100 Blocks Volume 15 Block Tour Road Rally

I am so excited!!!  It's time for another 100 Blocks Blog Hop and this year it is a Road Rally!!!   Yup, time to cruise around for all kinds of fun while you check out the awesome blocks from Volume 15 of 100 Blocks Magazine (details here on the road rally).    My block is called Celtic Tricks and it is block #1456.  And oh my goodness, I just love this block!

I just love the 100 Blocks magazine!!!  The amount of creative goodness stuffed in its pages is just incredible!!  This is the 10th time I have had a block in 100 Blocks, so that makes this particular issue pretty special to me :)  And I had to squeal a little when the magazine arrived in the mail and I found my name on the cover.  So fun!!!

I made the Celtic Tricks block in prints from Desert Bloom by Sherri and Chelsi  for Moda.  It is such a fun block to put together!!!  And how cool does it look in a full quilt layout with half of the block rotated!!!!  It has so much amazing  movement and I just love the way the way the pieces intersect with each other to create some awesome secondary designs.

   

And Celtic Tricks makes for a fantastic scrap buster for all your leftover strings!!!  Just keep it random as you make up each of your blocks.   And it comes together in some super scrappy goodness!!!   This gives you the idea of a rainbow layout, but you could easily use reds and greens for a Christmas theme, or red, white, and blue for a patriotic quilt . . . the possibilities are endless when it comes to scrap happy designs :)  

And you can always change it up by just using two colors.  I love the fun optical illusion it creates in the black and grey, and hey, you could easily name this quilt design after the theme of the hop, Road Rally!!!  Now this image is making me look forward to our next family road trip :) My family loves spending time together as we travel to new places and see new things.   And we always look for a good DINER to stop at for dinner.  I just love a good down home burger, and my husband and kids love the super yummy shakes ;)  

    

And here's a little sneak peak of another version of Celtic Tricks!!!    Isn't it so pretty in pink ;)   I'm so looking forward to when I can share more of this quilt.   And I will give you a hint . . . think Quilts from 100 Blocks :)  

  

And now, I    It really is just a super fun block to put together and whips up pretty fast.   I hope you want to make up your own version as well, and if you do, be sure and share it with me.  Maybe it will help me decide which version to make ;)

And that's all of the Celtic Tricks Block . . . But don't go away yet!!  One lucky Happy Quilting reader will be getting the all the amazing block patterns in their own copy of Volume 15 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks!!!!

    

GIVEAWAY CLOSED - Winner is #88 - Beth!!! 

To enter is easy!!  All Entries are welcome, including International Entries.  Please just be sure to leave an email address if you are a no-reply blogger ;)  One Entry per person please and I will announce a winner on Saturday, May 6th ;)

ENTRY - Simply leave a comment that tells me what kind of restaurant do you always look for when you travel??   (You know for me, its all about the DINER :)  

And be sure to pop on over to the Quilty Pleasures Blog for lots more 100 Blocks Posts, Eye Candy, and of course, lots more awesome Giveaways!!!

Oh, and by the Way . . . If you are stopping by for the first time, Welcome!!   I am so glad you visited and hope you will come back often.  I have so much fun sharing my passion for quilting here with lots of  free tutorials, giveaways, fabric eye candy, and of course, general Happy Quilting times!! And be sure to come back tomorrow for Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day :)


Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

Happy Birthday Sew Sampler!!!!

Oh my goodness, I can not believe the Sew Sampler box is 1 Year old :)  And what an amazing year it has been ;)   I have loved every single one of my 12 boxes and continue to be amazed by the wonderful quality and value of each box :)   So of course, I was super excited for the April Sew Sampler box to arrive, and its all about a Celebration!!!  And oh my, there is certainly plenty to celebrate in this fantastic box!!!

I was so excited to see these beautiful pre-cuts of Coney Island by Fig Tree & Co.  I have played with this line for some secret sewing and it is just gorgeous!!!   And how fun is it that these are a new Pre-Cut size!!!  There Moda Treat's and measure 3 1/2" square.  So fun!!!  And wouldn't you just know it, I just happen to have a stack of white 3 1/2" squares that I accidentally over-cut for a project awhile back.  How perfect will they be together.  I don't know what they will be yet, but I know it will be so cute :)

And I love this super adorable Sewing Tin from Bee in her Bonnet.   I was just thinking the other day that I needed something to store all of my rotary blades in instead of just throwing them in my drawer.  Perfect!!!!  And you just can't help but smile at that Bee Happy :)

And the notions this month are just awesome!!!  I am so excited to use that Ruler Grip when trimming, it is going to help a ton, and of course, it totally reminds me to measure twice and cut once, which is always good :)   And one can never have to many Glass Head Pins ;)   And I haven't tried Peels, but I absolutely love the Bobbini's made by the seam company, so I am sure I will love the Peels as well ;)  

And last but not least . . .  the monthly sampler block.  It's a new Year which means a new Sampler Block Series.  And this year, the amazing Lori Holt has designed a Basket Block Sampler.  I am so excited as I had one of these on my To Make list for quite some time.  But man oh man, was it hard to choose the fabrics (which is why this post took a few more days to put up ;)   So, after some deliberation, I decided to go with a Freedom Bundle by Sweetwater for Moda and I am so excited!!!

