Some Giveaways I’m Sharing

Green Fairy Quilting

 

 

 

 

 

We Love Quilting

 

 

 

 

Quilt Qua

 

 

 

 

 

I’m Just a Guy Who Quilts

 

 

 

 

 

Dye Candy 

 

 

 

 

 

So many fun things to win on the web.  Good luck!  (I’m winning the Patriotic Fabric, by the way.)

Jan

My Birthday Giveaway

It’s my birthday.  July 11 —- 7,11 —— my happy lucky day.  I’ve had a fabulous time celebrating since Thursday and it’s not over yet.

On Thursday I had a fun outing day with my friend Geri.  I went to several of my favorite quilt shops.  First was Four Seasons in Plymouth which is close to my house.  That can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.  They had a fabulous selection of clearance fabric.  Found many pieces I wanted, but controlled myself and only bought three.  Geri found the cutest watermelon fabric to make a runner.  We also spent some time examining the Moda Mystery quilt, since we are ready to finish one ourselves.  Even though this one was traditional, I think it will give us some insight on picking fabric to finish our Kaffe Fasset ones.

Then it was off to Glad Creations in Minneapolis.  I love this shop in an old home setting.  It’s always nice to visit with the friendly people there.

We had lunch at Turtle Bread and then just had to go next door to the Pumphouse Creamery for fabulous ice cream.  All of the ice cream there is made on site with organic milk from Wisconsin.  She also uses local ingredients as much as possible.  Yum!  It’s my favorite ice cream shop in the Twin Cities.

Friday I spent with my friend Mary.  We headed over to St. Paul and had lunch on the deck at Muffalettas.  I had a pork burger and Mary had a hamburger.  All their meat is pastured meat from local farms.  So I felt a little less guilty eating it.  Being there reminded me of a quilt shop that used to be in the neighborhood called the Country Peddler.  I sure do miss that place.

That night our couple friends came over for a grilled pizza at our house.  I had never made them before so followed some recipes I found in American Pie: My search for the perfect pizza by Peter Reinhart.  They turned out to be really good.  My friend Cindy and I were both celebrating birthdays.  Her’s is July 9 and mine July 11, so how perfect to celebrate on the day between them.

 

 

Yesterday, my actual birthday, was wonderful.  I went down to Lake Nikomos to take photos of my son Tim who finished the Lifetime Triathalon.

 

 Then lunch with my sister Jean.  

 

Enjoyed the afternoon outside in beautiful weather.  Then took a long walk with my husband along the Mississippi River.  We stopped for a light dinner at the Nicollet Island Inn and then headed over to Maple Grove for fireworks.  

 

 

Today I’m celebrating with my kids and their spouses.  We’re going to the Dragon Boat races and then for dinner.  My birthday seems to involve a lot of food.  

That’s a run down of my birthday “week” or as my daughter-in-law says we should call it our birthday “month.”  Anyway, I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in my life.  I decided to do a little giveaway for my birthday.  A birthday present from me to you.

I’m giving away a package of charm squares.  It’s Collections for a Cause from Moda. There are 40 squares in the package.  

 

To be eligible to win, post a comment here on how you celebrate your birthday or what birthdays mean to you or  a birthday wish or any other birthday related thing.  I will choose the one I find most interesting or creative.  That person will be the winner.

Here’s wishing you a birthday as happy as mine!

Quilting ADD Continued

I’ve gotten back to my quilting organization after a hiatus.  Seems like I can only do so much at a time and then have to take a break before moving on.  So . . . . . . . . I got sick of tripping over my fabric collections sitting on the floor and was spurred on to containerize my Jo Morton/Little Women fabrics.

 In the first stage, I took it all and put it on the shelf.  At least it was off the floor, but it still wasn’t satisfying me.  I knew I should just keep at it till it felt good.

 

 

So, I measured my shelves and headed to Joanne ETC.  Luckily I found just the right size of plastic containers with cute blue covers that fit exactly on my shelf.  I labeled each one with a color and then started sorting.  I folded all the fat quarters and slipped them neatly in appropriate container.  

 

 

Doesn’t it look nice?  All neat and in a row.

 

 

 I’m finally satisfied.  Now, will it help me actually sew some Little Quilts?  Stay posted to find out.

Rogers Block of the Month

I am in a block-of-the-month group at Quilted Treasures in Rogers. It’s really a good excuse for socializing on the third Saturday of the month . . .  and time for a little shopping of course.

This series is called Christmas Treasures.  I choose the Civil War fabric option.  Take a look at my latest block.

I love the red and green fabrics; one of my favorite color combinations.

The great part of this block-of-the-month is the homework. Homework is good, you say?  In this case, the quilt top will be done when the series is over since you sew it together as you go.  I have a confession to make though – I haven’t kept up on my homework, (which is a really bad thing since I’m a teacher).  So I’m posting this to encourage me to get my butt in gear and catch up.

I’ll keep you “posted” on my progress.

Jan

MN Designer’s Blog Hop

 

Isn’t this a great idea?  Sorry, I missed passing this on today when it started.  Visit each of these designer’s blogs for a free pattern or idea and a chance to win prizes.  Here’s the lowdown:

A group of 10 blogging quilt designers, all from Minnesota are taking part in this adventure. Starting next week you can visit a new blogger, every weekday. Each designer will have a free demo or pattern, show you a new technique and tell you a little bit about themselves. They will also have a little giveaway for you if you check in to visit and say hi in the comments.

