Happy Monday to you! I'm excited to share October's block for the Lucky Stars Block of the Month Club, the Chaos Star. I really love how this one came together, but I have to admit, I spent quite a few moments questioning my fabric choices as I worked on piecing this one, but I trusted my gut and kept on trucking. I'm glad I did too - I wasn't sure how the outer ring would come together, with the dark cerise Flora and Fauna print with the assorted lighter pink prints, but I really like how they all work together to give a feeling of motion in that outer ring. I'm fairly sure I say this every month, but this month's star is one of my favorites! Club members, you'll receive this block in your Inbox first thing tomorrow morning.

I owe you all three winners from last week's great Andover Textured Solids charm pack giveaway. And here they are, in no particular order :

#137: Alyce
#3: Jennifer Lowe
#89: Leila

Congrats, ladies! I'll be in touch with you today to get your lovely fabric on your way to you!


I hope you're enjoying working through the Lucky Stars blocks - or if you're collecting them for a rainy day, I hope you're enjoying that, too! We've got just two more blocks to go now, so I'm starting to think about 2014. I'm thinking of doing another block of the month club for 2014, I've had so much fun with this one, and there were many, many stars that didn't make it into this year's line-up, so tell me something - would you be in for some more stars with me?

I've got a mid-week treat for you! Check out the new Stained Glass Strings quilt I just finished...

This little quilt was one of those projects I started when I had that uncontrollable urge to make something I could finish quickly. This simple little quilt was made using some simple string piecing with strategic planning to create a stained glass look. The block I used in this pattern can also be used to create many additional layouts as well, from zig-zags chevrons to stars.

And for the first part of your mid-week treat: I wrote a simple pattern for you all to go with it! Click here to download the pattern through Craftsy, and here to grab the pattern via Google Docs.

I used some new-to-me fabrics for this project, Andover's new Textured Solids collection. I was curious about what they would be like after seeing them pop up online earlier this year, and the Andover folks were kind enough to send me some sample yardage to try out, and I have to say, I enjoyed working with these solids very much. They have a beautiful linen look to them, chock full of texture and visual interest, and yet piecing with them was very much like regular quilting cotton.

The Textured Solids are a woven yarn-dyed solid, which provides the added texture. I love the added depth the texture gives, and the way it feels as well. The fabric drapes beautifully, and while still 100% cotton, it shrinks minimally, between 2-5%. There are 25 colors available now, and additional colors are in the pipline, as well as a metallic collection! You can find the Textured Solids in stock now at Fabricworm and Pink Castle Fabrics.


And now for the best part about this mid-week treat - a lovely little giveaway from the wonderful people at Andover. Three lucky commenters will win a charm pack of Textured Solids to play with! This giveaway will be open until Sunday, September 29th at 11:59 p.m. EST, and I will share the winners on Monday. To enter, simply leave me a comment here about how many sewing/quilting projects you're in the middle of right now. To be fair, I'll start...at last count, I've got a total of 17 projects that are somewhere between cut fabric and some level of piecing. Yikes! Many of them are UFO's that need rescue! Now it's your turn...good luck!

It's been a rainy start to the week in my neck of the woods. A soaker, really. Thankfully, it's nothing tropical, but steady, all-day rain is very un-Florida. Nothing but gray skies and the drip-drip-drip of raindrops, so it's been a sluggish start to the week for me. I need a good cup of coffee to get my juices flowing and get my week chugging along!


I had such a great time over the weekend at my trunk show in Sarasota. Thank you so much for having me, Sarasota Modern Quilt Guild! It was a lot of fun to talk through a bunch of my quilts and share them with other sewists.


In my sewing room, I'm making good progress on my little minion quilt - I've got the bulk of the patchwork for the center sewn together now, just need to start adding the outer white borders, then the pixelated border. If only I could decide on what color(s) to use for the pixelated border. :) I did manage to cut up all the white squares, just need to start sewing them together. I think that's in the forecast for today, after I venture out to the grocery store in today's rain. Here's hoping I don't manage to get stuck in a downpour! And I absolutely must remember to put a new cone of Aurifil on the machine today, too! I think I've got mere inches left to spare. Have a great Tuesday!