So many pretties from Flickr this week:

1. Rose Dream block, 2. hexie mini wip, 3. Triangles @jacquietps @sewkatiedid awesome crazy class #imobsessed, 4. IMG_9048, 5. harlequin star, 6. teapot with espresso cups, 7. DSC_0028, 8. A. Nothing like waiting till the very last minute! #donttellgayle B. now that the social part is over, I’m back at work. #imsobehind, 9. Mum’s just finished quilting this gorgeous silk quilt for our friend Yvonne

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Inspiration galore with these beauties from this week’s Flickr contacts. I’m in awe.

1. Sun, Please!, 2. drawstring bags, 3. lowvolume Scrappytripalong, 4. city recycling, 5. Crooked Cabins, 6. Squares and Rectangles, 7. Hour glass quilt – WIP, 8. Playing with some California sunshine tonight., 9. WIP or should I say PIP (pleasure in progress)?

Have a wonderful weekend ~ I know this lucky mom will!

Just came back from a lovely weekend away with friends, and participating in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day seems like a great way to keep the fun going.

So how about a chance to win a new tote bag? Nothing too fancy, just something to keep a towel, e-reader and sunscreen all in one place. I’m thinking laminated cotton to keep things dry poolside, and sweet summery prints. Yes?

How do you enter? We’ll keep that fun and easy, too. Just comment below, and let me know what your favorite summer beverage is. I’m crazy for iced teas, but I’m always looking for new ideas. Adult beverages count, too!

The giveaway will be open until May 10 at 5 p.m. PST, and then I’ll close it to comments and use the handy-dandy random number generator to pick a winner. I’m happy to ship internationally, too!

The random generator picked number 72: Congratulations to Betsy (I love iced coffee, too!) of quiltingfiesta.blogspot.com! And thanks to everyone for playing along ~ I have lots of great new ideas for summer beverages.

So happy to have this quilt finished, although if I didn’t already have my Scrappy Trip Around the World I’d have a hard time giving it up.

After the Scrappy Trip, I cut up all the leftover strips into 2.5″ squares and added them to the bin. I wasn’t done with scrap quilts. (And I’m still not. You’d think 1500 squares would have made a dent in the bin, but apparently that’s not so.)

This time around, it’s a scrappy Irish chain with a luscious flannel backing from Robert Kaufman.

Note: The flannel was a leap of faith. The last time I bought Kaufman flannel (which everyone I know and trust swears by), it had some kind of frat party in the washing machine and came out looking disgusting. Three different (but similar) colors that puked all over each other. I never did get the pills, lint and debris off of it. And even if they hadn’t transferred the mess, they came out looking tortured. This was a much better outcome.

I started this one at the January retreat. I had ordered the red, but it didn’t come in time, so I was off to the quilt shop. No red (not many solids at all, actually), so I thought I’d give this teal a chance.

Epic. Failure. The teal completely disappeared. The alternate blocks had to wait for home. Even so, I’m amazed how quickly these blocks go together.

Quilting was an easy decision. I used the same design as the one from Jon’s quilt, although I went back to cotton batting.

I think I’ll regret the flannel backing as now I want to use it on everything. Such are the challenges I face.

Since I finished piecing this quilt, I’ve added hundreds of squares to the 2.5″ bin. I’ve sorted and diced my way through lots of scraps, cut up leftovers as I finished projects, and even bought a stack or two of them. I have several more quilts planned from that little bin. This year.

Sunny and fresh and full of inspiration!

1. Selvage Pillows Front View, 2. Absolutely in love with these. I used @lbgstudio’s pattern and just changed the measurements a little., 3. Laurie Wisbrun | duvet cover, 4. Trip, made by Chresta E. 2, 5. "The Birds", 6. Too hot to bind so I cut squares instead. Oodles and oodles of squares., 7. Braided Star for Mary, 8. fmq, 9. to boston with love flag

Plant & grow something beautiful this weekend!

I say it a lot. I use it as a hashtag all the time. But this weekend I proved it out.

I’ve decided to go back to prewashing fabric. I did it faithfully for years, but I quit several years ago, and virtually all of my stash is unwashed ~ with the exception of reds and the Essex Linen.

Since I’m also doing a “little” swap with Katie, and it involves cutting 6″ strips (and then squares), by color, from most of my stash, the timing was perfect to start.

Imagine my surprise when just the pink (granted, one of the colors I have most of) was 3 loads through the washer on Friday afternoon.

Then came the pressing. 80+ fabrics and just over 50 yards total. And cutting. 6″ squares to keep and swap, 2.5″ squares for the scrap box. And finally the folding.

This is gonna take a while.

So much fun on Flickr this week!

1. Super tote side one, 2. triangles in greens browns and yellows, 3. work in progress…, 4. Broken Ring Mini Quilt in progress, 5. Simple. Good. It’s bed time. I’ll get a better pic tomorrow in the daylight. Night night!, 6. quilted scrappy sprouts, 7. Xplusalong, 8. Mirabelle Matryoshkas, 9. a little applique today

What inspires you?

Scored on a destash from the amazing @msjonah on Instagram (bellyofawhale on Etsy)

Or perhaps it’s the glory.

A little stashing/restashing from Cia’s Palette.

Either way, the moral of the story is Paypal and a major tired funk are a dangerous combination.

I was scrolling through photos to write this post, and discovered I never took any of this little quilt.

I made it last fall on a mini retreat weekend at Noelle’s. I’m not completely surprised I didn’t share – it was also the weekend we made the crazy 9-patch blocks that ended up as one of Katie’s quilts, and Jon’s quilt.

Disappearing Nine Patch is nearly as simple as it gets, and yet they have a snowflake quality to them ~ I doubt I’ve ever seen two alike.

This is my 3rd quilt with the original DS Collection Picnic and Fairgrounds fabrics (from Joann’s). I collected every print, including the ones only available in Australia, so I have a tiny bit of sadness at seeing some of it down to scraps. Even if it’s for a great cause.

It’ll be this year’s auction quilt. But first it has to grow. A lot. Like more than double. And I’m getting there. A couple more rows at the bottom, and maybe one less on the side and it’ll be close to the 60′x80″ quilt I want. Then on the frame ~ I think a ribbon meander will be just the right touch.

Fingers-crossed it makes good money for a great cause!

So much to choose from this week, and judging by the amount of fabric shopping on Flickr, it’s not going to get any easier!

1. Mid-Century Modern quilt, 2. flickr.com/photos/74067014@N00/8657245695/, 3. coin purse, 4. Patchwork chair covers!, 5. I decided on this freehand style for my "sticks and stones" quilt top – now I’m gonna do this top as practice., 6. Flowers for Cynthia, 7. #hexie progress #sewing #patchwork, 8. Newtown Auction Pillow, 9. Camelot Block 16

What will you make this weekend?