September 26, 2013

An amazing kid!

By    6:07 AM // 2 comments

Such bravery. Such determination. Such a huge heart this kid has!

This is the famous Joey, the 9 year old boy that I made the most recent 100 Good Wishes Quilt for, thanks to the help of many of my readers.
Not only is he battling his own cancer but he is helping to fund the battle for other children. He is walking in an upcoming event on October 6th to raise money for the fight. This is what the CureSearch Walk website says:
The CureSearch Walk celebrates and honors children whose lives have been effected by childhood cancer, while raising funds for lifesaving research. You can help us by encouraging your friends, family, co-workers and community to champion our cause. - See more at: http://www.curesearchwalk.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=1065097#sthash.qgP1Zbl6.dpuf

The CureSearch Walk celebrates and honors children whose lives have been effected by childhood cancer while raising funds for live saving research. You can help us by encouraging your friends, family, co-workers and community to champion our cause.

My friend Kris emailed me the other day and said that at that point, Joey had only raised $25 of his $500 goal and she was hoping her friends could help him. She shared this:

Joey was diagnosed with the most rare form of renal cell carcinoma earlier this year. No child has survived it. It is horrible how little funding there is for cancer research period, but there is even less for childhood cancers.

Joey was the only child to walk in Relay For Life earlier this year. He is a very happy, healthy kiddo except for this cancer (you would never know he has cancer to be honest).
 I just completed my donation and he has now met his goal but I thought...what if we could help him surpass his goal? Perhaps my quilty friends could help! 
So that is what I am asking...if you have just a few dollars to spare and want to help this amazing kid fight the battle against childhood cancers, click here to donate. This is something that no child should face. We have friends here that battled for 2 plus years with their little girl so we know first hand how hard it was for them. I will be grateful, Kris will be grateful and Joey will be over the moon excited. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
If you still want to follow along with Joey's treatment, his mom Kathy's blog can be found here.

The CureSearch Walk celebrates and honors children whose lives have been effected by childhood cancer, while raising funds for lifesaving research. You can help us by encouraging your friends, family, co-workers and community to champion our cause. - See more at: http://www.curesearchwalk.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=1065097#sthash.qgP1Zbl6.dpuf
The CureSearch Walk celebrates and honors children whose lives have been effected by childhood cancer, while raising funds for lifesaving research. You can help us by encouraging your friends, family, co-workers and community to champion our cause. - See more at: http://www.curesearchwalk.org/faf/help/helpEventInfo.asp?ievent=1065097#sthash.qgP1Zbl6.dpuf

September 23, 2013

Daily Craft TV Review and Giveaway

By    10:01 PM // 22 comments
Just prior to Labor Day weekend, I was contacted by the online media coordinator for Fons and Porter and asked if I'd like to review any class of my choice on Daily Craft TV.
He didn't have to ask twice. Of course, of course I'd love to take a class and write a review. Unfortunately due to our trip to visit my BFF and her family over that weekend and the start of school for the kids over the following week and a half, I didn't even get a chance then to look at the options. I finally got the time in recent days.

Let me first say that picking which class to take and review was hard. Really hard, not because I wasn't interested in the options, it was because I was interested in many of the options and actually choosing just one was difficult. I looked at the list of offerings not one, not two but four times before I finally committed to one. I chose this one.
This class is comprised of a number of topics:
  • Positive—Negative Appliqué
  • Machine Quilting with Variegated Threads
  • A Little Hanky Panky
  • Designs with Metals
  • Every Quilt Has Two Sides: Choosing an Iron that Fits Your Needs
  • Strippy Landscapes
  • Working with Monochromatic Fabrics
  • Add-Enough 
The total run time for these topics was just over 1 1/2 hours.
The 1st class, the one on Applique, was very informative and well done. Since I haven't ventured into that technique yet, I learned a great deal and now can't wait to try it myself. Quilting results was surprising based on the samples showcased in the Machine Quilting with Variegated Threads. Before taking this class, I had never heard of a Hanky Panky quilt nor would I have ever considered making a quilt from old handkerchiefs but I know how to do it now and and curious to see what types of antique hankies I can find at thrift stores and estate sales this fall. Designs with Metals was enlightening and though I'm not sure I would ever add metals to my quilts, it was cool to see the results. 

Every Quilt Has Two Sides was about the different choices two friends use in their types of irons, their methods of ironing and their use (or not) of various fusible products. Now I know how to create my own Strippy Landscape quilt thanks to the segment of the same name and I just might have to recreate my favorite beach scene one day. Working with Monochromatic Fabrics discussed exactly what the title states and the last topic, Add-Enough, is a product highlight .

All in all, I am happy with the presentation of the topics and the subject matter. Did I enjoy some of the topics more than others? Sure I did. But in choosing this class, I purposely picked one with a vast variety to get a good overall experience. I certainly learned a lot and definitely have interest to try some new things. If there is anything negative to say about my class is that with young kids, I wasn't able to watch the entire thing all in one sitting and had to come back to the class a couple of times. While each time I noted the time stamp when I logged out and attempted to scroll to that spot when I logged back in, doing so was tough. Being able to restart where I had left off in an easier manner would have been very helpful.

The Daily Craft TV classes are very reasonably priced, within everyone's budget and they don't just have classes on quilting. There are also classes on: other Sewing topics, Knitting, Crocheting, Scrapbooking and Papercraft. They have something of interest to everyone. I'm sure that you will find one and likely many more classes that you want to explore yourself.
The folks at Daily Craft TV are generously offering one of my readers the chance to take a free class of your choosing.

