Official I Spy Swap

Okay! Let the I Spy Swap Begin!! Here's the skinny.....

If you would like to be part of the I Spy Charm Swap, here are the guidelines. Please read carefully:
1.Leave me a comment on this post telling me that you want to enter the swap. I will then send you an email giving you my mailing address. This is important....leave me your email address in the comments if you are a no-reply blogger. If you do not hear back from me, then that will be because you are no-reply and I don't have your email address! If you are unsure...check your blogger profile.


2. We will be swapping sets of 20 charm squares, each 5 inch square.  You may send more than one set of 20 charms, up to 5 sets. Each set that you send to me can be cut from the same fabric. You should be able to cut 20 five inch squares from around 1/2 yard of fabric depending on the design spacing. If you send more than one set, please use a different fabric for each set. I will divide up the charms randomly and return back to you 20 different charms per set. At least that is the goal, and I will try hard to do that! (If you send several sets, please realize that you might get duplicate charms in return.)


3. Please send 100 percent cotton, quilt shop quality fabrics only. Do not prewash the fabric.
Be accurate in cutting the 5 inch squares. The novelty design should be good size, not tiny...it needs to be easily recognizable from a distance.Try to have the character centered on the charm as much as possible. Please do not send licensed designs, i.e. Disney characters, NFL mascots, and such. Be creative in your shopping...it would be great to not have too many sending me the same fabrics! (If you send me licensed or tiny prints, then I will have to mail them back to you....sorry.) See samples below and above...

THIS!

NOT THIS!

4. Place each set of 20 charms in a zip lock sandwich size baggie. Include your name, address, and email on a piece of paper inside each baggie. Put your baggies in an appropriate size envelope. When you take it to the post office and have it weighed for accurate postage, please buy and include the same amount of postage inside the envelope so that I can return your new charms to you. I will provide the return envelopes. You just need to give me the postage. Does that make sense?


5. The last day for me to receive the charms is May 31. I will email you when I receive your charms. If you are sending them from outside the US, please keep this in mind as it sometimes takes weeks for packages to arrive. I will divide up the charms on Wednesday, June 1. Anything received after that will be returned to you.


6. Several of you have indicated that you would like to swap pairs of charms so that you can play a matching game with your quilt. If this is the case, then I would suggest that you send me two sets of charms and I will do my best to return to you two sets that match. Let me know when you sign up if you would like two exact sets in return.

We've got fun ahead! I'll put up the pattern tutorial in the next few weeks.

Thank you for playing along!

I Spy Collection

Over the last few years I have made several I Spy themed quilts (here, here and here, and here)...all of them for my grand children and in different patterns. I've found that three years old is the perfect age to begin playing this game with kids. Younger children can certainly enjoy looking at all the hidden pictures in an I Spy but at three they finally have the attention span to really get involved. 


Because Lula is turning three in July, it's time to get busy on her fun quilt. Jane will enjoy it too, I'm sure!

Yesterday, I was pumped to get started....here's what I have so far..... If you are unfamiliar with an I Spy quilt, just imagine looking at all the pictures on the quilt with a toddler and taking turns saying "I spy with my little eye....." and then giving a hint, like an orange owl, or a pink bird, etc. Sometimes we use a little car or trinket to put on the picture when it is found.

 I'm really liking the pattern I'm using this time, even though it takes some thinking to keep it straight. My seam ripper came out at least once last evening!

I'm going to need 100 different squares for this quilt. Would anyone want to do a swap if I organized it? We would need at least 20 participants to make it work, I think. Let me know if you would be interested. I'm planning to do a tutorial on the pattern also. Meanwhile, I'll keep searching my collection for more possibilities!

My Humble Red and White

I hope that you have gotten to somehow see the red and white quilts on display recently in NYC. Karen at the Selvage Blog has done a wonderful job of helping me feel like I got to attend, Infinite Variety, from way over here in Kansas City! If you have the time, look through her wonderful blog full of pictures from the exhibit. This is a photo that she took. Isn't it fascinating to see all of the quilts together!

I actually am the proud owner of an antique red and white quilt that I thought I would show you all today. Here it is in all of it's humble glory.........

 I love the simple and cheerful quality of this quilt. Red and white seems to affect me that way...maybe that's why I have a red and white kitchen.  Can you see how worn the quilt blocks are along the bottom center? I always imagine that someone sat in that exact same spot to put on his shoes every morning for many years. It has been very loved and I LOVE that! When I first purchased  rescued the quilt from a garage sale for $15, I basted the worn binding to the back and hung it on my red living room wall. I could see it through the window every time I drove into the driveway. It made me smile!

 Hand quilted and, I believe, hand pieced, it is a true treasure to me. I'm glad that I could keep alive someone's handwork many years later, be it so humble or not. Most of the time it lives folded up inside my mother's old picnic basket on top of my quilt cupboard reminding me that things don't have to be complicated to be lovely! 

Do you have a red and white quilt?

Easter Sunday

Desert Rose Tablecloth Quilt

I made this quilt before the "Blended Quilts" craze. I remember clearly shopping for the soft colored fabrics. Too bad I put them all into one quilt, without any contrast.

