Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Postcard from Sweden Step 2

Welcome to Step 2 of the Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along!

I am über-excited for this post because I am dying to see just how many of you out there are quilting along; from the Instagram attention and excitement this QAL has been getting, it is going to blow mine and Helen's (Midget Gem Quilts) minds. Be sure to hop over to her blog to check out her quilts. Plural. She's doing one in blues and greens and one in the traditional modern (ha) colours of the original quilt.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

DREAMi! #13

Well, second month in of 2018, and I hang my well-behaved little head in shame. Shame? For being focused. NOT distracted. Ignoring those adorable little squirrels. Like how? Well, deadlines. Commitments. I had to be that focused that this past week when Tish wanted to make another one of our Sewcial Bee Sampler Blocks, I actually said, no can do.😳

It is not for a lack of distractions, oh no. The #30quiltdesignschallenge is going strong on Instagram! Many are past the quilt #10 mark. The draw for the first 10 designs happens on Feb. 26. Melody has once again this year, sponsored the challenge. One lucky designer will win a $15 gift certificate to her shop, The Red Hen Shop, in this first draw!

Along with some quilt focus, I've enjoyed some sun, sea and sand.

MacGyver and I rented a kayak and explored the idyllic waters of Lemon Bay and Stump Pass, which is the extreme south end of Manasota Key. We saw a couple of dolphins, osprey and various other seabirds. We stretched our legs here, wading around in the refreshing clear water before getting back in the kayak to paddle back. The wind and tide were with us so that was lovely.

And this weekend, I'm actually not in Florida, but I am typing the rest of this post from Nashville, Tennessee! I forgot all about DREAMi! until just before leaving for the airport, so it got started typing IN the airport, and now I'm finishing it here.  Why Nashville? I've met up with Dayna, who flew down from Detroit, to stay with Casey, her sister-in-law to be, to spend the weekend wedding dress shopping. This is a Christmas present for Dayna from Tyler and from Casey, who has arranged a whirlwind of a weekend for us. It's my first time in Nashville, so I am super-excited. Apologies, but I may be taking a little extra time to respond to comments, and to Instagram posts...

All right....let's see what threw your well-laid plans out the window this month! I've heard and seen some pretty sweet distractions...

That's uh, my regular life brain so often these days...LOL

Update: When I saw Janine's doll quilts in the link-up, I realized hey wait a minute, I did have a DREAMi! I made a doll quilt for Bernie's Share the Love cause this month, and it certainly wasn't a planned project, and I did drop all the scheduled projects! Go here to read about the quilt, and go here to read about the project.

Linking up with
Confessions of a Fabric Addict because I am in your state Sarah, and whooping about it. 



Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Dutch Garden Quilt OMG

My One Monthly Goal is done! I haven't met my goal in the past couple of months so I am really pleased that I finally have succeeded.

I had to get a photo of the top by the water. This is looking north on Bird Key. You can see Lido Key on the top left, and Sarasota on the top right. This is the intracoastal water, which is between the barrier islands, or keys and the mainland. This quilt is for my aunt's 80th birthday, which was, um, April last year. In 2016 I brought her and my mum here to Florida for a lovely week, so I think it most fitting that I finished assembling the top here in Florida!

I just love how it turned out. I agonized for a few days with rearranging the stars to evenly distribute all the prints and the colours. The border is a 1-yard kit that came with the original kit. I didn't make the pattern that the kit was for though, but one out of a Pam and Nicky Lintott book, Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts. This was the kit:
I was pretty disappointed at first, because there was no indication that the yardage consisted of only one yard and 5 charm packs! However, this quilt pattern is perfect for it, and yielded a 54X72" quilt using just 4 of the charm packs and the yard for the border! Sweet! That extra charm pack will be a prize... You can still get this fabric, (affiliate link) though the kit I bought is no longer in stock. Hmm, I see there are no more charm packs, so I've got a rarity for a prize! Getting the quilt totally finished is one of my Q1 goals.

I made this quilt once before, as part of the Desire to Inspire Henry Glass Challenge back in June 2015, just slightly smaller, and without a border:
On the beach of Lake Erie
It's one of my favourite quilts.

So, that extra charm pack? It is destined as a prize in my #30quiltdesignschallenge I'm hosting on Instagram. There are also some sweet prizes from The Red Hen Shop and Clinton Modern Creative. Click the hashtag link for some pretty fabulous quilt designs! There are quite a few of us participating this year, and once again I am, and I think we all are, having fun, being pushed a little, and being amazed and inspired by the creativity in each of us.  Here is a little collage of three of my designs. The one in EQ8 (really liking this programme, no affiliation) is what evolved from a 'homework' quilt, playing with symmetry.
We have chatted about all the places that seem to inspire us with design; the yellow quilt just zipped into my head when I spied that well-known phrase on a billboard that week. Interestingly, the hexagon design of Feb. 19 gave me a 'frisson' of incredulity. No less than four of us played with hexagons on that day, unbeknownst to each other. Isn't that amazing? I know authors, poets, musicians, artists, speak of sometimes tapping into a stream of creativity where designs/works/words just flow, and they feel that they are just the vehicle. I fully believe in that, and perhaps this was a glimpse of tapping into that stream, just being in sync with each other.  Feel free to hop in anytime; the first draw for the first 10 designs, or however many you have come up with, is February 26.

Also not too late is joining in with my Postcard from Sweden quilt along.
My stack of 35 fabrics in colour order (Mulberry is missing, sigh), not 36, pointed out by Kathy, a reader and an observant one, just prior to cutting. I'm half way through the cutting.

There are some exceedingly sweet prizes available; click the link in my sidebar to check out the main post, or click on the Quilt Alongs tab at the top of this page. Kits are still available, with free shipping within each respective country of the shop's location. Please check out that Quilt Alongs tab for details. The following links will take you directly to the Postcard from Sweden kit at each shop:

Stitch Stash Diva
Mad About Patchwork (free shipping code: MMMQAL)
The Tartan Reel

If you love rainbow quilts, please visit Kelly's shop, Jeli Quilts. She is the designer of this FREE pattern, what a darling she is, to have it as a free download, and you will find she has a ton of rainbow quilts and blocks. 😍

Linking up
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication
Elm Street Quilts


Friday, February 16, 2018

Wonderlust II Cushion

Every time I have walked into my sewing room since I made the Wonderlust I cushion (and that's every day, multiple times a day), I have seen Wonderlust II looking at me, waiting patiently. She started tapping her foot this past week at me, and so before I start my mini-love project for Island Batik, I thought I need to finish her. She wants to be by her big sister, hmm, or rather, her slightly older twin.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Postcard from Sweden QAL Step 1

It's here! It seems to have taken so long, and in other ways it seems to have got here so quickly!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, as we start this colourful quilt on a day of love and flowers, chocolate and wine, good food shared between loving people.

Announcements
1. I've made a page for the Postcard from Sweden Quilt Along. You can click here to see it or click the tab "Quilt Alongs". From there you will be taken to a page where you will find the two that I have hosted so far, Freefall, and now this one. If you click the name of the quilt, you will be taken to its separate page where all the posts are listed, and as they go live, I will update the links.

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Galentine's Day Mug Rug

Happy Galentine's Day! This is my first challenge, and project post as a new ambassador this year for Island Batik, and I am very excited to show you what I did with supplies they, along with Aurifil and Hobbs Batting provided.

Galentine's Day, for those of you who may be unfamiliar with this newer day of celebration is when we celebrate our girlfriends, aka gal pals. I am blessed with many good women friends, IRL, in QBL and in crossover land between those two! I made two mug rugs because it doesn't take much more time to make two as to make one, and I am giving these to two very deserving amazing women.

Here is what I started with, a fat quarter bundle of 5 red, pink and off-white fabrics from Island Batik.

This is what I made, which I'm calling 'Hugs and Kisses'!
Aurifil 2455 on the red/pink areas, Sulky Blendables 733-4049 in the background

I designed this last year as a gift for another good friend, Jasmine, which you can read about here, calling it Quilt Kisses, which is à propos for the mug rug, but also because that's the name of her blog. I thought it would be great to make again for the challenge. It measures 6.5X12.5" and would make a great mug rug, a mini for your mini wall, or a candle mat. It's great for practising some FMQ too, since the piece is very maneuverable.
The backs. My favourite in the FQ pack is that top pink, berry, purple and magenta batik. In the bobbin I used a red Isacord polyester which worked beautifully with the Aurifil magenta on top, and an Aurifil pale yellow, 2123, which I already had, to go with the Sulky Blendables. 

