Blogger's Choice Bundle Entry

Laura over at Quokka Quilts is having a fantastic contest. The Fat Quarter Shop offers Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundles and Laura and FQS are giving one person the chance to design and win their own bundle. And even better than a fat quarter bundle - FQS is offering a half-yard bundle! That's 7.5 yards of fabric!

So, here's the lowdown, you go to the Fat Quarter Shop's website and pick out 12 prints and 3 coordinating solids, put them in a mosaic and post them somewhere they can be seen online - flickr, Picasa, your blog, etc. Then go to the Blogger's Choice post at Laura's blog (more info at that post) and link up a thumbnail of your choices. Easy peasy.

Or is it?! *sinister eyebrow raise*

It is darn hard to pick from alllllll that fabric. But it's the fun kind of challenging. Like "cake or pie?" Or "cookies or ice cream?" "Chocolate or caramel?" "Puppies or rainbows?!" OK, you get the drill.

I had planned to base my choices around Cosmo Cricket's Garbo fabric and maybe some Hometown Town Square in red. Well... you can see how I did :) Once I saw some of those blue/indigo prints (especially that first one - Heirloom Indigo Fez *drool*), I was hooked. And I knew I wanted a grey complement because I love it, so that was a no-brainer. Then I had to decide whether the two color palette was enough. This is what it looked like with just two colors:

Lovely. The blues are striking against the grey/silvers. But I thought it needed another dimension. So, I added in the orange which, after years of estrangement, I have come to embrace and love :) I think that the oranges just give everything a little more pluck without over-powering the blues. You can see clearer pictures and some of the other contenders in my flickr set or by following the links below. I don't think the greys show all that well in the mosaic.

My selections are:
Row 1: Heirloom Indigo Fez by Dear Stella * Lanikai Blue Tear Drop by Dear Stella * Kaffe Fassett's Blue Pencils by Westminster * Terrain Stream Seedpod by Moda

Row 2: Terrain Mist Footpath by Moda * Shades of Grey Ragg Tagg by Daisy Jane * Shades of Grey Pinstripe by Daisy Jane * Shades of Grey River Rock by Daisy Jane

Row 3: Tuxedo Gray Ta Dots by Riley Blake Designs * Lemon Grove Silver Starburst Light Ground by Timeless Treasures * Yard Sale Cantaloupe Basketweave by Dear Stella * Now We're Going Places Orange Dot by Timeless Treasures

Row 4 (solids): Stella Blue by Dear Stella * Deep Violet by Free Spirit Designer Solids * Stella Orange by Dear Stella

Remember how I said I was going to read fewer blogs and not enter giveaways so willy-nilly? Well, I have generally stuck to it. But this giveaway was too good to pass up! Thanks Laura and FQS for the fun exercise!

I had a few fall-off-the-wagon moments. I got lured into purchasing a few of the Snip Snip scissor prints from Momo. And, after seeing the Missouri Star Quilt Company's spiderweb tutorial, I purchased the template and one set of papers, because I already have the fabric I'd like to use for it. But, now that the holidays are mostly over (I'm celebrating Christmas on Saturday with my family), I can move on to using up some of that fabric. I'd like to get a couple baby quilts done, but I'm on the move - I'm spending 4 months in Minnesota for work, far away from my stash, and I'll be staying with four different people. So, we'll see how much sewing/blogging I actually get done!