Winner and Wavy

This morning I have been quilting up a storm.  I put a quilt on at 8:30 this morning and I took it off right before lunch!!!  Yippee!!!  I quilted wavy lines so ya, not to hard but I love they way they look!!!   And, they do give you the added bonus of getting lots of exercise because you walk back and forth across the long arm so many times ;)    I am using 402 Pearl again, It really is becoming my all time favorite So Fine color ;)

Now I just need to get this bound today, and then take some pictures followed by some computer time and hopefully I will have a tutorial all ready for Friday!!!!  I can't wait to share this one, I am over the moon with how it turned out ;)

And before I sign off, I owe you a winner of the Superior Threads $30.00 Gift Certificate Giveaway!!!

And the lucky Happy Quilting Reader is . . .

Congrats Sylvia!!!!!  I will send you an email ;)

I am off to do some binding ;)  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Playful Petals - Daisy Fields

Today is my stop on the Playful Petals Blog Tour and I am super excited to share with you some of my thoughts and my project from Corey's amazing book!!!  Corey was part of my first online bee and has become a wonderful friend.  We even got to meet in person at the last market, where we got shushed during a schoolhouse for chatting to much ;)  Corey has always impressed me with her beautiful applique skills and I was so excited to see that her book focuses on petal applique.

No it is no secret that I love applique, but no worries, if you are new to applique and the thought of it makes you want to run for the hills, well slow down.   Corey has an entire section in the book dedicated to the basics of applique.  It walks you through step by step how to do fusible applique.  And it is so fun!!!

This book is filled with so many amazing projects.   There are 9 gorgeous quilt designs and then 9 matching pillow designs to go along with the quilt.  So fun!!!    Corey has such an amazing sense of design and color it made it super hard to pick a project.   Since the theme of this hop is Make It Mini, I decided I wanted to make one of the coordinating pillows, because nothing says Mini Project like a pillow ;)  After a lot of back and forth debating, I finally decided on the Daisy Fields pillow.  Here they are from the book.  So pretty!!!

 And here is my Daisy Fields Pillow ;)

This little mini project was so much fun to put together!!!  I love the instant gratification of seeing a project from start to finish in an afternoon.   I was a little nervous when it came time to turn it from a quilted top to a pillow, because honestly, I haven't done that in a little while.

But there was no need to worry, because Corey has a wonderful Pillow Finishing guide, that reminded me the steps for finishing up my project.  Thanks Corey!!!

 I used fabrics from Art Gallery's Poetica line and then some solid Pure Elements.  I love these beautiful bold prints, they really just make this pillow pop!!

And for the back, I had a favorite fat quarter of Tula Pink's Birds and the Bees stashed away that was just perfect for finishing this project.  I added the binding strip on the cover for that extra little finishing touch ;)  Love it!!

And I choose these prints and colors, because they play so nicely with the Joel Dewberry's Heirloom prints that make up my daughter's Stars Bedspread that I did as my second Quilt-A-Long ;)   Aren't they just so happy together ;)

And this is where this pillow will live :)  She picked out this fun plush reading chair a few days ago and it just needed an extra little pop, quite serendipitous don't you think ;)

So there is just one fun project from Corey's amazing book!!!  Be sure to follow along with the hop to see more Playful Petals inspiration!!  There are just so many great projects I know you are going to love them!!!  This book has certainly made my "to make" list longer ;)  Oh, and a final note, there just happens to be a pretty great giveaway at the end of the hop, just sayin :)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Linking up to Quilt Story :)

Bits and Pieces

My goodness, Monday is just running away with me.   I was hoping to have some fun filled rainbow goodness to share with you this morning, but I spent most of the weekend painting ceilings which ate up all my sewing time.  What ya gonna do.  But I can share some of the rainbow trimmings from getting the project cut out :)

 And I do actually have some other fun bits and pieces to share with you :)


First off, my good friend Corey Yoder who you might better know as Little Miss Shabby is starting her Playful Petals blog tour to celebrate her wonderful book.  It will be going for the next 2 weeks and be popping back here tomorrow, so I best finish up my project for it ;)  So be sure to visit her blog and see all of the fabulous petal inspiration :)
.

Second, do you remember this Mellow Yellow quilt???  Well, the ladies at the Fat Quarter Shop loved it so much at market that they have decided to kit it up in this adorable Going Home Quilt Kit ;)  So if you loved it and wanted to make one, you can now get the pattern and all the fabrics you need to make it with in one easy kit ;)  Thanks Fat Quarter Shop!!!

