Blog Hop Party Winner

Thanks for all the comments everyone.  I started out trying to respond to everyone, but there were so many comments I just couldn't keep up.  However, I did read each and every one of them!  It seems as though a lot of you live in the south and didn't see as much snow, but there was a couple of you from Michigan who got snow!  

Based on the random number generator, the winner is 107, 

Rhonda D, who said "I live in southeast Missouri, we got less than 5 inches of snow.  Great giveaway!  Thanks for the chance to win!"   

Rhonda I have sent you an e-mail, so once I hear back from you I can get that sent out.  

Happy Quilting!

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March Goal - Finish

I am so excited to say that I have finished this months goal!  The two pocket pillows for my daughter's school auction are complete.

I can't tell you how excited I was to get these finished.  I am glad that they turned out so cute, but I must say they were definitely a "labor of love".  As I was quilting a "swirl" motif from Natalia's book, which can be purchased here, the tension on my long arm kept going "weird" on me.  I think I ripped out the quilting on the boy's pocket piece three times.  It was just crazy.  After the 3rd time, I was finally satisfied with the quilting. However, when putting one of the pillows together, I sewed it together backwards.  I must say it has been a long time since my seam ripper had seen that much action!  Needless to say, I am definitely happy with the final product and I hope some children will be too.  

Here are some pictures of the girl pillow without the books and some "up close and personal" pictures of the quilting.  

Here are some pictures of the boy pillow without the books and some "up close and personal" pictures of the quilting. 

I still do want to make one for my girls' for Christmas.  My oldest saw the "girl one" and you should have seen her face light up and then the look I got when I told her it wasn't for "her".  I felt so bad.  I said "mommy" would try and make one for Christmas and she could pick the colors.  At least now I have a "Christmas idea" for this year, but I had better make two because I couldn't stand getting that look a "second" time from daughter #2.  

Linking up to 2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Fiber of All Sorts.

Happy Quilting!

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Work in Process - Pocket Pillows

Have you ever had a project that literally everything and I mean everything has gone wrong with it?  Well it appears as though I am working on that type of project.  My March goal is to complete two Berenstain Bears Pocket Pillows for my daughter's school auction.  So far I have changed how I am doing the girl pillow twice.  I was following this tutorial that you can find here by the Quilted Fish, but it was just wayyyy to big!  I didn't want it that big, so then I literally had to take it apart the whole thing.  I also wasn't liking how the hourglass blocks were looking with the Berenstain Bears fabric.  Heads and body parts were being chopped off left and right.  I didn't think it was appropriate for little children to have a headless Berenstain Bear, so I had to re-think my pillow construction.  These are the blocks that I decided to go with for the girl pillow:

Here are the ones for the boy pillow:

Here is the final pillow top for the girl pillow and the pocket:

Here is the final pillow top for the boy pillow and the pocket:

The next step is the quilting.  I am going to quilt this with a free motion swirl that you can find in Natalia's book, which can be purchased here.  I just love her book.  I know that I have said that before, but her directions are very thorough, which is why her book is one of my favorites and I highly recommend it.  I will have "final pillow pictures" for you by the end of the week because the auction is on March 16th.  Crunch time.   

Linking up to WIP Wednesday link party hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting!

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Blog Hop Party!

I have actually never done a give away before, so this is my very first one and I am very excited.  Michelle Foster from the Quilting Gallery is hosting a "Beat the Winter Blues - Quilters Blog Hop Party", which I am very excited to participate in.  If this is your first time visiting my blog, thanks so much for stopping by.  I am not sure about everyone else, but we have been really really hit hard with snow this past February.  We literally had no snow until February when we just got dumped on!  I am guessing we have probably gotten a total of at least 100 inches and I am not exaggerating.  Thank goodness for one of my retired neighbors who always seems to plow out my driveway before my husband, the kids, and I get home.  I am guessing he doesn't have any winter hobbies.  Anyways, I think everyone around me is really ready for spring, which is why I am giving away a Rolie Polie of Sweetcakes from Riley Blake.  I took pictures from different angles so you could see the majority of the fabrics in it.  

