Merry Christmas to all!

All of the members of the Lilypadquilting team would like to wish each of you a very merry Christmas, and would like to ask you to bear with us as we take a break from blogging to enjoy family and friends (and food -- DragonDrop said I must include that) during this festive season. We want to extend our best wishes to y'all that celebrated Hanukkah, and to y'all that party at Kwanzaa, too!

We'd like to wish for all of you a heaping helping of the peace of God, the comfort of His love, and much contentment in this hectic world. May you be warm, and healthy, and have time to sew. And may you give and receive at least one hug each day. More will be even better.

We love you all so much! We're so happy that you enjoy our antics and we look forward to sharing a happy new year with you!

Love,

(and Padsworth and DragonDrop)

Saluting the Enabler in Chief!

Barbara at Catpatches has done it again! She is such an enabler! (grin)

She's sent out the news that the NEWFO efforts will continue in 2014! What's a NEWFO? I'm glad you asked!

Many of you know what a UFO is . . . your sewing area is crammed with the evidence -- projects that are in various stages of completion. They are UnFinished Objects, right? Well, instead of feeling guilty, and being bogged down with guilt about needing to finish them, let's give ourselves permission to have that spark of joy when we start a NEW creative endeavor!

Me? I try to choose smaller NEWFOs, so that these projects don't end up in the same basket with the UFOs. That way I truly enjoy the creative process. 
I can pick a pattern that gets me excited.
I can rummage in my stash for fabrics. 
I can pat those and talk to them. (Nod and smile, you know you do that, too.)
And I can start my project guilt-free. 
(Saluting) Enabler-in-Chief, I am at the ready!

Here are a couple of things on my list for 2014. (I had to look at my list of 4,592 potential projects and these caught my eye. The rest of the list will take me far beyond the three-score and ten the Lord may have in mind for me.)

I'm really hoping to put together a Lilypadquilting Quilt Along, and make the sampler quilt that I've been planning for so long. Due to the generous efforts of my sweet sister, I believe I have the orange fabrics that I need. So now there is no excuse, unless you consider making a living a valid use of time that could be used for quilting. (wink)

Also, I have had this adorable Thimbleberries kit in my stash for a while, and I want to complete this wallhanging:

And this Judie Rothermel kit is calling to me, too. It's a small project, perfect for a NEWFO start!

Join us, won't you? (There are prizes to be won, just sayin'.)

Love,

Alpaca!

Lest you think that all we do here at the Lilypad is play in the fabric, I offer this post as proof that other things happen here . . . wonderful warm things!

Recently I got some yummy alpaca yarn (100% alpaca, the good stuff!) from Alpaca Creek Farm and I wanted to show you my project. Here is the info on the yarn, for those of you that are interested:

Alpaca Name: Jaci and Neo. Sister and brother - these are both award winning fleeces (3rd and 2nd place)
Color: True Black
17 wpi sport, Each Skein is 225 yards. 

I know that the recipient never looks at my blog, in fact, probably doesn't know that I blog at all, so I'm safe sharing this with all of you!

This scarf will help keep him warm as he walks to the university -- I know this will work with his winter coat, so he'll be stylish AND warm!

Padsworth and DragonDrop wanted to help with the photos, so enjoy these shots of merriment and mayhem here at the Pad!

(Hide and seek)

(Here I am, DragonDrop!)

(Mmmmm, sure feels soft!)

The pattern came from this site, and is called the "Mariner's Scarf." I love the checkerboard effect that you get, simply by alternating knit and purl stitches in the pattern.

I'm hoping this will be well-used and well-loved . . . alpaca is so soft and warm!  And I think this looks very manly.

If any of y'all are knitters or crocheters, and are looking for a great fiber for your project, give my friend Jacki Roberts a shout. Her contact information is on the Alpaca Creek site, and she was wonderful to work with. (Waving) Thanks, Jacki! 

Gotta get back to work on Christmas projects!

Love,

SewMamaSew Giveaway Day winner!

Whoo hoooo!

We love giving away prizes!  First of all, I would like to thank all of our friends, old and new, that left comments and entered our contest. SewMamaSew hosts these parties twice a year, and I've gotta say, they're a lot of fun!
We had over 900 entries! Whew! And in case you are wondering, the beverage that won in the unofficial voting was . . . wait for it . . .

Yep! Eggnog!

Personally, I love the stuff, but there were a lot of other yummy things mentioned that I would like to try. Anybody up for a beverage blog hop? (Grin)

Let's see who is going to win the $30 gift certificate to shop at the Fat Quarter Shop! 

Mr. Random thought long and hard, and chose:

Congratulations to Kathy, at Sewcial Stash! You are going shopping!

Many thanks to our generous sponsor, the Fat Quarter Shop -- please stop by and check out the yummy fabrics, fun patterns, and helpful notions that the FQS team keeps in stock for all of us! They offer all of that, and super customer service, too!

