Serving Up a Special Review *AND* a Giveaway! Now Closed!!

You can't rush good cookin', so I've heard . . .

We've planned, and worked, and seasoned it to perfection . . . we have a product review for all of you special Lily Pad Quilting friends!! (And a giveaway, too! I'm so excited!!!)

Ahem.

Now that I have your attention,
chant it with me . . . Flur-ree, flur-ree, flur-ree!

Yep, at the end of our review you will have a chance to win our great mystery product, and some Flurry by Kate Spain. I know, right?!

Hey! Not so fast, partner!  :)

Get back here and listen!

No fair scrolling to the bottom to see the prizes --- and you'll be happy that you read this, cos this is a neat problem solver for us quilters!

Have you ever been working on a project and had some batting that you had to trim off? Seriously, who hasn't had that happen?!

Sometimes you have large scraps, and other times they look like this:

I wanted to make a mug rug, so I pulled out these smaller scraps. But this is a great place to show you the new product I discovered!

Once upon a time, there was a long arm quilter named Jeanne who didn't like seeing all the batting that was trimmed away as she quilted her customers' projects. Jeanne had a large stack of batting from her projects, and when she worked with charitable groups, such as Quilts for Veterans, she saw it happen there, too. Some of the pieces were large, but they were odd sizes which were difficult to work with.

Well, I know I have had that happen --- and I bet you have, too. You have to try to put the batting together somehow . . . it doesn't like to stay together if you just lay the pieces side by side. You can use brute force and zigzag stitches to put the pieces together, but that usually leaves little bumps here and there, and is not too easy to needle through, if you hand quilt like me.

"Heat Press Batting Together" to the rescue!!!
If I had a trumpet, I'd blow it, because this is great stuff!

Watch how easy it is to use....

Uh, oh . . . what is that lurking beneath the ironing board? [duh-DUM! duh-DUM!]

OK, first you slide the roll out of the package . . .

There is a piece of plastic around the roll, to keep it nice and tight until you use it. Cut the wrapper very carefully.

"Whatcha doin' this outside for, huh? Slurp!"
Ah! No need to play ominous music. It's Kooshie, our very large puppy that came to visit and then realized she had found her forever home. We named her for the "Koosh" ball toys --- you remember those! Well, her fur is a lot like one! ;)

Heat Press Batting Together is very light and thin. It is soft and stretchy --- but don't be deceived! You'll see later in this tutorial that it is really strong.

Cut a length that will go across your pieces of batting, and lay the Heat Press rough side down on there . . .

Now, here is the important part:
Make sure your iron is set to the correct setting for your particular type of batting. The lady who created this product tested it and had other quilters (100 of 'em) test it, too.

• Does your iron have a teflon-coated plate?
             Then you should try the low cotton setting.
• Does your iron have a uncoated metal plate?
             Use the "synthetic" setting for polyester batting
             --- and a quick, up and down motion.
• Are you using a mixed batting?
             Start with the "wool" setting.

I was using a cotton batting, so I tuned my iron to the low end of "wool".

By the way, has anybody noticed that gorgeous ironing board cover?
I can't take credit for it --- Elby made it for me! :)

NOTE: You should try a couple of pieces of scrap batting to make sure, OK?! Better safe than frustrated! ;)

Once the Heat Press is ironed on, you will be surprised at how strongly it holds --- and it's stretchy!! Just look!

Let me tell you, I REALLY pulled on this bond. It stretched, but held beautifully, and went right back into place when I let go.

I gathered up all of my pieces, and sandwiched the mugrug together.
Then, I tested it to see how it quilted . . .

Now --- to be completely honest . . . . . It's perfect! (Ha! All you pessimists in the audience thought it would be bad news, didn't you?) But I have to tell you --- I was pleasantly surprised. When I needled across the area where the Heat Press was, I couldn't tell it was there! No, honestly!

*** AND It didn't get my needle sticky, either! ***

Completing my mugrug was easy peasy --- here it is!

As a small business owner myself, I always want to help out other small businesses, and I want to spread the word! Ya'll really need to try out this product. It works *better* than one I tried that was made by a much larger company, it's reasonably priced, and available online with FREE shipping!

Do yourself a quilty favor, and check out their site! They have a video there, too, to help you get started.

Since you've been such patient peeps and sat still for the tutorial, now we can get down to that giveaway I mentioned --- woo! :D

Have ya seen the Flurry pre-cuts at the Fat Quarter Shop? Oh, I know you have . . . your screen probably has little nose prints on it from all your day-dreaming!

Well, here is your chance!

We will have two lucky winners of a Flurry charm pack, a roll of Heat Press Batting Together, and some Presencia threads!! Feast your eyes on this!

Now, I have a *special* prize for one lucky blogger who posts our giveaway on their blog . . .

Can you say "scrumptious"?

That blogger will win six fat eighths of Flurry, a roll of Heat Press, and yummy Presencia thread! How do I DO it?!  :D

I want to do something a little different this time!

• For your first entry, leave us a comment about Heat Press Batting Together --- and of course, we hope you are a follower!
• Next, go to their site, and leave them some comment love on their blog. That's your second chance. (Pay no attention to the spam she was hit with!)
  EDIT: Jeanne is having issues with spammers, so go to their contact us page and email your comment directly to her.  :)
• Here's the fun . . . for your third chance, leave me a comment and tell me what song you think of as your "life song". It can describe you, your life, your dreams, whatever!
• Lastly, if you blog and you post about this giveaway, you will be eligible for the *special* bloggers' prize up there!

A warm thank you to Jeanne at Heat Press Batting Together for sponsoring this giveaway! (hee, hee! I love puns!) We'll leave this one open till the 25th, and announce our THREE winners on the 26th!

Love,

P.S. If you order a roll from Jeanne, you can come back and leave me three comments that you did . . . haha! Three extra chances to win!!

UPDATE: Jeanne is having some difficulties with spammers, and she's trying to fix it, so please be patient and just email her at the contact us page!  :)