Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day!!

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

First, we need to announce the winner from last Terrific Tuesday Giveaway!!  

The winner of the Dwell in the Possibility Layer Cake from Kimberly's Fabric Stash is . . .   Number #100 . . . Congrats rainequilts !  I have messaged you :)  

           

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by  Thousands of Bolts .   Thousands of Bolts has incredible prices that will have you super excited!!!  There are thousands of bolts to choose from and all at amazing prices, staring as low as $5.39 a yard!!!   And they have just introduced dozens and dozens of new fabrics to the inventory!!  Be sure to check it out :)

And for Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway,  Thousands of Bolts is giving one lucky winner at $25.00 Gift Certificate!!!  You can get just what you always wanted :)   And good luck picking because there are literally thousands of bolts to choose from!!!!    And after you have shopped, they would sure love it if you could post a review on Google ;)  

You have two entry chances here on the blog, 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 that tells me if you worked at a circus, What job would you choose??

 ENTRY 2 - Lets show Thousands of Bolts some Love!!!!   You can follow them on   Facebook or Instagram.  Or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Thousand of Bolts Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, August 10th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

You can also pop over to my Instagram and/or Facebook to enter there as well :)  

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Serendipity Quilt Along - Finish!!

 The Serendipity Quilt Alonghosted by the Fat Quarter Shop has just come to an end and I am thrilled to be sharing my finished quilt!!!!  This has been such a fun quilt to make and I am so excited with how much was raised for Make a Wish Foundation, as in $120,000!!!!  Isn't that just amazing!!!    I just love participating in Fat Quarter Shop's annual charity QAL as not only do I finish with a beautiful quilt, but it also benefits so many wonderful children and their families!!!

I did not do the Pieced Backing on my quilt, just a basic one so I didn't bother to take a picture of it.  But if you want to do the original backing (it is a super cute flower ), you can find the Backing Pattern Here.    It is a super cute way to finish up the quilt, but I was just happy to get the quilt finished up with all of the craziness that is July :)  

And when it came time to quilt mine, I decided on an all over echoed paisley.  I haven't quilted this in a little while, and it is still a favorite all over design.  In fact, there is a video tutorial of how I do it right over here ;)   I just love all of the beautiful texture it adds to the quilt!!!

I can't even begin to say how much I have enjoyed this QAL!!!  This is my 7th year participating in the annual Charity Quilt Along (2015 Snapshots, 2016 Crossroads, 2017 Patchwork,  2018 Clementine, 2019 Threadology, 2020 Bloomtopia and of course, this year with Serendipity) .   And I have loved it every bit as much as the previous years and now I get to look forward to next year's !!!!

Be sure to share all of your Serendipity finishes on social media with #serendipityquiltalong!!!    I can't wait to see all of your finished quilts!!!!   What an amazing QAL this has been for such a wonderful cause :)  And here is to looking forward to 2022's Charity QAL!!!! 

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

Upcoming Teaching (In person!!)

 I am so excited that I get to be teaching in person this year!!!!   What a blessing to be able to start gathering again :)   I have previously shared a few teaching engagements lined up, but there were some updates and a new retreat added so I wanted to share that for the rest of the year.   Hopefully I will get to see you in a class or two :)

Quilt Fest

Date - Sept 14-18, 2021

Place - Layton, Utah 

This September I will be teaching at two retreats in 1 week, should be fun!!!  First up,  I will be teaching 3 classes at Quilt Fest held by the Utah Quilt Guild.   I will be teaching a class of my Nordic Nights pattern (and this class is full but there is a waiting list available)  on Thursday morning,  a class of my Wishes Pattern on Wednesday afternoon, and  a class of my Desert Rose pattern on Wednesday Morning.   The registration for this retreat is open and you can sign up for classes now ;)  

 

Garden of Quilts

Date - Sept 15-18, 2021

Place - Lehi, Utah 

And then I will head down the I-15 to teach at the beautiful Ashton Gardens in Thanksgiving Point to teach 3 classes and do a Charming Baby Quilts Trunk Show at the Garden of Quilts!!!   I will be sharing my Charming Baby Quilts Trunk Show on Friday at Noon.  And I am super excited to say that the classes sizes were recently expanded, so now all of my full classes have a little more room in them!!!   I will be teaching a class of my Nordic Nights pattern on Friday Afternoon.    I will teach a class of my Desert Rose pattern on Saturday Morning and finally, I will be teaching a class of my Decades Past pattern on Saturday afternoon.   This retreat is going to be a real treat and I am so looking forward to it!!! 

Lake Powell Quilt Retreat

Date - Nov 10 - 13, 2021

Place - Paige, Arizona

And when things get cold here in Cedar come November, I am super excited to head down to Paige Arizona to teach at the Lake Powell Quilt Retreat!!!  This is my first time teaching at this particular retreat and I am super excited!!!  I will be teaching 2 classes and even taking a class as well.   I will be teaching a class of my Nordic Nights pattern (and this class is full but there is a waiting list available)  on Friday afternoon and a class of my Scraptastic Stars Pattern on Saturday Morning and there are still spots in that class.   And we are going to do a fun scrap square exchange and you know I have a big ol box of 2 1/2" squares to share with everyone in class, so fun!!!

