Block Four Winners

Last night we did get back super late.  First we went to see my grandmother.  It felt like we were visiting santa.  I was there with some of my siblings so there was 15 little kids there.  They all took a turn sitting on grandma's lap while my sister-in-law snapped photos.  Grandma made sure to give all the kids love.  The thing I can't figure is that not only does she know all of their names, she knows most of their middle names and the month of their birthdays as well.  Amazing.  She has at least 30 grandchildren and most of them are married with children now so you know she has a gazillion great grand children. 

After visiting grandma, we ate at a kid-friendly quick place and went to see the lights.  We actually found parking three blocks away.  I think that's a record for us!  If you are ever in Salt Lake City from the day after Thanksgiving until New Year's Eve, you should try to visit Temple Square to see the lights.  Two city blocks right in the middle of town has almost every tree loaded with lights.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  We make it up there about every othre year.  Here is just a snippet.  I didn't get great pictures -- just had my little camera.

Okay, okay, you want to know who won.  Well, here we go --

The winner of my calendar/planner is:

isewcrooked!

and the winner of Cara's City Weekend jelly roll is:

cricketsstudio!

Thanks everyone! 

Those who won, be sure to send me an email (kluckau@moosequilts.com) with your mailing address so we can get those out to you.  Include your flickr name so I know who you are!

The next deadline, for block five, is January 11th.

Happy quilting!

Block Five with Cara Wilson

Hello!  Seems like it's been forever.  I have a few pictures of some handmade Christmas gifts that didn't get posted.  I'll have to get to that later this week.  I ended up taking an impromptu 1600 mile drive (that's round trip) over the weekend before Christmas to see my brother and his family before they went to Germany for three years.  They are there now.  It was a great trip.  Kids always love seeing their cousins.  Hope everyone's holidays were as nice as ours was.

I see a few of you have been quilting. Have you recovered from all the celebrations?

Today's block is brought to you by Cara Wilson.  Here's the link to Cara's website: http://www.caraquilts.com/.  Cara came to us through the Jelly Roll Quilt Along! 

Now, here's Cara:

Hi everyone! My name is Cara from CaraQuilts designs. I am so excited to be able to offer you a block for the Layer Cake Quilt Along. I really enjoyed the Jelly Roll version so this is very fun for me!

I started quilting in my college dorm room at 18 and have been collecting fabric and quilting ever since! Recently I’ve started creating patterns for Moda Bake Shop, Riley Blake, and will be doing to monthly clubs for Stitchin’ Heaven.

Quilting to me means so much, it is something that gives me calm, it’s an outlet for creativity and individuality, especially when I’m feeling more like someone’s wife or mother than Cara. I love picking fabrics, figuring out what pattern works best, or designing a new one just for them, and then diving in and watching something grow out of it. Quilting also gives me a way to send my love to those I can’t be near physically. I like to say wrapping yourself in a quilt is like being hugged by the person who made it. Another big thing that quilting is to me is an opportunity to stretch myself and maybe reach further then I normally would. Being scared in quilting doesn’t work so well, so I find myself letting go of anxiety and just going for things.

Quilting is soothing, rejuvenating and exciting all at the same time! The online quilting community is incredibly wonderful and I have to say there is nothing more exciting for me to watch and help someone new get bitten by the quilting bug and brought over to the fabric side!!

I love quilts and fabrics of all sorts and a sampler is such a fun way to get a bit of everything in a quilt! I hope you enjoy my block and have fun making it!

 

Thanks Cara!

 

CLICK HERE for the instructions to Block Five.

 

 

Here's a picture of Cara's block.

 



Yes, this is a digital picture.  With Christmas and all, I didn't follow up with Cara until yesterday.  Then I had issues with the block as I made it.  So Cara tweeked the block for us.  Thanks Cara!  I will get my block done today and post it here.  In the meantime, there are usually a few that pop up quickly on flickr for those of you who want to take a look at some variations before you make your.

So what happens next?

Well, any pictures posted in the flickr group by tonight will be entered into the first drawing. About 10 ish tonight (Mountain Time) I will post my Block FOUR. All blocks BEFORE mine are those entered into the first drawing. It doesn't matter which block - just the one's posted before mine. If you post your block AFTER mine, then it will be entered into the next drawing. I will post the winners tomorrow.

