Love, Patchwork & Quilting : :

This morning, rather than blogging right away like usual, I jumped right into finishing my second quilt for this year, took some photos of my most recent fabric mail, and checked my email to find this exciting offer!



Love, Patchwork, & Quilting is kindly offering a free digital copy of Issue 4, the one that includes my Butterfly Quilt pattern, from tomorrow February 28th, 9am GMT to March 4th, 9am GMT!!



To access the free issue, download the iTunes app - http://tinyurl.com/n5fswod - open up issue 4 of Love Patchwork & Quilting and click on the 'voucher' icon. Enter code: MADNESS14 and 'submit' -- you can download the issue right away – easy!



A big thanks to Love, Patchwork & Quilting!   ♥  Maureen 

Blogger's Quilt Festival -- ROYGBIV : :

One year ago today I shared my Bloggers Quilt Festival post, entering my Scrappy Improv Quilt into the Favorite Scrap Quilt Category. My entry was one of only a few quilts I had finished since I began sewing, and was the only finished piece I really had to enter. When my quilt actually made it into the final five voting stage, I was so thrilled! A year ago I wasn't a confident quilter at all. I struggled with following quilt patterns and even more with turning my own quilt pattern ideas into tangible quilts. Entering and receiving such a positive reply was one of the big uplifts I received that encouraged me to keep on trying. This year, I'm excited to be able to enter two quilts into the Bloggers Quilt Festival. Two that I'm really proud of mostly because to me they symbolize the growth and progress I've made as a quilter this year!

First, I'm entering my Butterfly Quilt into the ROYGBIV category. This one started as a late night idea, quickly sketched out, and then Instagrammed!







It's made with lots of fussy cut butterflies from Anna Maria Horner fabrics and Valori Well's Cocoon collection, along with AGF Pure Element solids. My idea was to use the rainbow of color beginning with the earthy, muddy colors to those shiny & bright and all the butterflies to illustrate metamorphosis and growth. More than anything I just wanted it to be pretty, since it's a Christmas present for my niece who's four! Haha











Quilt Stats

name: A Butterfly Quilt
size: 43" x 60"
fabrics: Art Gallery Pure Element solids, Anna Maria Horner Field Study & Loulouthi, and Valori Wells Cocoon
quilting: a dense wavy stitch using Aurifil dark gray 50wt for all the quilting at the bottom, an Aurifil bright, lemon yellow 50wt throughout the center, finished with a bright white 50wt on the top portion of my quilt
backing: Anna Maria Horner Loulouthi Clippings
binding: Pure Element Solids in Crystal Pink, Raspberry Rose, & London Red

Tomorrow I'll be back with my second entry! How about you, are you entering this year?

Happy quilting! ♥ Maureen

A Butterfly Quilt : :

Last Thursday evening, before the busyness of a long holiday weekend and anticipated rain, we took my finished Butterfly Quilt to the church garden for a quick photo shoot. The assortment of red and pink blooms was the backdrop I had decided on before this quilt was even finished, it was so pretty!



This Butterfly Quilt is a request from my 4 yr old niece, Molly, and is one of several I'm making for all my children, nieces, & nephews before the holidays. I'm pretty certain that Molly will appreciate this rainbow of color, as well, so I'm super excited!!

 
It was just about three weeks ago that I had sketch out my pattern and gathered up my stash of butterfly fabrics -- Valorie Well's Cocoon and Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi & Field Study, along with a spectrum of Art Gallery Pure Element Solids. 



It all came together pretty quickly with some fussy cutting of the butterfly prints, a little playing around with the mix of solids, and the excitement of appliqueing those soaring butterflies. After finishing up my Applique Art Quilt, I knew Molly's Butterfly Quilt would have to have more of those!



I quilted with a dense wavy stitch, which is both fun and forgiving! This time rather then using an Aurifil variegated thread for all my quilting -- I tried something new, still keeping with that multicolored look and used an Aurifil dark gray 50wt from the Tula Pink collection for all the quilting at the bottom, an Aurifil bright, lemon yellow 50wt throughout the center, and finished with a bright white 50wt on the top portion of this quilt.



