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Last week I got an email asking if I was interested in the Flower Favorites Blog Hop. Yes! I chose to work with Palm Springs  which is a fun, spring-y collection with some adorable tulips. The tutorial is available on the at the Bernatex blog here .  And keep an eye out for more tutorials over the next week as the blog hop continues. But until then, how about a giveaway?  Bernatex has kindly offered up a fat quarter bundle of the Palm Springs collection to one lucky winner.   photo from Missouri Star Quilt Co. For a chance to win a fat quarter bundle of Palm Springs, follow the Benartex blog (either by email or a blog reader) and leave a comment here saying that you're a follower. For a second entry, "like" Benartex on Facebook   and leave a comment saying that you do.  The giveaway will be open until May 6th.   Check out the other tutorials in the Flower Favorites Blog Hop: Day 1 - Debby Kravotil Quilts

March was my turn as quilter in the do. Good Stitches Wish Circle and I requested asterisks blocks (tutorial here ) sized up a little and made in turquoise, orange, red, and yellow with a black or dark gray asterisk. I am always so indecisive about choosing; I want something that won't be too time consuming but that will still be fun and that will make a nice quilt to donate to Project Linus.  It is really amazing how well these collaborative quilts come together. Last time I spoke with Project Linus they told me that our area has the most need for baby/young kid quilts so this one is a little on the smaller side.  The finished size is 36" x 45". The backing is from Erin McMorris' Astrid collection.  I love, love this collection.   The binding is Ann Kelle chevron.  I attached it by machine which, thank goodness, I have gotten a little better at.  Lately my carpal tunnel has been bothering me a little more and I have been machine binding to keep from aggra...

A few days ago I was apparently trying really hard not to be productive and was browsing the Quilty website. I noticed a video that had an image of a quilt that looked strangely familiar so I clicked and started watching. I was super surprised to find out that in the video they are making a block (it's an Ohio Star Block) like the quilt that I made that is going to be in the next issue of the magazine.  If you fast forward to about 1:50 in the video my name is even on the screen. Crazy.  The craziest thing is that I randomly found it since they didn't let me know that they were doing this.  Anyway, I will post a photo of the quilt when they send me a copy of the magazine. Today is my daughter Harper's 6th birthday which is exciting for her but also a big relief to me since we have been having a daily birthday countdown for the past three months.  She has been so excited and was very happy that we complied with her request for mostly clothes, accessories, and shoes f...

On Friday I decided I needed an Easter table runner.  Well, I will call it a Spring table runner so that I can get a little more use out of it.  I really need to stop making seasonal things at the last minute . This is made entirely of half square triangles and is a variation on the Formal Garden block from 500 Quilt Blocks .  This is the first time I have ever used solid white as a binding and I wish it was a more practical choice because I love it.   This time of year helps me to feel hopeful and grateful.  I am so grateful for all of you and the opportunity to share myself and the things that I have made.  Thank you and I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter.

A few days ago I saw on Instagram that Windham was hosting  this mini quilt challenge .  I saw their post right after it was made so I was able to comment quickly and was chosen to participate. They sent me a package of fabric with the agreement that I would make an 18" square mini quilt for their quilt market booth. The most exciting thing was that I had no idea what fabric they were going to send me.  I would be lying if I said that I wasn't hoping for the Far Far Away reprint, but when I opened the package I found prints from French Bull's collections  African Surf and Mosaica . I was a little nervous because they sent a pretty limited amount of fabric so there was no room for mistakes and I couldn't really change my mind if I didn't like my first attempt. I ended up using my own striped chevrons tutorial  but I changed the number of strips, the width and height, and the angle that I cut the strips, ha ha.  I have a hard time doing the same thing the sa...

Generally I don't gravitate toward sweet, pretty fabrics, but I am smitten with this Palos Verde print .  It is amazing.  Since I have a friend who is about to have a baby girl after having two superhero-loving boys, I thought this sweet, pretty print would be perfect. The pattern is Rachel's Penny Patch pattern which is so quick and easy and sweet and would be great for a beginner and still a satisfying project for a non-beginner. Since these colors are a little out of my comfort zone I was afraid that I wouldn't have much to coordinate, but thank goodness for Pearl Bracelets  and Kona cotton.  But working with unfamiliar colors was hard! The Palos Verde print is voile and this is this the first time I have used voile in a quilt with regular quilting cottons, but I didn't have any problems and it is nice and soft. I almost splurged on another Palos Verde print for the back, but then I found this Hello Pilgrim print in my hoard stash.  The binding is the gorg...

I can see why a lot of people burn out on the Farmer's Wife blocks at this point.  Though I really to keep going, I'm feeling a little burned out.  Part of it is that I am trying to use scraps and it takes entirely too long to dig through my scraps to find fabrics each time so I may start cutting more from yardage. All of these came from scraps except the girl doing the handstand. This month for do. Good Stitches Kirsten asked us to make courthouse steps blocks using this tutorial  in spring colors.  This was my first time making these blocks and they were fun.  And now I really want to start a project using some of these colors.