The random number generator picked Sue B, who wrote:
Posted by: Sue B. | December 19, 2010 at 04:17 PM
Sue - please contact me with your mailing address and I will send your pattern to you next week after the Christmas rush.
Thanks for playing along and Happy Holidays to all!
Carrie had an interesting blog post the other day about liking a quilt kit so much that she bought the same one twice. Now I confess - I have bought the same pattern and often the same piece of fabric twice, but never two of the same kit. Carrie must have really liked that quilt!
I went to a quilt expo with my friend last month and saw a sample of this beautiful Crabapple Hill design called Merry Little Christmas. Seeing the embroidered and pieced quilt in person was amazing - the photo on the pattern just does not do this design justice. I absolutely had to have the pattern!
When I got home and went to put my new pattern away, I discovered I liked that quilt so much, I bought the same pattern twice - doh! So how about a giveaway? You could start this in the new year and have it done in time to display next Christmas. Leave me a comment before 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, December 21 and I will announce one lucky winner on Tuesday morning.
Edited to add: I would love to hear if any of you have ever followed in my footsteps - buying the same book, magazine or piece of fabric twice. :)
It's the most wonderful time of the year - and one of the busiest, too! I'm sure everyone is busy making holiday plans and preparing for The Big Day. The Stashmaster House is no exception. It is a big time-saver to have the help of my 3 (not so) little ones. We've been decorating, baking and Mom's been shopping and wrapping. Our larger tree has no room underneath for presents, so I always place the presents around this small tree in our dining room. The tree is not normally so *blah* looking - this is a new addition to our decor this year. It's got pretty fiber optic lights, but we haven't quite gotten the decorations on the tree yet.
Every year I take the kids and let them each pick out an ornament. I usually end up with one or two new ones for myself. Some of my favorites are made by Swirly Designs - I discovered them in a magazine a couple of years ago and I'm totally hooked. Each Valentine's Day, Halloween/Fall and Christmas, they make a limited number of beautiful handmade polymer clay ornaments. I think they sold out of most of their Christmas offerings in one day this year, and they were all gone by Day 6. This adorable striped tree is my addition for this year - the ornaments are so beautifully made and sparkly! They come packed in a well-protected box that you can use to store them. Add yourself to their mailing list or sign up as a fan on their Facebook page so you don't miss out on their next collection of ornaments!
And I have still been able to sneak in a little bit of sewing here and there. The current project on my design wall is Carrie's pattern Due South, made using Bonnie & Camille's beautiful Bliss fabrics. It makes me happy to work on this quilt! Oh and I forgot to mention what a pleasure it is to make flying geese now that there are awesome tools that make accuracy a breeze, like my friend Monique's Fit to Be Geese ruler!
I hope you are having fun decorating, baking and hopefully sewing, too!
What? Oh yeah, I'm not new, but I haven't blogged in so long, you've all probably forgotten about me. Let's see... how can I sum up almost a month since my last blog post?
My SIL and I went on our guild's quilt retreat in early November.
I got tons of piecing done - all the blocks for Route 44 and all the blocks for Due South.
The last dinner there, I got sicker than I've ever been with food poisoning, so we left early (I had well meaning friends at work try and convince me I had the flu, but I learned at least one other person was as sick as I was... I won't be eating spaghetti and meatballs for a very long time!).
Spent 2 days moping around the house feeling beat up and another 2 days before I felt fully back to normal.
Lots of work deadlines, so not much energy when I got home to do much sewing.
Snow hit Seattle the Monday before Thanksgiving. I left work early Monday afternoon and didn't get behind the wheel of my car again until Friday (you don't want *ME* trying to drive in the snow!).
Tried a new recipe for Thanksgiving from Paula Deen - chocolate pecan pie - very yummy and super easy.
We had an awesome Thanksgiving celebration with my brother and his family, including new addition, baby Veronica (my brother is a Grandpa!!!).
My son Eric was absolutely smitten with baby V (aw - how cute is that picture?).
Finished a lot of chores in my sewing room, but nothing I can show you! (top secret gifts or I could show you all the buttons I sewed back on shirts that needed repair for a while!).
I hope to make some progress laying out the blocks for Due South this week, so check back for some pictures soon. I am absolutely smitten with Bliss!
I made an ironing board cover this weekend using a fun decorator weight Moda print. Do you recognize it? It's from the MoMo Wonderland collection.
