Computer disaster!

I wanted everyone to know that I'm on a bit of a forced hiatus. The power supply in my home computer blew out, and we're waiting for a new part--this might take a couple of days. I just wanted to drop a quick line (I'm on break at work). I have photos on my camera, and no way to upload them to show you right now! Soon!

Oh, and if you're looking for the giveaway, head on over here! Remember to leave me a way to contact you if you win--"no-reply" entries make me sad!

See you in a few days!

Week 4 October Giveaway!

Ok, here we go, the last of my October Giveaways! I wanted to thank you all for making my birthday month such a blast, for all of your kind and wonderful comments, and for taking the time to stop by.

And as thanks, I'm pulling out all the stops...

Want to see what's up for grabs? Here goes!


First up: 3 FQs of Amy Butler's Lotus Full Moon dots, in Camel, Tangerine and Slate.




Second: A scrap pack full on nice big chunks of Heather Ross fabrics. The smallest among these is 5"x7" or so. Most are a solid 10" square, approximately. GREAT for I-Spy or scrappy quilts. I've been collecting bits and pieces for some time, and realized I had some duplicates, so I wanted to share the bounty!



Third: All my scraps from my Saavy Seasons projects. These are all between a FE and a FQ. Plenty left for lots of fun holiday crafts! This is Happy Holiday for Lecien by Monica of Happy Zombie. I love her fabric, and want to share the love! (Can you blame me??)



And finally, some Flea Market Fancy! The yellow posies is a FQ, and the barbells is a FQ missing a 5" square. The other three prints are some scraps that would love to find a home in your next scrap project, or mug rug, or pincushion!



Want to know how this is going to work?

Doing things a bit differently this time.

For one entry, leave me a comment and let me know which prize you want to be entered in a drawing for.

For a second entry in that category, become a follower. If you're already a follower? Leave me a comment to let me know.

For FIVE more chances at the prize you've chosen, blog, FB or Tweet about my giveaway, and leave me a comment with a link out. (I'm a librarian, you know I'll fact-check!)

That's a possible SEVEN entries for the prize of your choice!!

Questions? Let me know!

Also, instead of letting this run just til Friday, I'm going to let this go for a little while. Say, til next Friday? This weekend is Quilt Market, and I know a lot of quilters and sewists won't be around the blog-o-sphere for a bit. I'd like to give everyone a chance! So, this giveaway will end next Friday, November 5.

Good luck!

ETA: Please make sure you leave me an email by which to contact you!! All of the "no-reply" users will be out of luck, as I'll have no way to get word of your winnings to you!

Week 3 winners!!

Yay! We have winners!!

Winner of the Heather Ross FFA2 quarter-yard cuts is...

#10!!

Happy Cottage Quilter said...

Wow what a great giveaway! I am not sure what we will be doing this year. We have just moved into a new neighborhood. We may go over to my in laws that evening.

Winner of the Robert Kauffman roll-up of Girl Scouts fabric is...

#28!!

Tim said... Staying home on Halloween to pass out candy if we get any trick or treaters. Last year we had none.


And the winner of the group of patterns is...

#19!!

Karen said...

For halloween this year, I will be visiting my son in Switzerland. I don't know that halloween is a holiday there or not, but I don't have to buy any candy this year (good thing since I still have some leftover from last year!) Thanks!

Congrats to the winners! I've already sent out emails, and will have your prizes out shortly!

And thanks to all who've been playing along with my Octoberfest of giveaways!

Don't forget to check back here on Monday for the final installment--trust me, I've saved up some REALLY great prizes for this round!

October Giveaway, Week 3!

Here's how this week will work. I have three prizes to give away, and the winners will be picked on Friday. First picked gets the first prize in the giveaway, second place gets the second listed, and third gets third.

Clear?

Let's get on with it!

If you've been around this old blog this month, you know that I'm sharing my birthday month good vibes with my readers! And each week keeps getting better!

This week, I'm giving away...


Three quarter-yard cuts of Heather Ross's Far Far Away 2. (Note, NOT FQs, but quarter yard off the bolt.)

A Robert Kauffman roll-up of the Girl Scouts line (perfect for the little Girl Scout in your life!).



And finally, an assortment of patterns from some of my faves, including Me and My Sister Designs, Atkinson Designs, and Cotton Cottage.



How to get a chance at these goodies?

For one entry, leave me a comment. This week: What are your plans for Halloween? Trick or treating with the kids? Staying home to give out candy? Haunted hayrides or masquerade balls? I want to know! I'll be staying home and watching scary movies with the Madman, and giving out candy to protect said big lug from the hordes of goblins and princesses that come marauding through our neighborhood. Last year we went through 5 economy sized bags of candy in just over 2 hours--over 150 kids. WHEW! Going to eat my Wheaties this year!

