Hi everybody! Today is the official kickoff day for the latest monthly block of the month program from Jacquelynne Steves. It's called Maggie's First Dance. Let me show you the first block.

I had sew much fun making this block. Jacquelynne offers a choice of three centers for our blocks - you can applique, embroider, or leave them plain. I chose to use a cute focus fabric with some happy little critters.

The piecing instructions are super easy to follow. The hourglass segments are sewn slightly larger than needed and then trimmed down to the correct size. I always love that method because then I know that my pieces will fit together perfectly. And Jacquelynne even specifies which direction to press your seams so there's no guesswork there. Really, the most difficult part was just picking out my fabrics!

I hope that you'll join me as a quilty dance partner. To get your own FREE copy of the Maggie's First Dance quilt block, just sashay over to Jaquelynne's website and sign up for her newsletter. You'll then receive an emailed copy of the pattern. How easy is that?! And then do-si-do (or two step!) back over here to my blog because we have a GREAT giveaway!

My very favorite thread is Aurifil. It's the only brand that I use for my piecing. It's strong and doesn't break, it comes in a million colors (maybe more!) and it doesn't leave a linty trail like some other brands. I do all my basic piecing with Aurifil 50 weight thread in colors 2000 and 2021. They're both white and cream shades. I'll use the colors if I'm piecing something where I really don't want any cream thread to show, and they help to create a flawless hand-stitched binding. I'm trying to push myself to try the pastels when doing machine quilting.

Aurifil is offering a box of threads valued at $46.00 to one lucky winner. Just leave a comment here on my blog. Let me know what your favorite color is for piecing. Contest is open to US and international readers. Actual box of threads will be of Aurifil's choice, and Aurifil will ship the prize directly to the winner. Contest closes at 11:59pm CST on June 12. If you're the winner, be sure that I can contact you or else another winner will be chosen.

And be sure to check out the other bloggers participating in the sew along (I need to go visit them, too, to see their blocks!). Here's who is making the quilt with me:

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I do hope that you'll give this block-of-the-month a try!

And now... Quilty Fun week 16 sewing spools!

These blocks were perfect for me to make. See, I have a little obsession with thread. Sure, I like having it match my projects. But I also just like seeing all those little spools all lined up. Like these machine embroidery threads from Sulky.

I love Mettler 50 weight for everyday piecing and bindings, usually in white, ivory and grey. But I can never quite remember how many spools of white are my stash! It seems like I always have either 5 spools or else I'm on my last few yards. I also collect the smaller spools of Mettler in brights and pastels for sewing down bindings.

But my little thread addiction doesn't just stop at spools. I have color swatch cards, too, like these Kimono silk embroidery thread samples. I buy almost all of my fancy threads online, and I want to be sure of what I'm getting before clicking that "buy now" button. These came from Shabby Fabrics.

So maybe it's ironic that I used just plain old white to piece these sewing spool blocks. At least my pieced spools are nice happy colors!

See the pink spool with the alphabet? Well, I wanted to be sure to have a G in there for Greg and Grey. I really enjoy fussy cutting for planned blocks, but this time all I cared about was the G. I was surprised to look at this photo and see that I also have my last initial J. And then I found C and M (just barely...) for my "assistants" - my cats Chloe and Mia!