Wedding Sewing & A Drawing Winner!

Along with some customer quilting, HQ set ups/service, and kiddie corralling this week, I've been playing with purple.
 

I've been cutting up and hemming yards and yards of Eggplant Kona that will become table runners for my daughter's wedding reception.  Purple is literally laying just about anywhere you look.

After the wedding in August, I can envision some quilts being backed with purple in my future :)

***And the good news for the day is that we have a winner from my Celebrate Summer Table Runner Tutorial post!  The Random number generator picked number 5 ~ Faith from Doodle Time Designs ~ I'm emailing you Faith for your address and your Red/Blue fabric bundle from Fabri-Quilt Fabrics will go out to you soon!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

I'm Featured & a Give Away!

So when Fabri-Quilt asked me to make a project for their blog using some red, white, & blue fabrics, I was happy to oblige, after all it's been a summer filled with the Star Spangled Banner and the Stitching History Project ~ I guess I've been feeling a bit patriotic.

I chose fabrics from the Indigo Blues & Roses are Red fabric lines, and made this Celebrate Summer Table Topper...and now you can go to the Fabri-Quilt Blog and see my tutorial to make one too!

I like to use somewhat traditional fabrics, and mix them with modern elements like these fun wonky stars. The free formed star points make them look all twinkley :)

...And it gets even better!  Fabri-Quilt is generously sponsoring a Give Away of a bundle of Red & Blue fabrics so you can make your very own table topper.  All you have to do is sign up to follow the Fabri-Quilt Blog either through Bloglovin or email (on the right sidebar at their blog), And then most importantly leave a comment here on my blog on This Post to tell me you're following ~ and follow me too, that would be cool!

On Thursday evening I'll draw one random winner from the comments on this post to receive the Red/Blue fabric bundle!

**And since I mentioned the Stitching History Project, there's only 9 days to go for the Stitching History Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the project.  We have to meet the goal to receive any funds, so check it out ~ there are some nice pledge gifts involved :)

Enjoy the day ~ and Good Luck in the Give Away!
~ Dawn

Looking for a Fun Summer Giveaway?

I'm a member of the Quiltsy Team on Etsy and we're having a Give Away!  Go to the Quiltsy Team Blog post and enter the Share & Win Giveaway Contest.  Four lucky people will win prizes with a combined value of $500.00, including one with a $100.00 shopping spree among Quiltsy Team shops at Etsy.  With 370 Quiltsy member shops, there's something for everyone!  Good Luck!  

Contest ends Sunday night July 21st @ midnight Central time. Winners announced Monday July 22nd. (Quiltsy Team members are NOT eligible to participate in this contest.)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Couple of Days of HandiQuilter Club Fun

It's been super hot outside, and the perfect time to spend some time inside my studio. Yesterday and today I held some more HandiQuilter Club classes, and a few fellow quilters and I played and shared tips :)  Yesterday we made these cute Flower Wrist Pincushions while learning how to use a pantograph and laser light, Golden Threads Paper...

...and the ProStitcher.  

 Here are a couple of the finished cuties.

  And here's where I'm keeping mine :)

Today we were "Living on the Edge" and focusing on continuous line Edge to Edge designs.  I loaded up a few panels and plain fabric to play on...

...And we got lots of practice with pantographs and Groovy Boards. 

Tip of the day: Use the clear Quilter's Preview Paper to lay over your paper pantograph make markings on it with a dry erase pen. 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Progress...

Progress is being made!  The short section of the red and white stripes is now up to six stripes (out of eight).

And the Blue Canton was getting the seventh strip (also out of eight) basted on when I was leaving this afternoon.  

...We're getting there ~ when these sections are completed the top half of the flag will be constructed and ready for stars!  And, check it out, the Kickstarter campaign is halfway there too :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Working on the Flag

Here's a little glimpse of some photos I shot during my time working on the Stitching History Project at the Maryland Historical Society last week (I was there this past Wednesday, so things have progressed since my photos).  These are the wool bunting fabrics that we are using.

 And here are some of the red and white stripes cut and layed out ready to be stitched together. 

