Kinda, Sorta, Suns...

Ignore the fact that those aren't really circles. Or think of them as organic suns.

I'm so close to finishing up the quilting my To a T quilt. After taking the first machine quilting class from Ana Buzzalino I decided I needed to push myself a little. I doodled and doodled. Then I basted, hoping that process would force me to make a decision. I certainly had some time to think - basting took me a while with the belly in the way!

I was pinning on a block that has the gorgeous orange print, Moira, from Echo by Lotta Jansdotter when the inspiration hit. My sketch and my reality aren't actually all that close to the design on the print, but it is the idea. And Lotta's print doesn't have perfect circles either.

I'm using Aurifil 50wt thread to quilt this. A few weeks ago I won a pack of the Mark Lipinski Basics collection by Aurifil - lucky me! One of the beige threads was perfect. And it works fantastically with the purples I've put on the back.

Binding this week...

Shades of Grey Giveaway!

Okay, two little bits for you today. You may or may not know about either of them. If you do, then consider this more treats. If you don't, then consider yourself informed and treated.

First off, let's have a giveaway! Jan from Daisy Janie is donating a fat quarter bundle of her gorgeous, organic Shades of Grey line to one lucky reader. And I'm contributing a free Kinda Herringbone pattern (PDF to your mailbox) that was completely inspired by Shades of Grey.

This giveaway is a direct result of Jan and the lovely Cara from Cara Quilts. Have you heard of Talkin' Tuesdays? It is a Twitter chat held on Tuesday nights. (It was that obvious, wasn't it?). Cara hosts and is joined in leading the discussions by the weekly sponsors. Sponsors mean prizes!

So, a few weeks ago I won this bundle from Jan when she sponsored Talkin' Tuesday. Seeing as I've made a quilt, and pattern, from Shades of Grey already I talked to Jan and decided to pay it forward. One lucky reader will get the fat quarter bundle and the pattern.

Jan and I are curious, what are your thoughts on using grey in your sewing? Do you combine it with other colours? What ones? Have you ever used grey by itself? Or, just tell us about your love for grey. To enter the giveaway just leave a comment on this post between now and Thursday 8 pm MST.

Anastasia

My Baba was a diminutive woman who reminded those who just met her of Yoda. Her limited, broken English sounded a lot like the tiny green Jedi's manner of speech. She was also soft, kind, and generous.

If you've ever known a Baba or heard the stereotypes about these Ukrainian grandmothers you can assume you know my Baba. Her world revolved around her enormous garden, making sure people were well fed, worrying about anything and everything, church, and cross stitch. Everyone was too skinny. Hairy legs on a man meant he was going to be rich. Cold drinks made you sick. (My poor grandfather, forced to drink warm beer.)

This pincushion caught my eye at a quilt show a few years back. A little Baba to add to my sewing supplies. Each pincushion was different, and each had a name. As soon as I saw the name on this one, Anastasia, she had to come home with me. Anastasia was my own Baba's name. My own little sewing Yoda.

Now, the girls know the pincushion by name and ask to play with her. And Baba keeps me company when I sew.

(To read more about my Baba and her influence on me, check out the article on page 76 in Delish Mag.)

10

One of these days I'll finish a quilt. For now, I'm comfortable starting more.

This is the stack of fabrics I put together for a quilt I'm making my husband for our upcoming 10th anniversary. It might seem girly, but these were our wedding colours. Colours that he loved then (or so he said) and I'm hoping he'll still like. It's for a king sized quilt that is for a date that is 2 months away. Yup, I am purely insane.

Insanely in love.

(Ugh, gag me with a spoon.)

I'll do my best. I got this quilt in my head and I'm on a mission.

BTW, did I mention that our anniversary is more or less my due date? I probably should have done that when I introduced The Bet the other day.

(BTW, he doesn't read the blog at all, so the only way he'll find out is if certain people say something to him. You know who you are - keep your mouth shut!)