Thank you, everyone, for stopping by to see us, and we are honored that many of you decided to follow us here at the Lilypad. We'll do our best to keep it fun and inspiring!

Love,

Terri Stegmiller pattern giveaway winner!

It's time to announce our winner! Thank you, Terri, for letting us participate, by testing the pattern and by hosting one of the stops on the blog hop!  We had a blast!

It's the first time I've seen this --- Mr. Random chose the very first comment!

Our first commenter was Gene Black, who was very diplomatic when he answered our question...."Do dogs rule, or do cats rule?"

Here is Gene's answer:

Congratulations, Gene!

We're happy for you, and we look forward to seeing your version of one of these fun patterns!

Love,

Island Batik entry!

Be sure to check out our awesome giveaway of a Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate here, and adorable Terri Stegmiller pattern here!

SewCalGal gave me a heads up on a contest over at Island Batiks, and since I love those fabrics, I thought I would give it a try!

Remember this placemat? It's made using my Go!Baby diecutter from Accuquilt, and I love how easily these go together with the precise shapes from the cutter. What did we do before these came along? (Grin)

I showed how to make these in this post, but many of you are new followers here at the Lilypad, so I thought I would make some better photos. 

I'm making more of these in a wide variety of Christmas fabrics . . . wouldn't they be yummy in the batiks that are up for grabs? Check out the contest and you might win!

Of course, I waited until the last minute so I'd have less competition from all of you awesome Lilypadquilting peeps!  (MUWWAAHHAHAAHHHAAHHAAA!)

Good luck!

Love,

Giveaway Day! Sew Mama Sew

Please note, this giveaway is now closed....thank you for your interest!

Welcome to Lilypadquilting! (DragonDrop, get yourself up out of that button box!)

Padsworth and DragonDrop here, to welcome you to the Lilypad!

We have lots of fun here . . . Snoodles lets us play in the fabric, and we help her design quilts and projects, too!

We have a virtual quilt show here every summer; the Pets on Quilts Show is sew much fun! Lots of quilters take photos of their furbabies on their quilts and show them off! We try to raise awareness for shelter pups and kitties, too, and get them adopted!

We're sew happy that you are here, and we're excited to be participating again in the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day!

One of our wonderful sponsors is assisting us with our super-duper prize this year -- the fabulous Fat Quarter Shop is offering our winner a $30 gift certificate to spend in their awesome online store!

Fat Quarter Shop has so much gorgeous fabric! 

And exciting patterns! 

And helpful notions! 

It's a one-stop-shop for quilters!

Our giveaway is open to quilters and sewists all over the world! We hope you will enter:

1. Leave us a comment and tell us what your favorite Christmas beverage is!
2. You don't have to follow us, but we'd love to have you along for the ride, and you can leave an extra comment to try to win, if you follow!

We'll leave this open until Friday, December 13th, then have a random drawing, and we'll announce our winner shortly after that!

You can click here to get back to the fun at SewMamaSew! Happy Giveaway Day!

Love,

Terri Stegmiller Bloghop and Pattern GIveaway!

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

How would you like to win a copy of one of these cute patterns? And you can choose your favorite!

Well, pay close attention to learn how to win!Today is the start of the Terri Stegmiller Blog Hop, and there's a list down below of the blogs that are participating.

You may recall that we tested one of these patterns: Paws in the Garden. Meowwww! We had fun! Here is a link to our first post about the process, and here is a link to the post where we revealed our completed project.

You should hop around to these other bloggers, and get some inspiration on how to complete your project -- we had a wide variety of fabrics and colors used, and each project turned out so different and so cute!

Here's how to win:

Answer this question -- do dogs rule? or do cats rule? Be careful not to say anything inflammatory here . . . I don't want to be responsible for any wars! (Grin) Just express a thoughtful opinion, OK?
Please leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of one of Terri's patterns.  You get to choose which pattern you'd like, either Paws in the Garden or Butterfly Moments. (Followers can leave an extra comment for another chance to win!)

The pattern will be provided to you in PDF document format, which you download and print yourself.  It will be delivered to your email address.  Please be sure you provide contact information when you comment.

A winner will be randomly drawn on Friday, December 13.

Please visit all of the following blogs for more chances to win (each blog will have a winner):

Terri Stegmiller

SewCalGal

Jill Buckley - The Quilt Rat

Teresa Raleigh - A Quilt and a Prayer

Marsha Leith - Cool Quilting

Snoodles - Lily Pad Quilting

Judy Applegarth - ScampAlot

Margie Kraft - Margie Quilts

Joy Manoleros - Bjoyful Studio

Good luck! Let the commenting begin!

Love,

Blog Hop winner!

This has been such a fun hop! Lots of inspiration in the projects shown at the participating blogs. And for sheer beauty in photos and in inspiring posts, you can't beat The Art of Home, where Jacquelynne Steves shows us craft projects, recipes, tablescapes and more!

