I've got a few new things to show you.  While the hubby was away at Scout Camp last week, I stayed busy trying to finishing up some WIP's (works in progress.)  So for the next few days I'll be showing some of those projects. 

The first project I want to share with you is one you may have seen before when it was in the cutting/sewing phase.  It's done now and I presented it to it's recipients yesterday. 

My Wild Thing quilt, all finished:

I love this quilt.  Probably because the pattern is by one of my favorite designers (Camille Roskelly) and the fabrics are also by one of my other most favorite designers (Joanna Figueroa).

This quilt went to my husband's brother (Kurt) and his wife (Melanie).  They're always so sweet to ask me about quilting and seem to have an "appreciation" for quilts in general so I was happy to give it to them.  I started getting a little worried when Melanie told me beforehand that she thinks she's a "modern girl" so I decided to let them pick which quilt they wanted (I've never done that before).  I let them pick between this one and my "Shortnin' Bread" quilt I finished a few months ago.  Shortnin' Bread is definitely more modern, but I was so happy when they picked this one that I had in mind for them!

It is such a subtle print, but I thought this binding fabric would be better on the bias:

                                    

The backing is also a Fig Tree fabric (20117 18 in Clotted Cream).

The only fabric that is not a Fig Tree fabric is the background fabric in the quilt center.  It is just a great neutral that I picked up at Just Sew about a year ago.  I got several yards of it at the time and I've used it in a few projects, like this, this and this. 

Where did I hear this...(I think it may have been from Joanna Figueroa herself) that a good rule of thumb when picking out fabrics for a quilt is to use 80% of fabrics from one line and 20% of the fabrics should be from another line - just to mix things up a bit.  Of course that's just a suggestion.  You know I love scrappy quilts, but if you feel scared about picking out your own fabrics and want to stick to one specific line; try throwing in a few "zingers".  It will make the quilt unique and interesting.

Stash Manicuring AGAIN!

I was a little worried about guest posting for RaeAnn over at the blog Stash Manicure today.  Creating an interesting blog post can be a little difficult without a camera [mine's at Scout Camp and will be home later today].  But, thanks to my mom, I was able to get some photos of my latest finished quilt top.  Go check it out and learn about the fabric "freeze" I'm on!

{Smile}

Receiving an email from Sharon made me smile.

She sent me pictures of this Candy Hearts quilt she made:

Isn't it fun?  She said it came together in just a few hours and she's working on another one [queen size!]  You go girl!

She even put the recipient's name on the back.  I love it! 

Both of the Candy Hearts quilts that Sharon made/is making are gifts for special people in her life; a business partner who just adopted a new baby and a niece who has autism.  Sharon is a very generous woman!  I'm sure these quilts will be well loved.

As a thank you for sharing this Gigi's Thimble project with us, Sharon will be receiving my next pattern [due out in a few weeks].  So, that means that the next person to send me pictures of their Gigi's Thimble project will also be a shoe-in to receive my next pattern for free ~ as promised!

The Candy Hearts tutorial can be found here.

Just a sidenote: I've been quilting like crazy this week.  I'm trying to wrap up some works in progress.  Can't show pictures ~ my camera is at Scout Camp :)  I'll show some next week.  It's 7 p.m. now.  I don't have a clue what I'm making for dinner.  Gotta run.  Bye!

A Couple of Winners

Well, today is the day.  I want to thank all of you for the

sweet birthday wishes over the last few days.

 

(That's me - 32 years strong!)

It was so fun to hear about all of the cool gifts you guys have given and received over the years.  Thanks for sharing all of those memories with me.  I really enjoyed reading all of your comments.

Well, do you want to know who the winner is of my "Goodie Bag Giveaway"? 

True Random Number Generator said...

Min: 1

Max: 112

Result: 53 

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

That's my sister Cassie, who said:  "Oh yeah...I'm feeling good about this entry...;)  The best gift I ever received was my Lacasse cowboy boots. They are hot.  Happy early birthday, Sis!"

June 12, 2010 1:56 PM

You rock those boots, Cass!

So I'm excited for Cassie, but feeling a little bad that it was someone so closely related to me (I swear, I didn't cheat) so I'm going to give away one more prize.  This will be a set of my first 3 patterns as well as a couple other goodies. 

So this time, True Random Number Generator said...

Min: 1

Max: 112

Result:  29

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Jodi Lise Chandler said... "My single mother raised six kids on a school teachers salary, needless to say birthdays were simple. Mom would bake a cake, with a quarter in it. It was so exciting to see who would get the slice that had a quarter. Such a simple idea, yet a wonderful memory."

June 11, 2010 10:57 PM

I was surprised when I clicked on Jodi's name to see that she lives in the same city as me.  It's not that big of a town, but I don't think we've ever met.  It's a crazy, small world out there...  Anyways, I love that idea, Jodi, and want to try that sometime with my kids' cakes.  They'll love it.  Thanks again, everyone, for sharing! 

