Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Check it out!

I just posted the first ever giveaway for the Portland Modern Quilt Guild!

Please go visit, comment, become a follower....
Show Portland some love :)

You could win one of 10 fabulous prizes.  Here are just a few sneak peeks, but go the PMQG blog to enter:


Templates donated by Jill (Made on Main Street)
Pattern donated by Christina (The Sometimes Crafter)
Batting donated by Jen (Betty Crocker Ass)
Selvage pincushion donated by Cindy (Live a Colorful Life)

There are 10 prizes in all, so go and

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Monday, June 28, 2010

A day with Molly

I have the week off (I know I told some of you I have two weeks off, but last week was one of those two weeks, which I ended up working), and what better way to start my time off than unexpectedly getting to spend the day with my beautiful daughter, Molly.  

After working out together in the morning we ran errands and I mailed a bunch of packages -- including lots of June charm packs!  Forgive me for being so slow, KT, Jennifer, and Carla, but your charms are in the mail.  I get to deliver Terri's in person later this week.

And we have now have a week four winner --

Joanna (Creative Adventures)
Joanna, please contact me to claim your prizes from me and Kate Conklin Designs :)

After going out for lunch together and running a few more errands, Molly and I returned home to find a mailbox full of packages.  I received fabric to make a bee block and the last package from Material Obsession with fabrics and instructions for putting together the Sue Ross BOM.  

I'm too ashamed to mention how far behind I am on this....
Let's move on.


Another package contained my first Scrapbuster block for June (tutorial by Little Miss Shabby here -- I really love her blog!).
 
Mine is on the left, and the one on the right was made for me by Claudia (Armchair Quilter).  I'm having one bee make them for me this month and another bee make the same blocks for me in August.  
Two blocks down, and I'm already in love!


And then there was this package:
VERY exciting!



How much do you love my beautiful new pillow?  
The pillow was made by Jennie of Sunflower Quilts, and it makes me smile!
Hop over to her blog and see her sewing room.  It's amazing! 


After briefly kicking back to enjoy the pillow, 
Molly was filled with sewing inspiration and decided we needed to sew a gathered clutch.  Right now.


I love seeing her at my sewing machine 
(which used to be my mother's sewing machine)!


This is as far as we (well, mostly Molly -- I was just there for moral support) got before Molly left to have dinner with her wonderful boyfriend.  
Didn't she do a great job with her gathers?  
And guess what, Penny (Sew Take a Hike)?
I am no longer afraid of zippers!  I shortened it myself!
Now I just need to make a gathered clutch myself for Penny's 
gathered clutch swap (free tutorial here).


Thanks for the great day, Molly!  Run with me in the morning?


With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Pillow Talk Swap 3

I finished my pillow top for The Pillow Talk Swap, and I really hope my partner likes it!


I alternated Bright Hopes blocks: a print center surrounded by gray strips and gray centers surrounded by strips pieced with prints.I used the same pattern as the one I used for this 16" mini quilt top:


Pillow Talk Swap 3 has been a blast and so inspirational!  Definitely check out the flickr group if you haven't already!  

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan


Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Charming Month of June (week four giveaway)

Are you ready for the fourth and final charm pack + Kate Conklin Designs pattern giveaway?!?!  I'm a couple of days late, so I hope you believe in "better late than never."  The idea for the color palette for the last charm pack came from the fabrics for one of the cross quilts I'm still working on, "Molly's Wash Day." 


A variety of blues, greens, and golds:


20 fabrics x 2 each = 40 charm squares.

The last two pictures were taken at 8:00 p.m.this evening with my brand new Nikon Coolpix S8000.  
It's such a relief to have a camera again!  
 And I even got a few photography pointers from Jen (PMQG President / aka Betty Crocker Ass) during our officer's meeting last night at the Lucky Labrador in Multnomah Village.  I didn't realize she'd actually taken any pictures until I went to download a few pictures of my own.  Here is Jen's photo of our Treasurer, Tamara.  Talk about a natural beauty!


And don't forget that the winner of this week's giveaway will also win a pattern generously donated by Kate of Kate Conklin Designs!  What would you choose if you were the winner?  The Charm Bracelet pattern, or maybe her newest design...


I am blown away by Kate's generosity, and I want to thank her once again for volunteering to donate patterns for each week's giveaway -- totally unsolicited!  It has been such a pleasure to give away these charm packs from my stash, and that pleasure has been enhanced by the added bonus of giving away one of Kate's patterns each week as well!  Thank you so very much, Kate!
 Thank you to those of you who have clicked over to read the blog that I started for the Portland Modern Quilt Guild.  I so appreciate the support!  I would really like to have a blog giveaway in the very near future for the PMQG blog and would like to ask if anyone out there would like to donate something for the giveaway.  I've already had two offers, and I think it would be fun to have lots of goodies for the giveaway and multiple winners.  