Isn't it adorable!  To enter the give-away, all you have to do is leave a comment by telling me how many inches of snow you got in the month of February.  I will choose a random winner on March 15th, which is when the giveaway will close.  This giveaway is only available to United States residents.  Don't forget to stop on over to Michelle's website here to visit all the other participants, check out their blogs and enter their give-aways.  

Good luck and Happy Quilting!

This giveaway is now closed!  Thanks for participating!

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2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - March Goal

This month, my March goal is to complete 2 pocket pillows for my daughter's school.  My daughter's school hosts an auction every year, and I thought it would be fun to make something to donate for it.  Someone has already donated a quilt, so I thought that I would do something different and something quick.  A lot of people in blog land have been making pillows and I thought I would join in on the fun.  Only I am going to make my pillow with a front pocket for children to put stuff in. My kids cannot be the only children who go to bed with just about everything under the sun.  Some days I can barely find my daughter in her bed.  My oldest has even slept with wood chips (something new she was collecting this past summer) and my husband's business cards.  He travels a lot.  Anyways, my favorite books to read my girls are from the Berenstain Bear collection.  I even enjoyed them when I was a little girl.  I couldn't believe it when I found this fabric collection by Moda.  When I saw it, I knew it would be a perfect "theme" for a project like this.

I also really liked the polka dot prints that went along with the fabric collection.  I purchased the layer cake from the Green Fairy Quilts and the polka dot yardage from the Fat Quarter Shop.  Both of which are my favorite "go to" online fabric shops.  I am kind of using a pattern by The Quilted Fish, which you can find here.  I am just going to use my favorite block, which is the "hourglass block" and make my blocks bigger due to the "business" of the fabric.  An example of an hourglass block is shown below.  

I just love to make these blocks.  My plan is to make a boy version and a girl version of this pillow.  Well I had better get to work.  The school auction is March 16th!

Linking up to 2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Fiber of All Sorts.

Happy Quilting!

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February Goal - Update

My sister in law and I were able to finish the quilt top for the Family Tree Quilt.  We were very excited to finally have it completed.  We wish we would have done hourglass blocks down at the bottom of the quilt where you see the plain blue but at that point we just wanted to get it finished.  We presented it to my mother in law over the weekend and thankfully she loved it.  Here is a picture showing the entire quilt top.

My plan is to get it loaded on the long arm this week to get it quilted.  I purchased this great book by Natalia Bonner called "Beginners Guide to Free Motion Quilting", which can be purchased here.  It is an amazing book because it actually shows you how to quilt the designs.  I am going to try out several of her designs on this quilt.  This quilt will also be the first time that I do some "ruler" work as well.  I must say I am a little nervous to quilt this because the "whole" family paid for the supplies for my sister in law and I to make it, so in a way, it kind of feels like my first customer quilt.  Here are a couple of additional pictures showing different parts of the quilt close up:

The above is a pic of my mother and father in law.  My father in law passed away last May, so this is just one more reason why this quilt is so special.  

I was pretty impressed that it actually does look like a tree, so hopefully my quilting will make it look even more like a tree!  Wish me luck!

Linking up to WIP Wednesday link party hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Happy Quilting!

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2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes - February Goal

My goal for February was something that I was actually suppose to complete last year and on my 100 day Hustle List.  My sister in law and I wanted to make my mother in law a "Family Tree Quilt".  She is really huge into genealogy and that sort of stuff, so this quilt would be perfect for her.  Her birthday is coming up this February and it just so happens to be a big birthday!  She is going to turn 70!  I have never made a family tree quilt and neither has my sister in law.  We do not have a pattern but have kind of made one up ourselves.  So wish us luck!  This will definitely be interesting!

Linking up to 2013 - A Lovely Year of Finishes hosted by Fiber of All Sorts.

Happy Quilting!

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