  

And that is it for 2021 teaching.  But 2022 Teaching is starting to fill up as well, so exciting!!!  Just check back on my Teaching Page to see where I will be next!!!  And if you are interested in having me come to teach at a retreat in your area or at your guild, just send me an email at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  I would love to come and visit and share my love of quilting!!!  

I hope I get to see some of you in class!!!!   Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!!

New Works in Progress

So when I said I was excited about my Happy Mail the other day, I wasn't kidding.  I have missed my machine so I got right to work on some of these new projects.   And ya know, sometimes you start stitching and you just can't stop!!!   So ya, between last night and this morning, I whipped up the Stars and Strips mini from the Liberty Box.   Isn't it just so fun!!!  So ya, a work in progress that just needs to be quilted and bound, and I even made the binding strip already, yippee!!  

So I obviously needed another WIP, so I pulled out the adorable Joy in the Journey Rolie Polie fabric from my May Sew Sampler Box, and got to work on the Leaves pattern.  It's all cut out now, and I am going to start sewing on this just as soon as I am done typing this post.   I just think the colors are so great and perfect for a little baby born this fall ;)  

 

And last but not least, while I was away I got a ton of hits on my Playing the Scales quilt.    Looking back over the tutorial, it is getting pretty old and I thought it might be time to do an update.    So of course, new Work In Progress!!!   I dug through my stash and found this beautiful Fat Quarter Bundle of Dwell in the Possibility (which totally stuck out to me as it is the same fabric as the giveaway this week!!)   I knew right away it would be perfect with all of it's low volume and high volume prints!!  (I am saving the black FQ's for another project as I wanted the black and white to stand out in the low volume prints :)   

 I am thinking that for the update rather than share another tutorial do a new Free PDF Download, like the one I did for Cabin Among the Stars.   It was so well received, so why not take a favorite quilt and make it easier!!  Then there would be a tutorial for it as well as a pattern.  And I might even do a second PDF for the Queen Size version that I have written in the comments about.   What do you think, is that something that would be helpful??

 

I cut the quilt out yesterday and stated the strip piecing this morning so hopefully this one won't be to long of a work in progress ;)  

 Can I just say, it is sew nice to be back on my machine just stitching away!!!  What are you Working Away on???

I hope you are all have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

A Scrapbook of Quilts - Pillow Along!!

Note - If you are looking for Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Day you will find it here :) 

 I am so excited!!!  Today is my day to share in the Pillow Along for A Scrapbook of Quilts !!!  If you haven't check out this book yet, let me say, it is amazing!!!!   Co-Authors Joanna Figueroa and Carrie Nelson use 6 basic quilt blocks and a pile of scraps to make over 30 gorgeous projects. And for this week of the Pillow Along, I was asked to use the Cathedral Garden Block and a Halloween theme to make up a Pillow.  

And here is what I made!!!  Isn't this just the cutest!!!!   Of course, I always have to go off a little and I made a table runner instead of a pillow.  I can't wait to use it this year!!   This is the same Cathedral Garden Block from A Scrapbook of Quilts I just played with the fabric layout to make the word boo!!   And I think it is just so fun how it worked out.   

I used Fig Tree scraps in Orange and Cream and Grunge Black for the letters and the binding.  And rather than do each block in one fabric, I went for an all over scrappy look.  I think it really adds to making the boo pop all the more.

And when it came time to quilt it, I thought it would be fun to add to the Halloween effect by quilting spiderwebs.   This was my first time trying them, and I am super pleased with how they turned out.  Not all my echoing is perfect, but it works :)  I even added a little spider in the center o, so fun!!!    

And this Pillow Along  post wouldn't be complete without a diagram.   I am hoping you all will want to quilt along and make your own Boo Cathedral Garden Pillow or Table Runner as well.  

 You will need a copy of A Scrapbook of Quilts and use the directions for the Large Cathedral Garden Block!!!   I used 5 Orange Fig Tree Fat Quarters and 4 Cream Fig Tree Fat Quarters  and 1/2 yard of Black Grunge .  But you can totally use Scraps or more Fat Quarters for variety.  

Make 8 Blocks total in the following fabric layouts of blocks.  

                               Block 1 Layout - Make 1                           Block 2 Layout - Make 4

          

                              Block 3 Layout - Make 1                              Block 4 Layout- Make 1

         

Block 5 Layout - Make 1

Layout your Blocks as shown and sew the blocks into rows and the rows into the pillow top or table runner top.  

I added a 2" finished Scrappy Cream border to my Table Runner and then quilted and bound it.  It finishes at 20" x 36", perfect for a table runner of a lumbar pillow.  And just like that, you have an awesome Boo Cathedral Garden Pillow or Table Runner!!! 

I just loved participating in this Pillow Along and hope you will sew along as well!!!   There are 6 weeks of Blocks and 6 Themes:  Patriotic, Halloween, Autumn, Christmas, Two-Color and Neutral.  You can read all of the details about the Pillow Along on Joanna's Blog.   These are all such fun projects to make and how great is it to have a Pillow or Table Runner to swap out the whole year long ;) 

Thank you so much to Joanna and Carrie  for inviting me to join in this fun Pillow Along!!!

I am looking forward to making more pillows and table runners soon.

Be sure to follow along with the Pillow Along and if you haven't already, you will want to add A Scrapbook of Quilts to your quilting library.   It is phenomenal!!!

I hope you all have a Happy Quilting Day!!!