Color of Spring and Time in the Garden

I am loving every minute of this Spring in the Pacific Northwest. The garden is in full bloom and all of the colors are just breathtaking. Rhododendrons, azaleas, and tree blossoms galore.

Incredible color on this purple Azalea. Perfect for 2014- the color of the year is Radiant Orchid.

I think everyone is jumping at the chance to get out in the garden every chance they get. We have been getting a day or two of rain and then a couple of days of sun. Perfect weather for getting things done both inside and outside. There are lots of wonderful sprouts peeking out of the ground and the vegetable starts in the greenhouse are really starting to take off.

Zucchini, Pumpkins and Squash… Oh My!

I have been spending way too many evenings surfing Pinterest and my garden board is overflowing with ideas. Now that spring is here and I have been able to put of few of these great ideas into action. First, the Potato Tower I built with some left over chicken wire. It took 2 bags of compost to fill, YIKES! But I think it will produce an amazing potato crop, fingers-crossed.  It hasn’t sprouted yet but I have been reassured by fellow gardeners not to worry.

Pinterest Experiment- the Potato Tower

I also got some AMAZING wine boxes from a friend and have started planting some of my starts and vegetables in them for the Greenhouse. They just look so cool… it has only been a couple of weeks so I will have to let you know how it goes. Again, thank you Pinterest!

Another Pinterest Experiment- Growing in Wine Boxes

I will leave you with this adorable sign that I found at a local nursery, “We are so excited about our garden… we wet our plants!” I am putting this in the Greenhouse, along with this amazing owl, and it totally describes how I am feeling about the garden this spring.

Adorable garden sign for the Greenhouse.

I can’t wait until I can start to enjoy/eat all of the incredible crops.

Happy Growing!

Michelle

P.S. I have been posting a few teasers about some new projects on our Facebook Page. Be sure to “Like” us.

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We have a Winner!

Thank you so much for the amazing response to our Fresh Market Flowers giveaway! It has been so much fun reading all of your comments- over 300 of them! We are truly feeling inspired for Spring and all of the new possibilities it will bring.

A lot of you can’t wait for the horrible winter to end. Others are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Spring flowers or the time when they can get out in the garden and get all of their flowers and veggies growing. There were also quite a few big life events you are looking forward to… new babies, weddings, family trips, etc. All so exciting!

Blocks from our Fresh Market Flowers Panel.

Now, TIME TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER of our Fresh Market Flowers fabric bundle..

We selected the winner by assigning each comment a number and then randomly selecting one of those numbers using a Random Number Generator.

Congratulations KARLA RUSCO!

On Thursday she posted, “So excited for the arrival of spring. Even if the weather isn’t cooperating. Some bulbs are up and buds are growing. Ready to plant a new perennial garden as well as flower boxes and tomato plants. Always feels better when there is new life in the yard and garden. Creating with this new fabric would keep the flowers of spring around all year long.”

Join us in congratulating Karla, we will be sending her bundle to her this week so that she can get sewing!

Again, thank you all for your support and if you were not the lucky winner, Fresh Market Flowers is now available at your local quilt shop. Be sure to follow along with us here on the blog or “Like” us on Facebook. We have a lot going on this Spring and you don’t want to miss out. We even have another GIVEAWAY or two up our sleeves : )

~Michelle

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April Showers Bring… Fresh Market Flowers

The past few days in the Pacific Northwest have been amazing! I spent most of the afternoon yesterday out in the garden preparing the beds and even getting the potatoes and onions planted. I’m hoping to plant my favorite vegetable, peas, today. Last week we also took a trip up to the Skagit Valley to see all of the beautiful daffodils in bloom. Just a few more weeks and the tulips will be up!

Daffodil fields in the Skagit Valley, Washington 2014.

Spring had definitely arrived and so has our latest fabric line with Andover Fabrics, Fresh Market Flowers. Inspired by our local Pike Place Market and the incredible flower markets we visited in Paris, this line includes NINE stunning flower allovers. Tulips, Mums, Irises, and Daisies! It arrived just in time for all of your Spring projects, maybe even a table runner or napkins for your Easter table.

A few of the fabrics included in our Fresh Market Flowers Collection from Andover Fabrics.

This line also includes a PANEL with eight, different flower market scenes. Perfect for a colorful quilt, table runners or other items to use around the house. Each block pairs perfectly with the market allover or wide awning stripe. We have a FREE Downloadable quilt pattern available on our website that uses one panel and a selection of the colorful flowers. I love using the green awning stripe as binding!

Free Downloadable Quilt Pattern for Fresh Market Flowers.

Watch for a fun GIVEAWAY of Fresh Market Flowers coming on the blog. You can also “Like” us on Facebook to make sure you don’t miss out.

Happy Spring!

Michelle

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Let’s Play Dolls: Summer Fun

Spring is here and who isn’t ready to escape all of the winter weather!

We are so excited that Spring has arrived. The cherry blossoms are blooming, the garden is coming alive and we can’t wait to start planting lots of new flowers and veggies. It is also the time of year when we all must to find a new balance between our life outside and our life inside. After all, we can’t just abandon our sewing machines, they might rebel!

A few of the prints in our new “Summer Fun” collection.

What better way to get in the “Spring Sewing” mood than with a new project and a new fabric collection. We are so happy to announce that our new fabric collection, Let’s Play Dolls: Summer Fun is now available. It is the perfect fabric group to celebrate Spring and everything it has to offer. Full of fun florals and butterflies in bright, cheery colors it is a great way to freshen up your home and your sewing.

Completed 18″ Doll Outfits in each Summer color way

The line also includes two new adorable outfits for 18″ dolls on pre-printed panels. Each panel comes complete with one 18″ doll outfit, matching doll accessory and complete sewing instructions. There are also step-by-step illustrated tutorials for each panel on our website if you should get stuck.

All About Summer Top and Capri Pants Panel

For all of those little girls that love to dress just like their doll, the matching outfit patterns are also now available and include sizes 7 to 14. Each patterns comes with a bonus accessory pattern to compete the look!

Matching Outfit Pattern in sizes 7-14

Be sure to watch for new ideas and tutorials coming soon in the next couple of weeks. Maybe even a Giveaway or two… We also have lots of projects that we hope to have done before Quilt Market in May- both personally and professionally. We can’t wait to share!

Happy Spring Sewing!
Sharon and Michelle

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Spring is here!

Love Spring! Check out all of those amazing colors.

Spring is finally here in the Pacific Northwest. It is finally warm enough to start planting and getting things cleaned up after the winter weather. The tulips are even making an appearance in the Skagit Valley. They were only a couple of weeks late… We took a trip up there last weekend and it is truly an incredible site. Not all of the flowers were quite ready but it was definitely worth the trip.

Beautiful tulips and daffodils.

Between all of the gardening and enjoying the spring blooms we are frantically working on getting things ready for Spring Quilt Market in Kansas City. Can you believe it is less than a month away? Great news is that we should have sample yardage of Lavender Bliss hopefully next week! In the mean time we am finishing up some of the patterns we will be releasing in May. Maybe next week I can give you a little sneak peek : )

Lavender Bliss Production Samples. Don't they look great?!

This week was pretty exciting though. We got the first production samples of Lavender Bliss and they look AMAZING. We are so happy with how they turned out and can’t wait for everyone else to see. The sewing machines are calling for us to get started. Guess I should get back to work. Kansas City here we come!

~Michelle

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