How Does Your Garden Grow - Sew Along!

 I ran across a link to Karen over at Journey of a Quilter and she is hosting One Flower Wednesday!  I was going to link up with her and her followers but several have been at their flowers for since early 2010 so I would really have some catching up to do! :)

So, I have decided to start a sew along right here on my blog for my followers and their friends! That way we can all start fresh and our gardens will all grow together!

I will be showing photos of my new flowers on Sundays and will have a LINKY PARTY for all of my fellow gardeners so they can link to their flower photos on their own blogs!. What better day to have a flower garden show than on Sunday when everyone is resting from their busy weeks and enjoying a nice cup of tea as they swing on their porches! And being able to travel from one person's flower garden to another without even getting in the car, well, that is priceless!

I have been wanting to make a quilt with this pattern ever since my mom gifted me with this quilt that my Aunt Callie Greenhill made many years ago!

I begged for this quilt for a long time and then one Christmas my mom gave me a small wrapped box and inside was a gift card to Walmart.  Unlike my mother... hmmmm... I wondered what was going on... Not that I didn't think my gift was bad or anything but my mother always gave me and my sisters something extra special every year for Christmas...always had...and now a Walmart GC???  My sisters had not opened their gifts yet (I did not know they had been told to wait) ... so this Christmas seemed rather odd...

Until.....

Mother asked me to come to her bedroom with her and as confused as I already was, I squinted my eyebrows together and followed her.  When we got in her bedroom she stopped short of the quilt rack!  THE QUILT RACK!!!  I knew immediately what was going on but I feigned ignorance... I wasn't going to steal mother's show!  I shrugged my shoulder and asked her what she wanted me in here for???  She smiled and reached for this quilt!  When she looked back with the quilt in her hand, it was all I could do to hold my composure... and finally I busted out smiling!  When she said Merry Christmas, I started crying!  I know that she knew that I knew as soon as we got in the room what was going on but she never told me she knew and I never told her I knew.  We just hugged each other real tight and she said, "Now you take care of this quilt as I have done for so many years".  I told her she knew that I would...and she said yes, that is why you are getting it!

So, starting this week, I am going to start putting together some of these blocks and make my own interpretation of Aunt Callie's quilt!  Thanks Karen for the push!

Now to find the perfect fabric for the job!! :)

I have ordered a set of nesting hexagons from Quilter's Rule!  When you take them apart, you will have a window to help you fussy cut your hexies if you are using a fabric with images on it!  They are nested from 1 inch to 6 inches so you can choose whatever size hexie you want to work with!

Lori over at Bee In My Bonnet has a great Hexie Paper Piecing Tutorial! (just so you know...turn your speakers down because she has some music on her blog)

Want to join me and see how your garden grows?

.....your flower garden does NOT have to consist of hexie flowers.  You can play along and grow any kind of flower you choose to plant in your garden!  .... applique, redwork...cross stitch, yo-yo's...etc...  Whatever cranks your tractor! :)
There is a page at the top of my blog dedicated to the Sew Along... Click on the page and comment there that you want to participate and I will add you to the list of gardeners on my left sidebar.

I will also add a link to each Sunday's LINKY PARTY on our page so that if anyone wants to look back at the flowers previously made, they don't have to hunt for a needle in a haystack through my blog.

And just for a nudge to get you to come along as our flowers grow... There will be prizes along the way... Not saying when...not saying what... not saying for what.. Just saying prizes!! And we all LOVE prizes, right??? 


BUT!! You have to comment on the Quilt Along page at the top of my blog and you HAVE to make flowers and post them on your blog! :)

The first prize has been won! Go to the Sew Along Page at the top of the blog to see who and what! :)

Come on! Let's grow a flower garden together!