second time round....and round

 

Remember this?

 It's my second go at Amanda Jean's

Round and Round quilt-a-long.

 It's for a dear friend who got into a bidding war with

another dear friend for my first one during

a benefit for yet another dear friend.

 I thought I'd make another and double the money donated.

I let her pick the fabric, and she chose Prayer Flag for Moda,

which I picked up at Burgundy Buttons fabulous sale!

I don't know if I was just more precise (doubtful)

or it's just second time luck, 

but this one came out even better!

Have you ever tried something again and found it worked better

for no apparent reason?

Hey, I'll take it!

even more unbottled Rainbows...

Just some more Bottled Rainbow success.

 

Four more.  Up to Eleven.  Five more to go.

What Fun!!

I've discovered fabrics I never knew I had, or had at least forgotten.

I keep finding fabrics and I say 

"...ooooh! that should have gone in the (blank) block!"

I examine each scrap for its true color.

Thank you Rachel for putting this project out there!

more soon, leave me a note, let me know you are curious!

mother's day splurge

I've been really good about not buying too much fabric lately, really....

I've even been keeping a yardage tally, 

which I've been meaning to post about, really...

I think I was at negative 11.5 yards or something, even!

That is, until Mother's Day coupons from 

Burgundy Buttons and 

Wonderous Woven Fabrics

appeared in my inbox.

 But I am weak. So very weak.

But oh! so happy!

Lookie! Lookie!

(left) a fat quarter stack of Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush

(right) half-yard stack of Mod Sugar Pop

Sugar Pop! There's something about those bright colors, Baskin-Robbins-style, almost!

 And I've been a huge fan of Innocent Crush since, well, forever.

 Yummy Sugar Pop!

 And totally enticing Innocent Crush.  I love that "shattered" design.

And rarely do I buy quilt patterns, but this found it's way into my cart.

Maybe it was the Sherbet Pips in the picture.  

Maybe it was the thought of this pattern with either I.C. or M.S.P.

Or Maybe it was just me being a kid in a candy store...

Oh well.  Whatever....Happy (belated) Mother's Day!

Oh, and check out these crazy creatures...

 Etta.  3 weeks old.  Still chick-ish...

Etta and Trixie.  4 weeks old.

Look at the difference a week makes! 

Check out the feathers on their heads, completely changes their look!
Such homely teenagers.  

But I love them so...

newness

 

Can you even handle how cute this is?

I got two new chicks to beef up my flock (pun intended).

I disguised my weakness at the Feed store as gifts for the kids for Easter.

Nothing says "Happy Easter" like chicks.

And then there is this beast glorious thing.

It's another queen-sized quilt.

I used 56 different fabrics from my stash!

I keep thinking my little machine will never make it through all that quilting,

but she never ceases to amaze me.

Still, I'm looking forward to getting "certified" to use the long-arm machine

at Steve's Sew and Vac in June!

Thank god for string piecing. I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

And it makes such interesting photos!

Meanwhile....

Remember this quilt-a-long from Amanda Jean?

I finally quilted it (it took me THREE tries, and ripping out of seams

before I settled on a quilting pattern), and donated it to a benefit for a 

friend.  He's been diagnosed with testicular cancer.

We raised thousands to help him and his young family through these tough times.

I love being able to contribute something in situations like this.

I had fun with the back.

Turned out there was a bidding war for this quilt, 

so I agreed to make a second and we doubled the money raised!

I've already started making the second, using a jelly roll of Prayer Flag by April Cornell.

I'm really psyched to have another chance at this quilt,

because there were some mistakes the first time round,

and I'm looking forward to being more precise with this one.

I donated another quilt, too.

I am kinda thrilled about this one, 

because I can say it's the first time I've designed something myself!

A while back Liz over at Goddess in Progress pulled a bunch of us into 

cranking out a ridiculous amount of half-square triangles.

I think I made 300 or so HST blocks.

I made a big throw-sized quilt top.

I made two quick and easy baby quilts.

And then I decided to make a second quilt to donate to the benefit.

I don't know where the inspiration for this pattern came from.

Maybe from Rachel's Bottled Rainbows project 

(which I am also working on, and working on, and hopefully someday finishing).

Anyway, I Love how this turned out!  I ended up listing it for sale in my Etsy shop,

and I've already sold one!  I have it up on my design wall right now!

(and I still have a tub full of HST squares left over)

The buyer said she liked the "luminous" quality of the quilt,

and I must say, I agree. 

I'm really enjoying working with colors in more disciplined ways.  

I see why color has everything to do with light!

 On the back I made three blocks with primary colors,

which was my smarty-pants way of complimenting the rainbow of the front.

A special shout-out to my friend Jessica, 

who's good eye helped me choose the colors for the stripes,

and she was the one who figured out the red-pink/red-orange square ends.

So that's what's new around here.

Chicks and quilts.

(Ella named this wee black chick "Trixie", because, as she says,

"Trixies are always dark and up to no good".)

I thought they look like yin/yang here....

 

Ok, ok... enough with the chicks.

I'm getting back to work on those quilts.

Oh, I can't help it...just one more photo shoot with Etta the chick....

 Don't chicks and quilts go well together?

 oops....

Happy Spring!