Round #6 - Mary at See Mary Quilt {Round Trip Quilts}

Well hi.  I didn't mean to take the month of August off.  It just sort of happened on accident.  Work has been incredibly busy the last few months and thought I've had time for sewing I haven't had time for blogging.  I have a lot of exciting things to show you to get caught up. I'll start with a LONG over due post about the latest round of our round robin bee.

It's been awhile since I posted about our Round Trip Quilts adventure.  We're nearing the end of the bee and some dates were delayed because of the craziness that surrounds end-of-school and early summer activities.

Today I'm excited to show you what I added to Mary's rainbow quilt.  She blogs over at See Mary Quilt and is a fellow granite stater!

Remember this terror?

I was so frustrated while I worked on this top.  Honestly, anything that could have gone wrong, went wrong when it came to this quilt.  In the end I'm so glad I pushed through it though.  I love how it looks and can't wait to see what Leanne adds and how Mary decides to finish it!

I get Leann's star quilt next for our very last round of the Bee and am over the moon excited to see what mine finally looks like after that!

200 Followers Winner {a giveaway!}

Well it's about time I pick a winner for the giveaway celebrating my 200th Instagram follower. 

 

Congratulations Anne!!

Now you can expand your modern fabric collection!  I'll be emailing you shortly.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway.  I appreciate your support so much.

I'll be back later this week with some updates from Round Trip Quilts and some more finishes!

Cotton + Steel Strip Swap

I'm hosting a swap!  

I saw on Instagram awhile back that someone had made scrappy trip quilt entirely out of Cotton + Steel fabrics, though I can't find the picture now, and fell in love.  I really wanted to make my own version!  I love how the C+S fabrics all blend together but couldn't see myself making anything using all those prints until I saw that quilt.  My wallet didn't like the idea of how much fabric I'd have to buy to make this vision come true so I decided to host a swap to get some more variety in my Cotton + Steel stash!  All of the details are below if you want to join in on the fun!

RULES & DETAILS:

• This swap will consist entirely of Cotton + Steel fabrics

• You will send a specified number of Cotton + Steel fabrics, ranging in size from Fat Quarter (no 1/4 yards please) to half-yard

• These will be cut into 2.5" by 16" strips

• You will receive a variety of Cotton + Steel 2.5" strips back equal to the number of strips which were cut from the fabric you sent in

• Fabric and $5 for shipping should be mailed by August 12th.  Fabric will be postmarked back to you by August 31st

• Once your entry is received I will email you my mailing address for shipping.

• Please post and image of the fabrics you intend to send with the hashtag #cottonandsteelstripswap so that others can see which fabrics you chose and we can try and avoid duplicates

Sign up here or use the form below!

Choosing Fabrics {Midnight Mystery QAL}

I did it.  I finally chose fabrics for the Midnight Mystery Quilt-a-Long with Meadow Mist Design.  This is a fun mystery quilt along which will be running from June 2015 through March 2016.  Except I hate surprises.  They literally cause me anxiety.  So in an effort to keep my sanity I actually took advantage of Cheryl's "peak option" to see what the finished quilt will look like (hint: it's fantastic!).

For some reason I had a REALLY hard time choosing fabrics for this quilt but a day spent shopping with some real life quilt friends sealed the deal and I was in.  I was inspired by my Clashy Classy Brights entry into Stiched in Color's last color mosaic contest.  (In other news this palette matches my running shoes almost perfectly. At least I know what I like...)

I didn't end up winning the contest, though I still really love the colors I picked.  So when it came time to decide for this QAL I knew I had a winner.  My mosaic is below:

Nuanced Neon #2 - Clashy Classy Brights

Fabrics are as follows, left to right, top to bottom: 1. Speckled in Periwinkle, 2. Pressed Leaves,  3. Butterflies in  Red, 4. Gingham in Silver,  5. Leaves in Ultramarine,  6. Chasing Butterflies in Fruit Punch,  7. Word Find in Pink,  8. TinyScript in Red,  9.  Leaves in Plum

And with the help of Sarah at Smiles too Loudly while we were at Keepsake (more on that later), and Karin at Leigh Laurel Studios on Instagram, I was able to pull together the fabrics below, A-D, left to right.  My main color group inspirations were Kona Watermelon, Radiant Orchard, scrappy Low Volume, and Blue-Violet.  I have to admit, I'm still not super satisfied with the pinks and may have to revisit that one again....

Now I just need to cut and I"ll be caught up for July!

You can join in on the fun in the Midnight Mystery Facebook Group and find all of the instructions to date on Cheryl's blog.

Also, don't forget to enter my 200th Instagram Follower Giveaway, open until Friday 7/24!

I'm linking up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story today.