Bloggy Giveaway Goodness!!

Okay, I have been sucked into the giving. I had decided not to, but then I was entering all these contests and I realized I was being really selfish! I am not selfish (normally!) so I will have a giveaway too. What will you get??? Well, there was no prior planning, so you get what I am currently doing....coasters! Good thing they are cute! LOL So if you win, you will get a set of 4 coasters and a container of Stephen's Hot Cocoa (locally made, and I adore it!) I am feeling generous, so it is open to everyone (yes, that means you international giveaway people!)



How do you enter?? Just comment on this post by midnight on Saturday February 2nd. Easy peasy! Make sure that there is a way to contact you...ie blog or email. I will hold my drawing (via random number generator) on Sunday, February 3rd sometime. Probably during the endless amount of football going on. I will post (and contact) the winner by Monday.

There are loads of things being given away, just click the link above and join in the fun!

Fresh Cut Windows

I finally finished my parents Christmas gift.....and only a month late too! Last year's gift (a family portrait) was not received until November. So I am improving. Next year's gift might even get to spend a little time under the tree. Well, let's just aim for December okay?? :)
This was a quilt kit that I bought from a local quilt shop. I adore everything Heather Bailey, and I loved the quilt. The only change I made was the binding. I really like to bias cut my binding, especially with a stripe, and there wasn't enough fabric in the kit for that. I couldn't find any of the Fresh Cut stripe locally, and I was too impatient to buy it online, so I found another stripe I liked and used that. The quilt had a few major catastrophes.....never leave your kids access to a WIP while you sneak in a quick shower......but after all is said and done I am really pleased. There was a HUGE pucker that made me really sad, but you know, once I washed and dried the quilt it was barely noticeable. My mom loves it which is the most important thing so YAY! Mission accomplished.
In other fun news, a week or so ago, sewmamasew.com asked people what their favorite quilting books were. I listed mine and was chosen randomly to win a fat quarter stack! YAY!! I just got them yesterday and love the fun variety. I am on a bit of a fabric diet, so free fabric was a great surprise!
And this picture??? This is my newly retired father at my nephew Eli's 2nd birthday party. I think retirement suits him, don't you??

Craptastic pictures!

I sew almost every day.....and if there wasn't any sewing, I am sure there was knitting. I need to create. It is me. It keeps me sane. I used to write. I have journals full of poems and stories. Somehow, when I stopped being the tortured depressed soul that I was as a teenager my need (and truthfully, my talent) for writing vanished. Sometimes it makes me sad. I miss putting my thoughts down on paper and having them become beautiful creatures of their very own. I tried to recapture my affair with the written word, but it was never the same. So I left dejected, and somehow feeling like a part of me had died. It was my own creative "dark ages", no, that's not right. It was more of a rediscovery. That time was spent finding me. Amid that search, I found my soul mate, got married and had children. So I guess creativity wasn't gone, I was just creating lives. First my own, followed by my sweet children. It was so easy to become wrapped up in motherhood. What a rewarding thing to be wrapped up in! Still, part if me was trying break though. Then a little over a year ago I learned to knit. It was like something awoke in me. Something long forgotten. I got the same sort of emotional catharsis I had lost when I stopped writing. It was intoxicating, and I was addicted. Knitting gave me the courage to want to create again. So I started sewing. Knitting keeps me balanced, sewing is different. When I knit it is all about the process. The stitches, the yarn, the rhythm. Sewing, for me, is like knitting on speed. Instant gratification. Plus, I just love fabric. I tried to love scrapbooking, I really did. I did love buying the paper......that is where fabric comes in. All the patterns and colors and textures. I could happily get lost in a fabric store.....no a quilt shop. I could live surrounded by yummy yarn and stacks of fat quarters. They just make me happy. Why am I telling you all of this?? LOL Well, I was trying to figure out why I don't update my blog more. I am creating almost daily. I figured it out today. I take craptastic pictures. I will finish something I adore, and want to share it. I pull out my camera and get the most subpar results. It is so disheartening! I need to carve out the time to take a class or something. A New Year's resolution perhaps??

So, without further ado, I give to you my most recent quilt. It was a Christmas gift for the inlaws. I am really pleased with the quilt......the pictures I detest. The only one I have of the completed quilt is blurry, so I will also include some of the top prior to quilting. Maybe next time we visit I will get a picture that does it justice. I should finish another quilt (my parent's belated Christmas quilt) in the next day or so. I am hoping to get some decent pictures. There is always hope, right??