DrEAMi! #15

Yay! My brain worked like it's supposed to, and you are reading this post on the correct date! Do you think I should use my planner to maybe write down the dates of DrEAMi linky parties? Put a reminder in my phone? Ya, sounds like a plan.

I do not mean to offend anyone religious with this squirrels joke a good friend sent me, but I just have to share it with all you squirrel-chasers, and I hope you will take it in the light-hearted way it is meant.

The Presbyterian church called a meeting to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation.  

After much prayer and consideration, they concluded the squirrels were predestined to be 

there and they shouldn't interfere with God's divine will.

At the Baptist church the squirrels had taken an interest in the baptistery.  The deacons 

met and decided to put a water-slide on the baptistery and let the squirrels drown themselves.  

The squirrels liked the slide and, unfortunately, knew instinctively how to swim so twice 

as many squirrels showed up the following week.

The Lutheran church decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creatures.  

So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist church.  

Two weeks later the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water-slide.

But the Catholic church came up with a very creative strategy!  They baptised all the 

squirrels and made them members of the church.  Now they only see them at Christmas and Easter and funerals.

Not much was heard from the Jewish synagogue; they took the first squirrel and circumcised him.  

They haven't seen a squirrel since.

Well, what project has you by your bushy tail and bright eyes? Once again, I am SORELY tempted, but I have had no choice but to resist due to other deadlines I had and still have this month.

An InLinkz Link-up

I Like/Love #15

Some months these posts are hard to write when my heart is heavy and I think, what's the point of making another quilt, or writing these posts, but then I think of what my friend Jasmine of Quilt Kisses told me a few years ago, "We keep putting a bit of beauty into this world." And she's right. By making another quilt, writing another 'I Like/Love' post, I add another drop of beauty and positive thinking to this world. Maybe if we all did this, we could banish the darkness.

1. I like Mozart. His symphony #38 in particular is a favourite. As soon as its melody penetrates my brain, I start head-bobbing conductor-style and rocking out, thinking, 'Oh I just LOVE this! What is it?' and yup, it's his Symphony #38.

2. I like giving quilts to people I care about, and when I get a photo of them in use at their home, it is such a rush. My heart and my brain, well, my entire being, just hums. Outside of my mum's photo, I got these pictures within the last couple of months, two within the past couple of weeks!

Clockwise from top left: Galentine's day mug rug given to Linda T (didn't she do a wonderful job photographing it - what a wonderful surprise it was when she sent me that, the day after I gave it to her); my mum's 80th birthday quilt in her living room amongst bouquets of gorgeous flowers; Aidan's quilt on the spare room bed in his house (love his orange curtains! And, the fact that he sent me two other lovely-staged shots of it in two other places in his home!); Auntie Norma's quilt I made her for her 80th birthday. All but Aidan's were made within the past six months.

Plus Playtime QAL Introductory Post and List of Sponsors

Woo hoo! It is here! As I said when I was emailing my lovely generous sponsors, it feels weird to write 'second annual QAL' when Freefall, the first one, doesn't seem to have happened that long ago!

Once more here is the quilt in its original fabrics as featured in Benartex's Modern By The Yard ezine! That link will take you to their blog where you can download your copy of the ezine which contains my pattern.

There's just something about seeing your own quilt professionally photographed...

And a straight-on shot on our fence:

Here is the schedule, which you can also find on the main landing page I've created. That main landing page has the links to all of the following steps to the QAL:

April 11: QAL Announcement Post
April 24: Introductory Post and List of Sponsors - you are here!
May 1: Step 1 - Fabric Requirements and Tips
May 8: Step 2 - Cutting
May 22: Step 3 - Row 1 Construction
May 29: Step 4 - Row 2 Construction
June 5: Step 5 - Row 3 Construction
July 5: Finished Quilt Parade Linky opens

If you are quilting along, please grab my button on my sidebar, which is coded thanks to my darling friend Tish. Shout-out to her if you aren't aware, because she is gearing up for her first Mystery Quilt! A long-time tester for Cheryl's mysteries at Meadow Mist Designs, she is now branching out to do her own. I've had a sneak peek, and I cannot WAIT to start this one, as it's a real beauty. Head to her blog (after you're done here of course) for details. Don't worry, you can handle this QAL and her mystery; mine is super-easy and hers is super-spread-out, what a combo. 😀 Like the two of us!

A note about the date of this post. I had it about half done when I ran out of steam last night. Started getting the coffee ready for the morning, and putting my yoga gear all together for the early morning class I attend in Windsor...bam! It hit me: today is April 24. This post was supposed to be published April 24.  Today (like last night) is/was Tuesday, April 24!! NOOOO.... One of the joys and oft-times annoyances of being retired and only working part-time, is that sometimes I get dates messed up. Days of the week? No. Easy, because of teaching yoga four times a week. Dates? Uh yeah, they go by too quickly, something my dad always used to comment about. 😔 So you aren't wrong when you read this and notice that, wait, the date is April 25; she said it's going to be posted the 24th... It's just my brain that short-circuited again...

Okay sponsors.

I am so very very grateful to my generous sponsors for this second annual QAL. I do hope you will check them out, and patronize their businesses when making either a pattern or fabric purchase for your next quilt. Two years ago there was a 'May is for Makers', where you do purchase something from a small business that you wish to support during the month of May. I wonder (hope) it happens again this year. There is such generosity in QBL, so once in awhile it is a good thing to show some of your faves a little $$ love to help them keep going. 😊

1. Benartex has a bundle of fat quarters of 'Wonderlust' by Paula Nadelstern going to one lucky winner who lives in the USA.

Wonderlust is what I am using for my adult rendition of Plus Playtime. Once again, here are the fabrics I am using:

Stitch Stash Diva

Stitch Stash Diva has been on Etsy since 2011. Tayva started the business as a way to gather all her 'fun and and bright fabrics in one location'. It is now a work-from-home business for both she and her husband, Joe! SSD is offering a $100 grand prize and two $25 part-way-through check-in points prizes!
You may recall that Tayva sponsored Helen's and my Postcard from Sweden QAL which ended last week. She found me, after a serious uptick in purchases for Postcard from Sweden kits, and I am so happy we have connected, so I hope you hop over and check out her store...there are some great deals with her moving shop, just sayin'...

Mad About Patchwork

Mad About Patchwork is located in Stittsville, Ontario. They are a bricks and mortar shop as well as as online shop. They also found me through the Postcard from Sweden QAL and I'm so happy they are back to sponsor this QAL of mine! They are offering a $50 grand prize for finished quilts. Great minds think alike: they, like SSD, suggested making up a kit!

You can find this colourful rainbow here.  Note that you will provide your own background fabrics (the large plus and the background).

Clinton Modern Creative 

Clinton Modern Creative, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been an online store for about 9 months now. When Darla opened her store she felt there was "a need in the Canadian marketplace for more modern fabrics, patterns and supplies" and boy, has she delivered! She is curating two kits for this quilt! And here they are:

You can find this gorgeous bundle of 'Architectures' and 'Gleaned' here.

If you prefer this bright bundle of Alison Glass, check it out here!

Please note that I am not affiliated with any of these three quilt shops, just happy that they want to kit up a quilt that I designed. 😃

And this just in!! I don't know if you've been hopping along with The Great Canadian Shop Hop on Instagram, hosted by @handmade_habit, but wow, has it been both inspiring and eye-opening as to the wealth of shops we have here, both bricks and mortar and online. On their feature day, each shop has a percentage off coupon and many are hosting giveaways too. The two Canadian shops that have made kits for my QAL😍😍 have 10% off coupons which you can use when you order your kit! I'm not affiliated with either of them, just passing along savings to you, my readers, when I can!

**Clinton Modern Creative has 10% off your order from today through the end of Saturday with the code SHOPHOP. They are the shop with two kits to choose from.

**Mad About Patchwork is also offering 10% off orders from now until April 30 with the code GCHS10.


Canuck Quilter Designs

Joanne has been quilting since 2000, blogging since 2010 and designing most of that time!

Here are just two of her many wonderful designs. She is Canadian, but lives in Iowa and was in the direct path of the total eclipse last year. She created that incredible design to commemorate it. Starfall is her newest, just-released pattern. And, she may have a sale on it right now, just letting you know!
She is offering two PDF patterns of the winner's choice as a prize.

Cooking Up Quilts

Beth has been quilting for 15 years. She lives in West Virginia, where she is currently working, a lot more hours than she bargained for, at a quilt shop! She's been designing quilts since 2015 after pattern-testing for Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs. She started blogging in 2014, and is currently one of four hosts for the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. She is offering one winner their choice of two PDF patterns.

Devoted Quilter

Leanne has been quilting for 21 years; a wedding gift for a friend was her first quilt, hand appliquéd and hand-quilted!!  She started designing in 2014, and had her first design published in Make Modern in 2015! She once said to me that she had NO idea she'd be designing and publishing her own patterns, and be published in several magazines, when she first started quilting all those years ago! She lives in Newfoundland. She is offering the winner's choice of two PDF pattern downloads.

Meadow Mist Designs

Cheryl is offering two prizes: two PDF pattern downloads to each winner! Cheryl's day job is 'an engineer and patent agent for a private textile and chemical company.' She lives in South Carolina, and started blogging in 2013, not long after she'd started quilting! Like me, there are no quilters in her family. She is probably best known for her wonderful mystery quilts, and most recently published her first book, Modern Plus Sign Quilts, with Paige of Quilted Blooms. You may notice Cheryl is and has been an inspiration and mentor to several of my sponsors here, including me. 😇

Quilting Jetgirl

Yvonne is offering one winner a choice of two PDF pattern downloads! Yvonne lives in California, and her pre-quilting career was as an aerospace engineer. She has quilters in her family, and recently wrote about enjoying time spent back at her parents' house, sleeping under one of her grandma's quilts! My own grandma made exactly one quilt, red and black wool squares, tied, very heavy, always on the couch. Yvonne has been quilting since her teens, blogging, hmm, consistently, since 2014, but posts go a ways back before then (1996!!). She is known for her transparency quilt designs, and she is the Aurifil designer of the month for April! Another really interesting post for you to check out once you're done here.

Sew Fresh Quilts

When I asked Lorna if she would consider sponsoring my QAL, she immediately replied with a resounding, yes! and then she asked to feature me on her Let's Bee Social Linky party! Wow! I'd like to think it was little ol' me posting about the Plus Playtime QAL, that started the uptick in downloads of the ezine off the Sew In Love With Fabric blog, and I'm sure I did a little bit, but they informed me that all last week they noticed a pretty decent increase in downloads! So thank you Lorna. 🙏 Lorna started blogging in 2012, shortly after she started quilting! She lives in Ontario, and is known for her adorable animal quilts, and fun QALs.  She is offering one winner a choice of two PDF pattern downloads!

Tish N Wonderland

Huh? You may be thinking; that's not Tish's logo! Well, it's a hint for you. You may know that both Tish and her husband, Dave, quilt. They live in West Virginia. Both work full-time jobs, but quilt all they can in their spare time, and both attend their local guild, though David not as regularly due to job and time constraints. Tish has been quilting for 13 years, and blogging since 2015. She taught David to quilt a couple of years ago! David is the main designer, Tish the EQ implementer and pattern-writer. Both come from quilting families, and both are being featured separately, Tish next week, on Melva Loves Scraps 'Quilters Through the Generations'. Tish has already drawn Plus Playtime in EQ to play with her colour choices, and has graciously given me a copy to share with you for colouring purposes. You can download it here in my Craftsy store. (That's an affiliate link, but the page and all but one of my patterns there are free.) In case you haven't noticed, Tish and I are pretty close, having met in the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop in 2015, and we've gotten together a few times (never enough!) IRL. We both are cohosts of this year's hop.

moi aka mmm! quilts
I've been quilting since 1995, and blogging since 2013, when I quit my teaching job, and made a major move across Canada. I wanted to keep in touch with my friends and family who lived far away, as well as document my quilts, and occasionally muse, as in share some thoughts of life after 50. I started designing seriously a few years ago with Pocketful of Sunshine, free on Craftsy (see sidebar), which has been unbelievably popular and was featured once on Craftsy's free pattern Friday. I have run a #30quiltdesignschallenge on Instagram for two years now, which has really helped spark the designer in me. I'm offering two winners a copy of Blue Skies & Sunny Days, my one and only 'for $$' pattern, but I hope to have at least one or two more (they just need EQ diagrams!!) uploaded by this summer, so I'll up it to two PDF copies of the winner's choice.

