My Row for the Winter Wonderland Sew-Along

Well I'm hopping around Blogland again, this time with the Round Robin Winter Wonderland Sew-Along being hosted by Becky at Patchwork Posse!

 This is my block...

 ...put a bunch of them together...

...And you get my Row ~ Walking in a Winter Wonderland Forest!  ...Yes, it's another tree row, that's what I get for planning too far ahead ~ but it's ok, our trees are a little different from each other, yet coordinate, and remember you can place your rows in any order on your quilt :) 

Check out Patchwork Posse's Blog Post today to download the pdf with instructions and paper piecing templates for my row.  And I'll be uploading it to the Free Pattern Page at my Spring Water Designs Website soon :)

Click the Sew-A-Long Link for a list of all the designers and see the rows that have be made so far, and what's still to come!

And there's a Flickr Group to see some of the different variations of the rows that are being sewn.  Some folks are starting to sew rows together and they're looking great!

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

I took the day off today and just enjoyed the beauty of the day, having lunch with some family at the Fisherman's Inn at Kent Narrows.

 The weather was gorgeous, 

 And their gardens were simply lovely! 

I think we had the best seat in the house :)

I'll get back to some Quilty stuff soon I promise.  Stop back tomorrow to see my Row revealed for the Winter Wonderland Row Robin Blog Hop Sew-Along!

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

Sheep & Wool

Last Saturday I spent a Creative Excursion day with my two Fiber Friends enjoying wool in about every form that wool can come in...

...at the annual Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival.  The weather was perfect for a day at the fair grounds...

...Amazing colors were everywhere.  This is from Mohair in Motion ~ I think Mary bought some of this for spinning :)

 ...Beautiful baskets from Friends in Reed from Howard County Maryland :)

 ...Barns full of wool!

We even took a little sit-down break and made these sweet wool pincushions to stick into a spool of thread at the Maryland Make It With Wool booth. (That's Mary's, mine, and Starlyn's)

 ...Of course there was carnival food ~ and yes, the sky was that blue all day :)

 ...and a little Bluegrass here and there :)

 ...and did I mention the sheep?  

 ...and Sheep Dog demonstrations!

 

 ...And at the end of the day, we were all a little pooped ~ but we had a blast :)

 ...Of course I came home with some goodies...

...And I've already put some of them to use :)

If you're anywhere near Central Maryland the first weekend of May next year, take a day and experience the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Spring Water Designs at Hancocks of Paducah!

I have a couple of new patterns available from Spring Water Designs!  The first one is called Up With the Roosters!  It's a fun 61" square throw ~ or couldn't you see this as a great table cover in a French Country kitchen :)

Both of these new patterns were designed with the French Connection fabric line from Fabri-Quilt fabrics. 



This one is called Stars Across Bed Quilt.  As the name indicates, it's a larger sized quilt measuring 70" x 88" and has a great French Provincial feel. 

The exciting thing is, if you want a kit for these quilts you can get them from Hancocks of Paducah!  I was asked to design the patterns so Hancocks could kit them in their upcoming catalog.  The fabrics are just now hot off the presses, but you can pre-order kits for each quilt at these links:

Up With the Roosters Quilt Kit

Stars Across Bed Quilt Kit

As always, you can purchase the pattern alone from My Website, and if you want a Downloadable E-Pattern version, you can get them from my publisher's website at Quiltwoman.com.

Let me know if you make one up, I'd love to see it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

UFO Challenging

I'm participating in an UFO Challenge with my Sit & Stitch group and this month's number is #4.  Well back when I made my list, I decided #4 should be to sew my Swap Blocks together into a top (this is from a swap that I was doing with my Sewing Buddies last Fall)...however to do this, I need to have finished my Swap Blocks right?!

...So I first set out to get those Swap Block finished ~ Mary & Starlyn: I have your blocks ready for you...finally :)

...Then when I started arranging them up on the design wall, I patted myself on the back for noticing that this block was wrong (Notice in the photo above that the top right 4-patch unit is rotated wrong).  So I did a little un-sewing, then re-sewing and I fixed it... Then...

...I sewed all the blocks into rows, and then the rows together...and only Then did I spot another one. ~ Do you see it?

Yep, there it is.  Another 4-patch unit is rotated wrong on that brown block...Don't you hate it when that happens!  Well, there is a bright side ~ I spotted it before I layered it and quilted it all up :)

So like any good quilter, I quit for the night, and started auditioning borders instead.  The repair will wait until later.

By the way, let me know if you spot any more!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Road Trip Day!

Yesterday I went on a Creative Excursion with my Sewing Buddies ~ Mary drove, I navigated, and Starlyn brought the Cracker Jacks ~ we make a great team :)  We had our own little Shop Hop on the Eastern Shore and visited three quilt shops we'd never visited before ~ so of course some fabric deals had to come home with me :)

There may just have been some other stores involved too ~ we did a little Thrifting, and I scored some more Vintage Linens...

We found a great Antique Shop and I even got some fabric there too. 

This little blast from my past came home with me as well...because Yes, we all need a Fisher Price Farris Wheel in our playroom! 

...And the rest of the day included a Sonic lunch, more fabric, and a little Red, Hot & Blue for dinner.

And we even hit a yarn store and I picked up some more sock yarn to add to my collection of future socks...I think we just about covered everything :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Magic in the Garden

My Springtime garden is a magical place...Fairies have moved in!

...The magic is in how much they occupy my kiddos ~ both two and four legged :)

After school hours are spent there, digging, planting, arranging the Fairies, moving rocks, and "making roads".

...And of course watering...

...and getting more water (Butters always supervises the activity)...

...and watering ~ I think we need to shop for a tad bigger watering can :)

I love the garden in the Spring as things pop, and new gardens take form...

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn