Fabric Sale Finds!

I have not posted a Sale Post in quite a while, so I'm adding this little disclaimer before I start again. You can kinda figure out why... LOL
- Yes I will take recommendations and/or corrections. I will even take you off the list if you want. Just email me or leave a comment below and I will get right on it. 
- Yes I'm a crazy person that visits all these sites over the few nights before I post. Catch that: it takes a few nights after the day job, so....
- Yes it is possible that the shop sold out before you got there. I also schedule posts to go up during the day while I am at work. So please be patient if I don't respond immediately. 
- Yes I am fabric obsessed and a total enabler to all my fellow fabric hoarders! #sorrynotsorry
- No I do not get paid to post these sales
- No these are not ALL the sales available online. There are thousands, and I am only one. ;)
- No I do not list every piece of fabric each shop has on sale. Not that crazy!
Now that the silly stuff is out of the way, on to the goods. ENJOY!

1 Choice 4 Quilting - On Sale: Little Apples, Mystique, and Amelia collections. Huge asortment of pre-cuts on sale including Bella Solid Charm Packs, Jelly Rolls, and Layer Cakes. Spend $50 or more at 1 Choice 4 Quilting and we will ship your quilting fabrics to you FREE! 

Abbi Mays - Shop the sale section for fabrics as low as $3.96 per yard! Use coupon code trafficjam for an additional $5.00 your order of $50.00 or more.

All Stitched Up - Over 250 items now listed in the sale section. Includes: Riley Blake Ombre, Garden of Delight, Hoo's in the Forest, and Tuxedo Collections. While you are there check out the new Applique Bundle and Applique Squares sections of the site! 

Allegro Fabrics - Collections on sale include: Little Red Riding Hood, Flea Market Fancy, Storybook Lane, All Hands on Deck, Extraordinary World, Little Martryoshka, Woodland Pals, Heirloom, Sugar Hill, Modern Bloom, and many Holiday collections.

Bloomerie Fabrics - Color Me Retro, Noteworthy, Posy, Ladybug Garden, The Boo Crew Collections now on sale! Also, the complete Mixed Bag collection is now in the shop. 

Bug Fabric - Over 1,000 items in the sale/bargain bin! Forest Wonder, Little Critters, Zoobaby, Peak Hour, Cool Cords, and Kitten Capers collections and tons of Christmas fabrics all on sale!

  Calico Cottage Quilt Shop - Marmalade, Gypsy Girl, Nicey Jane, Pop Garden collections on sale along with numerous pre-cuts, patterns and magazines. Nearly 1,000 items in all! Plus, sign up for the new Frequent Buyer Rewards Program - Calico Credits and earn 10% back on every purchase!



  Christa Quilts - Bella Solids from Moda and Kona Cotton Solids from Robert Kaufman now 20% off! 20% off Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House for Andover and Folk Art by Kaffe Fassett for Westminster-Rowan; 30% off Bungalow by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit; 40% off City Girl by Kitty Yoshida for Benartex and Daisy Chain by Amy Butler for Westminster-Rowan. This onlt scratches the durface as I would say there are over 100 collections listed in the Clearance section. Don't forget, there is free Shipping on All U.S. Orders and free Gift With $25 Purchase!

Contemporary Cloth - Inventory Clearance: De-Stash Books starting at 50% off; Fabric Stencils 25% off; Fabric Stamps/Tjaps 40% off. Bonus: Through Feb. 9th, FREE U.S. Shipping + 50% OFF of International Shipping on your order if you order, any "one" pack of the following Oakshot Shot Cottons: Red Ruby Fat Quarter Bundle, Lipari Fat Quarter Bundle or Impressions Fat Quarter Bundle. 

  Fabric Shack - Check out the Sale-A-bration (celebrating 30 years!) $6.98 and under section (available online only) and 1/2 price shipping within the US. 

 

Fabric Shoppe Modern Fabrics - Over 120 items in the sale section of this Etsy shop! Be sure to check out her Create your own Bundle section as well as the new Color Your Stash club memberships!

Fabricworm - 20% off pre-cuts, scrap packs, quilt kits and patterns. Sale ends Feb. 6 at 8am PST

Five Monkey Fabrics - Check out these collections in the sale section: Glimma and Bella by Lotta Jansdotter, Tsuru, Gray Matters, Blend Gabbie, Woodland Adventure, Roughing It and so much more!