I have two more sponsors just in!

Stitchin At Home

Cindy and I met in the NQBBH 2015. We live relatively close by North American standards: I am at the south end of Lake Erie and she's two hours northeast of me not far from its shore! She has been quilting for 25 years, and blogging since 2014. She started designing her own quilts in 2014 and has designed three BOMs for her guild. Last year she did a BOM on her blog; the patterns for all the blocks are still there.  As well as two new patterns releasing in May, she has a couple of upcoming publications in magazines! She is offering one winner a choice of two PDF patterns from her Craftsy shop.


All Points of the Compass
Jean writes a wonderful blog. She lives in New Zealand, and took part in last year's Freefall QAL. This year she wants to sponsor my QAL! Hugh makes beautiful wooden bowls, and she is offering one of them as a prize, along with this adorable frog to hold pencils and markers, to anyone quilting along in New Zealand!

Jean started blogging in 2011, when she started"Bags for Japan from New Zealand" by asking for bags to be sewn to be sent to the earthquake region in Japan. Her 'man' Hugh has made wooden items for years, she says. Her blog name comes from a dear friend who was in HMS in WWII.

Make Modern

The ladies at this great ezine said it so well, so here is a little bit about them right off their website:
"Make Modern started in 2014 as a collaboration of three Aussie quilters who built a close friendship through the online quilting community. Our magazine is written by a small team of passionate modern quilters in Australia with a huge team of amazing quilters from all over the globe who contribute patterns and articles."

Issues come out bi-monthly and contain articles and modern quilt patterns. You can purchase a subscription or a single copy here. There's a brand new issue coming out May 4! Make Modern is offering a 6-month subscription to one lucky winner.

Okay that's finally it! Thank you for reading through all that, but I wanted to give a little background and shout-out to each very much appreciated sponsor. 😍😘😘 I will be back on Tuesday, May 1, (promise!) with fabric requirements and some tips which you won't find in the ezine, so hope to see you next week! Watch this space for kit updates too.

Linking this up
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication

SaveSave

Week 2 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop

Welcome to week two of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop where we introduce quilt bloggers who are new to Quilting BlogLand. My hive named themselves In Stitches.

Carrie of Carrie Bee Creates made our button. That's one of her own quilts!

Last week was so much fun! This week I hope you will visit Velda at Freckled Fox Quiltery and Carrie at Carrie Bee Creates and show them some comment love!

Once again there is a terrific giveaway with lots of awesome prizes from our very generous sponsors.
**Please note if you are here looking for the Postcard from Sweden winners, go here, where I've announced them.💖

I hope you will also have time to hop over to my co-hosts' blogs, Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts, Tish @ Tish N Wonderland, and Jen @ Dizzy Quilter where you will find links to the bloggers in their hives who are also posting today.

All you need to do for all eight new bloggers posting today is leave a comment and come back to enter the giveaway for some truly wonderful prizes.

On the co-hosts' blogs, you will also find the Rafflecopter Giveaway for lots of wonderful prizes! We are so very grateful to our 18 very generous sponsors for this year's hop:

Benartex

Canuck Quilter Designs

Christina Cameli

Clinton Modern Creative

Cooking Up Quilts

Devoted Quilter

Island Batik

Make Modern

Meadow Mist Designs

Needle & Foot Fine Fabrics

Northcott

Phat Quarters

Quilting Jetgirl

Sew Fresh Quilts

Sew Sisters Quilt Shop

The Quilter's Planner

The Red Hen Shop

Victoria Findlay Wolfe

                                                

The giveaway is the same on all four of the co-hosts' blogs, so you only need to enter once. The giveaway will run from April 23 12:00 am to April 28 at 12:00 am EST. Winners will be announced on Sunday, April 29, notified by email and posted to the Rafflecopter widget below. For last week's winners go here.