Want a second entry? Become a follower and leave me a comment letting me know. Already a follower? Leave me a comment saying that, too!

And remember to check back here on Friday for the results!

PS, next week is the last giveaway this month, and I've got some great stuff stashed for you! How do you feel about Denyse Schmidt, Heather Ross and Amy Butler all in one give-away! See you then!

Keeping it real...

Sort of.

Down to making and sewing bindings on three projects. And a little hand stitching. Then some washing, drying, pressing and packing. After my major sleep-in yesterday? I was wide awake at 6:20 this morning. Yup, on a Sunday. So once I got my caffeine levels up, it was time to make some tracks...

Last night, the madman and I basted the baby quilt. I used a new-to-me brand of basting spray. NEVER AGAIN. Everything stuck to everything, and still is. It was like some really bad slapstick. I'll be going back to June Tailor's on my next project. Sullivan's, to me, is like working with superglue in spray form. Gack. (Sorry, Sullivan's. : / )

So this morning, I plopped down to do something I haven't done in many years.

Free-motion quilting.



I went for a meander with some loops in there. By the end my stitches were more even in size, though the design leaves a bit to be desired.



I won't talk about the toenail-catchers, or the tension issues than meant that even though there was no puckering on the back (yay!), there were some serious pulls in my loop stitches.

Why?

Because I'm not fixing them. I'm going to bind it, wash and dry it, and mail it.

Ok, before y'all fall over and die in shock and horror, let me explain.

My corners and points don't always match.

My lines and edges are not always straight.

My borders have ripples.

My quilts may have puckers.

I hate ripping out stitches. And if I were being paid for a quilt, you'd be damn sure I'd pick bunches of this apart and start over.

Right now, I have a deadline--this needs to be in the mail on Tuesday, because it needs to get from CT to AZ by Saturday. My cousin's wife-to-be is going to deliver in about a month, and Saturday is the shower. As my husband says, I obviously work better under pressure, because I have a really bad habit of leaving things to the last minute.

My handmade things very often look handmade. And I'm ok with that. I try not to send out things that look like a first grader did them, but I'd like to think that the quilt I am sending out, uneven stitches and all, will keep this little baby just as warm as something bought in a store, one of thousands just like it. I learned from the process, and the next one will be better, though that one will have mistakes, too.

I think some crafters have unrealistic expectations of themselves, ripping and resewing, scrapping and starting over. I don't have the time, the interest or the disposition for it.

I can point you elsewhere if you're looking for perfection, because this isn't the place you'll find it.

But if you're ok with me being human and keeping it real, I'm really happy to have you here.

Trying to get my butt in gear

Overslept this morning. Sure, I have the day off, but 10am? I haven't slept well all week--work has been incredibly stressful. I don't deal well with having loose ends, and there have been many this week! So I guess I was making up for lost sleep. Still, it's been a struggle to get ANYTHING done so far, beyond coffee and breakfast.

Finally, I did manage to pull my thumb out and finish the last of the blocks for my cousin's daughter's quilt. It needs to be in the mail this week, so here's to hoping I don't oversleep tomorrow, too...



Originally, it was going to be 3 x 3 blocks, but the blocks are 12" finished, and that was going to be huuuuge for an infant. So I'm pretty sold on the layout of the blocks, just thinking about sashing now. I'm thinking more pink will be too pink, so maybe white, with thin pink borders on the sides? Need to at least get that done and the basting done tonight. Then quilting tomorrow, binding Monday night, and if I'm very good, in the mail Tuesday morning.

Now to get back to it!

Remember, Monday starts our new October giveaway, this time with THREE prizes. You do NOT want to miss this!

Winner, winner, Xmas dinner!

The results for the week 2 October giveaway are in!!:

Winner of the 2 Fruitcake charm packs is #47, MommyWantsToRead, who said:

MommyWantsToRead said... Right now I'm not sewing but I am crocheting a blanket for my hubby for xmas.


And the winner of the 2 Crazy Eight turnovers is...#27, Ashley:

Ashley said...

My seasonal projects consist of 5 quilts I'm making for my mom, siblings, and my sister's boyfriend. I'm really hoping I get them all done by Christmas!

Congrats, ladies! I've emailed you both, so go check and get back to me!

And don't forget, Monday will start our week 3 giveaway, and week 3 means...THREE prizes! Also, check back here for details on the grand prize giveaway I'll be doing to wrap up this month of giveaways with a bang!

I'm still here, honest!

I'm just working on things I can't show you right now! Like I'm about halfway through making the items to send to my SaAvy Seasons swap partner. And I'm nearly done with the top for the baby quilt for my cousin and his new wife (and their baby, due next month!).

So I'm popping in to say hi, and I'm working my fingers off, and I promise to show up with pictures this weekend.

