The mini that didn't get sent...

The Doll Quilt Swap was a wonderful experience- I must show you the amazing mini I got from my dear swap Mama!  It was such a great surprise and totally me!! That's for the next post... But the mini that my partner was not too hot about (Try #1) is something that I LOVE and IS totally me!  So I had to finish it :).  It measures 20 1/2" across and is circular!  I was brave and went for it- and am very pleased with how it turned out!  I was so stressed about the binding coming out wacky, but it is absolutely perfect- hip hip hooray!

 The design came completely from my brain and I didn't have any idea how I would make it come to life, but I did, and surprised myself. :)  It makes me happy on days like that. So here it is all done and ready to hang.  I call it Crazy Love!  It was my crazy idea and I love that I got it to happen!  And what's not to love about a spiraling rainbow??!!  

 I hand embroidered the rainbow spiral in the center hexie, and then quilted a billion pebbles all over it! It took for-ev-eh, but I love the look and texture of it and how it just blends into the quilt.  Just to give an idea of size, the small squares are 3/4". It was so fun to piece and get all the text going the right way in each section.  I'd love to make tons of these in all sorts of colors and designs- that is now on the never ending list of projects :)  For right now, I just look at this one and smile!

Pink and Navy

They were my wedding colors- before they were the rage :)  Love them too---

1. Kona Bubble Gum-215x215, 2. kona coal-215x215, 3. Kona ash-215x215, 4. Kona hibiscus-215x215, 5. Not available, 6. Kona Navy K001-1243-215x215, 7. Kona Snow K001-1339-215x215, 8. CHARCOAL-215x215, 9. Kona bright pink-215x215

My soon to be Quilt...

I made a Farmer's Wife block out of these colors quite a while ago and just cannot stop looking at it.  I have just totally and completely fallen for this combo: aqua, orange, red, and yellow.  It will be my next quilt for sure- after I finish all the others that are already in progress :)  LOVE-

1. BAHAMA BLUE-215x215, 2. Kona Tomato-215x215, 3. Kona School Bus K001-1482-215x215, 4. Kona Papaya-215x215, 5. Not available, 6. BANANA-215x215, 7. Kona Canary-215x215, 8. Kona Red K001-1308-215x215, 9. AZURE-215x215

My favorite time of Day...

I can't explain how much I love the sunset!  No matter where I am in the world, I can always find something amazing about the sunset.  Another Kona challenge, over at Fluffy Sheep Quilting gave me a chance to celebrate that!  Just looking at it makes me go "AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh..."    Have a great sunset tonight, wherever you are...

1. Kona Magenta-215x215, 2. TEAL BLUE-215x215, 3. Kona Purple-215x215, 4. Kona School Bus K001-1482-215x215, 5. Not available, 6. Kona Orange-215x215, 7. Kona Tomato-215x215, 8. Kona Corn Yellow-215x215, 9. Kona bright pink-215x215

Color Palettes

Miss Lynne over at Lily's Quilts (http://lilysquilt.blogspot.com/) has been making me drool lately with her color palette talk! She's doing a Dead Simple Quilt Along which I would love to join and am having a hard time restraining myself! I love colors and the feelings/memories that go along with them. But I must get some of these other quilt tops completed first- and I have a few other projects in the works too :)!! I have, however, been following along with all the wonderful tips and hints for color palette picking. I really like looking at ideas and picking colors that are out of my "comfort zone"- i.e. pink and red, cutesie! I have yet to make a pink and red cutesie quilt though, funny, huh?! Anyway, I have looked at the palette sites and saw a couple that I liked but nothing really struck me.
Then I was getting in bed and noticed the pile of Kona fabric that needed folding on my comic book board folding system, and the palette HIT me!! I had gotten the fabrics a few days before just to refill my stock and add a few more colors- I loved the Pear and Sour Apple! And another new favorite is Papaya! Yum! Sound as good as they look :)! Then the Aqua and Turqouise threw me for a loop, they are so close in color, just a shade different! (Orange and Tangerine are in there too). So, after glancing over at them randomly placed, I sighed and knew I was on to something! I don't know when I'll be making a quilt from this- wonder if there is another Kona Solid Challenge coming up in the future?? But I love the feel of these colors together- gotta find some prints with these bold colors too- ouuu, yummy! What do you think??

All fabric is not created equal!

Can you believe that I didn't know this when I started sewing?!!? I wondered why the "designer" fabrics cost so much, when you could get cute things at Joann's for much less? Don't get me wrong- I love Joanns, and spend plenty of my budget there, and have actually gotten some really cute fabrics there too. But the designer fabrics- oh, you can just touch them and feel the difference. The thickness and tightness of the weave, the depth of color, and the prints themselves! I have gone head over heels for Kona cotton lately- solids- something I never thought I would want in my stash. And now, there are 17 colors, nicely stacked, in rainbow order, ready to be cut into (well 16 will be cut into, 1 is extra :) ) beside my sewing table. I love the cost of the non-designer fabric, but I oh so love the designer everything else :)!

I got in trouble in my local quilt shop today! Well, not too bad, and it's for an excellent cause. I just can't stay too long, or I get too much- hehe! I love being the first person there- you can get 30% off one cut, and for a quilt back, that's a pretty good deal on "designer"! Today I got aqua, red, white, and blacks- oh such eye candy!! I am so excited to pin down a pattern and get busy for a special someone my family knows :)