Giveaway + Giveaway = Lucky YOU!

Hello dearest bloggy friends!

This post will have very little to do with sewing. Partly because I'm fighting with some very unsticky tape whilst basting. Grrrr. So really, I'm not in the mood to blog about wasting time taping and watching the tape untape itself then running around the house looking for more unsticky tape only for the cycle to repeated over and over again....

White masking tape=bad. Blue painter's tape = good.

Remember I did this Quilt As You Go method to SAVE TIME.

Anyhoo, since I'm a little sour over tape hopefully this will cheer us all up... ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

Because I'm in a non-sewing mood, let's talk about... oh I don't know... entertainment centers! Racks and Stands.com has oodles of options for old school TVs and those of you with new-fangled skinny TVs. Personally, my (very) old school TV is shoved in a corner of the room behind the couch, blocking the lower left quarter of the screen. Which makes it quite humerous to me that this giveaway features something that I want but can't have.... oh so close!


So if any of you have a similar problem or would just like a sweet update, leave a comment here and I'll have Iz pull a winner out of the hat Friday morning. The winner will receive a $40 gift certificate to use in any CSN stores (US and Canadian addresses only, please).

GIVEAWAY #2... May 17th is Sew Mama Sew's MAY GIVEAWAY DAY! I'm giving away some fabric. CLICK ON THIS to enter that one.

Both contests open to US and Canadian residents only.

And I saved the best for last... Happy Birthday, friend! (It would be totally rad of you to send her some birthday love!)

Isn't that picnic blanket of hers adorable?!

Quilt as you go

Oh, this is a fun one! Both the quilt top and back are finished.

Finished top looking super sweet in the shade

You may remember I had pieced a bunch of oddball shaped rectangles - some 2' x 3' , some bigger and smaller. Then I realized things would be a lot easier if I would stick with a consistent size. So I straight-line quilted these funky things directly onto some batting and when all were completed, I chopped them into 12.5" squares.

Just to recap - usually QAYG means piecing directly onto the batting which is obviously the best way to go about things. But since I didn't know I would be doing this method when I began this quilt, I've been improvising.

So the good news is that you can choose to do this at any stage in the game! Especially if your quilt just seems to grow and grow and you worry how you're ever going to put it all together.

Since I'm making a double size quilt (78" x 87"), I made 42 of these squares and then sewed all of them together for the quilt top (and batting). I used my regular presser foot for everything up to this stage just to see how my totally rad machine could handle it. No problemo!

Quilt back waiting to join the lovely front

Next is putting them together. Not as hard core basting as usual, but a night crawling around on my hands and knees nonetheless. Hopefully it goes faster this way. I'll keep you posted!

**Be sure to stay tuned, more giveaways are coming soon!!**

A winner + Happy Mother's Day!

My big girl picked #2, badlandsquilts as our pattern giveaway winner. Congratulations and happy sewing! Thanks for entering the giveaway, hopefully more to come.

Happy Mother's Monday to all. Even if you're not a mother, we all have a mom and that is reason to celebrate!

Sewing for boys {GIVEAWAY!}

Recently something very strange happened. One of my friends had a baby and it wasn't a girl. It was a .... what do you call it?... B -b-boy. Yes, that's it. She had a boy. Don't see many of them around here, so I tend to forget they have sewing needs too. A little more difficult to find boyish fabric and think of something to make that is not a skirt or dress, but I think I found my go-to handmade boy gift.

Seriously, look at him!! Anybody seen my briefcase?

I found the pattern on Etsy. I found it to be... well, a pattern. I can't follow one to save my life. Honestly, I have no clue what's wrong with me. I never buy patterns, but I thought this was so cute, I would take the time to figure it out.
So I purchased it and finally got up the nerve to try it out during a late-night sew-in with a friend. I knew I would need the support, so I waited until someone was with me. There's just something about reading it aloud to someone, saying "Listen, this does not make any sense..... Oh wait, nevermind."


After about three hours of White Russians (the drink, not people), a brownie-peanut butter crockpot goo (oh baby), and lots of sewing merriment... the tie was made. I'm thinking it would take a normal person (clearly I am not) about an hour or two. The pattern was well-illustrated, of which I was very appreciative. Nothing helps a non-pattern follower more than a bunch of pictures. There were seriously pictures of every step.