I used this Moda Bake Shop tutorial for instructions, but I did not sandwich and quilt this, it's just one layer of the decorator weight fabric.
My "board" (hey du-u-u-de, do I sound like a surfer?) gets a lot of use and I like using lots of steam in my iron, so I imagine in a few hours, this will look as icky as the one I have on it now, so I will save this to take to my quilt retreat. We leave one week from tomorrow and this will look great on my ironing board!
I finished this Luna Notte quilt for the shop where I work. It's made with a fat eighth bundle and a small amount of yardage. The pattern has 4 different ways to arrange the blocks to get different looks, but I really liked this one with the dark chains running diagonally.
I had a very productive weekend in my sewing room. I am cutting out a project to take to my guild retreat, which starts November 10 (yahoo!). One new project and one I need to finish (2nd Story).
I'm working on my Route 44 class quilt now and if that's not finished, I'll take it with me, too.
I also made a new ironing board cover with some cute MoMo Wonderland fabric in a heavier weight cotton. I didn't want to go out yesterday to get twill tape, so I will stop on the way home and pick some up, then I can share a photo. It looks very cute, and I always like to have a pretty, new cover when I take my board to retreat.
We had a good Halloween. We live in a newer neighborhood with houses close together and sidewalks, so a lot of kids come to trick-or-treat. DH had to turn the lights off early because we ran out of candy within the first hour. I took my DD and her friend out - they both dressed as Lady Gaga.
Where have you been? You've been pretty much MIA since I returned from Illinois. I know I have been neglecting my blog when my Mom calls me and asks "Why haven't you been posting?" (Hi Mom!)
It's not that I haven't wanted to sew, but I've been trying a new medication that has left me feeling worse than the original ailment, then tried another with the same side effects, so I have to trade one kind of pain for another. Not fun.
I've also been a little scattered trying to figure out which of my many projects I want to work on. For someone who likes to work on one at a time, starting 3 new quilts in class and a shop model partially finished has left me feeling overwhelmed.
Last weekend, I finally got bit again by the sewing bug and my Pfaff got a workout. While Nicole and Thelma both finished their LARGE class projects, I thought the easiest course for me would be to finish our Schnibbles class project, Darcy. I love the bright batiks I used for for this one. As my friend Joyce mentioned, it has a tropical feel to it, and I love it.
This weekend I am diligently sewing on my shop model - almost finished! And planning/cutting projects to take on my guild retreat (3 weeks away!!!)
The Bluebird of Happiness has landed in my sewing room and I feel that love of fabric and sewing returning - hallelujah!
Please RUN - don't walk - over to the blog of the delightful Monique Dillard. She's giving away this quilt kit and her terrific Mini Fit to Be Geese tool! Monique's company is Open Gate Quilts. You may already know her from her fabulous patterns and unique tools (she also has a Fit to Be Square tool for making perfect square in a square blocks).
I had the opportunity to meet Monique when I was in Illinois and she couldn't be sweeter. AND she has a gorgeous new line of fabrics that she designed for Maywood called Olde World Style. You NEED some of this fabric - it is elegant and stunning. Heck - I NEED some of this fabric!
So go say "hi" to Monique on her blog and enter for a chance to win a kit!
Our first full morning together, we checked out of our hotel so we could be at the first quilt store, The Quilt Basket, when it opened at 10:00. It was a cute little store with a lot of variety and the owner couldn't have been nicer.
Next, we went to Pieceful Hearts in Lisle. This beautiful James River Blues quilt stopped us in our tracks the moment we entered the front door. We each grabbed a kit (can you say "sew along?") Pieceful Hearts was a wonderful store with something for everybody - reproduction fabrics, modern fabrics, batiks, flannels, lots of samples on the wall and kits made up. They were having a lively quilt class in their beautifully set-up classroom. The entire store was wall to wall eye candy.
Our next stop brought us to Docia, The Quilt Merchant - the first place we were accused of being Carrie Nelson stalkers. Who? Us? It seems that Carrie had been there before we arrived and was spreading vicious rumours about the 3 of us!
Docia's shop was fabulous - I'd done some online business with them in the past, but seeing the shop in person was a special treat. Docia and her family couldn't have been nicer, the store and fabrics were incredible, and we had the pleasure of meeting her very talented daughter-in-law Beth, as well. Beth designed this awesome Nottingham Star quilt that was just inside the front door. What a stunning quilt. We all bought the pattern for this one, too.
