A Friday Finish

All three things on my "March Deadline" list are finished!  Wheee!!

The first finish was my contribution to a Round Robin Row quilt for a friend from Idaho quilt camp.  So no photos of that one!

But the next is the May Jelly Roll Party sample:

The pattern is "Grandma Mary's Five Patch."  Jelly roll is "Terrain" by Kate Spain for Moda.  If the pattern isn't available at your LQS, here is a link to SweetJane's etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetjane We'll be making this quilt May 3 at Ruth's Stitchery in Colorado Springs.  If you're in the area, some join us!

The third, and the big, finish is my 2010 Colorado Memories Shop Hop quilt.

There were seven shops participating in the shop, each designed a unique block.  Since the quilt has 14 blocks, about halfway through I decided not to make duplicates.  So some of the blocks are from Marti Michell's Encyclopedia of Patchwork Blocks.

If you click on the photo, you can see the background fabric has images of Colorado.  The state Capitol building, Garden of the Gods, miners, mountain goats, the "Welcome to Colorado" sign and a hot air balloon! How to quilt this one will be a challenge --- I don't want to distract from the Colorado scenes.

Oh!  These are quilts #11 and #12 for 2013!

Linking up to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday at Sew, Love, Live, and Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Speaking of finishing -- have you finished commenting on my most recent giveaway?  Go here for a chance to win Gudrun Erle's "Table Talk" book!


From the desk of your

WIP Wednesday Giveaway

Do you recognize this table runner?

If you shop at Ruth's Stitchery, odds are you do.  Ruth's has sold more than 1400 (that's one thousand four hundred) copies of this pattern from Gudrun Erle!  (photo from Gudrun's etsy shop)

We were lucky that Gudrun agreed to stop off in Colorado Springs on her way to Quiltmaker's Block Party in Portland this week.  She taught two of her newest patterns, Slivers and Peek-a-Boo.

  

Look at the fun we had!

Barb made the large size "Slivers" in Christmas colors:

And I made the smaller sized one in Autumn scraps:

Neither of us finished our table runners in class, but I bet Barb's is finished today!

Gudrun graciously signed a copy of her book, Table Talk.

Which I am offering to one of you!  This book has lots of table runners and table topper patterns, as well as some of Gudrun's favorite recipes.

If you'd like this book for your own, please comment on this post and tell me a favorite dinner table conversation starter.  My favorite is "What did you learn today that you didn't know yesterday?" Giveaway ends Tuesday, March 26 at noon MDT.  Remember, if you're a no-reply commenter, be sure to include your contact information.

So, today I learned that it's worth buying the right tool for the job!



From the desk of your

Design Wall Monday

My March "Quilt To-Do List" is almost complete!  I have only to sew the blocks together for my March UFO and I'll be free to sew whatever I want for the rest of the month!

Here's what's on the design wall today:

It's the Colorado Shop Hop quilt from 2010.  The background fabric was custom-printed for the shop hop, and it highlights scenes of Colorado.  You can probably pick out the State Capitol building.  Do you see the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign?  I drive past it every time I come back from Idaho.  There is also a hot-air balloon, reminiscent of the Labor Day Balloon Festival.  And do you see the Sculptured House, which featured in the 1973 Woody Allen movie, Sleeper?"  DH and I saw that move at a midnight Woody Allen festival in 1976.  The tickets cost 99 cents, and we paid in pennies harvested from our penny jar!

The May Jelly Roll Party Quilt is "Grandma Mary's Five Patch."  I chose this one for May because in the US, Mother's Day is the second Sunday in May.  And my mother's name is Mary.

As I put this quilt together, I realized it is the third one I've made from Kate Spain's "Terrain" collection.  Must be my favorite, huh?

I also finished test-sewing another bag for Sara of Sew Sweetness today. Come back Wednesday to see the new bag, and enter the giveaway for one of Sara's patterns!

From the desk of your

Sunday Scraps Score

Whew!  See this?  It's a completely empty scrap bin!  Score!

An entire day of cutting, cutting, cutting, and here is the yield:

I cut a 12" high stack of 5" squares; two 8" high stacks of 2 1/2" strips; a 6" stack of 2 1/2" squares; 4 1/2" squares; 3 1/2" squares; 2" squares; 1 1/2" squares and 1 1/2" strips.  I also cut some 5 1/2" and matching 2 1/2" squares to make a specific scrap quilt (photos to follow next week).

Plus, a big ol' bin of "strings!"  Strings are strips that are narrower than 2", but not long enough to be useful as 1 1/2" strips.  I used "strings" last summer to make this quilt:

I think it's my favorite of all the quilts I've ever made.  Now I have enough strings to make at least one more just like it!

Tomorrow is "Design Wall Monday," hope you'll come by to see what's on on my wall this week.


From the desk of your