Friday Night Sew IN FNSI......and a giveaway

My first Friday Night Sew In was FuN, fUn, FuN. Mama Spark came over as planned and we had our play date.  Our friend Cori (owner of Crazy Quilt Girl Quilt Shop) came for lunch and helped Mama Spark with a bit of unsewing.  Mama Spark was using one of my machines and they always say 'if you start a project try to use the same machine to finish it' as they may give different results.....oh yes they do ......so she had to do a bit of unsewing and Cori helped her with that tedious task that we all hate.....Cori is a sweetie....she came bearing gifts for both of us.....she surprised us both....she is a real sweetie!!!!

I stitched down binding on 2 of Mama Spark's cardinal wall hangings.....5 down and 3 to go....she took them home with her and she has them posted on her blog. Look HERE and read about her FNSI.

I still have 2 more to bind that are similar to this one and a Merry and Bright hanging to bind. Mama Spark said I could pick one.....any one I wanted for me to keep. Which one do you like best?

Here is Merry and Bright.

I also finished these snowmen tea towels

and almost finished the pot holders. Just the binding to do on one. The pot holders were purchased at IKEA. I unsewed the binding and then stitched the red binding on and I like them better. It would have been easier to make my pot holders from scratch. Two of the tea towels came from IKEA too. I'm glad that tea toweling is becoming more available by the yard...40+ years ago when I got married I made myself a set of 7 hand embroidered tea towels. Glad to see it is becoming popular again. I still have them.....and a few are :( looking and pretty thin but still not as thin as the new IKEA ones.

I was hoping to get a binding on a quilt...it is a beast.....I am procrastinating can you tell.....but I will be working on it tonight....promise.

Happy quilting......I'll be posting on Monday and you won't want to miss it!!!!!

Wins and a Giveaway is Coming!!!!!!!

OK....I have been a BAD BAD BLOGGER as it has been almost a month.  This is post #25 and I should be at #125.  First off....my DH is following me around with the Lysol whipes.  Hopefully that will change soon..... I have had enough of feeling crappy.   I've been reading and commenting on a lot of blogs so I have been in blogland just haven't posted on my blog....but if you have been following me you know that already.  There have been lots of giveaways in blogland and I've been a very lucky girl this week. Had a few bursts of energy and attempted to do the happy dance. On Monday I received a yummy win from Anne Sutton at  Bunny Hill Designs. I was the winner of this bit of sweetness. Lily and Will II....3 packs of 2 1/2" square and some taffy.

Then on Monday while sitting with my cuppa and reading my favorite bloggers I found out I was the winner of the Christmas Giveaway at Blue Bird Quilts. It is coming from Australia.....can hardly wait. It is a surprise Christmas gift.....and yes another win......Tuesday night I was reading blogs again and OMG!!!! a third win in one week.....YES I'm now GIDDY in Michigan and not feeling quite sEw crappy.  I won a $25.00 gift certificate on Michelle's blog L7 Quilt Co. The gift certificate is for Desperate Quilters which has an online site. They have some awesome deals!! At some point this week I'm going to buy myself a lottery ticket while I still have that horse shoe......you know where....

Tomorrow I'm having a play date with my BBF Mama Spark.  She is coming over for the day and we are going to sew...sew...sew. I've got my list and I'm hoping to cross a lot off before we drop. Our friend Cori, who is owner of a wonderful on-line shop called Crazy Quilt Girl Fabric Shop, is going to join us for lunch and may stay to do a bit of sewing. You can check out her shop HERE. She has wonderful prices and lots of Moda pre-cuts and yardage.

Mama Spark and I are participating in the FRIDAY NIGHT SEW IN...the button to join is on my sidebar. This is my first FNSI but Mama Spark has done it before.  I'm way older than she is but she is the one that always does it first.   No grass grows under that girls feet.  One good thing about being first....she then shows me how it is done..........I gotta love it.   We will be going to the gym at some point during the day........just for a break as we are trying to be good....our weigh-in is Saturday morning. At this point it's not looking too good for me....

I'm going to do a giveaway on Monday December 13.....I hinted about a giveaway in my last post...you know way...way back when.....can you guess what I'm thinking of giving to the lucky winner? Guess my giveaway and leave a comment on this post before Sunday Dec 12 at 6 p.m. Eastern time.  I'll post the prize on Monday Dec. 13 and if you're guess and the prize are the same you'll get an extra chance to win it....Comment again on the Dec 13 giveaway post and you have another chance to win.....2 chances in total.  You won't have to become a follower to win but  I would love it if you did.  Please make sure you have an e-mail address so I can contact you. No-reply e-mails make me SAD. The giveaway will be open to everyone. I try to reply to all comments so PLEASE please PLEASE make sure I have your e-mail.....

See you on Monday !!!!!!!!

Hugs

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!

