A Winner, A Car, A Castle and some Geese!

The StoryPatches winner is number 5--Alycia who said..."Sounds so interesting. I always wonder where tech will take us next!"  Congratulations Alycia.  I will email you so you can send me your address so I can get your prize in the mail.

 I am also a winner this weekend, I bought myself a new car!  It is Boston Red and is a Hyundai Veloster.  I love it!

 Today Kathy and Barb (a last minute stand in for Randy) got up early and toured Torvea Castle in Phoenix.  It was a great tour and I learned a lot about the history of the area too.  We were able to go inside in the basement and first floor as well as outside and all around the grounds.  They have a virtual tour of the upstairs floors because there is only one way up and down and so code won't allow tours to go up there.

I loved this cool thing over the faux fireplace.  Apparently the guys building the Orphium at the same time as the castle was being done put this medallion in.  So if I ever get to that theater I will be looking for them.  You can also see the beautiful stenciling on the wall (it was also on the ceiling) which really was gorgeous too!  

 I also got a perm this weekend--so my hair can grown out a bit.

 Only a little bit of sewing happened this weekend.  I made the Talkin' Turkey geese in green and grey--five more colors to go.

 And I managed to make my weekly Wild and Goosey block.  Tomorrow back to work.  The weekends go too fast!

Saturday Sewing and QuiltCam!

 I spent all of Saturday (after water aerobics and Jump Pilates) sewing and sewing and sewing.  I watched QuiltCam (I had not seen any of the past five episodes).  I have now seen them all!  Kathy hung out in the garage as some guy replaced our windshield (again) and made this sign to sell on ebay.  Too cute!

I made the next Block Party block for Nimble Thimbles--Patriotic Pinwheels.  If I win this one I will do it up as another QOV.  Would be nice to have a second one done fast!

Not the best picture, but I made a backing for the Mystery quilt I made last year at Quilting on the Rim.  The gal sold her business so Becky and I didn't get to go back this year.  Bummer but hey we have the Quiltville cruise in October!

Watching QuiltCam reminded me that I should get back to work on the All People Quilt Four Patch Quiltalong.  My pile grew...

 and grew.  I decided to use some four patches that I had leftover from other projects--some needed to be trimmed down to fit, but they are doing me no good in the overflowing leftover parts bin so I am using them up!

 I made the light blue Betty's Choice blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge--one for me and one for Amy.  Linking up with SoScrappy!

 Here are all the blocks together.

 I met Jill at the butt crack of dawn (7 AM) though she said it was half way through her morning (HA!) and we hiked the Ridgeline at South Mountain.  Kathy went to the gym and went swimming.

Pretty happy with getting in that exercise early.  Now I can sew, read, and relax all day long!  If you haven't entered my giveaway click on the link and leave me a comment on that post.  I will draw randomly on Friday for the StoryPatches.  Now, what should I sew?

StoryPatches Giveaway!

Mike Newman contacted me awhile back to put a cool product on my blog.  He sent one for me and one for one of my readers!  

There is a video here on youtube that shows you how it works.  You can also go to the website for StoryPatches to learn more about the product. 

Basically a StoryPatch enables quilters to connect a personalized audio or video message directly to their quilt.  I think it is pretty exciting that I can talk about the fabrics I put in a quilt--for example that some of the fabrics in a certain quilt came from my dad's shirts or about what is going on in my life or the life of the recipient at the time I made the quilt!  I blog this info, but love the idea of someone being able to access it directly from the quilt!

Mike assured me that "each patch has a unique code that works with our free smartphone app and website, and could not be easier to use – even for people who don’t like new technology!" Looking at the video I can see I can manage it, and I sure you could too. 

So giveaway time!  If you want a chance at having a free sample StoryPatch, leave me a comment on the blog and tell me which quilt you might want to try it out on and what info you might include.  I will draw a random number a week from today (so Friday June 12th) and announce the winner!  Good luck!

A Flying Nine Patch and a Winner!

 The lucky winner is Heather!  I have emailed her to send me her address to send her her two magazine prize!  Thanks to all of you who entered!  I promise to do it again in the future!

 Had some time before work today and decided to whip up the next Traditions 35th Ave. block.  It was this flying nine patch block.  I hate to mention that I had issues (most likely because I am NOT a morning person).  First I decide to do the hst's with my Thangles, then I cut the strip to fit the Thangles strip and forgot that they only give me enough fabric if I do them sideways on the strip, ugh!  Luckily Kathy doesn't mind following the directions and doing them the other way so she traded me her strip!  My next issue was an unmatched seam....picked that out and redid it, and then I found one strip I had sewn on backwards on the side (after I had sewn the top to that!) More unpicking.  I really should stick to sewing in the afternoon and evening!

Seeing Pink and a Giveaway!

 Here is the Rainbow scrap challenge Trash to Treasure Pineapple block in pink.  I have to remember to use a scant quarter inch on this block or it won't be big enough!  I made a note in my book (on a post it) so next month I will remember that part!

 Meanwhile I made three different Valentine's Day Mug Rug blocks!  One for me, Bonnie and Kathy.

