Traveling Stash Box #2 -- We Have A Winner!!

After being on the west coast for the last week, I am back and trying to play catch up.  The first thing I did was to have the random generator selection thing pick the next recipient of the Traveling Stash box.  Shauna is the lucky winner of the box.  I have contacted her via email for her mailing address and will mail the box as soon as she checks in.  Thanks to everyone who left comments and for those who did not win the box this time...keep your fingers crossed!  Again, here is what will be in the box that Shauna receives:

ENJOY!!!

Traveling Stash #2

  

Last week, I received a second traveling stash box.  The box was sent to me by Barb at  stitchxstitch.  Barb added some really nice items and thanks to her for doing that.  This box is loaded with really nice fabrics, notions, patterns and a magazine or two.  The lucky recipient will be quite pleased and hopefully find something that they would love to trade for.  If you are interested in trying for the box, please leave me a comment by Friday, March 22nd. at 9pm (eastern)  I will randomly select the lucky winner on Saturday, March 23rd at 10am (eastern).  Please make sure that I have your email so that I can contact you.




Lots of patterns and some magazines...

 

Some notions...



 



Tons of Fabrics...



These are my fabric selections...




And this is what I added to the Traveling Stash.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I add a couple of patterns, a wall hanging quilt kit with the pattern and 5 fat quarters in luscious tropical color, a heart shaped yo-yo maker and some additional fat quarters and yardage.

 

If you are interested in trying for the traveling stash,  there are few simple rules:

RULES

 

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the box and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add you info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage, shipping is only within the USA.

 Remember, leave a comment by 9pm on Friday, March 22nd.  I will contact the winner via email on Saturday, March 23rd and mail the box to you on Monday, March 25th.  Good luck!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LAST CALL: The Traveling Stash has Landed!

If you want to be the next winner of the traveling stash box, please leave me a comment by 7pm (eastern) today.  I will notify the winner by email on Friday morning. 


I have been trying with no success to become the recipient of one of the Traveling Stash boxes making their way around the country.  Well, over the weekend, I became the selected stash receiver of not one but two boxes from different locations.  The boxes are loaded with all kinds of goodies, quilt shop quality fabric, notions, magazines, books, etc.  The rule is that you can help yourself to any of the items in the box and then you replace the items with stuff from your stash.  So, yesterday, I received the box from Katie over at Snuggle Up with a Dish from Karma.  The box was loaded with fabric, fabric panels, notions, like buttons, pre-packaged quilt binding, a small embroidery hoop with floss, a really cute pincushion, and lots of patterns, etc.  There is even a pair of chop sticks???? 

Here is the box and its contents!

I looked through and found a few pieces of novelty fabric (I don't have much in my stash) and will make pillowcases for a challenge.  There was also a little light for a rotary cutter.  I could always use that.  As much as I would love to have them, I don't need another pattern and I definitely don't need any gadgets or notions.

Here is what I chose from the box.

 

...and here is what I added for the next lucky recipient!!

Some Asian-inspired blender fabrics with a couple of focus pieces,  a couple of patterns, 2 skeins of boa yarn (I had a project in mind when I bought this but you know what happens) needles, bias binding and some Thangles.

If you would like the traveling stash to visit you, please leave me a comment by Thursday at 7:00pm (eastern).  I will select a winner on about 9;m on Thursday night and contact you via email.  The box will be mailed by Friday afternoon.  I will be traveling next week, and do not want to hold things up.

Of course as with every challenge, there are rules...a few really simple rules.   Please check them out and if want to participate, then leave a comment for me. 

RULES

1. Be an active blogger.  Post about receiving and the box and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been.  Please add you info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box.  Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box.  Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage, shipping is only within the USA.

Remember, that I expect another box today or tomorrow and will post it about when I receive it.  So everyone has 2 chances!  Good luck!

Dare to Dresden Blog Hop

I signed up for this blog hop because I love the Dresden block...It is a first time for me and it was a little bit of a challenge but it was fun.  If you have had the opportunity to stop by the other blogs to see their Dresden entries, they are all absolutely stunning.  Thanks to our cheerleader Christine of Quilt Monster in My Closet for all she has done to make this blog hop a success.  And thanks to Madam Samm at Sew We Quilt for providing us with the opportunity to strut our stuff.  Today, I am debuting my Dresden blocks along with the blogs listed below.  I decided to make a traditional Dresden and I used fabrics from my stash of African fabrics and batiks.  Why lime green...just love it as a background and it really brightens up the black and white.   Grab a cup of tea or whatever is your pleasure and sit back and enjoy!

