Good Neighbors Pincushion Party {and a giveaway}

Welcome to the party!  Have you been following along this month with the Good Neighbors Pincushion Party?!  If you scroll to the bottom of this post, you will find direct links to the stops before mine.  The pincushions made with Amanda Jean's (aka Crazy Mom Quilts) new fabric line from Connecting Threads have all been fantastic.  It's no wonder given the beautiful prints to work with!


When Amanda told me about her new fabric line, I was SO happy for her.  When she asked me to participate in the blog hop, I didn't hesitate to say YES!  When I started blogging in 2009, Amanda's was one of the first quilt blogs I discovered.  Her generous spirit of sharing her love and knowledge of quilting with others hooked me from the start (not to mention the gorgeous scrappy quilts she makes).  She is just as sweet and generous in person too, as I am fortunate to experience at least once a year at retreat.



Amanda's first line of fabric is the perfect combination of happy, cheerful prints and lower volume fabrics that all play well with each other and mix beautifully with other fabric lines.  There are so many possibilities, and I immediately wanted to chop up the charm pack and start with scraps!  However, I took some time thinking about what type of pincushion I wanted to make before pulling out my rotary cutter.  I may have gone a little overboard in the pincushion making made more than one pincushion before settling on this design to share with you today.

 
It's difficult to pick a favorite print, but I must say these teal blue colors speak to me.  I love the bright yellow center here to break up the blues and how it all looks stitched down on the gray stripe.


The Peaks print is available in five bright colors.  I selected four of them for the hexies in this cushion.  All the pincushions are stuffed with crushed walnut shells.  I like the weight the shells provide.



This EPP block is stitched onto one of the lovely X's print.  I ordered a couple of yards of this in the teal color way!  I see this showing up in quite a few quilt projects.



And a third pincushion with dots, stripes, X's and peaks stitched onto a linen background.


Amanda Jean's Good Neighbors fabric line is exclusive to Connecting Threads and can be found here.   As you can see above, the line offers a great variety of prints in cheerful colors as well as "low volume" fabrics.  I love that one of the prints is available in 104" wide, making it perfect for quilt backs.


The Connecting Threads site also has a free download, patterns, quilt kits, fabric bundles and coordinating solids for the Good Neighbors collection all in one handy link.   I think I need the coffee cup pattern!


 When preparing this blog post,  I noticed these cushions didn't use the cross stitch print.  If I had to pick a favorite, the teal cross stitch print would be mine.  I must have used it in one of the other three pin cushions I made!


Connecting Threads has generously offered a charm pack to one of my readers (open to U.S. and Canada).  Leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on September 30th.  I would love to know which Good Neighbors print is your favorite.  Again, the entire line can be found here.



Congratulations Amanda Jean!  You knocked it out of the park!  Be sure to check out the other lovely pincushions made.

September  1     Amanda Jean  -  Crazy Mom Quilts
September  2     Anna  -  Noodlehead
September  3     Mary  -  Mary on Lake Pulaski
September  4     Svetlana  -  S.O.T.A.K Handmade
September  5     Debbie  -  Esch House Quilts
September  6     Holly -  Bijou Lovely
September  7     Carla  -  Grace and Favour
September  8     Faith -  Fresh Lemon Quilts
September  9     Vanessa  -  V and Co.
September 10    Anna  -  Thimbleanna
September 11    Krista  -  Poppy Print Creates
September 12    Erin -  Why Not Sew
September 13    Lee  -  May Chappell
September 14    Alex  -  Teaginny Designs
September 15    Cheryl   -  Naptime Quilter
September 16    Penny -  SewTakeAHike
September 17    Amy  -   During Quiet Time
September 18    Debbie  -  A Quilter's Table
September 19    Anne  -  Springleaf Studios
September 20    Melissa Corry -  Happy Quilting Melissa
September 21    Amber  -  One Shabby Chick
September 22    Nettie -   A Quilt is Nice
September 23    Adrianne  -  Little Bluebell
September 24    Cindy  -  Live a Colorful Life
September 25    Amy  -  Diary of a Quilter
September 26    Chase  - Quarter Inch Mark
September 27    Rene'  -  Rene' Creates  {that's me!}
September 28    Erin   -   House on Hill Road
September 29    Nicole  -  Modern Handcraft
September 30    Teri  -   Connecting Threads