since we are talking about The Giving Quilt
I couldn't let the opportunity pass to mention this beautiful

Block of the Month starting at the shop where I work in June.

The Giving Quilt BOM ~ click here to see a picture and find out all the information about this beautiful quilt!

Now...out of my box...

I am working on a modern quilt...gasp!!!

That's all you get to see...that's all!

Happy Sew Year!
Colleen