Wednesday, January 30, 2013

winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered my 500th post giveaway and welcome to new followers! You all and your sweet comments make blogging so much more fun. And now for the winner.....


True Random Number Generator  28
Powered by RANDOM.ORG


Sarah_L_N said:  Congratulations on your 500th post!
I think I would use it to make a patchwork bag. I had a lovely little book for my birthday with lots of patchwork projects, it would be nice for these :)
Congratulations to you Sarah! I hope we all get to see what you make with your goodies. 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

January finishes

I know, I know, there are still a couple of days left in January! But these are my major finishes for the month and I wanted to share them with you. You've already seen my scrappy trip along quilt, which I never planned on making at all! I'm so glad I did....
 I made a sweet mini quilt with some embroidered blocks which I can't really show you because it's a surprise for a friend. But here's a little sneak peak.....
And just today I finished up my line dance quilt. I used a charm pack of Mod Century, such an awesome, cheerful fabric line, and some of the "read solid" coordinates from the same line. Unfortunately it's a really rainy, stormy day so I can't take decent outdoor pictures for you but here it is...
 And my scrappy back (which I honestly love as much as the front!)...
I'm so proud of myself for quilting all of these on my own. I'm getting better at the straight line quilting. I think I'm off to a pretty good start for 2013!

Have you entered my giveaway yet? There are still a few more hours left.... you can find it in the next post down (for some strange reason blogger won't let me create a link today! Silly blogger.) Winner will be announced tomorrow morning... see you then!

Friday, January 25, 2013

500th post! let's celebrate!

 This has been a crazy week! I will have some fun stitchy posts to share with you next week (including our February stitchalong block. I can't believe it's almost February already). This week I have been busy getting ready for the retreat that our church ladies are having tomorrow. This is what my dining room table looks like right now....
No room for eating really. But tomorrow it will all be gone. Craft supplies for a mission project, journals for each of the ladies, devotion books..... whew! It's been fun getting it all ready but I'll be happy to have my table back!

Meanwhile, I am celebrating my 500th blog post today! Wow! If somebody had told me, almost 5 years ago now, that I'd still be doing this now I would have been shocked! But I love the blogging community and all of you are a part of that. So I decided we'd celebrate with a little giveaway! Are you in?

Up for grabs is a happy marmalade pin cushion filled with crushed walnut shells, a little moda candy pack of marmalade to make whatever you like and 2 pair of handmade buttons from ellyn's place. I imagine some other little treats will find their way into the box as well!

Here's how you win. Leave me a comment on this blogpost telling me what you might make with your candy pack if you win. Leave a second comment if you are a follower of my blog (or if you become one today!). Make sure I have a way to get in touch with you. I'd be so sad if a "no-reply blogger won) That's it. I'll leave the comments open until Tuesday night (January 29th) and announce a winner first thing Wednesday morning.

Have a wonderful weekend! And thank you all for coming along on this little journey with me.

Monday, January 21, 2013

learning to sew quilts

The junior high girls came to sew again today. They started their quilts. We had chosen this pattern, the Line Dance pattern from Pink Chalk Studios.  The pattern is offered free online and I thought it was the perfect choice for a first quilt for the girls. They each chose their own charm pack and solids for the quilt top. Look at them hard at work.....

They got really far on their quilt tops! All of the charm squares sewn together and sashed together. Ready for borders! It always amazes me how different quilts made from the same pattern can be depending on the fabrics used.

The girls are excited to come back soon and finish up their quilt tops.

I just realized that my next post is my 500th one! I will have to dream up something fun to celebrate.... hmmmm.... maybe a giveaway? We'll have to see!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

stitching...

Is it just me or are chilly days perfect for stitching? I've been working on future blocks for our stitch along....

Have you started on your January block yet? Maria has! Check it out in the flickr group.

Also been stitching some blocks for a mini quilt for a friend. Sorry I can't show you the whole thing just yet....



these adorable stitcherys came from Aimee Ray's Doodle Stitching, The Motif Collection book. Don't you just love the green hair on my mermaid? She makes me smile.

Can't wait to see your blocks!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

first finish of 2013 - scrappy trip along

January 15 and my first quilt of the year is DONE! I actually started and finished this quilt in 2013 (not like last year when my first finish was a carryover from the year before). I started my scrappy trip along quilt on new years day and today I took my last stitches in the binding. 
I quilted this on my domestic machine. Nothing fancy, some zig zaggy lines and not very densely quilted, but I did it. One goal I have this year is to learn free motion quilting and get more comfortable with quilting things myself.

Do you have a finish for the year yet?

