February 25, 2013

Giveaway Winners

I hope everyone had a lovely and enjoyable weekend. Your thoughts on friendship are inspiring to say the least. I've read each one and have been so touched by all of your caring actions of friendship and love. Thank you so much for sharing some of your most cherished or even most difficult life events with me and everyone on here. My sincerest wishes to you who’ve recently lost someone, lost a job, are battling a serious illness or are helping to comfort someone who is struggling. Try not to lose hope. Try to draw strength from your friendships … and the lasting good we can nurture in them whether our friends are close by, at great distances, or no longer with us. One of the quotes left in your comments expresses this so poignantly:

 “If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart I'll always be with you.” ~ A.A. Milne

Winnie the Pooh was such a wise little bear. I'll definitely be keeping that quote close by.

Big congratulations to our randomly selected winners!
Cathy K
and
Kate R

Please e-mail info@katespain.com and we’ll get these prizes on their way to you soon.

There are more quilt blocks and fun in store for you this week as the Moda Friendship Quilt Along continues. Have fun and come back to visit again soon!
xo,
kate

feb 25th


feb 26th


feb 27th


feb 28th


march 1st

February 22, 2013

Moda Friendship Quilt Along


Welcome to day 5 of the Moda Friendship Blog Hop Quilt Along! So many thanks to you for stopping by and spending some time with me today. And thanks to Moda for hosting all this fun and for providing such generous giveaway loot for you! If you've missed any days so far, you may want to go back to this post to see the blogging schedule and to get caught up.

Each Moda designer has created their own block to share with you … our friends! You'll be able to collect a total of 28 (i think?) different 9" quilt block designs that you can use in your sewing projects. Moda's blog post on March 1st will give a setting option to make a sampler quilt using some of the blocks.

So today, Kaari, Lynne and i get to share our friendship block designs with you. I made this block using three of the prints from my newest fabric collection, Honey Honey that is in stores now. You can download the instructions for how to make it here.
Actually, all the individual blocks you're collecting would make really nice quilts on their own wouldn't they? Here's a look at how this one would repeat.
If you haven't had a peek at Honey Honey yet, here's an glimpse of the coral, soft orange and pink color range...
...and the periwinkle, turquoise and navy range.
This collection is abundant with blooms of hydrangea, roses, lavender, daisies, phlox and a bouquet of other summery florals. There are also prints featuring honeycombs, buzzing bees and intricate lacework. Honey Honey is a colorful antidote to the winter we've been having around here lately. This was the view out our garage door the morning after 34" of snow was dumped here in Connecticut a couple weeks ago...
...i'd much rather stay inside, sit by the fire and look at all the pretty things people have been making with Honey Honey already! Sherri made this cute quilt called Drop designed by Carrie Nelson:
And Carly made this sweet baby girl quilt. The pattern is called Sweet as Honey and is available here.
Rebecca made this beautiful quilt called Aura. She used a navy solid from Primitive Muslins by Moda for the background and i love how it makes the colors sparkle. The pattern is available in Rebecca's new book called Seamingly Scrappy.
Julie Herman's quilt pattern called Science Fair is on my "someday sewing" list. Once i get brave enough to attempt any sewing with hexagons, that is! For a complete list of where to find Science Fair and other Jaybird patterns, please visit Julie's website.
There are also some fun and free projects using Honey Honey that have been featured on the Moda Bake Shop recently:
If that's not enough, here is a free pattern from me too!

And because we're celebrating friendship as much as quilting, i had another idea. In addition to working with Moda, i license my art and designs to a number of companies who make various products. You may have seen my previous post about these cupcake wrappers i designed that are now available at Michaels Craft Stores.
Well, they're too cute to be sitting around...empty. So Pete and i made a bunch of these (that's a link to the recipe)...
...and took them on the road for some surprise cupcake deliveries to a few of our dear friends. First, we stopped at Kate's house. She's always ready to laugh and have a good time. I love that about her.
Then i knocked on the back door at Bridie and Joe's house. I think they decided to let us in once they saw the frosting (Joe loves cake no matter what size or shape it takes).
Look how cute and surprised they were!
We didn't even have enough time to take our coats off and Joe was already halfway through one of his sweet treats. Joe will be 93 this year. I think i'll start to eat more cupcakes.
Then we stopped over at Debra and Ed's house. Debra was happy to have some cupcakes...
...but really just wanted a hug.
What i learned: Surprise cupcakes make friendships extra sweet. As a little reminder of this small and random act, i created this freebie download just for you!
Hang it by your desk, in your kitchen, next to your sewing machine or print it out and send it to a friend (along with a few cupcakes).