I had the perfect spool of Aurifil thread in my Island Batik package. I used it to walking foot quilt the heart and the X.

I did straight-line walking foot quilting in the red/pink areas and a tiny flower or perhaps butterfly 😉meander in the background. How I love this background fabric!

Want to make one? They're pretty quick, with a slick method I thought of myself (ha!) to avoid 6 small HSTs. If you'd like a free PDF of these instructions, click here. (affiliate link).

Materials for One Mug Rug
scraps or fat quarters of pinks and reds and a light for the background; batting scrap approximately 8X14"
backing scrap approximately 8X14"
single-fold binding strip 1.25"X 45"

Cutting
For the heart block
From pinks and reds, cut
26 squares @ 1.5"
Two squares @ 2.5"
From background cut two squares @ 2.5" and one square @ 4" cut once on the diagonal

For the X block
From the pinks and reds cut:
Six squares 2.5"
Four squares 2"
Six squares 2.5" background

Heart Block Construction
Place your 26 squares on your design wall in a pleasing pattern. I actually did not overthink this at all; just wanted a random placement.

To make the 2" HSTs, layer a 2.5" background square with a 2.5" red square, marking a diagonal line on the wrong side of one of the squares. Sew 1/4" either side of the line. Cut on the drawn line, press open and square to 2". Make 4. Place them on the design wall in the top row as shown below.
Piece the heart, either in rows or in columns, which I prefer as it keeps everything chained together in order. For more on that method, called Book It! go here. I use it all the time, large quilts and small, have showed many others the method too, and are they impressed. I learned it years ago in a colourwash class.

To get the background corners on the heart, lie a ruler with a 45° line on it on the reverse side of the block as shown below:

The 45° line is along either a seam line or a stitching line, and the 1/4" line at your cutting edge is on the seam line. The ensures the cutting edge is 1/4" to the right of that stitching line so you will have your seam allowance. Cut.  Repeat on the other side.

You will have a heart that looks like the one on the left. Now place a 4" HST you cut out right sides together, on one side of the heart. I like to fold the HST in half to find the mid point, and do the same with the heart cut edge to line things up perfectly. Then I like to sew with the heart facing up so that I can sew right through the seam intersections. Sew both sides. You will then have the block on the right.  Trim to 6.5". Note that the 4" squares you cut are a bit oversize so you can trim to a perfect 6.5" size.

Kiss or X Block Construction
Piece the 6 HSTs, layering a red/pink/magenta square atop a background square, as you did for the heart small HSTs. Tip: I pressed half of the seams to the background and the other half to the colour so that they will nest nicely when within the block.
Lay out the block on your design wall.

Here you can see I've already chain-pieced the left column as per the Book It! method. Press. Now sew the X block to the heart block.
If you are making two you will have:

Layer the mug rug. I did one with scraps of cotton batting (no clue what it was) and the other with Thermore, the super-thin 100% polyester batting we were given from Hobbs Batting. Whoa!! Is it good for minis.💖
This is the one with the cotton batting, slightly more poofy than the Thermore. 
I debated for a while on what to do in the background, more lines or a flowing design for contrast. I hit upon the little flower meander because it can be quilted small, it's sweet, and it echoes the butterflies in this lovely fabric. The Sulky Blendables 30 weight was just perfect to use, soft yellow, cream, peach, pink and pale green!
The four threads I used for quilting and top-stitching the binding down.
As I said, I switched from the red Isacord to the pale yellow Aurifil in the bobbin. I tried, but even with tension adjustments, I still got some 'pokies' on the back, or sometimes on the front, and we can't have that! I used a Topstitch 90/14 Schmetz needle and backed the tension off quite low, and then FMQ-ed away. These two threads played very well together, and the pale yellow on the red or magenta backs is not bothersome IMHO.

Bind with a 1.25" wide single-fold binding. I like to do that because it's finer on a mini, but with limited amounts of fabric, it also means half as much is needed. I stitched it to the back and top-stitched it down on the front with the magenta. It sure blends lovely with all the shades of red doesn't it?
Let me know if you decide to make one, as I'd love to see it! If you'd like a free download of these instructions in PDF form go to my Crafsty store (affiliate link).

