Lollypop Wallflowers

Another finish! This time something cheery to keep me smiling through the winter.

A while back, Sparrow requested simple flowers for a quilting bee I was in so I made this block.


I liked it so much, I really wanted to make more. Well, I finally did and made them into wall hangings by putting them over painter's cavases (tutorial here). I found all the fabric in my scrap bin and a lot of it was little bits and pieces left over from quilting bees.
















The flowers are machine appliqued using fusible web and the stems are embroidered with a simple back-stitch.

Now, where to hang them?

Retracing my steps

This month is the last month for Snip.Sew.Send. and Anne (from Film & Thread) asked for blocks of maps or inspired by maps. She sent this fabric to guide the color palette.



I thought it'd be fun for this one to retrace my steps around the country. I grew up in Minnesota and if you follow the arrows around, you can see that I moved to California for college and during college spent time living in New York City and then outside Philadelphia. After returning to California, I moved back to Minnesota and then to upstate New York where I am now.





It's kind of crazy to see where I've lived on a map like this. I hope Anne likes how it came together.



To share a little of the process, here's the map I printed out in order to trace the states and figure out the arrow paths. I machine appliqued the states and then I embroidered the blue outline and the all of the arrows.

May Quilting Bee Round Up

I'm getting caught up. Here are the blocks I made for a couple of wonderful ladies.

First, for Traveling Threads, Sparrow wanted simple lollypop flowers or trees. I absolutely loved doing these. I think they might be my favorite block ever. Wouldn't they make great little wall hangings? Since I made them with fusible web and embellished them with embroidery, they would be easy for me to do in the car on some road trips I have coming up.





Then, for Snip.Sew.Send., Rebecca asked us to make blocks that had a pinwheel in the center of a log cabin. She sent each of us a set of monochromatic prints and I got orange. I'm really looking forward to seeing this one come together since her vision seems like it'll be great!



I'm a person who presses seams open or to the side depending on the project, but I was so glad to have pressed them open on those pinwheels. It took a little more time, but it reduced the bulk so much that it was completely worth it. I just hope Rebecca doesn't mind... isn't it funny the things we worry about when someone else is going to see the back?

I did it!

I actually got some sewing done... hurray! Life has been pretty hectic for me lately so I'm a little late with my March blocks (a first for me), but I also started my April blocks so hopefully it won't happen again.

For Traveling Threads (for March!), Mari (aka midland-design) wanted blocks that remind us of a summer garden so she can have a bright quilt to snuggle under during Norwegian winters. I had a lot of fun doing raw edge applique and embroidery on this one. Aren't the frogs cute?



For snip.sew.send in March, Tina (of Little Blue Cottage) is making a pink quilt for her daughter and wanted a block full of squares. I ran out of fabric to finish the last square, but I figure she probably has more pink at home.


For snip.sew.send for April, Heather (of Quiltin' Like Crazy) sent yellow fabrics with really specific instructions that were easy to follow. An episode of "This American Life" later, I had this block:


I have another block or two I'm hoping to do this weekend and also get caught up on some research related work that I'd really like to finish. Hope you all are having a great weekend... anyone else loving the warm weather???

Spoiled Rotten!

Blogland and Flickr have really spoiled me recently. I'm always in awe of the generosity of this community.  First, I won a giveaway from Anne at Film and Thread and got this really cute cowboy fabric. Whoever is having a baby next should expect a quilt with this! I can't get over how cute the cowboys are!

As if the giveaway wasn't enough, she also sent this great embroidery pattern and thread! I'm just starting to try out embroidery and these patterns are perfect! I love the colors (could it be because they're so similar to the Neptune fabrics??)

 

I also won a giveaway over at By Small Means! April made coasters and was giving away the winner's favorite. I picked these ones and I'm really excited for them to come in the mail.

For Traveling Threads, I sent out Christmas fabrics and I've received almost all of my blocks! I need to make a couple and there's one set that's coming soon. I'm going to post more about that soon since I want to get some feedback and since I'm committed to finishing it for this Christmas season. I also joined LauraJ's Christmas Quiltalong to encourage me to keep at it.

The set of blocks I received from Leslie had an unexpected and wonderful extra! She made Jon and I ornaments for our tree. I think they're really cute and so thoughtful. I'm excited to put them up!

 

 

Thanks Blogland!! You've really spoiled me rotten!