Mail! :-)

I love getting mail and today was really special! :-) I received my giveaway win from Barb at BejeweledQuilts. It is the first time I've ever won a blog giveaway. ;-) I love the Dresden Star pattern! Barb also included the templates and a cheery batik fabric. :-) Thank you so much Barb!! :-)

Thank you for all your comments about my north wind blocks/top. Last night I ran out of pins putting rows together, so today I will be sewing. And then pinning some more rows together. I'd really like to get the blocks together this week~ and I'm sure my family would like to see it off the floor! ~~I mean, my design wall! LOL :-)

I also started prepping my May and June blocks for the BunnyHill BOM. (see sidebar) Yes, I am behind. :-/ But I'm working! I wanted to show you how I do the handles, since I've had a few questions... I lightly trace the pattern on the back of my background square with a mechanical pencil. ~Remember to trace from the backside of the pattern if you want your block to end up looking like the photo. ;-) For the basket and handle, it really doesn't matter since they are the same on both sides. ;-) Then I take a dark thread and big running stitches to stitch around the handle area. I start exactly where the handle meets the basket, but when I sew the handle on, I start sewing just a bit below this point.

My handle is cut from the bias and is 1 inch wide, folded and pressed in half. If I place the cut edges so they meet my basting line, and sew a scant quarter inch seam with my sewing machine and a small stitch length, it leaves me with exactly a quarter inch wide handle. I trim out a bit of the seam allowance~ kind of staggering it so both thicknesses of seam allowances are not right on top of each other. (that is a trimming trick I learned in making clothing) Then I press it up and as I hand sew the folded edge down, I remove the basting stitches. Ta-da, my handle is in place and I've only had to hand stitch one side~ and best of all no pencil, or water soluble lines to remove. If you look on the back after you've stitched it, you will find your applique stitches on your pencil line~ or so close that no one will ever know! ;-)

If you click the photo's~ hopefully they will enlarge a bit. The last one is of my handles waiting for me & my needle and thread. ;-)

That's all for today~

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'! :-)

Design Wall Monday~

My 'Northwind' blocks are still all over the floor ummm, I mean design wall :-)) ~but I am working to get them up! ;-)

Every spare moment I could find over the weekend, I used to get the blocks joined into rows. All those HST's meant a lot of pinning! :-o I used the 'three pin method' of joining blocks~ a pin in the point of each HST to line them up, then a pin on either side to stabilize and remove the center pin. I won't say I didn't have to rip a bit, but I'm sure it saved me from a lot more! ;-) Now all the blocks are together and ready to be joined into rows horizontally~ lots more pinning! :-/ I'll start out joining 2 rows 5 times, and then join 2 of them etc. It'll probably take a while, but so far the pinning seems to be paying off! :-)

Until next time~

Happy stitchin'!! :-)

Giveaways~~

Check out Helen's new pattern!~ I love it! And she's having a giveaway. :-))

And here is another~ add your birthday wishes for Jackie! :-)

One more~ for a fun box of scraps from Sheree's Alchemy! :-)


Ok, just one more~ Check out Bitty Bit's and Pieces project and giveaway. ;-)


Have fun! And good luck to everyone! :-)

More Hop Fun! :-)

I had a bit more fun hitting a few more shops. ;-))

At one shop they were giving demo's of the new Hunter's Star ruler~ called the Rapid Fire Hunter's Star Ruler~ created by Deb Tucker. Well, rapid fire is right!~ I couldn't believe how fast the blocks were flying! ;-) So it found it's way into my shopping bag, along with this pattern. I love red. ;-)) I found the leaf print at another shop. It is for the border of my Ocean Wave's blocks~ which I discovered are also called 'Northwind' blocks (because they have 3 HST's in them). I like the name Northwind much better~ especially since my blocks are all autumn fabrics with a good wind rustling through them! :-) Even though I haven't named the quilt yet, they will now be called Northwind blocks. :-)) LOL The gold print I found at yet another shop. ;-) I'm not sure if I'll use it with the leaf print, but I laid it alongside to see how well they went together. ;-) Now to get them sewn together~~

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!! :-)

Fun Days!

I've been doing something I have never done before~ shop hopping! :-)) And I think I found a new addiction! LOL :-)) It is Western WA Quilt Shop Hop time and who knew there were so many quilt shops here?! All together there are near 60! :-o I won't be going to every one, not even half. ;-) But I found a few new-to-me one's and had a blast! At each shop you get your 'passport' stamped, and get a small kit for an 8 inch block. They have to put in a piece of the official hop fabric and 2 coordinates... enough to use in the pattern they give you. (Each shop designs their own block) Most shops then offer a finishing kit for $1-2, but generally you would have the extra bits in your stash and if you purchased any of the shop hop fabric, you most likely have something for finishing the block too. I loved the fabric!~ it is Washington wildflowers and they made a lot of coordinates in different colorways. You can see all the fabrics here. Not every shop carries all the line, and some didn't have any left, so it is kind of fun 'hunting' for your favorite fabrics too. I purchased these for my quilt~ maybe I can get a top together before next year. LOL ~one of the ladies I met in one of the stores said she has been doing the hop for 7 years, they asked her if she made the quilt each year and she said~'not a one!' very cheerfully! LOL Hopefully I will get this one together~ that's my plan! ;-) I'll use the kits I got and add a few more blocks to make a wall hanging or something. ;-)

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

What's On Your Design Wall?

It's Design Wall Monday already! :-) And in answer to Judy L's question~

well, let me just say, if you've been by in the last week, you already know! :-) And you are probably tired seeing it! I've been having readers vote for their favorite layout for my ocean wave blocks. Well, the good news is that I've made a decision! :-)) And yesterday while there was a lull in the activity around here and DH was relaxing and enjoying his Father's Day~ I started sewing! :-) So now I'm committed (but you probably already knew I should be by my blog name!) LOL! Now you are wondering~ which layout did she choose?~ :-) :-)

Well, I did fiddle with the blocks some more, so this isn't the exact photo, but I chose this one~

Thank you for all your votes and comments! I had a lot of fun reading your comments, playing with the blocks and deciding on the layout. Now I need to get back to my sewing machine!~

Have a happy day and~

~Happy Stitchin'!! :-)

Choices :-) ...and Giveaway Winner!

First to choices, I played with the blocks some more and have narrowed it down to these two. (no, Brenda, I am not making 80 more blocks to make both of them! LOL :-)) Please help me choose by commenting with either a left choice or a right choice~ok? And thank you all for your input!! :-))

Now on to my giveaway winner~~~ Thank you all for leaving comments and reading my 200 posts! I thought it would be years before I got to that number! LOL And now... drum roll please... congratulations to.....

are you ready? First I should tell you, since it is Father's Day, my DH picked the winner by choosing a number. The lucky person whose name was behind number 13 is............. :-) .................. :-) .................... :-)

~~~~~ :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Myra~~ !!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations! If you can email your address to me, I will get your prizes out sometime soon. ;-) And you know, even though I had absolutely nothing to do with it, I must say hubby did good! :-) ~ I think it was really fate that chose you since you love making bags too. :-)

Have a happy day y'all!~

And until next time,

Happy Stitchin'!!!