Coming Soon on The Coloradolady Blog

I wanted to give a little information on a few things coming up here on The Coloradolady blog. I am doing this so you will be sure to come back and participate!!!

First:

 This week....I will be doing a post about the conclusion of the "In The Bag ~ Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge" I am going to have a post up with a link to the flicker page and would like to ask everyone to pay that sight a visit and then come back here and cast your vote for your favorite quilt made from ugly fabrics. Tell you friends....just come back and vote. The quilts are amazing.....and it is hard to have a favorite...but at least try to find a favorite!

If you have not visited the blog set up for that quilt challenge, please click here and have a look around, you will be amazed.

***but don't vote yet......later this week!!!

Second: 

I'd like to mention the Secret Santa Swap that I hosted last year.

The Secret Santa Soiree - I did this last year and it was a lot of fun. However, it was a LOT OF WORK, thus I am really hesitant to do it again this year. I have already received a lot of emails about whether I was doing this again this year so I thought I'd go ahead and address it now. It will be a stretch, as I just don't have as much free time these days as I have in the past. However, I have decided to host this again this year. Signups will be in a couple of weeks and this year there will be a cut off as to how many I can let in the swap. I have not decided on a number yet....but will do so in a few days.

** Please note....there are rules with the Secret Santa swap which need to be followed. They are very simple and are in place to make sure everyone has a great experience. If you were one of the folks last year that either bailed on your partner and did not follow through, or did not follow through with what you agreed to do once you received your gifts, please let me just say, you don't need to sign up this year. I have kept all the records from last year and will check against my notes. Just letting you know up front. ** If you were a part of the swap last year and have any input at all as to how it was run, or what might be an easier way to do things, I am certainly open to any suggestions.

The deadlines will be earlier than last year as to hopefully eliminate gifts being late in arriving. It will be opened to international swappers as it was last year, and that is the main reason for the earlier deadlines.

I hope you will come back and vote this week!! There is a great prize package for the winner of the Viewer's Choice award, as well as some prizes for other participants that will be by random draw.

I don't want to scare you away from the Santa swap, if you participated last year, I hope you loved it as much as I did. It is a great diversion during the holidays and it is a lot of fun!! Think about it.....lots of fun stuff coming up and you don't want to miss out!!

Have a great week!!

When My Husband Recites My Words......Good Grief

I spent the day finishing the pieced back for my Ugly Fabric Quilt challenge. I used the left over pieces of squares for the back...every last one of them. The rest of the backing fabric is some I had in the stash and thought it would work well. I had just finished sewing and trimming the back together  and was starting to press all the seams........ when I had a horrible OCD moment and was stopped in my tracks..

What the HECK.......See that short pieced top row? I sashed the sides with the fabric that I used for the rest of the back...it was not until I started pressing that I had this MISTAKE staring me in the FACE........good grief..............

Just look................I was so upset.....talked about ripping all the seams out and seeing if I had enough fabric to recut those pieces.....the flippin' stuff is not going in the right direction.....oh. this. drives. me nuts.

You know what is worse than this mistake??? Is hearing my words thrown back at me by my husband who I swear never pays attention to what I say......Here is how that conversation went.

Me: Good grief, I am going to have to rip all of this out.....that fabric is going the wrong direction

Husband: No you don't, it is just a "FOCAL POINT". 

Me:  No...it is a mistake.......

Husband:  No...it "OFF SETS" the rest of the back.....stands out.

Me:  Be quiet....you don't know what you are talking about.....

Husband:  It is a "GOOD CONTRAST" to the rest of the back.....shows - "ADDED INTEREST"

Me:  No it is not....and does not.......

Husband:  It won't matter when we are snuggled up underneath the quilt this winter....

Me:  Huh???  Be serious...... Are you crazy......this will drive me nuts.

Husband: It is a QUILT.....does not have to be perfect.......just act like you planned it that way!

Husband:  A quilt is a quilt......no matter!

He pays attention more than I thought...now if I can only convenience him to set at one of my machines and sew....I might could get all my unfinished projects finished!! He certainly has the lingo down.....ugh! Guess I will leave it, after all...after all it is the back and a quilt is a quilt no matter what!  Besides that...he thinks we are snuggling under this one this winter....Ha!

Would this drive you nuts?? I hope after it is quilted, it won't bother me as much!!

In The Bag - Ugly Fabric Challenge Complete - Butterfly Quilt

I am so behind on everything these days! I have lots of things to show you and talk about, but it seems day after day goes by and well.....I am still not showing or talking very much!! ahem.

Many of you know about "In The Bag - Ugly fabric quilt challenge" and it has been so much fun looking at all the progress on the blog set up just for this challenge. Here was my inspiration for these fabrics. ( As always, clicking photos makes them larger)

From the Hancock's of Paducah spring catalog

I received my fabrics in May.....and figured out right away what I was going to do with them. I got a spring mailing catalog in the mail from Hancock's of Paducah and there was a quilt kit for a similar style quilt, and I decided to take that inspiration and make something of my own.

Here are the fabrics again, that BJ from Arizona sent me!!  Not a bad group, but they certainly were out of my color range and element of comfort. The challenge is to make a quilt or something quilt related with the fabrics sent, using 90% of the fabrics. You can add any from your stash and only purchase one other fabric if needed for  your project. When I saw those fish staring at me, I was really worried how in the world I was going to use those!!

Here is the finished quilt. This measures 62 X 62. Let me say first off, I am not a big butterfly person at all, and I am  not a square quilt kind of person either....go figure!!!  I really like how it all came together.......and all with "ugly" fabrics.

Here is how I used most of the fish fabric. The fabrics out of my stash were the brown and the green used for the borders. The light fabric that is throughout the quilt also from stash.

