Holly Jolly Blog Bingo

The fun begins on Monday, December 14

The In Stitches blog by The Quilt Shoppe is hosting a Holly Jolly Blog Bingo. They have a list of words and you pick 25 of them for your list. They will post 7 words a day and you can call BINGO when all 25 of your words have been posted. You have to email them your entry by midnight (PST), Sunday, Dec 13.

They have a wonderful assortment of items that will be sent to the winner. They will also have daily drawings from the previous days comments. They will also be offering a discounted item every day for that day only. Head over and check it out.

Fabric Post Cards

I mailed off some fabric post cards yesterday. If you haven't tried these, they are pretty fun to create or play with. It is even more fun when you open your mailbox and find one waiting for you. When I started making these a few years ago, I used this tutorial by DebR at Red Shoe Ramblings. There a quite a few different tutorials out there now, just do a search for fabric post cards. On mine, I us a fusible on 1/2" strips to "bind" my post cards. Also, you can use Drapery Lining on the back of these. That way you can use a regular pen to write with. This time I just used some muslin and a fabric pen.
Here is the front and back of my Christmas PCs, I did them all the same this time, and the front of a 'just because' PC.

Here is a sneak peek at another project I have started. I signed up to make a quilt for the 2nd Annual Crayola Challenge on the HGTV boards. The quilts will be raffeld off in 2010 and the funds will be going to the Ronald McDonald House. There will be over 30 quilts, I will post a link to the album when they all get done and ticket sales start.
Here's how it works...Basically, a crayon is drawn from the box and that is your color. You can use variations of that color and add only one other color. The color that was picked for me was Midnight Blue. I was going back and forth if I wanted to use white, cream, or red as my second color. I decided to go with red and was able to play with it a little this morning. Here is what I have so far...

I have an idea of what I want to do with the border of my OBW. I'll try to get it worked on so I can show you another update soon.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have been computer-less the last week or so. The power cord to my laptop bit the dust and Brian has been working from home since his shoulder surgery, so I haven't been able to get online too much.

Just wanted to take a quick minute and get some updates posted. I made it to the LQS and picked up some border and backing fabric for my One Block Wonder. I also grabbed some binding fabric for my Disappearing 9-Patch. Also, while bringing in some Christmas boxes, I came across my original OBW. I will have to get it finished quickly, it has a Christmas feel to it so now would be perfect. Hopefully timing will let it happen. If not, I'll have it done by next Christmas for sure.

I had to run into the school and pick up a Christmas surprise book order from Becca's teacher last week. On my way into the classroom, I noticed all these Pilgrims the kids had made up on the wall. I took these pics...

...isn't that sweet? If you can't see it too well, here is what it says:

I am thankful for

my mom because

she makes quilts

for kids in the hospital.

What a good kid! She brought this home before Thanksgiving and gave it to me. She is my shy one and when I asked her to tell me what she wrote, she told me no. I was getting dinner ready, so I told her I couldn't read very well and I'd need her to help me. It worked, she read it to me and gave me a big squeeze.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Domino & Square Variation

I have finished my November block for a local BOM. It is a variation of the Domino and Square block. This one went together a lot easier than October's block. :c)
The LQS is going to be getting finishing kits put together in the next couple of months so they can get the rest of the fabric out on the floor. I'm excited to see my Pieceful Nights all done. I have a while to wait as we are only in month 3.

OBW Trimmed

My OBW is all pieced and now I have trimmed off the top and bottom points. Now all I need to do is figure out what I want to do with the borders.
I was hoping to have the borders all on by today, but that just didn't happen. My husband had shoulder sugery earlier this week and I haven't made it back down to the sewing room. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year, so I don't know if I'll make any progress this next week either. We'll see, I may be able to get a few minutes here and there.

OBW Strips

Here are some pics of the next steps of my One Block Wonder by Maxine Rosenthal. This pic is showing the upper right corner of my layout. I am sewing the half hexagons together top to bottom to make a strip.
Here are some strips sewn together and layed out again. Aren't they fun?

You should get the book if you are interested in making one of these. Very informative and walks you through step by step. Maxine also goes over different fabrics that would work prints to avoid. She also has a second book out called One Block Wonder Encore! This one includes new shapes and multiple fabrics. I'm excited to get my hands on it, I'm hoping to get it for Christmas. :c)

OBW Layout

More progress on the One Block Wonder.
Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. Our camera is still on the fritz and so I'm using the cell phone camera.

Anyway, I have put 3 pieces together to make a half hexagon. There should be 2 identical pieces that match up.
Overlap them about a 1/4" or so and pin together. Here are all my blocks layed out.

This is probably where I get hung up the most. Sometimes it takes me a while to decide if I like the look or if I should move things around and try another look. This time I am leaving it as is.

This is actually the same stage my original OBW from a couple years ago is at. Only now, it is rolled up and in a box somewhere. I will have to look through my pics and share a snapshot of that one as well.