And the winner is....

...well, before we get to that - let me tell you what our winner will be receiving.

In honor of "birth month" - and in order to better celebrate birthdays in their own home, our winner will receive a birthday candle basket and a birthday cupcake pillowcase.

To better keep track of birthdays - or other important little things -a little pocket journal is included.

And - in honor of President's Day & Abraham Lincoln (Happy Birthday Abe), I've made a little pouch out of presidential portrait fabric.

...and now on to our announcement.

After some super scientific calculations, and some assigning of numbers to comment leavers, followers and blog post writers - I went to the kind folks at Random.org and asked them for the magic number...

It was 65...

And after adding the 2 and carrying the one and subtracting the square root of 27... it gave me our winner...

GTM - known in our Tran-Quilt-Ity group as greentechmama - or Ephi.

Ephi does not have a blog (yet?) but I've seen picture of some of her beautiful quilt work.

Congratulations Ephi - I will try to get the package out to you this weekend.

Thanks everyone for celebrating with us during Birth Month! We are having great fun!

Birth Month is over 1/3 complete

Being short - February just seems to zing right by - although I am sure those buried under feet of snow will disagree with me this year! Being in a normally snowy area that has not really gotten that much snow this season, it is strange to be reading of blizzards elsewhere and have nothing here but a low covering on the ground and mostly dry roads. NOTE - this is NOT a complaint -just an observation!!!!

We are over 1/3 through the month -and the Giveaway deadline is TOMORROW!!! Be sure to comment on the giveaway post for a chance at the "big" prizes!! LOL!

Gift giving continues on a daily basis here - hugs, iPod headphone extension cords, I Spy books, chocolate and Legos have been a few of the favorites for child and adult alike -

Tonight's gifty was a handmade one for the Munchkin - a robot placemat and coaster in preparation for his robot themed birthday party. The robot fabric was one I picked up over the weekend during my shop hop with Shellie.

It is just a fat quarter, so I wanted to stretch it as far as I could. I have plans for some other little robot goodies, so I just took a small 6" wide strip to make the coaster and the focal strip on the placemat, stitching it down onto a batting foundation, and adding various solids which were in the "rainbow" of fabrics sent to me by Jill a few weeks ago (with the exception of the red - which has been in my stash for YEARS!!!!! Seriously - 3 states, 7 moves, and I still have scraps of it!)

The overall effect was cool - kind of retro like the robots - and very masculine. He LOVES it - which is the best effect of all! It's a tiny bit smaller than I would have liked, and a bit wonky -but it fits his plate, coaster and cup with no problem so I guess we are good.

One other little gifty I made this month was not for Birth Month, but for my sister-in-law, who was a bit under the weather and in need of a heating pad. I love love love my rice bags for nice moist heat on sore spots, so I put one together for her -complete with two removable covers -one flannel and one straight cotton. Each has a little flange and cuff just like the big pillowcases I make - for a bit of fun and extra comfort.

Hopefully they won't get too much use - but now she has them when she needs them.

Shop Hopping While You Wait...

I am not good at waiting - never have been. When it is time to go somewhere, I tend to be ready to leave early, and get antsy while waiting to leave. I am better once I am there -even if I have to wait there - but I am happiest when there is little to no waiting involved.

Pre-Christmas I try to keep myself busy so I don't go crazy waiting.
Pre-birthday is easier now with "Birth Month"... but still is a long wait from February 1.

So why oh why did I think signing up for a Valentine's Day swap with my friends in TranQuiltIty would be any easier? I am haunting the Post Office as much as The Munchkin, who has suddenly gotten impatient for his February issue of Your Big Backyard.

Luckily for me - some friends stepped into the gap while I waited.

First it was Rhonda with my great "First Place" gifty from her recent giveaway:

And then it was Shellie with my Christmas present (ok - so it has been a while since we have gotten together.. I gave her a ChrisBirVal Gift today -so I guess we are even!)

Good thing she loves turtles as much as I do - and bumblebees - and orange! These are YUMMY fabrics!!! The picture just does not do them justice.

