Nature Inspired : :

All throughout September the Goldenrod is in bloom everywhere! While it usually takes the blame for our autumn allergies, this year it's radiant yellow prominence against the deep greenery, blue skies, and browning landscape has me inspired! 





First to pull out what was left of my Sweet as Honey fat quarter bundle for some comfy, quilted pillow making! Made using my favorite pillow pattern found here in issue 8 of Love Patchwork quilting (again), bound in the bright orange Meadow print Gentle Breeze, and backed in my two favorite Sweet as Honey prints - Fly by Day and Rooted Midnight from the Spring Harvest colorway!







Then I was reminded of how much I loved that set of yellow & orange pillows I made for the magazine and gifted to my Aunt, combined with all that pretty Goldrenrod and the vase of yellow Alstroemeria as my inspiration, once again I pulled from my stash a collection of fabrics ranging in color from buttery cream to glowing tangerine, but this time with a new quilt top in mind!







This morning I finished up chain piecing my 7" squares of orange fabrics and now I'm moving onto the yellows! I'm hoping to finish in time to capture this new quilt top with it's inspired golden backdrop! 

Wish me luck!!

♥ Maureen 

An Endless Summer Quilt : :

Today is the first day of the kids Summer vacation, which makes the finishing time of this new quilt pretty perfect! I'm calling it my Endless Summer Quilt and I hope to take it along on all the adventuring we have planned in the weeks ahead!



It's a quilt as you go made using my qayg tutorial for my Herringbone quilt with the little twist of adding each strip straight across rather than on the diagonal. I simply work my way down the panels of cut batting, sewing down one piece of pretty fabric after the other until done!



I used Leah's gorgeous Meadow collection in her Picnic In the Hills colorway and lots of Art Gallery fabrics for this one. Such a pretty & happy assortment of bright orange, coral, peach, yellow, green, blue & Teal!



Yesterday we brought it with us for a quick photo shoot just out of town at my parents house. Now I can't believe this is the first quilt we've photographed in the field behind their house, such a gorgeous spot!



It was sprinkled with bright orange hawkweed, blackberry flowers, and little yellow buttercups that looked like dwarf cinquefoil. What a beautiful backdrop this new quilt made for my tiny cluster of wildflowers!



After our walk and lots of pictures taken in the field, we continued to the treeline. It's been several years since I've been to these woods, what an amazing surprise to discover this tree standing before us. Begging to hold my quilt. It was such a beautiful moment!







From the Meadow prints I used to make this quilt I chose the brightly colored, simple, and lovely print - Gentle Breeze in Red for my quilt binding!



My personal Meadow favorite Summer Grove by Night had to be the back, framed by a narrow strip of AGF's Pure Elements in Coral Reef and Peach Sherbet!



Finishing and sharing this quilt feels so good today, on the first day of our Summer break! I'm hoping it's the first of many. Let the Summer of Quilts begin, I'm ready!



♥  Maureen

Quilting As I Go : :

This weekend I almost finished my newest quilt as you go project, a quilt made using Leah Duncan's gorgeous Meadow collection and lots of Art Gallery Fabrics! I say almost, because even after Instagramming my freshly complete quilt top pic Sunday morning, I counted up just enough cuts to make one more qayg panel. I can't have these pretty strips going into the scrap drawer when they can make this quilt just a little bit bigger!



You can read more about how I'm making these stacked strip qayg panels right here!



Late last week the fabrics I requested for my backing and binding arrived from Art Gallery Fabrics, along with a surprise bundle of Pat Bravo's lovely, new collection NouvElle, I'll be sure to share more on those tomorrow! For my binding I chose the beautiful, red-orange Gentle Breeze print, to make all of the tangerine, peach, and salmon colors in my quilt really pop!



For the back I had to go with my stand-out favorite print in the Meadow collection, Summer Grove by Night from the Picnic in the Hills colorway. I LOVE this print! This fresh Kelly green color is my favorite!



I can't wait to finish!!  

How about you, what are you working on this week?

A Fabric GIVEAWAY : :

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It's Fabric Giveaway Friday!  

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My sponsor The Intrepid Thread is a family owned and run business. In their shop you'll find Fat Quarters, Half Yards, Yards, and Yardage, as well as patterns and embellishments. Their designer fabrics include many of our favorites -- Art Gallery Fabrics, Moda, and Riley Blake Designs just to name a few! 
The owners work extremely hard everyday to bring their customers the best fabrics,
at the best prices, with high quality customer service!
  
SHOP  *  BLOG  *  FACEBOOK
 

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We hope you enjoy visiting The Intrepid Thread's sites!! 

For this week's Fabric Giveaway, Julie at The Intrepid Thread invited me to create a custom bundle for her wonderful shop! This bundle includes fifteen, fat quarter Art Gallery Fabric prints and Elements from a number of my very favorite collections, inspired by my newest quilt as you go quilt, Endless Summer! 

You can find this custom bundle newly available in both Fat Quarter and Half Yard cuts right HERE in The Intrepid Thread Shop!!

Enter to win! 

Here's how,

 
1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! I'd love to know what this custom bundle would inspire you to make?! (one entry)
2. Follow The Intrepid Thread on Facebook, their blog, or sign up to receive their Newsletter. Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
3. My followers get a third entry! Just let me know that you follow me here, on Instagram, or Facebook by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Whether by instagram, tweet, facebook, pin, blog, etc... (optional extra entry) 

That’s 4 possible entries! Enter now through Monday, April 14th! Winner will be picked at Random and I will announce their name at the bottom of this 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!

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Thank you to all who entered the Giveaway!! From  1,645 entries, Mr. Random says the lucky winner is... 

Comment #155 --   * Lindsay Rodems * 

Congratulations, I'll be in touch shortly!   

Progress Report : :

Yesterday I finally managed to start this new quilt. It was seeming as though beginning this one just wasn't meant to happen there for a little bit, sheesh! Happy that's behind me. Beginning is so, so good!



And, I'm extra happy to report that I accomplished quite a bit!







I share often that both my quilt as you go tutorial and my newest qayg tutorial for my Herringbone quilt pattern are both extremely quick makes. Well this version of adding each strip straight across rather than on the diagonal, working my way down the panels of cut batting, one piece after the other definitely exceeds those speedy methods!



It's exactly the perfectyly laid-back, enjoyable quilt project I'm so needing right now!



♥  Maureen

Change of Plans : :

I used my quilting ruler to cut one triangle from each Meadow print, setting them aside, waiting for my chance to begin my new quilt. I wanted to sew just one row together before committing fully to my design plan. Then yesterday, as I finished up a few etsy orders while enjoying my daffodils, I changed my mind!





The warm, sunny yellow and bright orange flowers were too convincing, and so out went any Meadow blues darker than a clear Summer sky and in came cantaloupes & peachy creams, mint & pale aqua, more sunshine yellow & tangerine, grassy greens, and bright teals.



This bundle feels so much like Summer to me. Those shiny, carefree days I'm so ready for! An easy quilt as you go of bright stripes in varying widths of these pretty fabrics. Simple and fun!



My plan, to take my Herringbone quilt tutorial and rather than add each fabric on the diagonal, I'll be adding each strip straight, one after the other just like a patchwork stacked coin quilt. I printed out AGF's Rustic Autumn quilt pattern quite sometime ago, loving both the diagonal direction and the orange! I plan to keep it close by for a little extra inspiration!



And how about you, what are you working on these days?

♥  Maureen

New Fabric & Plans : :

Today seems like the perfect day to share my newest fabric deliveries and plans. Since I've so been busy making birthday crowns and not much else!



The same day Spring weather finally arrived to my part of PA this lovely & fresh Meadow collection showed up at my door via Art Gallery Fabrics! This collection is by artist Leah Duncan, a gorgeous follow-up to her Tule collection! I'm such a huge fan of Leah's work and cannot wait to turn these beauties into a quilt. At first glace a simple triangle patchwork quilt came to mind, maybe another go at this pattern, hmn?



Prompted by my recent Storybook collection giveaway, I couldn't resist stashing my two favorite prints in the ultra-soft brushed cotton option from Crafter's Vision. These hot air balloon prints will be the backs to two crib size quilts I hope to make this month. Baby quilts aren't something I ever make, but I have an idea that a sweet crib size quilt will be just perfect for, stay tuned!





I was recently invited to receive and play around with this beautiful, Lipari bundle of handwoven Oakshott Cottons! These will certainly become more flying geese units!





My sponsor Cloud9 Fabrics sent me two bundles of their new organic, quilter's weight Enchanted collection By Michelle Engel Bencsko. One to turn into something quilty and one to giveaway once I do! I hope to make my little sister a quick, quilted tote bag before she leaves for Hawaii on Friday!



How about you, have you stashed anything good lately?

Happy sewing!  ♥  Maureen

A Fabric GIVEAWAY : :

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It's Fabric Giveaway Friday!  

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

My sponsor Stash Fabrics is an online store full of fresh, modern fabric. They carry many of our favorite designer fabrics, including Art Gallery, Riley Blake, Free Spirit, Cloud9, Moda, and many more! They offer FREE shipping on all orders over $50 in the US!!

We invite you to visit Stash at their --

 SHOP  *  BLOG  *  FACEBOOK  *  TWITTER  *  INSTAGRAM
 

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We hope you enjoy visiting the Stash Fabrics sites!! 

For this week's Fabric Giveaway, Stash Fabrics is offering a bundle of Meadow, the gorgeous new fabric collection by designer Leah Duncan for Art Gallery Fabrics! The winner of this Giveaway gets their choice of either the Picnic in the Hills or the Picnic By the River palette in a fat quarter bundle!! Isn't it lovely?!







In addition, don't forget to use Stash Fabric's coupon code SHIPFREE50, to receive that free US shipping on any order over $50!! 

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

Enter to win!

Here's how,   

1. Simply leave a comment here in this post! We'd love to know which palette is your favorite?! You can find them both right HERE! (one entry)
2. Follow Stash Fabrics on Instagram or Facebook! Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
3. My followers get a third entry! Whether you follow me here, on Facebook, or on Instagram, just let me know that you do by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (optional extra entry)
4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Whether by tweet, instagram, facebook, pin, blog, etc... (optional extra entry) 

That’s 4 possible entries! Enter now through Monday, February 24th. The winner will be chosen by Random and I will announce their name, at the bottom of this 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!

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Thank you to all who entered the Giveaway!! From  1,983 entries, Mr. Random says the lucky winner is... 

Comment #986 --   *  Taryn @ from Pixels to Patchwork   * 

Congratulations, I'll be in touch shortly!