Another Row is Up!

The next Row is up for the Round Robin Winter Wonderland Sew-Along!  Hop on over and check it out ~ it's a cute Row with Gift Boxes designed by Clover and Violet.  And on the Flickr Group, some of the Tree Rows that I designed are starting to appear :)

It's fun to see what everyone is making as they sew up their rows, but it's hard for me to think about a Winter Wonderland when we've had such a nice Spring here.  It's been cool, so my Spring blooms have stuck around and really made a pretty show.

 Even my pansies are still going strong, usually they're about finished by now.
 

 And the roses are all popping now too, so while you're working on your Winter Wonderland Rows...

...Don't forget to take the time to smell a rose :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

My First HQ Club!

Yesterday I enjoyed the company of some Quilty friends while we held the first HandiQuilter Machine Quilting Club session in my studio :)  The topic for this first session was Basic Backgrounds, and each student received instructions to make one of these sampler quilts to practice their machine quilting backgrounds and fills.  These samples were made by my friend Mary Nielsen who generously shared her work with us.
 

Each attendee at HQ Club received these practice sheets to start their collection of machine quilting designs.  Putting meander doodle designs in sheet protectors is a great way to practice muscle memory with dry erase markers before you quilt, and to use them as reference for keeping your size consistent when quilting them out.  

Dry erase boards and machine quilting books were available and everyone got to stitch on my HQ machines and play with the designs.  Some favorite designs were shared, along with many tips and lots of information from everyone.  That's what I love about when quilters get together! 

Now it's time to practice, practice, practice :)

If you're local in my area, I have some more HQ Club topics and dates scheduled in the coming weeks.  You can check them out Here on my website or contact me.  All skill levels are welcome, and you don't have to own a longarm machine to attend.  We'd love to have you join us, but space is limited, so if a class you'd like to attend is full, contact me, so I know what topics you like, and I'll schedule more dates for it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

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