Thursday, July 21, 2011

Winner, winner and

.......I was a little sad when I went to bed last night
...it was about 11:15 pm....
and I had 297 followers....3 short of 300
and this morning......I had one late commenter after midnight
and only 296 followers.....)o:
I'm so sorry someone decided to part ways....
it's not the first time I've lost followers 
but I hope they decide to come back soon....

and now for the winner of the fat quarter bundle of Lily and Will II

 Linda..........said

Happy Blogging Birthday! Yes, I follow and I love Cori's shop.
I always find such good deals there. 
My fave line is Grace! Love it!!

I have sent Linda an email.....

 Keep cool.........
I'm not sure how hot it got today but at 6:30 p.m. it was 102 F in Canton MI
and it felt like 116...

happy hugs




Sunday, July 17, 2011

Giveaway extended.....and a new Australian blogger team .......

.........you won't want to miss their 'first official posting' on July 27. 
Go and visit Jan & Cath's Bits and Bobs introduction blog
....become a follower as you won't want to miss a thing!!!

Cath was part of the 'Angels in Disguise' pattern team.
and their patterns are so adorable but are hard to find.
 
Karen found these for me and sent them all the way from Australia....
blogging friends are awesome....thank you again Karen, 

Angels in Disguise and Tea with Ted

I can't wait to see what this team will bring to blogland.
.....embroidery, quilting, doll making, free patterns, and even a free BOM.....

...a free raggedy stitchery design on July 27
I'm super exited !!

************
I'm so close to 300 followers
....so....
this is what I'm going to do......
 I'm extending the giveaway till Wednesday July 20 at midnight...CLOSED..
..... if I reach 300 followers and
if you have my button on your blog or I'm on your side bar
you will also receive Meg Hawkey's new pattern 
'Trim the Tree' #420
or
'Night Before Christmas Pillowcase' #423
 they are adorable....your choice!!!

2 pillow patterns


Go HERE for my giveaway and only one comment please!!!
..CLOSED..
I've had lots of  'No Reply' comments 
...if I have no email I will have Mr. Random pick another number...
so if in doubt
please please please put your email address in your comment 
and remember..... you must be a follower on Quiltnqueen!!!

happy hugs....and good luck!







Thursday, July 14, 2011

...it's my blogging birthday

...yes it is....
one year ago today I started my blog....thanks to my DH and Mama Spark.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog,
to all who are following me and 
to all of you that leave me kind comments and words of encouragement.....
THANK YOU!!

Come celebrate with me....I'm having a giveaway!!

Cori from Crazyquiltgirl Quilt Shop is sponsoring this giveaway.
She wanted to celebrate with me......thank you Thank You THANK YOU Cori....

we are giving away......

Moda LILY & WILL II Yellow Brown 13 Fat Quarter Bundle
by Bunny Hill Designs

Now.....you ask.....what do I have to do to win?????????
...CLOSED...
1.  Please be a follower of my blog,
2.  I know Cori would love it if you visited her Crazyquiltgirl Shop, and
 signed up for her NEWSLETTER or followed her BLOG 
or found something in her shop you could not live without!!!!
3.  be sure to come back to my blog and tell me you are 
a new follower or have followed me for awhile....
tell me if you found something at Crazyquiltgirl you just had to have...
and tell me what Christmas line is your favorite in Cori's shop.
********
My favorite is Natures's Gift by Deb Strain



....here's a little secret....
Lynette Anderson's 'Scandinavian Christmas' fabric is coming to Cori's shop.
and maybe....just maybe some of Lynette's patterns will be coming too
....that would make me  h a p p y (o:

Please only one comment per blogger
...make it short, make it long, make it sweet but only one please...(:
.....your comments are important to me!!
I will keep the giveaway open until Sunday July 17 at 10:00pm 
and post the winner's name Monday.
Looking forward to reading all your comments
Make sure there is an email so I can contact you...you know the drill....(:
The giveaway is CLOSED open to everyone!!

happy hugs!




Tuesday, July 12, 2011

another first

....it was 2 months ago I experienced my first Quilt Market....
in two words I'd describe it as overwhelming and exhausting...
and looking forward to the next one!!!!

I met many amazing fabric and pattern designers, to name a few

Edyta Sitar.....the talented fabric and pattern designer of 'Laundry Basket Quilts'
She is a real sweetheart and soooooo funny.
I would love to take one of her classes.......her work is truly amazing.
If you love batiks you will love her quilts.....they are stunning!!

.....the amazing fabric and pattern designers
Barb and Mary.....of  Me and My Sister.....these two sisters are hilarious....

....for me the highlight of going to Quilt Market
was meeting Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs.
She is the nicest, most genuine, caring person you could every meet....  
and Anne B you are a genuine gem too!!!
Thank you for sharing in my Quilt Market experience.....

Anne and Anne with steamer

...pictured here are Anne and her friend Anne
having too much fun with the fabric steamer!!!