What's up for grabs this time?

Cara has generously donated a City Weekend jelly roll!

And I, have my favorite calendar/planner to give.

And for those of you who have found there way back to the sewing machine.  I have a feeling that not everyone will have found their way back so there will probably be fewer blocks in this drawing.  Also, I am taking the kids to see their great-grandma who lives a good hour a way.  We will probably be home late.  I may not be able to get to the computer before morning. 
Happy Quilting!

Block Three Winners!

I guess today has been one of those days.  A moment ago I realized that I hadn't posted winners that should have been posted this morning.  Sorry!  Guess you had a little extra time to get into the drawing.  I think I'm not the only one a little distracted.  There were half as many blocks posted as usual.  Don't worry if you didn't get your block done, just post your blocks as you get them done.  They will be entered into the next drawing.

Now for our winners!

The first winner, who wins a charm pack from me, is

mvatshel!

The second winner, who wins a second charm pack from me, is:

sw419!

AND the third winner, who wins 2 Aviary charm packs and a homemade pincushion from Sherri McConnell, is:

andrea2065!

Thanks everyone! Those who have won, be sure to send me an email (kluckau@moosequilts.com) with your mailing address so we can get those out to you. Include your flickr name so I know who you are!

The next deadline, for Block Four, is December 28th.

Happy quilting!

Block Four with Sherri McConnell

Today block four -- WOW! block four already! -- is brought to us by Sherri McConnell. You can find out about Sherri here:

http://www.aquiltinglife.com/

Don't you love her header! Sherri comes to us from the Jelly Roll Sampler, but I'll let her tell you about it. Here's Sherri:

Hi, my name is Sherri McConnell, and I blog at A Quilting Life (http://www.aquiltinglife.com/). I come from a family of sewers and quilters and received my first sewing machine from my Mom when I was 10; my Mom also signed me up to take sewing lessons at a local Singer shop at about the same time. I made a majority of my clothes during high school and worked at a fabric shop, Cloth World, until heading off to college where I graduated in English and taught at the college level for a while. I have four children; however, only one is still at home--leaving me quite a bit of time to sew and create! I definitely appreciate my husband and children for supporting me in all my quilting endeavors!

I've been quilting for about 17 years...thanks to my wonderful Grandmother who bought me an Eleanor Burns Double Irish Chain Quilt-in-a-Day book...and I haven't stopped since! I started my blog in July 2008 as a way to record my projects...and have appreciated so much the inspiration and friendship from other bloggers around the world.

I loved the Jelly Roll quilt along...it was a terrific way to make a quilt from a jelly roll that would still be sitting on a shelf if I hadn't participated! I think this Layer Cake quilt along is going to be just as fun! I love stars and snowballs so thought I'd combine the two for my block!

Thanks Sherri!

CLICK HERE for the instructions to Block Four.

Here's the picture of Sherri's block:

and here's the picture of my block!

Interesting how the bright yellow doesn't stand out as much as I thought it would because the fabric is so busy.  Oh, I decided to use two layer cake squares for the background instead of the background fabric.  You decide what you want to do. 
So what happens next?

Well, any pictures posted in the flickr group by tonight will be entered into the first drawing. About 10 ish tonight (Mountain Time) I will post my Block THREE. All blocks BEFORE mine are those entered into the first drawing. It doesn't matter which block - just the one's posted before mine. If you post your block AFTER mine, then it will be entered into the next drawing. I will post the winners tomorrow.

What's up for grabs this time?

Sherri has generously donated 2 charm packs of Aviary by 3 Sisters for Moda AND a handmade pincushion!

And I, as always, have a couple additional prizes to add.

Happy Quilting!

Moda Bake Shop

Take a look at my new tutorial posted over at Moda Bake Shop today!

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2010/12/cinnamon-pecan-turnover-quilt.html

This is one of those quilts you just want to wrap up in.

Knitting Disaster

Oh my stars, knitting is hard!  Just look at this mess!