She had also just received the new Jo Morton line, Annandale, and though it wasn't even out on the floor yet, Docia allowed me to purchase some of the large red floral from that line (swoon!)
Our next stop was Quilter's General Store, who was sponsoring the class we were taking on Saturday. The shop was beautifully arranged with room after room of fabulous kits, displays and fabrics. One of my favorite finds was this kit displayed behind the cash register.
Our final stop of the day was at Acorn Quilts. I had searched every store we'd stopped at that day in search of orange wool for a Halloween wallhanging I'm planning. I found the perfect orange wool at Acorn Quilts! They had the most amazing selection of wool of any of the shops we'd visited, or the ones I've seen in Washington.
I was also intrigued by this tiny beautiful grey and black quilt and bought some of their fabulous selection of grey fabrics to plan something like this on a larger scale.
The very sweet gal that helped us took our photo next to their beautiful wool quilt. Amazing, isn't it?
We ended our day with dinner and returned to our hotel room. Nicole and I had this adorable bunny made out of towels in our bathroom. We were able to preserve Towel Bunny both days we were there - he was much too cute to use!
Midday Thursday, I left from Seattle with temperatures in the low 50s and buckets of rain coming down. I arrived at Chicago O'Hare to 90 degree temperatures! The temperature moderated while we were in Illinois, so it was more like the Northwest weather I am used to, so I felt very at home!
Nicole and I had timed our flights so that they arrived around the same time. It worked out perfectly so that Thelma could pick up Nicole at her terminal's baggage claim, and then swing by and pick me up just as I gathered my belongings and not have to bother with parking at the airport.
We left the airport and headed to Lilsle, where we spent our first night in Illinois. We had a very delicious dinner in our hotel - look at Thelma's delicious tower of grilled veggies! - then we turned in fairly early to prepare for our big day ahead on Friday.
These are 2 of my favorite pictures from the weekend. I had an absolutely wonderful time meeting Thelma, reuniting with Nicole and of course, taking classes, hanging out and breaking bread with the Queen of Awesomeness - Carrie Nelson.
We shopped, sewed, ate some delicious meals, stayed up much too late laughing, talking, attended an wonderful guild meeting and made many new friends. I promise a more thorough post when I get home and get the pictures sorted out.
It was an incredible experience. I'd say "one of a kind" but we're already talking about our next meet up, so I'm hoping we can do something like this again soon.
The biggest disappointment of the weekend was that our blog friend, Allyson, got sick at the last minute and had to cancel her trip. We were all looking forward to meeting her and hope that she is feeling better and can join us the next time. We missed you, Allyson!!
I hope Thelma, Nicole and Carrie all have a safe trip home. I'm looking forward to getting home to the family (and catching up on my sleep!). More later, I promise!
No, this is not one of Thelma's cupcake review posts, although I do love a Red Velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing! I recently got this quilt back from my longarm quilter. I love the job she did with a feathered wreath inside each of the star blocks.
There's just something about a quilt that's been washed and dried and crinkled. I just love the Rouenneries fabric from French General, I don't think I will ever get tired of them. And that spark of Simple Abundance aqua? And the striped binding? LOVE IT.
Is it flattery when you copy the designer's pattern exactly, or just lack of imagination on my part?
The pattern is Red Velvet from the fabulous Thimble Blossoms designer, Camille Roskelley. And I finished the quilt in a weekend at my guild retreat last November.
Well that would be me! A dear friend pulled off a huge surprise - she asked 2 Etsy sellers to make me custom pins for my birthday. She must have directed them to my blog, because they duplicated my Stashmaster logo to a "T"
I had to get a new pincushion (also from Etsy) to display all these cute owl pins and in fact, think I need to get another because they don't all fit!
I love how the owls even have the same expressions as the ones on my blog - the baby owls have their eyes closed. And Pinks and Needles even printed my blog banner on the card that my pins arrived on. Cute, cute, cute!
Thanks to my awesome, super sweet and thougtful friend for an amazing, one-of-a-kind surprise gift.
I don't recall the context of our conversation, but last weekend my 10 year old DD told me she "hates fabric." Now truly, I could not possibly have spawned such a creature! This is the girl that loves to help me organize my fabric and wants every quilt I make? Say it isn't so!
