100 Quilts for Kids

So have you heard about the 100 Quilts for Kids Campain??  It is a wonderful campaign to encourage us all to sew for someone in need.  It is going on now until October 14th.  You can click on the button below to read more about it.

My dear  Mother-In-Law, Barbara Corry, finished up this adorable little blanket for the campaign and will be donating it to the local Women's shelter.  It is made of snuggle flannel strips and it is oh so soft!!   She asked me to link it up for her as she doesn't have a blog (but I will work on that, she is an amazing seamstress and her work is awesome!!)

As for me, I would love to show you my quilts to donate but unfortunately, my plan to have them all done by today didn't quite pan out.  So my new plan is to have them done by the Sewing Summit and take them with me to give to Kate. (Who I am so excited to meet :)  So I will have to catch the next linky go round for mine. And on a side note, I think I have convinced myself that I am going to try and do feather free motion quilting on at least one of the tops.  I am so afraid of feathers but I want to learn how and practice is the only way :)

Snuggly Quilts

**NOTE - If you are looking for the Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway sponsored by The Intrepid Thread you will find it here :)

So I just had to show this adorable quilt that my wonderful Mother-In-Law made for Josie :)  It has super soft minky on the back in a bubble print in pink, brown, and green (one of my all time favorite color combos!!)  and an adorable little ducky print on the front.  The edge is turned over from the back to give it a beautiful border finish.  Isn't it just precious!!!  And I had to add the beautiful flowers she and my children brought to me in the hospital.  I just love flowers :)

My Mother-In-Law makes blankets like this (although mostly in snuggle flannel) for humanitarian aid.  They go together pretty easy and are actually quite a lot of fun to make.  How do I know??  She taught me how to make one right before Josie was born.  I had a special request for a snuggler blanket to go with this quilt.  And this is what we put together.  I just love the way the minky dots look, so fun, and oh, so soft!! And I just love finishes!!! (especially when I have learned something new :)

Oh, and a quick reminder . . . You have just a few days left to finish up your quilt tops for the STARS Quilt-A-Long.  Everyone's is looking so amazing.  I can't wait for the parade and the Gift Certificate giveaway on Friday :)

I'm Linking Up :)

Finally got her Check-Up

Okay, so is it just me or does anyone else find it extremely hard to take their sewing machine in for it's annual cleaning.  Most of the time, they tell you a week or two out.  I can't go a week or two without my sewing machine.  I find it hard to go 2 days without my sewing machine.  That probably sounds pathetic but it is true.

So . . .  On the eve of going into the hospital, I called up my local sewing machine repair shop and decided to check my little lady in.  I figure, If I am going to be in the hospital for 3-4 days then maybe I should let my sewing machine get her turn at the "sewing machine hospital".  And you can imagine how thrilled I was to find that she was ready for pick-up this morning!!!  Yippee Skippee!!  The tech said she was "very, very, very dirty", emphasizing the very's :) I figured as much, I do what I can to keep her clean but she was overdue, to say the least, for her little tune-up.

So now we are all home, me, the baby, and my other little baby :)  Welcome home Burnadette the Bernette Bernina.   I can't wait to try her out during nap time :)

The Intrepid Thread Sponsor Giveaway :)

So how many of you have shopped at The Intrepid Thread??  If you haven't you are missing out!!   The Intrepid Thread is a fabulous Etsy Shop that has such wonderful customer service.  Each of your purchases come wrapped like a present, and who doesn't love presents???  So much fun!!!  Julie is such a wonderful shop owner to work with and she is super generous.   She has a giveaway listed on her blog every Friday!!  Sweet right :)  So if you have never taken the time to check out The Intrepid Thread, today is the day :)  

Here are a few of the things I am drooling over at The Intrepid Thread right now . . .

This Half Yard bundle of Pernilla's Journey.  I have not seen it anywhere else and I just love how whimsical it is!!

I so need some Taza!!!  These prints are gorgeous and a half yard bundle leaves you so many options to play with :)

 And of course, I always love me some adorable pre-cuts.  And some Delighted Rolie Polie's are just the thing I need :)

As a special treat for my Happy Quilting Readers, Juile has agreed to give you 10% off any purchase made at the The Intrepid Thread during this giveaway!!  Yippee Skippee!!!  So click on over and find what you just love and then when you check out enter the following code HAPPYBABY for a 10% Discount!!! 

