Thursday, June 30, 2011

Milestones…

I haven’t had a Give Away in ages…and I have TWO important Blogging Milestones coming up soon…I am slowly inching my way to 700 FOLLOWERS (4 more to go!) and on July 12th I celebrate TWO years of Blogging!!  So which ever one happens first means a Give Away NEEDS to happen!  image

BUT WHAT TO GIVE AWAY??  I have given it a lot of thought as I need to satisfy the quilters in the group and I also need to satisfy the Woolies in the group…SEW I think it’s a given that TWO years of Blogging deserves TWO Give Aways…I will keep you posted!!

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I have been busy quilting the Dresden Quilt…FOUR more blocks to go!!  It’s been a slow go but I am happy with it so far!

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So no quilting pictures today…but I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my roses!  Wish you could press a smell button…:o)

Have a thorny Thursday and Happy Quilting!~P

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Ohhhh Baby!!

Is it me?…or have you notice that there are a lot of Babies up for ADOPTION lately?

This one is no exception!!  She is mighty cute, doesn’t cry or dirty diapers …all she needs is an occasional meal of fabric, a gentle crank of the hand……and she spits up some incredible fabric shapes!Apparently this Baby is looking for a GO!od home to GO! to!

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If you’re interested in adoption then you need to visit Kathy…she is the ‘social worker’ involved in the Give Away procedure…hurry over to her blog, Quilting Along the Gorge and find out how this baby can make it to your house!!  You know you wah-wah-wah-nt her.  Oh yeah…did I mention that she doesn’t cry…

Have a winning good Wednesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Sew Fun Give Away spotted!!

 

Sew Fun Quilts is having a Sew Fun Give Away…hurry over!~P

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Looking GOOD!!!

The Fall issue of Primitive Quilts is in the works…and it’s looking good!! 

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I had to pull out the first issue…it seemed like ages since it was released but it was their Summer of 2011issue…I think it came out in the Spring…end of April..early May…maybe the Fall issue will come out early too!!  Can’t wait!!  This magazine is fantastic! If you haven’t subscribed I would highly recommend it!  Plus it’s a hard one to find in the quilt shops and book stores…I’m just sayin’….

Hey, remember how I said I would never do stitching in the ditch quilting again…well guess what I’m doing…

  P1140532  Yup!  You guessed it!!  That Free-Motion stitching is just too tricky on a big quilt…and I am too picky!! :o( In fact I am so picky that I picked out what I tried to do…and then signed up for ANOTHER Free Motion workshop!  Sheesh!

ATTENTION ALL GO! lovers/owners…Accuquilt is having a HUGE sale on dies, cutters etc…check it out !!

GO! 4 It Die Sale~

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Free Alex Anderson Die Set ~ (This is one of MY favourite dies!!  Love this one!)

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Studio Fabric Cutter $395~ (this is the deluxe Grand Mother of the Die world!!)

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Studio Die Sale Buy 4 or More and Save 25%~

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Maybe you have a birthday or an anniversary coming up?…Surprise hubby with a GO!  You know…for the man who has everything!!  Hey it works for me! haha

You might want to check out some of the quilts that I have made since owning my GO! Cutting Machine…see what you can do with a new die…

..like the Winter Windows tutorial using the 1 1/2” strip die, or the Hexagon Runner by Vickie using the hexagon die, the tumbler quilt using the 3 1/2” tumbler die, Flying Geese using the triangle die,  Rob Peter to Pay Paul, and for the other GO! Projects check out these GO! HIGHLIGHTS!  I don’t know…do you think I’m enjoying my GO! Fabric Cutter??  :o) 

In my next life, I’m coming back as an Accuquilt Santa…!

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P…

Monday, June 27, 2011

Climbing the Quilting Ladder…

YIKES!!  I slept in and I have Heritage Quilting today AND I am on kitchen duties…which means I am one of the quilters bringing the goodies and starting the coffee/tea!  I CAN’T BE LATE!  Can you picture a room full of ladies (70-100) without their coffee and a cookie to dunk?  Not a pretty sight, is it? 

Just a quick sharing…stopped at ‘a’ Garage Sale on Saturday :o) and just HAD to share what I bought…

…What every quilter dreams of…a ladder!  Yup, hubby did a definite eye roll when he saw this one!!  Oh well…he’ll get over it!!  :o)…So here she is and must say she is VERY sweet.

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Let me pan back…not too big…not too small…just right!

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I’m not SURE of where she will reside…but for now she is in our family room…where hubby can look at her all day long!! haha

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The cost of this little ladder…$1!! SCORE!! I think she was at one time a bunk bed ladder…BUT she is much happier as a quilt ladder…or SEW she says!

Have a Merry Monday and Happy Quilting!~P

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Kissed by the Sun…

Looky what rolled into my life yesterday….P1140496

Yup, I don’t need it…(did you see the fabric that I bought a few weeks back at the quilter’s garage sale?!) I REALLY DON’T NEED IT!