Fast forward to Tuesday - I was laying out fabrics that I'm thinking about using for an upcoming class quilt, Route 44 (Nicole blogged about it a couple of days ago). DD came into my sewing room and I ask what she thinks of the fabrics on the right hand side that I am considering for the accent color to go with these vintage Amy Butler fabrics. She goes on to describe in thoughtful detail why she thinks the one on the bottom (my pick - a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton that does not show it's true beauty in this photo) was the best choice and what was wrong with the other 3 choices.
And folks, she was RIGHT ON. So unbelieveably insightful for a 10 year old that "hates" fabric! I believe I have a future quilter with a terrific eye for color on my hands!
No, I'm not cussing at you, I swear. I just wanted to share my latest project! I had 2 charm packs of American Jane's newest Moda group, Punctuation, and wanted to play with them. I found this blog post and knew it was the quilt I wanted to make, only slightly larger.
I went into my American Jane stash and added some fabrics from previous collections. I ended up with 7 distinct colors. I figured I would make 7 blocks and then decide what I would do with the extra block. As it turns out, I messed up the first block by not paying attention to the directional print of my background fabric, so that left me with with only 6 useable blocks. Add some pretty red daisies from American Jane's Peas and Carrots collection, and I have a quilt top that makes me smile every time I look at it!
My niece Kylie loves the quilt I made for my MIL with minkee on the back, and wants to cuddle up with it every time she's visiting her Meme.
Apparently Kylie asked my DH if she might have a minkee quilt of her own for her birthday at the end of September. Cousin Lily (my DD) said it had to be green, as that has always been Kylie's favorite color. So I dug through my stash and found some wonderful greens, added a few more from the shop where I work (I love the "toast frogs") and using another of Elizabeth Hartman's fabulous patterns, I made this 9-patch lattice quilt for Kylie. I have some white minkee for the back, and I think the birthday girl will love it!
Both this adorable Hunky Dory baby quilt and me! I'm leaving next week with my brothers to attend my Dad's retirement party and will get to meet my newborn niece, Piper, and present this quilt to her while I am visiting. My quilter said that every person should have a quilt with Minkee on the back - I think I agree.
I'm going to mail the quilt ahead of me so it won't take up room in my suitcase. How does a gal from Seattle pack for HOTlanta? Plus, I may need some extra room in my suitcase, as I've been promised a shopping trip to Little Quilts to spend my birthday gift certificate!
Whoa - guess it has been a while since I posted - yep, I had to log in to Typepad again, it's been *that* long.
I've had fun playing in my sewing room since my last post. Yesterday I finished the quilt I started in that last post, which I'm calling Lemon Zinger. It's the most fun I've had making a quilt in a really long time. The Wonky Cross blocks designed by Elizabeth Hartman at Oh, Fransson! are so much fun to make and require no fussy piecing or matching - my favorite kind!
I decided to make just every other block an X and intersperse the Xs with all the fun black, white, yellow and grey fabrics I was able to find. There are so many wonderful prints out there, and my quilt ended up like an adult "I Spy" quilt. Some of the prints were just too cute to cut up and make Xs through (but maybe part of it was me being too lazy to make 72 X blocks!). At any rate, I couldn't be happier with how this quilt turned out, and I've already started on my next Oh, Fransson! quilt - the Crazy 9-Patch Lattice Quilt. Again, so much fun, I couldn't stop sewing last night!
My quilt shop coworker, Kay, is working on an orange and white 9-patch quilt. She was buying a few fat quarters at the shop on Wednesday, and said how she'd found a lot of forgotten oranges in her stash. I offered to bring her my bin of oranges, left over from my favorite ZuZu's Petals quilt. I won't see Kay again until Sunday, but I put the orange tub in my car and have been driving it around and admiring the fabrics I can see through the plastic for the last few days.
I felt the need to make a fun quilt, and maybe use some of the oranges again before I gave them to Kay. I looked on the Oh, Fransson! blog, because she always has really cool color quilts. I found a link to this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew, and this fun block, Wonky Crosses. I realized I didn't have large enough pieces of orange in my stash to make these blocks, but seeing the photo made me think of the perfect use for those black, yellow, gray & white fabrics I have been collecting!
