Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Destashing!

It's an online garage sale... I'm destashing!  Oh gosh, so much fabric and some of it I've forgotten what I was going to make with it.... hate when that happens! It's all great fabric, I'm a non-smoker... if you have any questions of any of these treasures, email me.  I'm happy to answer questions.  Payments will be done through paypal and I think I'll have to limit this to my USA friends.... if you are an international friend and really, really want something, email me and we'll work something out.  If you don't want to go through paypal, email me, I'm flexible! Have fun looking through my treasures I'm willing to part with..... I'll even throw in a free Quilt Doodle Pattern with your fabric when I ship it!  It's first come....first serve.... So check out the Destashing! tab above for what I have to offer...

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you,
remember the Think Christmas Blog Hop is going on... I'm going to get back to hopping!

Have a wonderful day,

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Think Christmas Blog Hop!

Wilson loves to dress up
for the holidays!
Woot!  Woot!  It's time for the 'Think Christmas Blog Hop' hosted by Madame Samm and Leslie at The Cuddle Quilter!  Let the fun begin!  I decided to do some quilt squares featuring my lovable, furry friend, 'Wilson'.  I hope that you enjoy Wilson's Christmas Table Runner as much as I enjoyed making it! It is made up with three blocks featuring Wilson.  So let's get started... to make Wilson's Christmas table runner you will need the three 'Wilson' quilt block patterns and....
  • 1/2 yard background fabric (gold)
  • 1/3 yard sashing fabric and red bow/hat (red)
  • 1/4 yard for binding and for 'package' block/scarf (green)
  • 1/2 yard for backing (color of your choice, I used cream)
  • 40"x 17" piece of batting
  • fat quarter cream fabric (Wilson face)
  • fat quarter of light brown fabric (Wilson face)
  • 2" x 2" scrap dark brown fabric (Wilson's nose)
  • 2" x 4" scrap red fabric (Wilson's tongue and nose)
  • 5" x 7" scrap brown fabric (twig antlers)
  • 5" x 5" scrap white fabric (Santa hat)
  • seed beads for eyes
  • Heat n Bond
To make the table runner you will need 2   - 11" squares out of a background fabric of your choice.  Also cut a 11" x 7" background fabric and a 11" x 4 1/2 " green rectangle.  Set aside...

Tracing Wilson pieces onto the paper side of heat n bond.  I group pieces that will use the same color fabric....

All of my Wilson pieces are traced....

After ironing heat n bond pieces onto the fabric, I cut them out and lay them on the 11" blocks.  'Is This Gift For Me' pieces are placed on the 11" x 7" background fabric....

To make "Is This Gift For Me", iron on the face pieces onto the rectangle, lining up the bottom edge.  Make sure it's centered too.

Sew the green 11" x 4  1/2"  rectangle to the bottom edge of the
 "Is This Gift For Me" block, right sides together.

Iron the seam, then iron on the red bow.... (and the tag)

"Is This Gift For Me".... This will be the center block for our
table runner.  Isn't it cute!  Love it!!!

Continue to sew a blanket stitch around the edges of the Wilson pieces... If you prefer a satin stitch, zig zag or a straight stitch along the edge, that is fine too!

"Santa Wilson"

"Wilson Deer"

Cut 2    2  - 1/2"x 11" strips out of red fabric.  This will be the sashing for in between the three blocks.  Sew the blocks together with the sashing. Iron.

Cut  2  -2  1/2"x 35  1/2" out of red fabric, then sew to the sides of the table runner.  Iron.

Cut  2 - 2 1/2"x 15" red strips and sew to the ends of the table runner. Iron.
Layer with batting and backing, quilt as desired.  Bind.

I felt like the "Is This Gift For Me" block was missing a tag.  So I made one and ironed and stitched in on.  It helped complete the block. (The tag is included in the directions)


The finished table runner using all three Wilson quilt blocks....
finished size 38  1/2" x 14  1/2"
'Is This Package For Me?' pattern can be found HERE for free! My gift to you for stopping by during the Think Christmas Blog Hop!
'Santa Wilson' and; 'Wilson Deer' can be purchased at Craftsy as an instant PDF download or on ETSY as a PDF pattern which will be mailed to your email address within 24 hours (usually sooner). I hope that you give my table runner a try.  The table runner would make a cute gift for the dog lover in your life.  Mix up the colors to match your poochie poo!


Now onto the giveaway... Wilson and I are so excited about our giveaway!   Our friends at The Fat Quarter Shop is donating a very cool prize.  A Fat Quarter Bundle of Christmas Fun by Lynette Anderson,winner's choice of either the jolly or lively bundle.  Stop on by The Fat Quarter Shop and check out the beautiful fat quarter bundles. Just in time for you to get some of those Christmas projects done this summer!  To win, leave me a comment on which bundle you would like.  For a second chance to win, leave a comment that you are a follower too!  For a third chance to win, tweet about my blog post and the Think Christmas Hop. Wilson and I will announce a lucky winner, August 6th.



Here's a list of today's participating blogs.... have fun hopping!!!
Quilt Doodle Designs (You are here!)

Happy Quilting and Perfect Stitches to you,

Friday, July 27, 2012

Let's Celebrate Christmas!


In celebration of the 'Think Christmas' Blog Hop I thought I would share one of my favorite holiday treats with you.  This is yummy anytime of year!   Remember to mark your calendars, the Blog Hop starts on Monday.  I can't wait to share with you the fun table runner that I made up for this blog hop! I don't have a picture to show you how yummy and wonderful this snack mix is, it's never around long enough for me to snap a picture!
 
 
Almond Snack Mix
from Taste of Home
1 package (17.6 ounces) Rice Chex Cereal
2  3/4 cups sliced almonds
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
Place cereal and almonds in a large bowl; set aside. In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and butter.  Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until a candy thermometer reads 250 degrees. (hard-ball stage).  Remove from heat; sir in almond extract. Pour over cereal almond mixture; mix well. Spread onto waxed lined baking sheets; cool. Toss to break apart. Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 5 quarts.
A yummy snack to have around for game night!  Warning:  it's really yummy warm while it is cooling.  You may have to leave the house while it's cooling....
Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Week At The Lake....

I had a wonderful week at the lake with my family.  Why do vacations go by so quickly? My sister shared a really fun app for my phone, Instagram!  It is so much fun to take pictures.  I got hooked on the '1977' and 'black and white' look... I thought I would share a few photos with you...

My view from our boat....

We roasted a few of these....

My hubby with his huge crappie....

Thomas with his two Northerns he caught.... yippie!

I love to sit on the boat and read.... I caught a couple of these...

Sat on the beach and drank a few of these....

Enjoyed the view....

Did some swimming, sorry not a picture of me!  Just imagine a middle aged woman floating in a floaty with a bright green solo cup and straw....
Mark is ready to go and play in the water!

My someday home on the lake.... love this place.... I imagine quilts in every room.

Listened to the wind whisper through the trees....

Stopped at 'Big Chief' for gas.... (seriously this is across from 'Big Chief' the gas station)  

Almost home again....


"I'm so happy you're home!"
Now that I'm home, I need to catch up on laundry, pack away the gear and get back to quilting!  I love going up North to the lake every year, already looking forward to next year!  My vacations and time spent at the cabin is my inspiration for my quilt pattern, "Bear Tracks".

Happy Quilting!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

And The Winners Are....

Hope that you are enjoyed the Red White and Blue blog hop!  I still have some more fun for you!  It's time for the give-away!  Wilson and I are giving away 2 PDF patterns of your choice to 3 lucky winners!  ( You can check out my blog, Etsy store, Doodle Website or Craftsy for my patterns.)

And the lucky winners are.... drum roll please........

Jennifer Gail
Who wrote this on, Tuesday, 03 July, 2012
"Yay for flip flops. Very cute."

Sherill
 Sherill stopped by on, Tuesday, 03 July, 2012
"How cute!!! My granddaughters would love pillows with flip flops on them!"

Zuzan
 She left this lovely comment on, Thursday, 05 July, 2012

"Love yo-yo's on flip flops. What fun for summer but get ready for this we call these thongs in Australia - just in case there needs to be a translation to the other....(We/ve been calling them this for over 60 years + how "old" is the other?) Thanks for the giveaway."

Winners, you will be receiving an email from me... please stop by  my Etsy shop, Craftsy store or website to browse my patterns, then email me what 2 PDF patterns you would like me to send you.  Congratulations and happy quilting!

I want to thank everyone who stopped by the Doodle Blog during the Red, White and Blue Blog Hop, it was so much fun.  I'm looking forward to some more bloggy fun!  Can't wait until the 'Think Christmas Blog Hop" hosted by Madame Samm and
Leslie at the Cuddle Quilter.

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you!

For a complete list of who the  Red White and Blue Bloggers were, click on the 'Red White and Blue' icon on my sidebar or visit Jane's


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Sad And Lonely Days

It's Civil War Saturday and I worked on the block named 'Sad And Lonely Days' from the Civil War Diary Quilt Book from Rosemary Youngs. It is the last block in the Isabella Buchanan Edmondson's section of the book.  Isabella did not have an easy life and this diary and many of her diary entries are filled with unhappiness and this entry confirms that. She suffered much heartbreak, her mother died in 1861, her sister died in 1871, her father died in 1872. She was engaged twice but left her with heartbreak when engagements were broken. When she died at the age of 33, She may have been engaged a third time to a Yankee officer. In this particular entry she states several times...."I am so unhappy..." Rosemary designed a block that I think relates Isabella's state well with the color choices of dark colors and purple.  I tried to recreate my block with the same type of color choices.
Here are the dark colors I pulled from my Civil War stash.

I cut my fabric into triangle sections to make it easier to paper piece.  I printed up my foundation paper using Rosemary's companion CD for the book. Makes completing the blocks so much easier!  Remember my first few blocks that I did for this quilt, I hand drafted the squares.

Sewing on the lines... you can see that I numbered the rows of the foundation paper so I could keep track where the white triangle goes in the block.  Rosemary broke the block down into 6 rows of triangles.  She used 6 different fabrics in her block.  I used 5 different fabrics.  I had a hard time coming up with a sixth fabric that worked in the block and I was too lazy to drive to the quilt shop for a fat quarter.



Here are the rows, ready to be sewn together.

Sewing the rows together on the 1/4" seam line.

'Sad And Lonely Days'
July 26, 1864
Next week I am looking forward to spending some time at a cabin having some fun in the sun. I am looking forward to spending some well deserved hammock time reading. I've downloaded the book "Killing Lincoln".  I'm looking forward to reading it. I will be checking emails lakeside and doing a little design work for the fall show.  But other then that, I hope to catch a fish or two, feel the sand between my toes and drink a margarita or two or three.  Have a wonderful week! Remember to post your progress on the Civil War Diary Quilt Group on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/groups/1547598@N25/

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you!
Check out Rosemary's website.  Her books and Cd's can be ordered there too!