Today, I'm off to lunch with friends, an afternoon/evening out with my husband and kids and then a quilt guild meeting tonight.  It's going to be a great day! 

P.S.  Thanks to all of you who offered ideas for the new quilt guild I joined.  I'm taking a list of your comments to our meeting tonight and we'll decide on some new ideas to implement.

P.P.S.  Just a little useless information for ya - that birthday giveaway post was #200!!!  Can you believe that?  Thanks everyone for following along.  If you ever have any questions or topics you want me to discuss, let me know.  I love your input! 

P.P.S.S. (- duh, I don't know what that is) A Little Bit Biased is now 300 followers strong!  Crazy huh?  You guys are awesome!  Thanks for making this fun and actually thinking some of my stuff is decent :)

P.P.S.S.P. :) Have you tried Costco's red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting?  Can I just say, YUM?

Have a great June 15th.  I know I will!

Needle little Inspiration?

I was so thrilled when Jodi from the blog,

contacted me the other day to see if she could feature A Little Bit Biased on her weekly (?) Needle little Inspiration 

post!  Of course I said yes and I have to say, she's got a fabulous blog herself.  Go take a look around ~ She'll inspire you in more ways than one.  Jodi is one amazing quilter, a Northwest girl (like me) and is "in the know" about lots of great sewy/quilty things.  You WONT be disappointed! 

I'm on my way over to there right now to have a look around (again).

Have a great day!

P.S.  My birthday "Goodie Bag Giveaway" is over tomorrow.  If you haven't entered yet, leave a comment here to enter to win this:

Na Na Na Na Na Na, You Say It's Your Birthday! Na Na Na Na Na Na, It's My Birthday Too!

[Sorry about the LONG title.  I couldn't help myself.

"16 Candles" - it's a classic.]

Anyways, I do have a birthday coming up. 

Yep, that's right.

 

It's on Tuesday and just for fun I've decided to give a little "goodie bag" to one of you (my wonderful blog friends!)  The winner will win this fabric assortment and Mod Medallions pattern!  There are thirty-five 8" squares of fabric here (enough to make all of the medallions.) 

*Sorry, that they're just fabrics from my stash, but ever since I posted over at Stash Manicure I'm all about trimming down and a great way to do that is to GIVE AWAY!!!*

Just leave me a comment below telling me what the best b-day present was that you ever received or gave.  I'll pick a winner sometime on Tuesday.  Good luck!

Inspired

So.  We were inspired. 

My SIL and I were inspired by this cute, cute quilt over at Cluck, Cluck, Sew .  We decided we needed one for ourselves.  We swapped some fabrics, manicured our stashes and whipped up some ziggy fun.

This baby quilt is actually going to a sweet, little bundle of joy that will be arriving in our family very soon. My SIL is making a twin size zig zag quilt for her son's bed and I'm working on one more (throw size) to be used for snuggle time around here.

This simple pattern is great for using up scraps.  And, to add a little bit of "freshness" to my stash, my SIL (Brittany) and I swapped some fabrics.  It was great!  The binding was left over from my Sugar and Spice [Americana Style] quilt and the backing...well, the backing was not something I would normally pick, but it grew on me.  It had all the right colors and what could be better for a little boy than turtles and snails ? 

The thing I liked the most about making this quilt is how fast it was to quilt.  I think I got it all sandwiched together and quilted in about an hour!

This was a very different type of quilt for me.  Ultra mod.  Very graphic.  I think it goes to show that with cute fabrics and great colors; a simple quilt can still be a beautiful quilt.  Thanks Allison for the inspiration!

I need your ideas...

So a few months ago my neighbor asked me to join a small quilt group that she was organizing.  There are about 8-10 of us in the group so far.  We've enjoyed lots of yummy treats, inspiring show and tell and started learning about new tricks/gadgets.  I was hoping to be able to take some ideas to our next meeting of some new traditions or activities that we could implement.  Do you have any wonderful things that you've heard about or do at your quilt guild meetings?  Please share :)  I'd love to hear your ideas.

A Gigi's Thimble Interview and Giveaway @ Pastimes Online

A few weeks ago, Valerie from Pastimes Online contacted me about doing an e-interview.  With a little trepidation about sounding like a complete moron, I went out on a limb and said yes [I figure, I already make a fool out of myself on this blog, one more piece of cyberspace won't kill me!]

Find out who inspires me, what music I like to listen to when I'm stitchin' away, life before Gigi's Thimble, and more. You can even read a little more about my traumatic visit to Canada that I've mentioned once before on this blog.  This is my first interview so I hope you enjoy it!  Valerie has a great online store and blog.  There are lots of fun projects going on over there so check it out!  Oh, and be sure to leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a set of Gigi's Thimble patterns!  The giveaway ends Friday.