Have fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Postcard from Sweden is a Finish!

And I couldn't be happier that it is finally done and I am sleeping under it tonight! (well last night when you read this lol). It is one of the items on my Q2FAL list.

When I thought about all the places around me for a photo shoot, I just knew Lakeside Park would be a great place, this bridge, the 'magic' bridge, in particular. You've seen a few quilts photographed here over the years!

on Lake Erie's shore

Because of the storms and winds of last weekend and beginning of the week, the lake is looking pretty stirred up muddy! This quilt is sure a pop of jewels in the bright sunshine today!

I'm so very happy that Helen of Midget Gems Quilts (she's made two!) nudged me to get this quilt off my 'wanna make' list and onto my bed, my love seat, into my life! I'll be taking it as my sit-upon quilt when I teach yoga on Friday.😎

Before you read any further, be sure to link up your finished quilt or finished flimsy, both are acceptable! on my previous post. The deadline is Saturday midnight EST, so Sunday for those in England, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia...(not sure there were any quilting along over there, but I know I have likely missed seeing everyone's long the way, and so I sure want to on the linkup! I've been visiting a bunch of you who have already linked up!

I had to put it 'in' one of 'my' massive cottonwood trees. I used to walk through this park on a daily basis when we lived on this side of town, and I miss it so much. The Kingsville Horticultural Society has done wonders to improve all the flower gardens and it is a riot of colour throughout the seasons, though not this April with all the cold weather we, like most of the continent, have been having.

You saw the front of the quilt on the bridge looking toward the lake; here is the back, on the other side of the bridge looking toward Mill Creek and the park:

Love the tree shadows

This backing is a piece of wide backing I bought from Lester's mum a few weeks ago when she was destashing. It's my friend Judy's favourite backing, and I can see why. I was contemplating what to use as the back and had pulled one or two pieces from my stash when I spied this on the pile that hasn't been sorted through yet, and I just knew.

My mmm! quilts label. I'm getting pretty good at remembering to stitch them in before I put on the binding ha! You can see the turquoise Isacord I used to top-stitch the binding down here.

Perfection.

The cloth label:

These are from Moda, really interesting and unique labels. I did the 'from' on an angle on purpose as I knew the title wouldn't fit there and there isn't a title spot, hmmm. 

The binding, the colour idea I got from Heidi of @sewnheidi, (who also used a label on hers from that very set!) is stitched to the front by machine and then turned to the back and topstitched down. I keep playing around with machine-binding techniques to improve. I'm not so in love with this one. Although it gives a really nice finish on the back, it leaves a line of stitching not in the ditch on the front, so it's visible. See below along the edge.

Oh! How happy I am with that Aquarius binding, a Paintbrush Studio solid that is incredibly soft.

I did use a medium grey in the bobbin with the turquoise Isacord polyester in the top thread so it blended in, and it's not a visible here I guess as it was with my nose against the quilt. I had a couple of greys and a few rainbow-stripe/motif-themed fabrics as binding choices, but when I saw Heidi's post on IG, I fell in love. See how we inspire each other? (...and I always give credit where credit is due😊)

This photo is here as well to show you two things:
1.  the oranges variegated Aurifil thread popped a little more than anticipated, but I hoped it would sink in (and you'll see it did) after washing. I was amazed that this thread blended better than the rainbow variegated one!
2.  the imperfections that are loud and clear, as I was quilting on Avril. They aren't really apparent in the spiral design at the bottom, as that design is forgiving. All of these are Christina Cameli's btw out of her book, Step by Step Free-Motion Quilting. Look at the swoop 'C' design and you can see immediately where I a) didn't quite hit the arced edge of the wave, and b) where my backtracking wasn't exactly lined up over the first pass, and c) where some of those wobbles are fairly bad is due to a couple of blips along Avril's track that need adjusting (again, sigh, which drive me, along with MacGyver, who gets out his micrometers, bonkers). I was a bit upset at quilting that particular design, which I super-similar to one of Angela Walter's that I've used a few times on quilts, but I've only done it on my Bernina, not on Avril. Meh, I'm not a computer, and this isn't for sale, I kept telling myself.

