Po The Panda

So did you see the adorable new Sew Solid Quilt from Fat Quarter Shop???  The pattern is called Panda-Monium (which you can download for free right here)  and it is the next mini in the Sew Solids Series that Fat Quarter Shop is putting on!!!   Isn't he just absolutely adorable!!!!

Of course, I had to do mine with a purple background so he would match with my purple wall of mini's ;)  This little mini goes together super fast and is so much fun to make!!  

And Kimberly made it even easier to put this little guy together with her fantastic video tutorial!!!  She will walk you through each step of the way, so fantastic!!!!

When it came time to quilt mine, I decided that I just loved the cross-hatching that Kimberly did on the original quilt, so I copied it.   I used a disappearing marker to draw the lines 2" apart and then quilted on the lines using a soft grey.  

And before you know it, I had an adorable Panda-Monium Mini!!!  My kids have decided to call him Po, from Kung Fu Panda and I figured Po the Panda sounded good so the name is stuck ;) 

  

Now the kids say I need to make another one with a bow in her hair so we can have a boy and a girl panda. Add it to the list ;)   

Wishing you a Happy Quilting Day!!!!

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Wrap Up and Grand Prize Winners!!!!

Well, all good things must come to an end right ;)   Today is the final day of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop.   Thank You so much to everyone who stopped in each day.    Your sweet comments and emails meant the world to me.    It was so much fun to get to share the quilts of Irish Chain Quilts with you as well as the awesome Charity Quilt Blocks all of my wonderful friends made to go along with the quilts.

And I know lots of you have been wondering how all of blocks were going to come together . . . well, wait no longer.  Here it is!!!!   Didn't it just turn out so adorable!!!  I am going to call it Rainbow Remix.

I just love how the chains all come together.  Even though they are all made out of different sizes and shapes, they still create an overall single Irish Chain quilt that is oh so cute!!!!!

And this one really shows the quilting.  I wanted to keep this quilt super soft and cuddly for it's recipient, so I opted to do a basic stippling stitch in the background in my favorite 402 So Fine thread that blended just perfectly with all of the different low volume backgrounds, and then arches in all of the chains.  I matched the color thread to the chain color using fabulous vergitage Fantastico threads, which just made the chain pop all the more.  So fun!!!

And for the backing, I used the adorable daisy block as a label, with some fun pieced stripes and polka dots around it.  Because, who doesn't love stripes and polka-dots :)

On the petals of the daisy, I added everyone's name that has made blocks and participated in the blog hop.  I think it is just the cutest finishing touch :)  So special!!  Thank you again to each of the ladies on this label, you are amazing!!!!

And now it is all ready to be delivered to Primary Children's Hospital.  I want to say a huge thank you to all of the ladies that helped in the making of this quilt!!  I know it is going to be such a special little quilt for a special little child!!!

Just in case you missed any of the stops of seeing these amazing blocks and the quilts behind them, here is the complete list of the blog hop one last time ;)   

June 8th -    Happy Quilting - Blog Hop Intro & Grand Prize Entry  (you are here) 

June 9th -    Moda Lissa - Lissa Alexander

                    Fat Quarter Shop - Jocelyn Ueng

June 10th -  Piece N Quilt - Natalia Bonner

                    In Color Order - Jeni Baker

June 11th -  Amy's Creative Side - Amy Ellis

                    Sew Kind of Wonderful - Jenny Pedigo

June 12th -  Quilt Story - Megan Jimenez

                    Diary of a Quilter - Amy Smart

June 15th -  Freshly Pieced - Lee Heinrich

                   Christa Quilts - Christa Watson

June 16th -  Moda Cutting Table - Carrie Nelson

                    Little Miss Shabby - Corey Yoder

June 17th -  Fresh Lemons - Faith Jones

                    V and Co.  - Vanessa Christenson

June 18th -  A Quilting Life - Sherri McConnell

                    Stitch This! - Jenny Wilding Cardon

June 19th -  Happy Quilting - Wrap Up & Grand Prizes


And that leaves us with one last order of business.   Announcing the Grand Prize Winners!!!!!  I had so much fun reading your Irish comments, and I was blown away by the number of entries.   You all sure know how to make a giveaway fun!!  So, let's get to this.  Drumroll Please . . . . . . . . . . . .

The first winner who will receive an Entire Bitty Bits Quilt Kit, comprised of 14 Kona Cotton Charm Packs, a Vanessa Goertzen Gooseberry Charm Pack, 2 Irish Green Fat Quarters from Denyse Schmidt's Moderns Solids collection, an Angela Walters Drawn Fat Quarter, a Bitty Bits Mini made by me, and a signed copy of Irish Chain Quilts is . . . . . . . .  . #617 who is  Ginny!!!!

The second winner who will receive a Lizzy House Butterflies Fat Quarter Bundle, and American Jane Lorraine Layer Cake, 2 Irish Green Fat Quarters from Denyse Schmidt's Moderns Solids collection, an Angela Walters Drawn Fat Quarter, a Bitty Bits Mini made by me, and  a signed copy of Irish Chain Quilts is . . . . .  #575 who is The Joyful Quilter!!!!

Congrats to both of you ;)   I have emailed you.

I want to sign off and close this Blog Hop with one last Thank You!!!  Thank you to my wonderful readers for your constant support of Happy Quilting ;)   I so appreciate you popping in each day to share my quilting adventures.  Your comments, emails, and and pictures always bring a smile to my face.   Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 9

I'ts Day 9 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  I hope you have been enjoying it, I know I have!!!

