It’s been a busy time getting ready for the Common Thread Quilt Guild’s Quilt Show which took place at the RA Center (here in Ottawa) last weekend. I hope you got a chance to visit – there were some wonderful quilts on display, and lots of vendors from far and wide in the merchant mall. I enjoyed catching up with so many of you … thanks for stopping by!

And the fun is not over … I’m heading to Halifax in about 10 days for the Quilt Canada event “Seams Like Home“. I’m excited about the upccoming trip down east, and looking forward to meeting some of you there.

The season is short, but my ornamental apple tree is in full bloom. I think I’ll enjoy it while it lasts … I only wish I could share the heavenly fragrance with you.

Wishing you good things this week!

It’s been a while since I posted a work in progress, so thought I’d give you a look at the BOM that I’m working on with my quilting buddies.

We’ve been making the blocks in the Mini Patchwork Quilt tutorial series. The tutorials are done with scraps, which was my original plan. But after finishing one block, I changed my mind and thought I’d use my stash of Polka Dot Garden by Jennifer Heynen for In The Beginning. I like how it’s shaping up, a riot of color. I think my favorite so far is the postage stamp block (at the top), which I made from strip-pieced 36-patch blocks.

I’m looking forward to getting back to this one!

It’s time to announce the winners of the beach glass bundles (including Sliced Fruit pattern and Kona White). Thanks to all who left comments during the month … it was especially fun to read about everyone’s favorite beach. I have been to many of the Canadian spots, especially in the east, but would love to check out the beaches on Lake Superior and in BC.

I had 155 comments in total in April (the blog is published in two places) and the winners are …

#155 – Cathy and #8 – Jane

I’ll be sending emails to you both shortly!

As predicted, not much time at the sewing machine in April. Time enough to make a few pillowcases to show off some pretty fabric though …

Crazy Love: Pricila by Jennifer Paganelli for Freespirit

Freshcut: Groovy by Heather Bailey for Freespirit

Get Together: Bears In Line – by David Walker for Freespirit

A reminder – the April giveaway ends tomorrow (April 30). I’ll be posting the winners here on Tuesday. And the 15% off designer bundles ends tomorrow as well.

Some great color basics from Freespirit to fill out your stash -

At $9 /yard they are already a terrific value, and the bundles are on sale at 15% off until the end of the month.

Take two whimsical prints from Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman.

Add some Kona coordinates (Medium Grey, Papaya, Bahama, Sour, Corn Yellow, Orange and Ash).

And a pattern from Kate Conklin.

Makes one funky lap sized quilt!

Fabric only kit available in the shop (you will need to get the pattern as a PDF download from Kate Conklin Designs).

April & May will be very busy as I get ready for two major shows in May – one here in Ottawa and the other in Halifax. I won’t have time for much project work to share with you, so thought I’d give you a peek at some of the new fabrics that are arriving in the shop.

Check the comments on April’s giveaway post for a guide to some great Canadian beaches. You can add another chance to win by leaving a comment on this post too. I’ll be selecting 2 winners at the end of April from all the comments received this month.

It’s been 4 years since I opened Mad About Patchwork for online shopping, an occassion which definitely calls for celebration. As a thank you to all my wonderful customers, you can use the coupon BIRTHDAY10 at checkout anytime in April and save $10 on orders over $75. I’m also hosting a giveaway for the rest of the month, with two identical prizes.

You can win this beach glass bundle of Kona solids along with a yard of Kona White and the Sliced Fruit pattern from Cherry House Quilts. I made this Sliced Fruit quilt for Anna’s bed, and still love the crisp white with the bold stripes of color.  This versatile quilt also shows up as City Bank in the City Quilts book, so you can get a look at a completely different color scheme.

Leave a comment telling me about your favorite beach for a chance to win. I’ll mention the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park here in Ontario. It’s a beautiful stretch of sandy beach on Lake Ontario south of Belleville. I remember it best from a long-ago camping trip when our little family was just Emily, not quite 2 years old. The summer when it was impossible to keep clothes on her and she ran naked everywhere The sun shone every day. We still camped in a tent, and there was sand in everything. If I close my eyes I can travel back in my mind to that perfectly beautiful week. What happy memories!

You can increase your chance of winning by leaving comments on my other blog posts in April. Only 1 comment per post please, but I will draw the 2 winners by random number from all the comments left in April. Good luck!

The last thing to note is the feature in the shop for April is 15% off all designer fabric bundles. Some new things came in at the end of March, like Stockholm by Robin Zingone from Robert Kaufman, Freshcut by Heather Bailey for Freespirit, and Fly A Kite by October Afternoon for Riley Blake. Take a peek on the site … I’ll post pictures another time.

Last week’s heat wave has given way to more seasonal weather. But the snow is gone and the grass is greening, robins are nesting and ducks and geese are appearing in the wetlands. And of course, the ubiquitous quilt on the fence is back …

This will have to do until the garden is in bloom. But really, you can have summer year round when you choose a Kaffe Fassett floral for your quilt back. This is Cloisonne in Terra Cotta, and the inspiration for the set of shot cottons on the quilt front. Nothing wrong with choosing your backing fabric first, and then pulling your fabrics for the quilt top. The shot cottons make a lighter weight quilt – perfect for summer or warmer climates. The pattern is Hip To Be Square from Busy Bee Designs.

This one’s not quilted yet … a UFO from the winter. I pieced the Wonky Roman Triangles following the technique described in Block Party (A Modern Quilting Bee). A terrific book, by the way, if you need a little encouragement (like me) to work on your improv piecing skills. Again, I teamed the shot cottons with Kaffe Fassett. A neutral palette, but with enough touches of brightness to keep it interesting. I used Bronze, Galvanized and Steel shot cotton for the triangles and this bundle.

And finally, here are a couple of quilt backs done in shot cotton (Butter & Pink). They are nice and soft to the touch, and are just the thing if you want a lighter weight back for a baby or lap quilt. (And they really show off Joan’s lovely machine quilting!)

The shot cottons are on sale at $9 /yard until March 31st.

There were 238 entries in last week’s Blog Hop Party giveway. Thanks to all who left comments - I enjoyed getting a glimpse of where my readers are from. And the winner by random draw is #191. Cheryl (also from Ottawa!) will be getting an email from me shortly.

Have a great weekend!