In the midst of making turkey pot pie from the leftovers, and cheering for our team in the upcoming playoff, I wanted to let you know of a great giveaway! You're going to want to hop over to Jacquelynne Steve's place (you can click on that linkie) and enter to win the grand prize for the blog hop we've enjoyed for the last few months. Check out this prize!
There's also a second prize package to be awarded:
What are you waiting for? (Grin) Hurry over and enter to win! See ya next time! Love,
Here in the United States, we're celebrating Thanksgiving . . . some of us focus on the food, some on the parade, and some on the football games. (Grin) But I want to focus on being thankful! We've had a long and often rancorous election cycle here in our country. Many people are worried about whether or not there will be political discussions at their feasts, and the celebrants will morph into combatants. Mashed potatoes and giblet gravy will be flying, and it will turn into a Thanksgiving even more memorable than they'd hoped. (Grin) Perhaps we need to reach across our tables and take each other's hands, and remind each other that today is a day to celebrate the love, peace, and gratitude that we share with our families and friends. Politics can come another day. Or not. I've been blessed. So much. Yes, we've worked hard. And we've tried to work smart. The important thing is that the Lord has blessed our efforts. Our gradually widening middles (in spite of daily exercise) are confirmation that the Lord has provided....we've not gone hungry. He's protected our health, and comforted us through some Very. Hard. Times. So today, I raise my hand and say, "Yes, I'm blessed! Thank you, Lord!" I hope you'll join me. Please don't throw the potatoes? Love,
I received a lovely book from one of our sponsors today!
The Fat Quarter Shop sent this:
Oh, so yummy! Quilter's Patch is from Edyta Sitar (I love her designs!) and it's just beautiful! Inside the book are patterns for each of the blocks used to make the quilt . . . there is a cat block (they know me so well!), coneflowers, delphiniums and more. What I really like about the book is that each block is going to do one of two things -- either refresh your memory of a technique, or teach you a new one! For example, for these coneflowers, you'll be making angled units from strip sets. And for the sunflowers beside them, you'll make dresden units.
See those cute pink hollyhocks in the picture below? You'll brush up on your curved piecing skills on those . . . and the instructions for the clamshell roof on the house are so clear and easy to follow!
There's even some paper piecing (shudder) but as much as I dread paper piecing, I think that even I can follow her great instructions!
This truly will be an heirloom once created. It is just beautiful! The finished size is 75" by 78.5". I hope you will hop over to the Fat Quarter Shop and check out this book. I think you'll love it, because all of the applique templates and embroidery patterns are inside! This is an awesome block of the month pattern for using up scraps from your stash. But if you want to create Edyta's stunning version, you can get the package of 87 laser-cut shapes at this link, or you can get 13 sturdy templates already cut and ready to rock and roll at this link!
Just tell 'em that Snoodles sent you! (Grin) See ya next time!
We've consulted with Mr. Random Number Generator, and Colleen Gonzales is our winner!
Here is what Colleen said about her seam allowances:
Unfortunately, it's hit or miss for me. If I go real slow, I come fairly close to the magic quarter inch seam
Congratulations, Colleen!
It was a lot of fun reading and responding to everyone's comments! It seems that many of us strive for that perfect one quarter inch, but we also use tools to help us achieve it.
And in the event that we aren't quite perfect? Well, we just enjoy the journey, and keep going on our quilts! Of course, there were a few perfectionists that mentioned seam rippers, but I'm going to ignore that! (Grin)
I hope that you are sewing along with us on your own Maggie's First Dance quilt. There is still just enough time for you to get the instructions, over at Jacquelynne Steves' site!
And if you want that really cool Clearly Perfect Angles tool for yourself, click on this link and go get one!
With a grateful heart to those who've given their all, for those who've served and made it home, and for those who serve today. Many, many thanks. We live in a free land because of those sacrifices. May we live in such a way that your efforts are not in vain. Love,
Have you been sewing along with us on the free Block of the Month from Jacquelynne Steves?
We've had a blast with this project!
This month, it's time for borders and finishing . . . I changed things up a bit from the suggested borders, because I had a certain spot on my wall where I wanted this to be displayed.
Here are my blocks assembled into rows:
Aren't they cute?
Now here is my take on the borders:
I used a white border half the width of the suggested one, and then went ahead with the floral print right next to that.
I love, love how the borders sparkle! The floral is such a cute print, and really pulls all those colors together!
I'm not sure how this next picture happened . . . looks like someone's toes are in the photo. Who is that photo bombing?
I'm going to "sandwich" and quilt this as soon as possible!
Any way, I hope that you are all excited for this month's instructions to slide into your inboxes, and that you will hop around to all of the other bloggers that are participating. Check these out:
As always, we have a fun giveaway for you to enter! This one is sponsored by Kari at New Leaf Stitches!
I hope you will hope over to her shop and look around -- she has some awesome, helpful products there for us quilters!
This one is called the Clearly Perfect Angles Pack . . .
Here is a video so that you can see this cool product in action!
Would you like to win this? Tell me in a comment: do you always sew a perfect quarter inch seam? Do you sometimes hit the magic "quarter inch"? Or do you just sew, pedal to the metal and not worry if you are accurate? (Gasp!) For sure, that makes matching things up just a tad difficult! (Grin)
Be sure to enter the giveaways at the other bloggers' sites, too, OK?
We'll leave this one open until the 14th, to give everyone time to enter.
Good luck! Oh! PLEASE make sure that you leave your email address as part of your comment, OK? I have SO many no-reply folks, and I want you to have a chance to win! You can do it like this: quilterjane(at)jane(dot)com
Huge thank you's to our sponsor, Fat Quarter Shop, for providing the prizes for this week's giveaway package:
Are you inspired to make some stars with this fabulous book and the special ruler?
Our lucky winner was chosen by Mr. Random Number generator! Congratulations to Monica, of ICanQuilt2! Enjoy your prize -- we'll be in touch to get your shipping information, so that you prizes can wing their way to you! If you've been inspired by the Fat Quarter Shop video and the lovely stars, and you'd like to make your own starry project, be sure to hop over there and purchase the book and ruler for your very own! Love,
