Blogger's Quilt Festival!

It's that time again!  Time to admire some of the best quilty eye candy around the web.  It's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side!  I've decided to enter Bohemian Charm in the Original Design category.

In my head, I refer to this pattern as Strip Tango since the pieces are basic 4.5" strips from fat quarters, though I haven't actually created a pattern for it (I just might have to do that!)  This quilt sort of came together like a big puzzle.  I knew that I wanted the cutting to be simple, and that I wanted the strips to be arranged randomly throughout the quilt.  Beyond that, I just started laying it out and sewing it together!

The fabrics are a mix of Amy Butler's Cameo, Lark, Love, and Alchemy lines.  Since the front of the quilt was so vibrant, I opted to use this pretty gray fabric along with the scraps for the backing.  To give you an idea of the scale, the entire label only measures 2.5 x 3 inches.  I've really worked to keep my handwriting small so that my labels don't take up too much space on the back of the quilt.

I made this quilt in January, when the grip of winter was making everything so bitterly dreary.  The simple, but fun piecing of these Amy Butler fabrics brightened my day then, and it still does!

Quilt Stats-

Name- Bohemian Charm

Size- 60 x 66"

Quilting- Free motion meandering by me!

Entry Category- Original Design

Be sure to head over to Amy's Creative Side to check out all of the fantastic inspiration!  You know you want to!

TGIFF is Here!

Welcome to TGIFF friends!  I'm so excited to be hosting this week.  Whew!  This week has been a whirlwind and I am SO glad to have made it to Friday!  I've been working on this queen sized quilt for the past week, and I managed to finish up the top.


This quilt will be a gift for someone in my family who just loves Mardi Gras.  Louisiana is one of the only places I can think of where vibrant greens, purples, and golden yellows are considered to be perfectly matched.  I'm not saying that we all decorate our houses with these super bright colors or anything, but we do love them when Mardi Gras rolls around.

I decided to use slightly muted tones of these colors in the quilt, but it's still vibrant enough to be fun and fresh.  Because the quilt is so big I kept the pattern simple.

Now it's your turn to show off your finish for this week!  Just be sure your post includes a TGIFF button or text link back to the party so others can find it too!  Oh, and be sure to spread around plenty of comment love!  And if you missed Needle and Thread Thursday yesterday, hop over and link up there too.  It's still open through today!

Time to Party!

Hey y'all!  It's party central this week at My Quilt Infatuation.  Of course today is NTT, and tomorrow, for the very first time, I'll be hosting TGIFF!  I do have a quilt top finished to share with you, but since tomorrow's part is all about finished projects, I'll save it for then.  I hope you'll hop over and party twice!  Oh, and by the way- I'll still leave NTT open through Friday as always.

On a personal note- I want to thank each and every one of you who sent me a note of encouragement when I was studying for my last exam.  I received my scores over the weekend and I am so proud to say that I aced it.  Now I can add the Reading Specialist and Gifted Education endorsements to my teaching license!  Your thoughts and well wishes really lifted me up during my weeks of studying, and I want you to know that I truly appreciated them.

Last week's party was amazing!  So many fantastic projects!  Check out a few that really caught my eye-

Christa Quilts Modern Logs is absolutely fabulous.  I love the colors, and movement of the blocks!

Quilting Mod's HST quilt is absolutely stunning!

and re-engineered shared this sweet and happy baby quilt!

I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again and hope my sincerity comes through- there are always SO many amazing links every week that choosing highlights is really tough!  Keep it up, y'all.  You are such an inspiration!

Time to link up.  Bring it on-  and don't forget to hop back over tomorrow and link up to TGIFF too!

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

**Please remember to be sure your post includes a project.  I would appreciate it if you would not link to giveaways or other parties unless your post also includes a project you're working on.

Guess Who's Hosting TGIFF?

This girl!  This is an exciting week here at My Quilt Infatuation.  You can party twice!  Right after my regular Needle and Thread Thursday party this week, Friday I'll be hosting TGIFF.  I have a new quilt  in the works, and it's a big one (80x100").  I'll be working hard all week so that I can share the finished top then!

Twice the partying means twice the inspiration and twice the FUN, so be sure to hop on over and link up your latest project (finished or WIP) to NTT on Thursday, and then swing back by on Friday to link your finishes to TGIFF!

Shortcake

Well friends, I'm getting really close to being able to share my pattern with you.  I think it's all finished, but you know how sometimes things make sense in your head, but when you write it down, details can get confusing?  I really want to make sure that didn't happen with the pattern, so it is currently being read and tested by a couple of quilty friends, and once I get the green light from them that everything is clear, I'll be able to release the pattern and show you the quilt.  I do, however, get to show you this little baby quilt that I made from the scraps.

Aren't the colors so happy and sweet?  Bonnie and Camille fabrics (most of these are from the Scrumptious line) always have a way of always making me smile.  ps- you know what else makes me smile?... when my roses are full with tons of lush blooms!

I used every bit of leftover fabric in the quilt, so that left nothing for the back.  So this is not my usual pieced backing.  I love this huge aqua polkadot, and added a little bit of interest with a stripe of red polkadot.  I'm not sure that I would have used such a big polkadot on a bigger quilt, or if I had lots of scraps in the backing because I think it might be too busy.  But for this little one, I think it's just perfect!

I decided to call this one Shortcake because of the sweet colors, the stacked layers, and the fact that it was so quick and easy to put together.  The finished quilt measures 42x42."

Psst! Have You Heard?

Beth at Plum and June is hosting her New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop again this year!  I participated in last year's hop and I can say- without a doubt, that it really helped me get my bearings in the blogging community.

                                                       

Beth is super organized, and also includes an advice and tech help series from more established bloggers.  These posts were really helpful in helping me find my voice, as well as making my blog design reflect the image I wanted.

Of course, the best part of participating in a blog hop is meeting new friends and gaining inspiration from others who share a love of modern quilting and blogging.  So, if you're new (within the last two years) to blogging, and are a modern quilter, you should definitely head over to Plum and June and check out the details for this year's hop!  You won't regret it!

NTT!

Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, friends!  I'm still working hard on my quilt pattern, and I'm really hoping to get it finished soon so I can get back to some sewing I can share!  So, since I can't share what I'm working on just yet, I'll just jump right in and show you some of the awesome highlights from last week's party!

My Fabric Relish linked up this beautiful, summery quilt-

Good Golly Ginger showed off her dreamy strip quilt!

and Sing While Crafting shared her finished Granny Square top!

I tell you, so many fantastic projects have been linked up lately, I've really had a tough time choosing which projects to highlight.  Y'all rock!

Time to show off what you've been working on this week!  I can't wait to see!

1.  You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

**Please remember to be sure your post includes a project.  I would appreciate it if you would not link to giveaways or other parties unless your post also includes a project you're working on.