Do you every have those down days, you are not motivated to do anything, and you never get going.....well guess what I've been that way for a few weeks.  Not sure why but yesterday..... I helped Mama Spark make some pillowcases. From the cutting to the final press we completed 8 pillow cases .... 4 pairs for Christmas gifts in 2 1/2 hours. It made me feel I accomplished something.....Check out her website as I'm sure her blog will have pictures posted, and today, just a compliment from LTW and a new follower has put a smile on my face. OH yes and DH is back from England....that surely put a smile on my face. It is always a relief when his flight has landed safely..... It is nice to have him back home. Always miss him when he is away!!!

And now ..... my newest follower is Madamme Samm. It was like winning a blog giveaway. I am thrilled......Madamme Samm you made my day!!!! THANK YOU....I'm going to try to post more often. I've not been commenting on many of the wonderful blogs I've been reading in the past few weeks either sooo today I changed that....I left a lot of comments. That must have been how Madamme Samm found me....by leaving comments. I read Aunt Polly's Porch blog. Love the owl mug rug. Check out her blog. I did leave a comment on Polly's blog.   I also read Stash Manicure and loved Madamme Samm's guest blogger Holly Mabutas. Holly's blog 'Sprinkles of Thought' is WONDERFUL!!.....I commented and then I had 103 followers!!!!  I wish I was as confident at blogging as I am about doing binding. I've decided to blog more often and say less in each blog.

And now for the compliment.......I love to do the bindings on quilts and I've never thought my bindings were anything special. I've been called the Quilt Police by some and those very same have asked me how I do my binding. I've shown many many quilters.... how I do my binding. They are so appreciative and now love their results. They have even tracked me down at the gym. I've offered to bind quilts for a number of my friends...some with hand issues and some with time issues and guess what....they keep coming back with more quilts..... so they must like my nice crisp mitered corners.



I recently did a binding for my friend, LTW who is a very busy lady....works full time, has a farm with all the farm chores to go along with having animals. She is a long arm quilter (and a good one at that) and she tells me every time I bind a quilt for her "when I grow up I want to be able to do binding like you". She is soooo sweet. She recently quilted a "beast of a quilt" (king size) for a customer. I bound the quilt and this is what her customer emailed her.... "I'll also say your binding work is perfect. I've done a lot of sewing in my life and I can certainly appreciate all the work that went into that hand work." LTW emailed her customer with this "I am so glad you like the way the project came out. I have to confess that a friend of mine did your binding and her work is exquisite! Some day when I grow up, I want to be able to do binding as well as she does!"

Pretty soon I'll be saying to LTW "some day when I grow up, I want to be able to do long arm quilting as well as you do!" Yes, I bought LTW's old .... but new to me.... Gammill.  She's upgraded to the computer guided and I'll be hand guiding.  I'm about to learn long arm quilting and I'm getting pumped.....hope I like it as well as I like doing the binding.

The 'Yellow Brick Road' pattern by Terry Atkinson is a favorite of mine and I've added the 9-1/2" embroidered blocks from Bird Brain Design's 'Snowmen & Reindeer Blue Work Quilt' pattern to the lap size and voila!!!!!!! I've stitched not 1, not 2, not 3 but 4 sets of the applique blocks. Only one set has been sewn into a quilt top.  Maybe I should have a give away......what do you think?  Keep following me and there might be a giveaway soon.



Here are some up close blocks......



and this one......




and last but not least.....



Happy quilting and thanks for visiting.....

Pauline

HAD A LITTLE TIME TO DO SOME SEWING THIS WEEK.....

A Halloween schlep bag for Mamaspark....hope she likes it. 



I think I'm going to make one for myself too...it's cut and ready to sew.

Mama Spark is on her way back from NYC and she did meet with Heather Ross on Wednesday afternoon.....Heather was a real sweetie and signed a quilt top I made using her Lightning Bugs line, she signed some fabric pieces and our mesh bags I made using her Mendocino line. I made Heather a bag too and here she is.....isn't this a great picture.....



This quilt will be heading to Afghanistan .......sorry about the shadow....it is a terrible picture but I really like the quilt.  It's quilted with stars and stripes......

It's Amanda Jean's 'Fair and Square" pattern and can be found on her blog.......Crazy Mom Quilts.  The 'Fair and Square' pattern was designed for Margaret's Hope Chest.  This week I also finished the binding on a quilt that Mama Spark made for MHC.   I'm still working on my quilt for MHC.  If you piece the top and send it to MHC they will quilt and bind it. Check out their web site and just maybe you can send them a quilt top or even a completed quilt. The are located Grand Rapids Michigan.



........ and the back of the quilt has lots of space to send messages....still more messages to print......before it is shipped for Christmas.

AND NOW....TWO GIVEAWAYS YOU WILL WANT TO ENTER..............

There is a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Fat Eighth  Bundle give away at Green Fairy Quilts.  Click HERE to enter.

Judi aka The Green Fairy will announce the winner on October 25.  Good Luck!!!

and the other giveaway

  

It's a "BLISS" FQ Bundle at Little Bluebell.  Click HERE to enter.

Adrianna aka Little Bluebell will announce the winner on November 3 after she returns from Quilt Market. 

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Have a wonderful weekend...... 

Pauline