Taking a Breath

It's been a while since I've blogged!  Things have been a little hectic the last few months and I decided I wanted to focus more on sewing than on blogging.  And I've also started to focus a little more on organizing!  And that can work out to your benefit...I'm destashing!

Hop on over to the ClassyQuilts shop on Etsy if you want to add some fun fabrics to your stash!  There are only a few items in the shop so far, but I've got tons more to list (like paper grocery bag full of stuff).  I will be on vacation at the beginning of June, so things will be quiet for a couple weeks, but I'll continue to post/ship more items when I get back! 

Just one of the items available in the shop!

The dots above are a 1/3 yard bundle with some extra in the stripes.  I almost don't want to get rid of them, but I think one of you had the perfect project for them!

Some fabrics are from quilt shops, others are from big box stores, many of them don't have selvedges so I'm not really sure what they are!  But there will be plenty to choose from.  Smaller bits of fat quarter size or less will be posted in color-coordinated bundles, there will be a little bit of yardage, and some precuts.

I hope you find something you love!  Check back often as the destash pile will be growing...and growing...and growing...

-Melissa

Winners and Some Groovy FMQ

Important business first.  I'd like to welcome all of the new followers who joined during the blog hop - hope you enjoy reading along!  The winner of the birthday giveaway Twenty-Three charm pack is Debra Lee and the winner of the Celebrations sushi roll is Deb.  No, I wasn't going through choosing people with similar names, Random.org somehow managed to do that work for me! :)  Thanks to everyone who entered and I hope you had a great time on the blog hop!

I've been really busy hand sewing lately - today or tomorrow I will be dropping off my two quilts for the Three Rivers Quilt show, so I had to get sleeves on them and get them all de-linted/-haired/-threaded.  I made the mistake of making my first sleeve totally flat.  Bad idea.  It makes the top of my quilt look all bendy and funny.  Luckily some friends gave me some advice and I ended up making the second one in the vein of this D-Sleeve Tutorial from Tallgrass Prairie Studio.  My hands are cramping up after all that hand sewing!

My absolute favorite thing from this past week was finishing up the FMQ on my Groove quilt.  I decided to go back to my original thought of doing "organic, wavy lines" and tried that out over the final section of the quilt.  I loooooove it!

Quilting finished!  Finally!

Now to continue attaching the binding...  Oh and never again will I get hasty and decide I'm done before I'm actually done and then have to quilt with it already trimmed with the binding on.  Getting around the edges was soooo difficult!  There was basically nothing to hold on to.  But it's so busy, nobody will ever notice :)

After finishing that up, I'm feeling pretty confident in my FMQ skills.  I recently basted my Parking Lights quilt from last summer and will be quilting up that beast soon.  That was going to be my entry for Quilt Con.  Ooops.  Maybe for 2015!

Linking up with FMQ Friday! 

-Melissa

Blog Hop with Giveaways

Spring is just around the corner - it's time to get ready with the Beat the Winter Blues Blog Hop Party with Giveaways!  I'm giving away something that will prepare you for next winter.  A Princess Mirah Designs Sushi Roll in Celebrations!

It's a batik roll with 24 strips (2.5" wide) with various red, green, and gold designs.  Combine this with some solids and you can make a really stunning holiday quilt.  Or take out the yellow/gold/green strips and use them in a springy project!

Be sure to check out the blog hop and enter some of the other giveaways!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below.  Followers of my blog get a bonus entry - just leave a separate comment letting me know you follow (through Google or RSS or whatever).  The giveaway will be open through noon eastern on Friday, March 15 and is open to everyone, US and international.  I will pick a comment at random.  Please be sure to leave an e-mail address if your profile is set to "no reply".  Good luck!

-Melissa