Hello friends!! Today is Week Four, Day 7, of the My Happy Place Row Along 2018, and it’s my day to share!! This great blog hop is hosted by Marian of Seams to Be Sew. She has done a wonderful job in coordinating everything, getting prizes for everyone, and keeping us in line!! Thank you, Marian, for making sure every blogger participating has been well presented, and every person rowing along with us has multiple opportunities to win some great prizes! You rock!!
Our daughter and her family love the beach. I can tolerate the beach, if I have to be there! It’s just not my preference. Everyone who knows me well, knows that my happy place is in a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains!! We try to go at least once a year, sometime around our anniversary in November…but should the opportunity arise, I will not turn down a second trip in early summer – or any time of the year, really!!! When we go in November, it’s right after the Christmas lights have been turned on. I love Christmas and seeing all the lights makes me even happier!! So when I signed up for this blog hop, it wasn’t a difficult decision on what my row would be about.
I opened up EQ8 and proceeded to draft my row! After a little drawing of some simple shapes, and plugging in some fabric swatches, this became my draft pattern!
While vacationing around Pigeon Forge, TN this past summer, I visited my favorite quilt shop in Seviereville – The Cherry Pit. It was here I found some of my fabrics for this row. I signed up too late to be able to receive the Northcott fabrics, however, many of the fabrics I chose were from the Northcott lines! They do make the best landscape fabrics!
After creating the pattern, I printed my applique patterns using my printer and Lite Steam-a-Seam 2. You can also use it from a roll and draft the patterns with a light box, or if you prefer a different product, you could use Heat-n-Bond Lite. I usually use the Steam-a-Seam because I like the fact that it has a sticky surface that can be repositioned easily prior to fusing with the iron. While they are not showing on the pattern, I decided at the last minute to make a few bushes and place them in the scene as well. And here is the flimsy, ready to be tacked in place!
Don’t you love the sky fabric? I actually found it at Nancy’s Notions, and also purchased a packet of Stonehenge (by Northcott) landscape fabrics. With the purple batiks (my purple mountain majesty!) from TN and those Stonehenge fabrics, I’m really pleased with the way it turned out! I decided to cut out a few little bushes to add a little color to the grassy area. Note: These are not included in the pattern – they were a last minute thought, but the easy way to do them is just take the fabric you like and back it with your fusible of choice, then cut out the shapes you like for the bushes. Easy peasy!
Since this row is small, after tacking down all the applique pieces, I decided to quilt it on my domestic machine instead of on the long arm. This is something I don’t do a lot of since Ms. Mattie came to live in The Quilt Cave!! So I sandwiched my top, batting, and backing, and basted everything in place. Deciding what motifs to quilt has always been tough for me. There are just so many that are so much fun!! Water and sky are fairly easy to decide on, but what about those mountains?? Hmmm, what’s a girl to do?
I decided to just play with some paisleys, and swirls and curls. I also did a little thread painting to add smoke coming from the chimney!
And here is my completed row! You can’t see me…but I’m sitting in a rocking chair on the porch behind the cabin, on a crisp morning, wrapped in my favorite lap quilt, enjoying a cup o’ joe (my special blend of chocolate, caramel, and decaf!!), watching that beautiful sunrise with my sweetie!! Ahhh, I can just smell the coffee, and hear the wind softly rustling the leaves. Truly, a happy place to be in my world!!! If you like this pattern you can download it here, at no charge until November 1st!
I hope you have enjoyed being a part of my early morning in the mountains happy place!! Here is a list of my blogging friends to visit today. Be sure to stop by each one and register for the great prizes!!
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Songbird Designs (you are here!) | Powered By Quilting | Kissed Quilts
Happy Sewing Room | Sew Joy Creations
A special thanks to all the wonderful sponsors for donating some really awesome prizes! And speaking of prizes…today, I am hosting the giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Fat Quarter Shop! Just click in the rafflecopters below and follow the instructions! If you are unable, for some reason, to enter here on my site, you can enter on Marian’s site, Seams to be Sew. Please be sure to read the rules and guidelines for the giveaways. They are posted on her site. Good luck!!
Enter the drawing for the Electric Quilt 8 giveaway here.
I’ll be sharing with my favorite linkies as they become available this week!
Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River
The Chameleon’s Colour Party at The Clever Chameleon
Wednesday Weight Loss @ The Inquiring Quilter
Midweek Makers @ QuiltFabrication
Needle and Thread Thursday @ My Quilt Infatuation
Can I get a Whoop Whoop Friday at Confessions of a Scrap Addict
Finished or not Friday @ Bush Hands Quilts
Your row is wonderful. It had to be a lot of work to create. Nice job.
Your Row is Awesome..& soooo creative..fabrics you used are perfect!! Makes me want to come visit the cabin & enjoy the sky & water…and see the beautiful mountains! 🙂
I have always loved the mountains, forests and water. Wish I had a cabin to go to
Thanks for sharing the story behind your row. Lovely to think of you enjoying your cabin.
