Colors to dream on

God works in miraculous ways, doesn't He? I'm reminded of that every spring, when plants and flowers are renewed and blooming.

The colors we see are inspiring; colors to dream on.

Purples and touches of red . . .

 

Blues . . .

Lavender . . .
 

 Gorgeous mixes of greenery, blooms, and the warm colors of the bricks . . .

Hope springtime has arrived where you are, too!

Love,

 

Padsworth's Project - and the Pet Show

(If you are looking for our Aurifil giveaway, click here, and then come back to see what Padsworth is up to today!)
  Ribbit!

Hi everybody!

Padsworth here to ask if you are getting ready for the Pets On Quilts show for 2013?

It'll be here before you know it! In August!

Lots of you Lilypadquilters entered precious pups and cute kitties (and hedgehogs, and horses) in the competition last year, and we are hoping for an even bigger and better show this year!

For those of you that are new here at the Lilypad, the Pets on Quilts Show is all about getting your favorite furry friend to pose for you with a quilt you've made . . .on the quilt, under the quilt, beside the quilt, well, you get the idea!

You can also enter a quilt with an animal or pet theme, if you can't get your furbaby to cooperate with the photo shoot!

We have awesome sponsors, and super prizes are up for grabs. You can vote for People's Choice Awards in several categories, and there are random prize drawings, too.

New this year is the addition of the Padsworth Project -- an effort to help dogs and cats be adopted into loving forever homes. We posted a while back about how beds and blankies in the shelters and rescue facilities would help them rest, recuperate, and present themselves better to potential owners. We will be posting some tutorials and resources soon to help you get started -- each time you make a pet bed or blankie and post a picture on the Padsworth's Project page (don't you love alliteration? It just makes my froggie day!) you will receive TWO extra entries into the prize drawings!

We're excited about this project, and we hope that you will help by spreading the word, and by making beds and blankies!

More information on the project soon!

Love,

Aurifil Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed....but thank you for your interest!

First, since I have your attention (wink), I'd like to show you a mug rug I recently finished and packed off to its recipient.

You can tell by the fabrics that I used, that this particular someone is a fellow aficionado of the Elixir of Life, so I was playing to her tastes here:

The boyz got involved, too, and were carefully checking the mug rug for any stray threads:

Once they gave it the paws up of approval (or flippers, in Padsworth's case) it was ready to be packed up and sent to its new home:

It's kinda large (about 12 inches square), but I'm hoping that will give her room for a cuppa and a snack (sugar free, of course) beside her computer or her sewing machine!

Now, back to the business at hand -- you want to know how you can win some awesome Aurifil thread! Well, the special folks at Aurifil gave their approval for three winners here at the Lilypad!

I have posted here about how I enjoy using the Aurifil thread -- there are different types for different applications. I've used the 50 wt thread with great success for piecing and for quilting. Smooth, smooth and no breakage; just lots of quilting fun!

(Padsworth loves that green on the left!)

 The 40 wt is just a little heavier, and I love, love the way my FMQ stitches show up a little better with this thread. Awesome selection of colors in all of these weights.

The 28 wt is wonderful for hand applique and effortless buttonhole stitching:

I haven't tried the 12 wt yet, but they say it's perfect for the Sashiko stitching that many of us like to do on our projects.
There are tips and guides on the Aurifil site that are oh, so helpful, too. You can check out what the designers say about it, and see the collections that they have put together.

Now you don't have to follow us, but we sure would appreciate it, so here is how you can enter to win!

1.  Leave us a comment about your favorite: do you love tea, or coffee, or something entirely different?
2.  If you are a Lilypadquilting follower, you may leave another comment!
3.  If you hop over to the Aurifil site, and check out some of the collections there, leave me one more comment to tell me whose collection you would love to use for your sewing and quilting!

We'll leave the contest open for a week, which means you can comment until May 3! We'll announce our three winners shortly after that.

Good luck, everyone!

Love,

 

Secret life of WHAT??

Calling all Pinterest fans . . . please vote by re-pinning!
The folks at WeAllSew are having a contest for fabric designs . . .

Check this out (and then please go and repin it!!!)

Here is the link to the Pinterest contest location:  http://pinterest.com/WeAllSew/bernina-fabric-design-contest-entries/ 

If you click there, our entry is down near the bottom of the page....

Isn't it fabulous? Well, of course I am a little prejudiced, since the designer is none other than Elby, the admin of our blog and our design wall over at OleFrogEyes, and she happens to be my sweet kiddo!

The novelty fabric that she designed is called, "The Secret Lives of Ice Cream."  There are a lot of different flavors, shapes and personalities inside that freezer at the grocery store . . .

Dare I say it? There's even --  --  --  ROMANCE! (Wink)

Check out the flirty relationships:

See the ice cream sandwich with his wrapper craftily opened to show his physique? And the ice cream bar next to him appears to be thinking, "Eh? So what!"  She is so not impressed.

Ahh, but look at the chocolate covered ice cream treats that ARE impressed with him . . . see all the hearts? They think he is WONDERFUL!!

And check out the dancing going on in this area -- the waffle cone and the sprinkles are absolutely having a party!

The other ice cream cone is crying, and trying valiantly to hold things together, but the spork is terrified that things may fall apart!  "I should do something to help, no?"

And I hope the judges notice how the pattern can repeat across the fabric . . . see the cup of dippin' dots? I believe he is head over heels in love with the soft serve next to him (see his eyes?) and the dots are going everywhere!

I love novelty fabrics, and I hope you do, too. I hope you will take a moment to go and repin the entry, so that the judges will notice all of this ice cream cuteness!

