It's time to vote! Who will win the Pets on Quilts show? (Closed now)

Voting is closed now.


Have you enjoyed our show this year? We've had so much fun!

Lots of cute pups, kittens, even fish and elephants!

Now it's time to vote . . .

Let me explain how we will do this:

1. You will need to decide which post you think is the very best for each of the four categories; dog on quilt, cat on quilt, other animal on quilt, and pet-themed (animal themed) quilted project.

2. Leave a comment on this post with your four selections, like this:
              dog - number 4392
              cat - number 1905
              other animal - 744
              pet-themed project - 216

Got it? Great!

Now, here is where it's going to get interesting -- you are not required to have a viewer's choice winner to get a prize . . .  in fact, you don't even have to enter a project in the show!

Have you visited all of the linkies and left comment love on all of them that you could? Leave me a comment to tell me, and that's another entry in the drawing!

Are you a follower here at the Lilypad? Let me know in another comment -- you just earned another entry!

(Isn't this easy?)

Did you post our button on your blog? Did you post on Facebook to let others know about the show? Those will get you more entries, too! In fact, each of those will get you five more entries!

Now, I won't be able to answer all of these comments, but I will check them all out (and yes, I will check to see if you have been a PR Angel!).

Now, let the voting begin!
We will leave the voting open for a week. Then Padsworth, DragonDrop, and I will sharpen our pencils and start to tally the results!
Good luck, everyone!

Pets on Quilts 2016 - it's here!

Let's have drum rolls and trumpets sounding! Did ya know that this is the fifth annual show? Of course, this show is not something we thought up here at the Lilypad . . . it was the creation of the QuiltShopGal! She was the gracious host for several years, and it's been our privilege to take over from her, and enjoy the party each year!

This is one of the best parties on the interwebs -- and I can say that, because it's all of you wonderful peeps that make it so great! And, of course, our fabulous sponsors!

Look at all these prizes up for grabs this year!

A copy of My Very Good, Very Bad Dog, provided by author/contributor Jeffree Itrich!

TWO $50 gift certificates from our buddies at the Fat Quarter Shop!

A signed copy of Lara Bucella's book, Crafted Applique, New Possibilities!

A gorgeous bundle of fat quarters from Sharon Holland and AGF!

Five lucky winners will receive a pattern of their choice from Lorna at SewFresh Quilt Designs!

Green Fairy quilts is providing a jelly roll of Morris Earthly Paradise for one winner!

Hoffman Fabrics is sponsoring a "Forest Friends" quilt kit!

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb is offering one winner three patterns from her shop!

Clever Grip Tools is providing one winner a set of these handy tools for quilting!

Terri Stegmiller is sponsoring a lovely set of fat quarters - one of a kind fabrics!

Whew! That's a lot of wonderful prizes!

Are you ready to party?  Check here for the rules for our fun, and let's get started! This party will be open for ten days for contestants to enter, and then we will open for the voting.

Party!
Party!
Party!
Ribbit!



Love,

The countdown is almost over . . .

It starts tomorrow!

What we like to call the greatest Pets show on earth!

I mean, what's not to love?

Isn't it just about the most awesome thing to have people visit your blog or Flickr stream and say nice things about your quilted project? 

And nice things about your super cute pet?

To tell you the truth, we're going to have enough warm and fuzzy feelings going around the interwebs to make EVERYBODY happy!!

And you don't want to miss that!!

Tune in tomorrow, folks! The fun begins . . .


Love,

The Rules of the Game, er, Party

Padsworth and DragonDrop, here, with an important linky party announcement!

Every game has its rules, right? Well, our party is no exception. But they are extremely easy to follow!

Check these out!

1. When the linky party begins, use the URL of your blogpost or your Flickr/Instagram photo in the linky sign-up. That way partiers can find you easily!

2. Include a backlink in your post or photo description (in other words, a link to jump back here to the party) for the convenience of the party-goers.

3. Each contestant may enter two photos maximum - if you don't have a blog, you can enter two on Flickr/Instagram. If you blog, your entries can be two blog posts, or one on the blog, and one on Flickr/Instagram.

4. Last year we still had some issues with Google plus contestants....leaving comment love was problematic. It seems that not all of the playgrounds on the Interwebs have easily-opened gates between them. For this year, let's say that Google plus is OK, but you need to have a way for party-goers to leave comments if they are not "on" Google plus. On your entry text, include a note with your email for them. Like this: person(at)gmail(dot)com.  If it is at all possible for you to do so, use a blog post or Flickr -- those work the best!

