Apple of My Eye!

Yep, some of you sharp eyed quilters guessed it correctly . . . my scrappy project is utilizing some pieces of Apple of My Eye by Amanda Herring of the Quilted Fish!

I also promised to point you to the tutorial that I found my inspiration in -- the oh-so-talented Julie at Jolie Maxtin participated in the April Showers mug rug hop recently organized by Madame at SewWeQuilt. I loved her mug rug, and she offered a lovely tut for her readers.

I asked her about the template that she mentioned in her tutorial, and she is such a sweetheart that she made me one and sent it on to me! I swear, you meet the nicest peeps in the quilting and blogging community, don't you? 

This was something brand new to me, and I also was kinda stretching a bit to go a little more modern in this design. I'm really happy with the results!

There (above) is a picture of the template.

There is my mug rug ready for some quilting. I quilted about 1/4 inch from the piecing seams. 

Then I got out my "thread buryer" and went to work . . . I had some questions on my tool, so I thought I would show you a close up. It is from Clover, and it's called a Soft Touch Thread Pic, and I seriously love how easily it pulls my threads under the fabric, and doesn't leave a tell-tale hole!

It also comes with the cover for the pointy end, that you see above. That's very important for bleary-eyed quilters who are up late at night and into the wee hours . . . (Grin)

I realized when I got the quilting and thread burying completed that I didn't have enough of that lovely blue to make my binding. Oh, the angst! The stress! Whatever would I do?

Enter the heroine -- Jackie over at Jackie's Art Quilts came to my rescue! She had some Apple of My Eye left over and is sending me some! (Waving) Thank you, Jackie! You're awesome!

When I complete this mug rug, I'll post and show you!

I almost forgot....I'm linking up this week with Katherine's Thursday Favorite Things hop, and with Lesley's Create It Thursday hop, too!

Love,

Aurifil Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed....but thank you for your interest!

First, since I have your attention (wink), I'd like to show you a mug rug I recently finished and packed off to its recipient.

You can tell by the fabrics that I used, that this particular someone is a fellow aficionado of the Elixir of Life, so I was playing to her tastes here:

The boyz got involved, too, and were carefully checking the mug rug for any stray threads:

Once they gave it the paws up of approval (or flippers, in Padsworth's case) it was ready to be packed up and sent to its new home:

It's kinda large (about 12 inches square), but I'm hoping that will give her room for a cuppa and a snack (sugar free, of course) beside her computer or her sewing machine!

Now, back to the business at hand -- you want to know how you can win some awesome Aurifil thread! Well, the special folks at Aurifil gave their approval for three winners here at the Lilypad!

I have posted here about how I enjoy using the Aurifil thread -- there are different types for different applications. I've used the 50 wt thread with great success for piecing and for quilting. Smooth, smooth and no breakage; just lots of quilting fun!

(Padsworth loves that green on the left!)

 The 40 wt is just a little heavier, and I love, love the way my FMQ stitches show up a little better with this thread. Awesome selection of colors in all of these weights.

The 28 wt is wonderful for hand applique and effortless buttonhole stitching:

I haven't tried the 12 wt yet, but they say it's perfect for the Sashiko stitching that many of us like to do on our projects.
There are tips and guides on the Aurifil site that are oh, so helpful, too. You can check out what the designers say about it, and see the collections that they have put together.

Now you don't have to follow us, but we sure would appreciate it, so here is how you can enter to win!

1.  Leave us a comment about your favorite: do you love tea, or coffee, or something entirely different?
2.  If you are a Lilypadquilting follower, you may leave another comment!
3.  If you hop over to the Aurifil site, and check out some of the collections there, leave me one more comment to tell me whose collection you would love to use for your sewing and quilting!

We'll leave the contest open for a week, which means you can comment until May 3! We'll announce our three winners shortly after that.

Good luck, everyone!

Love,