Monday, September 30, 2013

Let's Hear It for the Winners!

All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims. 
Lou Holtz



I wanted to let you know the Winners from the Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch Blog Hop.  Each of you will get a fat quarter of the scarecrow fabric.  Congratulations to Heidi and Joanna!





We got to spend a little quality time with the newest football fan in the family Saturday.  He is growing like a weed!  Maybe he wants to be a linebacker.  At just 4 months he is weighting in at over 19 lbs.  What do you think?  Georgia won by the way.  No doubt because he was rooting for them or was he just going for the monkey?




It is the end of another month already if you can believe it.  Where has 2/3 of this year gone?
I thought I'd link up with Barbara's NewFO at Catpatches for the month.  I missed it last month due to internet problems.  I started to cut up some of Misty's kerchiefs.  Each time she goes to the groomer she gets a new one and I've been saving most of them.  I finally got them pressed recently and started cutting them into half square triangles.  I think I will make some quarter square triangles too since the pile on the left is what was left.  I'm just adding a few fabrics, the paw prints so far.  I have a dog bone print and a couple of doggy prints too.  I'm thinking of making 2 quilts and giving one to her groomer.




So it seems that this post has kind of 'gone to the dogs' in theme so I guess there is only one thing left to say...

GO DAWGS!!!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Learning from the Best

One of the greatest and simplest tools for learning more and growing is doing more.
 John Roger



I really like to take classes on longarm quilting.  Even though I started stand-up quilting about 14 years ago I feel like I haven't even scratched to surface on free motion quilting. Now that I finally have a machine that is easier to work with I am making some progress. 
I do feel proficient at pantograph quilting but I still need to learn more on the free motion side of the machine. 

In the last few years I have taken a number of classes with some well known longarm quilters.  Last week I took several classes with these 3 great teachers at the Georgia Quilt Show.




Dustin Farrell, Lisa Sipes and Pam Clarke were my instructors.  
I'd taken classes with Dustin and Pam before and wanted to take more.





I actually remembered to get pictures of them to share.  Here's a few with my mug in them to prove I actually was there.  ;-)

I thought I'd show a little bit of their work too.  I'm not nearly as good as they are but I might share a few shots of mine sometime soon.



Dusty does great curls,butterflies and so many other ideas with feathers.
His quilt shop link.  I love his books and tools.  If you haven't seen this video take a look.





Lisa is know for her precision work.  It is unbelievable.
Her website. Visit her gallery for some great eye candy.


Pam started longarm quilting in the 1980's and can do it all!
Her website. She has a lot of quilts pictured there and all her products too.

I didn't just take classes at the show. I also managed to get in a little shopping.  I'll be showing you some of my new treasures soon.

By the way, the Winner for the EQ7 drawing hasn't contacted me yet.  If I don't hear from her soon I will be drawing for another winner.  I'll be announcing the Winners for the Fall Blog Hop tomorrow.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Quilts in the Pumpkin Patch Blog Hop

We are all cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out. 
Ray Bradbury



Sunshine in the attic


Sheri over at Sunshine in the Attic has put together a wonderful Fall Blog Hop and today is my day.  If you haven't visited her go check it out.  She has been offering a great giveaway each day and there is still time to get in on ALL of them!  Each blogger on the hop has been sharing a Fall Project.

I decided to finish up one of my many UFOs.  I had 3 projects that would have been nice to finish but I picked this one.  If you have been reading my blog very long you know that I have made a number of quilts using panel prints.  I usually add something to them to make them a little more interesting than just the 'off the bolt' look.  This was not a panel but instead was a fat quarter of a repeating stripe.  Here is another one like the one I used.






I added a few rows of checkerboard piecing and a strip of orange fabric.  This made it a little longer.  A narrow black border finished it off.





Here is a view from the back.  You can see the seams where I added the piecing.  Not every project has to be complicated, easy and fast works just fine sometimes.  LOL  This only took a couple of afternoons to make and now these cute little scarecrows will be making me smile all Fall!




I did a lot of stitching in the ditch.  The scarecrows are outlined and the checkerboard and two little rows of leaves have some diagonal stitching.  It was fun to do something on my domestic machine with the walking foot for a change.  Usually I am quilting on my Innova longarm these days.



I used a coordinating print on the back.  Now if you would like to be in a drawing for one of the two fat quarters of the stripe that I have left leave me a comment about why you like to read or what you like to read about on quilting blogs.  

Giveaway is now closed.

Now I said in my last post I would tell you where I went last week.  I had a good time and will be sharing some details soon.  In the meantime this is where I went.



You can catch the previous Blog Hop posts by clicking on the links below:

September 19th:  Sheri - Sunshine in the Attic
September 20th: Maggie - Maggie's Empty Nest
September 21st:  Susie - Susie's Sunroom
September 22nd:  Celine - Espritpatch
September 23rd:  Yevette - Evindie
September 24th:  Judy - Judy's Fabric Addiction
September 25th Elaine - Summercrafter

September 26th Patricia - Quilting Lines That's Me!



Linking with these wonderful blogs: Richard and Tanya Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts

Monday, September 23, 2013

The EQ7 Winner

Winning tastes good. 
Jean Claude Killy






I've been away for a few days and I'll have more to tell you about what I've been up to in my next post.  Today the news of the moment is to announce the Winner of the EQ7 Giveaway for my followers.




59.  I am following you on Bloglovin'. Those little owls are addictive. I made four of them earlier this year for a pincushion swap and just to give away. I need to make one for myself.

Congratulations Susan!  I'll be shipping your prize as soon as I have your details.

Thanks to all of my wonderful blog followers!  I look forward to getting to know you better! You are making my blogging life more fun.


Friday, September 13, 2013

Two Finished Tops

Begin -- to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished. 
Decimus Magnus Ausonius


I have been getting a few things done in the last few weeks.  I thought I'd share the two charity tops I got finished.




They look the same and they are close the only difference is that the red in this one is a solid.




The red in this once is a print and a little darker.







Our group is trying to get some 'man' friendly quilts done.  Most of the quilts we get or make have flowers or pretty prints.  Men get sick too and need quilts that they will be comfortable using.

I pieced these two on the serger.  It speeds the project along and is great for long straight seams.  The main prints were 60 inches wide so I cut the plaid lengthwise and added some small bits to the bat and ball print to make it wider.  Novelty prints work well for fast quilts like this.  Now to get them quilted soon.




EQ7  Giveaway

If you follow me make sure you comment on my previous post.  You could WIN!  Details are in the post on how to have more than one chance.

Linking with:  Link a Finish Friday  and  Finish It Up Friday

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Pincushion Blog Hop

Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs. 
Mario Andretti


Welcome to my day on the Pin It Blog Hop!!!  If you haven't been to my blog before I hope you will take a little time and have a look around to get to know me better.  I haven't been posting much lately due to some internet connection problems but I'm hoping those days are all behind me now and I can resume chatting with my readers easily and regularly!





First I want to start off with a BIG THANK YOU! to Madame Samm and Kristen for making this event possible.  They blog at Sew We Quilt and Meadowbrook.  It's always fun to get to hear from some new quilters and fabric lovers around the world.  Here is today's blog hop list.  Make sure you check them ALL out.


September 11
Quilting Lines  That's Me!


If you are one of my regular readers you may know by now that I have a thing about OWLS. I don't have a huge collection but I do have a few.   I even designed a paper pieced one, Dr. Whoot for a blog hop last year.  So when I saw this cute little pincushion in a magazine I saved it because I knew I wanted to make at least one.  After looking at the pattern a few times I realized that it was fairly small.  You know how small cute things are, you can't make just one!


Let me introduce you to my Pin Powls

Owllie

Owllie has a Scottish heritage I think

Paisley is a bit more of an introvert

Leafy is a bit more laid back than the other two

They are a great trio!  Now if they could sing it would really be a Hoot!

They were easy and fun to make.  Just 3 seams and a little handwork.  They are filled with crushed walnut shells.  I think I want to enlarge the pattern and make one that is about twice as big which still will be smaller than my hand.

Now, how about a GREAT GIVEAWAY!  I have been promising my followers that I was going to run this giveaway for months now.  I was going to start is earlier this month but I had serious internet connection problems so it had to wait.  I'm not going to put it off any longer.  Here's what the prize is:




I won this last year in a giveaway on the EQ Blog.  It was a great prize and it came with some other software too (which I kept).  I already owned it though so I thought it would be a good prize to offer on my blog at some point.  I've been a EQ user for many years and it is a great tool for quilters.  I designed my Dr. Whoot block in it.  The value of this prize is $189.95 plus shipping. 

The reason I'm giving it away now is because I passed the 50,000 pageviews mark last month.  I also am approaching the 500 followers mark although it's a little harder to keep up with since there are so many readers in use now.  This will also be my 149th published post so 150 is coming up.  So let's celebrate!

THIS DRAWING IS CLOSED.

Linking with:  Fabric Tuesday and Linky Tuesday

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Connected Again

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family. 
Barbara Bush


Hello again my friends!  I am once again connected to the internet and all my lovely readers. I'm sure your life has been ever so incomplete without my occasional patter and insights to draw upon.  LOL  Now I just need to find the time to share with you again on a regular basis.




I was working on my Pincushion Project yesterday when the repairman got things working again.  Today I had errands to run and now I need to finish it up this evening and get my post written.  If you haven't checked out today's pincushion post you will find the list at:

I have a number of things to catch you up with but alas today doesn't hold enough hours that are not otherwise spoken for to do it.  I missed my usual end of the month and beginning of the month 'to do' and 'done' posts.  I'm thinking I will just go on with the month and not try to play catch up.  Not too much of a problem since I still haven't made much of a dent in my August's List.

Gotta run now!  I don't want to get on Madame Samm's bad list.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Still no Internet

I still have no Internet.  After more than 4 hours on the phone it has been decided that the problem is in the phone line somewhere.  There is supposed to be an actual person coming to fix it Monday!!  Hopefully it want be too costly to resolve. Of course this means I probably didn't need the new router (which I can't return) or a new modem. 

I really miss all of my blogging friends!!!  I hope you have missed me a little bit too ;-)

Hope to get back with you Monday!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Internet problems

I had planned to start the EQ 7 giveaway this weekend. However, I am having problems with my Internet modem. Hopefully a new one will be here in a couple of days and I will be back in blog land again. 

I'm writing this on my phone but I don't want to do a long post this way. Can't add pictures that are on my computer this way. 

I'll be back online soon I hope. So far over 2 hours on the phone hasn't made it happen yet. ;-(

I'm glad my 2 sons are all grown and self supporting but some days I really miss having a geek in the house!!!
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