Winners and a funny thing about layer cakes!

Thank you so much to all of you that entered my draw for the little bags! My random number generator was my old school husband who was happy to throw out 3 numbers - comments #2, #7 and #4 ( that was his order!) Congratulations Quilter Kim, Regina and Roxanne! I'll be in touch with the three of you who won to get your addresses so I can get the bags sent to you! 

A long time ago I had a snowball quilt that I loved and used until it was a rag. It has been on my mind to make another. I had a layer cake from last year's Snowman Gatherings - perfect for a snowball quilt. But one layer cake wasn't enough so I bought another from this year's Snowman Gatherings line. Together they will make a fabulous quilt for my table this winter.

Here is the funny thing- last year's layer cake was 10" and this year's is about 1/8" larger. That is big enough to cut off the pinked edges and still have 10" to work with! You can just barely see in the picture below. I had already cut up all my dark squares before thinking I should take a photo of the difference.

Was this a fluke or is this the way with all the layer cakes now? Either way- I like it a lot!

I played a bit with trying the fan quilting design with my walking foot. Most people seem to do it free motion but my hands are happier this way. It would be not too hard on a smaller quilt. This is what I might use for the snowball quilt.

You do have to travel a bit but if you are careful it won't be too noticeable.

I finally finished piecing together my 2-3/4" courthouse step blocks. I love the chunks of light and dark.I rearranged the layout for hours and finally realized that the look was similar every time. I won't be quilting this until after Christmas. I have a few gifts to get made.

I know it's still October and it's not quite below freezing here yet but I couldn't resist getting this on up on the sewing room wall to enjoy this winter.

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching!

Give Away * Winners Are Picked!*

After a blogging mishap, here is my giveaway!

I have not one, not two but three cute little zippered bags to send to three people who leave me a comment.

And please leave your email if you are a 'no reply' so I have a way to contact you if you are chosen!

I'm not sure when this give away will end...are there even three people out there reading this blog? 

I suppose it will end before my next post and when at least three people want to win a bag! 

These cute little bags are great for holding all sorts of things- thread, binding clips, hexagon papers...

Good luck! I know you'll enjoy one of these if you win!

Happy Stitching!

A gift quilted and finished!

I love finishing a quilt. 

I have been busy quilting a Christmas quilt that will be a gift. 

I lived with the quilt on my sewing room floor for more than a week before I finally decided how to quilt it. I wanted to do something curvy but in the end the quilt wanted a simple straight line grid.  

I love how it turned out.The quilt knew what it wanted.

 I was the one who resisted! 

The recipient will love it. It is about 72"square.

I had three leftover blocks and some of the green as well so I will make a small table runner.

And my poor machine quilting gloves sprung a hole. 

I have had these gloves a LONG time - more that 10 years so I got good use out of them. 

Here is my progress on my summer stars mini challenge. I have a small paper pieced border to add that I hope will tone down the sashing a bit! This is certainly out of my usual color zone!

Happy Stitching! 

My next post will be Number 250! So to celebrate I'll be having a fun giveaway and I'll be talking about my 2018 'quilty' challenge that I am giving myself! 

Ugly Duckling and a mini

My ugly duckling has turned into a swan...to me at least!

It's been bound, and washed and tested. 

It is soft and cuddly and it will be perfect for fall and winter naps.

And I started a new mini. My local quilt guild has a summer challenge to make a mini and technically I got it started while summer was still here. 

Here is my sample block - it's finished size is 2-1/4". It's so cute! 

After I made the sample I changed one fabric and started cutting and sewing.

And I joined the International Miniature Quilt Exchange on the Quilt Show.com. If anyone out there is interested in participating you can read more about it at The Quilt Show. 

Happy Stitching! 

Round and around and around...

I've been interested in trying some spiral quilting with the walking foot. I have a stack of quilts (is 4 quilts a stack?) basted and ready for machine quilting so here goes one! I am trying it out on my ugly squares quilt that will become my napping quilt this fall! Here is the start...so far so good.

Since it is so scrappy I decided to use up leftover machine quilting thread from previous projects. Here is the first one. It lasted a long time. There was more on the spool than I imagined.

This is the beginning of day 2 quilting a BIG spiral!

And thread number two.

And thread number three.

And what was left when I was finished the morning of day 3! 

Here is just the middle area of the quilt after it was quilted. It was a slow process but I am thrilled with the results! Would I do it again? YES! YES! YES!

What did I learn? 

 Go slow- you need to keep shifting your quilt around frequently. 

Take frequent breaks - you'll become mesmerized by the quilting and you'll start to drift from your path. 

Start small - this quilt is 72" square - a big one to start with but still very doable!

Now I just need to get binding on it. 

I can't wait to get it washed and ready for a nap!

And I have another UFO on the go. I have each row done so now I just have to sew those together. And you can't really see that first column as it is covered with sticky notes so I know what the row is. 

I can't wait to get this done! But first I want to get another quilt quilted. Three to go! 

Happy Stitching!