This started in October when I wanted to knit a headband/ear warmer thing.  I can half crochet, but all the ear warmers I liked were knitted.  I have been shown how to knit once or twice.  How hard could it be?  

 

I know -- stupid question.

I bought a magazine that had good pictures showing how to cast on and knit and purl.  I purchased a pattern.  It started off with ribbing -- alternating the knit and purl stitches.  Tried that a dozen times before putting it all away.

Picked it up again last Sunday.  This time I decided to first learn to knit, then learn to purl before putting them both together.  I carefully went through the pictures.  It took me another dozen tries to realize I was casting on incorrectly.  Once I was casting on right, it only took several more tries to figure out how to knit.  Then I tried to purl.  Again, it wasn't too bad.  Took a several tries, but before long I had a stocking stitch -- that isn't the right term.  I was very proud of the small swatch above before I attempted the ribbing again. 

I have no idea what I am doing -- obviously.  For some reason I have twice as many stitches as I did before.  There are two or three rows there of alternating between knit and purl.  Because my stitches kept multiplying, the needles are not long enough to hold it all so I dropped one of the stitches.  Oops.

And thus we see the benefit of a teacher.  That swatch has been ripped out for the 32nd -- ish time, and I will find a teacher before attempting the ribbing stitch again. 

If you know how to knit, or even if you don't, please feel free to laugh at my mess.  I certainly am.

Free Christmas Gifts

So none of these are from me, but I found a few folks spreading Chrismas Cheer online and thought some of you might be interested.

First, this Christmas Card is from one of my favorite fabric designers, Amy Schimler.  The link is: http://redfishcircle.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-present-for-you.html  The picture shown here is the front part of her card.  Go to her blog for one that is printable -- for personal use only.

Second, I just saw a free app that sounded very useful.  It's for calculating borders, backing, binding, setting triangles, etc.  I don't have a phone capable of using apps yet, but if I did, I would get this app.  Don't click on the picture below for the app like it says.  Go to the blog post over at Robert Kaufman.  The link is here:

http://www.swatchandstitch.com/home_page/2010/11/19/a-little-birdie-told-me-theres-an-app-for-that.html

And third, here is a link to four (I think more will be added) free quilting patterns:

http://www.mycreativestitches.net/freedesigns.html

FYI, I have downloaded these patterns, but I have not tried them.  I have a Statler.  I don't know how well they run. 

Okay, okay, fourth --  here's a preview. . . 

it is from me.  It is a Moda Bake Shop project that is scheduled to post next Friday, Dec 10th!  It's made with Kansas Troubles Wrapped in Paisley.  Yummy!

We are getting ready to get a Christmas Tree.  The kids are going stir crazy waiting for their dad to get home.  Wish us luck!

It Had to be Orange

On Monday evening, as I was putting up our new block, I entered the Modern Quilt Guild Challenge.

The challenge was to make a quilt based on an inspiration.  You had to submit a photo of the inspiration.  In my case, the photo was athe inspiration.  It is one I had taken this summer.

Here is the quilt.  I have titled it, "It Had to be Orange."

Here is the story:

This challenge coincided with another challenge from my local guild. Their challenge was to use a color you don't like in a quilt. Thinking about those two challenges made me think of this picture I had taken earlier this summer. The picture is of the table I was sitting at while waiting for my children at swim lessons. I knew I needed to make it turquoise because turquoise is the color of the year, it's been wildly popular, and I have been impatiently waiting for its season to end. I purchased Kona cotton turquoise just to be sure I had the right color. I almost chicken out and went with aqua, but I persevered.

I thought about making the quilt a more literal interpretation of the picture, but I decided to go with a more artistic approach. I considering what fabric should go with my turquoise, I knew it had to be orange. While I haven't loved turquoise in quilts, I have always liked blue, so there are times when I was okay with it. Orange, on the other hand, has always been a challenge for me to use in quilts. Once I decided on orange, I went right to Hope Valley. I have fallen head over heels in love with the blue and green color way of this line and struggled to use the orange and pink color way. I placed my hope in the fact that I loved the rest of the line.