But that is not all!!! If you are really dedicated and visit each and every blog and post your comment, you will be entered in a drawing to win a phenomenal grand prize!!!

Follow this link to GE Designs to access the links to all of the blogs.

Good luck and let us know if you win anything!

 

Jan

WOW June 09

WOW is short for Women of the West Quilt Guild.  I attended the meeting tonight and joined again after a lapse in membership.  

The guest speaker tonight was Pam Dinndorf, the designer of Aardvark Quilts – a Minnesota designer who works part time at Gruber’s Quilt Shop in St. Cloud.   She showed us many examples of the quilts she’s designed and included some stories of where the inspiration came from for them.

This was her first quilt and my personal favorite. It’s called Harlequin.

 

Naniboujou was inspired by a lodge in Northern Minnesota by the same name.  The design resembles the colors and pattern of the ceiling in the great hall/dining room.

 

 

Vernal Equinox – Pam’s colors of spring.

 

 

Borealis II – love it.  It reminded me of a rain forest.

 

 

Pam Dinndorf holding Baby Squares Squared.

 

 

Visit Aardvark Quilts online to take a look at more of Pam’s simple but beautiful designs.

Number 5..6..7… ,  5..6..7.. , 5..6..7..  ”567″  Aaaaaah!  I won!  Sorry Sue, for yelling in your ear.  Here’s my door prize.

Wow!  I had a fun night.

Quiltville Mystery

My friend Karen pointed out that Bonnie Hunter, of Quiltville fame, has a mystery quilt that’s being published by Quiltmaker magazine.  It’s called Christmas Lights.  If it’s anything like her other quilts, it’ll be stunning.  Visit her website to find out the details and see a special offer to order the magazines.  If you do the mystery,  I’d love to post some photos of the finished quilts. Have fun.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/

Look for this issue of Quiltmaker for the first installment.

Winner revealed

The winner of the flower blocks has been revealed.  I received an email from her today.

Hi Jan – What a nice surprise to login to your mail to find out that “I’m a WINNER”!  It’s a terrific way to start your day!  I’m curious as to where you live.  I’m originally from Mpls.  My family still lives there . . . . . I’ll blog about the package when I get it and add a link to your blog.  Thanks so much, I can’t wait tell it gets here!

Her name is Kristi and she lives in Tucson, Arizona.  Ironically she grew up right here in Minnesota.   Here’s a photo of her with her mom at Eagle Creek Quilt Shop in Minnesota.  

Congratulations Kristi.

Minnesota Quilter’s Show

6:15 am !  Being a night person, I would never dream of getting up at that ungodly hour in the summer —- unless of course it was for a quilt outing. So I was on time to Adele’s house ready and anxious to head “up north” with three of my quilting buddies: Adele and Cindy and Mary.

We got on 35W for the drive to Duluth in the Silver Bullet.

We stopped at Toby’s in Hinckley, which as all Minnesotans know, is the famous halfway stop to Duluth.  They have the best caramel rolls, which we all passed on.  Too much sugar and fat.  Instead we had bismarks and muffins, which was much better!

When we arrived at the Convention Center, construction had messed up the parking situation.  An attendant told us to park at a lot down the street and a shuttle would take us to the center.  Well, I think we’d still be standing there waiting for our ride if we hadn’t decided to walk it.

We rushed into the show with much anticipation and headed straight for the vendors.  They did not disappoint.  There were so many wonderful projects, fabric and quilting stuff.  Lots of candy for the eye.

Around noon, we required a break from all the power shopping.  We sat down for lunch and a review of what each of us had gotten so far.  Just what we needed to power up for the afternoon.

Although we did do more shopping (duh), we also took some time to view the quilts on display.  My favorite, for conversation sake at least, was this gigantic Obama quilt.

Late in the afternoon, tote bags of goodies in hand, we stopped at the booth of one of our favorite quilt shops, Quilted Treasures of Rogers.  We got a photo of all of us with Mary, one of our favorite quilt shop owners.

After another stop in Hinckley for a light dinner it was back to Minneapolis. Finally we were home again, home again, jiggety jig.

WISQ June 2009

Our June meeting was at Adele’s house.  It’s always enjoyable to sit in Adele’s living room and enjoy her beautiful backyard.  We were visited by a pair of deer.  How lovely.

We had show and tell but not nearly as much as usual.  I guess we (especially me) whimped out a little this month.

 

Oh la la – Cindy’s Genuine Italian bag.

 

Cindy’s knitting Canadian hats.

 

Claudia’s Bag – how cute!

 

Mary Beth’s Quilt

 

Mary Beth’s Glad Mystery

 

Mary’s Little Women’s Quilt

 

Karen’s Grandson’s Quilt

 

. . . and a cute back.

 

Karen’s Quilt . . .

 

. . . and a close up.

 

Cathy’s Scrap Quilt

 

Bacon and Egg Backing

 

Cindy’s Son’s Quilt

 

Cindy’s Quilt

 

Cindy’s Block of the Month Sampler

 

Cindy’s Baby Quilt

 

Adele’s Little Women Quilt

 

Good one, Mary Beth.

 

Adele, the bag lady, and hostess with the mostest.

 

Next month, my house.