Quilt Stats:
Pattern:  original design
Size: 6.5X12.5"
Fabric:  Island Batik batiks
Batting: Thermore by Hobbs Batting in one; unknown cotton scraps in the second
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads:  pieced with Gütermann cotton; quilted with Aurifil 50 wt and Sulky Blendables 30 wt, Isacord polyester and Aurifil in the bobbin

Linking up
Cooking Up Quilts
Free Motion By the River
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication


Saturday, February 10, 2018

It's Real and I'm Not Dreaming!

You all know the saying, "Sh*t just got real."  Well it did for me this afternoon....
I was listening for that motor sound all morning and into the afternoon, hoping the truck would arrive before I had to leave for the airport...yes I was supposed to be headed to Nashville to meet Dayna, flying in from Detroit, to go wedding dress shopping. In the end, I am not headed up there this weekend due to a horrific snowstorm through the Detroit area that has shut down flights Friday/Saturday. Nor did I hear the telltale sounds of that motor. Oh but I did hear the thump at the front door, and I knew.

Friday, February 9, 2018

Doll Quilt for A Doll Like Me

It's done and ready to mail off!
Such fun!

Before I show you how it came to be and tell you a little more about this wonderful event, I have a super-exciting announcement.... drum roll........

I have a third sponsor for Postcard from Sweden!!

We were gone most of yesterday, and when I started going through some email in the late afternoon, I opened one from Jan, who is a reader of mine. She works at Mad About Patchwork, and when she saw that I'm hosting a Postcard from Sweden QAL, she talked to Pam Denesyk, the owner of Mad About Patchwork, and.....

  1. They are going to offer a prize of a $50 gift certificate to the shop, shipping anywhere in the world!! Note that the winner will pay the shipping.
  2. They sell kits for this pattern!! At a terrific price too, I may add. 😉 Click here. (no affiliation) But wait! For followers of mmm! quilts, you, my friends and dear readers, can get free shipping within Canada simply by using this code: MMMQAL!! Note that this applies to all orders placed before Feb. 28. A sweet deal for a sweet month! 💘💗 You have time still. We officially kick off with step 1 on Valentine's Day next week, and you have two weeks to complete that step which is ordering and petting, lol, your fabric and then cutting the HSTs. Do-able IMHO!!
  3. Louise of Quilt Odyssey kindly has made me a capture-the-HTML-code button, when she saw that Canva doesn't let me do that like Photobucket did... So see below for the button and code to paste on your sidebar of your blog and spread the word. 

MMM Quilts Postcards From Sweden Quilt Along

This will bring your readers here to my blog. I will be making a Postcard from Sweden page with all the posts links so everything is organized. For more details about the timeline and other prizes, go here.

Back to the finish at hand.

I built this doll quilt from the little HSTs cut off from my January RSC block. You've already seen the flimsy. I kept adding things to get it to the suggested size for these doll quilts. Note that the Dot Crazy fuchsia round was strips I'd already cut at home with a cat mat in mind, so I hadn't tried to centre the dots....drat, but oh well. I stalled for a bit on the purple and pink round, two Paula Nadelstern Marbella and Tula Pink prints.

 

I liked the movement of the second one, so went with that. Bella helped...😏

I was working on my OMG at the same time as this, so it was another day and a half before it was completely done.  The proverbial quilt in a tree shot:
The Pygmy date palm didn't want to support the little quilt, so I had to hold it with one hand and photograph it with the other!
The back:
This was actually a gift bag that was the perfect size when cut in half, for not one but two doll quilts. I think it would work for a boy doll quilt, yes she makes dolls for boys as well--and so I'll be doing one with a masculine-feel front. It's an Alexander Henry print, such fun! I kept the quilting pretty straightforward, but did have fun with some FMQ on the Dot Crazy fabric. I used a gorgeous variegated Coats and Clark cotton for that. Isacord polyester and Gütermann cotton were the others I used.


For more information and all the details about this cause that Bernie is organizing, click Needle and Foot. To check out the dolls Amy makes, and see videos of the children receiving their dolls, pretty moving, go to A Doll Like Me. I hope to make more of these quilts, just doubt I'll get another done this month with everything else going on! I'l be linking this post up with Bernie's linky party at the end of the month.