Deciding on the piecing came naturally from the picture. It reminded me of the diamonds in a lone star quilt. I have only made a lone star using half square triangles, but I decided that this was a challenge, and I pieced diamonds together. I quilted it with a swirly wave type design in honor of the swimming pool. In the end, I turned my quilt sideways because I liked the look better. I put orange minky on the back, so this is a quilt I love to sit under and read to my little ones. I am thrilled with the way it turned out, and I never would have made it were it not for the two challenges I received.

It was a really fun challenge.  I learned that I am not very good at piecing diamonds.  I even starched them.  My friend learned never to let me borrow her ironing pad while starching my diamonds because the Best Press that I picked ended up smelling a little too flowery for both of us, and she may need to wash her ironing pad to get the smell out.  Sorry Karen.  I also learned -- again -- that sometimes we just have to keep sewing and not judge the results until the quilt is finished even when its scary. 

To finish off, here's my favorite picture of my quilt.  I had two little helpers during my "photo shoot."  I call it that lightly.  My picture of the quilt didn't turn out great.  But I am not too worried about it.  I entered the challenge to have fun with the challenge.  I am pretty sure I won't win. 
 

 



Layer Cake Conundrum

So. . . .  some plans have been altered -- a bit.

Doing a quilt along this way is about as much as a mystery to myself and the designers as it is to all of you.  It is definitely an interesting challenge.  The layout I had planned looks like it isn't going to work out.  Not to worry -- I have worked through a few scenerios and have come up with Plan J.  Those using fat quarters may still be able to go with the original layout.  Once our blocks get finished, I will give you Plan A and Plan J layouts.  I know some of you will come up with equally fabulous layouts of your own. 

In the meantime -- save all your scraps.  You can use them in other blocks if you want, but don't toss them or repurpose them just yet. 

Don't get worried about needing more fabric.  I will make sure the layout works within the parameters I have set. 

Thanks for staying flexible with me! 

Block Two Winners

Congratulations are in order -- more winners! 

The first winner, who wins a charm pack from me, is:

faq2saq!

The second winner, who wins another charm pack from me, is:

sweetpe@!

The third winner, who wins the Pat Sloan book from Sarah Vee, is:

stitchingauntie!

 

Thanks everyone!  Those who have won, be sure to send me an email (kluckau@moosequilts.com) with your mailing address so we can get those out to you.  Include your flickr name so I know who you are!

The next deadline, for Block Three, is December 14th.

Happy quilting!

Layer Cake Block Three with Sarah Vanderburgh

I think this post might be late.  I am having too much fun looking at our flickr pool. 

-- tearing myself away --

Block number three is brought to us today by Sarah Vanderburgh, or Sarah Vee, as she goes by on her blog http://sewjoy.blogspot.com/  Sarah is from Canada.  I have enjoyed meeting Sarah, and I'm sure you will too.  Here's Sarah --

I’m really excited to be participating as a designer in the Layer Cake Quilt Along! I’ll tell you a bit about me first, then more about my block.

Quilting has brought me joy for 14 years. I started as a newlywed, anxiously dealing with fertility issues. I discovered quilting through my husband’s granny’s old quilt magazines. I never looked back! Self-taught, I started by designing wedding wallhangings and baby quilts for family. I am fascinated by the names of quilt blocks and enjoy reading about the history of women’s lives sewn into quilts.

After purchasing a book by Barbara Brandeburg in 2008, I discovered the online world of quilt blogs. I started my own quilting blog, on my birthday, in 2009. In 2010, I released my first pattern for sale, “Eat with Joy! Placemats”.

I enjoy working with traditional blocks and bright, contemporary fabrics. I began as a patchworker, but have slowly come to love appliqué and, more recently, free form and liberated piecing.

My 9 year old daughter has just begun her quilting journey and my 3 year old son likes to pick out fabrics. My husband is patiently waiting for 2 queen size quilts to be finished for our bedroom - the first one started almost 10 years ago! I am fortunate my family shares my joy of quilting with me, and to live in Northern Ontario, Canada, where I am constantly inspired by the blue sky, green trees, and friendly quilters.