The first quilt up today is An Iris Braid from the Twists on Tradition section of the book and A Quilting Life is the stop hop!!! Sherri McConnell is a wonderful friend that is always up to some amazing fabric goodness!!!  She has created a wonderful pattern line and at this last market, introduced her first fabric line, Bright Sun that she teamed up with her daughter to design.   I just think that is so incredible that they get to work together doing something they both love!!     Pop on over to see her stop ;)

An Irish Braid was one of the first designs I ever made.  The original design is almost 4 years old, but it fit the book so well and has always been a huge favorite of mine, so it made it in ;)  Even though this quilt looks super complex, it really is quite simple, using strip piecing and jelly rolls to really speed everything up.  You can 2 patch your way to this beauty in no time.  So fun!!!


And  that is all 15 quilts from the book!!    But we still have one more stop for today and something special to share!!!!   The wonderful Jenny Wilding Cardon from Martingale Publishing has put together an Irish Chain Quilts summary post!!!  And she even has an e-book giveaway to go along with her post.  But Jenny didn't stop there.  As we were setting up this whole blog hop, Jenny asked if it would be okay if each of the folks at Martingale made up a block as well.  And of course, I said absolutely fantastic yes!!!!   So a few weeks ago I got this adorable quilt top in the mail!!!!  Oh, my goodness, oh my goodness!!!  You can see more about it by popping over to Jenny's post here :)

Isn't it just so adorable!!!   I kept the houses free from quilting so that when I threw it in the wash they would get those fun scruffy edges.  I just love it!!!  This quilt will also be delivered to Primary Children's hospital and I am sure will be a wonderful surprise for a special little child!!!!

And that is today's stop!!!

Tomorrow is the final day of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop!!!!   So if you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.  And it also has a list of all the hop stops with links, just in case you missed a day :)

Thanks for Hopping in today!!  I am so looking forward to tomorrow!!!  We will start with a general wrap up, then have the Charity Quilt Reveal and finish off with the Grand Prize Winners!!!  It is gonna be so much fun!!!  See ya tomorrow  ;)

Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop - Day 8

And here we are, at day 8 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  So fun!!!

The first quilt up today is End of the Rainbow from the Improvisational Piecing section of the book and Fresh Lemons is the hop stop!!! Faith Jones is an awesome blogger, pattern designer and author.  She has an amazing sense of design and always is shaking up her layouts!!  I always love seeing what she is working on!!!    And oh my, you are going to love her block!!!   Pop on over to see her stop ;)

End of the Rainbow obviously is the cover quilt of the book, and I can't tell you how happy I was when I saw that.  If someone were to twist my arm and make me choose a favorite quilt in the book it would be this one.   And I think that is because this quilt has so many wonderful memories tied up in it.   This quilt actually has a scrap from every quilt I have ever made, so when I see it, I think of all those quilts and the stories behind them and the friends and family they were given to.   And that just makes me smile ;)



The next quilt to be shared today is Bitty Bits from the Improvisational Pieced section of the book as well and V and Co.  is the hop stop!!!  Vanessa Christenson is a doll and I just love her to bits!!!   I absolutely love, love, love her use of color in her fabrics and projects!!!  And she is just the nicest and sweetest person, I always look forward to seeing her at Market and getting to chat!   Pop on over to see her stop ;)

Bitty Bits is so much fun to make.  It is completely charm pack friendly, so there is no need for cutting, you can just right into the piecing!!!  I have had so much fun playing with the colors in this quilt with my 3 mini's and already have plans to make this large quilt in the reverse color layout and I can't wait!!!!


And that is today's stop!!!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.  And it also has a list of all the hop stops with links, just in case you missed a day :)

Thanks for Hopping in today!!  Pop back in tomorrow for Day 9 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)

Irish Chain Quilt Blog Hop - Day 7

Today is day 7 of the Irish Chain Blog Hop!!  Let's get to it!!!

The first quilt up today is Fractured from the Improvisational Piecing section of the book and Moda Cutting Table is the stop hop!!! Carrie Nelson's, of Miss Rosie's Quilts fame, recently joined the land of Moda and it has been so fun to watch her over there.  She is giving everyone a wonderful taste of life at Moda!!  She does just about anything and everything as I think her official job title includes something about Wearer of Many Hats :)  And if you haven't read her blog posts before you are in for a real treat!!  I absolutely love her writting!!!     Pop on over to see her stop ;)

Fractured was such a fun quilt to make.   If you are new to improvisational design this is such a great place to get started.  You have all the fun of wonky angles and corners, but still the classic X structure, making it a little easier for those of us, like me, that need a lot of balance in their wonky ;)  And all you need is a layer cake to start, making this quilt go together super fast.  So fun!!!



The next quilt to be shared today is Connect the Dots from the Appliqued Chains section of the book and Little Miss Shabby is the hop stop!!!  Corey Yoder was in the very first online quilting bee I ever joined almost 5 years ago.  We have been good friends ever since.  Corey is a wonderful blogger, designer, and recently became a new Moda fabric designer.  Her first line, Prarie, is oh so fabulous, I absolutely fell in love with it at Market!!  And her block is equally fabulous!!!  Pop on over to see her block ;)

Connect the Dots is a simple applique quilt using basic circles.  The fun thing about this is almost any die cutting machine has dots, so that can really speed up the process of making this quilt ;)  I loved the combination of the solid colors.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I used the scraps to bind it and was going for a sunset concept.  Green on the bottom for grass, into the oranges and yellows, and then the brilliant reds and raspberry at the top.   Just those little fun extras that make it special ;)


And that is today's stop!!!

If you haven't had a chance to enter the Grand Prize Giveaway, be sure to pop back here and leave your comment to be entered.  And it also has a list of all the hop stops with links, just in case you missed a day :)

Thanks for Hopping in today!!  Pop back in tomorrow for Day 8 of the Irish Chain Quilts Blog Hop ;)