Quilt Stats:
Pattern:  original design
Size: 18X24"
Fabric:  scraps
Batting: Pellon Nature's Touch 100% cotton
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads:  pieced with Gütermann cotton; quilted with Coats and Clark variegated cotton, Isacrod polyester, and Gütermann cotton.

Linking up
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
TGIFF at Katie Mae Quilts
Crazy Mom Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts

Feels like Christmas today as I await the delivery with great anticipation and excitement from Island Batik!!! I will be showing you what is in my 22-pound yup pound!!! box from them once I get it. Can't wait to get started on February's projects, eeeep!!

If you are still procrastinating, now is the time to sign up for the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop! Go here for all the deets, and to fill out the sign-up form, if your blog is more than 2 months old but less than 3 years and you've been posting about 4 posts a month!





Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Postcard from Sweden and 30 Quilt Designs Updates

One week today marks the start of the Postcard from Sweden QAL! The original post with the dates is here. Are you in? Did you choose your fabric? I know of a few that are making it with prints, others with the solids on hand in their stash, others that have ordered or traded fabric, and still others who have bought kits.

I've made us a button! Feel free to grab it and post it on your blog.


I made this in Canva, and I am pretty tickled with how it turned out! I used the photo of Kelly's (pattern designer) original quilt. 😊 If you could link back to my blog, I would greatly appreciate it.

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Sunday Stretch #26 Saddle

When you first see this pose, you might think, 'uh no WAY, Sandra!'  However, there are many modifications as you will see, and thus, it may be more accessible than you think! In Yang style yoga, this pose is known as Hero or Thunderbolt pose, aka Supta Virasana, sitting on the heels, or Supta Vajrasana, sitting between the heels, respectively. Yin uses different names to indicate that we approach the poses differently, easing into them, and holding them for several minutes as opposed to several breaths.

Let's get started. I did these poses in regular clothes to show you you do not have to get into yoga clothing!

Watch a group of young children, and you will invariably see several of them plop down into this pose effortlessly. What happened to our flexible hips?  Life.  Stress.  Not living on the floor. Sitting on chairs. We sit a LOT in a chair at our sewing machines, more so if you have your pressing centre set up so that you just swivel your chair or your body over to it and then go back to sewing. Consider moving your pressing centre across  the room so that you do have to get up, walk a few steps over to it, which is so good for your body, period.

If sitting like me there makes you think, 'ain't gonna happen, Sandra' then here are some variations.

First, check in with your knees and ankles, as this puts a lovely stress on your ankles, but it can be too much for some people. Remember, I have said that the feet are the first place where we start to tighten up, so anytime we can stress our feet, we are helping to offset, or prolong the aging process. You may find that simply sitting back on your feet as you see above, is plenty for now. You can sit on the floor, or you can place a rolled up towel or small quilt beneath your ankles if it is too much for them just now.
If that is simple for you, try the next stage, sitting between your feet.

This gives us a nice inner rotation in our hip joints, something we don't tend to do a lot of in yoga or in life. Check in with your knees when you do this. Here are some suggestions as to how to modify if you have any knee pain at all:

1. Try rolling up a quilt and placing it behind your knees, and on your calves. Rest back on it. This reduces pressure on the knees.

2. Alternatively, if the pressure is too great using a rolled up quilt, try sitting on a block, or if you don't have one, as I don't here in Florida, how about a few quilt books or fat novels?! This will lessen the pressure on your knees and hips. Work on removing one book at a time over the course of several weeks or months.

3. If the knee is not coming to the floor, then be sure to rest it on something, either another block or another rolled up quilt (so many uses for our quilts!) or a cushion so that you can relax your quads.

4. All right so you've got yourself into your variation of the pose, a variation that gives you some tugs, or 'comfortable discomfort', to quote Bernie Clark. Stay here for 3-5 minutes, or, if you want to approach the full pose, then place your hands behind your feet and start to lean back, arching your lower back (great extension for the low back!) and maybe letting your head drop back, as long as you have no neck problems; if you do, then keep your head facing forward.

To safely drop the head back, first tuck in the chin to lengthen the back of the neck, and then slowly allow the head to drop back. This is great for the cervical spine, and stimulates the thyroid gland, as well as gives a lovely stretch to the ligaments in the front of our neck, which tend to be shortened with aging, (think stooping) and with heads bent over our sewing, and also with heads bent over our devices, (iPads, phones, laptops, etc).

