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,