Is This Thing On???

Sorry it has been a little quiet around here for the past week.  We have just been running like crazy doing all of the Holiday Goodness :)  I was taking advantage of the day when the kids were at school to get some last minute shopping (which I normally don't have to do but I totally forgot stockings somehow this year :) and then everything had to be wrapped :)  And  in the evenings there has been so many wonderful activities, ie . .  . Work Party, 2 Band Concerts, Caroling, a Church Party, and a weekend away to visit for a Family Party one night and then an extended Family Party the next morning.

In fact, this will show you just how busy it has been.   I put my Summer Solstice quilt on the Long Arm first thing last Monday morning so that I could deliver it to it's intended recipient at that aforementioned Christmas Party . . . Well come Friday, I had gotten all of 1 1/2 rows done.  Yup, just a little busy, and I might be a little exhausted, but I'm not complaining because it has been oh so much fun!!!! I just love how this time of year brings people together in love and joy!!!

And now, we have a week and I think everything is pretty much ready . . . Which means, I will be spending some time getting reacquainted with my sewing machine and long arm this week!!   I hope to finish up the Summer Solstice quilt and I am just about done piecing a little secret project using these beautiful Designer Select solids ;)  

And just for fun . . . Doesn't everyone celebrate the holiday with family by playing life size Hungry, Hungry, Hippos ;)     The kids played first, but I think they enjoyed  getting to laugh at their parents trying to play even more than playing themselves ;)  

I hope you all had a very Happy Quilting (or Holiday) Weekend!!!

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 a $25.00 Gift Certificate to Lou Lou's Fabric Shop is . . .   Number #196. . . Congrats  Debar Reber!!! I have emailed you :)    

  

    

And on to today's

Today's Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is being sponsored by The Scarlet Thread Quilt Co.  Julie has the cutest little esty shop and wonderful prices.  And of course, Julie also has an amazing sale section full of wonderful fabric goodness.    And along with hosting the giveaway, Julie is offering 20% off your entire order over $10.00 good until 12/24.  Just use the code MERRYCMAS :) 

And the Terrific Tuesday Giveaway is a so super fun.  One lucky winner will get to choose their favorite 2 Charm Packs from The Scarlet Thread Quilt Co.  Yup, you get to choose and don't we all just love Charm Packs!!!  So fun!!!  

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 that tells me your favorite Christmas Tradition.  

 ENTRY 2 - Show your Scarlet Thread Quilt Co. love.   You can follow them on   Facebook, Instagram, or Favorite their Shop.  Or you can visit The Shop and then share a favorite item ;)   Just be sure to leave a comment of how you showed your Scarlet Thread Quilt Co. Love!!!

And that's it ;)  The giveaway will be open until next Tuesday, December 20th when I will announce a winner at the beginning of next weeks Terrific Tuesday Giveaway Post :)

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Weekend Goodness :)

Well, it was a super fun weekend filled with lots of Christmas Kitchen goodness . . .but before I get to that, I need to announce the winner of the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day :)  So, the winner of the Bonnie and Camille Basics Fat Eighth Bundle is . . . 

#83 . . . Congrats to Tiffany!!!!   I have emailed you ;) 

So onto my weekend spent in the Kitchen ;)   I finished up making and plating all of our Homemade Christmas Chocolates.  These are always so much fun to make up and we make them as a whole family with Christmas music singalongs the entire time :) This year we made Chocolate Truffles, Mint Truffles, Turtles, Almond Joys, Peanut Butter Cups, Chocolate Caramels, Chocolate Cinnamon Bears, and English Toffee.  They are oh so very yummy (I won't mention how many I ate while making up Christmas plates, tee hee hee ) and just in case you want to try them one year, I linked all of the recipes to the names ;)

And after finishing up the chocolates, I went to a good friends house and made up this adorable Gingerbread House with the young women in our church.  We decorated for about 2 1/2 hours and had lots of wonderful laughs and of course, lots of great Christmas tunes again ;)   And of course, as soon as I got home the kids wanted to eat all of the candy, I told them they have to give it at least a week to enjoy it ;)  