To get ready for writing this blog post about myself, I asked my blog readers what kind of questions they would ask a designer. One question that came up was – what comes first? The fabric or the pattern? For me, it can be either one! I really love the layer cake I picked to use for the quilt along – it’s Prayer Flag by April Cornell. I wanted to save it to make a special pattern for it – something that would feature all of the prints. When Konda put out the call for designers for the Layer Cake Quilt Along, I knew I had found my design! Sampler quilts are a great way to feature many different prints from the same line of fabric. I am really happy that I chose to use my fabrics to make these blocks – and really happy to have the chance to design a block for it!

For the Layer Cake Quilt Along I made a basket block. Basket blocks are pretty traditional and usually include some appliqué – not this one! The challenge here was to cut the pieces from 10 inch squares. I’ve included some pretty detailed cutting photos to help you make sure you get all of your pieces from your chosen fabrics. I hope my fabric tips help you in creating your own sampler baskets – it’s a great block to feature one of the large prints from your line.

I’ve challenged myself to make 2 quilts for the Layer Cake Quilt Along! Other quilters have too – you can read about them in one of the discussion threads at the quilt along Flickr group. For my second quilt, I’m using fat quarters and I’ve included separate cutting instructions for using fat quarters. You also have the opportunity to use only 2 fabrics with the fat quarter option.

I’m looking forward to seeing your blocks!
With Joy,
Sarah Vee

Thanks Sarah!

CLICK HERE for the instructions to Block Three.

Sarah made two versions of the block.  One for layer cakes:
 

And one for fat quarters:  (If you are using fat quarters, you can make either version.  If you are using layer cakes, you can make the fat quarter version only if you use more than two fabrics.)

And here's my block:  (Maybe I should have warned my designers that sometimes I don't follow directions very well -- on purpose -- even when the directions are my own.  I know lots of you have personalized these blocks as well.  It's all good!)

So what happens next?

Well, any pictures posted in the flickr group by tonight will be entered into the first drawing. About 10 ish tonight (Mountain Time) I will post my Block TWO. All blocks BEFORE mine are those entered into the first drawing.  It doesn't matter which block - just the one's posted before mine. If you post your block AFTER mine, then it will be entered into the next drawing.  I will post the winners tomorrow.

What's up for grabs this time?

Sarah has graciously donated a Pat Sloan book called Fast-Forward Quilts.  The quilts in the book are made using precuts!  Perfect for our quilt along!

I also have a couple charm packs that need to find a new home.  So get your blocks posted, and I will see you tomorrow!

Attack of the not so killer sweaters

Here is the much anticipated conclusion to the sweater trilogy.  Click here for part one and here for part two. 

By day three, I couldn't resist the call of the sweaters.  I took them out of storage and dumped them on the floor -- just spread them all out to see what was there.  I really didn't have any idea what was there since it had been so long since they had seen the light of day.  Then I called the kids over and asked them what they wanted.  Here were their choices:

1)  Bunny from THIS great pattern by Betz White:

My two middle children picked this option.  Here's how their bunnies turned out.  They are the two bunnies in front.  I didn't do the two tone ears.  Felted wool doesn't fray so I just used the one layer for ears.

Notice that the first thing those two silly girls of mine did was put their bunnies' ears in pony tails. 

2)  The taller bunnies came from a conglomeration of other ideas that I sketched out that the two year old HAD to have, so the baby got that kind too.

3)  The third choice was mittens from THIS great pattern from my neck of the woods.  It even has a video!

My two oldest children wanted mittens.  I messed up the lining of the first pair.  In an effort to make them smaller to go inside the outer layer, I made them too small for the child's hands.  Oops!  I just cut up the linings (it was $2/yard fleece I had laying around) and used them as stuffing.  Instead I just sewed the cuffs onto the mittens and I love the result.  Here's the picture:

So fun!  And they went together quickly too.  Just three seams each.

4)  How did this option get in there!  Kids are kids that's how.  Seems the two oldest children need to have creatures like their younger siblings.  Mittens aren't quite as fun.  I was having so much fun with the wool that I gave in.  These last two creatures are made from drawings my kids made.  One is a crocodile.  Don't know quite what the other one is -- the younger one's kept asking if it was a pillow.  So the response, "It's a pillow.  It's a pet.  It's a pillow pet."  It comes from a commercial.  If you haven't heard the commercial be glad.  If you are, hurry and sing another song you like so that one doesn't get stuck in your head.  Here's the picture of the creatures:

All of that was made in 2-3 hours.  It was fun for all of us.  I think I need to make more mittens.   I think I need more sweaters!  I think I need that wool quilt!  I think I better put the wool away and meet a few deadlines before the wool takes over!

