Coral ♡ : :

A quick look at my Instagram feed and you'll see that I'm loving all things Coral these days! From roses to patchwork to porch swing quilts!







My recent Herringbone Pillow with Renaissance Ribbons was just the first of many projects I'd like to make this Summer featuring this beautiful color, in it's various tones. From the pale, peachy pink coral to the warmer orange infused coral, I love it all!



I'm off to a good start by stashing one yards cuts of these top two Prisma Elements in Soft Wulfenite and Warm Thulite!



Bonnie Christine's newest collection for Art Gallery Fabrics, Cultivate, just arrived and I love the strong presence of pink citrusy coral!





The perfect collection to get my coral fix, don't you think?

While snapping these photos I was reminded of this color inspiration Coral + Melon mosaic I shared three years ago! I'm feeling just as inspired by it today!



How about you? What colors & color combinations are you loving these days?

♡ Maureen

Sewing Again : :

I'm here and am finally sewing again! We really appreciate all the sweet comments you left us -- congratulating Kevin on his races, on understanding the disappointment we were feeling on the house situation, and in regards to the passing of Grandma Jane. Thank you!!

I brought back a pretty glass of roses from her garden, aren't they beautiful?!



Yesterday in the late afternoon I found my opportunity and dove right into sewing. It felt great, just what I needed in fact!



My niece Josie and I share a birthday this Sunday on the 10th, woohoo! I'll be thirty-one, in case you're wondering! :)

So... just as I've done for all my little nieces and nephews this year, I made her a Birthday Crown and Pillow set.



I tried out two more stitches on my new Janome -- the applique stitch, to add all the pillow details and the oval satin stitch, to add the flowers to her crown. I am having so much fun with these stitches! It's amazing what a huge difference changing up the stitching can make to a project. Even to something as simple as a birthday crown, which I have made over 500 of now -- WOW!!



I'm hoping Josie likes both the birdie themed pillow and the color coral, you know I love both!



I tied them together in my favorite yellow Divine Twine and sent her package out the door just before the Post Office closed last night. I hope she loves it!! Happy Birthday, Josie Bear!! Love, Aunt Maureen -- which she actually pronounces "Aunt Mean" -- can you believe it?!



Last night I even finished up my May AND June bee blocks, but I'll save those to share another day!



It's feels SO good to be back! Thanks again, friends!! ♥ Maureen 

p.s. Here's a little peek at tomorrow Fabric Giveaway!! Be sure to stop back!

At the Moment : :

This has been one crazy busy week! Every free sewing second has been spent on etsy orders. I actually decided to close down my shop for a while, until I get caught up, relax a little bit, take some time to see some of my new sewing ideas through, and until I have a handle on how our days will come together now that school is just about over. Yes, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment! I have five crowns, four pillows, two magazine projects, and a guest post project to keep me busy at my machine...plus lots of thinking, planning, and traveling to do this weekend.

Before too much time passes I really want to make something with Corals! This color might be my favorite at the moment. Every where I look I am seeing it, reminding me how perfect it will be to use in a new sewing project.

In the Kitchen...



This is my very favorite color combo right now! I have a fabric bundle plan for these...



And, of course the Poppies in bloom outside my kitchen window! They're not ours, they're our neighbors, but we have a beautiful view.



I had been meaning to take a moment to snap a photo all week and finally this morning... I was too late!



How sad is that?! But perhaps just the motivation I need to power through my orders and to-do list, to create a Poppy inspired project of my very own!

I'm really looking forward to having some exciting news to share, along with some Bottled Rainbows quilt photos, eventually! The weather is beautiful, now it's a time issue!

 ♥ Maureen

Color Inspiration & An Aurifil GIVEAWAY : :

Tangerine &

Via Pinterest or

Orange House * Ruffle Curtain * Colorful Porch * Bathroom * Door

Flowers * Living Room * Bedroom * Fabrics

City * Fabric Stack * Flowers * Painted Dresser

Tangerine, oranges, and coral really are everywhere these days, aren't they? I love it! It's such a happy, vibrant color. I am especially loving it paired with purple! When putting together this new mosaic, I had to search for another colorful house. That purple one was pinned just a little less than a million times I think! Thanks Michael!!

This week, I'm loving the oranges in my stash!



So bright and pretty!



With all this gorgeous color, I thought today would be the perfect day to giveaway some lovely, very colorful threads!

I have been enjoying Aurifil threads to use in my own projects for a couple of weeks now. I can honestly say, that threads really do make a huge difference, especially when they come in colors as brilliant as these!

Aurifil sent me five Sampler Packs of colorful threads to giveaway to my readers, each having 5 spools! I'm so happy that there will be FIVE WINNERS this time!!

 *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Enter to Win!

Here's how,
 
1. Simply leave a comment here in this post. I'd love to know what your very favorite thread color is, besides white of course! (one entry)
2. Follow Aurifil on facebook. Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (one entry)
3. My followers get a third entry! Whether you follow me here or on Facebook, just let me know that you do by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (one entry)
 
That’s 3 possible entries! Enter now through Wednesday, February 29th. Mr. Random will pick the winner and I will announce their name in a new post here on the blog.
 
* Note * This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you should you win!
 
Good Luck everyone!!!  I will be away for the next couple of days to deal with some personal issues. I wish you all a wonderful start to another new week! Take care!!

A Quilt Top : :

I finished this quilt top yesterday around noonish. I am so pleased with it! I know it's nothing special and it's very simple, but I do love it!



As I mentioned last week, I had started playing around with my coral and aqua fabrics and wasn't sure where I should go with it all. I asked you for your thoughts and now I have this quilt(top). This will be my very first finished quilt! Can you believe it!?



It's going to be a car quilt for my daughter. The finished size of the top is about 40"x 48". I didn't actually follow a specific pattern, I just made sure that everything would be nice an symmetrical and that every piece of fabric I was cutting from my stashed yardage would be used.  Turns out, I love this technique. I can't stand to have random size pieces of fabrics left after projects. The fabrics are from Pink Castle Fabrics, some stashed Moda Chyrsalis, and Joann Fabrics.



Some photos just make me so happy. This is one of those.



I completed the quilting last night and I can't believe how well it went! I think it might be one of my very favorite things I've ever made! I have about eight other things I need to do today. Oh well. I'm off to tackle the binding!

Tuesday Inspiration : :

Coral + Aqua

Photos via Pinterest

Coral and Aqua, such a beautiful color combination. So beachy and bright and fun and fresh. I really do love it!


Can you tell that Grey has become my new favorite neutral. It just looks perfect with so many colors!


And then if you add a yellow into the mix it's nice, too. What do you think? Yellow or no yellow?


I have no other yellow like this one in my stash, only brights and butteries. This one is a little special with a slightly lime greenishy thing happening. If used, the only other bits of yellow would be found there in the butterfly details. What do you think?


I'm actually planning to whip up something other than a pillow with these...can you believe it! That is usually how it starts, but you already know what happens.

How about you? What color combinations are you loving these days?