 You can hardly see the pattern!

 Still, the colors are perfect for what I use it for.........a tablecloth for my antique Desert Rose dishes. They both make an appearance once a year......

at Easter dinner.

This year we had a Saturday brunch...

and I enjoyed using quilt and dishes very much!

 My grand daughter, Haven, thinks that next year we should have a picnic instead!

After our brunch, there were lots of eggs to hunt in the yard.....

These three were very good hunters as you can see........

 But one monkey had to work harder than the others to find the best eggs......

The rabbits that hid the eggs must have been really, really tall.....

 Or maybe even had wings!

Easter baskets are good for holding little pieces of paper too. 

Strawberrypi is the winner of the Oh My! charm pack give-away!

Thank you to all who entered and left such sweet comments about the

 Love Bead Quilt.

Welcome to those of you who are new followers..so glad to have you!

Have a lovely Easter!

Hoppy Easter

My Easter baskets are full and running over!

No time to get them emptied right now, though.....this little one needs an Easter dress for her very first Easter! And guess what! Her Lolly (that's me) gets to make one. Yay!

I found this pattern in my archives....(that means that I have had it for a few years and have no idea if it is still available.) Easy peasy!

Jane's mommy picked out the fabric and the genius color combo of aqua and orange Ta Da! dots by Michael Miller. 

 I can't take credit of the adorable ruched flower either. Her mommy made that using this tutorial from Andie...except that Megan gathered it on the machine rather than by hand.

(Mommy's of two little ones have to do things FAST!)

 Jane always  needs to be wearing a bib. (You probably can guess why!) There was just enough fabric to make one to match.

Oh, I do love sewing for little girls!

Hoppy Easter!

P.S. Don't delay in entering the charm pack give-away. Tomorrow a special bunny will draw a name!

Moda Bake Shop

Today is a big day!

 I'm excited to have you see my debut creation for the Moda Bake Shop, 

 Love Beads.

I hope that you will hop on over to the Moda Bake Shop blog to see the pattern

 and say "hi" in the comments. Pretty please!

 The fabric is Oh, My! by Sanae and Moda Bella solid in butter. It's pretty wild fabric, which works really well for the 1970's inspired idea of love beads which were popular in that decade...(ask me how I know!)

 It  takes two charm packs to make this lap size quilt. The cutting and piecing is easy, making the pattern suitable for a beginner but fun for any quilter.

 I used the leftover beads and some selvage on the backing of my sample quilt. Don't you love that wild large print!

I have two extra Oh, My! charm packs ( enough to make Love Beads) to give away.

If you would like to win these,

 visit the Bake Shop blog and take a look around.

Come on back here and leave me a comment telling me that you saw my quilt.

For a second chance to win, be a follower of Lollyquiltz and tell me so in a separate comment. I'll leave the giveaway open until Saturday. Make sure that I can contact you by email if your name is drawn.

Thanks for stopping by!

Please note: the giveaway is now closed.

Cutting into my Pips

*Warning! This post contains an overload of the color red!

For a few days, I just looked at my Sherbet Pips...or petted them as I walked by......

But, yesterday, I got out the rotary cutter and started cutting into them.  Oh, so fun! First up, I used one FQ to add a circle to the Big Little George pillow top I'm attempting to create with Lynne at Lily's Quilts. I had so much fun paper piecing the curves and points. 

Now for the scary part......sewing the middle circle on.....with the sewing machine!!!

Yikes!

She swears that it's possible, so I'll give it a try........................

 When I turn it over, it LOOKS like it will work. I need more caffeine before I attempt it, I think! But, don't those little people look so cute...they remind me of my grandies!

Tomorrow is the last day for our MOPS table to meet for this year and I wanted to make a little something for each of the young mothers at my table. I've grown so attached to them as their mentor mom and look forward to remaining friends. The Pips are making another appearance in the mug rugs I'm working on for them.....

 Each of the mug rugs is made with the same fabrics, but I'm quilting each a little differently and the backings vary. (I'm hoping none of my young friends are reading this!)

 I adore the girls on swings fabric. There is so much detail.  Just a warning that you will be seeing this fabric in the various color ways here again, I assure you!

Like a kid, I can hardly wait for tomorrow's Moda Bake Shop entry as it will be starring a quilt tutorial by Lollyquiltz! I hope that you will stop by the Bake Shop blog, take a look at "Love Beads" and leave me a comment so I won't feel so nervous! Be sure and stop back by here, as well, because I'm having a Give-Away tomorrow to celebrate becoming a Moda chef! See you soon!

Piecing

There's been a lot of piecing going on around here.........

The supplies were not the usual quilter's fare...

rocks...lots of them

 sand and pebbles.......

and a handsome strong man with a shovel.

 One day it rained, so I got to piece some of the good stuff.......

 because I want to make a Little Big George block with Lilly's Quilts.

I'm hoping it will make a cute pillow.

It's not been all work and no play though....

We don't want to waste a pretty spring day, when these cuties are around!

What did you do over the weekend?