2014 - It's A Wrap

Once again, it's time to roll up one year and get ready for a new one.  I just love this day!!!  What a wonderful opportunity to step back and see all that you have done in a year and then get super excited for all that the new year will hold ;)  So, let's get to it, some 2014 pics and some 2015 goals ;)

2014 was the year of the Quilt for me :) Oh my goodness, I had a lot of fun making quilts this year!!    I love Quilting!!   I love the fabrics, I love the designing, I love the cutting, piecing, and quilting!!!  I love it all!!!   And on a side note, I have to say, I was a little blown away when I put this little mosaic together.  You don't realize just how much you have creating until you stop and put it all together ;) If I can get the binding put on my Super Scrappy Irish Chain today that is one more finish to add to 2014 :)   And see that little question mark at the bottom, that represents some secret finishes that I still can't share.  Yup, the year of the Quilt ;)

And I also had some quilty/sewing project finishes this year ;)  I can't tell you how excited I was this Christmas to have our new matching family stockings.  They have been on the "to do" list for years and years so they were a particular happy finish for me this year ;)

And you can't forget bee blocks!!  I absolutely love the 2 bees I am in.  I love the opportunity to try new blocks, stretch my skills, and most of all, make wonderful friends with the ladies in the groups.

And those 3 little mosaics pretty much are a quick Round Up of my Happy Quilting 2014 :)  I wish my sewing machine had one of those internal timers that said how many hours I was stitching this year, that would be cool to know.  I guess I can safely say, A Lot :)  You can see more details about all of the quilts in my Quilt Archive Tab at the top of the page including links to any tutorials ;)

And now, It's time to look forward to 2015!!!

Last year at this time I printed off 4 goals that hung in my sewing room and served as a constant daily reminder of what I wanted to accomplish creatively in 2014 ;)

This will be my printout out for 2015 :)

1 -  Push Your Creative Comfort Zone
2 -  Share The Ongoing Process
3 -  Pause And See Your Journey
4 -  Say Yes While Being Mom

These probably only make sense to me but there is so much thought crammed into each little statement.  Seriously, I could write a page on each of these little 4 things and everything that goes into them and what I want to accomplish with them :)  These are a great little summary of all those thoughts.   I look forward to these 4 little lines guiding me in my 2015 Creative Journey!!

And Before I Wrap This Up . . . I can't ever say it enough.  Thank You!!!!   Thank You to each of you who make Happy Quilting a part of your day!!!  Thank you for your kind comments, pictures, sweet emails and constant words of encouragement.  They mean the world to me!!    I can not being to explain how it makes me grin from ear to ear to see how Happy Quilting continues to grow and touch people's creative lives.  Thank You!!!


So here's to 2015, May it bring us all lots and lots of  Happy Quilting!!!!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day . . . let's have some fun :)

First, we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!   The winner of the $25.00 Gift Certificate to Southern Fabric  is . . .   Number 155. . . Congrats Peaches1003!!   I have emailed you :)

    

    

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by The Intrepid Thread!!  Julie has an amazing eye for color and design and it shows in everything in her shop, especially in her custom bundles!!  Like the one she is giving away today ;)

   

Today's  Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is for a  Frosty New Year Custom Fat Quarter Bundle !!!   Oh, I just love these prints (especially the purples :) One lucky reader is going to get an exceptionally wonderful New Year Surprise!!!   (this is also available in a Half Yard Bundle here :) 

You have two entry chances, the second being optional, and please leave a separate comment for each.  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  

ENTRY 1 - Simply leave a comment telling me a favorite happy moment of 2014.

 ENTRY 2 - Show your The Intrepid Thread love. You can follow them on Facebook, Bloglovin,  or Instagram.  You can Sign up for The Intrepid Thread Newsletter (right side bar) ,  Follow Their Blog, or you can Visit the Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your The Intrepid Thread love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, January 6th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Scrappy Bindings

Well, the Super Scrappy Triple Irish Chain is about two-thirds quilted and I am so excited with how it is turning out.  But this morning, it was time to start thinking about binding.  Since this is a "Super Scrappy" quilt, it only makes sense to add a scrappy binding, right ;)  So I pulled out my trusty little basket of Binding Scraps.  Every Time I have a bit of binding left over I toss it in here and then wait for the right project.  I have made 5ish scrappy bindings from this basket and I love it every time!!!

And I was super excited to find that I had quite a few leftover grey, yellow, and navy binding bits left.  After some quick measuring and a bit of adding, I realized I only needed to add 3 leftover jelly roll strips.  (Those always come in handy!!)

And 5 minutes later, I had a super scrappy binding strip to match my Super Scrappy Triple Irish Chain that will only take me a few minutes to iron because there are only 3 pieces that need to be ironed.  Yippee!!!  Seriously, I love scrappy bindings and I love using leftover bindings to make them.  Such a time saver and oh so much fun to remember all of the quilts that you originally made with each scrappy binding piece.