Keep the chest lifted, and arch your back. Again, set your timer and stay in the pose, breathing steadily and slowly to a count of 3 or 4 on each inhale and exhale, for 3-5 minutes.

5.  If you are feeling super-comfortable, and you are not needing the modifications above, feel free to lean back as in #4, easing your way down to the floor. The rule is that if the knees start to lift off your mat, stay there; don't go any further back. This tugs into the quads quite intensely but deliciously. It also is quite a strong backbend in the arch of the back. You can even raise your arms over your head which gives a nice stretch for the upper chest, something really nice for us quilters!
Full pose; note my arms and elbows don't rest on the floor because of tight shoulders and a couple of whiplash injuries. They will get there one day, as I like to say when I teach, maybe this lifetime or the next; it just takes time.

6. Another modification is that you may like to ease back onto a bolster, a cushion, rolled up pillow, or rolled up quilt. You can place it in two ways, first, lengthwise under your spine. Keep the arch in your low back. It won't be as intense as with no support, but it should still be there. This feels quite wonderful.

Or place the rolled up quilt perpendicular to your spine, under your shoulder blades, and let your head go back to the floor. This is LOVELY for opening the upper chest, and pulls nicely across the pectoral muscles too. I particularly love the pose like this.

7. Now, if it is one knee that won't allow you to do this pose, you can do the Half Saddle, where you do any of the modifications above or not, but keep one leg straight. It is probably best to sit up on a cushion or rolled up quilt if you are doing this variation. Be sure to do both sides.


You can sit up, as I am doing, or lie fully back, depending on what I said above regarding modifications.

Remember, "If you're feeling it you're doing it," and, "You want to feel sensation, but don't make it sensational." Wise words from Bernie. Stay in the pose as I've said for 3 -5 or more minutes.

How the heck do you come out?
"Call 911" or "Rent a crane or a forklift" are options that Bernie gives, LOL. The second option, if you are lying fully back, is to roll very slowly to the side, coming off the rolled up quilt if you had it under your spine, straightening out your legs if they were bent, and making a pillow for your head by bending your arm and resting your head on it. Be still for a minute or so. You can then lie onto your back and either hug the knees into the chest, keeping your back flat on the floor now, or you may want to do a few leg raises, legs bent or straight, as a Yang pose to further release. Be sure to place your hands under your bum, palms down to protect your back and keep it flat.

A third option is to come out the way you went in. It is very important to protect your back, so tighten your abs, using your core. In other words, pull in with your tummy and pull up on the pelvic floor at the same time. Push into your forearms and elbows, leaving your head back as you slowly come up, head coming forward last. Keep going forward, coming onto your hands and knees, resting quietly on all fours, observing the sensations of warmth, coolness, tingling, buzzing, 'a spearmint feeling,' as one of my students has coined the sensation of coming out of these long held poses.

Next, stretch out your legs coming into Crocodile or plank pose which helps to release the knees, and is a good Yang pose to do, holding for maybe 30 seconds, pulling your tummy in.

Then lie down on your tummy for a minute until you feel ready to either go into another pose or get back up (slowly) and into your sewing chair!

Bernie Clark gives a lot of information and a couple of demos on this pose here.

Remember that registration is now open for
If your blog is more than 2 months but less than 3 years old, please consider joining this most worthwhile event, which will run over April and May, 2 weeks in each month. Lots of discussion happens, as well as learning, and many friendships made. You can find the original post with more information here.

The #30quiltdesignschallenge2018 is on! Click on that hashtag and you will be taken to a 'pool' of original designs that the challengers are submitting. It works out to making about 3 designs per week.
Here is the second design I submitted this morning:
I did it in my Quiltography app, a terrific, reasonably priced app for iPad that is pretty user-friendly if you take a little time to play with it. You can even take a photo of fabric and input it into the library to use in colouring in your quilts. Here you see a couple photos of 'Paradiso' fabric along with fabrics already in the Quiltography library. For all the details on this challenge, click here, or click the button in the sidebar. I am not an affiliate of Quiltography, just so you know!

Okay that's it for me; I am going to take a couple of days off the blog with any luck, and hunker down and sew beginning right now. The only part of the Super Bowl I'll be watching is maybe the odd fabulous play, or running out to see some great commercials.