Whales!

Merry Christmas Eve to those of you who celebrate and happy Wednesday everyone else. Traditionally I use today to share my holiday cards for the year (2013, 2012), but this year they fell off of my radar. My cards are store bought and are still sitting upstairs, untouched. So instead of cards, I have something better to share, Whales and a baby!

If you follow my Instagram feed, you know that I was able to spend last weekend with my nephews and sister. We had a great time at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and visited some friends on the Eastern Shore of MD. It was an exhausting and awesome weekend!

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Nephews are the best!

A post shared by Elizabeth (@andpins) on Dec 20, 2014 at 12:37pm PST

I also got to give my youngest nephew his christmas gift, a quilt. His older brother, Zachary, was the lucky recipient of my first quilt for his first Christmas. As soon as I saw the Preppy the Whale pattern by Elizabeth Hartman, I knew I had found the pattern for James.

I used three shades of blue/teal of Timeless Treasures Rain fabric to create a diagonal gradient of blues along with a splash of yellow and orange in the same print for the whales. I also used the orange Rain for the binding.

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Widescreen is my favorite! Last minute binding rush before guests arrive tomorrow. #justkeepswimming

A post shared by Elizabeth (@andpins) on Dec 18, 2014 at 4:47pm PST

I am really happy with how this quilt turned out and I know that it will be used with love.

Quilt Details

Pattern: Preppy by Elizabeth Hartman
Front: Timeless Treasures Rain, Kona Black, and Quilter’s Linen in Platinum
Back: Widescreen in Pacific by Carolyn Friedlander
Binding: Timeless Treasures Rain in Orange
Quilting: Aurifil 40WT #2600 (a pale gray)
Finished size: approx. 47×50″

PS. My 100th post!

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Firsts!

Exciting things are happening this week, I joined my first bee – The Modern Insta Bee – that has been spreading like wildfire over on Instagram. I am a proud member of Hive 13.

The Bee was started by @brazenlisa on Instagram and has over 156 quilters participating. We will each be picking our favorite block from the Modern Bee by Lindsay Conner and once a month for a year we will make a block for that month’s “Queen Bee”. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of my book and am dreaming of color palettes!

If you are interested in seeing if there are other Hives with spots, checkout out #moderninstabee2014 on Instagram.

Another first, my first finish of 2014! I started the year off easy with a small project, a throw pillow for the Philly MQG secret santa exchange that took place in January. My recipient told me that she needed throw pillows and that she liked teal, pink and orange.

I love the Spool Minis from Thimble Blossoms and I had the perfect fabrics in my stash in her color range. Bonus, she loved it!

The best part about the Philly MQG secret santa exchange is witnessing the creativity and thoughtfulness of our members. There were so many beautiful things gifted!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a second, bonus post, with the introduction of Betsy!

Hello MMXIV + a Giveaway!

The giveaway is now closed! Thank you so much for participating.

Happy New Year! 2013 is behind us and I am looking forward to see what 2014 has in store. The past year was a big year for me quilting and sewing wise; I learned a lot and tried to continually push myself beyond my comfort zone. My first solo quilting adventure started in February and was finally finished in early August. After that quilt was completed, I was officially smitten with quilting. While the first half of 2013 was slow sewing, the second half was filled with the hum of my sewing machine.

Here are a few of my favorite finishes for 2013 (the ones I wrapped up in November & December will be featured this month):

2013 FInishes

1. Hand Tied Quilt , 2. Somerset Star Pillow, 3.  A Baby Quilt, 4. Round and Round Wall Hanging,
5. Penguin, 6. Sunglasses Case

2014 already has a quilty to-do list almost a page long with what I want to work on this year; they range from our bed quilt to a series of mini quilts. My two big goals are to learn how to paper piece and quilt of out my stash as long as possible before making any more fabric purchases.

To thank you for your support in 2013 and to celebrate the arrival of 2014 I am doing another giveaway! The giveaway is now closed. I discovered and fell in love with Aurifil thread (I sew/quilt with it almost exclusively now) this past year and I want to share some with you. Aurifil generously sent me a box of thread to share with my readers! There will be three lucky winners to kick off 2014: the first winner will receive a variety pack of small spools & four large spools of thread and two additional winners will receive a variety pack each.

First Prize

Second and Third Prize

All you have to do is use the Rafflecopter link below and tell me your go-to thread color. There is a second, bonus, entry there as well.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway is now closed. The giveaway will close on Monday, January 6th at 8pm EST and I will announce the winners Tuesday morning. (Sorry, I can only ship within the United States.) Thanks for stopping by, I look forward seeing you again soon!