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.

First, another thank you and round of applause to my four sponsors:

Kelly is the designer of this oh-so-fabulous quilt, and not only has she continued to offer her pattern for free, but now she is also sponsoring $30 of patterns from her shop. Affiliate link, but I don't make any commission on sales of her patterns; however, should you choose to check out the offerings at Craftsy, and make a purchase, that is where I would make a couple of bucks. Full disclosure! Also know that I am not affiliated with the following three quilt shops, and do not make a penny of any sales of anything you buy, including the kits.

Tayva is offering backing and binding to finish your Postcard quilt, OR $75 gift certificate to her shop, if you already have backing and binding! Shipping is free.


Pam is offering a $50 gift certificate to her shop.

Janey is offering an Elizabeth Hartman pattern, a Kona bundle and a Kona colour chart.

All three of the quilt shops still have kits for sale at a terrific price, with free shipping within their respective countries. Note that you need a code MMMQAL at Mad About Patchwork, and that the free shipping code is good only until the end of today, Feb. 28!


Okay, first to 'link up' would be me!
Here are my HSTs all cut and labelled and in their baggies inside a basket.
I don't have Clover Clips because I prefer their red- and white-headed pins. This is a case where they would come in very handy though, but clothespegs are working just fine. I am keeping most of them in their sandwich baggies for transport home.
Now, if you haven' t checked out Louise's (Quilt Odyssey) Postcard from Sweden post, please do. Such a savvy friend she is! This post tells you some very good tips on organizing and pairing and beginning to sew the HSTs. Louise has also made a colour translation chart, so if, like several in this QAL are doing, you would like to make the quilt from your stash, she can help you match the Kona colours to what you already have! Sweet. I know my idea of what the colour cypress is is certainly not like the Kona Cypress.

I am so glad that I've set a relaxed pace for this QAL. My life has been anything but the past couple of weeks!

We kayaked from Englewood Beach in the intracoastal waterway between islands past Stump Pass State Park and all the way to Stump Pass itself, which is the waterway between Manasota Key and Thornton Key, and the channel from the intracoastal waterway out to the Gulf. It was an idyllic few hours. We saw a couple of dolphins and various birds, including osprey, one of which was sitting in the massive nest, watchful as we silently glided by.

Looking east-southeast. The beach you see is the south end of Manasota Key and the bushes on the left of the photo the north end of Thornton Key with the channel of water, aka Stump Pass between.

We've been meeting up with John and Brandy a couple of times a week to walk the dogs, usually by some body of water, for opportunities to swim and/or take quilt pics:



And, just this past weekend I flew to Nashville where I met up with my daughter, Dayna, who flew down from Detroit.

Her SIL-to-be, Casey, who is one of Dayna's bridesmaids, lives just outside of Nashville, and she set up the surprise weekend for Dayna (ensuring the dates would work for me) to shop for her wedding dress. Tyler was in on it too, so kind and thoughtful of them both! Casey was a most capable chauffeur, organizer, tour guide and hostess, with help from her, to quote Dayna, 'stupid-cute' not-quite-10-month-old daughter, Aliviana. The four of us had a wonderful time, and in case you're wondering, YES! Dayna found the dress, and I am a pretty happy mama myself at what she found. It seems far away, 9 months, but I know it will be here before we know it.

So I hope you will forgive me for being behind in checking out ALL the fabulous DrEAMi! projects that were linked up this month, and for not getting back to your comments on time. I promise things will settle down next week.

With several new followers because of the Postcard from Sweden QAL and the 30 Quilt Designs Challenge, I should mention that today is the last day to sign up for the New Quilt Bloggers Hop! Go here for all the deets and for the sign-up form. If you've been blogging more than 2 months but less than 3 years, and you blog mainly about quilting, this hop is for you!


Tracie of Riceford Streams sent me this super-cool pic of a quilt van, taken, I presume, by threadbearelise. Perfect timing for our Postcard from Sweden QAL!


We have another day out with friends from the Catskills in New York State planned mid-week, which would be today since I'm writing this post ahead of time, and then we will be northward bound, heading home where hopefully Spring will be starting to lift her head.

Linking up with
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication




13 comments:

  1. Fun on the water and land, near and far! Spring may come a few nice days followed by dare I say more snow..ughh

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  2. Yay for a visit with Dayna! You've been busy busy, Sandra. Hope you get a chance to breathe, stretch and stitch soon :)

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  3. Oh thanks for the lovely recommendation. You are soo kind. I wonder will I finish both for the final link up? Talk about talking myself into something! Off now to check out Louise!

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  4. Thanks for a great round up! A snow half day has given me a bit of time to start the next step - I've had a think about which way to press the seam allowances on the HSTs and have made them so they interlock along each row and pair of rows. I worked out which way they needed to spin and then stick the row/column label to that triangle to remind me which way they need pressing - so far so good! Now I've found my Bloclock ruler I'm going to motor through a few more blocks!

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  5. Yay for the time spent with your girls and finding the dress! I'm behind on Postcards but I hope to get some work done on Postcards tomorrow before we leave for Florida on Friday. We'll see if that happens. Tracie is a good friend of mine, she is spot on with that van picture! LOL

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  6. Oh that selfie!! She's a mini-you!
    :)

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  7. Congrats on finding THE dress!! I'm behind on the QAL already. I can't stop making quilted baskets, but SEW want to make this quilt!

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  8. Would someone with experience with Kona Cotton please tell me...does it have a right or wrong side???

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    1. Hi Sue, you're a no-reply so I have to answer you here since I don't get your email address. It does not have a right side. I tend to be a bit anal most of the time, LOL, so I try my best to keep the right side straight, but for this quilt with it's bajillion HSTs, I am not worrying about it! Hope this helps.

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    2. Oops, I need to check my profile...sorry about the no-reply. Thanks for taking the time to answer here. I, too, can be considered a bit anal (um, some might say, obsessive, lol), but was freaking trying to figure out how to keep track all those HSTs once they are all cut. I think you are right...I need to chill on this one:)

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  9. Thanks for linking to Louise's post. She was TOO funny!!

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  10. Not very often, but once in a while, someone lays claim to one of my quilts before it's even a flimsy. When I posted my Postcard progress on Instagram, my daughter said it must a pride quilt for her. LOL, I guess that's one Christmas present figured out for this year....that's a record!

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  11. Love all the colors for this quilt - can't wait to see the finish!

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