And the Winner Is

Congratulations Dianne! However...

Dianne, you didn't change your profile to leave an email address and you don't have a blog on your Profile, so I can't contact you. I put the names in again in a different order and it picked you again. So it really wants you to have it. Please change your settings and comment here in so I can contact you.

Thanks for playing everyone!

1000th Post Fabric and Quilt Pattern Giveaway!

The day has finally come. It's hard to believe I've been blogging for ten and a half years, five hundred and fifty three weeks to be exact. I've had long absences in that time too. As it is, it averages just over one and a half blog posts per week. After I noticed my post count was getting close to 1000, I started looking at my post stats and found quite a few drafts that I had completely forgotten about. Some were accidental saves and had nothing in them, but quite a few just needed a little spellcheck and photos. Check your draft folder if you haven't looked at it in awhile; there may be something interesting there that you thought you already posted.

Now for the drawing. I am giving away a kit that contains a Windham pattern and Windham fabrics. No, it isn't donated by them. It was gifted to me by a friend and now I am regifting to one of you. Finished size of the quilt is 54-1/2 inches x 71-1/2 inches. The colors are pretty teals, burgandies, and browns. See the picture below.

Details for the drawing:

• The drawing is open to anyone in the U.S. I'm sorry I can't mail it to other countries, but that darn postage is just too high outside the U.S.
• To enter, make a comment on this post and make sure your settings aren't set to no-reply. I need to be able to notify the winner by email.
• The drawing will be Monday at noon, Pacific Daylight Time, and then comments to this post will be closed.

That's it. Easy peasy.

I am going to use the random name picker from miniwebtool.com. It will be a first for me, but it looks easy. Good luck!

Postscript:
Now that I have moved sewing and quilting posts to this new blog, this is no longer my 1000th post. So, someday, there might be another 1000th post giveaway.

Sewing Report Sunday

I've been having fun with my scrappy flower blocks for the RSC Challenge. I've determined that I need two and a half blocks for each of the ten months. And since that isn't going to work, I think I'm going to make three one month and two the next. That will work well with similar colors like medium blue and dark blue, but I'm not sure about some of the other colors. I'll have to play it by ear.

Friday night, I dug out my travel kit and worked on a Ferris Wheel block (English Paper Piecing). In an effort to spend more time in the evenings with Hubby, I'm going to start working on these in the evenings instead of spending time by myself at the sewing machine.

This week I was gifted with fabric. A friend was thinning her stash and asked if I wanted some fabric. Well, yeah! Thinking it was odds and ends of less than desirable colors, I told her that my quilt group could always use fabric for our donation quilts. This was way better than odds and ends.

A kit with all the fabric needed plus the pattern. A really cute pattern, I might add.

A magazine with a pattern bookmarked and all the fabric to make it.

Another pattern with all the fabric to make it.

Some fabrics she had marked for various things, like "border" and "backing" but no pattern with it.

And 36 fat quaters.

After looking at the three patterns, I could tell they are not the kind my group likes to make, so I'll keep those and make them sometime.  The other fabrics will make some great wheel chair lap quilts.

Score!!!!

Unfortunately, now I have to record this in my stash report.  My supposed stash reduction report. Thursday, I thought I was doing great because I had used more than I had bought.  Then, this gift.  And to compound my loss of control, I ran across a sale Friday that I couldn't pass up.  A local quilt store had a shelf of 75% off fabrics and a few bolts of fabric for 50 cents a yard.  I didn't buy any of those 50 cent fabrics though.  I didn't think I could cut them into small enough pieces to hide the ugly.  But I got several of the 75% off.  So they too will add to the report.  Now my report is a runaway train headed in the wrong direction.

I also unpacked a box of fabric.  A big box, and it was nearly all fabric. QuiltPaintCreate said she gets a laugh out of these boxes of fabric I keep finding.  When we were packing up to sell our house, everything was going into a unit at a storage facility with pretty poor security.  Anything of value, I marked with code words like "Large canning jars" (or something else not worth stealing) meaning something of value and another code word to describe the item, or "Small canning jars" meaning something with little value.  Sounded like a good idea at the time, but I also had real canning jars or gladware, or whatever the code word was, and over time, I forgot what the other code words meant.  So nearly all our boxes are labeled "Canning Jars", "Gladware", "Books", "Paint clothes," etc.  Most fabric was used as packing for lamps and other odd-shaped breakables, but there are some boxes marked "Sewing fabric".   It's an adventure to open boxes; we never know what to expect.

I'm happy to say that I am still headed in the right direction in my 15 Minutes of Sewing Report. That will change in a month or so, so I'm going to claim this victory while I can.

If you saw yesterday's post, you know I finished the Glory Box Wallhanging. I spent some time one day quilting the Double Irish Chain but it was a battle. I think I can get it done but it's really bigger than I would like to quilt on my machine. After a few hours, my shoulder was killing me. I decided to give my shoulder a rest and then work on it in much smaller time slots until I get it done. I think it will also be a wall hanging because I still haven't mastered the ruler foot. Even when the top looks good, there are places on the back that look like the tension is off. But then the next section looks fine. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I'm pretty sure it is the user, not the machine.

I also spent time this week with the ripper, and finding that some blocks I made several years ago didn't have quarter inch seams. More about that another time unless I decide it's not worth the effort.

I have sewed every day this week and for the month so far. I'm at 100% for those, but at 88% for the year. That shows what one bad week can do. I can just imagine how low it will be in July and August.

Linking to:
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework
15 Minutes of Sewing at Life in Pieces
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Lucky Me! Look What I Got in the Mail Yesterday!

Pat, from 501 Quilt Blocks picked my name for a random giveaway. She can probably explain it better than I. When I opened the mail last night, I showed it to Hubby and told him another blogger made it and sent it to me. He admired it and then asked what I had to send. Nothing, I said, it's not like a chain letter. She just decided to pick twelve names to do a giving project and she picked my name. Why, he asked. Because she wanted to. He looked puzzled, but didn't ask any more questions. So obviously I can't explain it well. So, Hubby and others who still don't understand, read Pat's post here.

I've decided that my word of the year should be gratitude. Receiving this gift yesterday, along with a lovely dinner out last night made me realize that I don't show true gratitude even when my heart runs over with it. So that is what I am going to work on this year, beginning with this wall hanging.

Thank you Pat, for the thought that went into this, the detail, and all the hard work. The wallhanging is absolutely perfect, and I can see that you looked back over my blog to find just the right colors, and you included our big, spoiled, rescued cat who has become the center of our little lives lately.

See how well the colors match? I've been trying to decide what to put on the wall behind this sofa, and the will fit perfectly. Thank you again!