I just wanted to say thank you all for your participation and wonderful comments. I wish I could send each and every one of you these gifts, but I would go broke. I will give away three extra sets for a few bonus reasons. We’ll get to that in a moment…

I had a lot of fun working on all of my posts for June Dairy Month. Sadly, I had hoped to post a lot more, but because of the move (yes! I’m moving!) I’ve been bombarded with non-stop packing. Luckily, I managed to squeeze in some time to finish quilting and binding Tractor Quilt #2 before the end of June.

You may remember Tractor Quilt #1 and Tractor Quilt #3 from last year. This three quilt series  comes mostly from one cutting (woohoo! I’m finally done). Three years ago I thought of this wonderful idea, I was excited because this was going to be my first pattern. I had it all planned out; then I encountered some sewing issues (due to a dull needle). My main job and my side job got crazy…at that point, I began to dread the project.

In the meantime, I focused on making a few other quilts, some jewelry, and got a new machine. I started gaining some traction after finishing Tractor Quilt #1 and then Tractor Quilt #3. I moved onto Tractor Quilt #2 and finished the front in no time. For the back, I happily used most of my leftover scraps in an improvisational quilt. I decided to machine quilt; then it all fell apart.

After sandwiching the top, batting and backing together using safety pins to keep them in place, I figured out how to get my machine working in BRS mode. I started quilting in the middle of the quilt and worked my way out to both sides — making rows of loops. After quilting half of the quilt, I felt confident and ecstatic. I was done for the day, and decided to leave the rest of the quilting for the next day. As soon as I turned it over, all of my confidence went out of the door. The backing had shifted in some parts and I needed to rip some of the quilting out. I shoved it in my closet and was done — I didn’t want to look at it anymore.

One day, I was at my local quilt shop, Bernina Sewing and Design, and I saw basting spray. I immediately thought of the Tractor Quilt and said “why not?” Last week, I pulled out the quilt and ripped some of the quilting out, sprayed basted and quilted. To my surprise, it worked beautifully. I love this stuff. I think I will actually try machine quilting again thanks to this spray.

I’ve learned so much from making this series. It really pushed me. The whole concept derived from the design of Tractor Quilt #1. To make that quilt, I was left with a lot of scraps. Since I’m my mother’s daughter, I couldn’t just throw them all away…this is how the idea of Tractor Quilt #2 was born. Still having a lot of scraps left over, I used them in Tractor Quilt #3 as well as designing a few extra blocks to complete the quilt. Despite all of the drama and sheer pain caused by my “great idea,” I am very happy with the outcome, and think I’m a better quilter because of it.

Anyways, back to the giveaways…

June winners are:

The Winner at Random is –  #42 Dawn Jones

The Winner of the bonus Trash Bag comment
(and just makes great comments) is – Kathy E

The Winner of my Loyal Follower is – Amy (amy55ny)

The Winner of my For The Fun Of It Extra is – Rebecca Keizer

Thanks Again!!

Be on the look out for an email from me . Please respond with you mailing address to where I can send out your giveaways (soon).