And here is Basket Block #1 :)   Isn't it just so fun!!!   I am so loving the low volume background and can't wait to mix in all of the fantastic prints in other blocks.  I mean, what goes better with the 4th of July than Picnic Baskets ;)    And well see what comes, but I think I am already planning to use an on point layout, because ya know, you don't want things to fall out of your basket ;)

And now I am super excited to see what May's Sew Sampler Box will bring both in the fabric and notions goodies as well as the next block :)  Sometimes it is so hard to wait a whole month, tee hee hee.

I hope you all have a very Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Cake Mix Bake Off Finale!!!

Well, the Cake Mix Bake Off hosted by Fat Quarter Shop has been so much fun this last month ;)  But now, it is time for the official Cake Mix Bake Off Finale!!!!   Each week for the last 4 a finalist was chosen from each of the Cake Mix Recipes.  And here are the 4 finalists.  

From Cake Mix #1 I was super honored to have my Royal Quilt selected as a finalist.   I had so much fun making up this quilt!!  You can see lots more details about Royal, including the block layout I used to come up with this design, in my original post right over here ;)  

From Cake Mix #2 is Jocelyn's gorgeous quilt using Early Bird prints by Kate Spain.  I just love the way Jocelyn's rainbow that glides over the quilt.  Just so pretty!!!

Picture used from Fat Quarter Shop :)

From Cake Mix #3 is Nova's stunning runner using Sweet Blend prints by Laundry Basket Quilts.  I just love the fun interlocking design Nova came up with.  So bold and bright!!!

Picture used from Fat Quarter Shop :)

And from Cake Mix #4 is Denise's Happy Quilt using This'nThat prints by Nancy Halversen.  And indeed, this is a happy quilt.  Don't you just love all of those wonderful colors!!!

Picture used from Fat Quarter Shop :)

So there you have it . . . and now you get to choose who will wear the Cake Mix Bake-Off Crown!!!  Be sure to pop on over to the Jolly Jabber and vote for your favorite ;)  

And a huge thank you go Fat Quarter Shop for having me a part of this Fun Cake Mix Bake Off.  And also a huge shout out to Carrie Nelson for coming up with these amazing Cake Mixes!!!  They are just so much fun to play with and the possibilities are endless of what you can create ;)  I just love that!!!  In fact, I might have just finished up 2 new Cake Mix quilts yesterday.    I can't wait until I can share more ;)  Coming soon!!!   

Thanks for popping in today and I hope you have a very Happy Quilting Day!!!

Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!

It's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!!    Let's have some fun!!!

But  before we get to today's giveaways . . . First,  we need to announce the winner from last weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!   The winner of the Guernsey Layer Cake from Shabby Fabrics is . . . Number #324. . . Congrats Melissa!!!!! I have emailed you :)    

  

So on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by Happy Quilting!!!  Yup, little ole me today ;)  No need to tell you about any specials here, so let's get right to the giveaway ;)  One lucky winner will be receiving their choice of 3 Happy Quilting PDF Patterns.    

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 what project you are currently working on ;)  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Happy Quilting love. You can follow Happy Quilting on Bloglovin, Email Updates, or RSS to get daily updates.  Or you can like Happy Quilting on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or Flickr.   Any one way will do . . . Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Happy Quilting Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, May 2nd, when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

A funny thing happened on the way to the Quilt Shop

I have a fun little story to share today with a totally awesome ending!!!

 Last week, I realized that my Artista (Abby) Sewing Machine was long overdue for it's annual  maintenance and it was making a  funny noise so I figured I best take it in.  So I packed it up (a little begrudgingly, because its hard to go back to Bernadette as she isn't quite as reliable or fast) and my husband and I headed down to St. George to take it in for service.  On the way there, my husband just casually remarked  "For all the sewing you do, you really should have a second machine that is just as reliable as the first."   And I, being a little surprised, just smiled and said, "That would be nice indeed".    And a couple hours later I was walking out of the Bernina Quilt Shop with this little lady :)

I figured my sweethearts comment would simmer and maybe something would happen for Christmas . . .  but it was just one of things where everything worked out.  We walked into the shop to drop off my machine for maintenance, and they just happened to have a traded in Aurora 440.  Which was the other machine I was totally looking at when I got my Artista, and of course, my husband remembered that.  He just smiled and said "Call it an Early Mother's Day Present ;)"  Yes indeed, I sure do love that man of mine and am so very blessed to have him!!!!!!

And I am absolutely loving this new machine!!!!  No surprise that is quickly become my main machine and my Abby is now my back-up machine :)  It is faster, and quieter, and all together just awesome!!!  I have been heads down sewing like a crazy person all weekend and loving every minute of it :)  And it comes with the embroidery unit and I can take classes at the shop on how to use it, so maybe I will finally figure out how to do that little awesome bonus on this machine!!

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I figure she already has a name so no need to come up with a new one.  I am just so excited to welcome Aurora to the family!!!!!

Hope you are having a very Happy Quilting Day!!!  I'm off for some more chain stitching goodness :)