Quilts, patterns, and help ~ oh my

You can enter to win a quilt,

get a pattern,

and

help some tornado victims in Oklahoma.

All in one fail swoop!  How fantastic!

Many thanks to Happier than a Bird Quilts for offering this beauty.

See her post about this lovely quilt found HERE

Tickets available till May 31.

I've entered and so happy to participate in this where I can. 

What a fantastic community we are a part of!
♥

Vote for your favorite projects on Bloggers Quilt Festival ~ Spring 2013

I'm off traveling for the last time this month.

{it's only been the 5th time I've driven down the Columbia Gorge just this month}

Just a quick hello.

A call...

Voting for Amy's Creative Side Blogger's Quilt Festival is open until May 30.

All the categories are found here . . . http://amyscreativeside.com/2013/05/17/bloggers-quilt-festival-spring-2013/ 

You can vote once per category.

~~~

I'm listed at these two locations . . . hint hint :)

...

http://amyscreativeside.com/2013/05/17/bloggers-quilt-festival-wall-hanging-quilts/
{I'm #12}

http://amyscreativeside.com/2013/05/17/bloggers-quilt-festival-baby-quilts/

{I'm #14}

And, how about a peek at what I did instead of finish my #ALYoF May project. . . ohhh pretty!



Later I'll post more about the two projects above as they ROCK!



May: A Lovely Year of Finishes ~ Finishes Party

Phew did we really get through May?!

'A Lovely Year of Finishes'
Hosted here and with Melissa @ Sew Bitter Sweet Designs
One month, one project, one finish for 12-months. 2013 a year of lovely finishes.

If you're on twitter or Instagram
use the hastag #ALYoF and show us your projects

My May #ALYoF project small and mighty.
Aaaaaaand I've let a few things get in the way.


Sewing

Traveling around the lovely parts of the Pacific Northwest {more coming this week}

Oh and even a little more sewing.

Oh yes and I had a birthday yesterday!
Yeah fabric shopping spree.

Sooooo thankfully there is a little time before the end of the month. . we'll see if I can focus and finish - in addition to traveling AGAIN for work.

If not you'll be seeing my goal being repeated - there's no shame in that :)

~~~

Did you finish what you had planned for your lovely May finish?

Add your blog post or flickr photo (with appropriate descriptions) to the linky party below.  Make sure you also link back here so other people can join in the fun!

Please make it easy for Melissa @ Sew Bitter Sweet Designs and I and put a reference to you goal setting post - that way it's easier to verify you being eligible for prizes.

**Please note, the linky party is the same here and over at Melissa @ Sew Bitter Sweet Designs, so there is no need to enter twice **

For those unsure of how to link up go check out our Q&A Page for A Lovely Year of Finishes - there are instructions on how to link up from a blog and from Flickr.

Grab a button!  Spread the LOVE

<a href="http://fiberofallsorts.blogspot.com/p/lovely-year-of-finishes.html" title="A Lovely Year of Finishes"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvBE7uofUE15qEda8ii_lCUv9l9ajbjKBxw5xuQHlMIkMtwM_aDuyXvP350NArINiIsI944NN1d1nnvh4WUKQcPN01tr519Pg9cNPbImu-G1P-vihiQu88UZr7jpHTG7HCO5NHNnKSAj4/s400/2013btn600.gif" width="180" height="180" alt="A Lovely Year of Finishes" style="border:none;" /></a>

And here is a reminder of what our fantastic sponsors have up to offer for

May Prizes:

1. Choice of $15 or 2 charm packs from Stitch n’ Giggles

2. Mini Dresden Flowers Pattern and Pieces donated from Paper Pieces

3. $25 Gift Certificate from Intrepid Thread

4. A pack of books from a local quilter Solar Threads

Find Becky on her facebook page here

5. $20.00 Gift Certificate from the Quilting Lodge

6, 7, 8, and 9 Will get one thread pack of Auriful Thread donated from Aurifil

10. $10.00 Gift Certificate from Contemporary Cloth

10 winners will be chosen by Mr. Random for those that post here and the wrap-up linky at the end of the month with a completed finish.

Happy Spring!

Pincusion Swap - Sent and Received

I've been so good! 

I've avoided bee's ... to stay away from distractions.

Then KA-POW a few fantastic swaps just became irresistible!
DISTRACTED!

I joined in a facebook swap because of an enabler - she's evil by the way!

The task was fantastic to make a pin cushion. 

I so could do this. 

I made this cute little pin cushion. 

Perfect for when I did my wonky star tutorial

I adored how nice and simple it is.
I even got some hand stitching in here. . . tada!

