to be photographed and a new look

A couple of days ago, I gathered all of my recent finishes and WIPs and brought them upstairs to my room to take some photos. But the sun kept hiding behind the clouds (or is it the clouds kept blocking the sun) and well, those projects are still piled in that corner waiting for a good "light" day. I'm hoping that day will be today! 

Here is one photo that I took when there was still good light. The top is an improv squares quilt top that I am working on with my middle daughter. There are lots of gorgeous Art Gallery fabrics in that one - mostly from Meadow. I already finished the back which is pieced almost entirely of cute novelty prints. 

I also wanted to let you know about the most recent advice post from a 2013 new blogger blog hop alum  - Molli Sparkles!  Click here to read Molli's sparkling (to the point and totally spot on) advice! 

And did you notice that I updated the advice button? I wanted to just quickly change the font of my blog name on it to match the font I use on my other buttons. Really, my plan was to take 5 minutes to change just that one thing. But after I changed the font, I figured I would change the design a bit. And then once I finished that button, I decided to work on updating my social media and bloglovin' buttons and then before I knew it, I had spent way too long on the computer and had updated my entire sidebar and made a new header?!!?!? 

I'll finish this post by announcing that the 2014 new quilt blogger blog hop is starting next week so again, if you left me a comment on any of the blog hop posts or sent me an email and did not hear back from, send me another email as soon as you read this. I just want to make sure I didn't miss anyone.

a little more sewing

Well, it looks like my sewjo has reappeared. I now actually have a few projects in the works including the one above. Though I might actually abandon this one and start over - I made some choices I'm not loving and since I used quilt-as-you-go, I'm kind of stuck with it! Fortunately, it is still in the early stages.

I've also made just way too many of these drawstring bags. I used a great tutorial from Svetlana at s.o.t.a.k. handmade. I wanted to make something cute to store my youngest daughter's puzzles but these were so quick and easy that I made several more with no specific purpose in mind.

Anne from play crafts wrote a great advice post yesterday which you can find by clicking here. And even if you are not seeking new blogger advice, you should still visit Anne's blog to see her beautiful projects and to use her awesome palette builder. And remember, you can find links to all of the past advice posts by clicking here. 

Also, the 2014 new quilt blogger blog hop is starting soon. If you have left a comment about wanting to participate and haven't heard back, please send me an email using the link in my sidebar as soon as possible. Thanks.

And lastly, some sponsor news. Click here to learn all about Fat Quarter Shop's Mega Quilt Market Sweepstakes!  This is a huge giveaway, their biggest to date. If you click on that link, you can also watch a video showing all of the prizes.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I posted about this triangle quilt way back in November 2013 but as was pointed out in the comments, I didn't have any photos of the entire quilt in the post. So over the weekend, I enlisted my tallest quilt holder and took some more photos on a beautiful spring day.

This still is one of my most favorite quilts that I have made. It is far from perfect in many ways - at least half of the triangle points are missing, the medium gray print triangle blends in too much with the gray background, and while I love the medium blue Lotta print, I don't think it actually fits with the palette. 

But enough with the negative, I like pretty much everything else about this quilt - I just wish I had made it larger!

I'm entering this quilt into this spring's Blogger's Quilt Festival. 

fabric!

If you are visiting from Sew Mama Sew, welcome! 

This giveaway is from sew me a song and is for the sweet bundle of fabrics from Yuwa pictured below (4 fat quarters.)

I know you are probably going to be busy today entering giveaways but I highly recommend you visit sew me a song when you get a chance to see Becca's (the owner) amazing selection of fabrics - I am especially fond of her Japanese fabric bundles. Becca stocks several popular new releases but she also has a big selection of really cool fabrics you don't usually see - and she has a great sale section!

1. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post. Any comment will do but if you'd like a topic, how about recommending a good book? (one entry)

2. Plum and June blog followers - old and new - get a second entry. Leave a comment indicating how you are following. (one entry)

So you can enter up to 2 times! This giveaway is for everyone and will remain open until May 16, 2014 at 5pm PST and a winner will be picked at random and will be notified by email by May 18, 2014.

