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A few of my favorite things...

A few of my favorite things...

Written by: 
cnelson

One of my favorite things about this community of quilters is that most love to share.  From giving quilts to passing along what they know, the skinny on a cool tip, technique or tool they've learned to a piece of fabric - sometimes one they love but happily give up because it's the one you desperately need to finish a project.

Okay... maybe not sweatpants.  Would any of us give up - or cut up! - our favorite pair of sewing-stretchy pants?

One of the things that I'm constantly reminded of is that not all of us see the same things.  If I post something to Facebook but not to Instagram, or vice versa, some folks see it twice and some don't see it at all.  So I'll share a few things that I might have shared elsewhere in the past week or so.

It's crazy to think that it's now less than two months until Spring Market.  It's in St. Louis this year and it will be the first time I've been to Market there.  I'm told it was held there many years ago and given that I've been going to Quilt Market since 2002... would that make it many, many years ago?  I'm looking forward to it - I always like new cities.  In the meantime, there is so much to sew and not nearly enough hours, days or weeks in which to do it all.

Correct that.

What needs to get done will get done.  Everything else that we'd really, really love to get done?  Probably not.

I don't think there are many who don't think "... six weeks until Market?  Well of course I can finish 63 big quilts!"  Even if the quilts were really easy and took less than a day to make... there still aren't enough days.

In the meantime, I'll just think about the pretty fabric I want to sew.

I've had this stack of Bella Solids sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks.  I love it.  I have a plan but since this won't be for Market... it will have to wait.  Still, I leave it out so I can enjoy it.  And imagine the possibilities.  Do you do that?

This is Tuppence by Shannon Gillman Orr.  I love the mix of colors - it feels like Spring - and I think this is going to be a new Cake Mix quilt.

Whether that's a new quilt sample using an existing Cake Mix, or a new quilt sample using one of the new Cake Mixes, I don't know yet.  Did I mention there are four new Cake Mix Recipes coming before Market?

I finished a new Cake Mix quilt sample - the other day, it's off for quilting this week - this is Recipe 3.

Two Creekside Layer Cakes - Creekside is by Sherri & Chelsi of A Quilting Life - and background yardage.  One would do, I used a little bit of yardage from three.

Do you love thread?  I know, we all use it every time we stitch, but do you love trying new weights and colors, experimenting with it?  While I will never love machine-quilting huge projects - been there, done that - I do like machine-quilting pieces for pillows, bags, pincushions and minis.  So I collect thread, the Aurifil Thread Sets in particular.  Aside from being pretty - distractingly so - the small spool assortments from Aurifil have been a lovely way to try new weights and colors.

This is my current obsession - Annie Smith's Love is Spoken Here.  Summerset and Winterset - both color palettes are glorious.  But what puts these two sets on my "wish list" is that they are 28 wt. cotton, a little bit thicker than the regular 50 wt. cotton thread.  (I haven't un-wrapped these yet because they still belong to Mr. Dunn.)

They also don't mix well with one of my current favorite fabric collections - Ann's Arbor by Minick & Simpson.

This is one of those collections that I liked from the outset.  One of the quilts from Farmhouse Favorites was remade for a Schoolhouse presentation using "mostly" this collection - meaning, a few additional lights and reds were added.

The lights - backgrounds" - in this collection are some of my favorites.  Ever.  As in, I may need a bolt.  You may need a bolt!

The top five are from Ann's Arbor, the polka dot on the bottom is one of the new Essentially Yours pieces.  The tan circles on ivory at the top goes with everything - Minick & Simpson collections, Fig Tree collections, Creekside, and almost every Reproduction and traditional collection Moda has right now or in the works.  I love the two pieces with blue on ivory because finding great backgrounds with blue on them isn't always easy.  Red?  That's easier.

The number is - 14848 13.  In September, that will make it easier to find.  (You're welcome.)

The Essentially Yours fabric is 8654 137 - White Multi Blue

Speaking of Essentially Yours, "someone" in the office put this on my desk... she knew I'd want it.

She was right.  How yummy is this?  All six pieces are Essentially Yours - from top to bottom:

  • 8653 23 Robin's Egg Check
  • 8655 125 Black Mini Dot
  • 8653 42 Silver Check
  • 8652 24 Robin's Egg Stripe
  • 8653 60 Black Check
  • 8652 58 Silver Stripe

There's only one teeny, tiny problem... now I need all of these pieces too!

The picture isn't perfect because I had to sneak in to take this picture in the middle of the night.  This is the scene on Lissa's cutting table, she's making a scrappy baby quilt.  (And I want the scraps!)

Okay, the picture was snipped from Lissa's Instagram.  I love this kind of wonderfully scrappy with a plan.

Another person I know who does "wonderfully scrappy with a plan" is Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Co.   Joanna is our April 12 Contests Designer and she's got something terrific planned for this month's contest.  There are prizes.

All you have to do is make a block - an original block or a favorite one.  You block might wind up in one of Joanna's beautiful Mystery Block of the Month quilts next year.

To get all the details on Fig Tree's 12 Contests Contest - Click HERE.

One last thing - thank you to everyone who is participating in the Blockheads.  We know there has been some frustration with our blog posts not publishing at the same time, and problems with finding and downloading the patterns.  We're working on getting everybody synced with the time to post so we're so thankful that you're patient with us when a few of us are a little early.

Several people have asked why we don't simply publish the patterns here every week - on the Moda blog.  One of the goals of the Blockheads was to grow the community of quilters online who love traditional, Primitive and Reproduction fabrics and quilts, and one of the ways to do that was to help everyone get to know five of the best designers of that style.  The best way to do that was to encourage everyone to visit their blogs to see their blocks and learn about how they work.  In the first five weeks, each has shared a few "who knew?" tips and something extra.

Besides... you'll want to get used to visiting the blocks as I just might be planning a super-cool giveaway that requires a little bit of "blog sleuthing."  Just saying.

So there you have it for this Friday.  As you read this, I'll be in Kentucky at Apron Strings Quilt Shop... rumor has it we've got some Monkeyshine, a little Chicken Feed and some Cake.

See you next week!  Have a wonderful weekend!

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