Green Fairy Quilts - 4 Charm Packs for $29 with code charm29; 10 Charm Packs for $69 with code charm69; 20 Mini Charms for $69 with code minicharm69 and there is a link on the site to purchase 20 charm packs for only $139!! Free Shipping in U.S. and discounted international shipping

Hart's Fabric - TODAY ONLY! 20% off everything online only. Plus cjheck out the Heather Ross Nursery Versey, Echino, and other Japanese fabrics in the 30% off section!

  



Hawthorne Threads - Tons of collections on sale such as: Alexander henry Flower Garden, Michelle Engel Bencsko's iHaus, Tanya Whelan's Sugar Hill, Joel Newberry's Heirloom Voile, Cynthia Rowley Paint Box, Riley Blake Hipsters, Suzanne Ultman's Suzys Dollhouse, and so many more! This should not be missed!! Also, new in stock: Iconic from Camelot Cottons, Citrus for Windham, Quwrida, Mashama and From Ant to Zebra from Alexander Henry, Cambridge Lawn and Urban Toile Canvas from Robert Kaufman, Valentine Rose, Sugar Hill and Rosey by Tanya Whelan, 

Hypernoodle Fabrics - Collections on sale include: Funbots, Belle by Amy Butler, Handpicked, Circa, Geekly Chic, Too Cute to Spook, Jingle Baby, and Woodland Pals. There are also a number of 'basics' from Riley Blake, Michael Miller, and Timless Treasures including polka dots, chevrons, gingham, sketch, etc.



  I Don't Do Dishes - Currently has both Moda Bella Solids and Cotton Couture Solids on sale! Also has Notting Hill, Comma, Simploe Marks, Madronna Road and Belle by Amy Butler (and more) on sale!

La De Da Fabrics - When you purchase 10 yards of fabric from LaDeDa Fabrics you will get your 11th yard of fabric absolutely FREE!!! The 10 yards do not need to be purchased at one time. They keep track of your yards purchased and let you know when you get to your 10th yard. You will get to pick any in stock fabric in the shop for your free yard and it will ship right along with your 10th yard.


 
 Little Fabric Shop, The - $5/ Yard: Origins by Moda, Make Life by Sweetwater, Tradewinds by Moda, Nantucket Summer by Riley Blake. $5.50/ Yard: Flock by Thomas Knaur, Curio by Moda, Pear Tree Thomas Knaur, ABC Cookery by Alexander Henry, Chrysalis by Moda, Domestic Diva by Riley Blake, Farm Fresh by October Afternoon, Felicity by Riley Blake, Just Wing It by MoMo, Magnolia Lane by Michael Miller, Paradise by Art Gallery. There are also huge $6 and $7/yard sale sections! 



  Mad About Patchwork - SAVE IN FEBRUARY: Save 20% off Perrymint from Dear Stella; use the coupon FEBRUARY20 at checkout to apply the discount. ON SALE: Over 120 bolts ... Amy Butler; Bijoux; Briar Rose; Carnaby Street; Cloud 9 Nursery Organic; Folkloric Blooms; Fortiny; Glimma; Indian Summer; Pirouette; Shelburne Falls;Thesaurus; Timeless Treasures Ziggy & Minis; Village Green. KONA STASH BUILDER: Save 10% on Sunset Palette bundles and yardage in February.


  Marmalade Fabrics - Collections in the sale section include: Timeless Treasures Basic Sketch in a variety of colors, Mirror Ball Dot, Carnaby Street, Hand Drawn Garden, Dear Stella, and Glimma.




  Novelty Quilt Fabric - Weekly Special is Winline Textile Green 100% Bamboo Quilt Batting. Free shipping is available if you purchase $75.00 or more on your next order.








PatternCrush - Check out the 15% of Sale on Michael Miller Cotton Courture, as well as some additional by the yard selections in the Clearance section. Also, Catnap by Lizzy House in stock!! 


  Pink Chalk Fabrics - Over 650 items in the Sale Section. Christmas fabric is half off. I would love to list everything that's on sale, but you really must see it to believe it. The sale section is HUGE! "> Poppy Seed Fabrics - Large selection of discounted designer fabric, hawaiian fabric, and ribbons! Ight now: free shipping on all US orders over $50. Use code: freeshippingusa (can't be combined with any other discount code).

