Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

In the midst of the wrapping paper, the thread and fabric, the tinsel, and the sugar cookies, can we stop a minute, you and I?

I won't keep you long.

I want to wish you a blessed, peaceful, and yes, a merry Christmas. Why?

Because this is a time of year when so many people are sad. Some are depressed because they won't get many presents. Some are sad because they can't afford to give many presents. Some are sad because there is someone special in their life who won't be around this Christmas -- perhaps because they are estranged, or perhaps that person has passed away.

They look around at the merriment and the mayhem and they sigh. It is for you, dear friend, that I want to pause and give you a virtual hug. If I could, I would wrap you in my softest quilt, and tell you that you are not alone; you are loved. Because that is what Christmas is really all about. It's about pure, unconditional, irrepressible, unbelievably awesome, self-denying love. The love that brought God to man.

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

I hope that I have not offended you, gentle reader. I hope that you will have a merry Christmas. He knows what is in your heart today, and He's ready to fill your heart with the peace that passes all understanding. My Christmas wish for you is that you know Him, and that you know that He loves you, and me, and everyone.

Because His love is what makes my Christmas merry.

Love to all, and a very merry Christmas!

Cyber Monday Part II!!

 Our friends at the Fat Quarter Shop are in the "let's have a sale" mood, too!

Be sure to follow these links and see all the great savings!!

Love,

Cyber Monday!!! Part I

 I hope you will check out the sales and discounts at the Accuquilt Cyber Monday event!

Yes, I will earn a tiny commission if you purchase there, but your price won't go up (NOT EVEN A SMIDGEON!), I promise!

Some of the best discounts of the year!!

Let the shopping begin!!

Love,

Counting our blessings!

 

I hope that all of you are warm and well fed at this wonderful time that we set aside for thanking God for all of His blessings!

I'm so grateful for all of you who encourage me!

I'm thankful, too, for those around Mr. Snoodles and me, who are like-minded patriots, truly grateful for the blessings of this amazing nation! 

This has been a difficult year for everyone. I'm praying for those I know who are facing unemployment and trusting God to help them.

Whether we are celebrating with family or with friends, or even if we are far from them, let's raise a cup of cider or a glass of tea and toast the men and women who keep our country safe - God bless all of our military who are all across this globe. Thank you for your service!

This year, I saw that Jacquelynne Steves had a special effort to help Convoy of Hope, a faith-based organization founded to help alleviate hunger. This seems like the perfect time to help them! Check out Jacquelynne's post and pick up her patterns that will result in 100% of funds going to Convoy of Hope.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Love,

"It's 5 am someplace"

We quilters love our fabrics.

And our coffee.

Recently I took a deep breath and entered a contest. I wouldn't have been tempted into doing it, except that it was organized by my favorite coffee supplier. (Grin)

Mr. Snoodles and I are both aficiandos of light roast coffee. I know of some who want their Elixir to be strong and dark, but sometimes that tastes more like petrol to me. I fell in love with Cameron's Coffee when it appeared in the local grocery store. Their Breakfast Blend is my go-to, all day long!

The contest theme was "Cameron's in the Wild," and I had a sudden inspiration as I looked at the array of plants on our screen porch. One of them definitely brings "wild" to mind (well, actually wild and scraggly, but I digress).

Having a dog too large to add to the picture, and no resident Quilt Inspector Cat at this time, I resorted to a stuffed animal . . . a leopard, I think.  Check this out:

The plant has always resisted my efforts to make it thrive, much less bloom. The lady who gifted it to me years ago had one that bloomed like this:

But mine has never, ever, EVER done that.

Still, it did look pretty jungle-ish.

I was so crazy busy that I didn't catch the email that trumpeted "YOU WON!" until two months had gone by. But the awesome people at Cameron's still sent my prizes! Six bags of my favorite, Breakfast Blend, and a cool shirt!

How awesome is that!

Needless to say, I'm sipping a cup of java as I write this post, and if you want to get some great coffee, look at all the flavors on the Cameron's web site, and head to your store (or order online)!!

Love,

It's show time!

Time for another cool Accuquilt show!

Click on this linkie and have some fun! There's a live show today (Tuesday) and there will be drawings and prizes, as well as discounted prices! Just enter the code SHOW 3 for specials.

Come and join the fun! 

Check out this great video to show you the die and wallhanging!

And I just GOTTA show you this:

You can't beat Accuquilt for cuteness and fun! 

C'mon to the party! At noon, Central time!

Love,

12 Days of Christmas in July

      There's two days left on the Christmas in July event at Accuquilt!

           Head on over to the site and check it out before it's gone!!! 

              Thirty percent off of cutters, dies, and more!

               Just think of all the Christmas gifts you can make!

                                                            Love,

                                                          

It's a pickle dish!

If you're like me, your head starts to hurt when you start thinking about all the names for quilt blocks. Am I right? One block can be known by three or four names, and then some seem to be cousins and look very similar to each other . . . 

One such pair is here: pickle dish and wedding ring. Check these out!

In the traditional pickle dish pattern, it appears that there are triangles in each curved unit, where the wedding ring pattern has -- well, they're not exactly squares, but maybe call 'em parallelograms? (Grin)

At any rate, the pickle dish sure looks cute, but it also looks challenging!

Enter the Accuquilt Block on Board!