So what about you . . . Whats your scrappy binding experience???  Love Em, Leave Em, or Depends on the quilt???  Have your used Binding Leftovers??

Oh, and a quick note before I sign off . . .  I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season.  Ours has been jam packed with lots of family and friends, which has been absolutely lovely, but has gotten me a bit behind on answering emails.  Sorry if I haven't gotten back to questions and comments, I will be catching up soon ;)  And I found this fun email in my inbox when attempting to catch up this morning . . .  Happy Quilting reached 7000 followers on Bloglovin!!!!  

Thank you all!!!  That sure is a fun way to start out your week and almost a new year!!!

Alright, time for me to sign off so I can catch up on emails and then finish quilting my quilt so I can get this scrappy binding added.  It remains to be see if this will be the last finish of the year of the first finish of the new year ;)

The Top is Finished . . . It's time to Quilt!!

Just before Christmas, I finished up the one more Super Scrappy Triple Irish Chain block (tutorial here)  that I needed for my quilt top.   And of course, I totally had to sew all the blocks together then (even if that meant I was up a little late on the 23rd wrapping presents ;)  It is so exciting to see the top all finished!!   (please excuse the poor photo, we ended up with a White Christmas that is still being added to so this is a sewing room floor shot)

And then or course, it got set aside the last few days for Christmas celebrating.  We had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed spending hours and hours just chatting with family, watching the kids play with toys, and eating lots of yummy food.  And yes, the Charming Handbags were a huge hit with my nieces :)

And now, its a new day . . . and I am ready for some serious Quilting Time!!  I have a  fun idea in my head and I can't wait to get this on the long arm and get quilting.  Just need to make lunch, and then nap time for the littles kidlets and play time for the older kidlets is going to equal Quilt Time for mom ;)

What about you . . . Do you have an After The Holiday's project you have been anticipating??

Linking this Quilt Top Finish to Sarah's and Amanda's :)

A Very Quilty Merry Christmas

Yesterday on Instagram, I saw that Bonnie Hunter was doing a Quilty Christmas Projects Link-up and I thought, how fun!!!  I don't know if I have ever done a Christmas Project Round-Up post, and what better day than Christmas Eve ;)  So here it goes.   These are the Christmas Projects you can find here at Happy Quilitng.

I made 3 Christmas Projects this year . . .

First, O Christmas Trees.   For more fun pics, I blogged about this quilt here.   And if you want to make your own, the tutorial for this quilt can be found here.

Second for this year, my Simply Modern Monochromatic Stockings.  Finally, we all have matching stockings, yippee!!!  For more fun pics, I blogged about these stockings here.   And if you want to make your own, the tutorial for these stockings can be found here.  

And the final Christmas Finish from this year, My Christmas Fat Quarter Fizz that was made with the Fat Quarter Shop.     For more fun pics, I blogged about this quilt here.   And if you want to make your own, the pattern for this quilt can be found here. 

Now, how about some Christmas Finishes from Yesteryear ;)

In 2012, I used my all time favorite Christmas Fabric, Countdown to Christmas from Sweetwater, to make this Spinning or Spiraling Christmas Quilt.  I blogged and wrote a tutorial for the quilt right here if you want to know more ;)

Also, in 2012, I made this Christmas Ribbons Throw, a variation on a Jelly Roll Race quilt ;)  It is fast and super fun.   I blogged and wrote a tutorial for this quilt right here if you want to know more ;)

And in 2011, I made this Christmas Traditions Advent Calendar.   It is a super fun way to get in all of your Holiday fun.   I blogged about the calendar here and if you want to make your own, you can find the tutorial for the calendar here ;)  

Then pop back another year to when I was first finding the online quilt world.  In 2010 Amy Ellis was hosting a Beginners Sampler Quilt Along and I made a Christmas Version.  So fun!!!  For more fun pics, I blogged about this here.  

And then pop way back, to when I was just learning to quilt, and ya, it took me a year or so to make one (funny how that has changed) this Christmas Around The Year quilt was the first quilt I ever made.   (Not so much of a beginner quilt, but I learned a lot)  It was given to my Mother-In-Law in 2005 and seems only appropriate that she recieved my first quilt as she is now my day to day go to in all things quilty :)  I didn't have a blog when I wrote this quilt so it's just a picture here ;)  

And that just about wraps it up.  Yup, my first quilt ever is the last one to be shared ;)  I have to say, I am so glad Bonnie did this little linky.  It really is so fun to see all of these in one place.   I hope you find a quilt or project you like that you want to whip up for next year ;)  If you do, I would love to see it.  You can add pics to my flickr group here or email me pics at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.

So that is my little Christmas Project Round-up :)   And now I best go round up the kids to go sledding.  

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!!!