WIP/UFO check-in time!

So, what do you all think of the "new look" to my blog? I've got mixed feelings but think I'll leave it for now so I hope you don't find it obnoxious. (HA! I almost just wrote "upnoxious". Glad I caught that or I may have lost a few of you!)

Onto important information. TELL ME your WIP/UFO progress.  I have to say, I have another finish! I have finished my giveaway quilt's quilting and it will be on its way Monday. I will not post a picture until the owner provides permission after she has a chance to see it.

Well, and if she likes it. I was originally thinking an all over flower pattern when I saw the top on her blog but then, when I saw the fleece back she chose, I had to re-think it. I like my choice but am concerned she might think it a little too simple.

(Hey! It's my blog and I'm allowed to be self-conscious when sending another quilter my work. I mean, after all, I'm at the beginning of what I hope will be the first decade in many of doing this. So... deal with my insecurities. I'm not looking for support. Just a way to get it out so I can focus on being romantic with my man instead of obsessing. -wink- Did I just type that? hehe)

So, I have officially completed 3 of my WIP/UFO items and I'm thrilled.  In Feb. I don't have such lofty hopes but I will work hard b/c the number of new project ideas pushing into my brain is very tough to ignore. 

Have a great afternoon. I'm off to read more lovely crafter blogs linked to the giveaway. If you haven't browsed, you really should. The number of people out there who are talented and sharing their talent through blogland is amazing! Go look... you will be spending too much time ont he computer just like I am.

Cheers!

I entered a quilt contest!

First, my giveaway is still going strong until the 15th. You still have time to participate!

Second, I hopped over to Homestead Hearth thanks to my blog friend Quixotic Crafter and got a great deal on some FQs.  25 for $25! 

Bummer though, they ran out of the pattern I really wanted to purchase. Now I have to find it somewhere else.

Finally, I entered  a quilt contest! I'm shocked and amazed I even did so but those penguins are so cute, I couldn't resist. 

I call the quilt "BRR!!!" and voting is next week over at Quilting Bloggers. Whether you want to vote for mine or someone else's quilt, please pop over there and take a look.  Traffic helps keep the site going.

Have a good day!

One World One Heart annual giveaway

I came across this giveaway and decided I wanted to participate.  For those of you stopping by, welcome and enjoy my blogland home for a bit. I always love it when new faces (and old regular faces) stop by.  Wait, not that my regulars are "old."  And not that you are "regular" in any way.  Oh brother! I just love it when everyone stops by. It keeps a gal from being too lonely!



You see, I hosted my first giveway last month on my birthday and I enjoyed it tremendously. It's very selfish of me, but the feeling I got when I had a chance to give a stranger something fun and different is, well, it brought me some euphoria!

Honestly, it's the same kind of happiness I felt when I watched those Disney movies, like Aladdin with the magic carpet whisking the hero and heroine to safety and to fun places. It's the kind of happiness I feel when I see my kids do something good without being asked. It's the kind of happiness I want for myself and I hope, I can pass on to one of you fellow bloggers by giving my services. By giving you something you usually don't get for free or for yourself. A chance to have someone else do some of the work. I want to take you on my carpet ride of euphoria and therefore, I offer you the following:

1) 2 patterns for bags,
2) 2 packs of Dritz inner fuse, and
3) my services*.

*Here's the disclaimer and parameters of my services:
(A) I am not a professional longarm quilter. I have a mid-arm machine and I would qualify myself as an advanced beginner/intermediate.
(B) I will quilt 2 pieces of fleece together for you or a finished, pieced top to a fleece back. No batting will be included and binding your quilt is not included, either. 
(C) I will provide the thread and work with you regarding color of thread and design choice for the quilting and I will work with you to determine what you'd like done within my capablities. In other words, this will not be show material. This will be a lovely "I get to use it to cuddle up in," quilt.
(D) You will provide the pieced top and fleece backing (please be sure they are already sized to match with the backing being a minimum of three to four inches longer and wider on EACH side) or the two fleece pieces.  (Note, anti-pill fleece works best for the quilting and the durability of the finished product.)  You mail those to me and as part of the giveaway, I will mail the quilted product back. (Please note, I am not responsible for any taxes or tariffs, a foreign country may impose on your prize or any postal restrictions.)
(E) The final size can be anything from a wall-hanging to a twin size quilt.
(F) IF YOU DO NOT SEW (as this is a crafting bloggers giveaway) ENTER ANYWAY. We may be able to come up with a way to still give you my services.

To give you a sense of what I can do, here are 2 links to my webshots albums for your browsing pleasure of my work with fleece.

2-sided fleece
pieced top/fleece back

So, for anyone interested in my giveaway, please comment to this post.  Please be sure, if you don't have a blog where I can contact you, you leave me an email address.  Feel free to tell your friends and definately click on the link above to the Whimsical Bohemian's blog. There are many other crafty bloggers out there with their doors open for new visitors to stop by and say hello.

This giveaway runs until Feb. 14 at 11:59pm CT. The winner will be announced on February 15th.

Good luck and thank you for stopping by!  Please come back soon.

Cheers! Beck

"...I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight."

Do you remember that nursery rhyme?  Well, tonight I made that wish. I wished this completed quilt would magically show up on my doorstep along with that chair I had previously posted about.

I can see a newly designed sewing room with these but, sigh, no chair and I don't want to do all the work on this quilt so for right now, I've decided my best bet is the childhood rhyme.

:-)  Beck

Another finish - LSU Quilt

I've finished another quilt!

Invariably, and I must share this, the minute I complete a quilt and lay it down for photos, one, then two and eventually all three dogs come to test it out.  You should have seen me wrestle (literally!) with the girl on the right when I laid down my penguin wall hanging. I was laughing so hard, she couldn't take my "no" seriously and kept trying to get on that thing to lay down. She pushed, leaned, low-crawled to get to it... but I digress.

The LSU quilt is complete. I tried practicing again on machine binding (if you look closely, you can see the stitching on the back of the quilt where the binding is) but alas, I miss edges (must have a problem pinning accurately because it surely can't be I'm not sewing a straight line!)

I just hate the way it looks so back to hand-finishing the binding.  That's okay, it gives me time with the hubby watching television together (translate that to the shows he likes which I don't care much for.)

I also tried writing with Ms. Midge. Surprisingly, I can write very well going sideways up a quilt and straight across a quilt. You may not think this is much to brag about but in the world of Sarcastic Quilter, it's HUGE.  I have the penmenship of an 80-year old doctor who cannot see.  Always have.

At last! The tall son comes home and can hold the quilt up so you can see the entire thing without the fur-babies.