Quilt Department, The - Collections now in inventory clearance: Circa by Cosmo Cricket, Good Fortune, Happy Go Lucky, Marmalade, Max and Whiskers, Noteworthy, Terrain and many more. Also check the remnants section for pieces as low as $1.75!



  QuiltHome.com - TODAY ONLY: Save 25% on all Lark by Amy Butler with coupon code QHZRDB. On the right sidebar they have a coupon that changes daily so be sure to check back frequently! Large sale section and free shipping for all U.S. orders over $50

  

Sew Me A Song - New Arrivals: Lecien Color Basics, Yoko Saito, Flower Bouquet, Snowflake and Wildflower Wood. Art Gallery Solids now in 24 colors. These are a dream to work with. 

Southern Fabric - Deal of the Day for Feb. 5th: April SHower Jelly Roll for only $24.99 (that's a 35% discount)!. Other sales: 50% off Apple Jack, Boo Crew, Little Apples, 2wenty Thr3e, and many pre-cuts. 40% off numerous patterns, Nicey Jane, Cuzco, Freshcut and Simply Color. Remember they have free shipping on orders over $200. 







Spice Berry Cottage - Over 150 items in the Fabric Sale section. Includes Briar Rose, Gypsy Caraven, Andalucia Flora, Simply Color, La Dee Da, Creama nd Sugar and more. NEW Fabric Arrivals 3/3/14: Under the Stars Glamping by Timeless Treasures, Matilda Chevron by Timeless Treasures, Foxes, Raccoon, Owls by Timeless Treasures, Tweet Together by Studio E, Fox Playground by Dena Designs, Honeycomb Dots and new chevron from Riley Blake.


Via's (formerly Dillinger) Fabrics - Take an additional 50% off fabrics in clearance with coupon code: clearance50. Don't forget to check out the Share Joy section where proceeds will go to support Team World Vision!



  Westwood Acres - As always Westwood Acres has an incredible selection of bundles on sale. A few of them include: Glimma, Field Study Voile, Wallflowers, Botanica, Lottie Da, Mixteca, Full Moon Lagoon and also some solid bundles!

Central Florida MQG Riley Blake Challenge Reveal!

So I didn't make it back here this weekend, but that shouldn't be a huge shock! LOL After working over 60 hours last week, and Zach starting a new job, we got hit by the inevitable sinus infection going around. Most of the weekend was spent alternating DayQuil and NyQuil and generally lounging in our PJs. Not what we intended, but was worth it to feel much better this week! But that's not what you are here for... On to the good stuff!

At the January meeting of the Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild our group revealed the results of the Riley Blake Fabric Challenge. If you have not heard about it, you can read up on the MQG website HERE. The basics were that each member was given 6 fat eights of fabric from Riley Blake and we had to incorporate them into any quilted project. We were permitted to add additional Riley Blake prints, or any other solid fabric.

Let me just start by saying that this ended up being a HUGE challenge for me. What I thought would be a fun week-long project turned into a month of designing struggles, and then a rushed 2 day job. Not ideal, but very educational for me. One thing I did recognize in my quilting style is that if I don't have the right combination of fabric in front of me I tend to hit a bit of a design 'wall' (pun intended). Regardless, I did end up finishing on time, so that's a success in my book! Now, onto the show!

The Riley Blake prints we were each given to start with. 

 I wish you could all see this first quilt in person. Not only is the design absolutely striking, but the quilting on it is AMAZING! Each round of circles is quilted in a different pattern, and the all over 'snails trail' in the background is the perfect addition! This is my free motion quilting inspiration for the year. I plan to refer back to it often to remind myself of what is really possible if I would just practice! (okay, well I may be expecting a little much of myself, but it's good to have goals, right?)

Linda H. from the blog Flourishing Palms. 