The thing I liked about the wool (remember it had all been felted -- I had washed it on a hot/cold cycle and dryed it in my dryer) is that it was easy to work with, it didn't fray similar to fleece, but it looks so much nicer than fleece.  The stuff I put on the animals was just whipped stitched on -- quick and easy -- just enough to hold it in place.  No iron on, no fraying, just plopped it on and stitched.  I used a thin yarn with a yarn needle.  I had brown and used it for everything. 

Thinking about giving wool a try?  Go for it!  Beware, it's like a good book -- hard to put down!

Sweaters Part Two

The day after Lisa's wool presentation (click to read that story), I went to a class taught by Amy of Under the Garden Moon.  This class had been planned for quite a while and scheduled and rescheduled.  It was on wool applique and embroidery.  Here is Amy's sample:

It's a needle holder.  Please note, this is Amy's sample -- not mine.  Mine looks a little more, well, a lot more. . . what's the word. . . .  Oh yes, primitive.

Me and embroidery didn't get along too well.  I'm afraid it took some growling to get my embroidery done.  I just happened not to have taken a picture.  Oops!

While I did not get along with the embroidery, I enjoyed the wool applique.  See the spool of thread?  That's the wool applique.  It was fun!  

What does that have to do with sweaters?  Well, only that I realized that everything I had seen the day before in Lisa's demonstration was do-able!  Oh! 

That was day two.  Day three is what I did with days one and two.  Stay tuned for the attack of the not so killer sweaters!

Block One Winners

We have winners!  These are the winners from the first flickr pool drawing.  You will notice that my block has now been posted in the flickr pool.  All the blocks before mine were entered into the random drawing.  All those after my Block One will be entered into the next drawing.

So who do we have this time?

The first winner, who wins one of my patterns, is:

Delaware Quilter!

The second winner who also wins one of my patterns is:

quiltdove! 

The third winner who gets the LAYER CAKE from Vickie of Spun Sugar Quilts is:

ISEW4FUN!

Thanks everyone!  Those who have won, be sure to send me an email (kluckau@moosequilts.com) with your mailing address so we can get those out to you.

The next deadline, for Block Two, is November 30th.

Happy quilting!

Layer Cake Block Two with Vickie Eapen

I am thrilled to see what you are all doing with block one!  Love it!  Let's see what you do with block two!

Bringing us Block Two is Vickie Eapen.  You may know her blog, Spun Sugar Quilts.  Yes, that Vickie!  I can't imagine that you haven't seen her blog, but if you haven't, it's worth your time to go check it out.  Right now she is part of a blog hop that is posting holiday cookie recipes among other things.  Her Andes Mint Cookies for Today sound so good I may have to break out my cookie sheets.  I will attempt cookies on occasion though that's sometimes as far as my cooking goes. 

Okay, I know you are anxious, so here's Vickie --

Hi I am Vickie Eapen. I live Ohio but born and raised in Iowa. I have 2 daughters and one fabulous husband who allows me to indulge in quilting and designing as often as possible. My career is dentistry. I have been practicing full time for over 10 years. I have never been very good with idle hands, sewing, quilting, knitting and crafting help satisfy the need to be doing something.

I started sewing when I was 8 years old. I made my first quilt/doll quilt when I was about 10. I still have that quilt. Over the years I have done cross stitch, crochet, knitting, scrapbooking, stamping, rug hooking and quilting.

I started blogging about 5 years ago to journal my knitting projects. Fast forward to January 2009, when I found Moda Bakeshop, I started designing simple projects. Now I have projects in Quilts n More, Quiltmaker and many others coming soon.

I am excited to design a block for the quilt along. I participated in the jelly roll quilt along and found it to be an excellent way for me to keep up with a block along.

I can’t wait to see the combinations everyone creates with this.

My blog: http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/

Thanks Vickie!

