So did I tell you I won this year?

For the past few years, two fabulous bloggers have hosted an on-line quilt challenge inspired by the Pantone Color of the Year.  2015 was the year of Marsala.  It's kind of a deep wine with some brown elements.   http://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year 

It wasn't a color I've used before but my competitive spirit didn't let that get in the way.  I purchased a nice variety of solids (Kona Cotton, Michael Miller Cotton Couture, Oakshott Cottons) and started laying them out.  I had a simple design in mind but kept feeling like it needed a shot in the arm of color.  After auditioning TONS of options...  I landed on Kaffe Fassett Stripes.  The perfect compliment.

I loved the texture of the marsala blocks and the brightness the stripes added.  My quilting was fairly simple but dense on the marsala parts - just linear bits on the stripes.  Of course, I had to make sure Ping approved...  She did - and then I felt satisfied. 

 Anne Sullivan, @playcrafts on IG and Adrianne ,http://www.onthewindyside.co.nz and @adrianneonthewindyside on IG, are the lovely ladies that host the event.  Check them out on their websites /IG - they are extremely talented and equally as inspiring.  

The past colors were Emerald Green (my all time favorite), Radiant Orchid, and Tangerine.  The new color of the year is announced in December.  I can hardly wait....

I'm going to start this like you know what I'm talking about...

This is something that drives my dear husband crazy. I finish telling a story I started the day before...another chapter comes to mind and I start rattling it off. After 37 years of marriage - he should be used to this by now. I think I make perfect sense and he should be able to catch the drift quickly and go with it... So that's how I'm starting with you... Don't worry, I have FULL confidence that you'll go with the flow and understand. completely.

I'll be posting to the blog about once a week but you'll find more frequent posting on IG or Flickr.  I love Flickr...and while I love IG, too, Flickr is where I made so many new friends in such far away places.  IG is a little more fast paced and I think the friendship part is just a tad harder to maintain.

My blog roll is the list of quilters that have made an impact on my quilt evolution.  If I'm not obsessively pinning on Pinterest....I'm stalking IG, Flickr, or these blogs.  Check them out - they are spectacular artists.

So I start this little beauty back in June - kind of thinking about how nice it would be to have a patriotic themed quilt for the living room. I used a very cheerful Kona cotton background (Bahama Blue) and a very tangy red (Pomegranate) for the sashing. The colorful bits were tons of scraps I obsessively collect (seriously - I've had to show strenuous restraint from keeping scraps smaller than 1" x 1"...). I chose bright colors, mostly in the blue family.

This is just the cool bucket.  The warm color bucket was on my table...

I cut 16 inch blocks, laid scraps in a pleasing order, then basted them on to the block.  And by basting...I just barely caught the edge of some of these.  I just wanted them on there well enough not be knocked off by my devilish cat or blown off when the ceiling fan was in airplane mode.  Once I was happy with the order, I put together the top.  I could NOT wait to start quilting it.

And then...I saw the ad for the Handi Quilter feet.  Well....let's just scream SOLD on that!  I've been using a Handi Quilter Sweet 16 for a few years and can't say enough good things about it (my other car is a Bernina 440 - which you can't rip from my cold, dead, kung fu grip).  The addition of their new Echo feet and the Glide foot was a huge thrill for me and I couldn't WAIT till they arrived.  In fact, I halted production on this quilt until I had that Glide foot in my hot little hands...  I just knew it would make a difference in the ease of sewing this particular quilt.

Ohhh - I was so right.  Got the foot at the beginning of October and finished this quilt up in about 3 hours.  The Glide foot allowed me to smoothly fly right over all the edges of the scraps with such ease.  I machine bind my quilts for the most part so onto binding I went.

Finished it last week and tossed it into the washer and dryer.  The detail of this quilt is in my blog photo above.  I LOVE the crinkle and am always waiting anxiously for it to come out of the dryer....   And Waaa -la.... here it is.  It's VERY snuggly.