This is my quilt, titled Accidents Happen. It's not my favorite, but there is a bit of a story behind it that I want to share. I started the project doing some wavy pieced blocks in the hopes of using the array of colors to my advantage. I sketched it all out and everything! After finishing a few blocks, and adding the word 'relax' to run along the bottom I stood back to take a look and hated it. No bueno. It didn't give the rainbow effect I was going for and instead just looked like a serious hot mess! What's a quilter to do but start over of course. At this point I was running very low on the fabrics that were supplied, time to finish, and patience with myself. I decided to throw caution to the wind and just start cutting what was left of the Riley Blake fabric into one inch strips. Sometimes that's all it takes to get the juices flowing. I realized that planning is not my strong suit and really improv is the way to go for me! I finished the blocks and then decided that the RELAX at the bottom needed to stay. Relax is my word of the year for 2014. I tend to get overly anxious and stressed (yes, about everything) and I'm hoping keeping the quilt on the back of my couch will be a good reminder to just relax and let things be! One can hope, right? I free motion quilted this with what I like to call paint splatter shapes. My thought was it looked like a water balloon was thrown at a window and shattered. In other words, Accidents Happen! All in all it was fun to quilt, and gave me a really great sense of accomplishment when I finished it on time. Here's to many more (and less frantic) finishes in 2014!

Somehow this one got turned around, but I WILL find a picture of the elephants on 

the other side. Beautiful use of the colors and fantastic straight line quilting. 

This one I believe was titled The Falls. Again, the picture does not do this justice. 

The falls of water were accented by beautiful blue 'water' stitching and bubble 

quilting where the bowl was overflowing at the bottom. So creative!!

I've already decided to steal this quilt to hang on my sewing room wall. 

I'm not sure how, or when, or where, but I NEED THIS! Ha!

This one I absolutely love! I really love the Gracie Girl (obsessed with this line) she 

added and the improv quilting that she did herself! Those circles are perfection!

This is a different spin on the ever popular chevron quilt that I am dying to try. It's hard to see in the picture but she quilted all the white space and left the chevrons un-quilted giving it a really amazing 3D look.

Yes another project I need to make, a new tote! This just screams 

Florida to me and I love that you can just make out the whirligig blocks in there. 

CFMQG is an orange and green group for sure! :) 

Okay, scroll down and really look at this one and then come back up here. Done? Okay then, you now know how totally fan-freaking-tastic this quilt is! See those hexagons, they are actually 6 slices a piece all sewn up together. See the tumbling blocks on the top... those are sliced hexies as well! And the quilting...  I could probably write an essay on this, but I think you get the idea that Beth is a seriously amazing quilter. 

This quilt is another one I wish you could see up close. She started with the D9 blocks and then planned ahead for being on the road for the holidays and hand quilted in all those squares (in the car). I think the form of hand quilting with thick colorful thread is often referred to as Big Stitch. If you haven't read much about it there is a good overview over on AMH's blog HERE. 

This one hands down wins the Instagram award! I had previously posted a number of these quilts in my Instagram feed and this currently has the most likes (I'm over here: http://instagram.com/carly__ann on the web in case you don't have an Instagram compatible smart phone). These birds were super cute, and although it doesn't show up perfectly in the photo there are also birds quilted into the background. This is another one I wish I had a picture of the back as there are three little birdies that 'didn't quite make it' back there that crack me up!

All in all I think our little group had an excellent showing for this challenge. We all have very different styles and it was amazing to see how each of us used the same fabric so differently! 

 So I've officially posted once a week for three week's now. Think I can keep it up? LOL

Crazy Life = Blog Slacking!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a horrible blogger! It's not that I intend to be, it just happens. So I figure the least I can do is share what I have been up to (sewing and otherwise) while I have not been here.

Let's start with the sewing and craft goods, but I think that's what most, if not all, people want to see. Apologies if you are on my Instragram (@carly__ann) as that's where many of these are coming from.

Christmas Quilt Planning took over most of the month of October! I ended up planning four (and yet have only finished three) separate Christmas quilts.

I wish I had a better picture of this one, but somehow in the craziness of Christmas it got missed. This is the quilt I made for Zach's step-mother (I guess I can call her the step mother-in-law, right?). We were able to spend the holidays with them in Louisville, so I was happy to have a homemade gift to give. She sent me a text just the other day saying her 'Carly Quilt' is keeping her warm in all this crazy weather up there!

