My Irish Chain Twist Finish ;)

Well, Tomorrow marks the finish of the Irish Chain Twist QAL!!!  We will have the Grand Parade of all the finishes and of course, the drawing of the Grand Prize Winners!!!!   So, today, I thought it would be fun to share my Irish Chain Twist finish ;)  (That and I need a place to link it to in my quilt archive)   I am so loving how it turned out!!!  

I am so excited with how many of you have participated in this fun Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long!!!  If you are just now finding this, no worries.   Each of the posts for the Quilt-A-Long will always be on my blog.  You can follow these links to walk you through each step week-by-week on how to make your own Irish Chain Twist Quilt finish!!!

Teaser Post
Schedule, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes
 Cutting
Improvisational Piecing Units
Improvisational Piecing Block
 Twists on Tradition Units
Modern Patchwork Block
Appliqued Chains Block - Assembling
Appliqued Chains Block - Stitching
Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky
Parade and Grand Prizes

As I mentioned at the beginning of this Quilt-A-Long, I really wanted the design to incorporate lots of technique and styles and show how they can all blend together ;)  I wrote my new book, Irish Chain Quilts, with the same concept.  I was so excited with how many of you stepped out of your comfort zone and really tried new things with this quilt!!  That is what Quilt-A-Long's are all about!!!

When it came time to quilt mine, I decided to do some custom quilting ;)  I used Magnifico by Superior Thread in matching colors on the prints as it has a little extra sheen to it that I just love.   I quilted curly cues in the petals, arches in the squares, and ribbon candy in the X''s,  And in the background I just quilted a simple meandering stitch.  It has been so long since I quilted meanduring, I forgot how much I love it, so relaxing!!!

I just love all of the beautiful texture the quilted created!!! And I just love the gorgeous colors from the bundle that Julie of the Intrepid Thread curated for this!!!  It just makes me want to take it out and lay under a tree with a good book, so happy!!!

And, I  will finish off with this favorite shot ;)  Don't you just love the way it highlights the beautiful chain!!  I hope you enjoyed the Quilt-A-Long as much as I did and thank you again for quilting with me.  I loved it and am so happy with this beautiful finish!!!

And one last quick note before I sign off.  This post also is serving as a last reminder that the QAL will finish tomorrow ;)  So get those last few stitches done and link up or email me ;)   I can't wait to see all of your beautiful quilts!!!

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day . . . let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!   The winner of Custom Spring Bundle from The Intrepid Thread is . . .   Number #453 . . . Congrats Cathy!!   I have emailed you :) 

    

 

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Shabby Fabrics!!   Along with hosting the giveaway, Shabby Fabrics is having an amazing Spring Cleaning Sale that includes a fun promotion of the more you Spend, the More you Save!!!!   They just added a whole ton of fabric to make room for new stuff, so be sure to check it out!!  So fun!!!  

And the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for a Feed Company Jelly Roll by Sweetwater Moda!!!   Oh, this fabric line is absolutely fantastic and one of you lucky readers is going to win this roll of fabric goodness!!!  

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment that tells me what will you be Feeding on for dinner tonight??  (I need some ideas ;)    

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Shabby Fabrics love. You can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Pinterest, or Instagram.  You can Sign up for the Shabby Fabrics Newsletter (top right hand corner) or Follow their Blog,  or you can Visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Shabby Fabric Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, April 28th , when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Quilting It Up Today

The Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long Grand Parade is on Thursday, Yippee!!!  So of course, I am just starting to quilt mine today ;)  I just loaded the quilt top and back on the long arm and I plan to quilt, and quilt, and quilt until it is done ;)

My plan is to do some custom quilting using a variety of colors to match my piecing.  I am using my favorite 402 Pearl So Fine Thread by Superior Threads for the background because it just blends so perfectly and will quilt a smallish basic meandering stitch ;)  Then on the print fabrics, I am going to use Magnifico Thread in matching colors!!!   Magnifico is a extra strength, polyester thread that has a beautiful High Sheen to it that will give the quilting on my prints that extra pop!!  I just love it, seriously, you should give it a try sometime and you will see what I mean ;)

And don't worry, if you are in this same Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long procrastination boat with me ;)  We still have 4 days and this is your friendly reminder.  So if you are trying to finish piecing it up by Thursday to enter it into the grand prize linky, pull out those blocks and get sewing ;)  You can do it!!!   And if you are quilting it up for the Parade, get stitching, you can do it!!!   Can't wait to see all of your beautiful finishes!!!