Over at Creative Latitudes, Darlene's inner squirrel is pestering her to do all kinds of creative projects; well MY inner squirrel is chasing this die! Once she saw how much easier those blocks would be, she put it on our wish list! The Accuquilt Pickle Dish die is specially designed to cut everything you need for one ten inch block in one pass through the cutter; no templates or special rulers are needed. Eleven different pieces will be cut for you in one "fell swoop."

There are specialized dog ears and seam allowances for easy piecing (boy, do I like the sound of that!). And for those visual peeps like me, the die has screen printed letters so we know which shapes are which!

There are free pattern downloads and step-by-step assembly instructions to get us started on some cute projects like these:

(They tell me I need to remind you that links in this post may be affiliate links, which means I might make a small commission if you purchase - but your price doesn't change!)

Hop on over and check out the Pickle Dish Block on Board die . . . and all the other cool products at Accuquilt!

See you soon,

Stuff and nonsense

I bet you thought I had forgotten all about my Summer Moon sampler!

Nope!

But life happens and takes us away from our passions, sometimes. . . . actually, quilting is excellent therapy, no? It's good for what ails ya!

I got all three Nonsense blocks done: the 5 inch, the 6.5 inch, and the 8 inch blocks are finished!

Gotta love a block that is totally half-square triangles and hourglass units!

My trusty "Bloc-Loc" ruler made short (and precise) work of these -- just look at those points! (polishing fingernails on front of shirt)

I love using all of these different fabrics in the same family of color . . .aren't these bunnies cute? Not sure how that piece of thread jumped onto the block!

If you are inspired to try the Summer Moon quilt, please use this link and hop over to the FatQuarterShop site to purchase the pattern book . . . yes, it's an affiliate link, and I will earn a teensy commission if you purchase anything on your visit. That's what keeps our merriment and mayhem going on, here at the Lilypad! So, thank you very much!!

And here's a question for you -- what's your favorite way to create a scrappy quilt? A variety of fabrics in one color family? Or all the colors in the rainbow?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Love,

Spring has sprung! Let's party!

Everybody ready to party?

What's not to love about a garden party in the spring? Gorgeous flowers, happy colors, a cuppa Earl Grey and a blueberry scone . . . ummmmm.

Now that I have your attention, I'd like for you to know about the Accuquilt party tomorrow!! Right in your own house! 

Accuquilt is bringing the fun (and prizes) right to you! 

If you will click on this link, you will be pre-registered for the event! All you need to do is brew some tea and set out the scones and softened butter -- they will send you a quick reminder when it's time to tune in!

They will be unveiling the newest Accuquilt die -- they've promised this will be a special one. And I be they're right! After all, the adorable flamingo die from last month was hugely popular.....it's completely sold out!

      

You'll want to be one of the first to see the die for May, so that you will have an opportunity to grab one for your own, before it is sold out, too! (Supplies are limited!)

While you are browsing at the Accuquilt site, be aware that this month we are celebrating May Fabric Cutter Mania! There are special opportunities for savings all month long!

Be sure to check out all of the inspirational (and free) patterns and start planning your next spring project!

Take advantage of the sales and discounts -- for example, click on this link from today until May 10th and receive 15% off on 2 Dies, Qubes, or Accessories!

Accuquilt speeds up the cutting process so that you can enjoy the piecing and the quilting!

Having trouble finding the perfect gift for Mom, or for someone else?

Grab a gift card for a gift they'll appreciate!

Here is the link again to register for the party tomorrow! See you there!

Love,

Apple core, Baltimore . . . Finished flimsy (and a party!)

(As always, there's a possibility you will see an affiliate link in my blog posts; that is how I can afford to keep bringing you the merriment and mayhem we are known for!)

We quilters like to celebrate when we finish a quilt top, right? 

Well, celebrate with me! Apple cider all around! MMmmmmmm, appley flavor plus cinnamon! Warm and spicy! 

Just completed my Apple Core quilt top. Yes, I know, it's been a long time coming along. It's been one of those projects that is worked on for a while and then put aside, then brought out again!

It's great portable handwork! In fact, I made up a name for it  -- POPR -- portable project!

Here's my top:

I began this back in 2012, can you believe it? Check out this blog post where I began from apple core pieces cut for me by Barb over at Bejeweled Quilts.

Some of the fabrics that she gifted me are my favs on this top; I love the Samoan prints!

Barb included some cute "Santa on vacation" pieces, too, like that on the lower left....Santa is swimming with the dolphins!

Of course, there's a little bit of everything in here . . . some thirties reproductions, some Jacquelynne Steves's fabrics, and it would not be one of my scrappy tops without some Mary Engelbreit!

I agree with Barb, the Accuquilt apple core die makes short work of the pieces. (I still pat my Go!Baby every day and tell it of my undying love!)

So much better than cutting them all out by hand!

If you are new to the Accuquilt concept, you should take a minute to head over to their site and look around . . . my Go!Baby is very similar to the newer Go!Me which is a great starter set! Accuquilt helps us with a die compatibility chart which is very helpful, and they have super customer service, too.

Today they started a new launch party! Click on that link to go and check out all the fun! Gotta love people that throw a great party, and Accuquilt sure does! Giveaways! Sale prices and much more!

The theme is "Put some ROAR in your day!" so I think it's going to be a lot of fun! Click here to be whisked over to the party! They will send you a link so you can join right in!

Hope you are staying warm and quilting!

Love,