BUT look…it’s Sunkissed…and a girl needs to be kissed by the Sun once in a while…don’t cha think?  (and SEE the two orange stickers…HALF PRICE~ SCORE!!!) 

P1140492Hope you have a Sunkissed Sunday too and Happy Quilting!~P 

Saturday, June 25, 2011

BUTTON…BUTTON…

  …Who has the button??  I DO!! I DO!!

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And a pretty button she is too!  If you go to my right side bar you will see this pretty new little button…and if you click on it you will be zapped to the Accuquilt webpage…where you can sign up for FREE PATTERNS!!  If you own an Accuquilt GO! you are in for a treat…lots of wonderful patterns to GO! with your dies…NOW I can hear lots of quilters out there in blogland moaning and groaning…I know…I know.. you don’t have GO! cutters…well don’t despair…these patterns are still do-able, they just require a little more work!

By signing up for the Accuquilt Newletter you will not only get the 22 FREE Patterns but you will get all of the letters that Accuquilt sends out!  I LOVE receiving their Newsletter…they tell me all about their sales, their promotions, their give aways and new products!  It’s great to be ‘in the loop’ because you just NEVER KNOW…

BUT BEFORE YOU HURRY OVER THERE…check out my newest GO! QUILT…

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I absolutely LOVE it!!  It was SEW easy with the Dresden Plate GO! die cutter!  (If I wasn’t loving retirement so much I think I would try to get a job selling GO! Fabric cutters!!)

This is the quilt that is going to a certain Birthday girl in early July…do you think it’s colourful enough?? P1140085

I think it’s perfect because it’s going to a young lady who deserves a bright and cheery quilt…backed with the softest flannel that Moda puts out!  I can see her watching TV or reading a book wrapped up all snuggly in this baby!!

P1140481 NOW I have to get it ready for quilting it…this is the part that I have been dreading and NO….GO! can’t help me here!  DARN!!…and no I can’t face stitching in the ditch anymore!!   I bought these quilting templates at Road to California this year and think I will give them a try…wish me luck…I’m going to need it!!

P1140486  But first I’m going to do a lot of practicing on  sheets of paper towel!

Have a super Saturday and Happy Quilting!~P

Friday, June 24, 2011

GOOD LUCK!!

The lovely Vicki B. is giving away a BABY GO!!…with THREE dies!  Vicki is a new blogger therefore has a small following~which is good for YOU!  The odds of winning have shot WAY up!!  So hustle over to her blog and enter to win…those Baby GO!s are dang cute!!  

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AND while you’re there check out Vicki’s sweet little GO! baskets!!  She made them with the Bountiful Basket die!  Adorable!  You might want to sign up to follow Vicki B Quilts so that you can keep tabs of her….

Have a fun Friday and Happy Quilting!~P

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Sound the DRUMS…

There’s a whole lot of love, prayers and well wishing going on over at Kaaren’s blog (The Painted Quilt)!!  You should go over and read some of the 200 PLUS comments left for Kaaren!  Warms the heart for sure!

Bloggers are the best…If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times~ THE BEST!!  Leslie ( Les Quilts ) and Allie (Allie Oops Sweet Happy Life) both approached me in the hopes of getting a Message Quilt made for Kaaren…would I be interested?…YOU BET!!  The emails started flying back and forth and before long we had it all planned out.

Kaaren is well known in the Quilt Blog Community with almost 1500 Followers…with that kind of a following we should be able to make at least one big quilt and maybe even a smaller quilt!  The hard part is going to be notifying everyone…so we need to get the jungle drums going…If you could PLEASE blog about this and send everyone over to Allie’s Blog that would be wonderful!!

Told you I had man hands but failed to mention the hairy arms!

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So sound the drums…we need Kaaren’s blogging friends to pitch in and get sewing.  The block for the quilt is simple…a square in a square made with prim fabric.  If you can’t make a block there are other ways to help…maybe you could contribute towards the backing fabric and batting.  Please go over to Allie’s Blog and get the DETAILS…THEN BLOG ABOUT IT!!

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Have a terrific Thursday and Happy quilting!~P

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

SEW HAPPY!

I have no quilting NEWS today…so thought I’d share this pin keeper.  There is a lady at our table at Heritage Quilting who owns this little pin keeper…and it looks SEW HAPPY…

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It’s very sweet made with bright happy fabric…not sure if it’s Mary Engelbreit fabric but it could be…

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It would be very easy to make…and I’m positive it would make someone…

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..SEW HAPPY!

In the meantime…this is what I have been doing!!  :o(

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No…I am NOT SEW happy!! 

Hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday and Happy Quilting!!~P

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Rally the Troops…

It was a sad day yesterday when we found out that our fellow friend and blogger, Kaaren from the Painted Quilt is taking a leave from blogging to put all her energies into getting better.  Kaaren had just received word that her biopsy results were positive…

Kaaren is a very talented pattern designer and shares her talent with the blogging community all the time!   You probably already know Kaaren from her FFF (First Friday Freebie)…where she gives a pattern away on the First Friday of each new month.  Most blogs proudly carry her Raggedy and Friends Button…I know I do!

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In true Kaaren stride, her posting yesterday was all about turning those lemons into Lemonade…well I say don’t stop there…have a slice of lemon pie to go with that lemonade!!

Please send your good thoughts and prayers Kaaren’s way!  Last time I checked she had almost 140 ‘comments’!  Let’s see if we can rally the troops and get those special healing wishes and prayers going!!  Indeed…let’s help turn Kaaren’s lemons into lemonade…and lemon pie and lemon tarts and lemon cake and…well you get the idea!!  You can find Kaaren’s blog HERE!

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Monday, June 20, 2011

CANCELLED!!!

Heritage Quilting was cancelled today!! 

Yeeegads…Heritage Quilting is NEVER cancelled!!  I guess the hall was needed for something more important than quilting!!

WHAT??!!! 

What is more important than QUILTING??  Fire?  Earthquake?  Tsunami?  The Plague?  I’m not sure of the reason for cancelling but it HAD to have been one of these things!!

So I declare this an at HOME SEWING DAY…which means no housework, no gardening, no cooking…just sewing!! 

While I sew.. you get to look at just a few of the Heritage Quilts made in the month of June…

..and there are some beauties!!

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Well done, Ladies!!  Hope you all have declared today an AT HOME SEWING DAY!!

Have a marvelous Monday and Happy Quilting!~P

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Claire’s Got Mail…

Look at what my friend Claire found in her mailbox …and just in the nick of time, as the Canadian Postal Service have gone on strike!!

Claire placed an order with the Quilted Crow and it only took 10 days to get here from the East Coast of the USA…plus she got 40% off the bundle of fabrics! Now that’s a store you want to do business with!(This girl KNOWS how to shop!!)

And just look at these wonderful flannels!!  They are the Pumpkin Patch Plaids and they are just screaming out Pumpkin Patch!!  And low and behold…there is the brand-spanking-new book from Need’l Love called ‘Pumpkin Patch Threads’! I think it’s my new favourite book!!…What do you think?  Have a look…

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Gorgeous fall quilts…

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The cutest wool pumpkin coasters/mug rugs…

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A sweet pumpkin wall hanging…

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And MY FAVOURITE…SEW sweet!!

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No…this is my favourite!!  I love this runner…complete with fall berries…yes, I have got to make this… before or after the bird??

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….yes… the book’s been ordered…we just need to get the mail carriers back to work…So come on, give them a raise!

Have a FANTASTIC FATHER’S DAY and Happy Quilting!~P

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Rabbits Haven by Arlene Neely

Yesterday I mentioned that one of the highlights of ‘Hands Across the Water’ was getting to meet Arlene Neely, the designer and quilter behind the Rabbits Haven patterns and fabrics.

Here she is posing for me in front of one of her gorgeous quilts….

P1140369What a wonderful and talented lady!!  Arlene retired to Mayne Island and became a active member of their Guild, along with THREE of her sisters!  Imagine having three sisters who all love quilting as much as you do and you all live within a stones throw away from each other!

This is one of her sisters here…selling raffle tickets for the door prizes.

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Arlene has designed and produced over 49 Rabbit Haven quilt patterns and stitcheries!  Like this sweet one…

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If you are familiar with Rabbit Haven patterns then you know that they are very whimsical with lots of embroidery and some applique and are usually made up in soft pastel colours.  I always think of babies and small children when I see her quilts…although I love them too!!

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The stitchery work on this one was breathtaking! 

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And I love her signature bunnies…with the frayed raw edge rose…love it!

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How sweet!

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Arlene has a new book coming out VERY soon too…Called “Quilts and Stitcheries”  and it is full of Arlene’s lovely bunny patterns. Would you believe that it is being published in France and has been released in the French version.  So we will have to wait just a little longer… unless of course you read French….

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Arlene is also coming out with a new line of fabric called ‘Always Believe’…just lovely! 

P1140406Arlene, with the help of her sisters, showed two quilts that are being worked on and will go into her new line…so we get an early peek!!  

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Arlene is one VERY busy lady…thank goodness she has so many sisters to help her with sewing and bouncing ideas off of…nothing more honest than a sister or two or three…then there is  encouragement…Image having THREE cheerleaders on your side!!  Oh and did I mention that they all go to Quilt Market and Quilt International with her…Hmmmm…do you think she would notice just ONE more sister??

You can check out Arlene HERE and you can see all of her patterns HERE!  ENJOY!!

Have a Super Saturday and Happ