Endless Summer Quilt

I am so excited to get to share this finish with you today ;)  This was another one of those secret sewings.  At the beginning of the year, I was asked by  Vanessa Christenson if I could make a sample of one of her new patterns to be released.  Well, the pattern was released yesterday and so I get to share today.  This is Endless Summer and I absolutely love it!!!!

As soon as Vanessa sent me a picture of the pattern, I loved it!!  What a gorgeous design!!!  The quilt uses her new line Simply Colorful RED, ORANGE, YELLOW line that comes out in July mixed with some beautiful Bella Solids.

Photo courtesy of Vanessa Christenson

 This quilt is so much fun to make!!  Each of those blocks are a super cute 8" and oh, what fun it was to play with all of the points ;)  You know how I just love perfect points ;)  And working with all of those beautiful prints and colors just made me smile!!

Photo courtesy of Vanessa Christenson

When it came time to quilt it, I had a bit of craziness.  I quilted the star blocks with echoed arches and petals in the center and they went just fine.  Then just as I started with the first x blocks, I made a super oopsie.  I wasn't paying attention and my hopper foot jumped up on top of the ruler and cracked the ruler, I was so freaked I screamed and yanked the ruler out from under it, proceeding to turn the crack into a break.  Nice going.  

We don't have a shop in town that sells long arm rulers, and I was trying to hurry fast as the quilt needed to get back ASAP, so I pulled the quilt off of the frames, set my home machine up on the dining room table, and started quilting straight lines.  All in all, I think it worked out well, and I was happy with how the quilting turned out (although a few of my lines are less than straight).  But ya, a little stressful and I still need to go buy a new ruler ;)

And I just had to share this picture as I think it is a little ironic.  Ya, this quilt is called Endless Summer and the day before I finished it we had a huge snow storm, so the only pictures I could get were on a blanket of white.  So thank you Vanessa for letting me borrow some of your gorgeous pictures for this post ;)  

So do you just love this quilt pattern as much as I do??  Well you are in luck then!!  For the release of her 2 new patterns (Endless Summer and Sunrise) Vanessa is giving a 30% off discount code!!  You can find out all about both patterns, the code, and where to buy them at Vanessa's blog here ;)

It is so fun to get to finally share this little secret sewing project!!!  This is such a wonderful quilt design and I just loved making it!!  Thanks Vanessa :)

Thanks for popping in today and each day.  I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!

Linking to Sarah's , Amanda's and Quilt Story ;)

Starting Another :)

Okay, so at the moment, I am probably working on 5-6 different projects, so it isn't like I need another one added to the list.  But that pretty much went out the window when this fantastic bundle of Hazel Fabric arrived at my doorstep yesterday from my good friend Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.  It was pretty much Stop, Drop, and Sew!!!!   I just love starting new projects, it is always so exciting!!

I spent the afternoon contemplating what to make with it and then I realized I already have the perfect design for these gorgeous prints that I have really wanted to make up into a quilt.   That gave me the umph I needed to actually untie the bundle (we all just love to keep them bundled up nice and pretty, right ;)  and by the evening I had a gorgeous stack of pressed fat quarters just waiting to be cut.

So, you can guess what I did this morning right ;)   Oh ya!!!  I know I am weird, but I really do love the cutting part of making a quilt ;)  And aren't all of those prints and colors just fantastic!!  Love this Allison!!!

And now, I just need to cut the background and I can get to sewing . . .  along with the other 5 projects ;)  Gotta Love It!!!   I'll be sharing more of what these Hazel Squares turn into, and hopefully sooner rather than later  ;)  So Fun!!!

What new projects are you starting that have got you all kinds of excited???