winners!

Gosh darn you blogger - why do you make it so easy to publish a post by accident???? (I do user interface design for a living - I hate software that doesn't prevent stupid mistakes!)

Anyway, what I meant to say is... winners! Two of them! Here they are:

Those lucky folks are:

20. lori said...

I would love the FQs! Have a great weekend!

May 28, 2010 2:11 PM

1. leigh7911 said...

Oh! Look at all those lovely yellows. :)

Also, your room looks great. Am jealous!

And good on you for being productive in your procrastination. Your dedication to sewing for charity is inspiring.

And just so you'll have a pretty picture to look at, here's the latest on Vada's room.

I only have a couple more swirls to go, and it will be all done! It's definitely at the top of my list of WIPs I want to finish up. I've decided I'm going to do my "Clean Slate Club" (and thanks everyone for the encouragement!) - I'm compiling a list of all the projects I have in progress, and will list them here. You guys can feel free to give me crap if I don't report regular progress! I'm hoping to have the bulk of them done in the next couple months, so I can start thinking about the holidays. They are just around the corner, you know!

Another one high up on the list is those swaddling blankets. I got the hand sewing done over the weekend, and will hopefully get them all top-stitched and labeled this week, so that's progress! Oh, and there were a couple questions in the comments from the last post about exactly how I do the swaddling blankets, but they were from folks who don't have their settings set to show their return address, so I couldn't reply directly. However, I think the questions are answered in this post I did a while back, so you can look there. If that doesn't help, let me know and I'll do a tutorial.

productive procrastination

My in-laws are visiting this weekend, and I needed to clean out my sewing room so that it can be used as a second spare bedroom. First step - the seriously overflowing bin of flannel. Instead of just putting the excess in a bag like any sane person would do, I decided to pull out all the large pieces and whip up some swaddling blankets....



Possibly not the best use of my time! But, now I have 15 swaddling blankets sewn, turned and pressed. And I'm happy that I'll be able to work on the hand sewing part (just blind stitching the openings) over the weekend - I hate the thought of three days without any sewing! I'll top stitch them next week, and then I'll be all set for the Project Linus meeting next Sunday. And that's about 40 yards of fabric out the door - whoop!



Check it out - wide open space in the sewing room! No, I didn't take a before shot - I'm not sure I would be brave enough to post it anyway.



There are so many unfinished projects tucked away in those shelves!! Cleaning everything up has motivated me to make a list and start working through it before I start anything else. Seriously. Don't laugh! I might even post my list here, so you guys can cheer me on!



Here's the other side of the room. That closet is packed with the rest of the stash - flannels, novelties, sheets, small cuts, etc. I know, it's a little crazy. But at least it's organized crazy now...



Speaking of too much fabric... I fully intended to do my usual "second chance" giveaway after the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day last week, but just never managed to get around to it.



But it just so happens that while I was cleaning up, I put together some flat rate envelopes of some leftover FQs from my stash sale.



One might be spoken for, but at least two of them are up for grabs, and I'm giving them away! Leave a comment here, and I'll draw at least two names on Monday whenever the in-laws leave. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

the big winner!

Is it weird that I actually get a little nervous before I pick a giveaway winner? Yes, yes it is. Oh well - I asked random.org, and it picked....



Lucky #307 is Meg - The Mad Quilting Librarian!

Meg said...

I've been wanting to make a vintage sheet quilt for the longest time, but I never seem to have any luck at my local thrift shops. This would be a great solution!

So happy to oblige, Meg! Hope you have fun working with them!

Thanks to everyone for entering!! And a great big welcome to those of you who took a look around and decided to subscribe/follow!

Here's what I've been working on lately - more string squares. It's all Rachel's fault - she picked string blocks for her bee month, and I got a little addicted. Yes, there's one missing - I didn't pay close attention to how many I was making, and ended up with an odd number!

I'm not sure if I'll go for a sort of traditional layout...



Or all one direction...

Or maybe I'll try a zigzag? Must go consult Flickr for some inspiration... I'll most likely add some sashing in there somehow, since the blocks I have right now would make a pretty small quilt all by themselves (and I'm quite sure I'm done making them, if you know what I mean)... It would help if I knew what I was making it for, I suppose! At least I'll have plenty of time to think about it while I pull all the paper off the back!!

Happy giveaway day!

I love giveaway day! I hope everyone is having a blast visiting blogs all over blogville...

If you're new here, welcome! I'm a crafter who loves thrifting in all forms (garage sales, thrift stores, swapping, bartering, you name it!). My current obsession is quilting with old sheets (or vintage linens - that sounds a whole lot nicer!).

For my giveaway, I'm offering a set of about 140 6" vintage linen squares, all different prints.

With this set of squares, you could make a fun patchwork quilt like this...

Or add some squares of your own and make a couple quilts like this...

Or maybe half a dozen awesome table toppers like this one from Marit!