There it is again, stitched in the rainbow variegated thread, a little closer together arcs than the first photo which was the third time I stitched it across the quilt, the above photo being the first. I worried about them not being even, but as Judy and I have discussed a few times, (and I have to ask Tish about this) your quilting changes from one day to the next, or from one part of a larger quilt to the next. Incidentally, did you notice my new button on the sidebar, for which you can grab the code and put it on your own blog if you're joining in? Thank you Tish, for coding it; Photobucket won't do it for me anymore. The button will take you to the Plus Playtime main page.

Now... take a look below....

Laundered quilt

Find that same design. It's about dead centre. The thread has sunk in beautifully and the imperfections with it. It looks pretty damn fabulous if I do say so myself, and therein lies the lesson that I still haven't totally learned: when you're quilting with your nose inches away from the quilt you see every. single. mistake. And if you're like me, a perfectionist, you beat yourself up about it. Let it go. Know that washing and drying, and a normal distance smooths it all away. And besides, if you want a perfectly quilted quilt, then get someone to do it who owns a computerized longarm. I do not.

The other thing apparent in that photo is that the line of stitching that shows just inside the binding isn't as bothersome either.

The five designs I did are visible in that photo and the one below.

They are, from top to bottom, Wisp, Vapor, Gossamer, Impulsive and Vestal. Such cool names she gives them. Wisp is the e's inside a fish body shape, (that's how I think of it, a kind of pointed oval). Vapor is large pebbles inside the same shape, Gossamer is the 'c' arcs inside the curving lines. Impulsive is the eee's design and Vestal is the spirals inside the curving lines. I knew I would do wavy organic lines, but when I saw how Anne-Marie of Stories from the Sewing Room quilted hers, with the Angela Walters trademark motif, I thought, ooh, that looks so good... So I knew I was going to vary a little from the wavy lines plan.

I always quilt in my name or initials if it's for someone else, and usually their name too. This baby's all mine, so it got my name and my initials in another spot. I am so amused that I thought to quilt in Sandra in the Wisp motif! The difference between pre-laundering and post-laundering is really amazing in the photos, isn't it?

Here are the threads, and no the photo isn't sideways, just looking down from above.


The next two I took this morning, as I didn't get the post finished last night, (and have had umpteen interruptions this morning), and I also wanted to get a full-on straight shot of the quilt in the early morning light.

The sun is coming from the side here. I need to block this!

Laid down on the grass, 30 seconds later, and such a difference in tone right?

The more I photograph my quilts, the more intrigued I am by the sun's influence. The previous texture shots were on my bed in the setting sun last night.

One final shot on the bench in Lakeside Park, Kingsville, Ontario. 😄 I do believe I may be making another in the not-too-distant future and selling it...

Isn't it just glorious! I could gaze at it (and have been doing) for hours. Thank you Kelly SO much for this beautiful quilt you designed, and continue to offer for free on Craftsy. (Affiliate link - check out my sidebar for the current special, a pretty sweet deal I'd say, on both, the 60% off kits and supplies, and the 2 weeks unlimited for $1. There I guess I told you, lol.) I should mention that the batting I used, Hobbs Tuscany 100% polyester, which I was told, and witnessed, at Alma Sue's Quilts in Sarasota, the Amish ladies LOVE for hand-quilting, and I am LOVING for machine quilting, is on for a terrific price at Craftsy this weekend, $20CA for 120X120"!

Thanks to all of you who quilted along 😍😘😘!!  Puh-LEEZE link up your tops or finished quilts by tomorrow Saturday, midnight, HERE, to be eligible for the prizes, which are amazing. Tagging me on Instagram is not an entry, so please tell your friends. I've been trying to catch those who tag me, but there are a LOT of us quilting along, so I don't want anyone to miss out on the chance to win.