CLICK HERE for the instructions to Block Two.

Here's a picture of Vickie's block:

And here's the block I made:

I have been wondering if I should have switched the stripe print with the leaf print.  I think once it is joined with the other blocks it won't make much of a difference. 

NOTE:  Each of these blocks will be have a 1" frame (cut 1-1/2") in the accent fabric.  Then there will be a 2" (2-1/2" cut) sashing including a sashed border.  Then there will be a border from the accent fabric, then the large border.  The sashing will actually be cut from your layer cake.  I was noticing that I had a strip leftover from this block -- so I trimmed it to 2-1/2" and will be saving it for the sashing -- or to use in another block.  After we get a few more blocks finished, I will show you more of how this will work.

So what happens next? 

Well, any pictures posted in the flickr group by tonight will be entered into the first drawing.  About 10 ish tonight (Mountain Time) I will post my Block One.  All blocks BEFORE mine are those entered into the first drawing.  They will mostly be block one, but there will also be a few speedsters who will get block two posted.  It doesn't matter which block - just the one's posted before mine.  If you post your block AFTER mine, then it will be entered into the next drawing. 

What's up for grabs this time?

Well, you might be interested to know that Vickie is feeling pretty generous.  She is giving away a Layer Cake of Simple Abundance! 

And I have two patterns.  So there will be three prizes again this time!

Happy quilting!

My sweaters are trying to kill me

Okay, so they aren't.  But I do have a story about some sweaters.  A couple years ago. . .  I honestly can't remember when it was, but it wasn't last year. . . I bought some wool sweaters at the thrift shop.  My intention was to felt them, cut them into squares, and make a quilt.  I got this idea when I quilted a quilt for a lady who did this.  She might have used suits instead.  Her quilt was huge and heavy, but it was SO cool.  I loved it.  I stitched it in the ditch, and I don't like stitching in the ditch AT ALL.  For this quilt it was PERFECT!  I couldn't find enough sweaters cheap enough at my thrift shops, so I asked my mom to pick some up for me in Arizona.  She brought me a large garbage bag full of wool sweaters.  Oh yeah! 

The sweaters all got felted and then they all got put into the storage room.  They have been moved around from time to time when the storage room gets cleaned.  But that's all.  I guess they got tired of that because wool ganged up on me last week.

First, a friend of mine, Lisa, was giving a presentation at a guild I attend.  I knew Lisa liked to play with wool, so I knew her presentation would be interesting.  What an understatement that turned out to be.  It was so inspiring and so fun.  Here are some pictures:

As you can see, she showed us how to make Christmas stockings.  She also made a cupcake pincushion (on the cake platter above) in about 5 minutes -- no sewing machine, no hot glue gun -- just a little whip stitching.  So fun!  She brought a book by Betz White called Warm Fuzzies.  It is now on my wish list. 

The blog address that you may or may not be able to make out on the table above is http://blog.betzwhite.com/.  She, Betz White, must be the queen of wool.  I spent quite a bit of time looking at her blog.  

And that was day one of attack of the sweaters.  Stay tuned for day two -- after Block 2 -- which comes out tomorrow!

Market Report #3

 Welcome to my booth!

This year I had help decorating my booth.  I am not good with vignettes, but my friend Machelle of Cherry Tree Cottage is.  We decorated half of the booth girly and the other half boyishly because the new book is Simply Charming Kids that has a boy and a girl quilt made up of each pattern.  And because I am lame sometimes, I messed up my website and can't bear to struggle through fixing it yet.  So the book is not available to buy on my website yet.  Guess you'll have to ask for it at your local quilt store.

Another friend, April of April M Designs made some stuffed toys for me.  A boy one:

and a girl one:

A couple people asked me what pattern was used.  It was a McCall's pattern #5826, Creature Dolls.

So here's the girly side of the booth.

and the boyish side of the booth.

I had planned to get pictures of other booths, but I was busy enough at my own booth not to get other pictures.  I even missed getting to see what's his face from Home Makeover.  I'm okay with that.  I was glad to be busy talking to people.  It's funny how energizing and exhausting Market is.  I love it!

Thanks for coming along for my tour!