 In the mean time, to win this month's fourth and final giveaway (charm pack + pattern), 
just leave a comment below.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Monday, June 21, 2010

Week 3 Winner!

And they say the first person to leave a comment never wins!  Not this time!  
Congratulations to
Terri (Sew Fantastic)
for winning the Amy Butler Love charms and Kate Conklin pattern!


The final charm pack + Kate Conklin Designs pattern giveaway will be posted tomorrow night.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Is it time to sew yet?

I gave a presentation to the Portland Modern Quilt Guild last Thursday night, which was a lot of fun.  I talked about my participation in the Lazy Gal Liberated Amish 2010 Get Together, including slides of quilts from the Amish Abstractions exhibition at the De Young.


 It was very stimulating to raise questions and rethink ideas about what is traditional, modern, liberated, etc.  Violet Craft shared pictures from Quilt Market (watch for her new fabric line for Michael Miller in early 2011!) and we ended with a show and tell of first quilts and last quilts.  Old or new, every quilt really does have a story to tell!  The meeting went a little long, and then Violet and I stood out on the sidewalk long after PNCA had closed and locked its doors and talked and talked.  It was 11:25 p.m. by the time I got to my car!.  Now that's an inspirational evening!  I know several of you have been looking forward to details of our last Saturday Sewing Night at Modern Domestic and June meeting, so please visit the PMQG blog where I have shared all the details and posted lots of quilt photos.

 A perfect evening of sewing at Modern Domestic.

Between preparing that presentation for PMQG and preparing a guest lecture for a class at Portland State University next week, I still haven't had much actual sewing time.  This is about my only creative endeavor lately: making a mosaic for another Flickr swap I've joined -- the gathered clutch swap.  It's been MANY years since I put in a zipper. I'm thinking the 70s!


 If you'd like to make your own gathered clutch, Noodlehead has a tutorial here.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The Charming Month of June (week three giveaway)

The Charming Month of June has lately been The Crazy Month of June, which means very little sewing or blogging for me.  Be that as it may, the week three giveaway must go on!  So, without further ado, I present

Amy Butler's LOVE.

 26 different fabrics x 2 each = 52 charm squares!

 

To enter to win the charm squares + Charm Bracelet pattern, just leave one comment below.

OR -- for the true Amy Butler fans in the group -- take a look at the photo above of all the charm squares spread out on a cutting mat.  Did you notice that only 25 are pictured?   The charm squares from one of the LOVE fabrics are hiding behind another couple of charm squares.  I did not do that on purpose.  I will send a second set of 52 LOVE charm squares to the first person who emails me with the name and colorway of the missing fabric.  Just go to the About Me section in the column on the right side of the blog, click on "View my complete profile," and you should find my email.  Please do not post the name of the fabric in the comments section.  Okay -- let's have some fun!

UPDATE 9:33 p.m. 6/15/10:  The winner of a second charm square pack is Carla (Lollyquiltz).  The missing fabric is Tangerine Sunspots from the Heart Colorway.  Congratulations, Carla!  But you can still leave a comment below for a chance to win the charm squares + pattern.

Now, I've got to get back to working on my presentation for Thursday night's PMQG meeting!

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan


Week 2 Winner!

The winner of the Anna Maria Horner Good Folks Charm Squares +
Kate Conklin Designs pattern is...
Jennifer (Crafty Jennifer)!

Congratulations!!!

The next charm square + Kate Conklin Designs pattern giveaway will be posted later tonight.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Charming Month of June (week two giveaway)

I'm happy that so many of you are as enchanted with Kate Conklin's Charm Bracelet quilt as I am.  I've been wanting to make one for some time now, and I finally decided to do something about it -- even if it is just choosing fabrics.


I'm going to use Amy Butler charm squares from the Belle and Lotus lines w/Kona solids -- snow, espresso, and sweet pea.  I'm hoping to get started soon, in between the many other projects I've got going on....

This week's giveaway includes another chance to win a copy of Kate Conklin's Charm Bracelet pattern.  Or you are welcome to substitute one of her other patterns like Sierra's Forest:


And as for the charm squares....  How about one of my all time favorite lines: Anna Maria Horner's 
Good Folks?



23 different fabrics, two of each, for a total of 46 charm squares!

Although I usually like to keep giveaways super simple, I've decided that you can have up to three chances to win the AMH charm squares + the Kate Conklin Designs pattern this week:

One entry for leaving a comment,
one entry for followers of my blog,
and one entry for followers of  Kate's blog.

Please sure to leave the above as three separate comments.  

The giveaway will close next Monday at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.


Monday, June 7, 2010

We have a winner -- and I can't believe it!!!

When I think of other Sis Boom fanatics, one name immediately comes to mind -- KT
Yes, KT, you REALLY are the winner of the Sis Boom charm squares and the Charm Bracelet pattern from 

Sis Boom Charm Squares

Would someone please revive, KT?  She needs to get up off the floor so she can send me her address.

