Guess what?

My sis-in-law is the guest poster on Moda Bake Shop today! Go check it out...

11 Congratulations!

So, sadly, my design did not make it to the final ten :(

BUT - ten designs DID make it, and BIG congratulations go to these designers. I can't wait to see their collections! Several of my favorites made it through...(Windy Day? *swoon*)

The main takeaway from me: There is actually a place called FabricLand. All this time I thought it was a pretend place in my mind where people fulfilled their civic duties by voting on designs...when it's actually in New Jersey. Silly me. Now I want to go there. But seriously, I did learn a ton. And now I want to keep designing fabric on Spoonflower. And now I feel like a victim of a marketing scheme.

SO - for the final CONGRATS* - #33 - KC! KC, it doesn't look like your profile has a way to e-mail you, so please leave a comment with a way to get in touch with you.

*Since my instructions weren't clear, and some people left multiple comments, and some people only left one, I worked it out to make the selection fair. I won't bore you with the details, but was fair indeed.

I never imagined I would have over 100 comments on this little blog. Thanks everyone for voting and fulfilling your civic duty to that fictitional place in my head called FabricLand!

Vote! And Win!

{Read until the end...free fabric involved!}

My sister-in-law and cousin convinced me to enter Project Selvage, a contest hosted by Spoonflower and Michael Miller Fabrics to find the next fabric designer. The winner will receive a contract with Michael Miller Fabrics. Can you imagine?!?

And guess what? My design made it to the top 75! I'm totally speachless!

But here's the deal -- the top 10 designers are chosen by votes, and that's where you come in.

If you have a moment, head on over and vote. Vote for me...vote for someone else...vote for all of us. The point is...VOTE! My design (above) is called "On the Move" by MeredithOK

Just for fun, I'm giving away a fabric bundle of one of my favorite designer idols, Riley Blake. One lucky winner will get five fat quarters of her Love Birds line.

To enter:

1. Vote - for any/all of your favorite designs by April 6th. A few notes on voting...there are 5 pages of designs, so keep scrolling to see them all. As long as you make it to the end and type the scrambled word and click "submit" you've done your part!

2. Post a link on your blog or Facebook page, back to this blog post. Copy this link: http://piecedonearth.blogspot.com/2011/04/favor-for-mefree-fabric-for-you.html

3. Leave a comment here to let me know what a good citizen of FabricLand you are!

Winner will be chosen on April 7th.

** EDIT: To clarify, you will get one entry for voting, and additional entries for blogging, or posting to Facebook or Twitter. Reading all of the comments has been so fun...thanks for all the enthusiasm! **

My Favorite Quilt...so far.

I can't believe I'm just posting pictures of this quilt...I finished it back in September just in time to enter it into the Tulsa State Fair. It is by far my favorite quilt...so far!

I made it along with the Bee Inspired online bee last year. I told everyone to make "squares inside of squares" - no specific size requirements. That was a mistake!

As I began getting blocks in the mail, I soon realized that this would be a ridiculous exercise in piecing these babies together. Finally, I just dove in. And by some miracle, it just worked.

I also had no idea what I was going to do with this thing. Hot pink. Turquoise. Purple. Not exactly the color palette of my house. But then, my husband and I added a spare bed to my sewing room, and it seemed to find the perfect home.

Although this particular version of the quilt is ridiculously bright, and was a piecing nightmare, I learned a load of lessons from this, and I'm considering hosting a quilt-a-long with a simplified (but just as spectacular) version. I can picture this in so many variations - earthy tones, random scraps, monochrome...so many possibilities. Anyone interested?

** Edit** Anne Marie over at GenX Quilters is hosting a contest for bed-size modern quilts, so I'm crossing my fingers and entering!

I'm Related to Someone Famous!

A Moda Bakeshop Author! Head on over to see my sister-in-law Wendy's first posting on Moda Bakeshop. So super proud of her!

Hope is a Four Letter Word!

January is my month for Sew Bee It!

I have requested four-letter happy verbs. And they're just starting to roll in. And they make me want to sing! soar! jump!

Putting it into words.

A new year always brings with it a certain amount of reflection and reimagining of life. For some reason this new year has sparked my reflection on this little quilting obsession of mine, and wondering what to do with it. A quote that continues to inspire my life comes from Thessalonians - "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands." Summed up: Crafting, making, creating -- whatever you call it -- our hands' work makes the world better, however small it may seem. That sounds totally naive and altruistic...but it's TRUE!!

Despite the fits of frustration and cussing at my sewing machine over the last three years (apologies to my husband and my dog!), no hobby has grabbed my passion like quilting has. I truly believe that the constant inspiration available from other people's blogs has been a huge reason why I have stuck with it -- and why my creativity continues to spiral into new projects. And so, I hope to pay it forward to this wonderful online community in some small way!

I felt compelled to start fresh with a new blog, and hopefully this will be the last! I've come to the conclusion that blogs are like boyfriends - you have to try a few out before you find the one that fits just right. :)

So what about you? Why do you create? What inspires you? Any crafty goals this year?