Thanks for the Love!

Sincere thanks to Barbara of Cat Patches for recognizing me with the Versatile Blogger Award! I was floored to see her post, and I appreciate her passing the honor along to me. There are an awful lot of blogs out there, and to know that she enjoys reading mine (and that you special peeps do, too) means a lot to me.

This blog has not even marked its first-year anniversary, so I'm grateful to all of you that stop by and leave comments to encourage me along! I've made some lovely friends along the way, and that is the most valuable part of blogging - this virtual community is something very special.  Thanks to all of you, and to you, Barbara!

Here are the rules that I saw on Barbara's blog:

1. Add the award to your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
3. Mention seven random things about yourself. (see below)
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Hmmm, seven things about me, huh? Let's see here . . .


                 1. I met my hubby-to-be in the library at college.


                 2. Moses, my studio cat, is eleven years young.


                 3. I would rather enjoy other flavors than chocolate - cinnamon,
                     peanut butter,...


                 4. At any moment you may hear in my studio: Beethoven, Bocelli,
                    Three Mo' Tenors, or Michael Buble.

                 5. Paper piecing makes me break out into a cold sweat of fear.


                 6. I love to make y'all laugh.


                 7. My favorite color is blue. No, this week it's orange. Well,
                     maybe tangerine.


Now, this is the hard part . . . I have a lot of blogs that I try to follow daily, and that I truly enjoy. How can I only pick fifteen? Some of these may not be open to awards, but I'd like to recognize them since I value their inspiration and creativity very highly.

                 1. The Noble Wife - Jacquelynne is a wonderful designer, love her
                     fabrics and her sketches, and her paintings, and, and, you get the idea!

                 2. Jackie's Art Quilts - Jackie is an awesome artist, and has super ideas
                     for 3 D embellishments. Love her work!

                 3. It's so Kiki - Kiera is a talented designer, and is getting some
                     well-deserved recognition lately.

                 4. The Cuddle Quilter - Lesley is so busy - I get inspired by seeing all
                     the projects she is doing - and doing so well.

                 5. The Wild Cards - Jenny makes me laugh, and I love her re-purpose
                     ideas!

                 6. Crafty Sewing and Quilting - Marcia is a talented quilter, and I love
                     seeing pictures of how she works her magic!

                 7. The Intrepid Thread - Julie shows us the most gorgeous fabrics, and
                     has wonderful giveaways and online sales, too!

                 8. Stitched by Sasha - I enjoy seeing Sasha's sewing and crafting - she
                     inspires me to try new things!

                 9. The Other Side of Me - Anita keeps me straight; her posts about her
                     in-laws inspired me to start the De-Stash for Malawi project.

                10. Hillbilly Handiworks - Tonya would be my BFF if we lived closer.
                      The miles don't seem to matter, tho.
              
                11. Miki's Fabric Creations - Miki is so talented...she got me started
                      "making" fabric from scraps!

                12. Gene Black - Gene has awesome videos and tutorials - I've learned
                      a lot from him. And my sock monkey likes his sock monkeyette.

                13. Em Celebrates! - Em rocks her blog with incredible applique and
                      free motion quilting, and dispenses wisdom, too! Love ya, Em!

                14. Love Affair with my Brother - Sunni has a flair for fabric and color
                      choices that I want to have when I grow up.

                15. Joy Denise's Blog - Joy is my favorite sis, born three years earlier
                      than me (to the day). She is my only sis, too! (Grin) She awes me
                      with her piecing and colors in her projects.

Well, there you have it. There are so many other blogs that I wouldn't miss reading, but I picked these to share with all of you. I hope you click on some of them --- you may find some new favorites there!
Thanks again to Barbara for honoring my blog with this award!

Love,

Quilt Kit Market - A Review

Hi there, Lilypadquilters!

Just a quick note....I'm linking up this post because there's a completed project at the end.... linking with Sunni, here:

Now, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want an honest answer, OK?

How many of you have been puzzled with choosing just the right colors and prints and patterns of fabrics, for one particular quilt pattern you wanted to make?  Just a quick show of hands . . .

. . . uh huh.  And how long have the rest of you had this problem with telling the truth?  (Wink)

Seriously, though, sometimes the "right" fabrics just are not in your stash. You struggle and dig through the fat quarters and can't find what you need.

Or, worse, you find exactly what you need, but there is not enough for the purpose . . . just some scraps from another project!

AAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!!  It's OK. (Pat. Pat. Pat.) We've all been there at some point and time. Really.

Well, cheer up! I have just the resource for you! See that cute logo on the left sidebar, with a cart, and an umbrella over it? Yay! That's the Quilt Kit Market, and you are going to love them!

Michele and her team are a new sponsor here at the Lilypad, and she graciously sent a kit for me to try out, and review. The kit that she sent is actually Quilt Kit Market's first venture into publishing their own exclusive patterns, and I think they are onto something --- it's a great one! It is quick and easy, and the instructions and diagrams are very clear.

The kit arrived FAST, and with a flourish --- kinda makes you feel special, like you are having a celebration that you didn't even realize was coming. See?

Pull back the pretty tissue paper and . . .

Just look at this!

Isn't that tulle bag cute?

Now, speaking of cute, just look at what was in that bag. Oh, be still my heart. Somebody hold me down, I think I'm on my way heavenward . . .

So Sophie, in all it's yummy glory!

Also in the bag is a zippy bag, with a picture of the finished quiltie, and all the instructions. On the picture, there's a reminder that you will be following the instructions for (in my case) a full size quilt, and inside, plenteous diagrams for us visual learners (that's me!).

