Giveaway Day!

Welcome friends!  I'm so excited to be participating in my first ever Giveaway Day!

I have been SO lucky over the past four years (has it really been that long?) to win a few giveaways myself (I enter a lot of giveaways).  Some were small, and some were not.  If it weren't for some of the most generous people in the universe, my fabric stash would still be small enough to fit in... I don't know... something small.  ;)
So I figured it was time to pay it forward, just a little...  Hopefully there will be more giveaways in the future.

Today I'm giving away three fat quarters of these awesome texty prints.  Perfect for your low volume collection.

HOW TO ENTER:
1.  Leave me a comment - any comment will do, but if you'd like, you could tell me your favorite book.  I'm looking for new audiobooks to listen to while I sew.  :)  (I'm a fan of Brandon Sanderson, by the way.  Just in case you needed new ideas for yourself. "Mistborn" is my favorite.)
2.  For an extra entry (don't worry - it's EASY), check out my newly opened Etsy Shop HERE and tell me what your favorite item is.  I'd love to know what kinds of items you think I should make more of.

Everyone is eligible to enter - I will ship international.
However, you must leave a way for me to contact you.  No-reply bloggers who do not leave contact info will be disqualified.  :/

That's it!  I'll pick a winner via Random.org on Monday, December 16th. 
 
Now go and enter the rest of the giveaways at Sew Mama Sew.

EDIT:  This giveaway is now closed and a winner has been chosen!  Congratulations to AlidaP!

'Tis the Season!

I'm getting so excited for Christmas!  The hubby and I are taking a much needed mini vacation next week.  He has a training to attend for his job (in Las Vegas) and his boss has booked a super nice condo for us to stay in for 2 1/2 days.  We're going to drop the kids off at Grandmas and I'm going to pack my sewing machine!  While the hubby is at his training, I get to spend two ENTIRE days sewing without interruptions!  YAYAYAY!  And then we will get to hang out together at night - sans kids.  I've gotta say, I REALLY love my kids, but I think after this little break from them, I am going to love them so much more.  :)  Wanna see what I'm bringing to work on?  Well, okay.

Left to right:  Ho Ho Ho by Nancy Halverson (green and yellow) - picked up at my LQS; Hip Holiday by Josephine Kimberling (ornaments and trees); In From the Cold by Kate Spain (mittens, gingerbread men, and mugs)

 I used my gift certificate to the Intrepid Thread (the one I won from my One Block Wonder quilt top) to pick up some Christmas fabric!

I've been collecting the tutorials for Fat Quarter Shop's "Deckade The Halls" quilt all year and I've finally decided to jump in and do it!  This quilt is going to be for ME!  Everybody needs a fun quilt to pull out at Christmas time, right?  I really love these prints.  They may not necessarily go together, but I will find a way.  :)

This tan/cream flower print has been in my stash forever - I picked it up at a yard sale for SUPER cheap.  I have just enough to cover all the sashing and background in the quilt, so I've decided to make it work rather than buy 3 more yards of fabric...

I can't wait!

p.s.  I have updated my Etsy Shop to include a few fun Christmas items.  Check them out!

GIVEAWAY!

Hi Friends!  I just have to take a second to pop in and tell you that I'm taking part in my first ever giveaway this week!  I figured I should let you know about it before it's over...

Hop on over to my friend Christine's blog for all the details (or click on the picture).  (Her blog is amazing.  Once you're there, you should stay awhile and check it out.  Seriously.)  I'm giving away a set of Santa/Mrs. Claus baby bibs, made by me!

Also, I planned to get some more Christmas items ready and listed in my shop by today, but somehow the week is totally getting away from me (GAH!  Is tomorrow REALLY Thanksgiving?  Why can't my babies take longer naps so I can get more done!!!  I have three pies to make!).
Anyway.  I should have them up by Friday, along with some Black Friday sales.  What would you prefer - discounts on items or free shipping?

Thanks everyone!

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends!  

Puff Quilt #3: Scoot

I made another puff quilt!  This is my third one and it's boy themed (again).

You can see Puff Quilt #1 HERE and #2 HERE.  The next one is going to have to be girl themed.  And possibly raggy - I'm dying to try this new method!

These really are fun to make.  Although I think I stuffed my puffs fuller than normal this time around, which resulted in SORE shoulders when it came time to sew them all together!

This time around I used fabric that I won (sort of - I won a gift certificate and then proceeded to take months deciding what to use it on), mixed with a few bits and pieces left over from Kyler's growth chart and other projects.  Here's my initial fabric pull:  

The trains, helicopters, and words are from Deena Rutter's "Scoot" line.  The blue and brown stars/snowflakes are Jen Ski's "Ten Little Things."  The gray dots are Riley Blake, I think.

Sadly, the brown stars and the words didn't make the final cut, despite my best efforts to make them work.  I have big cuts of these -  I'll have to use them for something awesome.  I love texty prints, especially kid ones.  :)

I went for a sort of off center diamond layout with the colors.  Can you see it?

The first puff quilt I made was done using Honey Bear Lane's tutorial AGES ago.  She now has a pattern, if you want to make one of your own.  They really aren't too bad if you're willing to put in the time and muscle.  I love making them and my boys love squishing the puffs.  :)

Edited 6/13/14:  Linking up with Fort Worth Fabric Studio's "Oh Sew Baby" series.  Check it out!

Working with Minky

I found this HUGE cut of football fabric for an amazing price at a yard sale awhile ago and decided I wanted to make a car seat canopy with some of it. 

I've seen lots of cute car seat canopies made with minky, so I decided to give it a shot.  
What do you think?

Sewing the minky wasn't too horrible - it was cutting it to size that gave me a headache.  And the fact that you can't iron it.  That's all I'm going to say.

Once it was all sewn up, I thought it was going to look horrible - the two layers didn't seem quite the same size at first.  But when I put it on the car seat, it draped quite nicely.  Yay! 

I couldn't just settle for a plain canopy, so I made things interesting for myself and added a little strip across the front.

And I made it reversible, because - well, why not? 

Anyway.  It's up for sale in my Etsy shop.  One thing down, on to the next.  I can't wait to share my next project with you!  I just need to bind and photograph it.  :)  Here's a shot of my initial fabric pull:

I joined a bee!

So I debated joining an online quilting bee for a LONG time.  Then, when we moved to our new house in July, I decided it was time to take the plunge.  I put myself on the waiting list for do. Good Stitches.  This bee appeals to me the most because participants make blocks from their own stash - no going out and buying fabric, cutting it all up, and mailing the parts to bee mates so that they can sew it all up and send it all back.  This way seems a lot more economical to me.  :)  Plus, the quilts go to charity!  Bonus! 
Anyway, I was finally accepted into a new circle in the group called Humility.  We're going to be making quilts to donate to a Native American reservation in South Dakota.  I'm so excited - my month is May, so I've got some time to think about what blocks to request...
In the meantime, here are my blocks for November.  We were asked to make wonky stars and wonky log cabin blocks in fun, cheery colors.

More Oven Mitts

I made my mom some new oven mitts to replace her old ones that were approximately 100 years old.  They were a quick, easy project.  Happy Birthday Mom!