Swappity Swap

Courtney and I completed our second swap, this one a Valentine's Day theme. I had a sweet little vintage embroidery pattern of a Dutch boy and girl, and I wanted to pair it with windmills. I embroidered the couple and then added borders to my windmills to make the blocks the same size. As I sewed them together I realized how big this "dollquilt" was going to be. I ripped the blocks apart and decided to use fewer of them in a banner. A nice bonus: now it can be hung or used as a table runner!


And this is what Courtney sent. Our swap included a Valentine–themed dollquilt and a practical item (also Valentine-themed) for the room of the recipient's choice. Courtney chose dining room, so I painted a wood tray bright red and modge podged a piece of My Folklore fabric to the base. I forgot to take pictures. Courtney sent this whole bevy of items for my sewing room:


I had to take the quilt off the wall of honor in the bookcase to take the picture. It has embroidery, rick rack AND bright green. What's not to love? The stuff for my sewing room is amazing -- I think Courtney is psychic. I didn't have a pincushion OR a needlebook, and I have been meaning to make this cute little bag from AllPeopleQuilt.com. Thanks, Courtney!

And ironically, I went from having no pincushion to two! Susan had a giveaway in which the winner with the most embarrassing story won, and I earned third place. I got to choose from a bevy of super cute pincushions, and of course I chose the bright green! Thanks, Susan!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

I didn't quite reach my goal of finishing the heart wallhanging by Valentine's Day, but all I need to do is finish the binding. Here it is:

In the last post I described how I created the heart. I added a border in the same background white. I read through Tanya's instructions for free piecing letters, and decided to throw caution to the wind!

I'm happy with them, and the quilting. I decided to do perle 8 around the heart and a few random hearts around the letters. I have a new idea for attaching the back of the binding. I'll let you know if it works out.

Jaxon woke from his nap the other day to find cookies cooling on the counter. Oh, the temptation!

And here is what my valentine got me for Valentine's: bracelet from The Berry Patch and earrings from Tina Rice.

Insert Heart Joke Here

My progress on my Project Improv project has been very satisfying thus far. I sewed the heart with an idea of the outcome but no real plan. When I got it big enough to become a heart, I had to break out the graph paper, but that's okay.

I have almost completed the rest of this wall hanging top, and I think I'll have it layered and ready to quilt on Wednesday -- but then I may be stuck. I'm afraid to quilt it. By hand with only some small embellishment in perle cotton, or by machine with wild hearts -- that I will probably mess up? Decisions, decisions!


This seemed appropriate to post today because my heart goes out to all Australians dealing with devastating bushfires. Here's how you can help.

And the winner is....

I would like to thank my dozen or so regular blog friends for stopping by, and welcome the other 145 of you. I hope you will come by again....

But for the real reason you are here...

The random number generator chose:



which corresponds to:







Please be watching for an email. Thanks to everyone for entering! And just remember: there is such a thing as good giveaway karma. I won this:

12 fat quarters from Anna Maria Horner's new line, Good Folks. Yippee!

Entries closed!

Great googly moogly! 157 comments?!? Wow, that's like 144 more comments than usual! I guess in these rough economic times we will turn to desperate measures to feed our addictions to fabric. I might have to start a "Just Say No" campaign.

Entries are now closed, and I will be drawing tomorrow morning. I just wanted to drop by and thank YOU for dropping by, and give you the good news. The first of my three tenure votes was today, and it was unanimously positive. Yah! So now my case travels to the dean. Keep those fingers crossed, please, I don't want to start a job search!

THE GREAT INTERNATIONAL STASH BUSTING GIVEAWAY

Are you ready for 4.5 yards of fabric goodness? Today is the day! I was waiting for enough natural light to take pictures of the fabric, but it is snowing here *again*.

When I started pulling possibilities for the giveaway I was seeing distinct themes, so I am giving away THREE sets of fat quarters, six fat quarters (ish) each!! That's three winners! First place winner will get his/her choice and on down the line.

Here is what you are entering to win:

The green/brown set includes Prints Charming and Alexander Henry...(amongst others)

The blue set includes lots of Anna Maria Horner...(amongst others)

The pink/yellow set includes Robert Kaufman and Every Iota...(amongst others)

Enter to win by leaving a comment on this post by Friday 5:00 pm EST (GMT -5). And if you are feeling generous leave a comment on my previous post since no one had a chance to comment before the giveaway. C'mon, you know you want to...

**Edited to add: Yes, this giveaway is open to my international friends...and PLEASE PLEASE don't be a no-reply blogger! Leave your email address so I can aontact you if you win -- and I can say "Hi!"

Big Day Tomorrow

We are now finally *completely* with power. We returned home this weekend to 50% power, dim lights and not able to use some appliances (like the microwave and the hairdryer). I called our power company and they sent someone out Monday...to turn off our power. We had a broken wire that was a big safety hazard. It was fixed today and we are back with full power.

During the almost-week we spent at my parents with power, I did get a couple of packages. These books I ordered came, as well as this book I won in a giveaway at Pink Chalk Studio. Folk quilts may seem an odd fit for a mid-century lovin' girl like me -- but there is plenty of retro style. Here is my fave:


AND an awesome package came from my fat quarter swap partner, Rachel. Look how cute!


I've already worn the flower pin, and I have a project that the cupcakes print is PERFECT for. Thanks, Rachel!

Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey has organized the Great International Stash Busting Giveaway. Check back tomorrow morning to see what you could win, and visit Katy's blog to see who else is participating. I'll keep the giveaway open until Friday so my international friends will have plenty of time to enter!

OK, quit hogging my time, the Idol is on.