I’m excited to be a part of a week-long blog hop to celebrate the expansion of my friend Bernie’s Etsy shop, Needle & Foot. Bernie recently decided to follow her heart and is now stocking a variety of modern quilting cottons in addition to her made goods, and she invited a few blogging friends to help spread the word and spark inspiration about what can be made using the fabric newly stocked in her shop. She invited me to select some fat quarters from her shop, and I’m excited to show you what I made.

She’s also generously offering a giveaway so that one lucky reader can win either 6 fat quarters or 3 half-yard cuts of fabric! Read on to find out how to enter! In addition to the giveaway at the end of this post, Bernie is offering everyone a coupon code to her new shop. Use the code NANDFREADERS15 for 15% off any order over $5.00, active through Sunday, March 26th.

But first, my makes! When Bernie first invited me to be a part of this blog hop, and asked which fabrics I’d most like to use, it was all I could do to resist her selection of Alison Glass fabrics, since, well… you know how I am with all things Alison Glass! I decided to go with a bit of variety though, with the plan to make a few small things and incorporate her fabrics into my current projects. Stash building is a totally legit way to fabric shop, right!?

I ultimately selected two (2) low volume prints–Hashtags and Small Letters in black–from the Basically Low fabric line by Helen Stubbings for Red Rooster, three (3) prints from Sweet Tweets by Kim Schaefer for Andover fabrics–Rainbow on White (isn’t it gorgeous?!), Hip to Be Square Multicolor, and Cheerios on black, and I just couldn’t resist the Bumble Buzz Blue by Maureen Cracknell’s Garden Dreamer line for Art Gallery Fabrics!

I probably could incorporate that Rainbow on White print into every single one of my projects somehow–the colors are just so perfect! I started out by making a half moon zippered pouch with the Rainbow on White and my Sizzix 8″ Half Oval die, and I added a meticulously cut, fused, and stitched bee from Bumble Buzz Blue as a fun embellishment. The colors play so nicely together, and there’s nothing like a little hand-stitched detail to add some extra fun to FUNctional.

I lined the pouch with the Hip to be Square print, and love how festive it is. This pouch now lives in my purse, and contains two spiral bound notebooks and a couple of mechanical pencils so that I know that I will always have entertainment for my two oldest kids no matter where we may be. I will most likely add a few other items (colored pencils, maybe a matchbox car or two), but it is so nice to have a designated “kid pouch” in my purse.

If the kids decide they can’t share, I could always take it right back and use it to smuggle… er, transport… fabric!

I wasn’t quilt finished using that Rainbow on White, so I decided to pair some with the Basically Low Hashtag fabric and Cheerios on Black to make a block for one of my ongoing Sew-Alongs, the Garden Snail Snail Paced Sew Along hosted by Angie at Gnome Angel.  I’m using the snails to brighten up my otherwise-entirely-greenery quilt, and I think this little guy will do *just* the trick!

Doesn’t he look great up there!? I have also begun to incorporate both low volume fabrics into my Greenery quilt blocks, as you can see in the bottom left block. Low volumes fabrics are among my favorite to stash since there’s always a perfect project for them!

I’m pretty set on sneaking one of these bees into the quilt somehow, too. Time will tell!

Giveaway

Now, for the giveaway! Bernie has generously offered a prize of your choice of either 6 fat quarters or 3 half-yard cuts selected from any of the available fabrics at the Needle & Foot Etsy shop.

To enter the giveaway today, tell me what fabrics from Needle & Foot you would select if you were to win. Leave a comment and make sure I’m able to get ahold of you if you win. For an additional entry, follow Needle & Foot on Instagram. For a third entry, follow Needle & Foot on Facebook. Leave a separate comment once you complete each entry.

This giveaway is open to US and international participants, but international winners must be willing to split the cost of shipping. The giveaway will be open for one week, until Wednesday March 29th at 8pm EST when I’ll select the winner randomly with random.org. Good luck! Giveaway is now closed! Congratulations to Chris!

*Please note that comment moderation is on, so if you do not see your comment right after posting, do not be alarmed! I try to respond to each and every comment I get on my blog, but with giveaway posts the numbers are usually too great to do this. 

Be sure to visit all of the other stops on the blog hop to see the nice variety of modern fabrics now stocked by Needle & Foot, and to see what everyone else made with them, and don’t forget to use coupon code NANDFREADERS15 for 15% off any order over $5.00 in the shop through Sunday, 3/26.

Blog Hop schedule: