Progress

Goodnight Irene is sewn together.

And because I am purposing to finish my UFO's this year, I'm finishing up the binding on this table topper.

What things are you making progress on??

Happy Quilting!

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop!

Quilts of the Olympics

Are you ready for OUR hobby to be showcased to the world!!!  The 2014 Winter Olympics will be hosted in Sochi and they are elevating Quilting to the Olympic level!

Sochi 2014

I can't wait!!!

Happy Quilting

Snow days?

It's been cold here in the south, but this is the only snow we have at our house :-)  

I made this landscape quilt a couple of years ago, when our family went on a trip to West Virginia.  My kids love to snowboard.

Happy Quilting!

Check out the parking lot

A couple of months ago I met up with my BFF while she was visiting in Florida.  On my way down to meet her, I visited a quaint little shop in Bradenton.

Their selection is not as large as it used to be, and they are leaning more towards modern fabrics.  But what makes this shop unique is this.

There's always a group of Mennonite ladies hand quilting.  And this is their mode of transportation.........

Happy Quilting!

Words of advise

I'm so glad there are no Quilt police!! But I am glad there are many kind and friendly voices to offer their advise.  I loved Jamie's words - "Don't over think it".  Boy is that ever true.  And how many times have I done that to the point of stagnation.  

So onward I go, and Scrappy it is!  Thanks!!!

Happy Quilting!

Decisions, decisions

As I have been working with the fabric for the Goodnight Irene Sew Along, I am debating whether to change the fabrics that make up the points.

Here are some of the blocks on my design wall.

I cut a few solid points to see if the effect would tone down the fabric.

Nothing is sewn together yet, but I'm not sure if in the long run, how the pattern will end up looking.

Hummmm, such decisions..........

Linky Tuesday

Winners!!

Thank you, for all the kind comments on my Blogiversary post.  I love hearing from each one of you.  I am so happy to announce the winners of my giveaway  -

Rina from Crickets Corner wins the DS Quilts fabric and the Circle Quilts Book.

Emily from Callender's Creations wins the Thread Bowl book.

and Cheryl from Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting wins the car decal.

Please send me your mailing addresses before Thursday.  If I do not hear back from you by then, I will draw a new winner.  I have sent each one of you an email.

Was your weekend cold??  Burrrr........ we had some really cold weather down here in the deep south.  Looking forward to warmer temps.

Happy Quilting!!

Sunday Morning

Red and White

Do you remember the amazing Quilt show "Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts" in NYC in 2011??  This show brought awareness of the beauty of Red and White Quilts.  And now SewCalGal is hosting a Year of Red and White Quilts Challenge that will begin at the end of the month.

Watch for details, or you can go to Insights From SewCalGal and read about the upcoming events.

This is going to be a very inspiring challenge.

Happy Quilting!

My goal......

....for this year is to quilt up the UFO's that have been stacking up over the years. It's always so fun to start a new project, but I'd like to finish at least one a month.  This quilt top was made by my daughter several years ago when we did a group class with some of her friends.

Trying my hand at doing a little bit more then all over quilting.

The giveaway closes tomorrow. There is still time to sign up.  Just click  GIVEAWAY.  

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Finish It Up Friday

Let's GO! Baby

Back in the summer I acquired a AccuQuilt GO!Baby.  It was something I was wanting since my wrist surgery.  Using the Rotary cutter has been a little limiting as my wrist gets tired pretty quickly, which in turn makes it hard to do much fabric cutting.

I only had a couple of dies, so again I was limited in what I was able to cut.  However, the kind folks at AccuQuilt offered me two new dies of my choice to give me an opportunity to expand my use of the GO! Baby.  As my quilting buddies had not seen or used a GO! before, we had a little intro session using my new dies.

The first die that I used was the 2 1/2" Strip Die.  As you can see, this die also has additional blades to make a second cut.  The die cutter has four angled guide lines printed on the surface.  The lines are at 90 degrees, 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees. This makes it easier for you to go back for that second cut.

I folded my full length piece of fabric into thirds.

Placed the mat on top

And turned the handle to start the fabric through the GO! Baby.

I found it to be very easy to turn the handle and for the fabric to go through the machine.

Six strips easily cut, in just a few minutes.

The second die that I used was the 4 1/2" half square triangle. 

This die is so great, as it already cuts the little tag off the corners, so it's ready to sew.  If you place two different color fabrics together, your HST is all ready for the sewing machine.

The best way to describe the dies is that they are like a dense sponge.  The blades are hidden inside the die.  When you roll the die through the machine, it presses the blades and cuts your fabric.  Even if you run your hand over the dies you do not feel anything sharp.  The blades are inside the foam sponge.

I am very happy with my GO! Baby. I believe with my wrist limitations, this machine will increase my cutting ability.  I've already used it to cut my blocks for the Sew Along Goodnight Irene quilt. One thing about the AccuQuilt GO! Baby is that it is affordable and very portable.  If you would like to see an intro about this machine you can find it on this AccuQuilt YouTube.

Thanks for letting me share with you.  I hope you have a Happy Quilting day!

First set

for the Sew Along.

These fabric colors are definitely not in my comfort zone :-)  But I will make this up and donate it to the local Children's Hospital.  I know someone there will love it!!

Happy Quilting, and stay warm!  We are expecting another cold blast.

Really Random Thursday

Blogiversary Giveaway

The New Year marks 5 years since I started blogging.  What started as Journaling of my quilting adventure has brought me to over 1000 posts written, and 550,000 page views!! As a "Thank You" to my readers and followers, and in appreciation for all of your kind comments, it seems appropriate to have a little giveaway!

First up -

Everyone loves Denyse Schmidt's fabrics, so Two 1/2 yards and a fat quarter of DS Quilt Collection fabrics and a copy of "Circle Quilts"  book using strip piecing.

Next -

I ended up with two copies of this Incredible Thread-a-Bowl books.  So I am offering this as a second prize.  I will throw in a couple of spools of thread for you to get started :-)

And lastly -

A fun car decal in Winter White by Kati cupcake.  It measures 5 1/2" x 12".  

If you would like any of these prizes to show up in your mail box, just leave a comment.  You can tell me where you live or how the weather is in your area.   If you have a prize preference just tell me in your comment.  Otherwise I will award the first prize to the first winner, second to the second name etc, etc....  If you follow my blog, you may leave a SECOND comment, telling me how you follow and you will have a second entry :-)  I MUST have a way to contact you.  If you are a no-reply, leave your email address.  There were over 100 no-reply comments on my last giveaway!  If you are not sure, you can check out Karen's instructions HERE.

Giveaway will close on Saturday.  I will post the winners on my blog and contact them by email.  I must have a response by January 22 or a new winner will be drawn.

Thanks so much for following along on my little blog.  It has been great fun to meet so many creative people and if you are a new reader, know that I appreciate you coming along on my journey.  

Happy Quilting!!

Sunday Morning

Source

Sew-Along

I think Irene is going to be a little on the wild side :-)

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Really Random Thursday

Goodnight Irene

Are you Sewing-Along??  I've signed up to sew-along with Terry's Treasures.

She is hosting Goodnight Irene.   Watching the Youtube by Jenny Doan makes it so easy.

I also am using my GO!  Baby to cut my 4 1/2" squares.

It sure makes cutting 92 of them a whole lot easier when you can cut 6 at one time.

I have a Jelly Roll that was waiting for just the right project, and this is it!!

All ready to start sewing!!

Amazing Snow Crystals

Much of the US and Canada  is blanketed with a lot of snow right now. So when I came across this information, I thought how fun to learn more about the perfection and beauty of God's creation -

SNOW

Check out these websites.

Snow Crystals Photo Gallery

A Snow Crystal Primer

Snow Ice Cream

Wilson Bentley - The Snowflake Man

A Virtuous Woman

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. 

~Proverbs 31:13 

Winter in Florida

Anything Blue Friday

New Project for the New Year

After Christmas a couple of my sewing buddies and I got together to make a quick and easy project!

Pile of fabric with the completed sample on the right.

Now to run it through the washing machine to make the edges fray.

A fun project and enjoyed so much more, to be sewing once again with my quilting buddies  

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Finish It Up Friday

Happy New Year

Wishing you lots of love and best wishes for a BLESSED and FABULOUS 2014!!!