In just a few hours, I made 11 of these cute blocks! Well, I made 15 but some of them were a little TOO wonky! I don't know how big this will wind up being, but I'm going to make blocks until I run out of fun combinations.
I hope you were able to have some fun in YOUR sewing room this weekend!
Or more accurately, Anna Elizabeth is ON the house, since I tacked her up on my garage door to get a photo. This is my version of Carrie Nelson's wonderful Elizabeth pattern (also available in her new book, Spice of Life Quilts).
I knew when I saw the small version in a magazine using these fabrics, that I had finally found a use for my Anna's Starry Nights yardage. This is an old Moda group by Blackbird Designs and I loved every minute of making this quilt.
I didn't have enough of the backgrounds from the collection, so the blocks are made with a Lakehouse fabric. But I realized that I did have bits and pieces enough of the collection's backgrounds to make the setting triangles. I like how it brings in more of the beautiful fabric to frame the quilt.
Thanks, Carrie, for another wonderful quilt pattern - every piece fit together with absolutely no fussing. Always tried and true!
I finished my Anna Elizabeth quilt today, but it's such a rainy, dreary day in western Washington, I will have to wait for clearer skies to get a good photo.
After finishing, I set to work on my first block for the Fat Quarter Shop's 2010 Designer Mystery Quilt. I love Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas fabrics, and this present block designed by Gudrun Erla is super cute. I can't wait to see the next block!
To start the morning off, my friends and I did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure - we completed the 5K walk. It was raining in Seattle, as it has every day for what seems like forever, but it was a warm day and we didn't get too wet.
That's Charlene on the left, me in the center and my BFF Cecilia, a breast cancer survivor, on the right. (Note: My mom reminded me that I neglected to mention my Grandma Lois was a 39-year breast cancer survivor. Believe me, I thought about Grandma many times yesterday.)
I got home around 1 p.m. and went straight to my tidy and inviting sewing room. I'm calling my current project Anna Elizabeth. I'm making Carrie Nelson's Elizabeth quilt and I'm using an older Moda collection from Blackbird Designs called Anna's Starry Nights. I've had these fabrics for ages, but when I saw a small version of this quilt using these fabrics in the Small Quilts magazine, I knew I'd finally found the perfect project for my Anna's Starry Nights.
I don't have any of the background fabrics from the collection, but I found a Lakehouse fabric with cursive writing on it. I'm having to take this slowly - one block at a time - because the background fabric is directional and I want to make sure the lines of writing are all parallel. They're not necessarily facing the same direction - some writing is upside down - but I decided not to be *that* finicky. So far I like the quilt. And it's really fun to piece.
The closet under the stairs in my sewing room hasn't been accessed for years. Why? Because it was so crammed with stuff - wall to wall and floor to ceiling - you couldn't get in it. Just opening the door, you risked a shower of junk raining down upon you.
My sweet and helpful DD helped me clean out that closet today. From something you couldn't get into, to something that has 2 organized stacks of quilt project boxes and room for a skinny 10-year old to lay down in between. The cardboard boxes behind the project boxes are my old Barbie collection and DH's comic book collection.
Ah - it feels good to be organized.
I didn't find as many forgotten quilt project treasures as I had hoped for, but I'm happy with the progress we were able to make.
Now to tackle the one remaining closet in my sewing room, and I know that one is only quilt fabrics, so I'm bound to unearth some treasures within.
I hope you're all having a wonderful, long, relaxing weekend.
This is one of the reasons that I haven't had much to show on my blog these last few months. I slaved many hours on this quilt, cutting 2,976 teeny, tiny 1-1/2" squares and sewing them together by hand.... Oh come on, you're not going to fall for that one, are you? This quilt is actually made from 4 Harmony honeybuns, but you could also make it from your stash of 1-1/2" strips.
The quilt has more than 3,488 pieces - there are more 4-patches on the back which I did not count. This was another stunt sewing project I did for Carrie Nelson. This honeybun quilt and its companion - made from jelly rolls - will be a future pattern release from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company.
I have an amazing local quilter that turned these around lickety split (thanks a million, Lynn!), and 2 wonderful friends that saved me by doing my bindings (Liz and Kay - how can words express how thankful I am to you both?)
I just finished a Yellow Brick Road quilt and a couple of receiving blankets and now my entire fabric stash awaits my next fun project just for me. What will it be? I don't have any clue, but I can't wait to get started!
