July Is Crazy!!!

Okay,  So there has not been a lot of time to sew so far this month.  I have had 2 family reunions already and another one on it's way.  I love spending time with all of my family, but I have to admit, when I haven't sewn for almost 2 weeks straight I get a little crazy.  (And I can't show you any pictures of our fun family time as my camera is still missing, thanks to my MIL for letting me use hers :)

However, this week is clear and I found a bit of time on Monday night (as in midnight) to sew my first Tetris Quilt-a-Long block together.  These go together so fast so if you are on the fence about whether you have time to join, totally jump in!!!   The prizes are awesome and the blocks are so fast and so fun!!!

Then yesterday I had all of nap time so I whipped up my bee blocks for the month.

Laura asked us to do a bright scrappy log cabin block.  I used a lot of the same prints I used for my Double Dresden Delight quilt and then just added some complimenting fabrics so I had enough prints.

Sue sent us some super scrappy fabrics to make 2 little adorable scrappy Japanese X and + blocks.   This was my first time making these blocks and I can totally see how people get addicted to them!!

And even basted the quilt that has been on my floor for 3 weeks.  (Tutorial next Monday for the Christmas in July Hop, yes I am procrastinating to the last minute :)

And even though I haven't had time to sew, I have still had my computer near by.   So when I saw another  Fat Quarter Idol at Sew Mama Sew  contest I couldn't resist.  (Especially as it took me days last month to get my pinterest account all sorted out, thank you 3 year old for playing on the computer and managing to freeze my account :)  And I was super excited yesterday to find that I was a finalist :)  I choose a soft, calming, beach pallet :)  I just love it :)    So if you haven't already, pop on over and check out the finalist and vote for your favorites.  There are some beautiful color combos to choose from :)

And  I don't have a lot to report, but lets finish up with the Wednesday Rundown :)  (I haven't done one of these since the end of June, that shows how crazy it has been around here :) 

Designing Stage

• Circle Meets Square Quilt
• Ashlyn's Quilt
• WIC with MSS Quilt
• Turnovers Quilt
• Modern Squares Quilt

Piecing Stage

• Jessi and Me Quilt 
• Tetris Quilt-A-Long
• King Size Serenity Quilt
• Sew Bee Create Quilt (waiting on 2 blocks)
• Braided Irish Chain - Queen and King (a tiny bit of progress)

Quilting Stage

• Solids Quilt for Free Motion
• Snip and Clip Quilt 

Completed Stage

• July Bee Block

Tetris Quilt-A-Long - Week 1

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Tetris Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of the grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread ) you can find a list of the post links here :)


Need detailed instructions on "how to play"??  See this post :)


It's Week 1 of the Tetris Quilt-A-Long!!!!  I know lots of you are excited to play so let's get right to it :)

First, Print off your grid!!

Now, color in your Tetris Pieces

 

 

 

 

Nothing fancy needed, just fill it in as if you were playing.  Here's my grid for this week.

Now lay your fabric out to match your grid.  (Yes, 2 of my yellows are right side down, but no worries, I fixed it before I pieced it :)

And now just sew your squares into rows and then your rows into your Week 1 Block!!! (For detailed instructions on sewing a grid/patch block together see this post :)  

Yippee Skippee!!!  Your first week block is complete!!!  And now you can enter to win the weekly prize :)

The Weekly Prizes are sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop and a huge thanks goes to them for their support of the Tetris Quilt-A-Long.

This weeks  prize is a The Birds and the Bees Design Roll by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics

So what do you have to do for a chance to win this beautiful Design Roll??  Simple . . . Just link up your Week 1 block at the end of this post :)  You can link to a blog post or a flickr picture, or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Tuesday morning as I will be announcing a winner at the beginning of next weeks post :)

If you don't get your block done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :)    The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  So if your out of town, or just had a busy week, no worries!!!  Just link up when you can :)

And Don't forget to add your Week 1 Block to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group!!!  (There will be some giveaways there too, I'm just saying :)   I am so excited to see everyone's Week 1 block!!!

So what are you waiting for . . . Get your Tetris sewing on!!!

Winner and Missing

Thanks goes to Judy of Green Fairy Quilts for sponsoring our Pre-Tetris Quilt-A-Long Giveaway!!  I can't believe it starts tomorrow!!!  I am so excited :)

So . . . the lucky winner of the Sew Stitchy Jelly Roll is . . . 

Lucky #5!!!

Who happens to be . . . Laura Beech!!!  Congrats Laura, I have sent you an email :)

(I can't tell you how happy I am to have numbers on my comments again.  Thanks Angela!!!!  You can find a post here for help on how to add numbers to threaded comments :)

And this post is up a little later than I planned because I was hoping to add a few pictures of my kids on our camping trip this weekend.  They get so filthy dirty that it is comical.  Unfortunately, when I went to get the camera out of the bag, it was missing!!!

Agghhh, panic.  I unpacked all of the bags, turned things upside down, and still no camera.  I am really hoping it turns up soon.  I can't go very long without it.  (Maybe this will be the excuse I needed to go get a nice one :)  But still, hoping it turns up quickly :)

A Few Changes

I have been working on sprucing up the blog a bit lately.  Nothing major, just some layout changes and such.   My goal is to keep this space neat, tidy, and easy to navigate, but still pleasing to the eye.

Some of the changes included shifting everything to the left as I was starting to wonder if it was hard to read the posts in-between so much information on the sides. I also moved the Featured Buttons onto it's own page as they were starting to really crowd things up.  (Although that Featured Page still needs a lot of work :)  And a few other size adjustments to columns and such.

 My favorite part of the change is my new Follow Me buttons that my good friend Becca made for me :)  Aren't they cute!!

I still have some more changes that I want to make to spruce up some of the "Pages"  (All the links at the top of the blog under the header :)   But I will have to work on those here and there when time allows.

So what do you think??  Is it easy to navigate but still yummy eye candy??  Any suggestions on how to improve would be appreciated :)

TNT - Playing with Scraps

This TNT was actually a few weeks ago but I have been so busy this last week that I am using it anyhow (otherwise there would be a great big "I Got Nothing" post :)

My daughter had her friend over for a play date.  They asked if they could play with my fabric scraps.  This usually means cutting them out in fancy shapes, throwing them in the air and watching them fall.  But this particular day I decided they should Try Something New so I  came up with a New way for them to play.

They made Fabric Collages!!!  I simply sprayed some adhesive tack (same stuff I use for my Slice) onto some scrap-booking paper.  Then I let the girls cut up their desired scraps.  Then they just stuck their shapes onto the paper and Wha La . . . Instant collage.

They really had a great time . . .   And each made about 3 separate collages.  Kept them busy for 2 hours!!!!  And they even managed to keep the scraps in a pretty neat and tidy order.  What a great way to spend the afternoon.

And Josie even got in on the fun :)  She loves watching her big sister craft :)

So that is what we have been trying new (a few weeks ago :)  What have you tried new??  Link on up :)

 

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