Sneak Preview: DQS4

Here's a sneak peek at what I'm putting together for the Doll Quilt Swap 4. The top's all done and I'm showing it sitting against the backing. I just have to whip up a label for it and put it all together, and then it will be on its way!

Quilt-a-Long - 2 more blocks done!

I finished blocks 8 & 9 of AmandaJean's star quilt-a-long. Here they are ...


Week 8's block:






Week 9's block:






And all 18 blocks completed so far:

Randi's Free Fabric Giveaway

Go show Randi some love on the grand opening of her Etsy shop, Fresh Squeezed Fabrics!

And enter to win some free fabric in honor of the grand opening at Randi's blog.

Good luck!

Quilty Shoes (for men!)

I was browsing the American Eagle site earlier today and came across these shoes in their sale section. Not a bad summer shoe for a quilting guy, eh? I know Father's Day just passed, but I thought some of you might be interested in a pair for that special guy in your life -- maybe it will get him more interested in your hobby! : )

Very Cool Giveaway

I received a tip on a great giveaway on Jackie's blog. She is a longarm quilter that will actually quilt the winner's work! This would be great for my quilt-a-long quilt ... or one of the other 6 or so completed tops that I have now. Visit Jackie's blog for your chance to win!

Speaking of giveaways, I've noticed that I'm nearing my 50th post. Does that call for a giveaway of some sort ... ? : )

First Mini Quilt Done

I think I've mentioned that I joined a Flickr swap group for monthly swaps of 6" - 12" mini quilts. I thought it would be a fun thing to do to practice some skills (namely, binding) and it's pretty easy to get that satisfaction of completing something.

June was my first month and here's what I sent off to my partner:

The binding's kind of a mess on back, but I was getting noticeably better even by the end of this little quilt. This is the first "real" binding I've ever hand sewn! And for those of you that read my blog (all 4 of you!), you might notice that it's an adaptation of a table runner I made back in May.

This swap's a lot of fun -- you should come check it out. I think I'm going to sit July out, though, and try to catch up on a few things.

Beantown

Turns out it was a great week to be in Boston! The Celtics beat the Lakers on Tuesday night and, although we didn't have tickets to the game, we watched it down near Quincy Market and enjoyed the post-game festivities outside of the Boston Garden. It was loud and crazy and lots of fun ... and, fortunately, it never turned ugly or violent. You've got to love sports celebrations!