Friday Big Finish and Post 200 (the one with a giveaway)

Here we are. Another Friday Finish and this is, to me, a big one. I have been working on this for a long time. It is also my 200th post! That, my friends is a lot of words and stitches.  So let's get to it.

Remember when this quilt pattern came out?  I think it must have been a year or more ago. I fell in love with it. There was a quilt along that I wanted to join, but way too much else going on then (16 months ago) for me to start something I knew would take a bit of time.  I finally began my Retro Flowers Quilt in March.  This was the first block I made.



I loved it and I had a whole stack of fabrics pulled to make each flower different, like the one in the picture on the pattern. As I stare at the block and the fabrics I had pulled, I started to like my selections even less. I tried pulling other fabrics. I was spinning my wheels.  Then, either due to some unknown inspiration, or maybe it was a conversation with my hubby, I took an abrupt left turn to this:

I have done several ROYGBIV quilts in my time. It's a theme I revisit a lot because I just love it. I drew the whole thing out and colored it with colored pencils.  Okay...this was it.  I even found a way to keep the first block as part of the quilt.  Yay me!  So here it is, the finished top:

 Please excuse the poor lighting. We have had such a rainy week, complete with downed trees and flooding. I had to take these in my sewing room. I tried without the flash (above) and with the flash (below) which makes a yellowish cast.

 But you get the idea. There are small dots and flowers in here, although you can't really see them in these pictures.  But I L-O-V-E it so much. I have even planned how I will quilt it, as soon as I finish one more WIP top and quilt the other two tops waiting in the wings.

 Here is a bit of a close up. You can see that sometimes, my seems met up perfectly.

 And sometimes they did not.  It also shows more on the darker colors.  But I don't mind at all.

Every time I started a new color, I got excited all over again.  I think that helped me keep going.

Now on to the second item of my post. To celebrate my 200th post I am going to have a giveaway. I absolutely love Alicia Paulson and her blog, Posie Gets Cozy. She is the creator of Maggie Rabbit and the lovely Daisy Chain ABC sampler. She also has lots of great stuff in her shop, Rosie Little Things. I am going to offer the winner (chosen by Random Number Generator) $20 to spend in Alicia's shop.  This giveaway is open to any and all. The winner will pay any difference between the prize and the total, including shipping of items.

To win, and you must answer the question to win (my party, my rules) go visit Alicia's shop and tell me what you might choose if you win. That's it.  Giveaway is open until next Friday, July 12 at 5 pm EDT.  Thanks for sticking with me. Now go look at Alicia's shop!
WINNER!!!! Fiona of Celtic Thistle is the winner as chosen by random number generator.  Congratulations! Thanks to everyone for stopping by. I hope you stick with me in the future.