Note:  This giveaway is now closed.  Carrie P. is the winner.  Congratulations, Carrie!

Today I’ll be talking over on Quiltmaker’s blog, Quilty Pleasures, about a quilt I designed for their July/August 2014 issue using my Topiary line for Blend Fabrics called “Garden Spot”.

It is really fun to make and a great way to try a couple of different appliqué techniques!

To celebrate, we are doing a joint giveaway on my blog and theirs of a fat quarter bundle of Topiary, plus two of my recent patterns from that line – Love Birds and Forever.

To enter, leave a comment here telling me something you are looking forward to doing this summer.  For a second chance to win, be sure to visit Quilty Pleasures.  Deadline to enter in both places is end of day Saturday, June 14th.

Happy quilting!
Amanda

The winner of this giveaway is Kathy S., who likes lilacs.  Thanks to everyone for participating!

Well, it is day 4 of Sew We Quilt’s Perfect Picnic blog hop and it is my day to post!

We had a “Ladybug Picnic”!  (Does any other child of the seventies remember a song by that name?  I think it was on Sesame Street maybe?)

This quilt was inspired by the ladybugs that always make their way into our daughter’s room for two week in the spring.  They love her sunny window but drive her crazy!

I was interested in contrasting the traditional appliqué ladybugs and blooms with something really modern and came up with a herringbone idea.  I wanted the herringbone blocks to lead your eye travel around the quilt and be bold in scale – really quite different from the style of the appliqué.  (I thought about doing the herringbone blocks scrappy, but in the end I decided to make them symmetrical.  One could really do it either way.)

Because the motifs were fairly bold, I kept the colors soft.  The fabrics are from my Bella, Topiary, and Bonjour Mon Ami lines for Blend Fabrics, and some Vanessa Christenson prints, all thrown together.  I’m thinking that I might put this together as a PDF-only pattern – what do you think?

Riley Blake makes this wonderful polka-dot laminate in a variety of colors. The aqua matches perfectly.  I pieced it and turned under the edges and tacked it on the back of the quilt.  That way I can just remove it when it might need a wash!

For our picnic we had homemade lattes and sweet potato apple muffins!

And of course you have to choose a game that matches your quilt so it had to be Quads… (You can see the embroidered accents on the ladybugs in this shot.)

Now for the giveaway.  I’m going to be giving away a copy of my new pattern, “Flower Power”.  Just leave me a comment on this post telling me what your favorite flower is, okay?  Deadline is the end of the blog hop – Monday the 9th at midnight.

Thanks so much to Cori from Chitter Chatter Designs, Mary from I Piece 2-Mary, Riley Blake Designs, and Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt for making this blog hop possible.  Don’t forget to stop by and see all of the wonderful entries on the bloghop!

Happy sewing!
Amanda