I woke up far too early on Saturday morning, and began the Great Clean-up of 2010 in my sewing room. I started by going through my books and magazines, and whittled 2-1/2 shelves down to less than one shelf (see it there, on the bottom?).
I turned my bookshelf perpendicular to my sewing table, which will allow me to stack some project boxes in front and still be able to access the shelves. Before the move, I had the shelf where those boxes are in this photo, and the boxes were stacked in front, but then I had to move them out of the way in order to get anything on the shelves.
I moved all my FQ bundles from nooks and crannies in the room and now they are all on the shelves too, protected from the sunlight.
I also found a cute, smaller basket for my patterns ($2.99!), and it fits perfectly on the bottom shelf with my books and magazines, freeing up extra room on my sewing table.
I haven't attempted the 2 large closets yet, but I'm sure to find some treasures waiting inside. I've already unearthed few goodies that I forgot I had. Stay tuned for a stash sale sometime in the near future!
A friend gave me a number of layer cakes after publication of a certain new quilt book. I immediately went searching for ways to use a single layer cake.
My stepsister is expecting a baby girl later this month, so I thought Chez Moi's Hunky Dory collection would make a very sweet baby quilt. I found this Pattern Basket design, Tying the Knot, and ordered it. All it takes is one layer cake and some yardage for the border, an you have an easy but beautiful baby quilt!
I modified it a little - I didn't want to make the ties for a baby quilt, although I think they are a cute touch.
I'm going to put some Minkee on the back and have it quilted with a stipple design.
I'm actually posting on my blog and yes, it *has* been over a month. I remember Carrie once saying that you know you haven't blogged in ages when you go to Typepad and you actually have to log in again!
I'm sorry that it's been so long - I finally finished a grueling stunt sewing project that I can't share, and as anxious as I was to get started on something new after finishing that, I discovered my wrist injury won't allow me to do much rotary cutting, so I'm a little stuck for now. Did you know that they can't really offer any options to heal a partially torn ligament? I got a cortisone injection in my wrist last Wednesday and I'm hoping it will offer me at least some relief. Better to tear the ligament completely - I'll have to remember to go for the gusto next time, although I can't even pinpoint how I did this in the first place back in December. Yes, I have been in pain for 5 months.
I also moved offices at work. Now we only moved up one floor in the same building, but it may as well have been across town, because we still had to pack everything. My new space had no furniture in it and I was holding my breath all weekend, hoping I would have an actual desk when I got in to unpack on Monday. I have a desk - smaller than what I had downstairs, but I'm thinking with less work surface, I'll have fewer piles of papers on my desk. One can hope, anyway. My new cubicle is smaller, but because I have smaller furniture, everyone thinks my new space is bigger. I aim to keep the new space uncluttered so I can enjoy the quilts hanging in my space. Yes - I have room to hang quilts! Just looking at them while I'm working on my spreadsheets makes me smile.
Now on to the good stuff. I've been wanting to make this wallhanging for a long time - ever since I first saw it posted on Messy Karen's blog last fall. I love the way this turned out with Moda's Authentic fabrics. I used 2 charm packs. I ran out of black but luckily, I was able to find a third charm pack online.
Next, I'm putting the borders on a Hunky Dory baby quilt that I'm making for my niece who is due to arrive later this month. Almost finished with that one!
Oh and one last thing before I forget - my friend Perry has a raffle going on her blog to support Cystic Fibrosis - please buy some tickets to support this worthy cause and oh yes - you could win one of two beautiful quilts!
I don't really like to toot my own horn (although my quilt shop coworkers who have heard me brag about being a part of this project for over a year would surely disagree!) But since the Schnibbles Meister spilled the beans on her blog yesterday, I have chime in and tell you how excited I am about Carrie's book coming out this month.
Martingale has always been my favorite publisher of quilt books - they have the most beautiful photos and quilt content. When Carrie asked me to be a part of this project last year, I jumped at the chance! I made the Big Schnibbles version of McGuffey out of Fig Tree's Patisserie line, and then Carrie assigned me one other quilt - Short Story out of Basic Grey's Sultry fabrics.
I am absolutely head over heels in love with the Sultry quilt, and it's taken all my willpower not to show it off on my blog! I'm really proud that Martingale is going to take it "on the road" with them for the next several months, but sad that I have to wait so long for my quilt to come home!