 
Isn't it just sweet that Julie made the coupon code into a celebration of the newest little Happy Quilter :)  Thanks Julie, you are the best!!

And on that happy note, lets get on to the giveaway!!!   Moroccan Mirage has just come in and Julie is already giving some of it away!!  Yippee Skippee!!! The winner will receive a Fat Quarter Bundle of their favorite colorway.  Either Casablanca in Blue or Marrakech in Red.  (Personally, I don't know which I would choose, I love them both!!!)

You have three chance to win, and please, leave a separate comment for each (for a total of 3 comments max :) If you leave one saying I did it all, Mr. Random.Org will only count it for one. 

1. Do any one of the following at Happy Quilting and leave one comment that you did at least one of the following.  Be a follower of Happy Quilting and/or follow Happy Quilting on Facebook and/or Follow Happy Quilting on Twitter and/or list Happy Quilting on your Blogroll :)
2. Do any one of the following at The Intrepid Thread and leave one comment that you did at least one of the following.  Follow The Intrepid Thread Blog and/or Sign up for The Intrepid Thread Newsletter and/or visit The Intrepid Thread Shop and leave me a link of what you totally can't live without :)
3. Alert the Media - Post on facebook, twitter, or your blog about this giveaway.  Leave a comment saying where you wrote and a link :)  Like above, you can do more than one post but it will only get you one entry :)  

And that sums it up.  You will have until Sept 28th to enter and I will announce a winner on the morning of the 29th :)  Happy Quilting to you all and good luck!!!

Jocelyn Melissa Corry

Today our 5th child was born.   Jocelyn came into the world on 9/22/11 at 10:19 weighing in at 9 lbs 0 oz and 211/2 inches long.  She has a head of dark hair, long fingers and toes, super chubby cheeks and is happy and healthy.  We are both doing great and appreciate all the thoughts and prayers on our behalf :)

Fall Twisting

So about three weeks ago (yes, that is how long I have been meaning to post this) my Mother, My Mother-in-Law, and I decided to check out some of the Local Quilt Shops, especially as one was having a grand opening!!  (I love living in Utah, the city I live in is not big enough to have a Target but we do have 3 Local Quilt Shops :)  And you know, I found something I just couldn't pass up :) So excited!!!

So I got home with my little purchase and immediately threw everything on that "sewing commitment" pile aside and began to work on a new project.  I just couldn't help myself.  (please tell me other's do this as well) I was just so excited and I have so been wanting to work with some beautiful fall colors ever since I saw that Rachel's Celebrate Color Inspiration palette for September.  So much color inspiration going on there!!   (And if you haven't checked out the Celebrate Color campaign you should check it out, it is awesome!!!)

So I set to work and a day and a half  later I had this :)  Isn't it just so much fun!!!  I have wanted to make a quilt in this "whirly gig" pattern for so long and now I can say I finally did it!!!

I just love the beautiful browns, blues, and greens and reds.  And then the Pink just pops :)  I had some Spirit Charm packs lying around that have been waiting to find the perfect use.  And they found it :)

I finished it up with a fun swirl free motion pattern.  I haven't done this in a little while and forgot just how much fun it is!!  I am just so happy with this quilt and it was so much fun to put together :)  Yippee Skippee for Fall Twisting!!!

And being the mulit-tasker that I am, you know I couldn't completely throw everything to the wind to make this.  So . . . I decided to take pictures along the creative process and I will be guest posting a step-by-step tutorial on how to make this little beauty at the beginning of next month.  So if you have had a "whirly gig" quilt on your list of projects check back :)  It is so much fun and so very easy, I know you will just love it :)

VIBee Blocks Coming Along

Okay, so do you remember when I posted a little while back about how it is my Bee month in my VIBee Group??  And remember how I said I was doing a cute "Going Places" quilt for my son's bed??  Well, I am getting more and more excited about it with each new block that is done!!!!  And of course, I just had to show you!!!