Thank you so much for stopping by for a fun visit! Please join me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where i share daily news and updates, but mostly i love to show off your beautiful sewing and craft projects. Chime in anytime and join the conversation!

So are you ready for a giveaway after reading all of that?? Moda has generously provided a jelly roll and a dessert roll of Honey Honey that i'll give away to two lucky winners. A dessert roll is a new precut made up of 20 prints from a single collection that are 5" wide x the width-of-fabric long. So many possibilities!
To enter to win one of these, please leave either your favorite quote about friendship or a comment about something nice you've done for a friend or that a friend has done for you recently. Just one entry please. Random winners will be announced on Monday morning. Until then, you'll have the weekend to take a break from all the blog hopping — but rest up for next week when you can visit all these talented designers:
feb 25th

feb 26th

feb 27th

feb 28th

march 1st

One last thing because it is Furry Friday after all!
"Still Life With Franny"
Have a wonderful weekend!
xo,
kate



February 16, 2013

Cupcakes, Quilt Alongs and Some Fur

If you're out and about this weekend, just wanted to let you know that some new goodies featuring some familiar designs have landed at Michaels Craft Stores! This time around, the assortment includes my new favorite thing...cute cupcake wrappers! Don't you want your cupcakes to match your quilts?!
There are also a bunch of fun stationery items like note pads, notecards, sticky notes, clothespins, chubby pens, journals and even emory boards. That's right, emory boards. You can whip one out of your handbag at your next quilt guild meeting and be the envy of all your friends (well, maybe)!
Also just wanted to let you know about the Friendship Quilt Along that Moda is hosting.
It starts this Monday the 18th and continues through March 1st. You'll have a chance to win lots of prizes while collecting a total of 28 different 9" quilt blocks. Moda's blog post on March 1st will give a setting option to make a quilt using some of the blocks. So grab a button...
... tell your friends, mark your calendar and please join us. It'll be fun and will brighten these last couple weeks of February! Here's the blogging/hopping schedule:

feb 18th

feb 19th

feb 20th

feb 21st

feb 22nd

Whew, you'll have the weekend to rest — or sew the blocks you've collected this far!

feb 25th

feb 26th

feb 27th

feb 28th

march 1st

For anyone following along, there is also a flickr group that you can join to share the blocks you've made! We'd love to see :)

Finally, i know i've been a little lax about Furry Friday, but that's because *every* day is a furry day on Instagram! It's a little overboard, but i can't help it. So if you need a daily dose of fur (or hourly as it may be), please join me over there.
Have a wonderful weekend!
xo,
kate


February 14, 2013

love


So a couple weeks ago, before the *big* snow, my Valentine "card" came a little early. I looked out the window one morning and saw these heart-steps in the snow. It's hard to see in the picture but Pete poured birdseed in the heart outline and all day long the birds would land in heart formation, and eat from it. So sweet!
Hope you have a beautiful day and remember...

There is no remedy for love but to love more. 
~Henry David Thoreau


February 11, 2013

2013 Designer Mystery Blog Hop: Week 2

Wow, what a weekend! We had a whopping 34" of snow here in CT and got quite a workout shoveling our way out. The roads are a *little* better after a bulldozer and plow finally came through last night, but schools are closed until Wednesday! Here are a few pictures from our house (there are many more on my Instagram feed):
Ok, onto some brighter, warmer, fun stuff!
Welcome, welcome to Week 2 of Fat Quarter Shop's Designer Mystery Blog Hop! This year, the fabric collection that was chosen is called Avalon by Fig Tree Quilts. The fabric is light, a little whimsical and grounded with a bit of navy, which you’ll find sprinkled through the quilt.  If you sign up for the BOM, as a little treat from FQS, you will receive a mini Charm Pack of Avalon with the first month’s block! A taste of the fabric before the club kicks into full gear. Each of the twelve sampler blocks in the quilt is designed by a different Moda designer and feature rows of baskets, stars, flowers and houses.
Joanna's collections and quilt patterns are always so beautiful and timeless. I've had the true privilege of getting to know Joanna over the years and the passion and expertise that she brings to her work is made visible in everything she does. Joanna is a star to me, so i was honored and delighted to be asked to participate in this block of the month by contributing a star-themed block design to one row of the quilt. How lucky i am to share the row with a constellation of other wonderful Moda designers: Bonnie & Camille and V and Co.. (don't forget to visit their blogs today, too!).

