Quilting, Losing and Tea

Is it really May 31?  It seems like last week that I was rushing to finish the April Schnibbles, and here we are at the end of May.  For my version of Doc, I used Circa 1934, and found a pretty cream print at Hancock Fabrics for the background.  As usual, I have to change things up.  I am not wild about square quilts, so I modified mine to be 2x4 squares rather than 3x3.   Although I loved the border Carrie has on the pattern, I had some special Circa 1934 fabric I wanted to use.  This fabric is by Cosmo Cricket and was originally a scrapbooking design, so one of the designs has different items that could be used as captions and borders.

(Click on the pictures to see a better version)

Cute Typewriters!

Now I need to decide how to do the side borders.  I have 3 options to choose from.

1.  I can use the leftover half square triangle units like Carrie did in the Doc pattern.  This example is by my friend Izzy at Dizzy Quilts (Hope it is OK I 'borrowed' your picture Izzy!

2.  I could use a strip of the green fabric on the left in the picture below.  

I haven't been posting because I am preparing for a garage sale.  

First one since the kids grew up, and after a couple of moves, many boxes to go through.  It feels good to get rid of so much 'stuff'.  I just wish it was cooler - I have a lot of boxes to go through in my closet, but my room is HOT.

I have been working on my May Schnibbles - Doc.  Here is a picture of all of the piles for the blocks.  Each pile is for one block, and each piece is trimmed to 4 x 4 inches.   I am looking forward to sewing the blocks together tomorrow night - my only free night of the week.

I drew one out, and it is number 4.

   

Jen May 22, 2012 6:01 PM

I live in California, and my fav flower is definitely the gardenia. I would LOVE a chance to have that box visit me!  Jen blogs at Quilter's Daughter.  

Congratulations Jen!  I have sent you an email and the box will be out as soon as I have your address.  I was cleaning up my sewing area this weekend and found some more goodies to put in the box.  Including some Jillilly Poke-a-Dots, which I see Jen wants to try.  Enjoy!

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

**This Giveaway is Now Closed**


The traveling stash is here and ready to go on to the next lucky recipient.  I believe I have box #1 - which was split and then other following boxes were split so we now have several.  You can see all the current giveaways for these boxes at

http://sewinglyalong.blogspot.com/search/label/traveling%20stash .  

Thank you Cherise!

Here is what was in the box.  You can click on the pictures to see a larger version.

Patterns -

Other yardage

Many FQ's

More FQ's.  I will be taking all of these.  The one on the left has teapots and teacups!  I will also be cutting a FQ off of some of the yardage pieces.

I need some advice about this particular piece.  I am sorry to whoever put it in the box,  but it is incredibly UGLY.  Should I remove it and donate to Goodwill or something?  There are a couple of yards there.

*Update - it sounds like there are people who are trying for this box who would like this fabric, so it will stay in.  Thank you for the feedback.

My coworker Susan made the front.

Besides the FQ's above, I am also going to keep the Block a day calendar and possibly one pattern.  I can join my friend Kristen at Meadowbrook!  

Ha - I will probably only do the ones I really like this year.

This is what I am going to put in the box (along with more FQ's and a few more surprises):

A variety of FQ's including 30's, Moda Marbles, some Asian, and other pretties.  Half of these were donated by my wonderful work friend Susan.  In exchange, I let her pick a few FQ's.  She was looking for some muted colors - she usually loves brights.  

These Fat 1/8ths.  The 5 on the right are all from the same line - Now We're Going Places by Monica Lee!  These are also from Susan.  To be honest, they are FQ's, but I love them so much I am cutting them in half so I can have some. 

Hope you don't mind, Susan!

Rules:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving the box and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.

2. There's a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.

3. There's a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.

4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken.

5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time - USA and Canada for sure, International up to you per the rules in the box.

Giveaway:

Please tell me where you live and your favorite flower.  I will leave the comments open until midnight (Central Time) on Monday, May 28th. I will email the winner and post on my blog on Tuesday, May 29th. If you are a no-reply blogger please post your email in your comment or you will be disqualified. I will literally delete your comment if there is no way to reply to you.

Please Note:  This giveaway is open to those of you who meet the rules and live in the 

USA AND CANADA!  I decided I need to include the Canadians - after all, the box originated in Canada!  

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

Here are the winners of the 2 Charming Traveler packs:

Original Pack:

And the new pack will be traveling to Canada!

I am linking up to Amy's Creative Side for One Thing...One Week.  