This block is by Corey at Little Miss Shabby.  Oh my goodness, so super cute!!!

This block is by Angela at Cut To Pieces.  I just love the stitching she added!!!

This block is by Lynne at Lily's Quilts.  And yes, that is a Land Rover in Camo!!  Isn't it cool!!!!

This block is by Katie at Katie's Korner.  My son freaked out about this!!  He loves construction!!

So can you see why I am getting so excited!!!  The ladies in this group are simply amazing and I just can't wait to see this quilt all come together.  My son will be so excited he probably won't ever go to bed he will be so busy playing make believe with his quilt :)

Winner of the Burgundy Button Sponsored Giveaway!!

Thanks to everyone that took the time to enter the Burgundy Button's Sponsored Giveaway.  It is so much fun to read all of your comments.  And speaking of reading them . . . I try to respond to all of the comments on my blog but recently decided to no longer reply to giveaway comments.  It was just getting to overwhelming.  Sorry.  But know that if you ever comment on any other post on my blog I will surly reply to you :)

I am also still trying to find the best way of doing giveaways.  I know some of you responded with the idea of just leaving one comment.  And I agree that makes it fair for all, and makes it super easy (no hoops to jump through).  However,  I also feel like it really isn't fair to my sponsors who are the ones graciously providing the prize for the giveaway.  I really like to try and help generate interest in their shops while doing giveaways (as honestly, that is the entire point behind giveaways, right :)  So I don't think that is an option right now.  But if you have any other suggestions, I would love to hear them :)

So . . . Let's get to what everyone really wants to hear about . . .The Winner!!!  If  Our Good Friend Mr. Random.Org will hand me the envelope . . . . .   And the Winner is . . . . .

WHO IS . . .  SHAYSHAP!!!

Congrats to Shayshap!!!  Please email me your mailing address and your lovely hometown pack will get sent out to you asap :)

Thanks again, all!!  And have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

STARS Quilt Along - Final Layout

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of post for the STARS Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win a $50.00 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop ) you can find a list of the post links here :)


We have made it to the end!!  It is final layout day!!!  Way to go :)  Unfortunately, I am not quite as far as many of you and therefor today's tutorial will be with digital pictures instead of camera pictures.  I am sorry if this causes any issues for any of you.  I tried, but just couldn't get my stars all done and after 2 hours of straight contractions yesterday night (which eventually died off, grrr) I decided I better get this post up asap.  


So here it goes!!!

STEP 1 - SEWING THE QUILT TOP

Star by laying your quilt blocks out in your desired arrangement.  For the Queen size you will be doing a 6 x 6 layout.  (If you are doing a different size just arrange them in rows as you desire).   Go ahead and play around with your blocks until you get them in an arrangement that is pleasing to the eye.

Once you like your arrangement you can sew your blocks into rows.  This is simple.  Just take the first block in the first row and lay it onto the second block in the second row with right sides together and pin.  Then sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge and press.  Keep adding blocks to the rows in this fashion until you have all 6 (or however many you are doing) sewn together.  Repeat this process for all of your rows.

And now that your rows are sewn together you can sew your rows into your quilt top.  This is the same process just on a larger scale.  Start by placing Row 1 onto Row 2 with right sides together.  Pin along the seam edge making sure to match up your seams at the corners of your blocks.   Sew 1/4" seam along the pinned edge and press.  

Repeat this process adding one row at a time until you have sewn all of your rows together.   Your Quilt top should now look just like your original layout but now it is all sewn together :)  Isn't it exciting!!!

 STEP 2 - CUTTING AND MAKING BORDERS

Alright, so first we need to cut our border pieces and sew them into strips.  Sorry, no pictures here, but I am sure you are a master at cutting by now :)

Start with your 1/3 yard Inner Border fabric.  Cut it into 8 strips measuring 1 1/2" each.  This will use the entire 1/3 of the yard so cut carefully.  Now we want to turn those 8 strips into 4 strips so go ahead and lay 2 strips with right sides together and sew 1/4" seam along the 1 1/2" edge.  Press.  Repeat with the other strips to make a total of 4 strips measuring 1 1/2" x 86"ish.

Now onto your 1 1/4" yard Outer Border fabric.  Cut it into 8 strips measuring 5 1/2" each.  Once again, cut carefully.  And once again, we will be turning those 8 strips into 4 strips so lay 2 strips right sides together and sew 1/4" seam along the 5 1/2" edge.  Press.  Repeat with the other strips to make a total of 4 strips measuring 5 1/2" x 86"ish.  

 STEP 3 - ADDING BORDERS

Adding borders is fun and fast.  We will start by attaching the top and the bottom border first.  Lay the top small 1 1/2"  border along the top of the quilt with right sides together.  There will be excess hanging off but no worries.  I normally just align my borders as I sew and don't use pins but if you are more comfortable pinning you are welcome to.  Sew 1/4" seam along the edge and press.  Trim away the excess border fabric.  Repeat the same process for the border along the bottom of the quilt.  

 And now adding the sides is the exact same process.  Just align your side as you go sewing 1/4" seam along the edge.  Press your seam, trim the excess fabric and Whala!!  The first border is added.  Your top should look something like this.

 Now adding the second border is the exact same process as the smaller border.  Add your top and bottom border first.  (If you are doing a square you will want to make sure you are doing the same top and border first and that you haven't flipped the quilt :)  Then add the side borders second.

And Yippee Skippee!!!  Your entire quilt top is done!!!!   Way to go!!!  Don't you just want to sit back and stare at it :)  (I know I will as soon as I get it done)

I can't wait to see everyone's finished tops!!!   Be sure to post your finished top in our Flickr Group :)  It has been so much fun seeing everyone's progress!!!

And as always, should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa (at gmail (dot) com!!

****  FINAL STARS QUILT-A-LONG THOUGHTS ****

THANK YOU!!

Okay, this is where it all ends :(  I am actually sad to see this coming to a close.  It has been so much fun. I have just loved watching your stars come together and to see the amazing variety!!   Thank you to everyone that has participated along with me!!!  You are what makes doing things like this so worth the time.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

GIFT CERTIFICATE DRAWING!!

Since this is a rather large project I assume most will be sending their tops off to be quilted.  Or some of you might be brave and quilt it on your own but I understand that will take some time.  So because of those factors, you are not required to have your quilt completely finished in order to enter into the Fat Quarter Gift Certificate drawing. Just have your top done. 

So once you have finished your top . . .please either add a finished picture to our Flickr Group or email me a finished picture.  This will enter you into the Fat Quarter Shop Gift Certificate Drawing.  And since I am such a horrible example of procrastination I will give you some time to get your tops all done.  The deadline for the pictures will be the 29th of September and on the 30th I will do a Parade of Quilts on my Blog and announce the winners.  What a great way to end the month!!!

ONE LAST NOTE 

With all the above said about not having to finish your quilt I wanted to take the time to mention the following . . . Please don't let this fall into a lonely WIP pile.  You have put so much work into it.  And your blocks are all so amazing.  Please finish this up.  I promise to get mine done soon as well.    And please, please, feel free to add your completed project to the flickr group.  I just love to see things all quilted and bound.  So beautiful!!!

THANK YOU ALL FOR QUILTING ALONG WITH ME!!!  I AM ALREADY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE!!!

Work In Progress Wednesday

**NOTE - If you are looking for the Sweetwater Hometown Giveaway sponsored by Burgundy Buttons you can find it here :)

Alright, thanks to my biggest WIP (The soon to be delivery of our 5 child) I feel like it is  crunch time.  I have all of these commitments I need to keep and time is winding down until the wee one arrives.  Luckily, this last week was super productive as far as organizing, prioritizing, and cranking out some of those commitments.  However, I can't show most of any of it as it is all being saved for future posts (mostly on other's blogs :)

You know that song from Oklahoma "I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say No".  Well that is me, not with kissing, but with taking on more quilting commitments.  I just have so much fun with challenges, guest posts, and designing, how can I pass any of them up.  I know that I am stretching myself thinner each time but I just can't help it, I can't say no :)

But, with all that said, I feel like this weekend really got me more on top of everything and hopefully, if I can keep the pace for a few more days, I will be ready to have the baby without any major concerns of missing any deadlines.

So . . . What can I show you for this weeks Work In Progress . . .

First off, I sewed my 2 patches into 4 patches for my hugs and kisses quilt.  This was mostly due to the need of having all of my pins back, I was going nuts only having 1/4 of them available :)

Second, I pulled out these lovelies from the Block-A-Palooza that I bombed out of.  I figured they would work perfect for the 100 Quilts for Kids Campaign  that Kate is putting on.  They are going to be collecting some at the Sewing Summit so I am hoping to have it finished by then :)

And lastly, I made a tiny bit more progress on my own individual STARS for the STARS Quilt-A-Long.  I have a feeling the layout post (set for Friday) will be digital as I don't see myself getting these all done by Friday.  Unfortunately, as much as I hate it, these just can't be top priority right now.  But hopefully, soon, very soon.    What is a girl to do??

Celebrate Christmas!!!

So did you notice this button on the side of my blog??   Celebrate Christmas at the Quilting Gallery starts today!!!   36 designers were asked to make up a Christmas block and it kicked off today with a block by Pat Sloan! Why am  super excited about this??  Because I was asked to be one of those 36 designers!  My block won't be till November so there is a bit of waiting time. (but that is super nice for me so I can have the baby and all that jazz :) So make sure to follow along and enjoy the great prizes and even great deals on fabric and more.

Burgundy Buttons Sponsored Giveaway!!

Burgundy Buttons is one of my awesome Sponsors!!   Burgundy Buttons is a terrific on-line shop and has excellent customer service.  And they always have amazing sales going on that you will find all about on their blog.  So much fun!!! Leah is such an amazing woman and I have had a great working relationship with her for quite some time as she is my partner in making up cute Quilt Kits for my tutorials. If you have never taken the time to check them out . . seriously click on their button below and have a look around. You won't be disappointed :)

Here are a few of my favorites at Burgundy Buttons right now . . .

Bunny Hill's newest line Puttin on the Ritz!!  I just love this fabric, it is so shabby chic!!!

And this Fat Quarter Bundle of Ty Pennington's Impressions.  That is a favorite piece of eye candy!!!

 And of course, I have to say one of my favorites is my Summer Breeze Pattern that is offered exclusively at Burgundy Buttons :)

So have you clicked on over to Burgundy Buttons and found something you just can't live without???  Well Leah has a special treat for your then.  All of my Happy Quilting readers can get an extra 10% off** their order while this giveaway lasts!!!  You can even get 10% off the purchase of my pattern :)

  Just use the coupon code HQM0911 at checkout!!!

 **Certain exclusions apply as outlined in certain item descriptions

And on that happy note, lets get on to the giveaway!!!  How would you like a chance to win these lovelies???

That is a Jelly Roll of Sweetwater's ever so popular Hometown line and 2 1/2 yards of coordinating fabric!!  Yippee Skippee for amazing giveaways!!!!


You have three chance to win, and please, leave a separate comment for each (for a total of 3 comments max :) If you leave one saying I did it all, Mr. Random.Org will only count it for one.   (Oh, and remember how I mentioned reading that article on Sew Mama Sew recently about giveaways I am still giving some options a try here :)

1. Do any one of the following at Happy Quilting and leave one comment that you did at least one of the following.  Be a follower of Happy Quilting and/or follow Happy Quilting on Facebook and/or Follow Happy Quilting on Twitter and/or list Happy Quilting on your Blogroll :)
2. Do any one of the following at Burgundy Buttons and leave one comment that you did at least one of the following.  Follow Burgundy Buttons Blog and/or Follow Burgundy Buttons on Facebook and/or Follow Burgundy Buttons on Twitter and/or visit Burgundy Buttons shop and leave me a link of what you totally can't live without :)
3. Alert the Media - Post on facebook, twitter, or your blog about this giveaway.  Leave a comment saying where you wrote and a link :)  Like above, you can do more than one post but it will only get you one entry :)  

And that sums it up.  You will have until Sept 16th to enter and I will announce a winner on the morning of the 17th :)  Happy Quilting to you all and good luck!!!