5. Don't be a post-and-run contestant. Hop around and see the other contestants. That is what makes our party so fun! Plus, if you travel and comment on each entry in the show, that qualifies you for an extra entry in the prize drawings!

6. And speaking of comments, make sure you leave comment love . . . no rude comments, OK? Resist the temptation to say, "Cats rule, dogs drool!" and other such things. (Grin)

7. There are four categories, and you need to say which one you are "in." Dog (pup) on quilt, Cat (kitten) on quilt, Other animal on quilt, and Pet-themed quilted project.

8. The party will remain open for contestants for ten days. After that, the voting will begin! And after that, winners are announced!

This is all just too exciting!

See you at the party!

Love,

Even if you don't have a blog . . .

Would you like to party with us at the Pets on Quilts show, but don't have a blog? 

Don't despair!

You don't have to be a blogger to party!

You can link your entry to a Flickr photo or an Instagram photo!

Both of those are easy to sign up for, and will work just fine!

So, what are you waiting for? 

Get your photos ready, and join the fun, starting Sunday!

Love,

Even if you don't have a pet . . .

. . . you can still enter our Pets Show!

Let me explain! This is a show about pets, and also about quilts. Don't let the absence of a furry or feathery friend stop you!

We have four categories in our show:

There's dog on quilt.

There's cat on quilt.

There's other animal on quilt.

And there's animal-themed quilt.

See? We've had entries in previous years from folks who had no pets -- we've had winners, too!

We'll post again soon and tell you how you can enter the show, even if you don't have a blog!

Love,

Winner, winner . . .

. . . but no chicken dinner!

Instead, this great prize is going home with our winner from the random drawing!

Many thanks to Eva Paige Quilt Designs for providing the prize, and to Jacquelynne Steves, for coordinating the party and giving us the great block patterns!

Congratulations to Nancy J, from All Points of the Compass!

Enjoy your prize, and show it off when you complete it, OK? We'd love to see!

More Pet Show stuff coming soon!

Love,

Hoffman sponsors again this year!

You know a party is fun, when folks come back each year, right? Well, we are proud to announce that a long-time sponsor is helping us again this year!

The Hoffman Fabrics team is with us again! And wait till you see the lovely prize they are offering to one of our lucky winners later this month!

But before I show you that (I'm such a tease) I want to tell you about the company and the fabrics. I used to be unaware of batiks and their beauty. Yes, I will admit to being uninformed and definitely lacking in an adventurous spirit when I began quilting! But now I am an avid admirer of these gorgeous fabrics!

Batiks are the result of many hours of design work, and many hours of painstaking process to create the beauty that we love in yardage and pre-cuts. Hoffman is the result of ninety (yup, I said NINETY!) years as the leader in producing screenprint and Bali batiks. It's still a family owned business!

I think the process is fascinating . . . want to see how they are made? Check out this video!



Isn't that amazing? It truly gives me even more appreciation for these lovely fabrics.

I'm especially impressed with their capital investments and efforts to be good stewards of the environment. Check out the water treatment video, that shows how they return the water, free of waxes and dyes, to be used safely.



Hoffman is the only manufacturer of batik cottons that has a system like this, to protect the environment and the people living in the area.

OK, so now you are a little more educated about batiks, and about Hoffman.  Would you like to see the prize package that Hoffman is sponsoring? I thought so!

Michele and the team at Hoffman are going to send one lucky winner a kit to make the Forest Friends quilt! 

By the way, if you just can't stand the wait, and are totally inspired by this, check out this and all their other FREE (I knew that would get your attention!) patterns at this link!

This kit will feature the digital-print collection Forest Friends, illustrated by Connie Haley, and will include selected Hoffman Bali Watercolors to create this beauty!

I have a feeling that I'm only talking to a few of you peeps now, the rest of you are over looking at the free patterns and the gorgeous batiks at Hoffman California International Fabrics!

That's OK! If you have a moment could you stop by their Facebook page and thank them for sponsoring?
Thanks!

(Waving) Thank you, Hoffman, for your continued sponsorship of our show! We could not do this without you!

Love,

Just one week to go . . .

Our show starts on August 14th!

I hope you are going to be ready -- it is always so much fun!

Have you been snapping photos?

This little guy looks like he is worn out from working with the subject . . . 

Remember that lighting is important, to show the quilting, and to show the cuteness of your pet, too! Daylight is awesome, especially that beautiful light in the afternoon that shows off all that furry beauty!

I bet some of you are sewing like mad . . .

Or not. Sometimes things get in the way of our creativity . . .

(Many thanks to ThreeCatsRanch for the pawtrait of mischievousness.)

Looking forward to seeing everyone's pets! And quilts!

Love,