Filled with crushed walnut seeds.

It's reminded me that my own skills have grown leaps and bounds in the last few years.

I could never work on something this small before - it's all about learning! 

~~

In return during the same swap, I received an amazing package I got from

CeLynn's Sunflower Patch.

She talked a little about her work on my pin cushions  here and here

{yes way back in February and March}

I'm super spoiled!

I love triangles and CeLynn was spot on with this lovely package.

So fun to swap with such great people! ♥

Sometimes distractions is just what I need to get more done.

 

Blogger’s Quilt Festival ~ May 2013 ~ Baby Quilt

Welcome if you're jumping over from Amy's Creative Side for the fantastic

Blogger's Quilt Festival.

As an intro ...

I'm Shanna {like Banana}.

You can find me on any of the many Internet venues I dabble in through the buttons just to the left.

<----------------

Please look around, I would love to have you visit me again.

I'm so excited to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival again.

Here is my entry of a baby quilt

Quilt Stats:

Name: Moonh Sparkle Triangle

Size: approx. 56" x 70"

Fabrics:  Amy Butler - Cameo + stash fabrics + linen
Binding: Amy Butler - Angelica in Carmine
Pattern:  Triangles self design

Quilting: Machine quilted on my Pfaff Performance 2058

Completed: December 2012 

I was super excited to work on triangles.  And this beauty is for my bff's little girl, Moonh Sparkle Love.

The back is volie that doesn't play nice with 505 spray.  So much learning!

Here's an Instagram photo of the entire top  I learned a lot about triangles in this beauty!

~~~

When I started my blog I was super excited to share my very first quilt during this festival.  I was so proud. 

This is my first time to participate since 2010.

I've been lacking in my finishes.

To remedy this Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I have been running a monthly goal {with sponsors} called 'A Lovely Year of Finishes'  we would love to have your join us.  It's been fantastic to see finishes - even some of my own.

Please go check out the other amazing quilts with this springs Bloggers Quilt Festival.

Thanks for visiting

Blogger’s Quilt Festival ~ May 2013 ~ Wall Hanging entry

Welcome if you're jumping over from Amy's Creative Side for the fantastic

Blogger's Quilt Festival.

As an intro ...

I'm Shanna {like Banana}.

You can find me on the many Internet venues through my buttons just to the left.

<----------------

Please look around, I would love to have you visit me again.

I'm so excited to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival again.

Here is my entry into the Wall Hanging

I made this for the Modern She Made 3 swap.

I knew that I could do this as a challenge as it included stars

{I love stars & triangles of all sorts!}

This is for a secret partner, Lee from May Chappell. 

Quilt Stats:

Name: Rainbows in Gray

Size: approx. 21" x 21"

Fabrics:  Stash fabrics + Kona grays

Binding: Amy Butler - Cameo - Forget Me Not in Midnight 
Pattern:  My own design scaled down version of fireflies tutorial from Sew Bittersweet Designs

Quilting: Machine quilted by me on my Pfaff Performance 2058

Started : April 2013

Completed: May 2013 

I used and tweaked the fireflies tutorial by Melissa over at Sew Bittersweet Designs.

It was fun to post some status on Instagram

Oh and I even did this fancy smancy labeling technique from the tutorial by Melissa over at Sew Bittersweet Designs.

I also added a star for the back.  I used a the wonky star tutorial I posted here.

~~~

When I started my blog I was super excited to share my very first quilt during this festival.  I was so proud. 

This is my first time to participate since 2010.

I've been lacking in my finishes.

To remedy this Melissa from Sew BitterSweet Designs and I have been running a monthly goal {with sponsors} called 'A Lovely Year of Finishes'  we would love to have your join us.  It's been fantastic to see finishes - even some of my own.

Please go check out the other amazing quilts with this springs Bloggers Quilt Festival.

Thanks for visiting

May ALYoF ~ mid-month check-in linky party

Looking for some eye candy?  Jump over to the #ALYoF flickr group and check out the projects people have been showing off.

This is the May mid-month check-in.

I kinda need this myself. 
While I put my finish goal as something small, I'm kinda struggling.

Instead of working on my #ALYoF project I'm breaking out other WIP's.

It's so fun to play with old projects and know that they will be done soon.

But I will work on my May project soon.
I can SO do this!

~~

This mid-month linky will be open for 7 days.

Melissa and I would love to see how you're all doing.

And this is not mandatory linky just a fun encouragement along the way!

Melissa & I share the same linky, as she's awesome & shares with me.

And remember to visit some of these lovely people and grab a button for your blog posts.

