Floss Giveaway

Let's talk about some kind of beautiful!  Nancy, over at Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe, is hosting a give-away of a wonderful assortment of her lovely hand-dyed floss.  You really must see the photo she's posted - the colors are spectacular, and I know I've got my fingers crossed to be a winner!!  Click here to get yourself directly to the give-away announcement.

Time to take up my needle and work on a few more exchanges for the PALS retreat next month!  Can't wait :)

Becky

Treasured Friend Give-away

Nancy's doing it again - another fantastic give-away at her blog, Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe.  Her hand-dyed trims and fibers are just marvelous (placed an order myself over the weekend) - hope you won't miss this chance to win a wonderful assortment of her products.  Check it out!

Lavender Fields and Gossimer Wings

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in two days of "retreat" at my favorite LQS, Quilting Adventures.  Not to be repetitive, but this is really one of my all-time favorite places to shop, and Joyce and her staff are *so* helpful, encouraging, and fun to hang with!  Any time you are anywhere near Richmond, Virginia, you definitely need to make the time to visit QA.

Lavender Fields:  Anyway, I go to retreat days not only for the access to technical help on projects, but also for the fellowship and camaraderie.  And I go for the time to work on projects without the distractions of every day living.  This weekend, I had five different projects with me, three of which are pretty small and were quickly abandoned when I really got in a groove on some larger quilts.  I've been working on another log cabin quilt - this one for my DM's birthday (which is the day after Christmas).  I'd found a strip set that I really liked, but found that I also needed to augment the blocks with two additional strips all around to make a quilt that is the size I want it to be.  I was able to finish the quilt top and get the backing sewn together, so it's off to the quilter tomorrow.  I'm titling this "Lavender Fields" (she and my DD own a lavender farm!):

Here's a close-up of the individual block:

The top of the quilt ends with the blue border - what you see underneath it (besides the bedspread) is the backing, a fun batik of trees!  The print is greener (like the quilt block) than the photo shows, but I do love the design!!

Gossimer Wings:  So yesterday, I got to the point of being ready to move onto another project, even though the "Lavender Fields" wasn't quite finished.  Last year, I'd purchased a bunch of 4" squares of different fabric with butterflies on it.  My plan was to make something lovely for my MIL... and that was about the extent of my plan!  While "retreating" this weekend, I happened to see a shop model of a "window pane" quilt that really got me thinking about options for these butterfly squares.  I took advantage of "retreat" access to Joyce (shop owner and quilter extraordinaire) and worked about a great plan for a butterfly window pane quilt.  Here's a quick small sample of what I'm working towards (ever square will be surrounded by black), and today, I prepped 90 squares - still need about 40 more, but I really love the direction that this quilt is going!

With a little direction and encouragement, I very quickly overcame inertia and am having a lot of fun preparing the quilt squares - planning on this being a Christmas present.  What do you think?

Okay, last quick item for the day - stopped at JoAnn's to pick up a few DMC skeins and found this fun-looking batik Halloween fabric.  Isn't it great?!

Have you had time to take up your needle and sew?!
Becky

Garden Exchange Reveal!

I am excited to finally be able to show you the results of the "Tea in the Garden" stitching exchange that I participated in, hosted by Lainey at Stitched with Love Exchanges.  This was my second exchange hosted by Lainey, and I was very excited to be chosen to stitch for Nataly (in MA).  For this exchange, we had the option of focusing on tea time or gardens (I chose gardens) - like the other exchanges, we were asked to stitched something in line with the theme, provide a themed chart, and to include a number of other items (garden-themed and/or stitching related).  Here's a photo of the piece that I did for the exchange and the items that I sent with the stitched piece.

Here's a close-up of the stitched piece - Rose Garden (without the border) by Blackbird Designs.  I'm also showing you the backing fabric that I used for the pillow - loved it!

 





I received a lovely package of items from June (in the UK).  The stitched pillow is done with wonderful soft greens, corals and more and sits proudly on my mantel now.  One of the exciting things about exchanging with someone from another country is that you may receive items that you can't even find in the U.S.!  June's package included some lovely embellishments and fabrics - none of which I'd even seen in the various supply "haunts" that I frequent.

I've signed up the the "Fall into Halloween" exchange, where participants could choose to receive Halloween-themed or autumn-themed items.  I've been doing some stitching in both of these themes and am looking forward to learning about my exchange partner next week.  Fun, fun, fun!!!!

Back to my project bag - there's still a little time to take up my needle and sew before bed.  Enjoy!
Becky

Halloween Give-away!

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post.  Quite honestly, I've been working on a lot of exchange stitching and gifts, none of which are quite ready to be revealed here.  Tomorrow, look for a post from me about a garden-themed stitching exchange that I participated in during July and August - lots of fun!!

Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe just announced a fantastic Halloween give-away through her blog.  She's put together a wonderful assortment of trims, embellishments and more, all wrapped around Halloween - do *not* miss the opportunity to get your name in the drawing!

More tomorrow - I promise.  'Til then, back to my needle...
Becky