DragonDrop just loved reading all of your comments, and I'm sorry to say that we've not been able to answer them all. He strutted around like, well, like a tiny purple dragon! (A very proud one!)

(Here he is, sorting my thread for me!)

Some of your words to describe him were quite complimentary, and some were such fun! We had a blast -- I still think that our followers are the bestest folks! You make our day when you leave us comments!

We have a tablerunner kit up for grabs, and our winner will also receive a surprise package from The Art of Home!

Mr. Random chose:

And number 96 was Joanna! Yay!! Congratulations, Joanna! We'll be contacting you by email right away!

Be sure to check out Jacquelynne's blog to see who wins that awesome Grand Prize!! 

And stop back in tomorrow -- we have TWO blog hops starting tomorrow . . . the Terri Stegmiller hop is going to be loads of fun, and the SewMamaSew Giveaway Day is fabulous, too!

See you tomorrow!

Love,

Holiday Hullabaloo Blog Hop starts today! Giveaway!

PLEASE NOTE: This giveaway is now closed.....thank you for your interest!

It's here! It's here! It starts today! And there are prizes to be won!!

We are over the moon excited (as if you can't tell) to be the start off point for the Holiday Hulabaloo Blog Hop! One of our awesome blog sponsors created this fun hop and has some fun things in store for all of you special Lilypadquilting peeps!

Drum roll, please! The sponsor of our hop is none other than the wonderfully talented (and Especially Nice Person) Jacquelynne Steves of The Art of Home!

Here is the schedule for our hop:

    Monday Dec. 2         Lily Pad Quilting  http://lilypadquilting.blogspot.com/ 
    Tuesday Dec. 3        Sew Cal Gal  http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/
                                   Bejeweled Quilts by Barb  http://bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com/
    Wednesday Dec. 4    Upstairs Hobby Room  http://upstairshobbyroom.blogspot.com/

                                   Freemotion by the River   http://www.conniekresin.com/

    Thursday Dec.5        A Quilt & a Prayer http://aquiltandaprayer.blogspot.com/

                                   Tami’s Quilting Adventure  http://tamichaulk.blogspot.com/

    Friday Dec. 6            Needled Mom http://needledmom.blogspot.com/

All of these talented bloggers will be able to accept your entries for the giveaways . . . let me explain how this will work!

Jacquelynne is sponsoring giveaways on each of our blogs -- but the prizes are a surprise!

There will be fabric prizes:

(This is just one of her fabric lines, called Fruitful Hands.)

The prizes can be patterns!

It might be one of her inspiring books!

You might win some of her cute notecards!

Jacquelynne Steves has designed gorgeous lines of fabrics, and wonderful patterns, too. We've featured them on Lilypadquilting before, like this quilt, called Apple Basket:

And this Lilypadquilting original design, using her Happy Town line:

All of the daily prizes are awarded by Jacquelynne Steves, and they will be valued at $15 - $30, and each blogger might have a giveaway at their blog, too! Then, at the end of the hop, there will be a grand prize awarded!

Wowser! Now that is a grand prize!  . . . fabric, patterns, gift items, and more!
Not even Jacquelynne knows what prize will be awarded to each of the bloggers' daily prizes . . . that will happen when all the hopping is over. And you know we love hopping, right?

You will want to visit all of the blogs, and also visit at The Art of Home, to enter to win the grand prize! (You can enter each and every day, there at her blog, to increase your chances of winning!)
You might like to drop by her Etsy shop and do a little Christmas shopping, just sayin'.  (Grin)
If you don't already receive her newsletter of project ideas, recipes, and down-right scrumptious recipes, you can click here and sign up! 

Now, what can you win here at Lilypadquilting? Well, Padsworth prevailed upon me to provide one of my favorite kits for your consideration . . . the Tempting Tablerunner, an original design by Sandra Anderson, who blogs over at A Legacy of Stitches.  The kit for the runner includes the pattern for the runner, plus all of the fabrics needed to complete it! The fabrics are adorable -- from Jacquelynne Steves' Sewing Room Social line.

Take a peek!

The photos don't do the pretty fabrics justice:

DragonDrop was enjoying playing whilst I posted this . . .

How can you enter to win? Leave me a comment telling me what one word you think best describes DragonDrop . . .
You don't have to follow here, but if you do, you may post another comment-entry!
And if you are signed up to receive Jacquelynne's e-magazine, you can enter a third time!

Our giveaway will be open all week, and we'll choose our winner by random number generator. The winner will receive the table runner kit, as well as the surprise prize from Jacquelynne Steves and The Art of Home!

And be sure to hop over to The Art of Home and enter to win that Grand Prize!! Keep on hopping all week to the other bloggers, too, OK? We've got lots of fun things for you to enjoy!


Love,