Happy Blogiversary Day 1 & Giveaways!!!!

Wow, Wow, and triple Wow!!   Happy Quilting turned 4 years old today!!!  I am so excited!!!  I continue to be amazed at the growth of this little corner of the virtual quilting world.  Why, just last week, Happy Quilting broke 5000 followers on Bloglovin.   5000!!!!!  I am humbled that so many of you check in each day on my daily quilting adventures. This wouldn't be possible without all of you, so Thank You!!!!!!

So now, we need to celebrate!!!   So that is what we are going to do for the next three days!!!  And I thought it would be fun, as part of the celebration, to show everyone around a bit.  You know, just in case you are new to the place or maybe have missed something.

First off, one of the biggest changes to see that happened just a few weeks ago was the address change!!  Did you all catch that??    You don't have to type in the blogspot anymore!!!!!   Yippee.   Now you can get to Happy Quilting by just typing www.happyquiltingmelissa.com   So fun!!!   Although, if you do type the blogspot, it's okay, it will just forward you over to here ;)

There are lots of ways to follow along with my daily adventures here at Happy Quilting.  See over to the right, there are a whole bunch of buttons that look just like these below.  Your have RSS feeds, Email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr and my Pattern Shop ;)   All you have to do is click on the button (over on the right, not below) and it will take you right where you need to be to sign up to follow along in that particular social media ;)  It's so fun to see you and interact with you all in all of these different facets ;)

And as mentioned before, you can click on this Bloglovin button over on the right, and follow along with Bloglovin if that is your reader of choice ;)   Wouldn't it be exciting to break a new 1000 follower milestone ;)

 And we still have Google Friends Connect as an option as I hear that some people are still being able to follow along that way ;)  Good Times.

So that is a little about how to get here and how to find me on all of your favorite social media sites ;)  Tomorrow we will go through a few of those tabs up there on the top of the blog :)  There is a whole bunch of yummy quilting goodness in those ;)  

And now, what would a celebration be without some giveaways!!!!  We have 2 giveaways today to celebrate!!!   

First up for grabs is a fantastic Fat Quarter Bundle of the ever so adorable Emmy Grace!!!  I love, love, love these prints!!!  So cute!!!  Thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring this giveaway :)

And second up for grabs is a $25.00 Gift Certificate from Southern Fabric!!!  Yippee, for shopping spree's to get your favorite wishlist items!!!   Thank you to Southern Fabric for sponsoring this giveaway ;)

You have three chances to win these awesome prizes, and please leave a separate comment for each.  The comments enter you into both giveaways :)  

1 - For the first entry, I want to try to continue to make Happy Quilting a place you love to come and visit so I need some feedback.  Leave a comment here of one thing you love about coming to visit Happy Quilting.  

2 - And for a second entry, since Southern Fabric has been kind enough to sponsor this giveaway, how about we show them some love.  Southern Fabric is new (like me) on Instagram and so for this entry you need to Follow Southern Fabric on Instagram and then leave a comment here that you did so or already do ;)  

2 - And for a third entry, since Fat Quarter Shop has also been kind enough to sponsor this giveaway, how about we show them some love too.   Sign up for the Fat Quarter Shop Newsletter and then come back and leave a comment here that you did so, or already do :)  

And that's it :) The giveaway will close on Sunday, July 6th at Midnight and I will announce the winners Monday morning.    Good Luck to everyone ;)

See ya tomorrow with more Blogiversary Celebrating!!!

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Small Town Quilt Show In A Big Town Way!!

This weekend was the Small Town Quilt Show in a Big Town Way.  Barbara and I had such a wonderful time.  We got to catch up with so many wonderful friends in the industry and make a whole bunch of new friends ;)

We arrived Thursday evening and enjoyed a lovely opening social where we chatted, and chatted, and then chatted some more.  Good times!!  On Friday morning we both took the Quick Curve Ruler class put on by the wonderful ladies of Sew Kind of Wonderful.   This class was so much fun!!!!  I was nervous before class started  about sewing the curves but there was no reason to be.  These patterns are written to be squared up after the curves so you don't have to be perfect, yippee!!!  I finished my first block in class and I love, love, love it!!!!  I can't wait to get the entire quilt finished up ;)

It will look something like this when it is all done.  (hopefully ;)   You can find out more about all of the Quick Curve Ruler and the patterns at Sew Kind of Wonderful's shop :)

Right after the curves class it was time to teach my In Your Neighborhood class.   The gals in my class were fantastic.  We had so much fun and everyone did such a great job.  Look at all of their awesome Block Finishes ;)

And Laura even finished her entire quilt top before the weekend was done.  Isn't it so adorable.  It is a gift for a sweet baby girl.  So cute!!

Friday night, Barbara and I headed over to open sew and I cranked out some major chain stitching on my Metro Hoops blocks.  We sewed until 11:00 pm and then figured we should probably get a little sleep as I had to teach in the morning ;)  But it was so much fun to just sit and sew with all of the gals there.  We had a blast.