To enter, just leave a comment here. Any old comment will do, but if you're feeling chatty, tell me about what crafty project you did last - I love to hear what people are up to. International folks are welcome to enter.

I wish I could reply to everyone, but I tried that last time and it was a full-time job (and I already have one of those!). So, thanks in advance - I appreciate you stopping by and entering!!

And lastly, PLEASE make sure you have contact info. If you don't want to leave your email in every comment you write, please make sure your profile settings are correct so that people can find it there. If you're not sure, go here to learn how to change your settings. Even if you think your settings are correct - if you've never had a direct email response to one of your comments, GO CHECK them! Otherwise, your entries may just be a big fat waste of your time!!

Thanks to Sew Mama Sew for hosting the event!

The giveaway is closed now - going to draw a name! Thanks everyone!!

you never know!

You know that rush you get when you're at a garage sale, and you find something really awesome that you've been looking for forever? I love that feeling! And you know what's even better than that - finding a treasure for someone else! It totally makes my day when I can do that....

You might remember last year, when I showed off this set of Topsy-Turvy books:



Beth (of Needles, Threads & Crafts) commented that she'd had a set of these when she was a kid, and that she'd love to have a set for her daughters. And guess what I found at a garage sale! I paid $20 for my set last year, and I got this one for about $3 - sweet!

I thought it was another complete set, but it turned out that it had two repeats - "Audubon's Animals/Audubon's Birds" and "The Tailor of Gloucester/How the Leopard Got His Spots". Oddly enough, I didn't have either of those two books in my original set - maybe they were from a 'bonus' set or something? Anyway, I'll be keeping the two extra ones to add to my set, and passing the rest on to Beth. Yay! I just love it when that happens!

So - what strange and rare object are you lusting after? Let me know, and I'll keep an eye out for you. You just never know!! :-)

my bee block idea

June is my month in the Vintage Sheet Bee, and I'm working on my block idea. I started with 3" squares, and made up some slightly wonky courthouse stair blocks. I made sure the center square was straight (though not centered), and trimmed each block to 12.5" in one dimension, and squared up the other sides at whatever size fit best (varying from about 13" to 14"). Like so:







Then I chopped the blocks into 4 corners, with the center square in the middle of the cuts. I added a thin sashing in the middle of the blocks, and a larger sashing all around, to make it look like windows.

I don't totally love it yet, but flimsies never look as good as the finished quilts do! I'm sure I'll love it when it's all done. I had originally intended for it to be a table topper, but it turns out that it will almost exactly fit the top of the credenza (that's fancy for "big long filing cabinet") in my office. Maybe that will keep me from building up piles of crap on it?? Yeah, not likely!

Anyway, I like the basic block idea. It's a great way to use up scraps, and even if I decide not to do this window idea, or even chop them up at all, I think they'd still look nice on their own with some white sashing. So, unless I have some other brilliant idea in the next couple of weeks, I think this will be my bee block!

pink quilt #1 finished

I've finished the quilt for my friend and coworker, Julie, who is battling breast cancer. I will be giving it to her this Saturday, when I join our company's team for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. If anyone reading this feels inclined, you can donate here. (I hope that link works - let me know if not!). No pressure - just thought I'd throw it out there!

I hope she likes the quilt - I know I sure do! It's all vintage linens, including the gingham (a Pottery Barn sheet) and the backing, and it's so amazingly soft and cozy. And I even hand-sewed the binding - ha! Check out the scrappy binding and those perfect corners!

It's made with 6" squares - two each of 35 different prints. The final dimensions are about 55" x 77".

The quilting is pretty simple, just straight "edge stitching" along the seams, and then diagonals one way through the prints and the other way through the gingham.

Of course I had to sneak in a picture with miss cutie pie!

I still haven't figured out the label, but I'm leaning towards a John Muir quote that I saw recently on Bloom:

"Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

I just love it, and I like that there's nothing too overtly "get well! chin up!" about it. Just a feeling of serenity, I hope. I hope...

I've already started on another one of these, for my high school friend Kelli, who is fighting too. Cancer sucks.

April and May bee blocks

Thank goodness, I'm all caught up with my bee blocks!

These first two are for Jane, who requested any sort of pinweel, as long as it contained the light yellow background fabric she had sent. I have to tell you, I was terrified to cut into it! It was my first time sewing with someone else's bee fabric, and I only had a 15"x15" square, and I was so afraid I'd screw it up. And it was my first time making half-square triangles! I should have thought to try on some scrap fabric first, but I think they turned out fine. They aren't very fancy, but I didn't want to press my luck!





These next two are for Amanda, who requested any sort of cross. You might recognize the pink and green bits from the first pinwheel block above! These were fun to make, and I can see how they would be addictive!





Now I'm off to think about what I'm going to request for June, which is my month! I've got a log-cabin-ish idea I want to try out first...