I appreciate the fact that the pattern suggests a technique called "cluster piecing" which the instructions said would yield sections that would require less squaring up --- and the instructions were right! I had very little squaring up to do. I kept track of my time, and the flimsy was completed in "no time flat" (that's a quote from back when I used to tell my mom how long it would take me to get home from a party). Just a smidge over two hours --- including the time it took to cut the fat quarters and the borders! Yay!

Now, I'm going to keep you in suspense on the flimsy for now, and tell you about their bodacious web site. Quilt Kit Market is an extremely user-friendly site. It's set up in a very logical manner, and it is very easy to navigate around and find what you want.

Their mission is to provide what you need, in order to get to the fun part quicker -- sewing up your quilt! Most of their kits have carefully selected Moda fabrics, so that you know you are getting top quality materials for your special project.

Once your quilt top is complete, they have backing fabrics by the yard, and coordinating fabrics if you have spin off projects, like pillows to accompany a quilt, etc.  Quilt Kit Market will also provide their patterns individually, so if you have fabrics that you have already chosen, you can utilize one of their great patterns with your stash.

They also have small projects like wallhangings and tablerunners, so if you are looking for a quick gift for someone, Quilt Kit Market is an awesome resource for you!

They also offer precuts -- jelly rolls, layer cakes, charm packs and .... and.... wow, look at those sale prices!

Their remnant section is a great place to pick up some fabrics that you've been looking for, and perhaps can't locate anywhere else!

Now, I promised to show you the quilt top . . . Voila!

Hmmm, that shot inside just doesn't do the pretty colors justice. Let's try this:

Gack! Love the sunshine, but the wind is not cooperating! Let's try one more idea . . .

There we go! Whatcha think? I love it, and I love the fact that it was so quick and easy, and I didn't spend hours searching and choosing fabrics! Fun!

Be sure to come back in the next day or so . . . we have a fun interview with Michele from the Quilt Kit Market, and she mentioned something about a giveaway! Just sayin' . . .

Love,

PS Our "over 600 followers" giveaway is coming soon, too!

Giveaway Winners!

A big thank you to all of you who entered our giveaway! It's been fun listening to your ideas of which Superior threads you would like to try out.

I hope that in the coming days you will use our button on the left sidebar, and click through to order those great threads! Remember that I will use the percentage that they pay for purchases originating here, to buy Superior thread for giveaways --- so if you all make more purchases, we'll have more giveaways; it's as simple as that! (Grin)

I'm completing my plans for the big "over 600 followers" giveaway contest that will be coming soon, so be sure to stop back in and see that one!

Now, let's get down to business . . . Mr. Random Number Generator put on his thinking cap and picked two winners for us:

Number 96 was Mary Beth of A Little Quilting who said:

Congratulations, Mary Beth!! I'll be emailing you momentarily!

Next, Mr. RNG picked: 

And number 177 was Linda V., of Home Sweet (Quilting) Home blog, who told us:

An email will be winging its way to you, too, in moments! 

Padsworth and I are happy-dancing right along with you -- your charm packs and Superior thread will be headed your way very soon!

I'm completing a flimsy from a kit from a new sponsor - you won't want to miss that post! See you soon!

Love,

Blossom Quilt

Click here to enter our current giveaway --- luscious charm packs and Superior Thread!

I'm linking up today with Katherine's Corner and Savannah Granny, for Thursday Favorite Things linky party....because quilting is one of my favorite things! Also partying with Marcia's Minutes for Me!

Most of you know, by now, that I heart OleFrogEyes! This blog was named Lilypadquilting because of our mascot at the design wall site: Padsworth. And recently a dear, creative friend designed a quilt label especially for me to use, with a tiny froggie on it -- and I love it so much! Here he is:

Isn't he adorable? I think that she created the cutest little frog --- I can't wait to finish a project and iron him on to the white fabric I have cut and ready . . . that's why the design is reversed, ya know! 

The reason that I love OFE so much is that it makes it so easy to plan a quilt. I have started a quilt using the "Blossom" pattern from Fig Tree Quilts, and I'm using a fat quarter bundle of Butterscotch and Roses that I won this past spring, from Joanna Figueroa's blog. Here are the two blocks that I finished last night:

   

Now, when you create a quilt on OFE, you click on a square and upload a photo (em-smallened with Paint.net software) to that particular square. You add as many as you please, and then save your changes. Then you can start playing with lattice and borders! 

Here is what I mean . . . 

This is a screen shot of my gallery page, and I have uploaded the pictures of the first four flower "petals" that will make up the Blossom quilt.  I've chosen a beige-y kind of color scheme for the lattice and borders. But when I get more blocks in there, I might decide that I want a different palette . . . I'm using all of the bundle that I can, so there will be browns, reds, blues, and greens. I could decide to do this:

Hmmmm . . .

Do you know how long that took? Less than twenty seconds --- and I'm auditioning a new color! 

A bonus as I'm making these blocks can be seen here:

Yippee! Each time I add a side to a "petal" I go back and stitch again, a quarter-inch away, and then slice that off . . . I think if I use those, and my scraps, I may have a whole second quilt! Gonna use OFE to design it, too! 
As I add more blocks, I'll post some pictures, and get y'all to tell me which color scheme looks best, OK? I would appreciate the help!

Love,

PS. If you want to see the quilt in the gallery, just click on this linkie, and you can check it out!

Anticipation . . .

Looking for our Superior Thread and charm pack giveaway? Click here, and enter to win!

I'm so excited about the upcoming Accuquilt bloggers hop that I wanted to show you a little sneaky peek of my project! Actually, this is the bonus project for my post. The main project is something totally different!

I'll post the whole schedule soon, so that on that week, you can hop to all of the bloggie participants. For now, check this out:

Looking forward to seeing all of you "at the hop!"

Love,