I had committed to putting the layers together for this quilt and quilting 1/4 of it.  I quilted the entire thing last night!  I have quilted very few of my little quilts, so it was good for me and it ended up being very fun to do.  I have almost been 'afraid' to do the quilting since I don't have a machine to learn FMQ on so can only use my walking foot.

I quilted in the middle of the small white strips of the "T's", in the ditch in some places, on either side of the white border, and kind of 'free hand' in the pictures.  And here is the other side.  This cutie patootie panel was part of a 'Fugly Fabric Swap' group I received a few months ago.  It fits absolutely perfectly on the back of this quilt.  

I do have some close ups of the quilting, but they are at home.  I am throwing this post together at work before I get started for the day, so will add those later.

Our Mother's Day weekend was incredible, weather-wise.  And my ex came and took the kids to Target to purchase a gift for me!  So I received a nice Paula Deen chicken cooker fry pan (deep with 2 handles).  It is exactly what I wanted!  We finished off the day at TGI Friday's (and a quick trip to Joann's so I could purchase white batting for this quilt)!

I hope you all had a good weekend also!

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

P.S.  This is for a co-worker of mine.
We will be having lunch with her and baby Brayden this Thursday so the binding has to be done by then!  I am so excited to see and hold the baby.  
His daddy is one of those big, gruff teddy bear types and  Brayden already looks a lot like him.  Isn't he a doll?  :)

***This giveaway is now closed.  Winners announced 5/16/12***


Hello everyone!  

I am so happy you are visiting today.  A special welcome to visitors from

Melissa's blog - Sew Bittersweet Designs.  

I am a guest poster for Melissa today - 

it my first time doing that, so please be kind.  :)

In early April, Diane at "From Blank Pages" sent a pack of 

56 charms on their way as part of her birthday giveaway.  I was fortunate to have my name chosen by Kim of One Krafty Kitty Momma to be the next recipient.
   
They should arrive today or tomorrow, so I am posting your chance to be the 
next lucky quilter to receive them and choose some!  
**Please Note - this is a charm pack SWAP.  When you receive the pack, you keep some, and replace them with good quality, fun charms from your own stash.  Please keep this in mind when you leave a comment.  

FYI, I am doubling your chances to get a chance to participate in 
the swap by creating a second pack.

Diane has a great map that shows where they have been and where they are going so will now have info on both packs on her blog after the drawing is done.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me if you like charms, 

and what your favorite project has been using them - 

or an idea of how to use them.  That is it!  
The drawing will be done on Tuesday, May 15.  


The original pack from Diane is for U.S. followers only, but the 
one I will be making is for U.S. and Canadian followers.  
Sorry International Followers!

Blessed Sewing,

Karen


P.S.  I have already had comments from people who don't have a way for me to contact them.  I get an email for every comment, and this is what the return email address looks like for what is commonly called a 'no reply bloggers':
hlberg noreply-comment@blogger.com
cindy noreply-comment@blogger.com


If this is what I receive in your email, I have no way to contact you if you win!



***This giveaway is now closed.  Winners announced 5/16/12***

I received this email from Minnesota Quilters today:

Dear Karen,

Have you ever wanted to work at Quilt Market to see what new quilt gadgets and fabric is coming?  The MQ Board would like you to be aware of an interesting opportunity to work at the spring Quilt Market at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. 

See the link below for information on the job descriptions, the shifts left to fill, and the person to contact.

This is only Market, there will be no quilt show.  Kansas City is only an 8 hour drive from the Twin Cities.

After seeing the flurry of activity on various blogs about preparations, I think it would be great to do this.  Unfortunately, time and funds are lacking to be able to do it.

Can you imagine being able to see this new line from Bonnie and Camille in person:

Or this from The Noble Wife:

Or this from Jillily Studio:

Maybe someday I will be able to go!  A girl can dream, right?  Have you been to an International Quilt Market?  Did you enjoy it?  Meet any of your favorites?

A month ago today, Diane at "From Blank Pages" sent a pack of 

56 charms on their way as part of her birthday giveaway.  

I thought at the time that it was a great idea so I have been stalking following them around!  

Like the Traveling Stash, but more manageable, controlled, and less expensive to ship.  

They went from UT to NH to CT.  Now they are heading for the Midwest - MN. 

Diane has a great map that shows where they have been and where they are going.

I am going to talk to Diane and see if she minds if I start a second pack.  

Watch here for the arrival and then giveaway of the charms!  

I will combine it with the giveaway for 100 followers.  Good Luck.

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

I had decided to give up on doing the April Schnibbles.  Baseball is now taking up a lot of time.  But then I read on one of the sponsoring blogs that we didn't want to miss this month - some kind of special surprise.  So, I pulled a couple of late nights, and this is what I have: