The Christmas Blog Hop is Here!!

We are thinking Christmas this week! Now, just how many of you out there have great plans all thru the year, then December arrives and there is just no time?  Now fess up, I can't be the only one, can I?

 I think that's what Madame Samm and Leslie were thinking when they plotted this blog hop! Sneaky girls they are... I just knew that someone had been spying on me!!! LOL!! This is going to be a fun hop, and hopefully we will all be on track with our holiday projects when it's over.

I am told the color scheme is Red, Green and White. Now you know what a renegade I "can" be, and can't seem to make myself follow directions very well at times...  Sorry girls, this is one of those times!  But, I did use those colors too...

For this block, I went to one of my trusty "Quiltmaker 100 Block" magazines. I am sure you have seen them on the magazine rack at the super markets. I just love these em, there are so many fun ideas...

                 I bet you would probably like to "see" the block, huh!!!

This one's called "Picture This" from Sue Marsh at Whistlepig Creek Productions.

If you haven't seen Sues great patterns, be sure to click on her company name, it's linked for you, and check it out. You will find some fun things over there.

I chose this particular block because the 5 1/2" open center gave me a great place to show off some fun Christmas appliques.

Here, is where my color scheme falls apart! 

BUT

Who is more fun at Christmas than this guy?

I just love Mickey Mouse and the entire Disney experience at the holidays! So Mickey, this one is for you!

If your a Disney-holic like I am, nothing is easier than making a Mickey. I pulled out my trusty AccuQuilter GO for the circles, but you can easily do circles without it. 3 circles, 2 sizes and you are on your way to your very own Mickey.

Have I kept you in suspense long enough?

                     Here is my block for you. 12 1/2 inches of Disney Joy!!

And with it being so simple, I couldn't help but make a few more while I was at it!

I'm ready for the Holidays to begin!  How about you?

I am going to share some "fun" with you. One of you will win my single block, all bound and ready for display on "your" table top quilt rack. Sorry, Mickey and Minnie don't come with it!  :-)  So leave me a comment and make sure you follow. Next Sunday August 5th, when our blog hop is over, one of you will be selected. Make sure your not a NO-REPLY blogger, or put your email addy into the comment so I can contact you if your my winner!

Easy as that.

So hop on and enjoy!

I'm waiting to see the projects you come up with, from all the inspiration coming at you the next 7 days!!!!

:-)

Here's the rest of today's line up

July 30

Cotton Addiction

Vroomans Quilts

Kris Loves Fabric

        Moosestash Quilting your here

Paws for Stitching

Threading My Needles

Just Let Me Quilt

Living4quilting

Doodling in my Mind

Quilt Doodle Designs


and for the rest of the hop you will find the schedule here!
http://lesleythecuddlequilter.blogspot.ca/2012/06/think-christmas-blog-hop-schedule.html

Just a few more days till Christmas...

Ahhhhh blog hop I mean. Hope I didn't scare you all too much!! LOL!!!

I have been working my fingers to the bone, getting ready for it. Now, you know I can't show you my project just yet, but I can show you another one. :-)

This little guy is just one block of a quilt I did for a sample for the shop. Unfortunately the pattern is out of print. When they bought out a quilt shop, it was part of the inventory, but the only patterns available are the ones in the shop. You have to admit, it is a rather cute little guy isn't he?

 Hope that "wet your whistle" as they say, and I know I can speak for all, when I say, we are looking forward to seeing you at the blog hop starting next Monday.

Sample Quilts

I have spent my last few days busy making sample quilts for the shop.

This one has to be one of the fastest, most fun quilts I have done in a long time. It's from the Maple Island Quilts  and is called Sidelines. This one is a lap size quilt that took all of a couple of hours to stitch. I used a flannel for this one. Let me tell you when it's 100 degrees outside, working with flannel is a challenge. Oh thank goodness for air conditioning!  :-)  But when I finished the top, I realized that I hadn't bought any backing. Just what was I thinking????  So I checked my stash and came up with the perfect backing..

Until I realized I was about 1/4 yard short. ARRRRRGH!! You all know that 1/4 yard short in a backing is like 1/4 mile in a marathon!  What to do, what to do??


I am not fond of pieced backings using different fabrics. Call me crazy, I've seen some beautiful ones, but it's just not me. So I put on my thinking cap. I did have a coordinating fabric that worked well, and I found my acrylic bear templates, so I made it look like a planned backing. After all, you "can" fool some of the people some of the time, I hear! Heck, I even had a bit of a different attitude towards multi fabric backings when it was done.  Not to mention visions of fun floral backings with a spray of flowers across them, etc etc etc...  The options are endless now!  Sign me up for another multi fabric backing, my mojo is armed and ready for ya!

Quick Panel Quilt

Some times you just need to fill a fix, with a quick and easy quilting project.

That's exactly what I did today.

This cute panel print is called "Jolly Jungle"from the Henley Studio at Makower UK fabrics. You have to admit, just looking at it makes you smile. What made me smile, was the hour and a half it took to complete it. I love sewing on a border, quilting and calling it good to go!  Especially after the marathon piecing event I had previously!  :-)
            

Give a way winner

We have a winner.

                                      from Clipart.com

While for whatever reason, I can't seem to make the randomizer show up correctly on my post, but you can trust me. Our lucky winner when I plugged in numbers #1 thru #23, came back as...


ta-ta-ta-da!!!

#11

OK, so for whatever reason, my comments are not showing numbers anymore either???  But if you count down with me, you will see that the lucky and lovely Linda Coleman,  posted the 11th comment!!  Linda wrote: "My favorite job was as a young teenager on Saturdays and during school holidays I worked on a flower farm and the smell of Hyacinths coming up to Christmas was the best".   Now isn't that just about the greatest thing you can imagine!  Whew!

I have to tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about what everyone has done in their life. When we blog, we come together thru like interests, but you never really know the person at the other end of the keyboard. This gave me an opportunity to learn more about each and every one of you. We come from all different walks of life, and it was fun to learn a bit about each and everyone of you. If you didn't read the comments, you might want to check them out, too! I love the fact that quilting is the tie that binds!!  :-)  Thanks for being such a great bunch of folks!

Sooooooo Linda! I am sending an email to you, to get the mailing information, and your fabric will be on it's way!
Congrats!!! 

And thanks for all of you, who take time out of their busy schedule to read my posts. I will try to make it worth your time all the time!
                                                 or
                                   hopefully, some of the time!
                                                :-)

If any of you know, how I can get my posts numbered again, and would be willing to share that info, I would love you forever!  For the life of my I can't seem to figure it out!

500 Give-A-Way

The big 500.  I really reached (and surpassed) the big 500.  Who in the world would have dreamed that I would find that many who would want to read my dribble!  When I started blogging it was on a whim. More to make myself complete my pile of UFO's.

Did that happen you ask?   Well, not really, I am too busy blogging now!
                          LOL!!

Just kidding, I actually have finished many things, it's just that the pile was so huge, it will probably take me more than this life time, to tackle it all. And with all the great things I am finding in blog land, I am busy with other "stuff". I know, you all know what I mean :-)

But enough of all that. I have to reward my followers by having a Give-A-Way!

So with out further ado...   my little offering.
Not 1, or 2 but 3 full yard pieces of fabric.

1-for my great blog followers
2-for the glorious day it is
                    &
3-because my life changed today, and I am heading down a new path again!

If you have followed me, you know that I retired the end of April and went to work for our local Babylock dealership. I love the place and the people are fabulous, but I miss my airport job. All the drama, all the angry people and the opportunity to talk someone down off the proverbial "ledge". Who knew I would miss the environment so much??? But I am happy to say that SkyWest Airlines (United Express) has offered me a job today, and I am very excited to have accepted it. I start training in just a week and a half. Whew. It's all so fast.

So help me celebrate!

One person will win all! Leave me a comment and tell me what's the favorite thing you've read on my blog and what your favorite job is/was! And of course you have to be a follower :-)  Don't forget if you are a no-reply blogger, you will need to leave your email also. :-) We are going to leave this open until Friday morning, and then let randomizer select a winner! So put your thinking caps on.  I am wishing you all the best, and thanks for making my blogging so worthwhile :-)

Now for a little unrelated FYI:

I set my Red White and Blue blog hop post to publish at midnight the day it was supposed to go up. When I woke up at 7am...  nothing!!!   ARRRRGH

Did you all know that in order for that to happen, you also have to hit the publish button?  Well, I for one sure didn't, but Jane over at Jane's Fabrics and Quilt BLOG  was kind enough to share that tidbit with me!  I filed that one in my "Who Knew" file!  Hope that sheds some light on things for you!  :-)

Red White and Blue Blog Hop

Give me a big Whoo-Hoo, it's my turn today. I love patriotic themed quilts and goodies, so it took me only about 2 seconds to agree to design a quilt block for this auspicious occasion. Madame Samm and Jane are two of the most incredible people you will ever want to know. Thank you both for all you do for our blogging community.

Block design     hummm.............  That's a new one to me. I am not proficient with Electric Quilt. OK, I admit, that once I loaded it on my computer, that was the end. I haven't made the time to make friends with the thing. Math is not my strong suit, so that doesn't help me much, so I just jumped in and started chopping up fabrics. Is there really any other way to learn???  :-) 

I started with my favorite basket pattern and added those wonderful pin wheels to make my 12 1/2" square Patriotic Block. If I had a clue what I did, I would share, but really, it was just stitching and chopping off, stitching and chopping off. I know it would make a real block designer want to run with scissors (as far as they could, from me)!  LOL!!  But I managed make it work.  I am NOT a hand appliquer, as you all know fusible is my game, but with this challenge, why not throw in another little element that I am clueless on! After all, it's the American way isn't it?  :-) Or should I say this old, almost senile quilters way!  So I attacked the handle. Results are marginal at best, but heck, it wasn't all that painful, so it just might be something I would consider again. :-)

Since reproducing this thing is out of the question for sure, I chose to bind my block and hang it in my mini stand to celebrate the season.

BUT...
Did I really accomplish what I set out to do???

Not really, so here is a block that I dreamed up after attending a longarm retreat, and best yet, I can actually tell you what I did on this one!  :-)

I named this block the "Sparkling Showcase" block, because it is the perfect block to showcase any of your favorite things in. The 9" square offset in the block is your perfect place to put just about anything you want to show off.

It's perfect for redwork, photographs that have been transfered to fabric, a favorite quilt block, or even your kids art work. With all the fun fabric crayons, and kid friendly paints on the market, you can let them run wild, and have a great memory when it's done. In addition the layout options for the block are endless.

For this one, I went right to my favorite thing,  fusible applique. A quick trip to your search bar will reveal tons of free coloring book pages online, and that's just where this design came from.

You can access this specific design HERE.

But let your fingers do the walking and check out all the sights online yourself.
Here's a few to get you started.

http://www.hellokids.com/r_443/coloring-page/holiday-coloring-pages/4th-of-july-coloring-pages

http://www.colormegood.com/holidays/4thofjulypatriotic.html

http://www.tlsbooks.com/patrioticpuppy.pdf

Sooo...Here is how this block goes together, and pardon the poor diagram.

You will be seeing more on this block coming soon, so stay tuned!

In the mean time...

I'm sure am enjoying seeing what everyone else is up to. Whew, so much talent in blogland! I'm off to peek in on some more sites. Hope you all follow along the route as well. Just think, we are going to have so much inspiration, we will have to celebrate July 4th every day!

Here is todays lineup...
July 9th

Home Designs by Amanda

A Stitch in Time

Karen ~ Briarside Lane

                               Stitching by the Lake

                  Moose Stash Quilting   (that's me)

and you can find the entire schedule by clicking on our logo!

Enjoy!

Can you guess?

Haven't heard from me lately???  Well, it's not that I haven't been busy. 2304 that is the magic number. Yeah, you read it right 2304. 

                     The pile, just keeps getting bigger, and bigger!

                            A few turned into these. Note: just a few. :-)

                       
                             And then when that was done I had to do this...

All I can tell you at this point, is for once in my life, I believe I have managed to completely use up all my scraps. Oh no...  tell me it's not sew   so!

When it's 105 degrees outside what better place than in my air conditioned sewing cave!  :-)
And no I didn't see the light of day for 8 straight days. Good thing no one wanted me to fix a meal, do laundry or clean anything for that matter!  hehehehe