Vacation is over and I'm back! 
We had a great time at the beach in Hatteras, NC with my family. I have 3 brothers and we are never all together at the same time. Having a beach vacation together seemed like a fine idea and it was. Mom had a great time having everyone together. We all enjoyed it. I even had a few friend visit. I think we had a total of 15 people there over the week. Some stayed all week and some for a few days.

​It looks like you had a great time too. We had lots of entries and it's time to announce the winners:

Day 1 - Cool colors - Kathy Sevebeck
Day 2 - Warm Colors - Judy Hudgins
Day 3 - Purples - Gene Black
Day 4 - Art Pack - Cherie Vidovich
Day 5 - Greens and Mistyfuse products - Leslie Griffel
Day 6 - Waste Fabrics - Cindy Pilkington
Bonus - Scarf - Shirley Bruner

I'm not quite back on the swing of things here. My friend, Laura, from England goes home tomorrow and Mom is here to go have cataract surgery today. I'll be back to sewing (or something) tomorrow. 

​I didn't take a lot of photos on vacation but here are a few.

There were so many flocks of these little sandpipers and I had fun watching them on our walks.

This gull loved the leftover shrimp that my brother was using as bait.

I got to go kayaking twice and on one trip we got to paddle around with a big flock of geese. That's my friend Lora ahead of me.

We had all kinds of weather. A few cloudy days, a couple of perfect days, one rainy day and one beautiful sunset. We took full advantage of all of it. We were on the oceanfront and I was able to catch this sunset over the sound from front of the house. 

Everything about the week was perfect. I didn't take one stitch. I just relaxed and enjoyed the week. I ready to get back to my routine now.

Tomorrow is the day that I draw the winners for last week's giveaways so if you haven't entered be sure to scroll back and enter all 6 drawings!

While I was pulling things for the prizes I found this silk scarf that I iced dyed a few months ago. I decided to add one more giveaway for this.

The window is going to be short for this one. You must enter TODAY! The winner will be announced tomorrow. For this drawing everyone gets 1 entry.

If you have been following my blog for a few years you know that the last day of my giveaway week always features my "waste fabrics". Waste fabrics, you ask? 

When I dye gradients, I use a piece of "waste" muslin on each side of the bin to catch excess dye. These muslin strips are between 5 - 7" wide and 40" long. Early on these became some of my most treasured fabric. I only give it away when my collection is overflowing....as it is now. My Catena quilt was made with only waste fabrics.

My friend, Estelle, made Evening Egrets with mostly waste fabrics. Even her binding is waste fabric!
​If you want some of these enter below. I'll announce the winner May 30.

I'm calling today's prize the Art Quilter's Dream Pack because it contains TEN YARDS of Mistyfuse Untraviolet! Mistyfuse UV is formulated with a UV retardant for protection against the aging effects of long-tern UV exposure. (Wish I could use it on my face.) 
The prize also includes a set of fat eights of my Color Wheel fabrics and a set of cards that I made in a letterpress class. I love this Twyla Tharp quote.

Enter the drawing below. The winner will be announced May 30.

On the third day of vacation I bring you purples! This is a collection of fabric scraps that all contain purple. I use the term scraps loosely because most of these are pretty big chunks.

I suppose that the piece on the bottom could be used for fabric but it's actually an ice dyed kitchen towel! No need to stick this in your stash, it's ready to use.

​Enter below. The winner will be announced May 30.

On the second day of our blog vacation giveaway we have a stash of red, orange and yellow hand dyed fabrics from my scrap bin PLUS 2.5 yards of Mistyfuse. Yesterday I shared Iris Karp's video on Mistyfuse. Today I want to share a great Design Challenge that Sue Pelland is hosting. Mistyfuse is one of the sponsors of the challenge.

To enter to win today's prize just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter below. Everyone gets 1 entry but if you are a newsletter subscriber, Facebook follower or customer you get additional chances to win.
​Winners will be announced May 30.

 I'm taking a little blog break and that means that you get a chance to win some great fabric and other prizes. Come back every day because there's a new giveaway every day through Saturday. That's 6 opportunities!

I collect a massive amount of hand dyed scraps so the first 3 days we are going to raid my scrap bin. These aren't tiny scraps. Some are strips, some are chunks and some are as big as fat quarters. Today we are starting with a collection of blue and green fabrics.

​In addition the winner will receive a 2.5 yard package of my favorite fusible web, Mistyfuse. Just in case you aren't familiar with Mistyfuse and why it's such a great product, check out this video from Iris Karp, the creator of Mistyfuse.

Now all you have to do is enter! Facebook followers, Newsletter subscribers and customers get extra entries. Winners will be announced May 30

Before I announce the winners from the drawings last week I want to send a special thank you to the state of Maine. It's not called "The Vacation State" for nothing! I needed to escape the heat and humidity of Virginia and give my asthma a break. We decided to try Maine. The weather was spectacular and we really enjoyed seeing Portland and Acadia and eating lots of lobster. We can't wait to go back.


But let's get to what's important to you, the winners!

Monday Drawing of Warm Fabrics - Suzanne Kistler
Tuesday Drawing of Cool Fabrics - Lynda Hermann
Wednesday Drawing of Glass Dish - Allison Church Bird
Thursday Drawing of Quilt Kit - Terrie Mc
Friday Drawing of Beach Towel  - Karen Jantzi
Saturday Drawing of "Waste" Fabrics - Susan Hecker

Congratulations to all of the winners. Each has been notified if I do not hear from a winner by Monday I will draw another winner for that prize. We have friends visiting in October so I'm feeling another blog break/giveaway week coming on so stay tuned!

Today is supposed to be the day that I post my August books. I'll get that out tomorrow. I don't have any energy left for that today.

Saving the best for last....in my opinion! I call these my "waste" fabrics because they are used as part of the process to dye gradients. But they are my favorite fabrics to work with and I hoard them. I've pulled this collection to share with you.

Don't worry about me though, I still have plenty left!

You have until August 30 to enter the drawing and the winner will be announced August 31.

I'm in the process of dyeing over a dozen beach towels for a family vacation next summer but I'm sharing this one with you now! It's about 30" x 60 " and dyed bright turquoise, purple and blue. It would be a great Christmas gift for a young person.

You have until August 30 to enter the drawing and the winner will be announced August 31.