Not gone

I know I didn't post at all last week but with this crazy weather kids were off work and everyone was home. I haven't been completely lazy, I did get plenty of  quilting done.  

I finally got my purple quilt up on frame. This one is for me :-) I have been storing these Asian prints until I found the perfect pattern to show off the panel and the prints.  The pattern is originally Winter Magic and when I saw this kit at the Houston Quilt Show I had to have it for my mom; her favorite color is blue and her favorite holiday is Christmas.  When I looked at it closer I saw that my Asian prints were perfect for this so I made 2.  All that is left is binding then that bad girl will keep my toes warm.

Aurifil Thread is having a free Block of the Month with a chance to win some free thread each month.  How can I not be in on this??  I absolutely love Aurifil thread! I have used King Tut and Superior Thread but in the end I just adore Aurifil for piecing my quilts. I am sure there are a ton of good reasons to love Aurifil some even technical but mine is because Aurifil doesn't leave HUGE dust bunnies in my machine.

In keeping with my New Year's Goal list I will be using another fat quarter bundle I have in my stash, Summer Breeze by Moda.

I think with it being January the colors of this bundle make me happy and looking forward to spring.  This block was fun to make and I can't wait for next month's.

  

Make sure you join the Flickr group and post a picture of your block for a chance to win some free 

Aurifil Thread

Purple Butterflies

I was asked to make a special quilt for  little girl who is fighting for her life in a battle against leukemia.  Her favorite color is purple and she adores butterflies.  We wanted to include the names of her friends in her kindergarten class.  This is what I came up with. I didn't use a pattern they are just embroidered 8 inch blocks with 2 1/2 inch sashing.  The butterfly embroidery comes from KCD Designs  I had a lot of fun making this quilt and hope that Breanna can feel hugs and prayers from Texas.  Sorry for the dark picture but it was raining all day which made good lighting hard to find.

Aurifil Thread

How can a person not love Aurifil Thread??  It is my favorite to piece with because it seems to put off the the lowest amount of dust and has the brightest and most brilliant colors.I am sure there are loads of other reasons to use Aurifil but that is my favorite.  Recently, Alex Veronelli of Aurifil had a give on Facebook and  long story short lookie what mama got in the mail over the holidays.  I would have posted about it sooner but I had the plague or something like it for a better part of December.   I have some plans for that green let me tell you and off white is always in demand here. The orange and brown will be added to my applique threads and can I say I love the wooden spools.

Block of the Month

I have joined in a few different Block of the Month's this year and this is the first one is through the Fat Quarter Shop to help raise awareness and money for the Make-A-Wish foundations.  The quilt is called Wishes and will have 12 blocks so finishing up in December. Normally, I would purchase a new bundle of fat quarters but in an attempt to stick to my New Year's goals I am going to use a bundle that I all ready have in my stash, Tending the Earth by Moda and a beautiful hand dyed beige for my back ground also from my stash.  It really is bordering on hoarding the amount of fabric I have.  Here is the first block.  It went together really fast about an hour and half including cutting time.

It's the New Year and that means time for resolutions on how we will all better ourselves, I almost always fail at these so this year I am going to do like so many others and set goals and not a ton of them.

I think having specific goals is an important key for me so that is why I am writing them here make myself accountable even if it is just in my head.

-I would like to make some quilts for family. I have 6 in mind so that is a lot of quilting

-I'd like to make/give more of my time to charity quilting. I would like to make a Quilt of Valor and at least 4 quilts for Quilts for Kids. I have also joined in the Wishes Quilt A long Block of Month.  I haven't made a sampler yet so this is exciting and at the end of year will auction quilt on Ebay with all proceeds  donated to Make-A-Wish. Make-A-Wish is a fantastic charity that makes it possible for children with life threatening illness to have a wish granted. You should join in :-)

-I need to do some serious stash busting (always!). To be specific, it would be great if ALL my quilting fabric could be contained in one bookshelf. (That's a lofty one!) I'll need to do lots sewing and not much buying!

-I'd like to keep working stocking my store and marketing my long arm services. I enjoy the quilting process more than the piecing process these days.

-I would like to write on my blog and work on my photography more.  Time to pick up my Nikon :-) 

Here's to a wonderful New Year!