Quilt Retreat Wrap-Up

Well, I am decompressing a little bit this week.  Our annual quilt retreat this past Saturday kept me busy last week and I'm happy to say that the event was very successful.  Here is what our finished goodie bags looked like, all stuffed with the generous donations from our sponsors (fabric for the goodie bags is from WholePort - prints are here and here).

We also gave away some gift certificates for doorprizes from Pink Chalk Fabrics and Fabric.com.  We were served all sorts of yummy food prepared by our wonderful chef for the day.  And we played some games with charm squares and a basketball game involving fat quarters.  So there were lots of fun and laughs in the midst of all our hard work on our projects.

I got one quilt top cut out and completely pieced (but I can't show it yet because it's for the design ring for Fabri-Quilt), and my Poetica Starburst Quilt is now completely cut out and started.

I'm already looking forward to next year :)

Sponsor Post: Lots of Buttons

Another fantastic sponsor we had for our quilt retreat this past weekend is Lots of Buttons.  They are an online shop with over 15,000 different buttons in stock! They also add over 100 new buttons to their shop each week!

Lots of Buttons sent us some of their natural buttons for each of our goodie bags at our quilt retreat, and they are beautiful!  You can check out all their categories of buttons including synthetic, metal, horn, wood, shell, braided, charms, and studs.

They have great pricing and shipping options including FREE shipping with orders over $15.  And they have lots of great button tutorials on their blog.  Check them out for your next button purchase!

Sponsor Post: Craftsy.com

I'd like to introduce you to another sponsor for our quilt retreat this weekend - Craftsy.com.  They generously donated a free class to each of our attendees!

There is a HUGE range in Craftsy classes to choose from - Quilting, Sewing, Cake Decorating, Crocheting, Jewelry,  Paper Crafts, and much more!!  It's going to be so hard to choose which class to take!

Sponsor Post: Fat Quarter Shop

The Fat Quarter Shop also sponsored a couple prizes for our upcoming quilt retreat.  These gorgeous Lovely bundles are being given away . . .

The Fat Quarter Shop has an impressive selection of new fabric lines, and they are always adding new items.  They are also extremely generous with their sponsorships and giveaways.  And they have a fantastic blog called the Jolly Jabber which often features fabric designers, giveaways, and custom fat quarter bundles from bloggers.  This is one shop that I always turn to first when finding a specific print or the latest fabrics from my favorite designers.

Sponsor Post: Pink Chalk Fabrics

Another sponsor for our upcoming quilt retreat this weekend is Pink Chalk Fabrics.  The owner is Kathy Mack and she has some of the best personal customer service I've ever experienced in an online shop.

Pink Chalk Fabrics has a fantastic selection of modern fabrics and patterns.  They also have a fun blog and newsletter, with lots of great pattern reviews and projects showing off new fabrics.

Pink Chalk Fabrics generously donated some tape measures to our goodie bags!  These are such a handy size, I have one just like it that I carry in my purse.  They also donated a gift certificate for a doorprize for the retreat, which is going to make one lucky quilter very happy!

Sponsor post: The Ribbon Retreat

This upcoming weekend is our annual quilt retreat.  Every second year I take part in the organizing, and this year my job is to take care of goodie bags, doorprizes, and registration.  So I started contacting some of my favorite online shops to get a variety of items for the goodie bags.  One generous sponsor is The Ribbon Retreat.

The Ribbon Retreat has a fantastic selection of ribbon, ric rac, wired ribbon, flowers, tools, headbands and much more.

They also have a large fabric selection, with lots of current fabric lines and modern designers.

The Ribbon Retreat sent me a sampling of some of their products to use in our goodie bags this year.  It is so fun looking through all the variety they have and I can't wait to share them at the retreat this weekend!

Winner!

I almost forgot to pick a winner for the giveaway last week!  After using random.org and adding numbering back to my posts (because I didn't feel like counting) . . . the winner is Chris!  Congratulations, I'll be in touch with you!

And on my sewing table today . . . fabric buckets for goodie bags for our quilt retreat this weekend.  Between the last of the organizing, phone calls, and getting my own projects ready - I'll be spending my spare time on these.  And I have some fantastic sponsor items to fill them with!

And from my own stash and scraps, I made up some fat eighths to be included in the goodie bags, complete with a custom label for the retreat.

on my cutting table . . .

So I did get a birthday gift this week - these Poetica fabrics came in the mail . . . and they are calling my name.  I'm using some willpower to keep focused on some other projects that need to be done first.

I'll be using them along with a solid white sashing and a beautiful minky backing.

And I'll be making the Starburst quilt pattern as part of the quilt-along over at Happy Quilting.  I can't wait to have this one finished and on my couch!
    

Quilt for a new nephew . . .

A bouncing baby boy joined our extended family last month, and so I had the pleasure of making him a quilt.

This quilt was actually started awhile ago - all the tumblers were cut out and pieced, but there weren't enough for a whole quilt.  So it was great to pull this out and have a quick finish with some solids and the little bit of All Star 2 scraps that I had left.

This is my first time piecing together letters in a quilt, and they were fun to make.

The backing is a soft minky in light blue with little stars all over it.

There's still time to enter my Birthday Giveaway - I'll pick a winner at the end of the week.

Birthday Giveaway!

Today is my birthday!  And it's also the first post with my new blog design all up and running!  To celebrate, I have another stack of fat quarters in the new blog theme colors that I'd like to give away!

Just leave me a comment below to say hello.  And while you're here, check out the fantastic job my blog designer Shaina did - I'm loving how the blog design all came together.

For a second entry, share this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog - and leave me the link.

Giveaway open to everyone, and I'll pick a winner by random.org at the end of the week.  Good luck!

Multi-Tasker Bag . . .

Awhile back, I won a signed copy of Kay Whitt's book Sew Serendipity Bags.  One of the patterns in the more challenging section is called the Multi-Tasker Bag, and it also comes with variations to make it as a diaper bag.

So, since my sister-in-law is one of my biggest encouragers when it comes to my sewing and this blog (and I've never made her a bag - shame on me!), and she was just blessed with a new babe, I thought I'd give this pattern a try.  It got parceled up along with a couple other handmade items for her little ones, and shipped across the country to her last week.

It was definitely a more time-consuming pattern, but I loved making it.  All the steps and pieces came together so well, and the pattern is extremely well written.  There is a lot of interfacing and fusible fleece, plus some hardware, an inset zipper, and adjustable strap.  The finished bag is really sturdy and has lots of exterior and interior pockets.

The fabric I used is mostly from an Andover line called French Twist by Lonni Rossi.  I love the colors and prints, and hope to get my hands on some more of it.  And it comes in a purple colorway too, my favourite color :)

little projects and bee blocks . . .

My sewing room time has been spent on little projects lately - a mini messenger bag for a birthday girl . . .

a pair of baby booties for a sweet little niece . . .

and my January bee blocks for the Joy circle of Do Good Stitches . . .

The rest of my time has been spent planning a local quilt retreat for the end of the month, and getting together some fantastic sponsors for goodie bag items and door prizes.  I can't wait!  And I have a stack of fabric waiting to be turned into a quilt that I'm holding off on starting until then.