I also finally finished a quilt for my sister! I know it's bizarre to think she did not have one yet, but she was a tough one to design for. She's super stylish and up on all the latest (Check out LaLa Couture, her boutique in Ft. Lauderdale), plus she lives in South Florida- not exactly quilt land. I finally put my much loved ombre fabric to work and came up with this. She loves it, and says it works perfectly in her house. Yay!

...and this picture of her, just because she's so darn cute! 

The other two Christmas Quilts are still under wraps. We are celebrating with my parents at the end of the month and with Zach's mom and step-dad sometime soon, so I want to wait to post anything else. 

After Thanksgiving, and before Christmas I was able to squeeze in one non-holiday present- this baby quilt for Meg! At times she will email me cute quilts she sees, and recently had sent me a cross quilt that she loved. I took that and ran with it! She loved the quilt, and I may have made her cry (not on purpose). We are very excited to meet Aria Grace, who will be here within weeks!

I can't believe I'm posting this on my blog, but that my friends is the end result of two months of non-stop sewing in my studio room. OUT OF CONTROL! I finally bit the bullet and dove in there to get things organized (took an entire weekend). The funny thing is that cleaning led to this.....

...a beautifully organized stash! But that my friends led to this.....

A massive destash sale! I joined many (I venture to say over 100) other quilters on instagram in what was referred to as The Great Fabric Destash (#thegreatfabricdestash). It was a blast! Basically how it worked was everyone posted pictures of their fabric for sale on Instagram and tagged it with that hashtag. This meant that not only your followers saw what you were selling, but so did everyone else using that hashtag. It was CRAZY! I believe the last count I saw was nearly 6,500 separate posts. Yes, 6,500 posts of fabric for sale! I'm telling you, if you are not on Instagram RUN, don't walk, and get your booty on there! 

The only flaw in this plan is I was shopping as I was selling. Oops! My one rule was that I could not buy more than I sold, and I stuck to it! I ended up on the positive side of things in my Paypal account, and I have some wonderful fabric headed my way, so I'm a happy camper!

All my buyer paid me rediculously fast. This means that even though the sale was on a Wednesday night I was able to get all my packages out by Thursday afternoon. Awesome! Thanks again to everyone who helped me destash!

In other sewing and craft news....

Mardell (my machine) is giving me fits! See all that blue tape up there? I rigged the tension to finish my Riley Blake challenge (more on that later), but it is NOT GOOD. I'm planning on taking her to the doctor's this weekend and hopefully it's an easy fix under warranty. 

While Mardell is away...

I might just get to work on this baby! My mom came across it at a garage sale for $20, so when she texted me the picture I said absolutely YES! My dad was kind enough to be the guinea pig and plug it in and says she runs great. I have had zero time to work on it, but I think I see some light at the end of the tunnel. 

Next on the list...

crafting for another bridal shower. I'm becoming the bridal/baby shower and wedding crafty person to go to around here. I've lost count of how many different events I have done at this point, but they are adding up for sure. This weekend I will be working on centerpieces, and a crazy idea for a few different decorations like this, this, or this. I might even try a garland similar to this, either using this or this tutorial. Wish me luck!

In the interest of having something to post next week (HA!) I'm going to leave the non-sewing updates until then. I will however be back this weekend with a recap of the Central Florida Modern Quilt Guild's Riley Blake Challenge projects. I will give you a little teaser with this picture:

Just wait until you see them up close... AMAZING! 

How are you coming along on your challenge project?

Thrifty Thread Shopping!

Here I am again, just a week later and posting again! Don't worry the world is not ending, I'm just using the few free moments I have to share some info with all my quilty friends out there, starting with a few little research projects I have done recently.

The boyfriend has wrapped up nursing school, which also means school loans are no longer showing up in our bank accounts each semester. A good thing, yes, but it also means I had to take a close look at my budget and sort out what was necessary, and what could wait until after he started working. After narrowing down the necessities I went back and took a look at my quilty expenditures.... yeah, take a deep breath for that one. We all know it is not the most inexpensive hobby to have, but I keep thinking to myself, there has got to be a few things I could be saving on here! I coupon (not extreme) and I shop the sales other places, so why not pay more attention on the things where it can really add up! This week I'm starting with one that I never really gave much thought to before, thread.

