Feeling Lucky!!

I am starting to think that I should play the lottery because I have been so lucky lately.  Although I don't post that often, I spend a lot of time reading blogs and commenting when I can.  I have been following Gene Black's blog for a while and I always enjoy seeing his latest adventures in creativity.  Recently, he has been learning to weave and the results are amazing.  Gene offered a giveaway for a Craftsy class and I am excited to say, I was the winner.  The class I chose is, Continuous Line Quilting with Ann Peterson.  I have lots of quilt tops that need finishing and I have been procrastinating.  Hopefully, this will be the incentive I need.

During the "Grow Your Blog Hop" in January/February, I participated as both a stop on the Hop and a hopper.  It was a great way to discover interesting blogs and many of the participants offered giveaways.  I received this lovely homemade needle case from Karen at Faeries and Fibres,  She has a great blog and offers some block tutorials.  She has just posted the final step of a Quiltalong.  All of the steps are still available.  She enclosed a cute note card.  I'm sorry it didn't show up well in the photo.  It says, "Keep Calm and Carry On."  Good advice for all of us.

I also won a bag of scraps from Christa at Christa's Quilts.  Most of the scraps were from Christa's award winning quilt made for the Riley Blake/Modern Quilt Guild Challenge.  Unfortunately, even though I know I took a picture of Christa's scrap bag, I can't find it on my computer.  Many of the small pieces have already been put to use.  I will gather the remaining pieces to take a photo for a future post.

Back in January, I won a pattern for a stuffed alligator and the fabric to make it from Kevin at Feed Dog Designs.  The pattern is adorable and the fabrics are perfect.  We have some new babies in the family so I hope to make the alligator soon.

In January, I won a prize for finishing my goal (the Bungle Jungle Quilt #1) for the Lovely Year of Finishes Challenge.  You can see from the photo below, there's fabric and bits of embellishment in the Project Quilting Mystery Bundle from Kim at Persimmon Dreams.  She even included a can cozy that works well on my water bottle.

The plant in the background is Arthur, our split leaf philodendron.  We've had him for 13 1/2 years and he is still going strong in spite of the fact that he is taking over the dining area of our kitchen.

Thanks to all of the generous bloggers who make blog hopping and commenting so much fun,

Hands 2 Help Challenge

You don't have to read many blogs to realize how generous quilters are.  It seems as though not a week goes by without reading about quilters donating a quilt to people suffering after a natural disaster, children in an orphanage, or someone ill.  For the past few years, Sarah at Confessions of A Fabric Addict has sponsored the Hands 2 Help Challenge to encourage quilters to donate quilts to worthy causes  This year, three groups have been chosen to receive quilts.  The three groups:  Quilts of Compassion, Happy Chemo, and Students of the Gladeville Baptist Church (who will be delivering quilts to survivors of Hurricane Sandy) offer three distinct choices for quilters interested in participating.  Quilters who sign up to participate before Sunday, March 22nd will be eligible for the special prize drawing.  Sign-ups will continue to be accepted after that date, but the sign-up prize will no longer be offered. If you don't win the sign-up prize, all is not lost.  Sarah always manages to recruit lots of wonderful sponsors to offer giveaways to those who donate quilts.  Check out Sarah's blog for a thorough explanation that will guide you through all you need to participate in the Hands 2 Help Challenge.  You can click on the link on the right hand side of the blog.  There are lots of deserving people who need your help and you can sign up only a click away.

March Goals and

I did not manage to complete my goal for February, so this month it's back at the top of the list.  My Bungle Jungle 2 baby quilt.  Everyday, I get up determined to work on it, but I always find something to distract me.

 On Monday, there was grocery shopping that needed to be done.  On the way home, we stopped at Christie's Quilting Boutique which is about 30 minutes away at 176 Main Street, Norwalk, Connecticut.  In the past few years, seven quilt shops within a 45 minute driving range have closed and one moved 40 minutes farther north.  When Christie opened her shop in the fall, it was like manna in the desert.  In addition to her new brick and mortar store, she also sells fabric online at her Etsy shop.
At the front of the shop, she has a quilting frame set up for anyone who wants to sit and take a stitch

 She has a whole case of Jennifer Paganelli  fabric and  patterns with samples made up in her fabrics.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture.  Jennifer will be at the store on Saturday, March 15th to celebrate Quilting Day

Christie is friendly and helpful and makes you feel comfortable the minute you walk through the door.  The store is convenient to I95 and the Merritt Parkway, so if you're in the area, you should definitely stop by.  With quilt shops becoming an endangered species it's great to be able to support a local shop.

I did manage to add a teal row to my Rainbow Zig Zag quilt and make one teal postage stamp block

 I added more rows to my pink Zig Zag quilt.  I still need to cut more setting triangles before I sew the blocks together.

I am linking up my March goal with the Goal Setting Party at Sew BitterSweet Designs for A Lovely Year of Finishes
I am also linking up with all of the other quilters who are participating in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'll add the link when it's up.

February Wrap-Up

Although I didn't spend as much time sewing as I would have liked to this month, I managed to finish 147 blocks.  That's definitely more than the goal of thirty blocks that was set for the 350 Block Challenge at Prairie Moon Quilts.  The goal for March is thirty.  If I keep sewing at my current pace, I should be able to surpass that number.  I have now completed 196 blocks during the first two months of 2014. That number does not include the blocks for my Zig Zag quilts.  They are so easy to put together, they hardly even seem like blocks.

 I know many people don't like to repeat a quilt once they are finished, but I find the repetition of a simple block very calming. Once I make a quilt, if I like it, I always think of easier ways to piece it and want to try my ideas right away.  I do agree, that starting a third Zig Zag quilt in the span of two months is a little bizarre.  Hopefully, I can break myself of the addiction during March.

