It's here and it's stunning!

It arrived today!   My wall quilt from Elizabeth at Oh Fransson!  I won her December Giveaway Day custom quilt.  Lucky me, huh!

Edited 4/28/10
Out of respect for Elizabeth's work, I have removed the photos of this quilt from my flickr photostream, so they are no longer available to view.  You can see a photo of my quilt in Elizabeth's photostream. 

Thank you so much, Elizabeth!  I really do love it.  It's completely perfect.

paintbox fabrics

I've been working on collecting fabrics for Elizabeth's Paintbox quilt-along. I think I've gone a bit overboard, but I can't stop myself! Searching for and matching the prints and solids is so enjoyable; I'm hooked!

These are the uncut fabrics I've collected to far. I've tried to stick with the solids from the Kona rolls, but I had a few fabrics on hand without a matching Kona roll-up strip, so I had to buy solid yardage for those.

I've been sewing for over 20 years, but I only started quilting about a year ago. I would never dream of making a garment with unwashed (washable) fabric, but for some reason, I don't like pre-washing my quilting fabric and typically don't. But, after a friend had a terrible experience with bleeding when she used a Moda charm pack in a Christmas gift quilt, I'm scared not to pre-wash.

Of course, I can't wash the fabrics from the Kona roll-ups, so I decided to make a little colorfastness test swatch. This 24 x 24" swatch has 36, 2" squares each with a solid and it's coordinating print. The plan is to quilt this, overlock the edges and wash it.  If something bleeds, it ruins my swatch, but I'll know not to use it in my quilt.  If nothing bleeds, I plan to use it to make a 20 x 20" pillow. I'm really looking forward to the pillow!

stitching & thrift store finds

Shea and the sweet neighbor from next door were bored on Saturday, so I got them distracted with a little stitching. It was fun to watch them work.   

I stopped by the thrift store today to check and see if they had any good sheets for quilting. I found this cute orange set, but I also found some other crafty goodness.

I could not resist this fun crewelwork set of a street in Montmartre. I adore Paris. See the dome of the Sacré Coeur peeking out there in the distance? The colors are 70's funky-fabulous! Wool thread and Belgian linen, all for $1.  

I must have stitching on the brain after Saturday, because I couldn't leave this one there either. The complete kit for just a dollar, circa 1972.

I never can pass up zippers or rick rack. Twenty-five cents a package.

And then there was this $2 grab bag. I wanted the sequins, but lucky me, I got the real (and really creepy) fur collar too! It's beautifully made, but icky. There's a handmade button in there, along with some snaps, bugle beads, and a bra strap extender.

But, I thought these turquoise sequins were beautiful. As are those pretty pale blue ones on the right.

I don't know what this little tool is. Any ideas? It was in the bag with the sequins, so I guess it's used for sequins?  I'll have to do a little research.