It's a necessity of course, but when we know we need so much thread of a certain color I think many of us do the same thing... toss it in the shopping cart (live or virtual) and skip on over to the fun stuff, fabric!Thread is not nearly as exciting to most of us, and much less fun to 'pet' and play with, but it is an absolute necessity! I've seen quilts made from old clothes, sheets, and rags, but I've never seen a quilt made without thread!

So I started to take a look at some sites and stores I generally shop from and low and behold there really is some significant differences in prices. Below I've chose a few different threads, some very popular and some less well known, to give you all a glimpse into how much you can really save!

Let's start with the uber popular, Aurifil! We all use it and love it, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I definitely cringe a little at the price. Sorry, sweet Aurifil, it's just a habit! Below shows some of the best options for your Aurifil shopping! If you notice, there are actually three shops that all came in at $9.50 for the 1420yd, but only Red Rock Threads carries both the 220yd and 6452 yd as well. This is where you weigh your own opinions on what matters to you most... price, selection, free, shipping, etc.

And just in case you were wondering, a totally different shop takes the cake on the 40wt Aurifil, Carmen Warehouse!

Next up is Guttermann. I've heard both positive and negative on a pretty consistent basis, but I'm including it here simply because it is more affordable than many options, and also very readily available. Love it or hate it Guttermann is not going anywhere, and these prices might be part of the reason why! See that there.... 3,281yds of Guttermans 50wt Cotton as Joann's as opposed to the $40.00 you would easily spend on the Aurifil. Things that make you go hmmmmm.

I also included the comparison on Poly for Guttermann as well. I know I'm not the most experienced quilter, but I've yet to have a Poly disaster with any of my quilts, so if I know I'm making it for me or just for practice, this tends to be my go to thread.

These last two are kind of wild cards. The first one is Isacord Polyester. Honestly when I started learning to free motion quilt I watched A LOT of Leah Day's videos. One thing I remember reading was that she uses Isacord Thread exclusively. As much as that tid bit stuck with me I have yet to try it (yeah, that makes no sense), so I decided this was a good chance to figure out the cost savings if I decide to give it a try. Yeah, $15.80 for 5000m! It might be worth it!

This is a true odd one. I have never used Mettler, but it seemed to be comparable in price so I wanted to show it here. I'm hoping someone will fill me in on it as it seems to go on sale quite a bit! 

So who comes out on top? Well short of breaking it down on how many cents, or percent of cents (say that five times fast) we are all paying per yard of thread, I decided to just give you the two best online retailers that 'won' the most categories. Drum roll please.......

Quite interesting that each store led the way in one Cotton and one Polyester category. Anyhow, I know this isn't rocket science, but to me it was quite an eye opener. I was paying $11.99 for my 1420yd of Aurifil. That means from three other stores I could have ordered and saved myself $2.50 per spool. No, that's not much, but if I take it one step further and change over to Gutterman 50wt Cotton I can save nearly $18.00 for every 6500 yards of thread, and I think that can really add up.

So this is my first attempt at sorting through some Quilt Cost Saving. It's not a perfect science, and the prices will continue to rise and fall with the trends, but for me it works. Next up, solid fabrics!

xoxo, Carly Ann

Here is where I put all my personal disclaimers:

1. I have not ordered from all of these suppliers, so I can in no way vouch for their personal delivery time, condition, quality, etc.
2. Yes I estimated some of the conversions for Meters to Yards. I think you all know which size spool I'm referring to, and if not, email me.
3. These prices to not take into account sales, coupon codes, shipping charges, etc.
4. I was not paid or asked to write about any of these stores. I do not have any sponsors or take any gifts to write these posts.
5. If you have read this far you deserve a prize. How about you go get yourself a piece of candy and enjoy the sunshine for a few moments! Happy Tuesday!

2013 Mission Accomplished!

So it's pretty well established that I am a horrible blogger. ;) I don't say that to be down on myself, just to acknowledge that this is not my top priority right now, and that means a lot of life 'stuff' generally gets in the way. Honestly, I have no idea how some quilty bloggers do it keeping up with family, kids, friends, jobs, and creating beautiful quilts and crafts. Simply amazing! Anyhow...

So what have I been doing? Well on the life side of things I've been working a ton all while holding my breath as Zach finishes up nursing school. He completed his last practicum (like and internship) shift at the hospital this past week, so now all that is left is to take his boards. Hooray! There were moments of doubt that we would both make it through the program mentally intact, but we survived, and now my handsome, caring, and oh so patient man gets to work his dream gig. That's some seriously good stuff right there!