January 30^th, 2013

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

It Seams to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

Serious Gadget Love…

Is it too late to still say “Happy New Year?” Oh well, too bad…I just did. I have almost completely recovered from the holidays with family and friends and I am trying to get my quilt life back on track.

But before I update you later about what I have been up to, I have a confession to make…I have a serious gadget love thing going on…all of my friends know that I am sucker for a good reliable gadget because not only do I buy them for myself, I buy for them too. It's crazy...you know, you can only have so many rotary cutters (I have way too many, because I am in search of the perfect rotary cutter) and I haven’t found it yet, seam rippers, snippers, and Ginghers (all types and sizes), rulers, specialized templates, marking pencils, automatic pin dispensers, etc. If you need it, then I probably have it. To make my love affair with gadgets even sweeter, I love hand crafted items, which led me to my new indulgence. While searching Etsy shops for gifts, I came across the Psychedelic Frog Etsy shop. The shop owner, John Fawcett creates beautiful hand-turned wooden seam rippers, stilettos, writing instruments and other items from wonderful exotic woods. He also makes wooden irons for quilters. Paper-piecers will love this gadget. It feels good in the hand; the flat end of the iron is wider than most hand pressers so you don’t have to press as hard to get a good flat seam.   And of course they are also made from beautiful woods.

I purchased the large seam ripper in the Ocean Mist. It has detachable seam rippers at both ends (large and small) and comes with an attachable stiletto. It also came with a beautiful leather case. I absolutely love it!

So my motto is “You can never have too many.” Gadgets…that is!

For the new year I decided to challenge myself and sign up for a blog hop.  I joined the Dare to Dresden Blog Hop posting January 24-31.  I post my Dresden on January 30.  This is a first-time block for me.   It should be fun!




Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Holidays!!!

I am wishing everyone a very happy and joyous Holiday season.  Enjoy your family and friends and hold those that you love close!

I am sewing and making gifts for family and friends.  Just haven't had time to post.  Maybe by the end of the week, I can provide you with an update.

Happy Holidays!!!

Weathering the Storm

Sandy has come and gone, but there are so many people who have been affected by this storm.  Erin who writes the blog "My Patchwork Life" has sent out a call for blocks to make quilts for those in need.  If you would like to help, please go over to Erin's blog.  She has posted a short tutorial and instructions for mailing the blocks.  The quilt block is the Disappearing 4-patch.  It was my first time making this block and it was very easy.  I am contributing the 2 blocks pictured here. Thanks Erin for coordinating this effort.  I know many people will be very appreciative.

I am a Winner - Part Two

I received this package in the mail containing 2 really great items from Laundry Basket Quilts.  Edyta Sitar's 2013 Journal -- too beautiful to write in and a pack of her Paint Box charm squares.  I am a happy quilter.

I am a Winner!!!

I usually do not enter giveaways.  When I have entered them in the past, my number just never comes up.  However, I think the dry season is over for me...I have won three giveaways on three different blogs in the last month.  Yep, I am a winner.   I don't spend a lot of time reading blogs.  Especially those announcing "Giveaways."  Usually you have to leave a comment and when I scroll down to the bottom of the comment section and see that 1,256 comments have been left for one prize...well....let's just say that those odds are not in my favor.  I usually power through them and keep moving, but it started with Debby Kratovil's new blog.  She is a local quilt star and I was excited to see that she had started a blog.  She had a giveaway, I left a comment for Debby and I won a beautiful set of fat quarters in browns and pinks.  I  am using them in a new quilt...more about that later.  Love them...

So my winning streak continued a few weeks later, when I was reading Mary Elizabeth Kinch's new blog (maybe it's a new blog thing...) and I left a comment on one of her entries.  And guess what?  Yep... the random number picker was kind to me and I won again!  How awesome is that? If you have not experienced Mary Elizabeth's quilts, please visit her website gallery and blog.  You will be amazed.  She is a small pieces enthusiast and so am I.  I absolutely love her quilts.  She didn't pay me to say that...I was hooked way before I won the giveaway.  This is my prize...  I can't figure out why blogger rotates the photos, but you get a good picture.

