Big Day!

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!

Celebrate with me!

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.

Where ya been?

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!

Productive!

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!

Facelift!

No, not me - at least I hope I don't look like I need one just yet!  No, I decided that, while I really liked my old blog header with my favorite quilt featured in the background, I now want my blog to have a fresh, new look.   I found a designer on etsy, Sugarelli, and within a few hours, she had designed this cute new Stashmaster blog header for me.   Adorable.   Thanks, Stephanie!

Civil War Homefront and Thelma

Here are the first 5 blocks for my latest project, Moda's Civil War Homefront kit designed by Barbara Brackman.  I'm doing it as a sample for the shop where I work part-time.  These Civil War fabrics are so beautiful, and the simple star blocks go together quickly.  I hope to make a lot of progress on this over the 3-day weekend.

The blocks will be set on point with one of my favorite blue prints from the collection as the alternate block and beautiful striped setting triangles around the outside.

I want to show you a fun surprise that arrived on my doorstep Wednesday.   My friend Thelma and I shared some fabric for our Toulouse quilts.  We both had a few leftover flying geese from the border, and I want to put them together somehow on the back of my quilt, so Thelma sent a box returning her leftover geese.

The geese were not alone in the box.   In typical Thelma fashion, along with them was this amazingly gorgeous Tuffet she made for me using the Maison de Noel fabric.  She even went so far as to use the elegant "M d N" red velveteen for the back of the tuffet.   We both attempted to make flying geese with the velveteen and found it uncooperative, but it is absolutely perfect for the back of a tuffet.  Thank you so much for your generous gift, Thelma.   It will have a place of honor next to my sewing machine, and will always remind me how much fun we had making this project together!

Toulouse, how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways.  #1 - it's a Miss Rosie pattern!   #2 - it's 3 Sisters fabric!   #3 - it's a fun project to work on with your friends!  #4 - it's Miss Rosie, for crying out loud!

I absolutely adore this quilt and loved every day that I was sewing it on.  I was lucky enough to get a bundle of Maison de Noel fabric at a local craft store's post Christmas sale in 2004(?) for 50% off.  SCORE!    I also acquired some of the plaids from the collection and some of the background, planning to make Toulouse, which featured the same fabric line.

A couple years ago, Nicole started this beauty.  And a couple of months ago, I was reminded about the quilt by a comment Thelma posted to Nicole's blog.  This led to a super-fun email exchange between me and Thelma, planning to make this quilt that we both loved.  Problem was, this fabric was long gone from stores, especially the reds and whites.  Thelma was able to find a few of the blues and greens, and I promised her that I would send her whatever leftover pieces I had to help fill in.

I wanted to use every piece of fabric I had to make the scrappy flying geese border.  My favorite method for making geese uses Eleanor Burns' rulers, and with her method, you get 4 matching geese with each pair of squares.  Using all the fabrics, I would end up with about twice as many geese as I needed for my border, so I offered to send my extra geese to Thelma to use for her border.

Thelma did me one better, and urged me to send her half the fabric squares and she would make half the geese and send half of her finished geese to me.  So I did the same with mine.   So fabric was mailed, geese were sewn and exchanged between Washington state and Illinois.  We had a lot of fun and sent a lot of emails back and forth talking about this quilt.   I also had 2 background fabrics from the Maison de Noel collection.   One the icy blue on white twigs and the other the red on white twigs.   I had enough of both fabrics to use either one for my quilt, but decided I liked the softness of the icy blue.   I offered Thelma the red and she ended up using that for her background.  Perfect for a lover of red!   I know she had some doubts about how strong the red seemed, but I think her quilt turned out fabulous, don't you?

Nicole used her own collection of red and green fabrics from her stash, and it also makes a stunning version of Toulouse.

I know I've said this before and risk repeating myself, but if you have any hesitation about Miss Rosie's patterns, please put all that silliness out of your head.  Yes, they are complex looking, but break it down into the simple components (9-patches!   flying geese!) and the sheer genius of designer Carrie Nelson will reward you with the most beautiful masterpiece.  Pieced borders that fit together perfectly.   It's a feat of engineering, I tell ya!

This has been a fun project for me.   As I said before, I loved every minute sewing on it, and that's what makes quilting fun for me.  Thanks for stopping in and be sure you visit Nicole and Thelma to see my Toulouse's fraternal triplets!