Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Brutal Honesty + Giveaway {May 2018}

April showers bring May flowers! April sewing brings May finishes (I hope!) Both of the quilts that I sent off to be either quilted by my mom on her mid-arm or long arm quilted are finished, but I don't have them back yet to share pictures. I've taken them off the list since they *are* finished but keep an eye out for official finish posts!

Quilting in Progress:
1. Traveling Quilt Bee (2016) -- I was able to get a few more sections quilted since I posted last week! I'm hoping to finish this before the end of the month.


Completed tops:
2. Magnolia Mystery QAL -- No progress (needs backing)

Tops partially finished:
3. Bonnie and Camille C2C Bee Quilt -- No progress
4. Romantic Garden Quilt -- No progress
5. Monthly Wall Hangings -- No progress

Just blocks and units:
6. Pineapple Stash Bee Blocks -- No progress
7. Sew Kitschy Blocks -- No progress
8. Cubicle Quilts -- My May cubicle quilt is finished and hung up in my office!


9. Happy Houses blocks -- No progress
10. Birthstone blocks -- No progress
11. Donuts quilt -- All of my block sets are done - I need to decide on the background fabric and then I'll be able to start working on the layout soon.


12. Double Delight -- I am close to being finished with my second set of square-in-a-square blocks and then I'll be working on the 9-patch units in full force.

Quilt alongs and long term projects:
13. Monthly Island Batik Ambassador projects -- My project for April was a vintage-inspired baby quilt and our May project theme is pillows and I will be sharing that project on Friday.


14. Breezy Blooms C2C Bee -- I worked on Chelsea's quilt in April and am working on Karen's quilt this month!


15. Blocked Rainbow Quilt -- We're making blue bowties this week! Click here to get the directions from Craftsy!


New projects:
16. Faceted Mini #3 - I am working on a third Faceted mini quilt pattern to join the Faceted Churn Dash and Faceted Friendship Star patterns. I'm using Printology, a new fabric line from Benartex, as a part of a blog hop next week! Here's a sneak preview of my project so far:


My April goals were to finish my secret sewing project and to start quilting my 2016 Traveling Quilt Bee, both of which happened, hooray! My secret sewing project will be shared in about 10 days.

My May goal will be to finish my May IBA project (a pillow to match my April project!) and to finish my TQB Quilt.

Don't forget to join the HBD Facebook Group -- it's not too late to join in the Blocked Rainbow QAL!

Now for the giveaway! Leave a comment below with your favorite May memory for a bunch of Island Batik fabric left over from my April baby quilt!


The giveaway is now closed and our winner is Anita!


35 comments:

  1. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one to start a new project despite having many in the pipeline. I enjoy seeing your Island Batik projects each month. Thnaks for the giveaway.

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  2. You are always such a busy, creative girl, Alison! I always love seeing your new cubicle quilt and imagine how much sweetness it gives you every time you see it. My favorite May memory is when I was in grade school. A few friends and I made May baskets out of construction paper and filled them with notes, candy and a dandelions. We hung them on neighborhood doors to celebrate the arrival of spring...which seems to take forever in Iowa!

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  3. My first mother's day back in 1995 is a sweet May memory!

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  4. You are making some nice progress. My favorite May memory is going to the museum and seeing the new growth - plants and baby animals and even fish in the stream during our walks near it.

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  5. I got married on May 23 many years ago and that is my fav memory of May:)

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  6. It has to be my son’s promotion at work... we are so proud of his accomplishments!!

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  7. May is a special month as it is mother's day, my grandfather's birthday and my parent's anniversary. Great time of the year to celebrate family.

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  8. I shudder to think how long my list of wip's would be if I were to make one. Then if I add those kits that I have tucked away in my closet....well, the list would certainly double. I seem to always get sidetracked with something that I "must make now" rather than pull out something partially done. Raising three kiddos with a very thoughtful husband, I cannot choose just one Mother's day celebration as a favorite - they were all special. My three children (adults now) still celebrate with me every May!

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  9. My Dad, my two sons, and my sister all have birthdays in May, (mine is first part of June). It is like Christmas again!

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  10. My favorite May memories are of making flower cones and hanging them on neighbors’ doors on May Day.

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  11. My favorite May memory is the day my youngest son was born! He turns 18 today.