Saturday morning was my Starburst class.  And once again, these gals were just so incredible!!  We had such a great time.  The ladies all worked so hard and cranked out their first block and then a lot got some chain stitching done after that for future blocks ;)  I love seeing all of the fabrics everyone chooses.   Don't their blocks just look incredible!!

I really do love teaching, it is one of my all time favorite parts of this industry.  I just love to be able to share the passion I have for this part of my life.  I love seeing people learn new techniques and watch the joy as it clicks.   It is just wonderful!!  Thanks again to the folks at Small Town Quilt Show for having me.  It was such a fantastic weekend!!!

And one last shot, before I sign off today.   Barbara took a few sneaky shots that I didn't know about.  No, I am not doing some kind of great 80's dance here, I am showing how angled seams will match up ;)  Good Times ;)

That's it for today ;)  Be sure to check in tomorrow because it is my 4 Year Blogiversary!!!!  Goodie Goodie Gumdrops ;)  I have some fun stuff planned to celebrate :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

To Pack or not to Pack

Well, I would love to say that I am all packed up and ready to go to the Small Town Quilt Show in a Big Town Way ;)   Sadly, I am not.  This is what my floor looks like ;)  Each time I walk in my sewing room, I throw a few more things onto that quilt so I don't forget to take them.  I still need to pack it all, including my machine ;)   Oh, and packing some clothing would probably be helpful as well ;)    I have 2 hours until my son's first band concert  (so excited for him) and then we leave right after.  I can pack all of that in 2 hours, right ;)

I did manage to get all of my homework done last night  (when I should have been packing ;)  All of my strips have been pieced and pressed.  I can't wait to see how this turns out :)

I am so excited for this weekend!!!  It is going to be such a blast.  Not only to teach but to get to hang out with so many wonderful quilty friends.  This is such an amazing industry to be a part of!!

Alright, To Pack I go ;)  I don't know if I will have a chance to post again until I get back, but be sure to pop back in Monday for a weekend review and then Tuesday I have something special planned because it is my 4 year Blogiversary!!!!!  Oh my goodness, so exciting!!!




Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

My new Beatle Bag

A little while back, Barbara (my amazing MIL) made a Beatle Bag sample for Julie to have at her store, The Intrepid Thread.  And because she is the most amazing MIL ever, she made made me one too!!! Have you heard of the Beatle Bag, the pattern is by Abbey Lane Quilts and they are so awesome!!!   They are just perfect for all of your quilting needs.

You open up to find an adorable pin cushion and pocket for scissors or rotary cutter.  Perfect!!!  And don't you just love the quilting she did on it.  So cute!!!

On the other side is another pocket, since we all have more than one rotary cutter and pair or scissors ;)  And then the middle is filled with a ton of zip shut bags.  You can order  the actual bag inserts with the pattern, but Barbara opted for Zip-loc baggies, which will work just fine as well ;)

I just love the way it closes up so cute and adorable.   Barbara had me pick my fabrics so for the body of the bag I choose a favorite Kate Spain print from Terrain and the of course a fabulous wood grain in purple by Joel Dewberry for the lining.   (Joel really knows how I love purple ;)  For the lining in the inside, I choose a soft grey Pearl Bracelet print by Lizzy House.

Now I can't wait to fill this all up for the classes I will be teaching and taking this Friday and Saturday at the Small Town Quilt Show in a Big Town Way!!   It is going to be so much fun!!!  And oh how nice it will be to have everything in one place.   And I think  a few chocolates might slip into those bags as well ;)

Thank You Barbara!!!  I love, love, love it!!!!!!  Am I not the luckiest gal :)  So can you do me a favor and help me tell her what an amazing job she did.  She thinks this is "no big deal" but I just think it is amazing.  So help me show her some quilty love :)

I am off to fill this up and get packed up for the weekend (and maybe squeeze in a bit of quilting ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day

Linking Barbara's Spectacular finish to Quilt Story :)

Weekend Quilting Ups and Downs (and now Up again ;)

So Friday afternoon I finished  all of the background quilting for my Christmas Trees quilt and I was so excited to move onto the trees.  I decided on some Rancher Red and some Lawn Green Magnifico by Superior Threads.  Magnifico has a sheen to it that I just love because it adds a perfect pop!!  And of course, you wan't your Christmas Trees to be "Merry and Bright" :)

Sadly, 5 stitches in, my needle broke  (I still don't know why) and after an hour and a half of fiddling with it, I still couldn't fix it. I tried again on Saturday and just came away frustrated.   The timing is off, so the needle goes down and hits the bobbin casing.  Grrr.   Barbara and I are going to try and fix it again today (any of your longarmers out there have any suggestions??)   but I have a feeling we will be calling the handi dandy Maintenance Man.

EDIT - She Fixed It!!!!  Have I ever told you how absolutely AMAzing my Mother in Law is!!!!  Time to get back to some quilting :)

But, at least I have something else to work on while the long arm is down.   Thanks for all of your help in picking a set of fabrics for my Metro Rings quilt.  I went with Option 1 :)  I already have the strips and setting triangles cut out.  Time to start strip piecing ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!