And don't forget to scroll down and enter to win one of two awesome precut jump-starts to holiday crafting in the previous post! The winner will be chosen tomorrow!

See you then, and good luck!

(PS, I think there might be a grand prize for the whole month. What do you think? Maybe a bundle of Heather Ross's FFA2? Any interest?)

A new week, a new giveaway!

This week, I have two prizes up for grabs!

Here in New England, it's getting a bit chilly at night. Last week, we all talked about what we're looking forward to this fall. Baking, apple-picking, leaf-peeping and decorating for the season were all up there, as was sewing! Glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't feel much like sewing (and pressing!) in the steamy summers!

Since time is marching rather quickly, it seems, toward the holidays, I thought I'd help you out in that area with this week's give-away!

First up, two charm packs of Fruitcake by BasicGrey.


I love their Christmas lines! You all remember the Figgy Pudding craze last year, right? I am here to tell you that Fruitcake is just as amazing. I'm having a great time working on a hexagon quilt with the jelly roll of Fruitcake that I got recently (pics soon!). I needed to share the Fruitcakey love with the rest of you. (Trust me, this is NOT Grandma's doorstop, bound to be regifted!)

Second prize this week, and just as jolly, is two Moda Turnovers of Sandy Gervais's Crazy Eight!

(Sorry about the lint--oops!)

I admit, I have been hoarding precuts of this line, and found myself with enough for at least three quilts of it. Sounded a little greedy to me, so this would be enough for, say, a nice-sized pinwheel quilt for your bed this season!

Want to know how to get in on this action?

For one chance to win, post a comment and tell me what kinds of seasonal sewing and crafting you're up to!

For a second chance to win, become a follower and leave me a comment telling me. (If you're already a follower, leave a comment and let me know that, too!)

Want TWO more chances? Blog about it, and leave me a comment letting me know!

That's FOUR chances at two great prizes. Not bad odds, eh?

On Friday, I'll use the RNG to pick two winners--first pick will get the charm packs, second will get the turnovers.

Good luck!

Week 1 Giveaway Winner

And the winner is...#28, Carrie, who said:

Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...

i can't wait to start decorating my house for halloween!! Thank you so much for the generous giveaway, I have a pattern for a girl's dress that these would be perfect for! Thanks!

Carrie, I'm emailing you now, and congrats!!

Thanks everyone for playing along, and remember to stop by on Monday for my next October giveaway. Week two = two prizes = more winners! You do NOT want to miss this!

October Giveaway #1!

Welcome to my first October Giveaway! If you've been stalking this space in the last week or so, you know there are more to come. It's my birthday this month, and I thought I'd share the love with you! Every Monday this month, I'll post a new giveaway. The winner will be picked and posted on Friday. Sound ok to you?

Ready to see what's up this week?

The suspense is killing you, yes?

Ok, ok!

Up for grabs is a pattern by one of my favorite designers, Daniela Stout of Cozy Quilt Designs. I actually won a bunch of patterns from Daniela last year after winning a Moda design contest. However, I wound up with a duplicate of one of her patterns from a fabric club. It wouldn't be fair to keep it to myself!



And to go along with it, how about an oldie but a goodie? I've been hanging onto this one for some time, just waiting for the right opportunity to use it. If this isn't making great use of it, I don't know what is! A jelly roll of the out-of-print Oh-Cherry-Oh! by Me & My Sister for Moda.



Yum!

What to do to win? Leave me a comment telling me what you're looking forward to this fall? A certain fabric line? A certain autumn ritual? I'm ready to hunt down some It's a Hoot! yardage from MoMo this fall. And the Madman and I will be doing some apple-picking in the next week or so--here in New England, the harvests have begun in earnest!!

Want an extra chance to win? Become a follower, and leave me a comment to let me know. (If you're already a follower, comment to let me know that, too!)

Want a third chance? Blog about it, then comment here with a link to let me know!

So that's three chances to win!! Good luck!

A busy Sunday

First: The critical



I don't normally drink my coffee that dark, but we've been putting off a shopping trip, and I ran out of half n half. Soymilk was not really the best substitute, but it's what we had. Oh well. Caffeine was crucial to doing anything productive on a chilly, overcast Sunday. (Hence the quality, or lack thereof, of today's pics.)

Next on the docket, turning these sweet, yummy little scraps I've collected:


Into a little gift for a friend in need.


Then, tackling this pile of strips:



And turning them into more of these:


Sweet, scrappy squares for a baby quilt for my cousin and his new wife--and the little girl they're expecting next month.

Hey, don't forget--tomorrow starts my first giveaway of the month! It's a delicious one, and I can't wait to share it with you! I'll be posting a different giveaway each Monday, and posting the winner every Friday for the whole month, so keep checking back!