And then - to make waiting even more bearable - Shellie and I decided we were due for a shop hop. I needed to bring Zoe in for her annual checkup, and figured it would be a good time to introduce Shellie the shop next door. And then Shellie wanted to take me to three other quilt shops - one that I had been to about 8 years ago, and 2 others that I had never been to. Add in a wonderful chinese food lunch - and a run through Target - and we had an AWESOME day. We are just far enough north that the big east coast "blizzard" (SnOMG is my favorite tag for that storm) did not affect us - and we were moving into stores quickly enough that the cold temps were not that bad. We got to meet up with a fellow TranQuiltIty member, Maureen, and a 25Weeks member, Linda.

And I found some awesome things:

And one more FQ, which shall remain hidden until further notice because it's purpose is too obvious and I need it to be a surprise. I am not going to try to explain what all these are for - I will just refer back to this post once I have the finished project ready to go - either for me or for some special recipients i had in mind when I saw these fabrics.

One last little thing - I made these fun little pockets while "waiting" - and the tutorial for them is here. Quick, easy, could be no sewing involved depending on your approach - and great little gifties for Valentine's Day - or any special day depending on your fabric of choice.

Enjoy.

Higher Math

Well, I went and did it - I started a new quilt tonight. If you were faced with a bin of 2" scrappy squares, what would YOU do???

(179 times four)

I've been pondering this quilt for a while... on and off since 2002 in fact... when I cut it out of the American Patchwork and Quilting magazine and stuck it in a binder.

(divide by two)

I wasn't ready for it then ... and after all the sewing I did tonight... I am not sure if I am ready for it now. :-)

The pattern is called "Confetti." I looked for it online to see if it had been sold separately from the magazine, but I could not find it. But try to picture four patches with rectangular white sashing and setting squares between them - got it???

To make the size described in the pattern - which is 81 x 92, I need 1079 2" squares. All different colors- no whites or creams, as those come into play in the sashing. I wasn't sure how many squares I had already cut out in my shoebox, since I have been trying to trim scraps as I generate them, so I decided to just start sewing... and figured if I ran out of scraps now, I am sure more will come along eventually, so this could be an ongoing project.

(subtract 470)

It may not be as ongoing as I thought/feared. As of right now, I have 470 of 716 squares sewn into pairs. 235 of 358 pairs. In one evening. In one sitting.

Brights, darks, pastels, holiday, novelty -you name it, it's in there. Pulled a pair and sewed them together - whatever I grab, that's how it goes.

And the shoebox looks nearly as full as when I started!!!

And I am over halfway there!!!

Oh my! What have I started?!??!? And can I get TWO of these out of this stash?!?!? LOL. That I don't think I am going to try to find out...

Oh - and in case you are wondering why 716 and not 1076 in the pairs? The remainder go in the setting squares and the pieced border.

(Ow - my brain hurts)

Birth Month Day 1

So Birth Month has begun! Happy February everyone! Don't forget to enter the Birth Month giveaway by the end of the day on February 11th!!!

The Munchkin got to open the first pocket last night - insisting on pulling over his step stool to reach it himself without any help. Since he is an "exceptional reader" (his words!) - I just wrote down on a slip of paper what his little Pocket Present was, and he pulled out the slip to read it. You can see that the pockets are not all that big, so most of the little gifties are done this way - or through cutting out little pictures of the object.

The Munchkin has really taken his "gifting" responsibilities seriously, and worked with me to make up a whole list of what Daddy will find in his pockets. He very carefully wrote them out on paper, cut them all out, and has them all carefully folded up in the right pockets. (although Mommy had to move them around a bit to make sure the weekday appropriate items showed up on a weekday, and the ones better saved for a weekend were in the right spots).

But the honor of being 1st went to the Munchkin - and he found a little car to add to his Thomas the Tank Engine Take Along play sets. It was very fitting timing - since the buildings, track, and all the engines and other machines had pretty much taken over the living room over the past few days.

And tonight is Mommy's night to pull. I wonder what the boys will have come up with????

Birth Month III - and a giveaway!

February is upon us yet again, and in our house that means "Birth Month!!"

This year we are changing things up a bit. In the past 2 versions of Birth Month, Mommy figured out all the pocket gifts - and other than Mommy and Daddy's birthday's and Valentine's Day, the bulk of the pocket presents went to the Munchkin.

