May Snowhearts

May is the time, when flowers bloom.

This fun little "Bunny Hill Snow Heart" seems to love May flower too.

My Aussie blogging buddies are keeping me honest.

We are working on finishing these fun little guys together.

The best part, is seeing how different each of our versions are.

For me, it's a great way to use up those bits of Island Batik fabrics, I love.

Karen from Sunburnt Quilts 

Shez from I Am

Jeanette from Celtic Craft Girl

I know your going to love what Karen,  Shez and Jeanette are doing with their little "hearts".

If you have these patterns hidden in your computer, (they are a few years old)

 pull them out and join in on the fun.

It's part of our "get er done" movement!

LOL!!!

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

X-Block Blog Hop

Welcome to my day to share, in the X-Block blog hop.

I became intrigued with this ruler...and tried it out

in the "New Technique Challenge" with the "Island Batik" ambassadors.

I immediately fell in love with it.

Especially the great packaging it comes in.

What a wonderful way to keep things together.

After looking online at the other creations you can make with these rulers...

One in particular jumped out at me.

 I knew it would be perfect for my hand dyed fabrics, 

that I've been hoarding long enough.

LOL!

Is this just the coolest?

The sun came out finally and I could get outside,

 for some wonderful shots of how the colors play, in this beauty.

This is un-be-weave-a-ble

Yes, it's spelled right! In fact right on the package it says it's an 

adj.  ...it's no joke

:-)

I used the 6.5" ruler, so my quilt came out to 84"x96".

The pattern can also be made with a 7.5" ruler,

 and the instructions are in the pattern for both sizes.

Confession time... I've stayed away from things like this.

I am not much of a fan of wasting fabric.

Not that I don't have enough in my stash to last me 3 lifetimes...

It's the principle of it all.

Twisting and turning and chopping off parts of a block...I just don't know!

But what really made me appreciate these rulers, (especially the larger ones)

is the fact that you can create other quilts with what's leftover.

They refer to them as X-tra's.

Directions for  them, are included in the pattern too.

Now your talking!!!

un-be-weave-a-ble 2

This guy was made with 1/2 of the leftover pieces,

 combined with some batiks, I had in my stash.

It measures 50.5" x 62.5"

You can see how the block is created with the leftovers.

It kind of reminds me of a camera for some reason!

un-be-weave-a-ble    More

(I see Fireworks here)

This little guy used the other half of the leftover's, and measures 38"x48".

The only extra fabric in it, is a sashing around the outside edges.

The little extra pieces we cut off, go different directions.

Sort them out and, and you've got enough for both little quilts.

And that makes a world of difference to me!

Pretty darn amazing now, isn't it?

Thanks to Doris from Quilting Queen Online for the marvelous rulers.

You can see more on X-Blocks and sign up for a free newsletter.

HERE

Follow her X-Block adventures on Facebook

HERE

Give away time!

How would you like to become an X-block queen?

All the tools you need!

Go to Rafflecopter

HERE

For your chance to win!

A big thanks to Amy from SewIncrediblyCrazy, for hosting this hop.

You won't want to miss what my fellow bloggers are sharing either!

:-)

May 7th

Just Let Me Quilt

What About Rheema

Quilt Fabrication

May 8th

MooseStashQuilting (your here)

Kris Loves Fabric

Kathleen McMusing

May 9

Life in the Scrapatch

Creatin' in the Sticks

Seams to be Sew

Patchwork Breeze

May 10

Freemotion by the River

I Like to Quilt

Quilting Queen Online

Sew Incredibly Crazy

til next time...
Keep on Stitchin'

Lancaster Quilt Retreat

5 years ago, I crashed a quilt retreat with gals in NY, that I met online.

Who knew that we would become great friends and they would invite me along every year.

This year we met in Lancaster PA for our retreat. 

It was a real treat for me,
as I had never been to that part of the country before.

This house, built in 1840 was our home for the week. Pretty cool huh!

(Don't you love my lime green rental car!)
This place has been fully restored and is just gorgeous.
It has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, one of them had a huge double door glass shower and a brand new washer/dryer set in it.

The brick fireplace was in our bedroom. (with a huge big screen TV on the mantle)

 Comfy furniture for all of us.

A giant dining room table that was plenty big enough for all of our machines
 and space to sew.

 Every bedroom had a floral arrangement

The kitchen was fully loaded, with and island stove and oven, dishwasher and a fridge with water and ice in the door. What more could one ask for?

 

Possibly a gorgeous blue orchid in the window ledge?

Oh and it was real!!!

:-)

This little room off the living room had a pull out bed. We used it for our project room.

 This charming little birdhouse with a copper roof was in a corner.

So many personal touches that made this house so special.
It was on a busy street...lots of big trucks during the day mixed in with the clipity clop of the Amish buggies that shared the same road. It got very quiet at night though.

What a treat to see the Amish quilters at work
and visit all the fabric shops in the area.

 We also visited a tack shop to buy some gloves.
I love this photo with our car pulled up right next to the buggy.

 

I've never seen a coal furnace like this before.

It worked well, as it was very hot in there.

While there was a chill in the air, there were signs of spring all around.

 I brought along kits for us all, using Connie Kresin's 

"Chinese Forget Me Knot" pattern 

and Island Batik fabrics. You can find the pattern 

HERE

A big thanks to Connie for sharing it with us.

Oh...and there was shopping...

Let's just say that my bag was 49.5 pounds when I headed home.

LOL!!

What a great place to buy fabrics. 

Zook's had tons of great fabric for $4.99 a yard and a 20% discount on that!

We also found batiks in 3 yd bundles for $18 at another place.

 I just had to have this fun panel.

 But look at these!!!

Are these just the cutest?

Linda's daughter in law, is a designer for Blank Quilting Corporation.

This is one of her new lines...Tool Time.

These wonderful gals gave me a yard of each of the fabrics in the line.

I can't wait to find that perfect pattern for them.

 They are just so darn cute.

Check out the color chart on the selvage.

I love it!

Bernie has quite the eye for whimsy!

You can see her other lines, that are coming out soon

HERE

I'm definitely see more fabric following me home.

LOL!
Thank you girls for the wonderful gift.

Now this post got to be a bit longer than I planned.
Just so many things to share.

Til next time...
Keep on Stitchin'

It's a "Wild" Life

May 1 is May Day

As a kid, I remember the festivities...the May Pole, flower baskets...

the welcoming of spring.

It seems those celebrations, are from days gone by.

But it is the time, when the bears start coming out of hibernation.

"Sew" what's more fitting that this months block?

Bear Paw!

These gorgeous "Island Batik" fabrics are perfect for this Bear Paw block,

don't you agree?

You can find the link for the pattern

HERE

 The link to the pattern has been updated and there is a cutting chart directly from EQ7.

Feel free to download it again.

Oh...it is shaping up to be a real "wild" good time.

Remember blocks are free for the duration of the month.

After that they will be available for a small fee.

You can find links for all blocks

HERE

A big thanks to my fellow designers

Amy from "Sew Incredibly Crazy

Carol from "Just Let Me Quilt"

Carla from "Creatin' in the Sticks"

Pat from "Life in the Scrapatch"

Make sure you post your finished block on our Facebook page.

HERE

There are monthly prizes we draw for!

;-)

Til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'

Art with Disney Quilt-A-Long

Block 2 Caesar McDuck...

...and he's hugging his pot o' gold!

(kinda reminds me of a quilter hugging their stash)

LOL!!

Fandom in Stitches is hosting this free QAL, with a new block every week.

I am thrilled that it's fusible applique, since that's right up my ally.

Check it out 

HERE

til next time...

Keep on Stitchin'