The binding, which I shared a peek of here, is made up of a variety of AGF Pure Elements from Crystal Pink to London Red. It's scrappy, pretty, & very pink! I think Molly will especially like the pink parts of her quilt!





The back is finished with one very large piece of Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi Clippings print and I kept my bobbin a dark grey Aurifil to blend in nicely. Those beautiful roses definitely decided my binding choice!!



I can't wait to see Molly with her Aunt Maureen-made Quilt!



♥   Maureen

Butterfly Quilt Finishing : :

I just finished up the binding on my butterfly quilt and took some pretty pictures as I worked! I know exactly where I'm going to take this quilt for picture taking, hopefully the weather holds out today!

This Gray & Pink combo had me wanting to break out my Rock & Romance stash!



The prettiest bobbin I've ever wound, it's Aurifil Variegated from the Tula Pink Collection!



My first attempt at wavy quilting, I thought the movement would be a pretty compliment to the Butterfly theme!



Scrappy Binding in various shades of pink!



Backed in one big, gorgeous piece of Loulouthi Clippings by Anna Maria Horner!



I hope to share this new, finished quilt on Monday!! Be sure to stop back tomorrow for a beautiful Giveaway offer from Contemporary Cloth! And, have yourself a lovely day!!   ♥   Maureen

InstaSewing Snapshots : :

Throughout this week I've been sharing little peeks on my Instagram of what I've been working on -- new fabric stashing from Stash Modern Fabric for my next Applique Art Quilt, the Butterfly Quilt I'm making for my niece Molly, and my newest quilt finish -- my Indie Symmetry Quilt! I had made this quilt top almost exactly a year ago today and sent it right off to my super talented friend Pat Bravo to use in her photos and video for her Indie Collection. That was such a dream come true collaboration for me! Indie is one of, if not my most favorite fabric collection. I sent it off to Melissa at Sew Shabby Quilting just a couple of weeks ago to work her magic, and now my Indie quilt is home, bound, and is on our bed!!



I plan to share a full Indie Quilt post with all the details, just as soon as I can, I promise! For the rest of the week and weekend it's going to be a little quiet here, besides my Fabric Friday Giveaway (it's a BIG one!), while I soak up these last several days of Summer vacation with my family! I can't believe school starts back up here on Tuesday!

Wishing you all a lovely stretch of days!! ♥  Maureen

A Really Good Sewing Day : :

Yesterday was such a fun day in my sewing room! It was a weird weather day, raining on and off, so we decided to spend the day sewing & crafting together. Kaiden worked on a collage he's been making, Jacob made a second Little Friend softie from our Sewing School book, Haila started a new crown for herself, and I finished up my Ant Farm quilt with some Lizzy House stripe binding.



I couldn't resist sharing a few photos on Instagram throughout the day! This one's my favorite, a little shot of the day's handmade finishes!

I spent sometime reorganizing my fabric stash, as well. And even found the room I need for the fabrics that should be arriving here any day -- some AMH Field Study Linen Feathers from Stash Fabrics & a bundle of Tule by Leah Duncan for Art Gallery Fabrics! I can't wait!



Once the kids were in bed, I was ready to jump right into my plan for that Kona Wine Colorstory bundle & Text Fabrics, but then I got new idea that I didn't want to lose! My niece Molly had requested that her quilt be a Butterfly Quilt, and I knew I wanted to somehow incorporate at least a few butterflies floating off, the way I did on my recent Applique Art Quilt. I quickly sketched out my design idea and I think it's going to be a good one!

So, I stayed up late working it all out. Since I'm fussy cutting butterflies from several different collections, that each has a different scale & I'm working only with fabrics I have on hand, with a Pure Element solid stash that's dwindling, yikes! I had some serious math to figure out before I began my cutting.

This morning I woke up, late, to my progress laid out on our dinner table and I was so excited with the sight of it! I made breakfast for the kids, then I had to make just one more block before sharing here today!









I'm excited to get back to work! Then this afternoon, if the sun starts shining, we plan to take my Ant Farm Quilt photos. Wish me luck!!  ♥   Maureen