****And unless you are positive that you are NOT a no-reply commenter, please leave your email address in your comment.****

Be sure to stop by Sew Mama Sew for links to the rest of the giveaways!

The giveaway is now closed and the winner is KatheG who said: I have too many authors I love to read and my preferences go from comedy to light to mysteries/murder. I have thoroughly enjoyed Nora Roberts' Boonsboro Trilogy - great light Summer reading. 

Also, if you are a new modern quilt blogger and might be interested in joining a blog hop, click here for more information.

If you are on instagram, come find me - I'm @plumandjune.


Sponsored by:

an unexpected geranium

So, my sewjo kind of returned - just in a different form than usual. I am still not motivated to quilt but I did make two dresses for my littlest this week. As I wrote last week, I've been wanting to make her a geranium dress for quite a while now and I finally bought the pattern and made not one, but two!

Now I've made a few skirts and dresses that are basically just rectangles of fabric sewn together but I've never made something from an actual pattern - well, at least not successfully (and that is using the broadest definition of "successful.") But I was determined so I took out some fabric that I had bought very much on sale earlier this year just for this purpose and got ready to sew.  Well, I had bought those sale fabrics in 1 yard cuts (which is rare for me) and of course, the geranium (and probably most patterns for 2T and above) needs a bit more than that. And I seriously, have like only 5 pieces of fabric in my stash that are bigger than a 1/2 yard! So, I figured I'd use two fabrics for the dress but surprisingly, the pattern pieces fit on the yard of fabric (with even a little room to spare.)  The pattern was awesome for a first-timer - there was really only one step that I got stuck on and one step that I messed up - which I'd call a success! I was so excited when I finished and went to try it on my 2 year old and  . . .

it turns out there was a reason I could fit the pattern on just 1 yard - without realizing it, I had made the geranium top, not the dress! Oh, well. 

I haven't completely finished the top yet - I only have one button on there! I just made the buttonhole on my Juki and as you probably know - straight stitch isn't exactly the best for a buttonhole. 

Stay tuned for my second attempt - where I actually made a dress!

New Modern Quilt Blogger Blog Hop Update

A few updates:

1. Be sure to stop by Kitchen Table Quilting to read Erica's advice for new bloggers. Erica participated in last year's blog hop and has shared some wonderful advice as part of the Advice for New Blogger's Series. Find her post by clicking here. And you can find the posts from the last two years by clicking here.

2. If you started blogging within the last two years, blog regularly and primarily about modern quilting, and you are interested in actively participating in this year's blog hop, either email me (address on sidebar) or leave a comment and I'll send you more information. Please note, there are only a limited number of spaces available. You can also find more information and updates by clicking here.  Blog hop is now full.

***If you leave a comment and don't hear back from me then you are probably a no-reply blogger and I don't have a way to contact you.  Unfortunately several people who have commented that they want to participate are no-reply bloggers - so please, unless you are 100% sure that you are not a no-reply blogger, either email me or leave your email address in your comment - you can use (at) and (dot) to avoid spam issues. I've already emailed everyone who has commented so far so if you haven't heard from me, please email me!

****another update - I am getting so many comments from people who want to join but who are no-reply bloggers - if you haven't heard from me, see above.*****

coming soon

Click here for more information.

***If you leave a comment and don't hear back from me then you are probably a no-reply blogger and I don't have a way to contact you.  Unfortunately several people who have commented that they want to participate are no-reply bloggers - so please, unless you are 100% sure that you are not a no-reply blogger, either email me or leave your email address in your comment - you can use (at) and (dot) to avoid spam issues. I've already emailed everyone who has commented so far so if you haven't heard from me, please email me!

****another update - I am getting so many comments from people who want to join but who are no-reply bloggers - if you haven't heard from me, see above.*****