Sunday, February 16, 2014

A Snow Day

Yesterday was another snowy day here in Minnesota. It was also the day I had planned to go to my dear friend Lynn's place and have an all day sew day. So a snowy Minnesota day was perfect. Since the weather was lousy, I didn't feel bad about not running errands. Errands that I am now waiting on until Monday to run. I'd rather sit in my big comfy chair and chat with you than run errands. So let me tell you about my fun day yesterday. Starting early yesterday I packed up my machine and went to Lynn's place to sew all day. I brought one of my UFO's that I have had pinned and ready to quilt for a couple of years now. I was so hung up on what type of design to quilt, or what type of thread to use that it took me until now to work on it. Even when I laid the quilt out across the floor, I was still hesitant to work on it and almost wished I had a different project to work on. Then I thought, wait, I do have something else to work on. I had my paper piece house project (a UFO from years ago) I was ready to bail on the quilt once again. But then I realized I only had my quilting foot on my machine. I left my box of machine gadgets at home..... at home! I also didn't want to look like an unprepared dooffiss so I was stuck with quilting. I drank a cup of coffee and procrastinated on starting. I ate some crackers and kept procrastinating. Lynn asked me if I had a project to work on.... yup I have a project, I'm just a really slow starter, I'm thinking about it. ... I drank some more coffee. Well, by then I'd already wasted an hour, so I decided to jump in and start quilting. Still dinking around, I filled bobbins, and practiced some freehand quilting to check my tension... well, no more excuses...  I dove in and started quilting. It was so much fun. We snacked and sewed all day. I quilted for six hours and still don't have it done. The time just flew by! I really thought I would get it finished, but at least it's closer to finished. I took a couple of pictures to share with you.
I started quilting swirls.... using a variegated rainbow thread.
swirls... and swirls.....
I swirled the day away.... 

Lynn finished this quilt top and made a matching pillowcase to go with it.
It was fun sewing along and working on our colorful projects and just ignoring all of the white stuff that was falling outside. I look forward to our next sewing get-together! I hope to be able to share my finished quilt with you all in a week or two. It's that time of year that I am just starving for a little color outside. Anything but white. I am so tired of snow, I'll just focus on my wonderful fabric and dream of springtime.

Happy Quilting,

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Prize Announcement for February's Block

I am so thrilled with the line up of prizes I have for the BOM 2014 this year! I am happy to announce the next prize from Quilt Taffy. Corrie has generously donated a Moda Charm Pack for this month's winner. So how do I win do you ask? Well, it's very simple, make this month's, February Block, Cozy Cabin and post it to the flickr group.  For an added chance to win, blog about it too! (Send me a link if you take time to blog about it!) Wilson and I will number all of the entries and pick a winner using random.org

If you won this month's prize what would you like to get? Check out  Quilt Taffy's Website. Corrie has so much beautiful fabric.There's some super cute fabric on Corrie's site! Have fun browsing. I will be announcing a winner at the end of the month, the same time that March's block will be out.


Talking about fabric, some of you have asked about yardages for the new BOM quilt. A complete listing for fabric can be found under the BOM 2014 tab at the top of my blog. Then check under, 'The Beginning'. There you will find the listing there. Feel free to email me anytime if you have questions. The listing is a guide to help give you direction on picking out your fabrics. This quilt can also be done 'scrappy' and I will direct you how in my postings each month. I have been enjoying everyone's blocks, they all have their own personality. That is what is so much fun about a BOM challenge. Some of you have been asking for hints on this and that, but I'm very good at keeping a secret, that's part of the fun. It will be a delightful 'winter' quilt when you are done. That's all I'm sayin'.....  I love seasonal quilts and being able to switch them out depending on the season.


Remember to post your pictures! I love to see pictures!! Here are just a few...











I also have patterns posted on Patternspot and they are running a coupon code for applique patterns February 20th-26th and also a coupon code for Valentine's Day.

 10% off applique patterns! February 20th-26th
Code APP10 (all caps)


Happy Quilting,
Happy Valentine's Day!
 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Random Acts of Kindness...


I have been thinking about random acts of kindness lately. How can I make the winter here in Minnesota maybe feel not so cold for a moment or two. Maybe doing a random act here and there would cheer me up. I've been blue and sad .... I'm sure I'm still grieving dad in my own way, but I thought maybe a random act of sweetness would cheer me, even if it were only a moment or two. Did you know that it's Random Acts of Kindness week? Yup there's a week...It's this week! Knowing that it was RAK week,  I set out to cheer some unsuspecting people.... I taped a dollar bill on the snack machine at work with a note, 'have a snack on me :)...' I have no idea who was treated to a snack. But it was fun sneaking into the staff lounge so no one would see me. tee hee.... I stuffed some chocolate in the staff mailboxes. Again so much fun to sneak into the mail room to do it! I hope that it brought some smiles to a few faces.  
I hope that you have a great week!