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Postcard from Sweden by Kelly of Jeli Quilts
Size: 48X60": after laundering, 46 1/2 X 57 3/8"
Fabric: top: Kona cotton by Robert Kaufman; backing: Prism by Studio e Fabrics; binding Painter's Palette Aquarius by Paintbrush Studio
Batting: Hobbs Tuscany 100% polyester
Backing: Prism by Studio e wide backing
Quilted: on Avril, free-motion designs by Christina Cameli from Step by Step Free-Motion Quilting 
Threads:  pieced with Gütermann cotton mostly on my Bernina, but some on Tillie, my Featherweight; quilted with Aurifil 100% cotton
Stitch Count: 97 323 stitches

Thanks to Yvonne's comment pinging in my email, my brain went ping! and my mouth said drat! and my fingers are now flying to enter the other photo I took of the other quilt I washed at the same time as PfS:

Just look at the wonderful texture this now-crinkled up lovely Wayward Transparency, which I named Flow is! Quilt porn or what, eh?!

Any guesses what it's lying on finishing drying? Splash of Colour, Float! How I love my new quilts I've made for me, ha! Lots of colour indeed.

Linking up:
Crazy Mom Quilts
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
TGIFF at Dizzy Quilts
Busy Hands Quilts
Tish N Wonderland because this is a UFO OFF the list!
Dizzy Quilts for the Q2FAL when it opens

Postcard From Sweden Parade of Quilts Link Up

It is HERE and it is as good as Christmas IMHO! Oh the eye candy on Instagram! The teaser posts, the artful shots, the sheer joyous colour out there! Much needed on these recent grey, gloomy, rainy, and in a lot of cases, snowy, days. We even had snow flurries from time to time here this morning and about 1/4" (yep, I know that measurement well) on the patio table and deck rails, like what??

The linkup is below, but first let's visit my most generous sponsors. (note that I am not affiliated with any of the sponsors, but I am an affiliate of Craftsy).  Sponsors! I never dreamed when Helen and I started talking about making this quilt together, and I said,
me: Maybe we could put it out there if any others want to join us?
Helen: Oh, that's a good idea!
me: We could host a QAL!
Helen: You're a good organizer; you can put out the word...

...so I did, much like when Tish and I decided to make the Swoon mini together. However. This one kind of 'went viral'. I owe much of that to Tanya of Tanya Quilts in Colorado. She bought a kit from

Stitch Stash Diva, and she wrote on her blog that she was going to join Helen and me (that's correct English, don't worry. Here's a wee English lesson: 'she's going to join... me or I?  me!  So use me, but always put yourself second. It's polite, right?)

Where was I?! Tanya. She said she was going to join Helen and me in this PfS QAL. Her readers went, wait, what? My followers on IG and my blog went, wow, yeah! and then I suddenly had an email from Tayva, lovely owner of Stitch Stash Diva wanting to sponsor my QAL because kits had been flying out of her shop....

Helen suddenly got an email from the over-the-top lovely and talented Kelly of Jeli Quilts,

saying she'd like to offer a prize, as she'd seen the excitement and participation building up on IG. (sidenote: I see Kelly has just released a new fabulous rainbow pattern...you'll find it through that link to her shop, which is an affiliate link, but I don't get anything if you buy patterns from Kelly; however, if you buy supplies to make one of her patterns, then I'd get a small commission, and thank you, so much!)

And then! I got another email from

Mad About Patchwork, asking if they could sponsor my QAL because one of the ladies who works there follows my blog (who knew?😄) and they'd noticed a spike in kit sales...

So I knew that there were several planning to quilt along with us who lived, as Helen does, in the UK, and I saw a post on Instagram where Kelly said kits were available through...

The Tartan Reel, so I asked Janey if she would like to offer kits and a prize for those participating, and got a resounding yes!

Boom! Four sponsors just like that!

What are they offering as prizes once again? The original list and details about each of their shops can be found here, but in a nutshell,

Jeli Quilts: $30 worth of patterns

Stitch Stash Diva: Winner's choice of either a quilt backing and binding set OR a $75 gift card; includes free shipping

Mad About Patchwork: a $50 gift certificate, shipping not included

The Tartan Reel: one Elizabeth Hartman pattern, a Kona bundle and a Kona colour chart

Super-exciting prizes, right? Now, if you missed it a few posts back, on April 24 I'm starting my actual second annual QAL--this Postcard from Sweden was just totally unforeseen, but what a fun ride it's been! My annual QAL is for Plus Playtime, my quilt that was featured in Benartex's ezine, Modern by the Yard. It's a free pattern still, available for download by clicking on the ezine cover on the sidebar of their blog. You can check out more photos and info about it here. It's going to be a fairly quick make, but I've spread it out a bit so you can 'suh---lide' it on in with your regularly scheduled projects. 😎  I'm doing the one for the hop in a more adult modern vibe.

