Last Chance to Win the Snowman Pincushion

Be sure to navigate down to the original contest post below and leave a comment for your chance to win. Entries close at midnight tonight.

While I am chomping at the bit to start quilting Vintage Rouge....especially after I borrowed a quilting book from our Guild Library on Monday and in reading, finally had the bright idea to see if my chair could be adjusted higher so that I was at the right height to wrangle that big baby through my domestic machine---SURPRISE! It does. (Where has my head been for the past couple of years?).....

.....I decided to spend a couple of hours and play cut and fuse catch-up with my wool applique banner-a-month project. As you can see, I'm three months behind (December/January/February). Actually, I'm FOUR months behind because while I'm done stitching November, I haven't blanket stitched around it after I fused the backing and the sleeve to it.

At any rate, I've now got some hands stitching to grab if I decide to hang out with the hubs on the couch...which is not going to be happening tonight...it's 7:30 and while I've been up here prepping those banners, it has not occurred to him to start dinner. What has occurred to him was to come home from work, slip into his 'loungewear' and plant his ass on the couch and watch whatever violent shoot-em-up, cut-em-up, murder people TV show he most recently added to the collection on the DVR. Fortunately, he has yet to pop his head into the studio asking when I'm planning to fix dinner. Maybe it was the 47 pair of scissors and rotary cutters I had laid out on the cutting table when he last walked by.

The studio is in full bloom today. Even the Christmas Cactus (second from the left) has decided to bloom, albeit a bit late this year. Can't complain. And this weekend our temps are going to be in the 60s, and almost 70 on Sunday. Beats the heck out of snow, and while I know we can't expect Spring in January, I will definitely be out in the driveway in my flip flops washing my wheels this weekend. A worthy project to back-burner Vintage Rouge for.

Not a lot of progress on the undecorating..though I did rid the studio of Christmas. I blew out the vacuum trying to suck up a bag of fake snow last week. Wanting instant gratification I ordered a vacuum online. Who knew that it was going to be shipped from the West Coast and take a week to arrive.

It's scheduled to appear tomorrow, so I can finally return the house to some semblance of 'clean'. The rest of the trees, flocked and snowed on, will be cleaned up after with the shop vac, when I finally get around to undecorating them. I'm thinking I should set a goal of undecorating the remaining trees when we have a snow day.....that would most definitely insure that we would NOT have a snow day this winter. Hmmm......

Anyway, let's just hope the vacuum delivery doesn't get left out on the porch when the Hancocks of Paducah delivery arrives first and I quit watching for the FedEx guy to arrive.

Check back tomorrow for our pincushion winner. Project Runway is on tonight, so I'll be piddling around in the studio glued to the set for the rest of the night (though I may need to run out to McDonalds to grab a bite to eat....I don't hear any activity in the kitchen.....sigh).

Friday March 16th post - Part II

I pulled this from the Blog Hop Giveaway post and created a separate post for it...I think it was overwhelming the giveaway.

On Wednesday I attended AQS Lancaster. I took a lot of photos, which are currently on my iPhone, so as soon as I have a chance to transfer them to my PC, I'll start posting photos of the beautiful quilts on display. Those who know me know that my main reason for attending the big shows is to shop the vendors. One of the first vendors inside the door had beautiful wool applique projects and I couldn't resist. She offered a BOM program which I signed up for, and above is the March BOM. Obviously, I couldn't wait to start it and did so as soon as I got home Wednesday night and it was finished by Thursday night. Looking forward to April's shipment.

I was also very pleased to find a Creative Memories booth where they were demonstrating the Slice Fabrique (which I received for Christmas), and a new product that is coming out to now make it easy for you to cut fabric WITHOUT having fusible interfacing backing it. YIPPEEE!!!!!!! It's a low-tac, sticky back plastic that you place on top of your fabric, run the brayer over it, and cut away. Then you can easily remove the plastic and you've got everything you need for those needle turn applique or wool applique projects.

While their website says the product is available Summer 2012, I did order some and was told that it would ship in April. I also ordered the magnetic hands free cutting system, and for making a purchase at their booth I received the lovely Slice carrying tote pictured above. Sweet! I love it as it keeps everything neatly stored away in one place (and as my neighbor, who attended the show with me pointed out "it makes it easier for her to borrow my Slice").

Once I receive my InvisiCut, I'll be sure to post a tutorial and share what I learned at their AQS booth so you can decide whether or not this is a product for you.

My major purchase at this show was thread. I'm filling in my Superior Kimono Silk collection (I only need about 37 more spools to have the full set--4 more quilt shows).

And I also picked up some more Aurifil 12 wt cotton. (Which is a set I could only dream of completing...it would take a lottery win for that to happen.) I went with a list of 10 thread colors that I thought I could use on my wool applique and redwork projects and was disappointed that half of those colors on my list weren't carried by the vendor at the show--and we're talking normal colors....gray, tan, red, green. I made two substitutions with what they did have, but at $10 a spool, I wasn't happy not getting what I really wanted. It seems to be a universal problem with the heavier Aurifil threads...the dealers don't sell a lot of it so they don't carry all the colors. It certainly makes for a challenge. Good thing I love this thread, and good thing I love a good challenge.

Gotta run. Lots to do this weekend. Good luck in the contest and check back to see what else I'm working on and how the new puppy's doing.

Quilters Blog Hop Party Giveaway

This weekend kicks off the Quilters Blog Hop Party Giveaway (you can link to this on my sidebar or by clicking on the title for this post). A bunch of quilting blogs are giving away fab prizes to their readers, just for stopping by. If you'd like to win one of my Button Patch Pincushions, leave a comment on this post between now and March 23rd. In fact, if you leave a comment on any post made during that time period you'll get an extra chance for each comment, and if you're a follower, you'll not only get one more chance, but I'll also include a Scissor Bling when I ship your prize.

The pincushion above is filled with sand (from a beach in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands...so it's an exotic prize). But if you're an international winner, you'll receive a cushion that is filled with polystyrene beads so there aren't any problems getting past International Customs.

Be sure to visit the other blogs that are giving away prizes, and good luck.

 

Yay! For Giveaways and Meeting Goals

First off, I am so proud of myself...I actually met the goal I set for January. Five, count 'em FIVE Baltimore blocks completed this month and it's not even midnight! Can I maintain the 4-5 block a month momentum for February? Wait and see.

I had to pull out my Valentine's day pincushion. It's a cute little felted wool heart. Don't you just love it?

I'm glad because I've got another one to send to one lucky person who posts a comment on this post. Tell me what you're making for Valentine's Day. It can be quilty, something baked, something crafty. And feel free to include a link to a photo. This giveaway will close at midnight EST on February 7th and I'll draw a winner on the 8th and get this in the mail to you in time for you to have it on your sewing table on the 14th.

And......if the winner happens to be a follower of my blog, I'll also include a little scissor/rotary cutter bling as a follower appreciation bonus.

Can't wait to hear what you're all up to. I'm off to spend the rest of this night prepping February Baltimore blocks, and tomorrow I hope to finish the wonky pieced rag quilt. Stay tuned!

November Follower Appreciation Giveaway

A little late, but as promised, all followers who leave a comment on this post or the final post of the month will be entered into a drawing for my red velvet cupcake pincushion pictured above. I truly appreciate all of you who take the time to follow me, read me, and leave comments related to the posts. I so enjoy our 'conversations'. And I hope you will enjoy my prizes. Who doesn't love a pincushion? If you're feeling the spirit of giving this season, feel free to spread the word. If a commenter mentions you sent them, I'll give you an extra entry.

Okay, so I've been busy this weekend. In addition to having a hundred or so good cries over the sappy Christmas movies that have been playing exclusively here in the studio (3 channels worth....Ion, Lifetime and Hallmark....not to mention network tv tonight....a 2 boxer on the tissue scale---even the commercials were tear fests), I picked up supplies for gingerbread houses, a case of art kits for this year's charitible donation, and some stocking stuffers...for me....saving the hubs a coupon fumbling trip to JoAnn (Gingher scissors and rag quilt snips).

On the productive side, I finished my fall quilt (Pumpkins Gone Wild on the Windmill Farm), which will now pretend that it's this years' Christmas quilt....which we shall get started on sometime in the coming year. I also began work on the Jinny Beyer holiday table runner at 11 p.m. this evening.

Center square created from border print.

I've got one side of the braid completed. Tomorrow night I'll run down the next, trim and put some borders on it.

For some strange reason I wandered into my craft room this morning and pulled out a project I picked up the pieces for a long, long time ago. Dollar store frames, some refrigerator magnets, a couple Christmas ornaments and wah la...

The live, love, laugh are currently hanging on the studio door, at least until the daughter sees them. The faith and hope stuffed wool hearts are sitting on shelves in the studio for inspiration. Crafting was an enjoyable distraction this weekend....and I also spent a little time papercrafting this year's gift tags.

I'm back to being behind on the tree schedule--no time or inclination for tree decorating this weekend, but here's the photos of the Tuscan tree in the master bath. When I pull pretty wine corks, I like to make ornaments out of them for this tree.

I've packed up the really cute gift I made which you can't see a photo of until the recipient receives it. It was a tricky pack (you'll see why soon), but it will be winging it's way to warmer weather tomorrow on a big brown truck (hint to recipient).

We also went to the Festival of Trees on Friday, and there were some really fun trees, and some amazing gingerbread on display. Those photos are on the cell phone, so later in the week check for a post on those.

I've caught you up on what's been happening with me. Tomorrow I need to play catch up on all of your blogs. I'm sure you all had a lovely long weekend with family and friends, and had a chance to tick off either some shopping or some holiday decorating. Tomorrow, it's off to the gym with all of you (grin), and after that, try to exercise your creative heart with an hour at the sewing machine. Enjoy your week, and rest up....the holiday madness is just beginning.!