Soooo...(who says lightning never strikes in the same place twice or even 3 times) this morning I had an email from Edyta Sitar .  Congratulations to me for winning yet another giveaway.  I didn't even remember leaving a comment on her site, but I love her quilt designs, so I am quite happy.  I don't know what I've  won, but I will post a picture asap.

This winning thing is fun and I could get quite used to it.  Well, I mean I would have to start reading the whole blog post and then I would have to leave a comment...sometimes you have to be more specific with your comments, so you have to think about a witty response, etc., etc., etc.   But I think I  like this winner stuff even though I know all good things eventually come to an end! 

Trinity Celtic Knot & Architectural Gems

The weather has finally turned to comfortably cool temperatures and it is just right to finish up some long standing projects.  Jennifer's wedding quilt is finally complete and I am sending it to her this week.  This week is her one year anniversary, so I made my self-imposed deadline to have her Trinity Celtic Knot quilt all done by her first anniversary.

I found this quilt pattern in a McCalls magazine.  It went together really fast and I used assorted bali pops and Michael Miller black, both staples in my stash.  I would make it again because it was an easy quilt to create.  My friend Carrie quilted it for me on her Tin Lizzie and we used a King Tut variegated thread.  I think it turned out quite nice.  The quilt pattern name is Architectural Gems and I can now cross this one off my every increasing in length WIPs list.  Sorry about the lighting in the pictures.  I really need to take a class on taking pictures :0)  Hope to have another quilt top completed by the end of the week.  Keep your fingers crossed. 

A little bit of this...A little bit of that!

So, I haven't posted in quite a while.  I wanted to, but this past summer has been the summer from H@#$L literally and temperature wise.  I am not a lover of all things hot, especially the swamp hot days in the Washington, DC area, so...so long summer, hello autumn.  The temperatures are a perfect 75 to 80 degrees during the day and cool 50s at night.  Just perfect.  So now I am trying to get back in the swing of things. Here is a short update on a little of this and that...

The ocean waves quilt has moved up to the fore front again and I am trying to complete the top and be done.  I have been working on this way too long and everyone keeps asking for the status of the ocean waves quilt. I need one full uninterrupted day and it should be done.  You can see a photo here.

So lately I have become intrigued with English paper-piecing and Hexies.  I have been following Bonnie Hunter's progress with her hexagon quilt and Kelly Jackson over at I Have a Notion posted a tutorial on her blog on how to do hexies.  I am hooked...  Not worried about when a quilt gets made.  This is a long term project and who knows...I may tire of it, but right now, it fills in available time.  So here is a little stack of hexies and I keep everything in a ziploc baggie.  Who knew???

I am still making blocks for the Farmer's Wife Sampler in the Japanese taupes.  This is block #16.  I only have 109 more to make. 

Out of the blue, my four year old granddaughter asked me to make her an owl pillow.  I have never made anything like this ever, pillows and stuff like that, but her request was so sincere, I felt I needed to do this.  So I made Hootie for Niani.  She loves it...even got into a tussle with her Mom (my daughter) because she wanted to take it to school and mean ole Mom said "No."  I think he is kinda cute.  And my granddaughters think that GiGi can make anything:0)

My watching TV project is putting the binding on this quilt that I made over a year ago.  I think I found the pattern in one of the McCalls magazines.  It is named Architectural Gems and I used bali pops.  It was easy to put together, just big.  My friend Carrie quilted it for me.  I don't think I have ever posted a picture, but it is on my WIPs list and it will soon come off. I will post a photo when the binding is done.

And lastly, I have been kitting up a couple of quilts that will fill in the void when I get bored.  The first is a pattern from Fons and Porter magazine in all pink and brown reproduction fabrics.  I had a lot of them on hand and I even won a giveaway on Debby Kratovil's blog for a new line of pinks and browns.  It is named Rootbeer and Bubblegum. 

Then I am having a new love affair with Mary Elizabeth Kinch and her small pieces.  So with more repro fabrics I am cutting up the pieces for one of the quilts in her book "Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts," called "Leap of Faith."  Both contain lots of small pieces and HSTs.

