hodgepodge . . .

Really I have just a strange collection of odds and ends from my life to share today. All of them are important to me in one way or another, so I just piled 'em up together. There's no wonder I don't have a design wall per se . . . I've been too busy buying fabrics and running the video on my camera . . .

First, a nod back to Knoxville and the AQS show. One of the most poignant exhibits there was the traveling Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative exhibit. Unfortunately, in order to preserve the quilts, no photography was allowed, but you can see photos of it HERE at their website and some HERE if you "like" them on facebook. (Photo from the website.)

I had actually had an opportunity earlier in the year to put the name of a dear friend and mentor on one of the squares. I was so excited and touched to find her name -- my handwriting -- on the exhibit (yes; that's the thing I had a part in that was hanging at the AQS show) . It's a very beautiful and moving display and would have been worth the AQS entrance fee if that had been all I'd seen. If you have the opportunity to see it, I highly recommend it.

Next? I got not one, but TWO happy packages in the mail! The first was this wonderful collection of books - and you can see, there are some great titles (and a cute little notepad which is perfect for list-making and/or doodling)!

This came from Peggy at The Simple Woman's Day Book.

The second package came from Karen over at Lisnaweary Quilts. She picked my names, "Cactus Kid & Bo" for her little guys on her Wild West Quilt.

Aren't these fun and pretty? Perfect for the little cowgirl in my life (and I do have one or two).

Saturday I got to spend a couple of hours with my favorite little man, Sawyer Graham. I cannot believe how busy and chatty he is!

Just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!

See that frown? That's what happens when you try and read your books upside down!

Great profile shot, non?

Just so HAPPY!

I managed to whittle this little clip down from the eleven minute mini-movie it originally was. It's still entertaining to me -- and I've already watched it a dozen times!

Remind me to share why the pig says, "La la la!" I love being a grandmaaaaaa. :)

Then finally, from today, we have new visitors at the camp!

Mama Raccoon and her sweet little babies! They were the first raccoon babies I've ever seen. We saw the first fawn of the season up here last week -- but it was very timid and wouldn't come out for a camera shot. With the baby raccoons I had no such problems.

They were so cute -- and they didn't get too far from mama at first.

Todd commented how amazing it is that we're seeing them in the daylight like this.

Something startled them (another raccoon -- a big male -- came out to eat) and they went dashing up the tree!

After they'd been in the clearing for a while, they got a little braver and let mom get more than six feet away. But my favorite part of their visit I managed to catch on video . . .

Isn't that fun?!?!

All right, I've got a busy, busy (but fun) week in store. Tomorrow I'm off to a church finances seminar and then we've got Community Groups in the evening. I've got a dear, quilty friend coming for lunch and iced tea on Wednesday followed by an evening with the Ignite ladies at the movies (Winnie the Pooh), then Thursday I've got some book-keeping to do before I head off to my guild meeting. Friday I've got lunch at Emma's with a sweet young lady from church, and then a Friday evening ladies' conference at Lighthouse Baptist, and then Saturday morning is the Sulky Thread workshop. Whew! I'm out of breath just typing all that! Good thing the list Todd gave me for the week was such that I finished everything but one item today!

:)

orange you glad . . .

Well, you *will* be glad if you hop on over to Katherine's Corner and check out her sweet little giveaway! Hurry, because it's ending today. You won't be sorry!

Click on the her icon for a direct link up!

:)

surprise!

The trip Todd & I took to the post office box yesterday netted only one thing.

A box.

And it wasn't even the box we were expecting of Keurig coffee k-cups.

It was BETTER (in my estimation, anyway)!

In it was . . .

FABRIC!

I'd entered this giveaway on Nancy's Silly Stitching blog on June 14th (my anniversary). On the 20th, I got a lovely e-mail from her saying I'D WON! She gave me pick of the fabric and said she'd get it in the mail to me. Which she must have done pronto, because I have it already!

But the surprise?!? It wasn't just the two lovely fabrics above, it was a whole BOX of goodies! See for yourself . . .

The two pieces of yardage, which are great (I'm thinking I'd like to use the floral as a whole cloth top for a runner, and quilt the flowers), plus four fun fat quarters and a Mary Englebreight journal and sticky notes, plus a lovely handcrafted note from Nancy herself! I was so tickled. You ought to check out Nancy's blog for yourself!

I celebrated by cutting some wildflowers and making a sweet little arrangement to tide me over.

My July 4th arrangement is ready to take the stage, but I have to get the table topper done first!

And, speaking of giveaways, Vicki B Quilts is giving away a Baby Go cutter! Head on over to her blog and enter before July 3, by clicking HERE!

Happy Sunday!

:)

Winners of the May Giveaway !

Thank you, everybody, for your wonderful comments ! You're a great group, and we are so fortunate to have you as our CFF's ! (That's internet talk for "cyber-friends forever"). We carefully wrote the name of each contestant on a square of paper, then folded it up and dropped it into the hat.

Greg, (the husband of Daryl), reached into the hat and drew out five names at random. Here they are, with our congratulations:

1. The winner of the "Luscious Lilacs" fat quarters is Julie Fukuda

2. The winner of the $ 10 Jo-Ann Gift Card is Mary

3. The winner of the "Color Blend Applique " book is Ros

4. The winner of the "Elements" fabric from Skydyes is Debbie

5. The winner of the "Quilt Mania" and "Quilt" Magazines is Linda E in AZ

Winners, please e-mail us your name and shipping address (which we will hold in confidence) to quiltinspiration@gmail.com . We'll ship out your prize, postage paid, as soon as possible.

All of your comments were so kind and thoughtful, that we really wish we could award a prize to each of you. However, we have the next best thing -- another Giveaway coming up soon. Please stay tuned to Quilt Inspiration !

Welcome to the May Giveaway !

Wow ! Seems as if 2011 just started, but it's the month of May already !  We have five prizes in this Giveaway, instead of the usual four.  Please write us a brief comment below, and we will enter your name as a contestant in the Giveaway. If you win, we will mail out your prize to you free of charge.   All prizes come from a smoke-free, pet-free home and are in excellent condition, free of stains, rips, or tears. The contest ends at midnight on Saturday, May 7. We will draw the winners' names at random and announce them on Monday, May 9.

We'd love to hear from ALL of our readers !

"Luscious Lilacs" fat quarter fabrics from Hoffman California International and other top brands

Purple is one of our favorite colors, so our stash cupboard is overflowing with it ! Here are five fat quarters, for a total of approximately 1.25 yards of fabric. These are clear medium-value violets and grapes, some with touches of aqua green, blue, and metallic gold and silver. There is one batik, one tone-on-tone, and three interesting prints. The 5 fat quarters blend well together, and would look great in either a traditional or contemporary quilt pattern.

$ 10.00 Gift Card from Jo-Ann Crafts

If you love to quilt, you probably know that Jo-Ann is a big-box retailer who carries almost every sewing accessory, notion, and gadget known to mankind ( er... womankind ? ) Jo-Ann is a great source for name brand scissors, rulers, mats, and rotary cutters, among other helpful tools of our trade. If you're in the U.S.A., you can use the gift card for purchases in store, over the phone, or on the internet.

If your name is drawn as a prize winner, and you are outside the U.S.A, please let us know by e-mail.  We'll arrange for you to receive one of the other very cool gifts in this Giveaway.

Color Blend Applique by Jane Townswick

A well-known teacher and designer from Pennsylvania,  Jane Townswick has taught applique and quilt-making around the world, emphasizing new techniques that produce spectacular results. Her color blend concept involves combining many fabrics within a single applique shape to create rich visual depth in quilt blocks.

Color Blend Applique contains 125 pages of fascinating patterns, many full-page color photos, and very clear step-by-step instructions. The directions are easy to follow, and in no time, you'll be able to sew real show-stopper applique blocks. Here's another one of Jane's stunning floral patterns below:

 3 yards of The Elements fabric by Mickey Lawlor of Skydyes

True to her company's namesake, Mickey Lawlor of Skydyes  has created a  lovely handpainted fabric design that looks like a tropical sunrise over an exotic South Seas island.  Purple, golden yellow, magenta, and orange red create a gorgeous palette of contemporary colorways.  Three full yards of this 45 inch wide fabric means that there is enough for a quilt backing, a large border, or an entire quilt top when paired with a neutral background or other solid color.

2011 "Quilt Mania" and  "Quilt" Magazines

Hot off the press, here they are !  This June/July 2011 very latest issue of Quilt Magazine has just been published, featuring some very cute quilts made with the latest fabric designs.  And Quilt Mania , a favorite magazine from France ( written in English) has new and wonderful ideas for this year. All in all, these magazines contain over two dozen quilt patterns, pull-out pages for applique and templates,  plus the usual very helpful tips, tricks, and techniques.  These will provide hours of happy reading about gorgeous quilts, a great take along for a vacation or even a lunch break at work.

Now it's your turn !  Please leave us a comment below, as we are looking forward to hearing from each of you !

Storm-at-sea quilt wrapup, and free block diagrams !

Here are the gorgeous storm-at-sea quilts we've shown recently. We are so fascinated by the design possibilities of this block !  We drew up some blocks so we could analyze the design, and we decided to make two variations downloadable (they're free). Happy Friday !
  
Eye of the Storm, Heart of the Storm, Summerfest Garden, Oceana, Delft Storm, and Albers at Sea

Row 1:  Eye of the Storm by Peggy Martin, at Peggy Martin Quilts; Heart of the Storm, by John Flynn, at Flynn Quilt.  Row 2: Summerfest Garden, by Joen Wolfrom; Oceana, by Linda Jean Peterson at Cape Cod Art Studio. Row 3:  Delft Storm, by Ionne McCauley, at Ionne Quilts; Albers at Sea, by Debra Levin at the Empire Quilters Guild.

About the storm-at-sea block:  The storm-at-sea block is based on a 3x3 grid.  This works out well for a 12" block, or any other size that is divisible by three.

 

Here is the traditional block, below, which has an elongated diamond (shown as two isosceles triangles) on the left hand side and the top :

Here is what the quilt would look like if 20 blocks were placed in a 4x5 grid (below). Note that an additional vertical row of diamonds is placed along the right side of the quilt to finish it off.  

In a second variation, the diamond "sashing" is placed on all four sides of the center square, as shown below:

When this "double sashing" block is replicated, it creates a double set of waves in the design, as shown below :

You can download the block diagrams here. They are fun to color, and are great for teaching kids about quilting (and geometry).  See if they can find different shapes within the grid, such as flowers, hearts, ribbons, and waves.  You can even find *stars* within the single-sashing version:

Dye Candy Giveaway

I'm hosting a giveaway on my Dye Candy Blog.

Follow this link if you would like a chance to win.  

New in my Dye Candy shop: Snow Dyed Fabric, hand dyed cotton jacquards with matching velvets and quilt block Jewelry.

Holiday Giveaway Winners !

Thank you, everybody, for the lovely comments you wrote for the Holiday Giveaway ! Greg (the husband of Daryl) reached into the hat and drew out four names at random. Here they are, with our congratulations:

1. The winner of the Jo Ann $ 10 gift card is  Sharon Robinson
2. The winner of the holiday fabric bundle is  May Britt
3. The winner of the "Flower Show Quilts" book  is  Nann
4. The winner of the "Simply Stars: Quilts That Sparkle" book is  LMG

Winners, please e-mail us your name and shipping address (which we will hold in confidence) to quiltinspiration@gmail.com. We'll ship out your prize, postage paid, as soon as possible.

All of your comments were so nice, that we really wish we could award a prize to each of you this month. However, we have the next best thing -- another Giveaway coming up soon. Please stay tuned to Quilt Inspiration !

tidbits . . .

Really, there's nothing quilt-y going on this week, at least until after tomorrow. Thanksgiving is occupying my thoughts and actions -- and rightly so!

I can report that the fabric my daughter and I ordered for the nursery, arrived yesterday! It's *so* cute!! It's way cuter in my hands, than it was from the pictures (and it was cute, there)! I'm excited to get to working on it -- over the Christmas holiday, I'm thinking!

I also got another fun little surprise in yesterday's mail. I enter lots and lots of BH&G's online contests and never think another thing about it. Evidently I actually was a winner in one of them! We got a DVD of Robin Hood in yesterday's mail, compliments of Better Homes & Gardens. Whoohoo!! Would that it were that $20,000 prize I was gunning for, but hey, I'm pretty happy with the DVD! :)

Work today, pie-baking tonight, stuffing in the morning and then a trip to my daughter's house to help her stuff & prep the big bird. Back home to finish up pies and yeast rolls, shower, and back to Joc's house for our Thanksgiving celebration. Whew!

In the hustle and bustle over the next twenty-four hours or so, be sure to take time out to consider all the things there are to be thankful for.

Gobble, gobble!

:)

pumpkins and post four hundred . . .

I was so surprised to see that this is my 400th post! Granted, it's been since 2003, but *still*! Makes me think I should give something away or something . . . I may do a Thanksgiving giveaway, in appreciation for my seven blogging years and 400+ posts. Yeah!

So many pull out the pumpkins for October, and kick 'em to the curb when November rolls around. Not me . . . I'm just getting good and comfy with my pumpkins! Allow me to share . . .

My sweet daughter brought me back some yummy Pumpkin Pie Tea from her trip to Seattle. I had some this morning. It was the perfect compliment to a chilly November morning!

And it smelled oh-so-good as it steeped! A little sugar and cream -- it was like having warm pumpkin pie in a cup! YUM!

A cute little quilted pumpkin mat is a perfect counter adornment.

And then my favorite turkey . . .

Isn't he grand? I had a plain, brown one I'd gotten a long time ago, but I'd had it in my car when I had the wreck, and not all the pieces survived. I was determined to get another.

Imagine my delight to find this handsome fellow, and at 50% off, too! But then I realized I needed a pumpkin, and I hadn't purchased one this year. Rut roh. Last night on may way home and on a whim, I stopped in at a local nursery, and asked them how much for a pumpkin. The fellow behind the counter, who I believe may have been the owner, looked at me funny and asked, "What in the world do you want a pumpkin for? October's over! Just take one; we'll be tossing them soon anyway." Score!

Pumpkin goodness. Ah, yes!

Happy Friday, folks -- we have lots of campers in this weekend, so I'm sure we'll be busy!

:)

mail, magazines, and more--oh my!

Gracious, what a fun mail week it's been! Yesterday, I got a fun little package . . .

I'd won this sweet little fat quarter from the twiddletails blog a couple of weeks ago. Isn't it darling, darling fabric?! I love happies in the mail -- thank you, Anina!!

I also got a trial copy of cloth*paper*scissors in yesterday's mail. I'll look forward to perusing its pages this weekend. Anyone out there subscribe?

The special order Christmas Cottage came in the mail this week, too! This is one of Hoffman Media's new publications. I'm *really* looking forward to going through this magazine. It'll be a keeper, too!

Then last night, in the grocery store, I picked up the Christmas edition of Southern Lady. I like to read this magazine, but I don't keep it like I do Tea Time and Celebrate. Instead, I pass these along to my daughter.

And then I did something I rarely, rarely do. And it was due to the overwhelming peer pressure of all my quilty-bloggy friends.

I bought the current issue of Quiltmaker. I HAD to! I think it was Monday, when I saw at least six bloggers refer to this issue and a particular block -- the Arrowhead block -- that they were making. And every single person who referred to it, had a picture of the block itself, that they'd just whipped up. And I loved the look of the block, and I was intrigued, and I felt that it was a sign that so many of the quilting bloggers I admired had tried this block . . . and so I gave in and bought it. I brought it home and *immediately* flipped to the article on the arrowhead block and thought, HEY! This *is* cool . . . I can do this!

And within thirty minutes, I had! It was so very easy -- and it looks great. I was very impressed with how simple it was. Who thinks of these things? Why can't *I* think of these things?!?

Anyway, I see a whole quilt of these blocks in my future!

And isn't it funny that I have a whole basket of Christmas quilt fabric that I got at the guild auction last month? I think I may have all I need to do a Christmas lap quilt. LOL!

Sawyer's gnawing on everything right now. His first two teeth are poking through on the bottom!

He's my little cherub!

:)

Winners of the October Giveaway !

Thank you, everybody, for the very kind comments you wrote for the October Giveaway !  Greg ( the husband of Daryl) reached into the hat and drew out five names at random. Here they are, with our congratulations:

1. The winner of the Jo Ann $ 10 gift card is GG 140

2. The winner of the first fabric assortment is Barbara Ann Beamer Jones

3. The winner of the second fabric assortment is White Stone.

4. The winner of the "American Patchwork and Quilting" magazines, plus the "Take Five Pattern" is Marty's Fiber Musings

5.The winner of the "How To Make An Amish Quilt" book is Nancy Sue.

Winners, please e-mail us your name and shipping address ( which we will hold in confidence) to quiltinspiration@gmail.com .We'll ship out your prize, postage paid, as soon as possible.

All of your comments were so lovely, that we really wish we could award a prize to each of you this month. However, we have the next best thing -- another Giveaway coming up as the holiday season approaches ! Please stay tuned for the Holiday Giveaway, which will feature beautiful, 2010 Moda fabric and more.