<a href="http://fiberofallsorts.blogspot.com/p/lovely-year-of-finishes.html" title="A Lovely Year of Finishes"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvBE7uofUE15qEda8ii_lCUv9l9ajbjKBxw5xuQHlMIkMtwM_aDuyXvP350NArINiIsI944NN1d1nnvh4WUKQcPN01tr519Pg9cNPbImu-G1P-vihiQu88UZr7jpHTG7HCO5NHNnKSAj4/s400/2013btn600.gif" width="180" height="180" alt="A Lovely Year of Finishes" style="border:none;" /></a>

The finishes party will start May 24 and end on midnight May 31.
Thanks to this month's sponsors
 Stitch n’ Giggles

Paper Pieces

 Intrepid Thread

local quilter Solar Threads find Becky on her facebook page here

Quilting Lodge
Aurifil

Contemporary Cloth

Winners and Weekends

It was a lovely weekend overall.

And now it's Monday.

The winner of my Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway is ...

Nichole of Modern Handcraft

Congrats sweetie!
I have the package all ready to mail.

I was able to take advantage of travels and sales this weekend.  I have a few more gadgets that I'll be doing reviews for.

This weekend I worked on an old old WIP.

And with glee, I finished all the blocks by the end of the weekend.

This block and pattern is from the Superstar from Elizabeth Hartman's book

The Practical Guide to Patchwork

So pretty!

The step-daughter said a medium gray would be a good border and well I have no clue what the back will be at this point in time. 

All in good time.

Turn-it-All product review

Circular life baby!

So this is were it starts...

So I'm over on Instagram and I just happened to stumble on #isewphotochallenge from some of the fantastic people I follow.

Searching this hastag I find super bizarre tools and many other people that I was not following but obviously should be {which I am now}

Later on, while my meander my way as I enter Sew, Mama, Sew giveaways for myself, I found the wonderful Pattern Crush

She's the one running the #isewphotochallenge - wow!

So I decided to jump right in starting on May 8 - Most bizarre tool. Here's what I picked.

Why you ask..

I was having such a hard time turning some straps for my 'go anywhere bag' as I added some extra interfacing. I spent about 30 minutes trying to turn them and only had 1.5" turned.  My hands hurt!  It was so painful.  I can totally sympathize with anyone with joint issues trying to do this craft.

I remembering watching some video of this sometime back.  I remember thinking to myself 'who needs that!?'  Sadly, I did in this moment! 

I went to my trusty Amazon and found the Turn-it-All. I went and ordered this on-line. Thanks to my mommy giving me Amazon Prime I got it in 2 days! 

I took my strap, you remember the one that I had already spent already 30 minutes on, and undid the whole 1.5" that I already turned.  I was hoping this really was going to work!  I put some basting stitches one end so I could push against something, placed the tube inside and then with the other poker turned this beauty right-side out in 15 seconds flat. 

Really 15 seconds! 

I almost cried! 

I did the same thing with the other strap and DONE!

Why again did I not buy this earlier? 

I highly recommend this product or something like it.  It really is the best under $10 item I have in my sewing arsenal at the moment!

*As an FYI ~ I put my Instagram account on private as there was some crazy spam going around and well I don't really want everyone to see my photos.  Just request an add and if you have quilty related things I'll  approve your request*

April Winners ~ A Lovely Year of Finishes

Looking for my Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway open til Friday, May 10?

Click HERE

~~

A Lovely Year of Finishes that is co-hosted by Melissa and Me.  Click on either of our pages to get more information. 

How about some prizes from last month.
I admire all of the 103 people who finished their one project.
I adore that this is working for some people - including myself.

April PRIZES from our amazing sponsors:

1. A Craftsy Class (winners choice of class)

The winner is Lyndsey from Sew Many Yarns

2. $15.00 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop

The winner is Robyn from Flickr

3. Choice of $15 or 2 charm packs from Stitch n’ Giggles

The winner is Lindsey from Happier Than a Bird Quilts

4. A Paper Piecing Kit donated from Paper Pieces

The winner is Jennifer from Glinda Quilts 

5, 6, 7 Will get one thread pack of Auriful Thread donated from Aurifil



The winners are: 

Wendi from Bethadee Zoo

Debbe from Pieces to Love

*Carol from Ladybugs Quilting Challenges 

*Carol please check your email* we may need to re-draw this

8. $20.00 Gift Certificate from the Quilting Lodge

The winner is Tubakk from Den Syende Himmel

9. $10.00 Gift Certificate from Contemporary Cloth

The winner is Cindy from In a Stitch Quilting

Many thanks to our amazing sponsors.  I know it's fantastic to have an incentive to finish things up.. in addition to having it done.

Keep it up!