Prior to Spring Market I had the opportunity to help stitch quilts
that were hanging in the Bunny Hill Designs booth.....

All Dressed Up Pink

.....'All Dressed Up' is pictured in 2 color ways....a pink version and a gray one
using Anne's new line of fabric 'Puttin on the Ritz' and it is gorgeous.
It will be in your LQS in October and available in pink, blue and gray.
I stitched the 12 embroidered blocks...6 blocks for each quilt...
and pieced the pink quilt..... minus the borders.
Mama Spark pieced the gray quilt.....also minus the borders.
Anne wasn't quite sure what fabrics she wanted to use for the borders.

In yesterdays post I showed 2 of the embroidered blocks
....here are the other four blocks.....


  Putting on the Ritz Block 1 shoes 
Putting on the Ritz Block 6 coat Putting on the Ritz Block 4 hat
Putting on the Ritz Block 3 dress

Any little girl would love this quilt!!

Another quilt I worked on with Mama Spark was called 'Happy Go Lucky'
and it too was made using Anne's 'Puttin on the Ritz' fabric.
It was hanging the Moda booth.
Oh my goodness....pinch me again!! 

Mama Spark pieced the pinwheel rows and
I stitched the applique block, attached the pinwheel rows
and added the borders.


Happy Go Lucky


This is another sweet pattern and would be adorable in the blue.
The new Bunny Hill Designs patterns are available at  Crazy Quilt Girl Shop.
Stop by and check out Cori's great prices on her fabrics, patterns and books.

You won't find better customer service....

My first blogiversary is Thursday July 14.... 
...please check back tomorrow and see what I will be giving away!!

hugs








Monday, July 11, 2011

A first for me......

and a not so fun first for me
this morning I'm at the dentist for a root canal....

A few weeks ago I was having tooth pain...
I procrastinated but finally made an appointment.
I figured it was either a loose filling or a cracked tooth.
....he confirmed it was a cracked tooth .... 
I was scheduled for a root canal on July 7,
he gave me a prescription for antibiotics and home I went .
....on July 7 I arrive for my scheduled root canal....
while I was sitting in the chair waiting for the dentist to arrive
I was thinking 'do I really need this root canal, the pain had disappeared
.....so I decided to ask him the question.
he comes in the room and there is the usual chit chat....how are you doing...etc?
I said "I'm fine....I'd be better if I wasn't here.....do I really need this root canal? 
I really don't want to have it if it is not necessary" emphasizing not.
He says..."Lets numb you and I'll take a closer look...
it is definitely cracked...but he can't really tell how deep the crack is...
he pokes around, turns off the overhead light and puts the chair back up
and actually looks disappointed and says
"we have to talk and make a plan....we are not doing a root canal today,
I'm almost positive the tooth can't be saved"
I really didn't want the root canal but I didn't want what he said next.....
"you are looking at surgical extraction and an implant".....ugh!!!
he starts drawing pictures on a piece of paper to better explain what has happened.
He says "if the cracked portion is deep into the gum,
and this is what I think has happened....
the tooth can not be saved "no dentist will be able to save it"
I didn't know what to say...just sat there for what seemed like 5 minutes
.....like a dork I said "can I have those drawings".
He cracked a smile and said "sure".
My appointment was made with the surgeon...August 3 was the day...
and home I went feeling sorry for myself.
I was eating lunch.....a hard boiled egg and the cracked portion fell off....
I called the dentist office and they wanted to see me right away....
I arrive and the dentist said....he suspected it would fall off.
He looked at the piece of tooth and in my mouth again......turns off the light, lifts my chair
and is looking pleased.  "I want to try to save the tooth" he says.
and if by chance we have to go to plan B the monies spent on trying to save the tooth
will be credited to any work on the implant procedure".
He is smiling and says......."I really believe I can save the tooth."

I must say I am now OK with the root canal...
not happy....but it is better than having to go to Plan B.


and now a little bit of stitching


Putting on the Ritz Block 2 dress    Putting on the Ritz Block 5 dress

more about the dresses tomorrow.....and a giveaway!!

 hugs



Saturday, July 9, 2011

GO Giveaway !!


There is a GO Giveaway at Quilting Along The Gorge.  
It ends tonight so you still have time to enter.

.....lookie lookie what I  finished.......my LMS Birdie BOM blocks for May and June...(o:

LMS Birdie BOM block 5 ....the May block

and the June block....LMS Birdie BOM block 6a 

In my last post I mentioned I was stitching store samples for Bird Brain Designs 
.....it was finished  and I sent it to Robin on June 24.......
I knew she had been away for a few weeks 
hoping she was back I decided to give her a call to see what she thought....
...she was away again this time to a quilt show in Colorado. 
Brenda was covering the shop .....and Brenda hadn't seen the samples
but she said she would call Robin and get back to me.  
Guess what..... Robin hasn't seen them either.  
  I stitched the dog and Mama Spark stitched the cat version.........
both samples were sent in the same envelope.....

This is what I stitched......sorry the pictures look blurry......a photographer I'm NOT.....