Yup, there are going to be lots of prizes...and, breaking news! Tayva of Stitch Stash Diva is going to make up kits available for purchase! Pinch me! More details next week.

Grab a java, a tea, a glass of vino or du vin, and visit these wonderful, colourful pieces of our quilty rainbow-loving hearts, thanks to Kelly's ingenuity in creating and offering for free a lovely pattern.
One more thing! Did anyone see the crocheted (check it out Judy!) version of Postcard from Sweden created by Alice @thebuttonship and offered for free on Ravelry? Kelly posted it on Instagram today. Wow!

An InLinkz Link-up

Update: Winners!
Ms Random Number Generator picked the following numbers:

#11 Heidi @ sewnheidi wins the prize from Jeli Quilts
#8 Roseanne @ Home Sewn by Us wins the prize from Stitch Stash Diva
#3 Lisa of Sunlight in Winter Quilts wins the prize from Mad About Patchwork
#12 Rochelle of Rochelle S on Flickr wins the prize from The Tartan Reel

Thank you all so very much! Winners have been notified by email.

30 Quilt Designs Challenge on Instagram

For the second year, I ran #30quiltdesignschallenge on Instagram and this year we doubled the number of participants! Wow, were there ever a lot of gorgeous and ingenious quilt designs! There are three drawings, just like last year, with the first two, gift certificates to Melody's quilt shop, already drawn, and happily enjoyed.

So first of all, I'd like to offer my sincerest thanks to my two sponsors for this event.
1. Melody at The Red Hen Shop,

The Red Hen Shop

2. Darla at Clinton Modern Creative.

Clinton Modern Creative

Melody offered three prizes: two $15 gift certificates, for the 1/3 and 2/3 marks of the challenge, which was 70 days in length, and a final grand prize for $50. Karen @twotinymakes has won this prize! Darla is offering a second final prize for $25. Michelle @creativeblonde66 has won this prize! Interesting that both are located in the United Kingdom!

3. I hinted that I'd also offer a third grand prize. It will be a copy of my pattern Blue Skies & Sunny Days, and a charm pack of Dutch Garden by Boundless Fabrics. I used these to make my aunt's quilt, Sunshine on My Shoulders. I will ship it anywhere. Leanne @devotedquilter has won this prize! All three have been contacted.

We had 15 designers complete 20 of 30 designs, back on March 22. We currently have ?? (I will have to check on Instagram, and verify this with linkups below!) update: there were 9 completed all 30! It works out to about three designs per week to keep on track. Several finished quite a bit ahead of the deadline.

Here's how to enter the draw. Simply link up a blog post or an IG post of your last few designs, so #28-30 or #25-30, whatever you like!
Note! Do not link three designs up separately; use the 'Multiple Image' icon at the lower right of the photo screen to put them together in one post. That's it! I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner on Thursday morning, and announce it on IG on Thursday, and here on the blog on my post on Friday.

Here is a little collage of the last five designs of mine, since I won't be entering the draw. The first two make my design #30, and use the same block in two different layouts, both traditional settings. I could play for hours in EQ! I need to, truthfully, to learn more aspects of it; it's like an onion and I feel I've only peeled the first crackly layer off.

Please let me know down the road, by tagging me @mmmquilts when you decide to make one of your designs, or when one gets published, either in a magazine or in a pattern release! I know of lots of this sort of thing happening already; it's SO exciting!

And thank you from the bottom of my heart for participating. I've met lots of new quilters, got to know several better, discovered more Canadian as well as United Kingdom quilters/designers, and I know we all have been enriched by the experience. So here is a big 'MWAH' from me to each one of you. I reserve those for peeps who I really really like, just so y'know.😘

An InLinkz Link-up