Thanks for stopping by...

I Love a Challenge...Jennifer's Quilt

Especially when it turns out looking like this!.   If you have been following my blog while I was working on this quilt, you know that I ran up against a few little obstacles...sewed a block upside down...sewed a block together in the wrong direction,,,didn't make enough blocks of one group, stuff like that.  But the top is completed and it will be soon on its way to be quilted.  It is a wedding gift for Jennifer who has been very patient since she got married last October.  Would I make this quilt again...probably, I think.  It really is not that hard to put together except that there is a lot of precutting and sewing and you really, REALLY have to be organized and have your blocks sorted as outlined in the pattern.  All of the blocks are 9 patch blocks in various sizes.  I used 2.5 inch strips (mostly bali pops) and everything came from my stash.  I did purchase the wide backing and it was on sale.  The second time around, I would use smaller strips, maybe 2 inch so that it would not turn out so big, but that is the only change I would make.  Maybe I would not make it so scrappy.  Just 3 or 4 solid colors or prints that read as solid.  Anyway, it was a blast.  Now I can move onto my other long-suffering projects.  We had a sew-in yesterday with my friends and I finished 2 sets of pillow cases that I promised my daughter's college room-mate back in October.  Brynna has also been very patient with me, but that doesn't keep her from asking about the pillow cases every time she speaks with Rayna.  So I can scratch them off as well.  It feels good to complete something and move on!  Thanks for stopping by! and enjoy your week!

Trying to catch up...

I have been off the radar for a while.  I had to put the ocean waves quilt on the back burner to work on the wedding gift quilt for a family friend.  It has been an ambitious undertaking but I am almost there.  I think it will finish as a king sized quilt with the last 2 rows that I need to add.  The pattern is named Trinity Celtic Knot.  It looks hard, but it was quite easy once you got started.  The trick is organization of the 9 patch blocks.  So this will be off to the quilter soon.

Riding an Ocean Wave...Not yet!

Needless to say, I did not make the May 1st deadline that I set for myself to complete the ocean waves quilt top.  I did get more blocks completed.  This is going to be a humongous quilt. Right now it is measuring approximately 40 x 40.  I am not putting borders on it and  I am really thinking about making it smaller.  So I am giving myself another week...because I need it.  Here is a  pic showing a few more blocks.  

Riding an Ocean Wave

I haven’t posted much in the last several weeks. I have had a lot going on…Dad having major heart surgery (he is doing much better now); work issues (our CEO resigned to take another job), totally unexpected, so my office was in an uproar and just plain ole stuff. However, because quilting is so calming to me, I made time almost every evening to do a little. I set the egg timer (quilt timer) for about an hour, sometimes 2, so that I could work and not worry about timing and to remind myself to go to bed within a reasonable time. Because once I get started, it is hard for me to stop.

I am working on the Ocean Waves quilt and it is coming together nicely. The blocks are big and take up a lot of space, so getting detailed pictures is a pill, but below is a picture of 2 completed blocks. They measure about 20" each and there are 20 blocks.  A pretty big quilt.  I hope to finish the top by the end of the month, so ring my bell if you do not see a picture of a finished top by May 1.

I am also working on the wedding quilt for Jennifer. Well she got married last October, but I couldn’t make up my mind what type of quilt I wanted to make for her. I didn't want to do another Double Wedding Ring.  I already have 2 on my WIPs list.  Then one of my blog friends decided to have a quilt along for the Trinity Celtic Knot quilt and I knew this was the one. It is a whole lot of cutting, sub-cutting, sewing and re-sewing, but I am having fun with it. It is very scrappy with lots of purples and greens.  And the entire quilt is made with 9-patch blocks.  It requires my full attention because of the many pieces, but it has been a wonderful diversion with all of the stuff going on. The quilt pattern is designed by Deborah Cohen with Arbee Designs. You can follow along on the blog set up to showcase our progress on the Trinity Knot Along here.  My deadline for completing the top and getting this quilted and delivered to Jennifer is July 1. Everything is going along smoothly with it right now after a few false starts. A picture of what the finished quilt should look like is below. Keep your fingers crossed. Thanks for stopping by and I will check in soon!