And of course, I've been sewing. There are a whole bunch of things I could fill in this part here, but what I really want to share is that I accomplished a goal that I set out for myself back in January. It wasn't a true New Year's resolution, but a year long goal none-the-less. The mission was to create a quilt for each of my girlfriends for their birthdays! There are six of us all together and we have all known each other for years. The best way I can describe us is as sisters. None of us are perfect and none of our relationships are perfect, but we are absolutely there for each other. We are all different, work different jobs, have different home lives... Let's just say we cover the spectrum! I love these women, and am so happy to have them in my life, and what better way to celebrate that than with a quilt! So here they are (in no particular order).

I will start of here with Megan's birthday quilt. I've know Megan the shortest amount of time, but I adore her spunky personality and her absolute devotion to her boys. She's a seriously busy mom, so we don't get to see her nearly enough, but when we do she's always got a smile on her face. Her fun batik quilt matches her fun side (and also her new bedroom)! This was my first 'jelly roll race' quilt top, and was also one of the first quilts that I free-motion quilted. Very scary when I started, but I've discovered it's way easy and I wonder why I haven't been doing it all along!

Next up on the list is Donna's Quilt. At the beginning of this year I emailed all girls and asked them for their favorite colors, patters, etc. I'm not sure they all knew what it was for, but I just went with what I got back. Well, what I got back from Donna was: "...I like flying pigs in any color, hearts, polka dots, Xs and Os, and weenie dogs..."  HA! She really did it to me this time. But I pressed on, and came up with what I think fit the bill. It may be a little hard to see in the picture, but I covered all her requests and made sure the backing was entirely covered in weenie dogs! Lesson: be careful what you ask for! This was my first experience with rough edge applique. I wasn't sure how I would like it, but after I pulled it out of the dryer I fell in love with the 'shabby chic' look of the frayed edges. By far, one of my favorite quilts I've ever made.

I've known Kristie that longest of all the girls, and am happy to be celebrating with her as a bridesmaid in her upcoming wedding. She said jewel tones, so I went in that general direction, with a few twists. I found the bold floral print first, and it just seemed to fit her so well that I played the rest of the colors off that. I started doing a disappearing 9 patch, but decided it needed to be spruced up, so I stitched and sliced a few blocks a different way and ended up with this surprise! :) She loved it, and was so excited to get a picture that night of her and he new little kitties all snuggled up together on it! Seriously adorable!























Michelle's was probably the toughest to come up with, although I'm not really sure why. Odd how that happens. So anyhow, when I had a random thought I just went with it! She didn't have a specific request for pattern, but I thought back to her wedding a few years back which had the theme of All We Need Is Love. That combined with her love of trees I came up with this fun quilt. The adorable striped pattern backing had stripes of the woodgrain, little flowers, mushrooms, and lines that looked almost like ribbon. I love that fabric and used every last bit of it. I'm really happy with how this one turned out and I think she likes it as well.

Susan wanted something a little more muted (and my eyes appreciated the break LOL). She asked for small flowers, beige, white, and gray. I wasn't really sure I could pull this off seeing as I'm a little addicted to brights, but I started at the fabric store and came across just the right floral print. Again, I know you can't see it super well in the photos, but it combined all those requests and more. I added in the green and a few other small scale prints that brought out the pale yellow in the print all based on what I was sure would go with her house. This was the last one I just wrapped up last week after a crazy 3 quilts in 3 weeks month. I was concerned I would run out of steam, but I didn't, and this is one of my favorites of the year. It's simple, but it just works, and I'm happy to say I made a plan and stuck with it all the way through! That's a serious accomplishment for me! This is also the first quilt I've done where I'm 100% happy with my machine binding! Yay!

 So there you have it... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Funny thing is I was doing this for them, but I learned so so much in the process. I still consider myself a very novice quilter, so it was nice to have a reason to experiment and try new things. I made a bunch of mistakes along the way, but those teach the absolute best lessons. I might be pretty low on the blogger scale, but I'm feeling okay on the friend scale. Like I said these women are my family here and I'm so glad that I was able to stitch each of them up a little love to have in their homes.