I bought some Sultry charm squares in order to make myself a small Schnibbles version, so I can look at it while I pine away for Big Sultry. But oh wait - I have about a billion other projects I need to finish before I can make that (including another project for Miss Carrie) - Baby Sultry will just have to wait!
What are you waiting for? Go! Order the book! Order one for all your friends! Come on, you know you have to have one - it's Carrie Nelson for goodness sake!!
Thank you, Carrie, for letting me be a part of this wonderful project!
In 1997, these two sweet Bundles of Boy joined the Stashmaster household. Happy Birthday to my 2 wonderful, sweet, smart, talented BRAND NEW TEENAGERS!! I couldn't ask for 2 more wonderful boys.
And now - I'm sure more than one of you is waiting anxiously to learn the winners of my blog contest. I want to thank each and every one of you for stopping by and wishing me a happy blog anniversary.
I used the Random Number Generator to select 3 names. The winners are:
2 Eva charm packs: #119 - Valerie - who posted at 8:17 a.m. on April 2
1 Lumiere de Noel layer cake: #30 - Norine - who posted at 8:30 a.m. on March 29
2 Rouenneries layer cakes: #84 - Amy - who posted at 6:06 a.m. on March 30
Congratulations, ladies. Will the 3 lucky winners please send your mailing addresses to me at 07fireball@clearwire.net? I will get your prizes out to you later this week. Thanks again to all of you for helping me celebrate!
The Stashmaster Blog turns 5 years old today! Anybody tenacious enough to go back to my first blog entries will see my main craft focus at that time was knitting, with quilting taking a back seat, but not for long! I actually started quilting in 1993, but didn't have a lot of time to sew after my kids were born and also did not keep very detailed records until 2005 (one of my main reasons for starting a blog - to keep a photographic journal of my projects). Since 2005, I have finished 50 quilting projects (and I know there are a few more small ones not included on my list - mostly tablerunners and swap gifts).
At any rate, what would a decent celebration be without PRESENTS?! Only of course the gifts are for YOU - my much-appreciated blog readers! To thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog and say hello, I am offering the following:
One name drawn will receive 2 layer cakes of the beautiful French General Rouenneries collection. One name drawn will receive 1 layer cake of French General's newest collection coming out in June - Lumiere de Noel. And finally, one name drawn will receive 2 charm packs of the beautiful Eva collection by Basic Grey. Just leave a comment on my blog before 7 a.m. Pacific Time on another notable date in the Stashmaster household - Monday, April 5 - and I will use the Random Number Generator to pick the names of 3 winners.
Thanks to all blog readers, blog lurkers and my fellow bloggers. I enjoy the quilt blogging community more than I can tell you, and I have met many wonderful people that I consider true friends.
Yes, I'm a sorry excuse for a blogger - it's been 2 weeks since my last post! I finished the Civil War Homefront quilt that appeared in my last, long-ago blog post. But I neglected to take a photo of it before dropping it off at the quilt shop. I most definitely get an "F" for blogging this semester.
I got 2 fabulous quilts back from the quilter last week, but our beautiful Seattle weather has turned to rain, so I will have to wait for a nicer day to get photos.
How about I share something that made me laugh? I was pressing some 4-patches and this one ended up on my ironing board. Yes, even seasoned quilters working on a basic pattern can have a "duh, what was I thinking?" moment. To be honest, I have them all the time!!
I hope to have more interesting and fun things to share with you soon. Stay tuned for my blogiversary coming up near the end of March. There will be a giveaway!
It was a beautiful weekend in the Seattle area - blue skies, sun, about 60 degrees. And 2 whole days without working - blissfull! I was able to make great progress on my Civil War Homefront quilt. I'm trying to get the sample ready in time for the quilt show in March. It looks like I will succeed. I have the last 5 blocks ready to sew and they don't take long, so maybe this week I can start to put the blocks together with the alternate blocks and setting triangles.
Little Missy's birthday is next weekend, so even though I have another weekend free from work, I will be busy with a slumber party, birthday celebration and a houseguest. This may have to be put on the back burner for a week.
I also made progress on another challenge - making 752 four patches out of 1-1/2 inch honey bun strips. I'm definitely making a dent in it!
I would love a chance to when this amazing quilt pattern. I just love the old fashion feel of it with the bubbly lights GORGEOUS!