These are the blocks I sewed for Film at Five this week.

 I have now completed all of the blocks for the top.  The original Film at Five pattern at Wedding Dress Blue finishes at 86.5 inches square.  I wanted a rectangular quilt, so this one will finish at 70 x 86.5.

I've had this abstract pink fabric for a long time and really wanted to use it up.

I think it works great against the crisp white for a Zig Zag quilt.  The strips are completely cut and my goal is to finish piecing the blocks this week.

I also made four 9 patch blocks to use in a free 9 Patch table runner pattern by Sherri at A Quilting Life

The bad news is, I did not complete my goal for February to finish my Bungle Jungle 2 quilt.  It is definitely on the top of my list for March.

Wrap Up - Third Week of February

Not much sewing going on around here this week.  I only had the opportunity to sit down and sew twice.  I only finished one scrappy pink block to add to the pile for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I did manage to sew 49 blocks for my Film At Five quilt. I like it more with every block I sew.  The pattern finishes at 86.5 inches square.  I may change the size to make it smaller, but I haven't decided yet.  These are the blocks I made this week.

 This is all of the blocks so far.

My lovely daughter came home from  graduate school on Thursday and we drove her back today. The entire time she was home was spent doing her wash, shopping for groceries for her to take back and preparing a lesson plan for an interview she has for at a nursery school later this week.  Working on the items for her "Hibernation" lesson plan was fun. I really miss my days teaching little people.   Of course, buying the materials and preparing them cut into my sewing time.  Our initial enthusiasm was squashed when we realized that the plastic bears she bought were a choking hazard.
Instead, I cut out 80 tiny bears from foam sheets.

The bears will be used for a pre-Math game.  The children will place the correct number of bears in the cave.  It features representational one-to-one counting, as well as, number and word recognition.  The little spots encourage the children to place a bear next to its "night light".

Even though, I only finished one scrappy pink block, some of my Film at Five blocks are also pink so I am linking up with the other Rainbow Scrap Challenge participants at Sew Scrappy.  Stop by and take a look at the lovely items made from pink.

Pink Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Grow Your Blog Winner

I can't believe we're already past the half way point for February.  Last week, I completely forgot to post my February goals and the pink blocks I made for the first week of the  Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Snowy weather has kept me home bound and sewing.  We've had more than our share of winter this year, but if you'd like to stop by for lunch, I'll clear off the barbecue and burn you a burger.

If this month's UFO looks familiar, it's because it's a slightly smaller version of last month's Bungle Jungle quilt.  The parents of the two new babies in our lives chose the same colors and theme for their nurseries. Since they won't be visiting each other, I felt it was okay to use the same fabric and pattern for both of the quilts.  I have to admit, cutting and sewing double the amount of blocks went fast.  I just can't seem to motivate myself to finish the second one.  Hopefully, I will get it done this week.
You can see it hanging on the bench behind eight 12 inch scrappy pink blocks.

All together, I made 28 scrappy pink blocks. I didn't have many pink scraps, but I had lots of mauve yardage that I really wanted to get rid of.  I have a few more to add to the pile that aren't completed yet.  They were fun to make, but I don't have a project in mind for them. Debra of Debra's Design Studio has agreed to take them to use for some of her charity quilts.

This group of blocks is for a Film at Five Quilt using a tutorial from Wedding Dress Blue.  Sashing and corner stones will fill in the empty spots on the rug.

Four of the 25 patch blocks were rescued from a 100 patch block when I decided not to make the Fading Charm quilt also offered on the Wedding Dress Blue site.  It has barely made a dent in my pile of 2.5 inch charms.

I also made eighteen four patches and added a pink row to my budding Rainbow Chevron Quilt.

I'll be linking up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge at Sew Scrappy.  There are lots of great projects so be sure to stop by and see them.

Finally, the winner of the "Grow Your Blog Hop" giveaway of two charm packs of Lovely from Debbie Beaves and Favorite Recipes from Quilters," is commenter number 26, Carrie P from A Passion for Applique.

Wrap Up For January

 I haven't managed to get this much sewing finished in a very long time.  I'm surprised steam isn't spewing out of my machine.  I was really pleased to  finish the Bungle Jungle UFO I chose as my goal for the Lovely Year of Finishes Challenge.  I haven't used my embroidery machine for a while so it was fun to use it to make the label.  

I didn't have an assistant this time, so I had to hang the quilt over the door of the coat closet in my hall

I made 49 blocks which surpassed my goal of 20 for the 350 Blocks Project at  Prairie Moon Quilts. I didn't count the blocks I made for the zig zag quilt since there were 220 two patch strip blocks and they were so easy..  This quilt will be my January project for Barbara's  NewFo Challenge on her Cat Patches blog.

This week I made eight blue four patch blocks made for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  They form the bottom row.  The row above them has the seven 16 patch blocks I made for the Goodnight Irene sew along.

Since February is a short month, I want to keep my goals modest.  The goal for the 350 Blocks Project is 30 blocks.   I plan on making, ten X blocks for the Goodnight sew along, 2 postage stamp blocks, 2 Happy House blocks, and to finish the Jungle Bungle quilt that I planned to finish in January.  Hopefully, I will find something exciting to round the number up to 30.  I am delighted to report that I did not buy any fabric for the month of January.  I'm not keeping track of how much fabric I used, I'm just happy none has been added

I will be adding my post to three linky parties.   The Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy.   Barbara's  January Newfo Linky Party at Cat Patches and theLovely Year of Finishes at Sew Bitter Sweet.