 And, I also managed to squeak in just a little bit of sewing and finished up my Jelly Roll Twist quilt that I started last week ;)  I just love the random goodness of it :)  I normally tend to plan my layouts a lot more but I really tried to just stay random and not think about it to much and I just love how fun it turned out ;)

This will have to wait until after to Christmas to be quilted most likely, but who knows, I am so excited to see it all finished up, I might just have to squeak it in again ;)

I hope you all had a very Happy Quilting Weekend as well ;)  

Blushing Mini Top Finished!!!

Yippee!!!  I finished up my MQG Mini Quilt Swap Top ;)    And I am so, so, so excited with how it turned out.   It's always fun when it comes together the way you saw it in your head ;)

  

You might recall that I mentioned back here that I was planning to make a few of the blocks from the new First Blush book from Fat Quarter Shop and play with the new Starburst Ruler.

Well I have to say, making up these starburst blocks was so much fun!!! And aren't they just so happy in their rainbow goodness ;)   And I just love the mixture of the low volume backgrounds.  Getting those center points to all come together was a bit of a learning curve, the first one was a wee bit off and took a little seam ripping to fix, but after that, I pressed open and more frequently, and the others came together just great!!

And then it came time to make them into a quilt top.  I didn't really have much of a plan here,  I just knew I wanted them to have a "flowing" kind of feel.   So I trimmed all of the blocks down and then used some masking tape on the floor to set the quilt size.  Then it was just playing with the layout until I liked the "flow".  When I was making the star blocks I decided to make some partial blocks, mainly because I had some extra pieces that didn't quite make a whole, and I am so glad I did, because they turned out so fun!!!

   

Once I liked the layout, I drafted it on some graph paper so I knew the size gaps I needed to fill in.  And wouldn't you know it, all of those scraps that I had trimmed down were the perfect filler for those blanks.  Isn't the scrappy low volume just so fun!!!

And then all that was left was to sew the quilt top pieces together.  There was a partial seam in the center that I actually had a lot of fun sewing up.  You don't get to do partial seams very often so it is always fun to see you that I still remember how to do that ;)   And can I just say, I am so loving this !!!!

And I actually had 1 Star left over that I was trying to mash in the top, but it just made it to busy, but I am so excited I decided to leave it out, because it just made the perfect backing and used up all of the last bits of trimming scraps.  happy dance for no waste ;)

Now it is time to quilt it up ;)  I haven't decided how I am going to do that yet, but I know it will be something on a small scale.  Time to sketch up some ideas ;)

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

Linking up to Amanda's, Sarah's, and Myra's ;)

Starting a new Shortcut!!

So I told myself that this month was going to be all about quilting up those quilt tops that are sitting in a pile by the long arm . . . but let's just say, I tend to get distracted easily :)  So when Fat Quarter Shop showed their newest Shortcut Quilt , the Jelly Roll Twist Quilt,  I just couldn't resist pulling some fabric ;)   And how fun to match Sweetwater's First Crush with Sandy Gervais' new #love.   It is going to be happy hearts all over ;)

I mean, how fun is this Jelly Roll Twist quilt!!!  You can find the free pattern for it over at Fat Quarter Shop along with a video tutorial for making it   ;)   And hey, it is a shortcut quilt, so it means it whips up fast and then get right back to some long arm quilting  (after I add this top to the pile, tee hee hee ;)   I plan to add an a few extra blocks to make it just a bit bigger, so it is super snuggly.

And so yesterday afternoon I strip pieced all of my jelly roll strips and then pressed them last night.  I couldn't help but cut them up first thing this morning and now they are ready to be pieced into blocks this afternoon.   Have I mentioned how much I love Shortcut Quilts!!!  So fast and fun!!!

I don't think it will be long before I can share the finished quilt top!!!  Gotta love those Shortcut Quilts!!!!   (Although it might have to wait a bit in the que of quilts that need to be quilted ;)  

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!