To be entered in the giveaway, hop over to Daily Craft TV and tell me which class you would pick if you win. You won't be held to that choice if you win. You can choose a different one if you so decide but I'm curious as to which one catches your interest.
My followers get a 2nd chance to enter, just tell me how you follow (and don't forget to also follow with Google Friend Connect if you don't already). 

That's it. 2 chances to win.
The entries will close at Midnight on Friday and the winner will be announced on Saturday.
 

September 22, 2013

We have a winner!

By    1:27 PM // 5 comments
It's time to announce the winner!

Thank you for all the lovely comments for my Pin It Blog Hop Project x 3. I enjoyed reading them all and drooling over the fall recipe suggestions. I desperately need to get to the orchard to get some fresh picked apples to be able to enjoy some wonderful fall goodness.

But you aren't worried about my lack of apples.
You want to know who won my giveaway for the Weighted Pin Cushion Organizer.
Mr. Random has spoken and he picked number #127 who is:
I am a follower, thanks.

Congratulations Connie! I've sent you an email and as soon as I hear back, your goody will be on its way to you. 

Much more fun is to come. I have a couple of more giveaways coming up that you won't want to miss. Check back later tomorrow for the 1st one.

September 17, 2013

Pin It Blog Hop - My Day

By    12:00 AM // 150 comments
Madame Samm is always coming up with great blog hop ideas and when I saw the announcement for this Pin It Blog Hop, I sent in my "Yes, please me!" email right away.
I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

Now pin cushions aren't terribly complicated to make but given the fact that since I started quilting 4 years ago, I have never made anything other than quilts, this was a new adventure for me.
Of course I didn't pick an easy one to start with...I had to pick something a bit more challenging...this has been on my "To Make" list for quite a while.

Being the overachiever that I can be at times, I didn't just make 1, I made 3.
 It was a tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson! for Sew Mama Sew. If you want to make one yourself, the tutorial can be found here. I used Kate Spain's Fandango fabrics and started by making the bags.

Let me tell you, sewing the lining and the outer fabric together was a little bit of a wrangling job (the arm of my machine was just a bit too long) but I got it done.
 Next came the organizers. Yes one is made in a different fabric for a reason. These weren't tough to do, just a bunch of steps.
 Part 3 was making the weight bags to go into the pincushion. The tutorial called for rice but I used crushed walnut shells instead.
 Up next was making the actual pin cushion. Easy peasy.
 The pin cushions were then sewn to the organizer and Ta Da!
Now on to what was the hardest part of all....stuffing those filled bags of crushed walnut shells inside the pic cushion cover. That was Not. An. Easy. Task. Note to self...next time make the bag a tad bit smaller than the instructions state.
I persevered and now they all are lined up together. A trio of weighted pin cushion organizers, each one slightly different.
Here you can see how they work with the scrap bag attached and hanging off the edge as if off your sewing table. I made the organizer pockets to fit a seam ripper, a small pair of scissors and one other slot for anything else you might need it for.
This one was gifted to my BFF as part of her birthday goody bag. A 2nd one was gifted to the Judy as part of my It's A Sister Thing Secret Pal Swap.
And the 3rd one? You assume that I'm keeping this one for myself?
Yes it does look great next to my Lucy
but No this one isn't for me either.

This last one is for one of you!
Don't worry, I'll be making myself one soon with fabrics that I'm totally Gaga over.
I purposely made this one to send off to a new home.
A giveaway is in order to see who is the lucky recipient.

To be entered for a chance to win this lovely Weighted Pin Cushion Organizer

1. Leave me a comment and tell me what is your favorite Fall recipe (one entry)

2. My followers get a 2nd entry, just tell me how you follow (one entry)
And if you haven't already, I'd be most appreciative if you also join my Google Friend Connect, on my sidebar. I'm almost up to 350 and just waiting to have a giveaway to celebrate that milestone.

3. Share about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook and/or Twitter (one entry for any/all of these options)

That's it. 3 chances to enter.
Entries will close at Midnight, Saturday September 21st and the winner will be announced next Sunday.
Please make sure you leave me your email address if you are a No Reply Blogger.

A huge thank you so very much goes out to Madame Samm and Kristen for organizing this terrific hop. I've seen so many wonderful creations and am totally inspired to make a few more for me. I've never been a pin cushion collector before but I might become one now.

Don't miss checking out the creations of all the other ladies that I share the blog hopping stops with today.

September 17

September 16, 2013

Untraditional

By    8:58 AM // 5 comments
Lucy didn't see any action this weekend as we were busy with many other things but last night I was able to cut the pieces for a fast and furious new quilt. Then I played with the fabric/color layout before climbing into bed for some shut eye.
 
Here is a sneak peak of what I am working with. 
This will be a Christmas quilt...but unlike most other Christmas quilts you have ever seen.
I found the perfect color solid at my LQS on Saturday afternoon and now I can't wait to get the top stitched together. Hopefully that will get accomplished before the week is done.
 
My Christmas decorating leans heavily towards Traditional and Classy, Deep Red and Gold with a bit of Green thrown in. I've totally gotten away from cutesy snowman or Santas and other similar themes. A few years back when I decided I was tired of the same old, same old I cleared out all the unloved I acquired during my younger years and focused on one basic theme...the Traditional/Classy. Once I take out my decorations this year and can show you my tree skirt you'll know what I mean.
 
So why am I rambling about my style of Christmas decorating? Because this quilt will be so untraditional and will be totally opposite from everything else I have. Ever since I first saw these fabrics I knew that I wanted needed to have them and when I recently found the perfect pattern to use them on, I've been excited to get it done.
 
Stay tuned. The finished top reveal will be soon.
This one is actually for Me! Fathom that.
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