Arizona Giveaway....{the American Southwest}

It is my day on the Arizona blog tour!  As I mentioned in my last post, Arizona is a Limited Edition line from Art Gallery Fabrics.  Art Gallery chose 3 designers to share their vision.  Arizona is the vision of April Rhodes!

  

When I was asked to participate in the blog tour, I started brain-storming ideas for my makes.  I have spent some time in our wonderful American Southwest!  When I was a child, my family traveled west to visit my uncle in Los Angeles.  It was a car trip in a huge 1964 station wagon...from Ohio to California.  No air conditioning...mom and dad and three kids...pulling a pop-up camper!  

It was awesome!  We hit all the hot spots along the way...

  

  

that's me with the cheesy smile...at the Grand Canyon.

I learned so much about our western country on that trip...and gained such an appreciation and compassion for the Native American culture.  I recall stopping at a gas station in New Mexico. Almost every gas station had a souvenir shop selling bad knock-offs of Native American culture. A tourist attempted to take a picture of an older woman. She was obviously a member of a Native Tribe, but she ducked behind a post when the man pointed his camera at her.  I was told that she didn't want her photograph taken because this would steal her soul. Even as a child, I knew there was more to these people and their culture than the trinkets being sold on every corner.

Many years later, I traveled again to the Southwest to stay with my sister in Oklahoma.  Her husband was stationed at an Air Force base in Oklahoma and I spent many summers living with her while on vacation from school.

Not only did I learn more about the Native Tribes in the area, but about the women of the prairie.  

I was shocked when I saw my first sod house!

       

This is actually a much nicer version of the sod house I saw!  The one I visited was not nearly so swanky!  

  I could not believe the fortitude of the pioneers who traveled West. These were people who left their familiar surroundings behind in hopes of a better life.  Even as rough as the sod house seemed, it was their home and their piece of land.

 They were Sooners!

  They raced to claim a piece of the "Unassigned Land". Of course, these lands were opened up for settlement because of the Indian Appropriations Act.  Seems like a nice title for an Act that moved the Native Americans from their land to reservations.

The west is a huge expansive area...it's unfortunate a better solution could not be found.   

 Well, I could go on and on about my love for the American Southwest and my appreciation of our Native American people and their culture... 

      they truly are a National Treasure.

I decided on two projects for the Arizona blog tour...

 

 A small quilt...

actually a very large version of an Album Block...

 

 I replicated the Arizona as it appears on the selvedge of the fabric.

 

 it is quilted by machine in the ditch and then hand quilted.

 

I had another idea rattling around in my brain!  

A pillow...similar to this one...

     

But, of course, I wanted it to reflect the American Southwest...

 what is more iconic than the image of a longhorn!

I hope I captured it...

This is the final week of the blog tour!  

Thursday, May 1 - Anna Graham / @noodlehead531

Friday, May 2 - Shelley Figueroa / @figgysstudio

Saturday, May 3 - Julie Herman / @jaybirdquilts

Sunday, May 4 -  Erin Sobon Sundet / @sewbon
Monday, May 5 - Jenna Brand / @howtobejenna

Tuesday, May 6 - Kelli Ward / @truebias

Wednesday, May 7 - Rachel Howard - @familyeverafter

Thursday, May 8 - Delia Randall / @deliacreates
Friday, May 9 - Kelly Costas / @cutcutsew

Saturday, May 10 - Rachel Gander / @imaginegnats

Sunday, May 11 - Devon Iott / @missmake

Monday, May 12 - Mary Dugan / @mollyflanders

Tuesday, May 13 - Shannon Cook / @soveryshannon

Wednesday, May 14 - Penny Layman / @sewtakeahike

Thursday, May 15 - Katie Blakesley / @swimbikequilt

 But you still have a few chances to win your very own fat quarter bundle of Arizona!  

For my giveaway you will have two chances to win....here's what you need to do....

1. Become a follower of Molly Flanders and leave a comment here

and for a second chance

2. Become a follower of my Instagram and leave another comment here that you did!  There is a link to my Instagram on the right or you can find my account under MARYSDUGAN

Please be sure that you are not a No Reply Blogger or leave an email address in your comment.

I will close the giveaway on Thursday May 15th.

Best of luck!  

xo mary  

   

A Giveaway is Coming!

That's right! Monday is my day on the Arizona blog tour! I will be sharing my makes for Quilt Market....

and that means you will have a chance to win a bundle of Arizona...a Limited Edition of Art Gallery Fabrics by April Rhodes!

So be sure to stop by on Monday!

 

Have a lovely Mother's Day weekend!

xo mary 

A Special Quilt.....Blogger's Quilt Festival

It happens twice a year!

 

Amy brings us a spectacular display of quilts from Bloggers across the globe...

My entry is a quilt that is among my top all-time favorite quilts...

The pattern is Whirligig by Sarah Fielke

I still can't believe how this quilt came together.  It is a rather lengthy story....so grab a cup of coffee:)

A year ago this Spring we{my family} were going through a very tough time.  My mother had been diagnosed with brain cancer in February...my sister, brother and I spent day and night with her in the hospital for about a month.  By the end of March, my sister and I were living with her and had the assistance of Hospice to guide us through the difficult times. 

    

On April 11th., I received a call from my husband telling me that Kyle had asked for our daughter's hand in marriage. It makes me want to cry just thinking about it....

I knew my mom was dying...so I told her the good news.  She could barely speak at this point and whispered, "Wonderful".....

my mother died later that evening.

Now, I know every good parent loves their children...as it should be...

My love for my girls is so deep and so strong.  I love them with all the passion that my mother loved me and my siblings.

molly, maggie and mary....my dad just before he died with molly and mary...

    

I have 3 girls and they are all about 20 months apart in age.  They have always been the best of friends. My two oldest daughters have had type 1 diabetes since they were small. So life has definitely had it's challenges.  Anyone who has a child or relative with type 1 diabetes knows full well what I mean.

Molly is so full of spunk...bright as can be and so friendly and fun..

molly=bat, maggie=hershey kiss 

I knew I would make a quilt for them before they were married, but I was not sure what design....what fabric...and then like magic it all came together!

The design was fairly easy....I knew she would appreciate a hand appliqued quilt and I would enjoy the stitching after such a difficult year. Sitting and stitching quietly with my thoughts sounded like perfect therapy.

       

        So what fabric?  Her 'theme' was a honey bee.  When I spotted this seed fabric {on my way back to my mother's home to deal with estate business} I knew this would be a great foundation.  Perfect for the center - a great backdrop for the vines and leaves!  Plus it fit her colors....yellow, white, grey and touches of green.

Then what to use for the huge corner triangles....

It was a bit of Serendipity...

I found Bari J's amazing Art Gallery fabric...

  

Perfect!  It had her colors....and a coordinating fabric in grey worked beautifully into the palette.  And best of all the corner triangle fabric has a bee!!! 

Does it get any better than that?

So the quilt was hand appliqued, and completely all hand quilted...

   

There are so many things about this quilt that I love.  The whimsical tabs all along the border....the curvy, rounded shapes....I am much more partial to rounded shapes than to geometric shapes...they flow...

    

Having the time to work on this quilt was a blessing...it helped me  create something to celebrate the hope of the future and it helped me settle into my thoughts and contemplate how life would look without my mother.  

  

It is now on their bed in their new place.  

It is so much more than a quilt...

Enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival!
You can find my quilt in the Hand Applique category 

mary