heading to the post office.

I am so happy to share with you a special, finished quilt top.   I have absolutely loved piecing this swoon quilt top for my dear friend, Kathy.  I started the process last April with a generous amount of time for completion.  

 

Between tutorials and sewing for 2 quilt markets (last spring and this fall), as well as two magazine quilts, I was able to carve out happy moments of piecing the blocks.

One of my favorite blocks is this orange and navy blue one.  The orange is just delicious and the navy contrast makes my heart sing!   

Thank you Kathy for such a fun chance to sew with your special fabrics and for your confidence in my ability.  Your dear quilt is on it's way home!  Yay!!

made with love

xoxo

happy mail.

Going to the mailbox and discovering I have another bee block package is such a treat.  Thank you ladies for sewing my special fabric into such adorable swoon blocks!!

two. three. four. five.

 I am having so much fun piecing these swoon blocks!  I am half way finished and can hardly wait to see them all together! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

thursday.

This has been a fantastic week of sewing!  First up is my little Christmas table topper.  Just out of the drier.  I will tuck it away until December, then add it to the other homemade Christmas touches in our home.

Kathy's swoon quilt is another fun project that I have worked on this week.  I just love these blocks!  I have enjoyed every step in the process!!  You can see block one here.

Next up are Jodi's bee blocks.  I *love* Jodi's scrappy quilts and was super thrilled to receive her cute fabrics in the mail.  Each year, Jodi creates a scrappy quilt using fabric scraps in her stash, from projects she had made during that year.  She has totally inspired me to get on board and do the same.  Stay tuned.  wink.

swoon block one.

Last Friday I posted the gorgeous fabrics that my friend Kathy sent for me to create a swoon quilt for her, with.  All the fabric is cut and blocks are being sewn together.  I just love making these blocks!  Especially with Kathy's gray background choice!  I typically lean toward white, but feel I need to break out of my comfort zone and get better acquainted with other solids!  Do you have a favorite solid used in your quilts?  Do tell.

Have a nice weekend and thanks so much for visiting. xo

weekend plans.

Hello and Happy Saturday.  I hope that your weekend is off to a great start!  We went from experiencing violent weather on Thursday to clear blue skies today.  I really should be outdoors getting a jump on a few things before they are overgrown, but decided to stay put inside and work on a few projects.  Here is a little glimpse of what I am up to this weekend.

All of Kathy's gorgeous fabrics are paired up and being cut into swoon blocks.  The background fabric is gray (you can see it here).  I just love that pop of orange she included!  I can't seem to get enough orange these days.  Do you ever do that with a certain color?  Which one?

A little happy mail arrived at my home!  A few half yard cuts from Fig Tree Co. recent release of Avalon.  I love every fabric that Joanna creates for Moda, but truth be told, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Strawberry Fields, and now Avalon are my very top favorites!  The red with white polka dots will become the binding for my Strawberry Fields Granny Square quilt (it is en route to the quilter now), you can see the finished (unquilted) quilt here.  Joanna's fabric lines mix very well.  I hunted for more of the Strawberry Fields fabric with no luck.  I am so pleased at how the polka dots from Avalon go so well with the Strawberry Fields line.  

I have noticed that other designer fabric lines are the same way (for example : Bee In My Bonnet for Riley Blake, Bonnie and Camille for Moda, V and Co. for Moda - just to name a few).  I am so glad, aren't you? It is fun mixing their lines together!

Did you happen to spy the crochet pin cushion in the above picture?  It is currently available in my little shop as well as a few others.  I am also happy to make more for you if need be.  

 (tutorial tuesday supplies - hint hint)

I hope you will drop in on Tuesday to see the latest tutorial I will be sharing with you. 

swoon.

My swoon block arrived home last week, quilted in the most darling pattern by Kathy.  Thanks so much Kathy!

I could hardly wait to sew the binding 

on and hang in my sewing room.

I smile every time I see it!

Check out what else arrived in the box!

All the fabric necessary to make an entire swoon quilt for Kathy.  I am over the moon happy to be sewing this quilt together!  

Thanks so much for trusting me with your lovely fabrics!

(and for the chocolate bars - they were delicious - wink) 

a little friday finish.

Remember the Swoon Along we were all doing?  Ya.  

I only managed two blocks.  A long time back actually.

But yesterday I decided to pull this block (back) out of my closet to add a sweet mini gingham border.

Yay!  I am that much closer to one more total finish!  The backing is the same mini gingham and I am pretty sure the binding will be white.  I haven't decided yet.

Thank you for dropping by.  

I hope you have a lovely weekend.  xo

 Donna's Lavender Nest

inventory.

I have a confession.  Often times I stink at showing my finished projects.  I have a habit of excitedly snapping off pictures of what I am starting and that's it.  Sorry about that.

 

I started another round of The Great Granny Along.  I love this pattern!  I am hoping to make something for each season using it.  So far I only have one block organized,  but will post as it progresses.

Remember my first Great Granny Along table topper?  It is all pinned and just waiting for hand quilting.

I finished hand quilting the big scrappy quilt.  Last week sometime.  Again ... apologies. 

My stitches are a bit organic.  

I did my best to keep them straight and even, but I was watching the Olympics (beach volleyball) and cheering and carrying on!  So.  Ya.  Organic.

Another finish that was not shared is my one swoon block, hand quilted.  Oh gosh, this one is a bit embarrassing.  I had huge expectations.  I love the pattern, a lot.  But I only completed two blocks.  So this one has become a table topper and the other remains tucked away until I decide what to do with it.  I love the idea of a baby blanket, after putting a chunky border around it.  We'll see.

And now, a note to my dear northern friends ... please don't hate me for this one.  But the pumpkins are coming out.  The fall scents are being burned with great hopes to usher in fall a little bit early.

I did some deep fall cleaning yesterday (nervous energy - read about it here).  The fall table topper and pumpkins have started making their debut.

I don't go overboard on seasonal decorating.  Just little homemade touches around our home.

This is the cast off dresser that I made over.  It holds all our children's childhood books.  Let me tell ya, this girl is heavy to move!  And guess where all the cat toys end up?  You got, underneath.  When I notice they aren't playing as much, the dresser gets scooted away from the wall, and toys are scooped up.  It is a good time to do a little vacuuming back there.  Dust bunnies tend to set up shop otherwise.

July was Nedra's month for our quilting bee blocks and she choose Allison's Spin Cycle pattern. I could hardly wait to get started, but sadly I am just now getting it in the mail.  July flew by at record speed!  

Nedra asked that each of us sign our names to the block we created.  Isn't that sweet?

I wanted to say thank you for the encouraging words about the life changes I mentioned.  Home schooling has always been a life style as oppose to a task.  Not doing it any longer takes a little getting use to.  Which is coming along nicely I might add - smile.