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help out a fledgling fabric designer! Who knows, maybe she can win, and you can say, "I knew her when!"

Love,

Gratitude Sunday

This Sunday I am so grateful for so many things. One of which is being able to eat, as portrayed above!  (Grin)

God has blessed me so much -- I have good results on my tests, I have good friends who care, and I am feeling better!

Last week was pretty scary, starting with an over-ten-hour-first-time-ever-gall-bladder-attack . . . then tests and ultrasounds and more tests.  (I could swear that I heard maniacal laughter in the hallway just before the med tech stuck her head in the door and said, "We need to draw some MORE blood!")  Long story short, they think that a large stone passed through the teensy-tiny duct and is gone now. Yay!! Now if the bloodwork in ten days is OK, the crisis is past. What an answer to prayer!

Many, many thanks to all of you for your kindnesses, your positive thoughts, and your prayers and virtual hugs. You all mean so much to me, and I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

I'm getting rested up, and things will be back to normal soon . . . we'll even have the giveaway that we mentioned last week, too! 

Love,

PS While you are looking at blogs today, stop by at my sister's blog, and wish her a happy birthday! (Grin)

takin' a break

No frills.

No jokes.

I'm taking a break.

I sure hope I will be back soon, but I have some really crappy symptoms, and I don't know what they will add up to.

Please send some positive thoughts and prayers my way... looks like I am headed to the  ER.

Love to all of you,

Packing for a long trip

Now, lest you think that Padsworth, DragonDrop and Snoodles are headed off somewhere, let me show you a picture of what we are packing . . .

It's a box headed for the "Land down under" --- two pressies on board for a pair of sweet kiddos. One little lady and also a young gentleman, who can use these for snack mats! I know that their weather is the opposite of ours, so as I am enjoying the warm up of springtime, they are experiencing colder temps.
Their mommy can fix them a cup of cocoa and some cookies, and they can use these happy mats for their snack time.

I put together some of my left over Happy Town charm squares, and then used some of the border print that I had fussy cut, and these are the results:

Here is the really fun part --- for so long I have been a buy-it-where-it's-cheapest-thread-is-obviously-thread kind of quilter....now I feel like I might need to wash my mouth out with soap for saying those things. (Grin)

The sweet folks at Aurifil sent me some sample packs to try (and some for an upcoming giveaway, too!) and I am floored by the incredible difference! Here is the one I picked first:

And here are the glorious colors inside:

I chose the limey green one, and wound a bobbin and threaded up my trusty machine . . .

I COULD NOT BELIEVE THE DIFFERENCE!!  (Pant, pant...I'll stop shouting and waving my arms now.)
Really, the fact that they sent me some thread to use did not impact my opinion. I'll tell you what did!

My FMQ went terrifically --- smooth as a warm knife through butter; I was gliding along and had never a break, never a rats nest on the back, and (are you ready for this?) absolutely NO lint building up at all!

I am in love with my Aurifil thread, and this is going on my must-have list for my piecing and my quilting, too!
 
Here is the proof:

Aurifil makes even MY free motion work look good! (Whispering) Don'tcha love that stripey binding again?

So, Mhairi, I'm not sure when I will make it to the post office to send these off, but these are for your sweet little ones . . . and here is one more photo of the boyz, waving to you and your kiddos:

(Some of you may recall that Mhairi is actually the creator-mommy of DragonDrop; she made him and sent him here to the Lilypad, and we love him dearly!) 

More Lilypadquilting fun is on the way -- check in soon for that giveaway from the fabulous folks at Aurifil!

Love,

  

TA - DA !!! It's finished! Lookie!

Ah-oooogah!  Ah-oooogah!  Warning! Picture-heavy post ahead!!
First, before I show you my finish . . .

Back, by popular demand, are the boyz. Yes, we have had requests to see what Padsworth and DragonDrop are up to lately. They are a fun-loving pair, and keep things hopping here at the Lilypad!

I thought I would show you what I saw when I came to my sewing area today -- they'd been diving in my scrap bin and brought up all of the Happy Town scraps to play with!

They love the bright colors, and I do too!

I'm so glad that I was able to design a quilt around the cute panel that Jacquelynne Steves created! And now I am able to show you the finish. I am SEW excited! (Grin)

The whole front, spread out to see. . .

And here is the back. I cut my scraps into charm squares and pieced the entire back for a scrappy, happy backing.

I am in love with how the striped binding looks with the charm squares . . .

And of course, having a flowering cherry in bloom for the backdrop can't hurt, right? (Wink)

I know for a fact that my quiltie won't receive any kudos for technical merit -- my FMQ still leaves a lot to be desired! (Giggle) But I had a ball designing and making this quilt, and I hope that the fun keeps going for a child who can play with this on his or her hospital bed.

I quilted lines on the roadway to draw attention to those. I can imagine a youngster "varooming" along with a Hot Wheels car on the road, and pulling up to a stop at the light:

Then a meander in the areas of houses, fire station, school, and more:

And I outline quilted around my own design at the top -- the tow truck and bulldozer are workin' hard to get those letters in place!

Those balloons might be makin' it hard for the drivers to see where they're going!

I especially like the look of the binding when it's rolled up:

All in all, I'm happy with my results, and I'm also happy that this quiltie is winging its way to Pennsylvania, to the Henry Glass and Quilts for Kids folks. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me!! I'd love to win a prize, or just to know that my quilt was picked for the display at International Quilt Market!
But if truth be told, all of us that made quilts for this effort are winners, because we have helped out in a really great cause! I'm honored to have had the opportunity!

Love,