Weekend Spillover

So this weekend we took a little trip up to Salt Lake to celebrate my Grandmother's 80th Birthday.  It was so much fun to spend time with family and the entire weekend was a whirlwind.  And to top it all off, my mom came down with us for an appointment and is spending the day with us.  Yippee Skippee!!!

So, even though I had planned to share my Grandmother's Birthday Surprise today (Remember that Lone Star quilt :)  I think I will save it for tomorrow when I have more time to edit photos and such.  Instead, I will leave you with a little link.  Remember my first Quilt-A-Long.  Well Leah over at Burgundy Buttons has mocked it up in some fabulous alternates. A Stitch in Color for just a super fun quilt and  Always and Forever for her Sew Red for Women Campaign. I love them both :)  Go Check em out :)  

Swaps - My New Addiction

So I can't believe I waited so long to join in swaps.  They are so much fun!!!  I can now show you what I have been working on since my partners have received their parcels :)  

First is the Pillow Talk Swap :)  My partner, (Elaine aka Messygoat) left me a mosiac of rainbows and modern style.  I stalked her flickr account and found this pillow :)  And then I cam up with this idea to go with it :)  I was hoping the lots of white with pops of color would offset it well :)  And guess what, she loved it!!!  I am so excited.  I mean what can be better than stalking someone and trying to figure out what they would love, and then actually hitting the mark.  Yippee Skippee :)  

Here is a close up of the quilting.  I did echo quilting of the shapes in the white space.  This was so much fun!!!

And here is a shot of the black.  I added the black for a little pop.  And the binding was so much fun to put on.  It is also the first time I have done rounded edges.  I always run down to my MIL for help with those but this time, I managed on my own :)

The next swap was the Name Game Swap.  This was a swap where you designed a mini quilt around your partners "Quilting Name" and make them an adorable wall hanging for their studio.  My partner (Linda aka SewLindaAnn) posted a mosiac of rainbows and raw edge quilting.  From her inspiration I came up with this concept :)

The idea is that no matter how rainy or gloomy a day seams, there is nothing like a bit of sewing to turn the day around and make everything rosy :)  And Linda loved it!! She sent me the sweetest email with her appreciation and her words so made my month!!!  Sweet words like that remind me of why I loved all of this online quilting craziness :)  So basically, things couldn't have worked out more perfect!!!

I am now looking forward to see what comes back this way :)  I will for sure be posting it as soon as it does.  And in the mean time, I think I will be looking for another swap to join ;)  I can tell these are going to be addicting :)

TNT Thursday goes Raw!!!

So what have I been trying out new???  I have been playing with a new method of applique stitching.  Raw Edge applique that is :)  I have done tons of applique but I always stitch it down with either a blanket stitch or a zig-zag stitch.  But my Name Game Swap partner had a mosiac full of Raw Edge applique so I figured it was time to try something new.  Here is a little preview with a close up of the raw edge stitching.  (I promise to show more once my partner has received it in the mail :)

And I had so much fun with the new little technique that I decided to do my Beejeebers Monopoly Block (That I showed here) applique with raw edges as well.  Which was nice because when you are stitching 1" applique pieces blanket stitch and zig zag pretty much take up the entire applique.  Raw edge worked prefect, and once again, was a lot of fun :)

So that is what I have been trying new.   How about you????  Let's see those links :)

<br /> <a border="0" href="http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src=" https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERmOwnuoN_yJzxwDc-0EeiilcFD1-q0nwIYFJi8QgWQomMNyUe-mWSSLzpB1MHklEHvw7R3SgK4qNy-XzyNo0-QVoY6bWsu3_ACS-uXIDSqii5EEEEgawSE6dBGJI0DWhpWddnS0yvLs/s1600/TNT-thursdays-blog-button.jpg"/></a><br />

Welcome Studio Kat Designs and a Giveaway!!!

I am so excited to welcome  Studio Kat Designs as  Happy Quilting's newest sponsor!!!   Kat carries amazing purse patterns designed for the way women Really are!!!  And her bags are truly Art you can wear!

All of her bags are fabulous and there is sure to be one that fits your needs just perfect.  Like maybe this one??

The Carolina CarryAll

or this one??

The SideKick

or maybe this one??  

The DittyRoo

Kat also carries all of the notions that you would need to make up your fabulous purse.  Talk about one stop shopping!!!

And Kat even has several free patterns on her website like this cute little Airport Organizer!!  I totally could have used that on my last flight with the 4 (at the time) little ones :)

            

Thank you to Kat and Studio Kat Designs!!!!   I am so happy to have you as a part of Happy Quilting!!! So how about a little giveaway to welcome our newest sponsor!!

 Kat has graciously offered one lucky winner, not 1, not 2, but 3 of her amazing purse patterns.  Yup, one lucky winner is going to win all 3 of these!!!

The Quattro

The Baggalista

The PortaPockets Purse Insert

You have two chances to win, and please, leave a separate comment for each (for a total of 2 comments max :)  


1 - Visit Studio Kat Designs shop and leave a comment of what pattern is the perfect bag for the way you live :)


2 - Follow Studio Kat Designs Blog and leave a comment that you do so :)


So that's it, easy enough right :) The giveaway will close on Tuesday the 28th and I will announce a winner on Lucky Leap Day!!!     Good Luck to all and Happy Quilting!!!

February Bee Blocks

For the Sew. Bee. Create Bee Bethany is making a super cute blue and green quilt and gave us a choice of 4 blocks to make.  I liked this block layout.  The block is 12" finished and those 5 little guys are 2 1/2".  I really like piecing on a small scale lately.  It is just so fun!!!

For the Beejeebers Bee Linz asked us to do a 16" block representing a family friendly game.  She is doing a game night quilt for her family.  What a great idea, huh!!!  I choose Monopoly.  I had so much fun putting this block together.  And boy oh boy, did I get to use my Slice a lot.  Don't you just love those little trains.  They are 1" :)  So cute!!!!