500+ followers, and a giveaway

I am very excited to reach a little milestone here on the blog.  A few weeks ago, I passed 500 followers.  At the time, I was remodeling the bathrooms, sick, and preparing to go to QuiltCon, but it did not go unnoticed.  Being able to share my creations and have some interaction about what is going on in our crafting lives, means a great deal to me.  I want to make sure that you know how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

I want to have a giveaway to celebrate, but I've been struggling with WHAT to give away.  I know free fabric is on every one's list, but I wanted what I gave away to be a bit more personal than that.  So I have decided to give away a custom mini quilt.

What is a custom mini quilt, you ask?  Well, the winner and I will email each other back and forth and discuss designs, style, colors, etc.  He/she will be able to choose a design that I have made before, OR even a brand new one.  Perhaps even one that I will personally design myself with the help of the winner.

***This giveaway is now closed. ***

So, what do you say?

***this giveaway is now closed****

This giveaway is open to international followers.

To enter leave a comment on this blog about what what type of mini you might like (I won't hold you to it if you win).  I will randomly choose a winner on Friday, March 20th.  Yes, I know that is a few weeks away, but I want to give everyone a chance and I know I am behind on my blog reading too.

Now for the best part....I also just past 500 likers on Facebook too!  So I am running the same giveaway on my Facebook page HERE.  So if you happen to follow in both places, you have 2 chances to win!  Good luck!

Thanks for reading today,

Jen

Wheel of Fortune and Tilted Star - Building Blocks Tuesday

I should get a shirt that says, "I survived QuiltCon"!  It was a fantastic experience, but a bit exhausting.  I will tell you all about it soon, when I've had a least one good night sleep and perhaps a gallon of coffee.

In the meantime, today I am sharing 2 blocks that I made in one of my classes at QuiltCon, "Advanced Piecing" with Lee Heinrich.

This is the Wheel of Fortune block:

Lee used this block to teach basic paper piecing.

And this is the Tilted Star, which gave us continued practice with paper piecing and taught us partial seams.

Both blocks are from the book, Vintage Quilt Revival.

I must admit that I didn't really learn anything new in the class, and perhaps "Advanced Piecing" wasn't the best title, BUT I really enjoyed Lee's teaching style and I was happy to finally try out a few blocks from this book.  I've had it for ages and just haven't gotten around to giving it a go.  Now that I have, I can't decide if I want to make a whole quilt from these blocks, or do a sampler and try out the others in the book.

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Itty Bitty Modern Maples - Building Blocks Tuesday

Whoa! What a whirlwind week!  I guess being totally out of commission for a few days last week didn't help.  I feel so far behind.  There was so much more I wanted to accomplish before going off to QuiltCon, and being too sick to stitch did not help.  I am feeling better though!  Tomorrow's the big day when I am off to Austin!

I just wish I got past the cutting stage for a little something for my roommate, and I don't have a special bag as planned for all my QuiltCon stuff.  I'm going to have to give my roomy an IOU, and use my regular purse for any "stuff" I need to carry around.  I know these are little things in the big picture, but I am still a little bummed.

This week, I'm sharing some Itty Bitty Modern Maples I made for the Teeny Tiny Block Swap I joined.  These Modern Maples are 4 inches finished, not that easy of a task since the original 12 inch block is basically a 9-patch (3 inch blocks would have been better for the math).  In this swap, the first theme was "Nature", and I had to make 11 of the same block (12 if I wanted one myself) to mail off to the coordinator.  In turn, I will get 11 4 inch blocks back, and all the ones made by the group are adorable!  I have no idea what I am going to do with them yet, but I am really excited to see.

Last chance to enter to win my sewing inspired Eclectic Elements Bionic Gear Bag.  Leave a comment on THIS post to enter.

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspirational Sunday (2) via the Quilts exhibit at Muzeo 2015

I have more lovely photos from Muzeo in Anaheim, CA.  Today is the last day of the exhibit if you want to see them yourself in person!

Today's quilts are all applique.  I have really enjoyed looking at applique quilts lately.  The amount of work that goes into them is staggering, and should be appreciated.

This one is called Dancing Daffodils, maker unknown c. 1931.  I just love daffodils, and I really like this design.  The pattern is a Mountain Mist pattern #24.

I love the luxurious fabrics used.  I also love the little details, like the spiderwebs quilted in the centers.

And take a look at this hand quilting, it's amazing.  It is hard to see in this picture, but it looks like the quilter actually changed colors of thread for each border.  Talk about attention to detail!

This one is called Poppy, maker unknown c. 1913.  I apologize about the light.  The one drawback of viewing quilts in a museum is that the lighting isn't fabulous.

I just love the ghost shapes that the maker quilted into the background.

This one is just gorgeous!  It is called State Flower by Eda R. Sharpe c. 1932.  The quilting is amazing!

I was delighted to learn that these patterns were published as a series from Ruby Short McKim in Eda's local newspaper at a rate of one per week.  At the end of the series, there was a contest and exhibition of the finished quilts.  What fun!

I hope you'll join me again next Sunday when I share some more quilts from the exhibit.


Thanks for reading,

Jen

Eclectic Elements Blog Hop - and a giveaway

Hello Friends and welcome to my stop on the Eclectic Elements Blog Hop.

Please forgive me if this post is a little disjointed.  I have been down with the flu since the weekend, and I'm not quite firing on all cylinders.

Anyhoo....When Nicki asked me if I would participate in this blog hop, I was pretty happy because I had a whole bunch of Eclectic Elements that I wasn't quite sure what I was going to use them for.

