A Very Happy Win!

Yes I do!  I like giveaways, I especially like when I win a giveaway!  There are many generous people who entice us with goodies, and frankly I sometimes cannot resist throwing my name in the mix.  

I was the lucky winner of one of Afton's (@Quilting Mod) giveaways recently.  She has been super generous the past couple weeks with giveaways and sharing photos from Quilt Market. For those of us who weren't able to attend Quilt Market, the photos shared by Afton let us get a peek at the newest fabrics, latest trends and even a lot of gorgeous quilts!



When I saw the giveaway for thread, I was thrilled!  But when I saw it was Cotton + Steel thread I began to drool a little!  Early this year I saw that Cotton + Steel was partnering with Sulky to create a line of thread.  I was intrigued then and hoped to one day see it and try it. That day came with five pretty 50wt spools of cotton thread.  I'm looking forward to trying each and every color! 

 

And speaking of color, notice that each plastic spool is a different color.  Clever!  And exciting!  I can imagine all the Cotton + Steel junkies are beside themselves!



Also included was a big stack of selvages.  Each one generously cut with the C+S 'magic' include on each and every selvage.  I rarely save selvages.  If solids had selvage coolness, then I would. This stack will merge with my puny stack and hopefully I can one day explore a project using them all!



And who doesn't need a tote?!  Thank you Afton, thank you Cotton + Steel!  I'm a very happy girl!

LINKING:

Sunday Stash

Did You Know This?

It's always nice to learn something new, right?  Sometimes it's the little things that surprise us the most!

I think many of us are big Aurifil fans.  That's pretty evident on a daily basis.

Yesterday, I discovered something I never knew about Aurifil!  And please, tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know this!  I follow Aurifil on Instagram and saw this post:

The bottom of the spool comes off!  A simple twist and viola! it's off!  The question is why? One person said they put the bottom on the other end because it works better in her machine.  Alex Veronelli said that that's where the beginning of the spool is.  

Interesting, don't you think?  I may be a complete dork, but I find it interesting!  And then I thought...

You know when you store your thread and the end comes undone creating a big mess? Or your off on retreat or sew-a-longs, toss some thread in your sewing kit and it unravels?  Now you can avoid that!  Pop the end off, place the end underneath the spool and screw the bottom back on. 

No more mess!  I'm beside myself with this new discovery!  I'm a dork, it doesn't take much to excite me these days!  

I know I'm not the only one who didn't know...come on...who grabbed a spool and popped the top off?!

Small Things

I feel good about not spending money.  Even on fabric.  I'll admit it's hard and it can be a struggle.  There is just so much out there to want!  

Fat Quarter Shop has been having some great Birthday specials every day and when it was the thread day, I had to restock.  How can I quilt without thread?!  Its essential, a necessity!

Aurifil Thread

I added some white (2024), Light Blue Grey (2610), Dove (2600), Beige (2314) and Light Beige (2310).  All neutral colors that I will use over and over again.  A good score and a good price!  

Hooray for solids!  I was lucky enough to have won this charm pack!  Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts was celebrating her third year of blogging with a week of giveaways.  She is so gracious and generous!

The fabric feels wonderful and the colors, well you know!  Just a rainbow of smiles!  

I'm trying to come up with a project for this stack sooner rather than later.  Got any suggestions?!  I could just stick it on my shelf and look at it day after day after day, but I'm kind of tired of doing that!  That leads to frustration.  You can only hold on to and look at fabric for so long, right?  I need to get over it and start slicing and dicing!  

New thread, new fabric...no excuses!  

While taking pictures of one of my Wave Wall Hangings (which I will share soon), I accidentally snapped a picture.  I was all ready to delete it until I saw it.  Quilt Porn/Centerfold shot!  It reminded me of a tidal wave, which seemed pretty fitting considering it was all about the waves on this piece!

LINKING: 

Sunday Stash

Not In Command!

Command hooks.  They have been such a lifesaver for so many things.  I use them for a lot of my sewing organizing.  Let's face it, organizing is fun!  I sometimes have to wait until the mood is right, stars aligned, perfect storm...but sometimes...sometimes there really isn't a choice when it gets done.  Something happens and you gotta drop everything and deal!

Sunday morning was when my disaster occurred.  I just fed the dog.  Had a nice hot cup of coffee in my hand.  Ready to do some computer work.  When all of the sudden I heard this noise.  A noise unlike any I have heard before.  It was really quite an amazing sound. What the heck...where did that come from...I figured it out.  My sewing closet.  I whipped opened the door and this is what I saw!

Thread.  Everywhere.  Bobbins.  Bags. Thread organizer.  Yarn.  I was stunned.  It was way too early to deal with this!!!  Oh command hooks...why, why, why???  I shouldn't have been surprised.  It hung on the wall for years without budging.  Sooner or later the 'stick 'em' will no longer stick!

To be honest, I let it be for most of the day.  Eventually I did pick all the spools up.  They were everywhere!

The spools weren't so bad.  The bobbins on the other hand...were a mess!  I saved the ones that had the most thread on them and unwound the rest!  I was surprised at how many bobbins I had with little thread on them.  I couldn't really do much with so little!

I hammered in a proper hook that will not go anywhere!  It is secure and this will not happen again!  

The good news is my thread is organized!  It looks so pretty all color coded.  Tidy.  I'm pretty sure I will not have to do this again anytime soon!

Have you ever noticed how a praying mantis rocks back and forth?  So bizarre!  I saw this guy on Sunday after I finished with my thread chaos.  I'm going to say he was doing a victory dance for me...

Linking:

LETS BEE SOCIAL

Extraordinary Etsy

I spend a lot of time on Etsy.  Maybe too much time.  Having two shops keeps me on my toes!  Just when I think I have seen it all...well, one little click and there it is!  Something else that amazes and captures my attention me!

Why not share?  Not everyone has the time to peruse on Etsy and if they do, maybe this one got by you!  Once a week I will share a great find, a great shop and a beautiful photo!

Today's shop is Worthygoods Textile.  It is awesome!  Based in Maine, Dory has a beautiful stock of Organic Fabric and many incredible vintage textile pieces.  From fat quarters to bolts and everything in between!  Dory has graciously allowed me to share her shop on my blog...what a treat!

I was captivated when I saw this photo.  Vintage wooden spools wound with beautiful silk thread!  Be still my heart!  My thread obsession just hit a new level!

Vintage Wooden Spools

How about these vintage industrial era textile wooden quills?!  Talk about history!  Each listing has a detailed description full of history.  I love reading the item descriptions!   

Wooden Quills

Take a moment and check out Worthygoods Textile.  Dory has offered 10% discount in her shop!  Yippie!  Use coupon code:  SAVE10 at check out...I will be!  

Read the history.  See the beauty. I know I will be keeping an eye on this shop!       

Quick Change Artist

CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS

Some times (a lot of the time) it takes me a while to figure out how to finish a quilt.  You know, the quilting part.  The part that can make or break your quilt!  

I have had quilts sit for days, weeks or months.  Folded nice and neatly just waiting for me to get that 'AHA' moment.  Yesterday morning I made a decision.  Diagonal grid.  Great. Let's do it!  

Oh, wait...thread color?  There are so many colors to choose from!  How can I pick one?! I couldn't.  This quilt was screaming for more color (like it doesn't have enough. 30 different colors!).  Okay, I'm using multiple colors.

Ready for Quilting

I got my handy dandy ruler and my new favorite tool out ready to mark my lines.  I kept hearing about the Hera Marker and decided it was time to get one and try it.  I'm so glad I did.  You can get them at your local craft store or favorite fabric shop.  Usually I use painters tape, but I was getting annoyed when it would get crinkled or not stick.  Time for an upgrade.  It makes nice crisp creases that are easy to follow during the quilting phase.

Hera Marker available here.  

You can see the lines in this picture.  Its so nice not to worry about following the tape line! I didn't have any problems following or seeing the marked lines. 

I marked my rows every 3", a few rows at a time.  I wasn't sure how long a crease would stay.

Add caption

Now here's where the 'quick change' reference comes in!  After every line, I changed to a new thread color.  Just for the diagonal lines, I changed the thread 48 times.  Bobbin out, thread off.  New color, new bobbin in, new spool on, thread it...GO!  

My count is currently at 21 different thread colors.  More crossed my mind, but I don't have enough bobbins!  You might ask yourself...'why not just use variegated thread'.  It never crossed my mind until half way through quilting  That 'AHA' moment was a little too late!

After finishing the diagonal grid, I decided I wanted something more.  Currently, I'm working on vertical/horizontal lines.  This will add triangles in the mix and hopefully break it up a little.  

I love getting to the end of quilting a quilt!  That means that soon, I get to do my favorite part.  Hand sewing the binding on!  But first, I must get back to quilting.

Sitting and watching the thread pile grow was so fun.  How could I not take pictures?  

I love getting super close-up shots of thread.   With a camera you can see the colors, textures and chaos!

freshly pieced