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

crafty tuesday and a scrappytripalong update

Crafty Tuesday should have been last Tuesday. But alas, it was New Years Day and I didn't figure my friends would want to leave their festivities to join me for crafting. Sigh. So we moved it today. Trae, Melissa and I had a wonderful time, made a great mess, ate a great lunch and accomplished much....
 After they left I couldn't stop making scrappytripalong blocks. Twenty blocks FINISHED! After I took this picture I sewed them into rows. Tomorrow I will sew the rows together. Many people are making 36  blocks. I want to be able to quilt this on my machine and I thought that might be a bit too big for me to finagle. This will be the perfect size! I think I will add a small solid border to frame it out. Something dark (and solid). Navy blue? Dark green? Red? I'm not sure yet. Stay tuned.

Monday, January 7, 2013

jumping on a bandwagon

Right around new years day, I started seeing these quilt blocks on instagram tagged #scrappytripalong. First there were a couple. Then there were dozens. And pretty soon there were HUNDREDS of quilters making them! I resisted as long as I possible could. Then I checked out the tutorial they were all using and thought to myself "ok, I'll make one block. it looks cool".
 I used scraps from my stash, 2 1/2 inch strips that were already cut and just hanging out in my scrap drawer. And it was FUN! And really really fast. So I kept going. And on the second day I had four blocks done....

 Pardon the cords and terrible pictures. I cannot for the life of me find the battery charger for my camera, so I took these with my phone.

So I added my pictures to the Flickr group and kept on sewing....

and now there are eight blocks. They are not sewn together yet, and the layout will be changing. But I am HOOKED! I can't stop making these crazy blocks. Are you #scrappytripalonging yet? I really think you should. Speaking of Flickr groups, have you joined our stitch along group yet? I can't wait to see what you all do with my pattern.

It was fun to have Steve home from college for a couple of weeks. Before he left to go back to Arizona, I asked him to take some photos of me (using his fancy camera. NOT his phone!) so I could update the photos on my website, Facebook, etc. So we went to the playground to get some bright colors in the background. There weren't any kids on the playground (it was pretty chilly!) so I didn't feel too dorky. He took some great pictures, but I thought you might like to see some of the silly ones!


I actually like this one because I'm laughing & having fun!


This one is my Brady Bunch shot. Doesn't it look like those shots of them looking around the square at the different family members? LOL



And just in case you're wondering, yes, I can just smile and take a halfway decent photo!

Ok, back to my scrappy blocks I go....

Friday, January 4, 2013

ellyn's place January stitchalong

Are you ready for our first stitchalong pattern? A few days ago, I shared a supply list with you. Have you gathered them? No? Ok, run along to the store real quick. I'll be here when you get back....
Ready now? Our theme for January is snow, as in snowflake, snowman, snowball. Well we don't see much of that here in Texas, thank goodness. Although we did have a white Christmas this year. But you're not here to read about the weather, are you? I didn't think so. Do you want to see what we'll be stitching this month?

Warm, cozy mittens with snowflakes on them! You can find the pattern here. Trace the pattern in the center of one of your white squares. You can use a water soluble tracing pen, tracing chalk, whatever you like best for tracing. A light box comes in handy too. 

Now get to stitching! Here's how I stitched mine. I used 2 strands of embroidery floss for all of my stitches. I used mostly back stitch, with chain stitch for the yarn rope holding the mittens and for the accent on the cuffs. A couple of french knots to dot my i's. Easy, right? I promised you it would be! I can't wait to see what you do with yours.

When you finish stitching, press your square flat and cut it to a finished 4 1/2 inches square, leaving a 1/4 inch unstitched all the way around as a seam allowance. Take a picture and add it to our flickr group! Now put it in your storage bag so it doesn't get lost! Wonder what we're stitching next month? You'll have to wait and see!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

my 2013 word of the year


I had a hard time choosing my word for the year this year. Up until two days ago, I thought I would use the word "dream". But it didn't feel quite right. And then I thought, maybe I should go with something totally random. Like, oh, say, Aardvark. That could be interesting, right? No? Probably not.

And then I woke up in the middle of the night & clearly heard God give me my word for the year. Strength. As in, "enough dreaming girlfriend! be strong and get on with it". Hmmm.... ok!

And I thought, well that goes with my favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. A great verse, right? And then I came across this verse & I knew God was giving it to me too....


I really like that image.... clothed with strength and dignity! And so that's my challenge for this year. To be clothed with strength and dignity. If there's one thing I've learned in my last two years of choosing words, it's that I can choose them for whatever reason I want, but God always has something else up His sleeve. There's always some surprise reason why the word has been chosen. So I'm trying to be open minded and prepared for whatever He has planned for me this year.

I'm ready 2013! Bring it on!