One of the things I like about this line is the masculine feel of the prints.  And since Valentine's Day is coming up, and I usually make something for my husband, I decided to make him a manly looking zip pouch.  Of course, not just any zip pouch would do for my hubby, so I went with the Bionic Gear Bag by the Ripstitcher.

I used this nice typeset print for the exterior.  Very manly, don't you think?

And since hubby travels a lot for work, this fun postcard mash up print for the interior.

Don't let this pictures fool you.  This bag is BIG.  There is a lot of space between the zips.  I figure he can use this bag as his toiletry bag for his travels, or even put all his laptop cables and plug chargers for all his devices in it.

Now for the giveaway part.

I made a 2nd Bionic Gear Bag to giveaway.

You might notice that the top zipper has not been installed yet.  It is true.  I haven't worked on this bag in over a week, well before I got sick.  I even had my 8 year old help me stage these photos so the bags wouldn't get my cooties on them.

Never fear though, as soon as I feel better, I will get that last step done, zip it up and mail it off to the winner.

For the 2nd bag, I went with the measuring tape exterior, thinking a crafter may win.  It is big enough to fit all you rotary cutters, scissors, even large spools of threads in it, etc.  Perfect for hauling all your sewing stuff to a retreat.

If you want to make your own Bionic Gear Bag, the pattern is available on Craftsy .  (Please note, this link is an affiliate link, if you purchase a CLASS after clicking this link, I may be compensated.) I will warn you though, this pattern is for a determined soul.  I'm not sure I would have gotten through it, were it not for the great video tutorials at Michele's blog, Birdcage and Thread.

To enter, please leave me ONE comment telling me what you would put in this Bionic Gear Bag, and please make sure your email address is also in the comment.  You can put it in the format of yourname(at)domain(dot)com if you are worried about spammers.  I will randomly choose a winner next Tuesday and announce it on the blog on Wednesday.

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to Alida!  I will mail you your new Bionic Gear bag shortly.

Also, please visit the other participants of the Blog Hop to see what lovely creations they have made.

Wendy – http://stitchduchessscrazysanequiltingworld.blogspot.com/

Tracee – http://farmgatecreations.blogspot.com.au/

Jassy – http://jassy-playtime.blogspot.co.uk

Lisa – http://www.intheboondocks.blogspot.com

Katie – http://titanpink.blogspot.com

Amy - http://sewincrediblycrazy.blogspot.com

Nicki – http://sunshinegirlnicola.blogspot.com

Now, if you will excuse me, I have a date with my couch and some hot tea.

Thanks for reading,


Jen

Star Plus block - Building Blocks Tuesday

Sorry for the short post, I am down with the flu and can barely sit upright to type.

I made this Star Plus block for Erin in the Bee Hive. If you are interested in this block, Blossom Heart Quilts is posting several free tutorials each month, complete with Guest designers.  Check it out HERE.


What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Inspirational Sunday (1) via the Quilts exhibit at Muzeo 2015

I know most of us enjoy a good quilt show.  Seeing hundreds of quilts hanging in one place is inspiration overload, and let's not forget browsing the booths to add, oh so more, to our fabric stashes.  However, there are other venues to see gorgeous quilts.

This past Thursday, I ventured down to Anaheim to visit the Muzeo museum.  My father-in-law sent me a link before Christmas that they were having an exhibit entitled "Quilts".  I really didn't have time just prior to Christmas, but lucky for me the exhibit was still available when some time freed up this past week.  Can I just say, what a delightful experience!

I hope all the HST's I've been saving can go into a quilt half as awesome as this one!

I don't quite have 7168 pieces saved, but I'm getting closer every time I make flying geese (I sew the trimmed ends together to make HST's).

Unlike the Road to California quilt show (which I will share pics of a few Sundays from now), this exhibit of quilts was cozy.  I didn't have to elbow anyone out of the way to catch a glimpse of a quilt or feel like I was imposing if I lingered in front of an info sheet for longer than a minute.

The place was not empty, it just wasn't crowded.  It was so refreshing to be able to stroll along from one quilt to another.  And you can get really close too, to inspect all those tiny stitches (or tiny yo-yo's in this case).

I also really appreciated that the informational plaques beside each quilt actually taught me things about the quilt, the maker, the textiles used, etc.  It was fascinating.

I also really enjoyed seeing imperfect quilts that had been actually used, rather than made for show.  It made me feel warm inside knowing that some of the quilts had kept someone warm and that warmth endured time.

If you have a chance to view a quilt exhibit at a museum, please go!  While there might not be as many quilts hanging as a quilt show (unless the museum is specifically for quilts), there is an intimacy that you just don't get at the shows.

And if you think that it is just antique quilts hanging in these museum exhibits, think again!

This is just one of several art quilts that was in the exhibit.  "Trina Dancer" by Linda Anderson of La Mesa, CA.

I loved being able to get close to see all the fabulous FMQ on this one.

If you are in the Southern California area and want to see these quilts up close too, you better hurry, the Muzeo exhibit is open until February 15th.

I will show a few more of the lovely quilts I got to see at Muzeo in next Sunday's post.  I hope you will visit me again then to see what I have to share.   After that I plan to tackle all the quilting eye-candy I saw at the Road to California show a couple of weeks ago.  As in the past, I will have to break that show into a bunch of posts.  There was just too much to see and share to squish it into a handful of posts.


Thanks for reading today,


Jen

Octogeese - Building Blocks Tuesday

For this week's Building Blocks Tuesday, I'm sharing another flying geese block from my Lazy Bum exchange.  This one is for Leonie, and she has called it "Octogeese".  I think her quilt will end up looking similar to this one I pinned.  She's asked for yellow and blue blocks, and I think it will look so bright and cheerful when completed.

What blocks have you working on this week?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up