 The last block I made was the first one to become a mug rug!

 I also made the Four Corners block in pink.  Quick and easy, my kind of block!

 I then took a pink from seeing all that pink and kitted up "Playing with Jacks" for the Bonnie workshop which is coming up fast!  I had a hard time deciding on a color...had almost decided to go with the original read when I realized that I could use my modern fabrics and do it multi colored!  No idea how it will turn out, but stretching myself a bit (word of the year is STRETCH) and it is all kitted up and ready to go!

Here is Kathy's Celtic Solstice so far...she has been working hard on getting it together!

 I found myself with two extra magazines...I bought one and won one and I subscribed and bought one of the other one...so since it has been forever since I had a giveaway I thought now was the time.  If you want to win these two magazines just comment and tell me if you have ever made a Quiltville quilt and if so, which one is your current favorite.  If you haven't you can tell me that too, but I hope you go check out Quiltville.com and find a new favorite!  Bonnie has a block in this 100 blocks magazine too!

I will choose a random winner for the drawing on Wednesday!  Good luck!

And the Winner is...

I recieved nine comments and thought it would be fun for you to read what you didn't know about some of my readers.  Very interesting stuff!  If you don't read these people's blogs maybe you can click over and check out their blogs!

Amy (lilme2_99) said...

I never know if being the first commenter is good or bad when it comes to giveaways... :D Guess we'll find out.

Something you don't know about me: When I was in 9th grade, I "dated" a boy who spent his early life signing (with hearing aides); therefore, being inspired, I checked out all signing books from the library and taught myself some sign language. (I recall a bit, but have forgotten most.)

June 29, 2012 4:38 AM

momhooten said...

I have lived in Amarillo, TX for 17 years now. When we first moved here, we said the first chance we get we're gonna get the he-- out of here. Guess we're stuck here now since grandkids started arriving.

June 29, 2012 5:33 AM

Happy Cottage Quilter said...

I love sweet Iced Tea, but especially tea from Chick-fil-a!! Thanks for the fun giveaway!

June 29, 2012 5:56 AM

sherryberrybim said...

Can you believe I have 2 daughters named Jennifer? Actually, one is my stepdaughter. She didn't live with us growing up but it made things interesting at times.

June 29, 2012 6:30 AM

wackywoman said...

Hmmmm. I worked in Silicon Valley for years. One of the companies I worked for had parts that went to Jupiter. Another (in the 80s) was building things for TV that would allow someone to play a movie or play a game anytime they wante (ON-DEMAND?) Paid TV was new and they had the ability; but, knew that the public wasn't ready for anything like that at the time. And, we just take it all for granted now. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.

June 29, 2012 4:30 PM

scottylover said...

Well, let's see, what can I share that won't get me in trouble? :)

I absolutely LOVE Say Yes to the Dress and can't wait for it to come on. I even watch the reruns over and over again!

Sandy A

June 29, 2012 5:34 PM

Shannon said...

What a great give away! Well I love scary movies. Not the slasher types but the paranormal stuff. I watch them by myself because nobody in my family likes them. LOL! Thank you for the chance to win!

June 30, 2012 8:54 AM

Becky said...

Something you don't know about me? Well did you know that at one time I had a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do? I quilt after I was about 6 months pregnant with Alex and never had the money to go back to it after he was born.

June 30, 2012 3:58 PM

cherylj said...

I am a patent agent writing patents all day and use quilting as a stress reliever...and I am your newest follower

July 1, 2012 12:11 PM

Here is what the giveaway was for! 

and the winner is #5 Wackywoman!  Send me your address and I will get the loot out!  AzAndee (at) cox (dot) net
Thanks all for entering and happy quilting!

Downey Quilts for Kids Done, Christmas Napkins and a Santa Applique (and a Giveaway!)

I quilted this little quilt on my new Viking Husquavarna Diamond machine! I need to post you pictures and talk about that soon, but it did a great job on this little quilt for Downey Quilts for Kids Project. The lable is blury, but I got it on there and hand sewed on the binding last night. I even washed it as they requested and it is all ready to go back to some deserving little boy!

At camp I started these little Christmas Tree napkins and finished them up at home where I had red and green thread! They look like trees, but when you open them up they are a napkin for Christmas time. Really fast, easy and cute. I will be making up some more of these.

At the last Make it and Take it we worked on these Santa Appliques. I had to do most of the applique at home but now he awaits quilting and eyes and binding and he will be all set! The teacher and a friend of hers made up the pattern. It is a bit fiddly to me (applique I am not so good with) but it really is adorable when done!

This is my 300th post and is time for a giveaway! I will put together some goodies (including fabric) to mail out to a commenter posts here who has already posted a comment to me somewhere in the last 300 posts! I want to reward my commenters, not find a zillion new commenters I guess. So tell me why you read my blog, or what you like about it in a comment to this post, and on Wednesday I will randomly draw one of you for the giveaway. If you have never commented go ahead and you are in for when I do another giveaway down the line! Smile ;)
Well, I am off to my friend June's to do some sewing and gabbing. I love my sewing friends!