Your row is very pretty. I would like to be staying in that cabin. Thank you
It looks like a beautiful place to hangout and relax…such a fun row! Thanks for sharing!
I love visiting the mts. in the fall. Thank you for beautiful row.
your cabin in the mountains looks so peaceful! thanks for sharing you pattern!
Thanks so much for being a part of the Row-Along! Your block is just gorgeous! I love the sky, and I think Stonehenge is my favorite fabric line of all time!! 🙂 You did good!!! 🙂 Blessings!!
What a beautiful row! A cabin in the mountains would be my happy place for sure! Thanks for sharing such a great pattern!
I love your cabin. Your row is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing with us.
there is nothing more perfect than a cabin in the woods. Thanks, for sharing,
Elizabeth, Silverdale, WA
I love living in the mountains. Thanks for sharing your beautiful row.
I love the Smokey Mountains! I have not been there in a while but, I have wonderful memories of them. Your row is beautiful, reminds me of the song.{…purple mountains majesty…}
After this morning, I REALLY NEED to be at that cabin! Quilting, take me away!! Thank for sharing.
Wonderful row. Makes me feel so relaxed just looking at it. Thanks for taking the time to create and share! Much appreciated.
Thank you for your beautiful row!
So gorgeous! We love the Smoky Mountains too, there is so much gorgeous scenery to see while hiking there. Thanks for sharing your row!
Wow! The sky fabric is awesome! I’m ready to move into that sweet cabin.
Your fabric choices make your row pop!! It is just beautiful!!
Love the pattern
Oh this will be a beautiful project. Love the Smokey Mountains.
Love it, reminds me of our mountains and home! Although I don’t live in a log cabin!
Your block is just awesome!! I have never been to the Smokey Mountains, but my father was born in Murphy, North Carolina and he always told us how beautiful they are.
I love all the details of your row. The stitched smoke from the fireplace, the lovely sky at dawn, the cabin nestled at the foot of the mountains and the mountains themselves. Thanks for the opportunity to win. And thanks so much for the lovely row.
Girl, you make me want to be there! I love your row, and the smoke really finishes it off. I also love the mountains, but I don’t turn down a trip to the beach because it’s usually a family trip. I like to sit on the balcony, watch the waves, and drink coffee.
I love the Smokey Mountains, and really want to go back!
Love that sky fabric! The row is quite lovely and I could see it as a very happy place. Thank you for sharing it.
What a beautiful happy place! And that sunset is to die for!
HI, What a beautiful project! The fabrics are all great! Thanks for sharing!
I love your row, Brenda. Like others, it reminds me of my grandparent’s cabin they had in the mountains in Utah. We went during the summers as a youngster, I even fell out of a tree and lived to tell about it… Your row brings all those lovely memories back to life. I’m so happy you joined us for the row along next year and hope you’ll come along for many more. Peace!!
Such a pretty row and great to use batiks! Thank you!
Love it! My favorite place is our cabin in the mountains, followed by the ocean.
What a beautiful project! The fabrics are all just right, and you did a fantastic job with that thread painting!
It’s beautiful. It looks so peaceful there. I will certainly enjoy making this myself. Thank you for the pattern.
I love the mountains too! I love your block. Thank you!
Such a peaceful block. Really draws me in. Thank you
Beautiful Happy Place. I love the water, the ocean, the lakes but hate the beach. Your row is very serene
I love the sky fabric you used! The sky here looked just like that the other night!
Your row is great! I like the addition of the thread painting and all the different quilting. Thank you!
What a beautiful row Brenda and the fabrics you used are perfect!
Love it!!! And that sky is amazing!!! It’s perfect as a wall hanging!
I love your Happy Place. It looks so inviting. Thanks for sharing.
Made me want to pack up and leave for the mountains immediately…beautiful row! Thank you for sharing!
Eye appealing row for a quilt or even a wall hanging.
Good morning Brenda. I enjoyed my first visit with you this morning, I am in my little cottage by the ocean, a place of my heart and soul, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate while I visit with you. Your row reminds me of my winter home. I live in the shadow of an old worn down mountain from November until May. It is a cosy spot too.Have a wonderful day
Lynn
Gorgeous row! It looks like a very inviting place. I love all the details you added with the quilting, especially the smoke!
I love the pattern.
I also prefer the mountains to the beach.
Photographic opportunities I call them, are everywhere. When I’m at the beach there are just so many pictures of water you can take. But in the mountains the possibilities are endless.
Thank you for giving me a “happy place” to remember.
Faith in Tx
Such a beautiful row! The mountains are definitely a happy place to be.
I love your pattern especially with your choice of colours and fabrics.
Sadly your link is not taking me to the download.
Thank you for the direct link.
Oh! I miss those mountains so much! I grew up there… I live in England now, and there are no mountains closer than Scotland!