Ok, so I made it a little long. I was kind of winging the size, but he can grow into it. There is elastic that goes around the neck so it can stretch over his sweet little head. The length can be adjusted somewhat, but the back of the tie is pretty much as low as it can go. I'm sure the process will go faster as I learn how to do it better. It's worth the effort because it is so very cute! I'm really pleased with the pattern overall and do recommend sewing one up for the little men in your life.

And now for the good stuff! DeLynne over at diy by dainty couture (where I purchased the pattern) is offering one of my readers a FREE PATTERN of your choice. No worries if you don't have boys around either, she has plenty of skirts, dresses, and other great patterns. Mr Random Number Generator will pick our winner on Sunday - Mother's Day! All you have to do is leave a comment about mothers. Being a mom, having a mom, wishing you had someone else's mom, etc. ;) It's a PDF file, so the winner will receive their free pattern soon after the giveaway closes at midnight Saturday night. Instant and free.... sweet!

In other sewing news... Pastel Quilt #2 is done! Good-bye you bland, lifeless colors.

Quilt-as-you-go updates on the way. Almost done with the "quilting" part, about to start on the "as you go" process.

One Million Pillowcase Challenge

We did it! Somebody showed! Actually, lots of somebodies showed!

From the instant I saw American Patchwork and Quilting's site about sewing pillowcases for local charities, I was excited. Their goal is to donate 1 million pillowcases to various charities. I love their description:

"A pillowcase can provide comfort for a cancer patient, hope for a foster child, encouragement for a battered woman, or beauty for a nursing home resident."

So I organized a night of sewing for anyone. Newbies, not-so-newbies, anyone who wanted to come and learn. Sewing machines were donated by my friendly churchladies which was a huge blessing. Many women showed up who have never sewn before and do not even have a machine at home. How cool is that!

We were able to donate over 20 pillowcases to a local charity (Our Ronald McDonald house). What a rush to have women of all ages and stages of sewing skills come together to help, learn, and sew. Everyone encouraging one another and sharing a laugh over sewing machines. I definetly recommend you organizing a night of sewing too. It was so good for the soul in many ways. My dream is to meet regularly, making new charitable projects and teaching new skills, encouraging mothers and daughters to come together....

I can't wait for our next go at it!

Quilt as you go

The LOVE quilt is about to be the victim of a new (to me) quilting method.

After reading Penny's blog and her Quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) tutorial, I've decided to give it a try. I have enough pieces for the quilt top now. The final size being a standard double, most of these "pieces" are about 2' x 3'.

I've read up on a lot of different methods for QAYG. Some recommend sashing between blocks which I will not be doing on this crazy quilt. Some also give instructions for quilting the backing with the top and batting. That would be great for another quilt, but it won't work for the backing we have planned for this one. Mostly because the fabric design does not lend itself to being pieced:

Penny's tutorial described quilting the top and batting first - actually piecing the quilt onto the batting. Well, since my piecing is done, I think I'm going to take all of these wonderful methods and make my own!

I love that about quilting. I can try new things, get tips from others, and even if I fail miserably... the seam ripper is always close by.

This Moment

Another special moment.

I went outside during the girls' nap/quiet time to cut some fabric. Looking back at the house, I see a little face looking back at me in her window. (She's graduated from nap time to quiet time. Please don't think I abandon my children in the house while I go out to enjoy the sun!) So I motioned for her to come out with me and we sipped some lemonade on the blanket.

She just turned 4. She's getting too big to carry. I'm not ready for that.

I am, however ready for a new picnic blanket. Must...quilt...soon...

Also, "this moment" and many, many moments before and after are being dedicated to a new quilt to match some pillows you may remember...

I must admit when this line (Love, by Amy Butler) came out, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Now after a couple months with it, I'm still not sick of seeing it, so I guess I really like it. Especially in this form - all jumbled up and crazy together. It's so busy, loud, and cheerful, one must smile looking at it.

It's eventually going to end up a double size (78" x 87") and I"m only half-way there, so we have many more moments together.