And finally, just in case you missed it, I shared my love of Superior Threads on the blog last Friday and am hosting a Superior Threads Giveaway .  You know how I love my So Fine thread :)

I think that covers all of the bits and pieces.   And I am done painting now so here is hoping that I can get my Petal Pop project all finished today so I can get back to Sewing the Rainbow ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Happy Endings Quilt & Giveaway

Note - Thank you for all of your wonderful thoughts on yesterday's post.  I am processing it all and will share more on it soon ;)

I totally meant to share this twin size finish last week when I posted about our Family Reunion in the mountains and somehow it just slipped my mind.   See, each year at said family reunion, they hold a raffle to help raise funds for the next years reunion.  And they have been raffling off quilts since I was a little girl.  So this year, I wanted to help.   I starting working on this Happy Endings quilt for something else that didn't work out, but It was totally okay that it didn't work out because it worked perfectly for the Reunion Raffle.   

What actually reminded me to post about this is seeing Corey's Petal Pop Blog Hop update.  When I first saw the cover of her book it reminded me of this bee block I made a while back.  I loved playing with the petals and had so much fun with all of the stay stitching.

So I decided to do a block with a take on that, simplifying it slightly.   So it is just the X and not all filled in.  I love the overall chain effect it created.  And yup, I had tons of fun with the tiny zig-zag stitching around each applique ;)

When it came time to quilt this up, I wanted to try something new that would have a beautiful fall feel that matched the tones of the prints.  So I decided on an all over leaf pattern that I just traveled from the stem.  It took a little bit to get used to and believe me, there are some weird looking leaves in there, but I just love the overall texture it creates.  

The fabrics are Valencia by Lisa Tueller Designs for Riley Blake Designs.   I just love the colors and they were a huge hit with all of my Aunts and Great Aunts.  It really was the perfect quilt for this wonderful group of people and absolutely perfect for moving into the Fall.  And of course, with all of that applique, it only made sense to add a little appliqued saying in the sashing.  Love it!!!

 Sadly, I didn't think to take pictures before the reunion as it was a crazy blur trying to get packed and forgot to take pictures of a cousin winning it.  Seriously, crazy times with 5 kids all crossing their fingers that they are going to win ;)  So these are the only shots I have of the quilt, I can not tell you how many times I have kicked myself about that since leaving.   What ya gonna do??   I guess I could always start thinking about what I will make for next year ;)

And did someone mention a giveaway at the beginning???


What really makes this quilt is all of that wonderful texture created in the background.  And that was made with my favorite So Fine Superior Threads.   So today, the lovely folks at Superior Threads are giving away a $30.00 Gift Certificate to one lucky reader!!! 

You have two chances to win, please leave a separate comment for each.  

1 - Leave a comment telling me what you love about Fall.  

2 - Follow Superior Threads.  You can follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Email Newsletter or their Blog.   Pick one or several and then leave a comment of where you are following.

And that's it :) The giveaway will close on Sunday the 20th  and I will announce a winner Monday Morning.    Good Luck to everyone ;)


Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!

Linking up this finish to Amanda's and Sarah's ;)

A Weekly Giveaway Day????

So I have been contemplating the notion of having a weekly giveaway day.  These would be on the same day each week  (I am thinking Terrific Thursday Giveaway Day).  They would be sponsored giveaways hosted by the shops that sponsor Happy Quilting.

 Now, I know that no one likes hoops but I also want to  highlight the shops that would be  sponsoring these giveaways.   So I thought a fair compromise would be to have 2 entries for the giveaway.  The first would be no hoops attached, just leave a comment.  And the second (which would be optional) would ask you to get to know a shop thorough any social media you use.  So something like . . .  Follow a shop. You can like them on Facebook or  Instagram or Twitter or their Blog or sign up for their Newsletter and then leave a comment here of where you follow :)    Edit - We could even add pick a favorite item from their shop and comment about it if that is an option people like ;)

Second Edit and really a tangent from the original question, but while we are discussing . . .  -  I appreciate the comments that have been made about the concept that giveaways are advertising.  And yes, I agree, they are, absolutely but I think they are also a fun way to advertise.   I advertise for my sponsors on my blog, otherwise they would not want to sponsor my blog which I don't blame them for because the long and the short of it is that they are a business.   I am in the same boat, I love to create and share beautiful things  but I also have to pay for that passion,  But, please know that  I really do try to keep the "business" side of Happy Quilting inline with the goal of  sharing my love of quilting.   All of my "advertising" will always be quilting related and in harmony with my quilting passion.   , I just hope this helps explain more why I choose to have sponsors and why I am contemplating doing this giveaway day :)   (And please don't think my explanation means you still can't share your thoughts, including if you don't like giveaways, it is just that, an explanation ;)

So that's the idea.  

So now, I would love it if you could share with me your thoughts about this??

Would you love it???

Do you think giveaways are great and you wouldn't mind a little optional hoop???

Would you hate it???

If you aren't a giveaway kind of gal, would you still come and read the other 6 days of the week???

Would you stop coming altogether to read because it drove you nuts??



Please, leave a comment.  I want to do what majority of readers are looking for when they come to read here ;)  You are all a part of Happy Quilting :)  You can share whatever opinion you have, but lets just remember to be nice ;)

Thank you so much for your help in this :)  I look forward to reading your thoughts on the idea ;)