My guild's charity quilt coordinator was happy when I said I'd be willing to quilt the larger (twin and up) tops that she had waiting to be finished.  She gave me 4.  The first one on the frame was this pretty Pinwheel Churn and Dash.  I'm trying to remember to take a "before" picture of each one.

This is the "after" though the lighting isn't the best.  After waiting through days of rain and/or wind to take the pictures, I gave up and laid it on my living room floor.

The texture from the quilting was just enough and didn't overpower the piecing.

I picked a panto that I hadn't done before for this.  It's Expression and I think it suited this quilt well.  I used Glide Khaki thread on the top.

The quilting shows nicely on the pieced back.  The thread is Omni Light Tan.

This completed quilt will be turned in next week at our first guild meeting of the year and it's nice to know that it will be keeping someone warm and cozy this coming winter.

Stay tuned to see more of the completed customer and guild quilts I've been working on.

The kids have been out of school for a few weeks and I've been able to do some sewing here and there recently.  They've been home with me up until this week but now they are going to some local camps so I've been able to get some things done.

A few weeks ago I finished quilting and binding this charity quilt for our guild.  I need to take a full set of pictures of it so I can post about it.

 Two moms in my Girl Scout troop have new baby news...one that delivered a sweet baby boy recently and one that is expecting a new little girl towards the end of the year.  Of course I'm making both of them quilts.  This is the top I pieced for the boy.

I decided to use up the leftovers from Jammer's Sound the Alarm quilt.  It will have to wait to get quilted as I have customer quilts to complete first.

At the end of June I joined in on Moda Bakeshop's Choose Your Own Adventure Quilt Along.  I decided to combine my Kate Spain Aria and Canyon layer cakes and I got started working on my center medallion.
 I chose the Dresden Peak path.  This is how far I got before we went on vacation.

I wasn't able to continue with the next round as I had to wait for my fabric order to arrive but it's here now so I need to get working on this so I can get caught up.

I'll be sneaking in some time in between customer quilts.

While on vacation I started on this new counted cross stitch project.  

This is my progress so far.  I only worked on it during the drive south and then again back north and haven't gotten back to it since returning home.  Another road trip is coming up so I'll be taking it with me then to work on.

So that's the current creative happenings here lately.  Plans are also underway to finally painting the kids' bathroom and the kitchen.  We've been in this house 7+ years and both of those rooms are still builder white.  Trying to do it with them home was impossible so them going to camp will be a good thing.  Stay tuned to see the befores and afters.

Now that Girl Scout cookie season is over (except for waiting for the rewards to arrive, sorting them and then getting them to each troop) I've realized that once the cookies get here in mid-March that I'm going to pretty much disappear online until the season is over at the end of April.  Cookie season is just too over-the-top insanely busy.  Almost 16,000 boxes passed through my cookie cupboard ) aka garage) this year. 

Truth be told, once the last cookie box was out of my house (not counting our personal stock that's in our freezer), I needed some down time to relax and reboot so I wasn't ready to jump back into the quilting for a couple of weeks.  Now I'm rested and ready to get to work.

Next up on the frame is this pretty quilt which is a charity quilt for my guild.  I've got an idea of how I want to quilt it but I'll be a little testing of the vision before I begin.

I've also had not one but 5 customer quilts dropped off recently.  These should be fun to work on in the coming weeks.

It truly feels good to be getting back into the quilting groove.  I'm hoping that my quilting business picks up enough to keep me plenty busy.  My boss (at my regular job) is working towards closing the doors and retiring so I'm not working for him as much.  If I have enough quilting business coming in then I won't be returning to the working world once the accounting job is over.

Before the first of the cookies arrived, I was able to sneak in 4 quilts for a friend so stay tuned to see those all quilted up.

Back in March my friend Katie of Karma Willow Designs put this orphan quilt top up for "adoption" as part of the Quilty Orphan Adoption hosted each year by Cynthia of Quilting is more fun than Housework.  It's a great idea for passing on quilty items that you aren't in love with any more.  I commented that if Katie sent it to me I'd quilt it up and send it onto a charity group.

I'm happy to say that Katie's simple quilt top has turned into this.  I'm calling this one

Twelve Windows

Monday morning I caught wind that Sew Mama Sew's biannual Giveaway Day was coming this week and I decided to dive in and join in on the fun.

It just sew happens that I've been thinking that it has been a while since I've hosted a giveaway. 
 My longtime readers already know all the crazy fun stuff about me but those of you that are new to my online home might want a glimpse into my world.

I'm a mom to 2 kidlets nicknamed Jammer and Sunshine.  They are 8 and 6 sure keep me busy.
Hubs is a volunteer firefighter (over 30 years) and past fire chief so we never know when his pager will go off and he'll be rushing out the door.  It has happened during a holiday meal more times than I can remember.

Last November I became a Moda Bake Shop designer and released my first pattern designed for that, Castles on the Horizon featuring Kate Spain's Horizon line.
I'm currently working on the design for my next Moda Bake Shop project which will feature Kate's new line coming out in October, Canyon.
And if you are wondering, Yes I am a full fledged, card carrying  Kate Spain fabric fanatic.  I have hosted not 1 but 2 Kate Spain Charm Swaps and I just might have a couple of more in the works for later this year (more details coming soon).

Let's see, what else can I tell you?  I also love Halloween prints and especially the Ghastlies.  I have a bunch of that one. I've made a few projects with it but many more are on my To Make list. Here is the cover that I made for my Lucy.
 And here is the mini quilt that I made for the Ghastlie Swap hosted by my good online friend Kathy of Kwilty Pleasures last fall.  She is a kindred spirit with me as she loves the Ghastlies and Halloween too.
I have a longarm machine (though at 17" it is technically a midarm) and her name so Penelope.  I've had her for 2 years now though we've only gotten to know each other over the past year.  She even got a fancy spa treatment last June that upgraded everything except her motor and now she purrs like a kitten. I just don't get as much time with her as I'd like.
This one was for a friend in California's daughter.
Two years in a row I made quilts for the kids' teachers as end of school year thank you gifts.  Here is a sampling of those. Nowadays I'm much busier and don't make full sized quilts for the teachers but I still enjoy giving them something handmade.

These 2 Red. White and Black Eight Pointed Star quilts were made from blocks sent by my blog readers in memory of my nephew Danny which were raffled off that year at the  annual softball tournament in his name.  This is the queen size one.
 And this is the lap size one created with the additional blocks that I received.  If you are interested, you can read the entire story about Danny and these quilts.  The link to all the posts is in my sidebar.
 This last quilt that I'll share today was the kids' art quilt for my daughter's school I created last spring. It now hangs for all to see in the school's lobby.
There are a lot more fun had on this here little ole quilting blog.  I love to host other events and some I've done in the past are: Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin (2 years), Quilt U Be Mine Mini Round Robin, Kate Spain Charm Swap Rounds 1 & 2, Halloween See Saw Swap, It's A Sister Thing Swap (2 years) and The Primary Bee.  Plus there are a few new ones in the planning stages.  I also host a weekly Stunning Stitchin Sunday post where I showcase some of the fabulous quilting I come across on the web.

I guess after all of this blabbering about me and my quilty endeavors, you are wondering what I'm giving away today. I looked through my special box of  giveaway goodies and decided to offer up to one winner this pair of Moda Social Club charm packs.
A few months ago I whipped up this duo of pillows with this fabric line and loved it so much that I acquired a couple of charm packs to give to one of you.
To enter:

1. Leave me one comment and just tell me....what sort of teacher gifts do you give each year, or if your kids are past this age, what kinds of gifts have you given in the past.  I'm looking for some new ideas for this year.

2. My followers get a 2nd entry and please do it in a separate comment.

If you like you can also follow me on Instagram at @crayonboxquiltstudio and on my Facebook page though there isn't much there yet because I'm still trying to figure out how to link all 3 of these together.

The giveaway will close at Midnight on Sunday, May 10th and the winner will be announced.  International friends are welcome to enter too.  Although I usually respond to all comments, due to the large number of them received during these giveaway days, I will be unable to do it this time.

I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into my world and I'd love it if you stick around.  You never know what fun little event that I'll decide to host next.