Spring Reprieve

I've been making steady progress on projects, but no finished product to show this morning (say that three times fast), so I thought I'd show you some pictures of Spring here in my little piece of the world.
These were taken last week, and since then it has rained just about all week so those trees you see in the background are really green now. I've managed to plant some sunflower seeds, but hopefully I'll get some good gardening weather for this weekend as I'm off work :)

Don't forget to head over to the Bunny Hill Designs Blog for Block 5 of A Tisket A Tasket. I've downloaded it, but that's it. With my magazine deadline in April, the Auction quilt to finish, and my Baltimore Album block for my class (coming up on Monday and still not finished), I didn't get my April Block done ~ and I'm behind on my calendar quilt too. I think May will have to be a catch up/Finish It Up month!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Little Bit at a Time

I've made a little progress on my Civil War Sampler that I'm hand piecing ~ a little being the operative phrase. Karen Witt of Reproduction Quilts came and taught at our shop last summer and we started making her Civil War Sampler quilt. I decided that, knowing I couldn't finish another project at the time, I would make this my hand piecing project and do a little bit at a time here and there. This is an extra "process" project. I plan to hand piece the entire quilt and then hand quilt it, taking my time and just enjoying the journey.

We have Civil War Sunday at our quilt shop on the first Sunday each month where people can come in an just share and work on anything from the Civil War era. I generally only work on this quilt on that Sunday (and depending on how busy we are in the shop that day, I might not get much done on it). This week I did finish the album blocks.

Next I'm making the 23 blue and gold pin wheel blocks that you see at the top of the quilt and some day my quilt will look like this.

Karen Witt was a wonderful teacher, not only teaching the quilting techniques but also including the history and telling the stories behind each block in her quilts. She is coming to teach at our shop again the first weekend in June (Thurs, Friday and Saturday), and if you can get to one or all of these classes it is well worth it! Check out our shop website for the information of each of the three class that she will be teaching here in June and sign up early to ensure your spot!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

More Mountain Baby Blanket Love

Yesterday at the quilt shop some more donation quilts came in! Tiffany DePriter, somehow between teaching her college courses and keeping up with her little guy Dane, was able to make two quilts to donate to Mountain Baby Blankets. They are just adorable with soft pastel colors, and the first one even has a picture of a little girl sitting on a swing reading a book!

This one is a little larger and would be great for an older girl. Tiffany pieced this one and Jean McDonald quilted it. Tiffany also donated several children's books that are appropriate for different age groups. She put such thought and care into these donations!

Thanks everyone for your support of this project! We'll keep you posted as our pile grows :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

"I Come Bearing Gifts"

...That's what Char Warner said to me as she came in the quilt shop last night. And what she had was a huge donation for Mountain Baby Blankets! There's a really nice story behind these quilts too.

Char's friend Peggy, owner of Peggy's Sewing Center in Centerville MD has a 96 year old grandmother who keeps herself busy making crib size quilt tops out of 2 1/2" squares of fabric ~ a lot of quilt tops. Char, along with a bunch of ladies on the Eastern Shore, have been adding borders and quilting them up. Char has been giving the ones she quilts to her Guild's Love Quilt program, and decided to bring some to donate to our Applachian kids project as well.

The quilts are really cute. The fabrics are all different, and you wouldn't think that they would go together, but when a border is added they all just seem to work ~ and the colors are great too! Last night she brought in 5 finished quilts, 5 quilt tops that we can quilt up, and 10 new childrens books to go along with them!

Thanks Char, Peggy, and Peggy's Maw Maw ~ what a blessing you are!

Don't forget to save the date of our Sew In for Mountain Baby Blankets on Sunday, May 31st (the 5th Sunday this month) from 12 - 4:00 at And Sew It Goes Quilt Shop. We'll also take donations of quilts, fabric and children's books from anyone who can't come that day, just drop them by the shop, or contact me.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Need a Little Inspiration?

I have been enjoying reading quilting blogs for inspiration, and recently found this site (from some of the blogs I've been reading), and wow is all I can say! You can link to over 400 quilt blogs right from this site. They also have an online quilt store search, and feature stores and blogs each day.

Check it out when you have time to peruse, sit back and enjoy the inspiration.
Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Be Attitudes

Today I'll be putting the binding on the Be Attitudes Quilt for the Holy Trinity Lutheran Youth Group Auction. (Above is a picture of the quilt top that I had taken before). I love this little quilt with words on each of it's twelve blocks. I knew as soon as I saw Nancy Halverson's Be Attitudes book that I'd make this quilt for the auction.

Here are some of the blocks that I snapped pictures of yesterday as I completed the quilting on them.
I'm not a very experienced machine quilter, so this has been some good practice for me, trying different motifs on each block.

The cryptic little messages on each block makes it very appropriate for the Youth Group auction.

The auction is to raise funds for our kids' trip to the Lutheran Youth Gathering this summer in New Orleans. Along with all the fun stuff that they'll do, the trip will also include some service work in the New Orleans community.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Christmas-y Sneak Peek

I'm so excited, yesterday I shipped out my second quilt to be photographed for publication ~ meeting my May 10th deadline early! These are some sneak peek pictures of parts of "Wandering Through the Holly". It's a big one, measuring in at 82" by 108". These pictures were taken when I was still working on the quilt top (in the wee hours of the morning ~ note the darkness outside my window).

The fabric line is adorable. It's called "Christmas Magic" designed by Lynette Anderson for Henry Glass fabrics. This quilt should appear in Quilt Magazine later this fall for the holidays. I'll let you know as soon as I know the exact issue and release date :)

This is a section of the pieced back that shows the cute quilting that Maria O'Haver did for me. The fabric is whimsical so the quilting she did really fits it.

Today I'm hoping to finish quilting the charity auction quilt that I'm donating to our church youth group. I seem to running that deadline right up to the last minute ~ the auction is this Saturday. Wish me luck :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn