Whirl Into Winter Giveaway.....

Sorry I am kinda late on this...I spent the evening cleaning out both our freezers to make room for a 1/4 cow we are getting today. Anyhow...about the winners....I still don't have all the items collected but I will by the end of the day. DD1 and DD2 took turns picking names this morning....yes they were up at 7:30AM!!
The Winners...
1.Tonje Norway A step in the Right Direction
2.Jen Punkiepie
3.Sew Create it Jane
4.Laurie in Maine Socks have NO thumbs
5.Rachel Griffith p.s. I quilt
6.Dandelion Quilts
7. Little Girl Quilts

Ladies...I will be trying to email each of you and if you haven't received an email from me today...PLEASE email me in case I somehow didn't use the correct addy. I am human LOL but I don't want you to miss out either.

Since I participated and won a giveaway from Blue Nickle Studios during the Fall into Fall Giveaway, I decided to join this giveaway round. It looks like there will be tons of bloggers hosting giveaways. In light of that..I've decided not to make this too complicated. I'd just like for you to leave a comment. IF you do not have a blog, you must send me your email address or you will not be entered. I have done giveaways before and inevitably I am unable to contact a winner. That being said, I will start with this pattern....

for the giveaway...and for every 50 comments, I will add another gift to be given away, such as a Moda charm pack...

Or this 6 inch Sweet little bag designed by This and That...For example, if there are only 49 comments...I will draw for one prize. If there are 223 comments...there will be 6 prizes....ooohhh...so I will try to update the post of what the prizes are, as the comments are made. Be sure to spread the word on your blogs! Comments will be closed January 15th @ 11:59 PM.

*NOTE*comments will not be accepted before January 1st, 2009...this post was done early to help our hostess get a head start on the links....

***UPDATE*** I found a few other prizes for the drawing.....

Moda's Portugal charm pack... and 4 Fat quarters of 1930's prints.....

Glitter

Ok...I finally did it. I bought some Martha Stewart Living craft supplies at Walmart. It was the glitter that did me in. I eyed the end cap with all these goodies for several weeks...on Sunday...I took DD1 to return a duplicate gift and walking back to electronics....there they were and 50% off. So I did it, I bought Martha...I am still a bit giddy about the glitter...not sure what I will do with it....but it will be fun! This in one quilt I have been plugging away at....it's one Fig and Plum jelly roll...when I took the picture I didn't have all the blocks sewn, but they are now. I just hope I get it assembled and ready to be quilted by this weekend!

This "Lady Fingers" pattern I bought from the Fat Quarter Shop....

It's super easy...I really enjoyed making it...but it could have been the fabric too...I am smitten with this fabric line. I bought it on a whim for 50% off from the "Fat quarter Shop" of course and now..I LOVE it. Here are all the blocks that one layer cake makes. It will be 66X68 when finished, so lap size. Anyhow, today while I was at my local quilt shop....I was about to finish my purchasing (mettler thread, best press, a stitchery pattern, few fabrics) and I look down and at my feet....yardage of Urban Couture....Blue floral...gorgeous and perfect for the border and backing...and I bought a bit of red for the inner border. I thought I would have to order it online but I didn't!!! yeah yeah I was so happy about that. Now I am even a few days closer to getting this one complete.

Pretty Little Potholders....a quick peek

I gave in and bought Pretty Little Potholders at Jo-ann's before Christmas....I used a 50% off coupon!! Here are a few of the projects if you haven't had the pleasure of paging through it yet.
These are my favorites and I'd like to start on one today...but I am working on 8 quilting projects at once. Yes 8. I pin as much as I can....sew all of it...then back to pinning. I enjoy the process but this is most efficient for me. I can pin for 5 minutes or 15 minutes...whatever time will allow. I know I don't seem to get a lot done...but then all of a sudden I will have 8 projects to be quilted!

I fancy this one: Handle with flair. I want to make a bunch of these for next year's Christmas gifts...yep I said it...neaxt Christmas...yikes! am I crazy?

Oooooooooo and I LOVE this one...because of the yo-yo's....and rick rack.

Cool Book

Big Block Quilts my Moose on the Porch Quilts ....by far the coolest quilting book I've found lately. Here are some of the quilts...made with 10 inch squares, charms...sweet sixteens etc.

And a view of the lay-outs....it sooo simple how she's done this...I WISH I'd thought of it!!!!

Ruffles and Rows...

I received my quilt back from Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works last week. I have been so busy with Christmas preparations that I didn't get pictures of it until now. Unfortunately, it has been dreary and raining all day. I don't think these pictures do it justice..but you'll get the gist. I sent for this Ruffles and Rows kit from The Birdhouse in Australia. I still need to attach the binding and buttons but I was too excited to show the quilting that Jackie has done.

Look at a close up......
Each row is different. I was floored when I saw it...just love it! I highly recommend Jackie for anyone looking for a custom machine quilter.

My sewing loft....and the trip around the world quilt

Hmmm where do I begin with this quilt? About a year and a half ago my daughter went into the Fabric Shack with me in Waynesville, Ohio. She picked a charm pack of Quilt for a Cure fabric because it was pink of course! She started to sew the squares together and got bored (she's 7 and that doesn't take long). I finished sewing the squares and she said it was too small for her to use. I ended up buying a jelly roll of Quilt for a Cure and my mother in law took the strips and made the quilt big enough for a twin bed...well nearly. I added borders and it was then big enough for Grace's bed. My mother in law said she new a gal in Florida that machine quilted for her. So I sent the quilt July 5th to Florida via my mother in law. My in-laws left for India the last week in August and I didn't get a chance to ask what happened to the quilt. Well it was mailed to Ohio the 3rd week in August but didn't get delivered....they returned it to the Virgin Islands?? ah that's not Florida...so then it was sent to Georgia to some holding facility. My mother in law finally got the quilt back the first week in DECEMBER! We thought it was gone for sure. Unfortunately it didn't come back as it was sent in July....it is stained....and the machine quilter marked it with something yellow on the whole border...then it sat for 4 months...so I have no idea IF it will come out. It breaks my heart that it's damaged..but atleast we have the quilt back.
I will not use that machine quilter again..I've already found another GREAT gal to quilt custom for me. I will posting the quilt she did for me...very soon.

Meanwhile, I've rearranged my sewing loft area....I love it more than ever before...now I have a place for my laptop! We bought a new desk for the office and brought the older computer desk upstairs for me...it fits under my cabinets perfectly...with 2 inches to spare....

Tutorial: Half Square Triangles from Leftovers

First let me preface this tutorial with the fact that I am not an expert...I have been quilting for 11 years and sewing for 27! I know a few things but I still have a lot to learn. I posted these half square triangles that I made while I was piecing 4 quilts from this book, Baby Fats by Cracker Jack Quilts. I had a couple of requests to show how I made my extra half square triangles before I finished my main quilt blocks.

Using the pattern I cut my squares to the sizes mentioned as shown here. You could use any size square. Then I prepared the squares for sewing by marking a pencil line diagnally from point to point. You could use a rotary cutting ruler or the Quick Quarter.

Then 1/2 inch to the right of your drawn line, draw another pencil line.

Shown here:

Now this quilt block is similar to a snow ball block. I chose 4 squares and I positioned them so that the shorter pencil line is toward the edge of the block.

I pin mine into place,

Then I sew the first line...the very center stitching line. Then I go back and repeat stitching on the shorter line.

Once all 4 corners were sewn, I used my rotary cutter and ruler and cut between the sewn lines...basically each piece will have a 1/4 inch seem allowance.
Like this:

I trim my fabric "ears"....

And now you have all 4 corners sewn, all extra corners sewn, and cut and are ready to press.

I pressed my main block first.....

And then my left over half-square triangles... I usually square them all up to the smallest block size so that are uniform. Here is the pink version I made for Doll Quilt Swap 5.

Christmas Morning....

Santa DID come to town despite my concerns about 'naughty' children of mine.... Notice the little one is in her box...She's fascinated with boxes...

We've had a great Christmas morning...the girls are playing with all their new toys and watching Alvin and the Chipmunks movie...so I get to blog woohooo!!!! I even pinned some projects for sewing...this could be a VERY merry Christmas after all....

Staff Christmas gathering....

We had a great time at a local restaurant where they seated us in the back by ourselves so we'd have privacy. Here's our resident quilter...opening her gift.
She made this 25 days til Santa, the pattern is by Nancy Halvorsen. Our party was 2 days til Santa...so it was fitting...to have the 0-2 on the display. This was given to another staff member..not ME shoot!

And here we all are....In case you haven't seen me...I'm in the top row, second from the left...long brown hair.

And here are MORE of the aprons I made....I am kinda sick of aprons....LOL.

Merry Christmas...

It's Christmas Eve, I was sitting here calming down from my last minute running around to Walmart (for groceries as all the gifts were wrapped). I was thinking of our early Christmas with my family and I just picked out some of the better photos. My sister found this book and had to get it for my daughter....Her name is Grace so it was very fitting. These are a few of the aprons I made for Christmas presents. I didn't want to show them because my sisters sometimes read my blog. They are all modeling them. I think they all loved them.

There's Elly trying to open her first present....she wasn't having much luck so she laid on it!

And my daughter and niece opening their gifts...of course they got everything they wanted.

One of my sisters received what was coined the 'gift of the year'. It's the movie "Career Opportunities" about a thief that's locked in Target and the lone janitor and how they ward off the REAL thieves. My sister works at Target....so she's intrigued with the movie. So tonight we will open presents..just the four of us...the first time in 10 years we are home for Christmas...Past years we'd go to my parents or in-laws...not this year....I'm looking forward to this.....