When designing my block, i had so much fun playing around with Avalon and seeing Joanna's creative eye and aesthetic at work encouraging and engaging me all the way. And you know what I learned? No matter which patterns or colors i combined, they always looked beautiful together! Here's a sneak peek of only part of the finished quilt — the rest is a mystery!

For some extra "star fun", FQS asked us to tell you about our favorite celebrity. Though he's no longer with us, i would have to say mine is Paul Newman.
Not just because of those striking good looks, heart-melting eyes or these...
...or these...
...or even this... 
...well those are good too, but i admire him most for his vision and dedication to humanitarian and social causes. An impressive 100% of the proceeds from his Newman's Own food products go to educational and charitable organizations through the Newman Foundation. Which of course gives us a good reason to buy lots and lots of these!
Mr. Newman lived in Westport, CT— just a couple towns over from where we live now. Thanks to his progressive influence and generous funding our area has a community movie theater that is run by high school students (including kids with disabilities), a local farmer's market, a field-to-table restaurant that supports local farms, and CT has one of 14 Hole in the Wall Gang camps for children with serious illnesses. In fact they're celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year! Mr. Newman is a star whose light continues to shine on.

Thanks for stopping by and reading along. Be sure to swing by the Jolly Jabber to enter their giveaway! Here's the schedule again incase you missed it. You can hop forward or backward and enter once each week for a chance to win!

3.01: Winners Post - Fat Quarter Shop

Good luck everyone! Have fun.
xo,
kate

February 8, 2013

Furry Friday


Hide and Seek:
This is one of my all-time favorite kitty moves:
If you need another fur-fix, you may want to have a peek at Kitten Meets Hedgehog. Yes, it's as cute as it sounds. You won't be sorry.

Please come visit again on Monday when i'll be linking up with Fat Quarter Shop for the 2013 Designer Mystery BOM Blog Hop! This BOM features the beautiful Avalon collection by Fig Tree, and the finished quilt is gorgeous — it has a different block theme for each row. Isn't that a great idea? If you missed it, Joanna, Sandy and Edyta kicked off Week One (the Basket Row) and here's the rest of the blogging schedule:

2.11 – Star Row: Bonnie & Camille, V & Co., Me!

If you have never done a block-of-the-month club before, this is a great one to start with.  Each month you’ll receive lots of lovely Avalon fabric and printed instructions to complete that month’s block. The quilt is suited for everyone from beginners to seasoned quilters. The club is almost half full so sign up before spots run out!

Have a wonderful weekend. Looks like we'll be out shoveling and playing in the snow!
xo,
kate

February 1, 2013

Big Box Drop Giveaway Winner!

You are the best! I've loved reading all your comments and am still giggling at the happy images of so many people tossing handfuls of fabric scraps into the air. I'm equally touched by your kind and selfless wishes to spread a little extra joy to people you know who could really use it — in your families, communities, quilt guilds, hospitals, schools and on and on. I wishwishwish i could send each and every one of you a giant box of fabric, but know you'll be ok because you already have such giant hearts. It's true. Thank you all sooo much for sharing your sweetness with me, too. And by random selection, we have a winner!
Ashley wrote: "If I had all of those gorgeous Honey Honey scraps, I'd make them up into as many snuggly quilts as I could for the kids at Primary Children's Hospital. It would make me so happy to be able to pay your kindness forward to them, and hopefully provide a bit of happiness to their trials."

Your caring efforts will surely help to bring comfort and happiness to children at the hospital. We are thrilled to send the fabric off to you, Ashley.
As we were packing up the box, i turned my back for two seconds and lookie who and who hopped right in...
So consider this another edition of Furry Friday, too!
And don't worry...if you didn't win this time, there is always next time.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend and thank you again for joining in the fun.
xo,
kate