That light greenish fabric that is used throughout the quilt is what BJ sent me as well. I ran out of that and tried to buy some more...I ordered a half yard of what I thought was the same thing, but it was not. Thankfully, Ros traded me a swatch of that fabric that she had, for the fabric I mistakenly ordered.  With that bit she sent me I had just enough...I used every smidgin I had of that ugly light green fabric.

Here is some of the coral fabric in blue...with more of that fish stuff!!!

These butterflies are a block I saw online, I had no pattern, I looked at the block, and tried to figure out how to make it. They turned out pretty good and I was shocked I was able to actually pull that off. I seem to work better without a pattern. If I have a picture to look at, I can usually figure out what I need to do to acquire the finished block.

Here is a closer look at the fabrics in the large butterfly. The orange, light blue  and the purple floral and green/red floral were the challenge fabrics. The blue fabrics in the large butterfly as well as the yellow and small red dot were fabrics from my stash.

I am using the last of the blocks from the center of the quilt and the left over butterfly blocks on the back with a backing fabric from my stash. I have cut the orange, blue, and florals into long strips to be used as a scrappy binding.

I purchased no fabrics for this challenge, with the acceptation of the piece I swapped for which was the light green. Not bad for a few "uglies" and clearing some untouched fabrics out of the stash, huh???

Here is the scraps that are left over.....I have all the blocks ready to sew for the binding and the back...once I have it quilted I will post finished pictures of the back and the quilting.....I just feel good to finally have this one off the design wall....now I have to hurry and try and work with the fabrics Gun from Sweden sent me...but I at least do have an idea for that one too!!  Stop by the Challenge blog and take a look at all the inspiration that is there. All projects are created from "ugly" fabrics. You be the judge on the ugly part!!!

Everyone is like a butterfly, they start out ugly and awkward and then morph into beautiful, graceful butterflies that everyone loves.  ~ Drew Barrymore

Finished For Friday - Quilt Blocks for Jubilee Quilt

This week, I was able to finish the new blocks for the Barrister's Sow Along and in doing so, that keeps me all caught up and up to speed for the next blocks to be released.

Here are the four blocks all done.

And here are the same blocks in the Christmas colorways. I am loving how this is coming along. Lots of fun here...

I received my package for the In The Bag Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge. These came from BJ in Arizona. Click here to see the post on the Challenge blog. I am so excited about what I am going to do with these fabrics.

Lastly, I thought I'd leave you with this thought for the weekend....maybe something to remember next time you happen to be in a fabric store with your husband........

......these are SO going to by my words when he asks about how much fabric I am buying!!

Have a great weekend!!!! Sew something fantastic!!

In The Bag - Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge - Emails have all been sent with swap assignments

All Swap Emails have been sent out with your swap partners information! Please just hit reply and send to that email so I know you received your information.

If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your spam folder.

Thanks again...good luck....and have a great time!!

Final Call for In The Bag Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge Participants!!!!

I have compiled a list of confirmed swappers for this challenge. If you have not signed up, tomorrow is the cut off!! Please click HERE and check the list of participants and make sure you are on the list.


If you find you are not on the list, you have not emailed me your shipping information and without that you are not confirmed! You must act on this at once if you want to be included!! 

Once I close the swap - I can not add your name to the list! Please don't let that happen to you!!

We are just hours away from a lot of fun taking place in blog land....don't find yourself left behind and wishing you had signed up!! It is going to be a lot of fun!!

In The Bag Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge

If you have signed up for this swap challenge HERE, please check your emails to make sure I received an email from you.

I have responded to all emails I have received and I am still short about 22 swappers and don't have their information.


I am working on getting everyone swapped and I need your information to expedite this process. 


Reminder: Cut off is the last day of April......help get the word out on  your blog or facebook or twitter...don't want a lot of folks disappointed once the swap closes.


Sadly, I don't have time to try and contact everyone personally who has not sent their information. So If I don't receive it by the last day of April, I will not be able to include you in the swap. Please don't let that happen.


Go HERE to read any updates and it would be a good idea to click "follow" on the blog set up for this challenge so you don't miss any updates.


Have a good Wednesday!!

Today I love the..

Smell of: Spring flowers blooming in my yard

Sound of: peace and quiet
Taste of: cold iced tea
Sight of: Sunny day
Feel of: new fabrics on my cutting table

Good Things about Today:

- four dogs are finally getting into a routine with one another
- all the laundry is done
- Sewing a little bit
- allergies are under control today

In The Bag - Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge of 2012

“In The Bag - Ugly Fabric Quilt Challenge”

Back in 2010 I participated in a Brown Bag Quilt Challenge over at Stash Manicure, many of you may remember that, or remember about it going on. It was really a lot of fun and I enjoyed myself a lot and made a new friend and learned new sewing skills.

My fabrics my swap partner sent me went from me worried "What would I do with these?".....

 ......To this wonderful, beautiful quilt. It really is a favorite of mine. So what do you think I did.......


I decided to start a new challenge this year along the same lines. 

The basics are listed below:

You and your swap partner will swap 2 yards of ugly fabric and create a quilt using 90% of those two yards. You may add any fabrics from your stash and only add one yard of new fabrics for your quilt.

The challenge will run May 1, 2012 through October 1, 2012. 

Signups will run until April 30th or until we have reached 120 swappers.  When 120 swappers have joined, it will close. If April 30th comes up and we don't have 120 swappers, we will close and go with who signed up.


To view a complete set of rules and information, please visit the BLOG I have set up for this challenge. You will leave a comment on that BLOG that you want to participate. 


I am looking forward to this and I hope you are as well! It was a lot of fun last time and I enjoyed seeing all the BEAUTIFUL quilts made from "Ugly" fabrics!!


Won't you join me?!?!