The next giveaway starts tomorrow -- another set of charm squares (what will they be?) and another chance to win a Charm Bracelet (or other) pattern from Kate Conklin.  On with the fun! 

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan 

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Moments of contentment

Things are always changing, and there will be lots of changes around here in the months ahead.  My daughter is home for the summer, my son is about to move to the beach house and work on the coast for the summer.  I am changing my job responsibilities and office location in July, my husband will be the principal of a different elementary school for the next school year, and I will really have an empty nest in the Fall when both kids go back to school -- one back to Multnomah Bible College and one will transfer to Oregon State University.  I don't mind change (fresh starts are kind of nice), and I actually like a crazy, busy schedule, but I just got home from work and realized I may have the house to myself for the next few hours.  I am enjoying some quiet moments of calm, reflection, and contentedness.

I probably shouldn't feel that way.  My house certainly needs attending do -- dishes in the sink, quilting supplies EVERYWHERE, piles of mail.... And it's raining.  Again.  More rain than usual this year.  Everywhere I go, people are complaining about the weather.   I just smile and keep quiet.  Sitting here by the window right now I can hear the gentle rain, smell the freshness, feel a slight coolness, and see plants bursting with blooms and trees thick with leaves.  Everything is so lush and green right now.  I love sunny days as much as the next person, but I certainly enjoy the benefits of the rain. And it's great sewing weather.

I'm also feeling pretty content that I completed a sewing project with my daughter over the weekend.  She told me she wanted to make a tote bag and I found a great Amy Butler on sale -- the Swing Bag.  Molly and I picked out the fabrics together at Fabric Depot.  The pattern was very easy to follow -- even for someone like me who doesn't do much sewing other than quilts. We both love it.


Next I'm going to tackle a zipper while making a gathered clutch for a Flickr swap group that Penny of Sew Take a Hike graciously invited me to join.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....  Sign ups end June 10, so hurry on over to the swap group on Flickr and join us!

Having a swap project ready to send off to a secret partner brings a wonderful feeling of contentment and accomplishment, especially when you find just the right little bag for wrapping.  Hmmm, who will be the recipient of my Good Folks hexies?


I am also feeling very content about deciding on a block for each of my online quilting bees (my months are June for one group and August for the other).  I'm going to have each bee group make the same blocks and combine them into one quilt.  I chose the fabulous scrapbuster block from a tutorial by Little Miss Shabby. Here is my first block:





And to top off my late afternoon solitude and contentment, I received a package from Amazon containing the long awaited...




This calls for a glass of wine.

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

PS -- the giveaway is still going on through Monday night.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

The Charming Month of June (aka Giveaway Month)

To celebrate one year on Flickr (June 11), 
my birthday (June 12), 
one year of blogging (June 16), 
and my 25th wedding anniversary (June 29)
 I will be giving away charm packs -- one each week!  

My charm pack giveaway for Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day, all the charm quilt eye candy from Flickr and blogging friends, and our recent charm square swap at the Portland Modern Quilt Guild inspired me to keep the charm fun going this month.  I was pleasantly surprised by all the interest in charm packs and charm quilts last month and pleased that so many people indicated an interest in making a charm quilt using one of the tutorials or patterns shown.  One of the patterns that so many mentioned was Kate Conklin's Charm Bracelet quilt, and the lovely and gracious Kate contacted me to offer to donate one pattern each week to go with the charm pack giveaways this month!  A charming month indeed!  So, without further ado, this month's giveaway:

Jennifer Paganelli is a favorite designer

Jennifer Paganelli fabrics


so the first charm pack contains 30 different fabrics (42 squares) from a variety of Sis Boom fabric lines.

Sis Boom Charm Squares

Please forgive the poor iPhone pictures.  My husband is getting me a new camera for my birthday, so you won't have to put up with these phone camera pictures much longer.



Here are two quilt tops made with Jennifer Paganelli fabrics:

Bright Hopes Mini Quilt Top
 Bright Hopes Mini Quilt

Mod Valentine Quilt Top 004
Mod Valentine Quilt top, from Kate Conklin's Fairy Hearts Pattern.

The winner of the giveway will also receive a copy of the Charm Bracelet pattern from Kate Conklin Designs (or, if you prefer, one of her other quilt patterns)!  How great is that?!?!




To see more of Kate's wonderful patterns, check here.

This giveaway will close Monday night, June 7.  
 Just leave a comment below and you will be entered in the giveaway.  
That's all it takes.

And don't forget to go show Heather (a la mode fabric) some birthday love.  She's having a birthday month of giveaways, too!

With wishes, true and kind -- Joan

Sammy's Approval

6/7/10 -- This giveaway has closed.  Thanks for playing :)
Another giveaway starts tomorrow.