Home again, home again

Ah, it's good to be home. Although, hmmm. It seems I didn't really mention I was leaving! Well, this weekend, I felt like a lucky duck. I met up with new and old friends in Atlanta. Rachel organized a sewing weekend for some friends, and it was lots of fun. I'd already met Rachel, Holly and Amanda at Sewing Summit. It was great to hang out with them, as well as meeting Ara Jane, Nicke, Jessica, and Maureen!

I'll share more pictures this week, but I thought I'd start with a few from Whipstitch. We visited on Saturday, and enjoyed the shop immensely.

Oh, and I got to meet Ella! She lives in the Atlanta area, and was able to come by Whipstitch. We didn't get to visit for long, but it was awesome to meet her!

Deborah has created a very lovely shop! We all found some lovely fabrics for the stash. Here's my loot:

I picked up some Monsterz, Lush running stitch, Melody Miller flowers, Laura GUnn Painter's canvas, and Ellen Luckett-Baker's Quilt Blocks!

Yes, my bag was a little heavier on the return trip, but that's normal, right?

I'll be back soon to share more pictures!

Winner! and a consolation prize (!)

Well, there can only be one winner today, and that winner (via random number generator) is... #25, Steph! She said:

Favorite Halloween costume... one year when I was little, my parents dressed me up as a box of crayons. This involved a sandwich board painted yellow with the word Crayola painted on it. Hooray? LOL. I think I was three at the time! Thank you for the chance to win such a lovely bundle!

I've emailed Steph to collect her address, and I'd once again like to thank Stash for the Guising bundle giveaway!

Beth has offered up a consolation prize to take the bitterness away.

You can use the coupon code "jacey" at checkout in her shop for a 15% discount through Sunday!

Thanks to all that entered! I'm off for a little sewing retreat this weekend with some good friends. Have a great weekend!

FO: Improv quilt

Thanks to everyone who has entered the Stash Fabric giveaway! There's still a couple of days to enter here if you wish!

So, I have to tell you, I am over. the. moon for this quilt! It's so exciting to finish a quilt, but even more so when it really feels like you. And this one does. Feel like me, I mean. It's actually been finished for over a week, and has already been well loved and tested by both kitties.

The colors, the modern fabrics, the improvised blocks, the contrast binding, the large patchwork on the back, and the quilting are all happy-making choices. Speaking of the quilting, I have a confession to make. As per my usual, when people started raving about spray-basting, I refused to get on-board of that train.
"I like my pins!"
"Basting is soothing!"
And other such nonsense. Seriously? I spray basted this baby, with help from my sweet husband, and the quilting went so smoothly; I couldn't believe it. I saw a noticeable difference in the quality of my quilting.

You can also see I quilted this pretty densely, in one direction. I usually get tired of the quilting process, so I skimp on it. Truth be told, dense quilting is my favorite, but I never had the patience for it. I know many quilters use 505, but I was quite happy with the June Taylor brand I purchased.

As you may remember, this quilt was kick-started by a do.Good Stitches assignment from my pal Natalie to make improv chevron blocks and her lovely color palette. I started playing with the scraps from those blocks (because as Sara pointed out, there is some waste with the blocks, especially on the first attempt).

I'm so happy to have this one finished, so I can enjoy it!