 In a Perfect World Dog 2    Dog photo frame

........so far no one knows where the samples are............
USPS tracking confirmed it was delivered at the address on the package.....
....so that is good news.  
I talked to Brenda Friday afternoon about 3 p.m. Pacific time 
and so far I haven't heard they found the samples......
.....sure hope they do!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

hugs




Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Patriotic Pillowcases ..........

.....in early May I was blog hopping,
(something I haven't been doing much of... till this week)
and I came across a blog that caught my attention.  
You can read the blog HERE
I knew I wanted to help and mentioned it
to our Wednesday night quilting group a few weeks ago.  
I offered to gave the ladies a quick pillow case lesson at our June 22nd meeting.
They came on June 22
prepared to make pillowcases with red, white, and blue fabrics.
Yes they all wanted to make pillowcases in support of Carol and especially her friend
.....and I was thrilled they wanted to help too......
...so far I have 10 pillowcases and more are coming tonight. 
 I'm hoping to mail them to Carol the first week in August....
My goal is 25 pillow cases.......
A big THANK YOU to Ann, Barb, Grace, and Pam.

Pillowcases


A great pillowcase tutorial is HERE.

happy hugs and a zillion thank you's






Monday, July 4, 2011

Hello everyone....where did May and June go ......

The month of May flew by like a blur...and it seems like only yesterday 
I was stitching quilt tops for
the Bunny Hill Designs booth and the Moda booth for Spring Market
and was actually in Utah experiencing Spring Market...
totally overwhelming and exhausting but would do it again in a minute.

I bound 2 monster king size quilts...one for my friend Liz
and one for a friend of Mama Spark's....and yes....
bound 2 more quilts for Mama Spark....one for a wedding and one for a graduation.
We traveled to Canada ...
...had family visiting from Canada...
...went to see my Granddaughter's dance Competition May 21
...planted my veggie garden and a boat load of flowers
...now it's time to keep the weeds out.
I'm still going to the gym 3 times a week
....trying to keep up with the registrations
and my responsibilities for the GAAQG 3 day Quilting Unlimited (QU) retreat...
yep, stepped way out of my box and volunteered to be the registrar...
***There are still openings in some of the classes***

June was a blur too
I did major cleaning before it was time to 
entertain 10 house guests...June 16 - 19 for our annual NASCAR weekend
...another weekend trip to Canada to see the grandgirls dance recital...
they brought happy tears to my eyes and are growing up way too fast...(:
I'm going over to Cori's most afternoons to help her with her online shop.
I'm stitching some store samples for Bird Brain Designs and
have stitched 18 more blocks from Helen Stubbings Truly Aussie pattern.
I'm keeping my LMS Birdie BOM stitchery up to date.
I'm trying to keep on top of the laundry, cleaning, shopping etc...
I'm sewing favors for the tables for the Friday and Saturday dinners for QU...
and I'm even sewing on my Gammil
oh yes I AM!!!!!
I had procrastinated long enough.......
I have had my Gammil Classic Plus for almost a year now.......
it has been set up and ready for action for over 9 months.....
my friend Liz has been over at least 3 times to show me the basics.....and
each time she would leave
I would park the machine and there it would sit month after month....
....not a stitch...nope not a one... 
A few weeks ago she said she would come over after work and give me a hand again
.....if I made her my chicken salad......absolutely I would
.......it was 95 degrees when she arrived
.....we headed to the basement....and worked for a few hours......
Cori came over and Mama Spark too.....Mama Spark wanted some chicken salad
and Cori wanted to see the machine in action...  
We stopped for dinner and after dinner Liz headed home to do chores at the farm and 
Cori, Mama Spark and I went back to the basement...
they wanted to make sure I didn't park the machine and call it quits!!!
Around 9 o'clock I run out of bobbin thread...
Mama Spark had already left and Cori decided it was time to head home.
I thought about parking the machine at that point but
decided to give it one try to wind a bobbin....
....it took me about 30 minutes to figure it out
I gave myself a pat on the back
but now I had to figure out how to re thread the machine...
since I had only the one cone of the white thread and had to use it to wind my bobbin...
I did as Liz said earlier in the evening...."tie the new thread to the old thread
and pull it to the needle instead of re threading the whole machine
......much like threading a serger"
I tied my threads together and....yes...you guessed it.....
the threads separated.
I thought about heading upstairs to bed at this point but again I decided
I'll give it one try to re thread the machine.....
another 30 minutes later I was ready to start quilting again.
I hoped I had it threaded correctly and the machine would not jam...
....took a deep breath and finished the quilt.
It was now 12:30 and I was exhausted....and (o:

Hullaballo front 1st on Gammill Hullaballo front 1st on Gammill closeup

Hullaballo back 1st on Gammill

How did I do??
Can you see the butterfly and the sun????
I'm really happy how the quilt turned out and am anxious
to load my second quilt...hopefully today....wish me luck....I'm will need it.

hugs to all