Feeling spoiled

I recently received this amazing quilt from my DollQultSwap10 partner Kati. Kati blogs over at from the blue chair. I've actually visited Kati's blog a few times in the past.

I LOVE this quilt! I have always been a fan of black backgrounds (as I'm sure a few of you already know) and the aqua is a new favorite of mine.

The back is stunning too. Love the quilting lines and the label looks great all crooked.

Kati also included some goodies. She used some of her leftover scraps to make this hot pad. Thanks Kati but I don't think this will used in the kitchen. This one will be going up on a wall somewhere too. I also received some fabric to play with. See that simple looking roll with the red tie? I wonder what is in there....

Kati also made these pins. She told me that this was her first time making pins like this. I'm guessing they are clay. I think they turned out great. I especially LOVE the rose! I know how hard they are to make in ribbon, I don't want to even think about how hard they would be in clay.

Thanks Kati!!! Everything is amazing!

With a little help from my friends

A couple of quilting friends from a quilting forum I like to hang out at knew I was collecting red/white/cream/blue strings to make string blocks for QOV quilts. They were very generous and sent me some of their scraps. It's fun to play with other quilter's scraps! 

Just One Star or two

Moda put a call out for some help last month. They are trying to make 100 quilts in a 100 days for Quilts of Valor.  I made these two stars last month and sent them in. They are collecting stars until May 1st so if you haven't heard about this project and wish to donate you still have a little bit of time left to make a block or two. They actually go together really fast. I didn't trim my blocks because Moda asked us not too. They will trim the blocks when they arrive. A good idea actually. That way all the blocks will be the same size and they won't have to "fudge" any blocks when they are putting them together.

I was very surprised when I received a package from Moda last week. I couldn't remember winning anything recently so I couldn't wait to open it up. Inside I found this mini charm pack and a thank you note from Moda for sending in two stars. Completely unnecessary but greatly appreciated. I'll probably make a table runner or tote bag with these little squares.

In the past I have scoured the web looking for organizations that took donations for wounded soldiers. I found many sites where people were collecting quilts. The guidelines were very strict and I wasn't sure if I would be able to make many complete quilts so I kept looking. Then I came across the HeartStrings Quilt Project blog. This group collects quilts but also they accept string blocks. Their guidelines are very easy to follow so this is the group I have decided to work with.  I already have 36 blocks for their heart strings project. Next I will be working on string blocks for the QOV group.

Hoppy Easter!!

Phill-A-Me-Na Flamingo and I want to wish you and your family a very safe and Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful time with friends and family this weekend. We are having our traditional ham dinner. We will probably spend most of our day playing video games and watching movies together.  Good Friday started Spring Break for our area. It will be great to hear all the neighborhood kids playing outside. I love listening to the kids laughing outside. Some will be riding bikes and others will be swimming. My son has a couple friends and they like to play basketball. Hopefully the low humidity will stick around for awhile so the kids can run around without getting over heated.

Phill-a-me-na Flamingo is one of my favorite friends over in the shop.