Design Challenge

Quokka quilts has challenged us to make our own fabric bundle from the Fat Quarter Shop's stock.  I was excited becuse I always love the custom bundles.  So here is mine.

I focused on golds, aquas and grays in modern graphic prints.  My solids reflect a more modern color pallette as well. I had started aout with a red aqua gray theme and this is what it morphed into.  Even as I made my mosaic from what I thought was my final choices I still changed one.  Below are the names of the fabrics I chose.

First row
Decadence Yellow Floral Flourish Yardage SKU# C2634-YELLOW
Yard Sale Gold Confetti Dots Yardage SKU# STELLA-37-GOLD
Nesting Gold Tossed Chandeliers Yardage SKU# 21906-S
Promenade Yellow Damask Mosaic Yardage SKU# C2642-Yellow
Bella Solids 30's Yellow Yardage SKU# 9900-23
Second row
Impressions Teal Dahlia Yardage SKU# PWTY012-TEALX
Little Aples Aqua Leaves Yardage SKU# 18512-47
Modernology Aqua Mod Vines Yardage SKU# MO-4809
Secret Garden Turquoise Paisley Garden Yardage SKU# SH5019-TURQ-D
Free Spirit Designer Solids Aqua Yardage SKU# S20-AQUA
Third row
Peacock Lane Gray Falling Flowers Yardage SKU# DC5084-GRAY-D
Echo Gray Aneta Yardage SKU# 33408-8
Secret Garden Khaki Vintage Ironwork Yardage SKU# SH5233-KHAK-D
Prince Charming Honey Snail Scallop Yardage SKU# TP11-HONEY
Free Spirit Designer Solids Sand Dune Yardage SKU# S34-SANDDUNE

keep dreaming...Colleen

Giveaway Winner!

December is such a busy month.  I dont seem to have time to blog at all.  That and my wrist pain is acting up. Maybe being off work for a while will help.  So I picked a winner but never posted it.  Oops! So with out further ado...the winner of the Christmas fabric is

58 Jessica said...

 I follow! Thanks for such a generous giveaway!

Saturday, December 10, 2011 2:51:00 PM

I also follow Jess.  She is a college student and a newer quilter.  I won her first giveaway last year so it's nice to see her win one of my giveaways!  Check out her blog Quilty Habit.  Jess email me your address and I will get it out to you asap.  I dont know if I will have time to mail it until after Christmas.

keep dreaming...Colleen



Last years white christmas on the lake at Mom and Dad's house.  Im wishing very hard.



Winner will be picked tomorrow

Go to the previous post if you have not had a chance to enter my giveaway.  I will pick a winner probably around noon Sunday.  And now back to baking cookies, burning cds and wrapping presents!

keep dreaming...Colleen

My angel tree decrated in store bought and bazaar made angels.

Quilter's Blog Hop giveaway day

Are you on Santa's good list?  Are you ready for lots of giveaways?

Today is the start of the Quilter's Blog Hop Party with the Quilting Gallery. 

Im giving away some great Christmas Fabric from my stash! 

Some is new and some is old but all free fabric is good!

(not actual fabric-my camera died last night!)

You will recieve fabrics totaling about 2 yards. 

All you have to do is comment for one or all of the following. 

The more comments the more chances to win!

1.  Be a follower and let me know you are.

2.  Tell me about your favorite Christmas tradition.

3.  Tweet, facebook, flickr, or blog or any other social media way of sharing this giveaway.

That's it!  Check out the other giveaways on the Quilter's Blog Hop Party!

12/11/11 Update:  Camera working! Here is the picture of the fabric sitting under my small angel tree that sits in the upstairs hallway.

5 different fabrics from 1/4 yard to a yard in size.  More than 2 yards in total.

Keep dreaming...Colleen

Christmas tree in my library.

Quick and Easy tree skirt

Do you know the very first thing I ever pieced was a Christmas tree skirt?  About a zillion years ago when I was around 20 years old(ok only 22 years ago), my mom asked me to finish a project for her.  She had bought about 10 or 12 yards of Christmas prints at Piece Goods to make a tree skirt.  Mom had cut out 5 inch squares(probably with a cardboard templete) and had stopped there.  So on Christmas vacation home from college I assembled a tree skirt.  She had cut so many squares that I had enough to make two!  One for home and one to put away for me!  It was the easiest pattern ever that I figured out. 

Just piece a large square.

 

Here is a tiny version I made this week for a tree I put together for my sister's boyfriend. When I opened my Christmas scrap bin I saw I still had lots of that old fabric.  So some of the scraps used above were from the old tree skirt.

  The secret to making it is to keep the rows at an even number and leave the center seam on one side halfway open.  I dont use batting or quilt it, though you could if you wanted to.   I sew the backing on like making a pillow. 

 Make sure to sew around the backing at both sides of the open seam being careful not to catch the edge of the fabric on the opposite side.  Cut the backing fabric to create the opening before turning. 

 If you are sewing for a real tree with a thick trunk create a square with an odd number of rows.  Leave out the center block.  That was how I made the larger tree skirts. 

It is a fast and effective way to make a tree skirt of any size.  You could cut the top into a circle to make it round as well. 

I have one for my tree at school that was not scrappy.  I tied red buttons at the intersections of each of the squares.

keep dreaming...Colleen

My October black for my partner.