This year Hubby did some calculating and divided up the days so that each of us has 8 days (excluding the birthdays and V-Day) when it will be our turn to receive a pocket present. The other two are then responsible for filling the pocket. The Munchkin and I have already collaborated and come up with a list of 8 things to fill up Hubby's pockets... and I already had more than 8 things on deck for the Munchkin (some with the help of Jill -thanks!) - so a few will get re-tasked as birthday gifts.

So where does the giveaway come in? Well, I thought it would be fun to share the Birth Month excitement with everyone else - so here's how to enter to win your own "pocket present" (photos of the actual prize to be posted later).

1. Post a comment here for one entry.

2. Follow the blog for another entry (all current followers will automatically receive this extra entry)

3. Post about it on your own blog and send me a copy of the link (either in another comment or via email) for a third entry.

Entries will be collected until midnight, EST on February 11th, and the winner will be drawn on Abraham Lincoln's birthday (February 12th for those who don't remember their history lessons).

Happy Birth Month -and good luck to all!

Camping Capers

The borders have been added and the top is now ready to be sandwiched -then washed to get all scruffily. The border did not wrap quite like I had hoped, and two parts got reversed, but I am going to leave it as is because I don't have any more of the fabric to play with. The inner narrow border is stash - and everything else is layer cake and FQ bits, so no yardage was purchased for this at all. I just don't have suitable backing for it in my stash - so I will have to go out and get that.

This makes TWO finishes in January (tops finished -not finished quilts)... YAY!!! If I keep up at this pace I will have a lot of quilts for the year!!! :-)

Paying It Forward -slowly

It's been a long time coming - but a few little packages will go out in tomorrow's mail.
When you get yours - it is time to Pay it Forward!
Do you remember who you are???

Enjoy

Trolling for Votes

I entered a quilt in an online "contest" - this is one of those "the one with the most votes wins" type of things, so if you are so inclined, please take a peek and vote!

The quilt I entered was the wedding quilt I made for Toshi and Miyuki as a wedding gift and is called "Omedetai."

Vote Here

Camping Capers

Making progress! 36 blocks are ready with the squares stitched down - using a tight little zig zag. These edges will fray as the quilt is washed and make it "scruffily."

After all 36 were done - I had a bit of time before bedtime to get them all laid out on the living room floor. I've now got the rows pinned together awaiting assembly - this is a quick and easy quilt that would be a fun way to show off fussy cut 2 1/2 inch novelties -much like I did in the block above.

This will finish at about 54" square, unless I decide to add some borders - which I am undecided on at this point. Probably not.

I also got an AWESOME package in the mail from Jill yesterday - more fabric, some books for the Munchkin, some "gadgets", an awesome case for carrying around WISP's, AND this book:

Dangerous reading, I tell ya! Downright dangerous! Thanks Jill!!! (sorry - no photos of all the gifties together - had to hide things from the Munchkin quickly and things got all separated, and then I got sewing, and ... well, you know how it is.)

Currently...

Working on one of these...
Out of one of these...
...and it's a Christmas present - for Christmas 2010!!!!!!!!

Pictures in the camera - to follow later (but only the recipient will have to wait until Christmas to see it!)

PS - OK, so posting late at night I was less then eloquent. Now it is early the next morning, and I don't know if I am any more eloquent, but at least I can add a photo.

I don't have a design wall - I am slightly hampered by the slanted ceiling/wall in my attic studio - so I usually "design" on the living room floor. None of these are stitched together - last night I just did some cutting and used safety pins to pin each block together. I need 4 more big blocks, and wanted to see what colors were lacking to balance this out. I am going to add in some more of the darker brown and blues, as well as switch some of the 5" squares out for some darker ones for a bit more contrast, and then I will move the blocks around to their final positions.

The pattern on this called for a layer cake, a charm pack and a jelly roll. I had the layer cake and about 90% of a fat quarter bundle, so I am cutting my "charms" and "roll" pieces out of those, including fussy cutting some of the little 2 1/2" squares from some of the fabrics to create little camping scenes in the center of a few blocks.

