It's Blog Hop Party & Giveaway Time!

 

 The Quilting Gallery is celebrating their 4th birthday with a Blog Hop Party with giveaways! There are over 200 blogs participating so that means there's oodles of stuff to be won!! I thought I would join in the fun too, after all, who can resist a party! So what am I giving away? Your choice of either a charm pack of MODA SHERBET PIPS shown here...

 or a free motion quilted needle case/pincushion made by Moi!

With lots of little pockets for scissors, seam rippers etc and a soft place to store your needles. This is what's in mine but you can fill yours with whatever you like (sorry,the tools pictured are not included, but you never know what I might add to yours!).

Did I mention your needle case will be personalized? I will monogram it with your initial. Now what's special about the monogrammed area, besides having your initial of course? It is a mini pincushion!

All you have to do is count how many stitches I used.... JUST KIDDING! No hoops to go through here. Just leave me one comment telling me what your favorite toy was when you were a kid! That's it! This giveaway is open to everyone. I will contact the winner to find out their preference on the charm pack or the needlecase. I will ship internationally.

Here are the rules:

1. Only one comment per person

2. I need to have a way to contact you. If you are a no-reply blogger, you must leave me your email address in your comment. If I can't contact you, you can't win! See below* to learn how to change your settings.

3. This giveaway closes at noon central standard time on December 17th. I will announce the winner on December 18th.

Good luck everyone and thanks for stopping by!
corina

*To check and see if you are a no-reply blogger you need to go to your dashboard and look at your profile settings. All you need to do is click on Edit Profile and make sure the box that says "Show my Email address" is ticked, then save the changes. That way I will be able to email you if you are a winner!

Comments are now closed. I will announce the winner tomorrow, December 18th. Thank you everyone for participating. It's been a wonderful trip down memory lane hearing about all of your favorite toys!

Secret Santa!

Whoop! Whoop! Santa arrived! I was walking out the door for the morning puppy walk when I saw something sticking out of the mailbox. When I realized it was from my Secret Santa I wanted to go right back into the house and tear it open! However, that would have caused conniptions in the boys so I waited until we finished our walk (it was a bit shorter, but don't tell the boys).

Look at all the presents!!

I debated for the longest time (2 seconds) on whether to open the gifts now or Christmas morning.

My partner picked out perfect gifts! I love notebooks, pads etc - a cute daily planner and a lovely Journal with a pocket inside to hold notes, cards etc! I don't wear much bling, but I have a collection of rhinestone broaches, broken bits of earrings and rings and sparkly things. Every so often I pull out my stash and enjoy the sparkle. My newest addition....

Love the colors!

I also received a tassel for my other little collection, an Anne of Green Gables pencil and an oh so cute snowman tin (I am obsessed with little containers. The snowman will make a perfect little sewing case).

I really love the book. I've had a couple of charm packs collecting dust because I wasn't sure what to do with them. Now I can finally use them. Look at some of the ideas in the book..

This will be the first one I make!

Or maybe this one!

 As if all that wasn't more than generous, my partner included two lovely handmade items: a pretty Christmas potholder and a set of coasters. I much prefer using potholders rather than oven mitts and I don't have any Christmas ones (until now). The handmade coasters are 3D folded. I'm not sure how they were done but I love 'em! I'm hoping I'll find the tutorial on my swap partners blog - when I find out who it was!

Thank you soooo much Secret Santa! Thank you Suzanne for hosting the Secret Santa Swap. Sign me up for next year too!  Gotta go do some sleuthing in blogland now!

Happy Stitching
corina

I did it again!

Yup. I did it again. Left everything for the last minute. All across blogland there have been posts for weeks now showing all kinds of beautiful handmade gifts. Many of the them completely finished, others needing just a few stitches. Here I sit, with only one little project done, and I mean little!

Finished size is 2 1/4"

 All those little triangles of fabrics leftover from joining the Jelly Roll 1600 strips on the diagonal are coming in handy! I just didn't have the heart to throw them out. These little log cabins are going to be key fobs. All that's left to do is attach the metal key ring to the tab. I suppose they could be used as ornaments or package tags too.

So that's one item done that wasn't even on my list of to dos! At this point, I'm feeling a little doubtful about whether I'll get my sewing done for Christmas. I just may be sending out quilt KITS instead of finished ones!

Happy Stitching
corina

Yikes. just found out my neighbor is going to be cutting down a GIGANTIC tree in his yard. It has a split and is on the verge of falling and crushing not only his garage, but the other neighbors house! My power may be off for a day or two (great timing). Thank goodness it's not too cold yet!

FNSI Results & Quilter's Academy

 Twenty two more 9 patches done. I was pretty happy with what I accomplished last night, that is until today.

At one of the guilds I belong to (Assiniboine Circle) we had a guest teacher hold a Quilter's Academy today. It's like beginner school for quilters following the tips and techniques that Harriet Hargrave uses in her books. I figure that I'm a pretty knowledgeable quilter and I was positive I knew how to do the basics like piecing and pressing - wrong. Today we were shown the proper way to make sure our fabric was on grain, proper cutting tips, the right way to press, how to achieve accurate 1/4" seams and so much more. We were shown little 3 inch finished lemoyne star blocks that were perfectly flat with no lumpy seams and so accurate they were little works of arts. There were 9 patches where every square was exactly the same throughout the quilt.

When I came home I looked at my little 9 patch blocks and wasn't as happy with them. They just weren't treated right.  At this point I have to warn you that if you are sensitive, you might want to skip the next paragraph.

Some of my seams and blocks were tugged and pulled into submission. They had been stretched, picked at, poked, ironed to the point of smoking and even mercilessly ripped apart at the seams. In fact at the risk of being reported to the authorities, I'm ashamed to admit that some were even verbally abused, then thrown heartlessly into the garbage.

Okay, you can read the rest, the abuse is over.

I'm going to take what I learned today and try to be a better quilter (notice I said better, not perfect).  I will  treat my fabrics and subsequent blocks with an iron fist a kinder hand.  There will be more 9 patches made. I will I will not beat the seams into submission, because they will match. I will post before and after pictures and I'm sure you will see the difference.  if they aren't better I'm going to drive my car back and forth over them until they beg for mercy    Or...I'll come to my senses in the morning and just be happy I got some blocks done and love them in all their wonkiness LOL!

Happy Stitching!
corina

Lots of Nine Patch Blocks

I started a new quilt over the weekend. It's from a pattern called Jake from the Quilt Patch in Moosejaw (I LOVE THIS QUILT SHOP!) It's an on-point double nine-patch in very dark tones of browns and rusts. It's another perfect quilt for the men in your life!

 I need to make 125 little 3 inch finished 9-patch blocks, which combine with plain squares to make 25 12 inch finished blocks.So far I've made 65. Now you would think that would be pretty boring but it wasn't. What's the secret to making it fun? Make them while you're on a 3 day retreat!

I spent 3 amazing days at a retreat just on the outskirts of town. It was a wonderful experience (my first official retreat!). Everyone was so friendly, making me feel like I've known them all for years. There was no shortage of talent and I learned a couple of new techniques. Thanks to Myra for organizing it! Now because I have 3 fur boys I wasn't able to stay overnight, but I made sure I was there every morning bright and early! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but my fellow friend and quilting blogger over at QuilterGoingBananas did, so pop by for a visit!

Well, I'm off to make more blocks!

Happy Stitching
corina