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  12. As children, we celebrated May Day (May 1st), by leaving baskets of candy/popcorn by the front door of neighbors/friends. We would ring the doorbell and run so the recipient wouldn't know who left the goodies. maryc76904 at yahoo dot com

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  13. My favorite May memory is that my grandmother wouldn't let us go bare foot until May 1, every year. We were so happy to run barefoot when May 1st came around! Have a great day! angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

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  14. When I was a very little girl my mom would help me decorate baskets and fill them with flowers from our garden. We would leave them on the doorsteps of our neighbors, choosing mostly the elderly ones. I remember especially the two single sisters across the street, whom I thought of as being very old--now I wonder how old they really were; to me, as a child, they seemed ancient. I know they never married and had no children. When I was little, I thought it was great fun. Now that I'm an adult, I see it from a different perspective. I haven't been able to have children, so I appreciate how sweet it must have been for many of those people in quiet homes to open their doors and find gifts so obviously made by little hands. And, knowing my mother lost two children before I was born, I am so happy for her that she was able to have that sweet time in her life, when she could share her happiness with her neighbors. I imagine that the hard times she had been through filled her with compassion for the people around her, although in her modest, Midwestern way she never spoke of it.

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  15. May is when the threat of rain was disappearing...and my Dad would look forward to flying the US flag on holidays thru summer into fall. I guess recalling it...I looked for it too.

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  16. A favorite May memory -- My sister-in-law was unable to conceive and carry a pregnancy to term. Then one day in early May (many years ago) a baby boy was born to a selfless young girl who put the baby up for adoption to give him a better life. And by doing so, she gave my sister-in-law, her husband, and all of their extended family a better life too. Today, that boy is a husband and father himself, celebrating his wife's first mother's day this May. Beautiful.

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  17. Picking wildflowers for Mother's day. 24Tangent@gmail.com

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  18. may memories mean it is the end of the school year, 3 weeks left of school. So much excitement in the air. playing outside after homework until dinner time.

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  19. My favorite May memories are the flower bouquets we would make on the 1st, May Day. My husband still gives me flowers on that day.

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  20. My favorite May memories are seeing all my children graduate at the end of the month. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  21. The favorite May memory is the year I received a huge granite rock that my husband and a farmer friend dug our of the farmer's field and delivered to me for landscaping. It was my Mother's Day gift that year. I was sorry we had to leave it when we moved from IL to AL 5 years ago. Nancy A: rangerer@sbcglobal.net

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  22. Since May Day was just yesterday, I was thinking about when I was young, my Bff and I made May Baskets ( think from egg cartons!). We put flowers in them and left them on the doors of all the moms on our street. We had so much fun doing that, and did it for several years. Thanks for sharing the giveaway!

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  23. I love to drive and see all the green starting to grow in May....the grass, the buds on the trees, flowers......makes me so happy that Spring has finally sprung!

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  24. My favorite May memory is the birth of my second daughter on the Friday before Mother's Day that year.

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  25. Such great projects on your list, I love seeing the progress you make on them.

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  26. My favorite May memory is my two children who were both born on Mother's Day!

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  27. May 1 was my Dad's birthday so it was always a great day. I try to plant some tomatoes in his honor.

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  28. May signaled the end of school, and bidding goodbye to friends on the last day was always bittersweet.

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  29. College Graduation! Bittersweet !!! Single mom- working full time with college classes completed!

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  30. Last day of School picnics when I was in grade school are a good memory for me!
    barbkaup(at)yahoo)(dot)(com)

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  31. Can't wait to see your quilts!
    Can't say this is my fondest May memory, but it will always be etched in my mind. May 7,2008 I had a 12 hour tongue cancer surgery. They got it all! Praise God, but it was a pretty traumatic ordeal. That's what started my blog - well, my daughter did to keep everyone informed.

    https://prayersformymom.blogspot.com/

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  32. Congrats on all the progress in April and good luck with all your plans for May.

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  33. Lots of inspiration!! My favorite May memory is spending time with my grandsons planting in our garden! The boys loved to dig holes in the ground and get dirty!
    nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com

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  34. Some great projects! I love that flowers start blooming in May...

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  35. My favorite May memory is the birth of my daughter. My next favorite is mother's day..... celebrating mom's and grandma's...... without them I wouldn't be here.

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