Sibling Revelry

revelry [ˈrɛv^əlrɪ]

n pl -ries

noisy or unrestrained merrymaking

"Sibling Revelry"

cutting loose with the family...

or
the name of this quilt, formerly the "quilt with no name":

It's great to finally have a "baby sister" after all these years of being the youngest! Love ya, Jill!

Blue Blocks

It's finished! Or should I say the TOP is finished! This one is being sent off to Jill for finishing, then back here for the final binding.

Except for about 2 yards of white - this quilt was entirely from stash - FQ's, fabric bought for a reason and never used, leftover bits from other projects, and a few "hand me down" pieces. It's got some turtles for Mommy, some crabs for Gramma, and lots of "little boy blue."

So just for a last comparison - this was the original pattern and layout as published by the designer - using marbled fabrics with no strong prints. I think she said there were 12 different fabrics used in this. I lost count of how many I used - but I had fun!!! And the best part is that my son already loves it!

A Rainbow in Winter

On a dark dreary day in January - what's better to beat back the gloomies than a ray of sunshine from my best buddy Jill. While cleaning up her stash room these past few weeks, she set aside a few little goodies that she thought I would enjoy - and courtesy of the USPS they showed up at my house yesterday.
I thought I showed great restraint by not tearing open the box in the van on the way home - I actually took care of some other things first after we got in the door - and also waited until I could get Hubby to snap a few shots of me diving in.

As you can see from the "diving" photo - the first thing my hand went to was this great rainbow stripe! How cheerful is that! It's a nice homespun texture and brilliant colors.

The little pile on the right is some flannels - small pieces that Jill knows I like to incorporate as "batting" or a bit extra in some of my little crafty projects - plus a great purple!!!

And check out this "rainbow" of solids - they are all nice wovens with rich color -will work great as "blenders" with some of my busier scraps - giving the eye a place to rest. Lots of blues in many different hues - which will work great with a few projects I am contemplating.

And then there were these - what a great breath of spring!!! Especially since I have been working with such bright, intense colors in the BOM project - it is wonderful to think about these fabrics and what they can become.

Thanks for my Rainbow, Jill! I love it all!!!

Down and Dirty Dozen

I finished up the last three blocks on the block of the month project this week - two at the start of the week, and the last one this afternoon (they are the last three on the bottom row). I also managed to finish up the sashing and cut most of the blocks for the borders.

Tomorrow (or later tonight) I hope to get a bit of sashing assembled to the blocks, and to the initial layout. I don't think I am going to lay this one out in the order the designer intended - but then again I used a mishmash of fabrics where her fabrics were more controlled and she did the brainwork of keeping things from bunching up.

I like these blocks - especially #4 and #11 - I may use those again in another project. For now I just need to get this one together and see how wild it really is. I think the preponderance of white and the use of only ONE fabric in the sashing rectangles will settle things down a bit.

And then there were 9

The block of the month quilt I am making for the Munchkin is progressing quite slowly... although I have yet to hit the one-year mark in the project. I started off with a 6 block spurt, and then kind of got sidetracked with some other projects. (what - don't tell me you've never gotten sidetracked???!!! LOL!)

My hope is to finish up the blocks in the next week or so - and then tackle the pieced sashing. I don't think that will take very long once I get going, but we shall see. Ideally this quilt would be pieced and sent off for quilting and be back by the Munchkin's birthday in February - but I am not going to make myself (or Jill) crazy if that does not happen, either.

It's been one of those things that I need to have the mental energy to work on because of the fabric choices, varied instructions for each block, and cutting requirements.

Today all those things came together - however briefly - and I was able to get block 9 cut and assembled. I love this crabby fabric - it is leftovers from some fabric that Lazy Sister Sue and I used for a project for Mom - in a different colorway. I think I have used the blue colorway in 2 other blocks in this quilt, but this is the first block that uses the green crabbies.

The yellow is fun, too - it was the backing from a charity quilt I did last March - Scotch Squares. I don't have a good photo of this one with the backing - but it is a tone on tone pale yellow spotted fabric and really worked nice with the oranges and teals of the Hello Betty fabric line.

I really have not told the Munchkin much about the quilt - but today he saw the block as I brought it downstairs for pictures.

"Is this a new placemat?" he asked. Funny kid - this is the same kid who this morning called breakfast "four patch waffles."

Truly a quilt-worthy kid!