The white and red stripes are folded together and clipped, then basted together.

Then the basted seams folded over are sewn together in a double row. 

And work continues on the blue canton field that will hold the fifteen stars.  It's also being sewn together in strips. 

We even had some young ladies come and help out last week.  They were working on cutting out small stars that will be put in kits that will be available for purchase to make your own 4 x 6 foot replica of the Star Spangled Banner.  (I'll let you know when kit orders are available.)

It was really nice to have the young ladies come and help out.  One was even named Caroline, just like Mary Pickersgill's daughter of approximately the same age :)

As people continue to stitch, the flag is growing ~ I go up into the city again tomorrow, and can't wait to see the progress, and will snap some more photos!

Don't forget to visit the project's Kickstarter campaign.  We're half way to our goal, but we have to meet it by the end of the month! 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

I've been busy the last few days working on customer quilts and a couple of fabric company projects.  Just thought I'd pop on to show some of the yummy fabrics that I'm working with right now.

As soon as I can show you the results, I'll let you know :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Stitching History Kicked Off at Fort McHenry Today

This morning Bob and I celebrated our Independence Day at Fort McHenry in Baltimore Maryland.  A group of us (and our family members) who are participating in the "Stitching History" project sponsored by the Maryland Historical Society to recreate the original Star Spangled Banner flag, which inspired the National Anthem were invited to a special early morning tour at the Fort.

We were able to take part in the hoisting of the garrison flag. (That's me in the center holding onto the flag, I'm wearing the polka dot navy sleeveless top.)

The flag we're recreating, like this one is based on the original 30 foot high by 42 foot long flag that was commissioned by Commander George Armistead and made by Mary Pickersgill a Baltimore seamstress and flagmaker 200 years ago this summer during the War of 1812.   It was awesome to see the size of the flag up close and personal. 

 We walked it around to rotate and turn it...

 It was attached to the rope, and hoisted into the morning sky. 

Then it was time for us stitchers to get to work.  There are over 100 of us that are setting out to recreate the Star Spangled Banner, stitching it by hand hopefully within a six week time frame just like Mary Pickersgill did.  Our goal is to have it ready to be flown over Fort McHenry at the Defender's Day Celebration on September 14th, we'll see if we can do it.  Mary did it with the help of her Mother, daughter, three nieces, and a servant (and they made a second smaller Storm Flag at the same time)...but they were experienced flag makers and knew exactly what they were doing.  We're a bunch of quilters, and stitchers who are coming together and working in shifts to piece together the stars and stripes like Mary would have done.

Here we are starting to put the first basting stitches in the strips that will make up the blue canton that the white stars will be on.   We started out stitching at Fort McHenry this morning, and the rest of the flag will be stitched every day at the Maryland Historical Society until August 22nd. 

The fabric is a wool that was woven in Pennsylvania by Family Heirloom Weavers that's light in weight just like the original flag material. 

After working my two hour morning shift stitching, and while other stitchers continued to work shifts into the afternoon, Bob and I left Fort McHenry and drove over towards the Inner Harbor and walked around Little Italy and over to the Star Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, the original home of Mary Pickersgill, and the site where the actual flag was made.   

It was the perfect day to tour the house and stand in the space where the women worked  200 years ago.

At the Flag House Museum they have this wall depicting the actual size of the flag upright.  Bob snapped my photo with it.  The flag is bigger than the floor plan in Mary Pickersgill's house.  Once they pieced the sections, Mary and the girls had to go over to the loft of a local brewery to be able to lay it out and put it all together...I think to keep things really authentic, we'll have to find us a brewery to celebrate in at the end of our 6 weeks :)

For more wonderful information on the Original Star Spangled Banner that is currently on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History check out This Link for awesome up close and personal detail photos of the flag.

There will be two Public Days, August 3rd & 11th where anyone can come and put a few stitches into the flag we're making.  Go to This Link for more information and to sign up.  

And check out the Maryland Historical Society's Kickstarter campaign to learn more about the project and see how you can be a part of it. 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn