Andover Fabric Giveaway Winners

Thanks so much to all of you who posted a comment to enter the  giveaway for Jo Morton's Essex fabric. It's always so much fun to read the comments. I'm sure you know that I wanted all of you to be winners.

 A HUGE thanks goes out to Andover Fabrics for making all of this possible. Giving away the fat quarter bundle and 5 charm packs was very generous of them and I know you appreciate it. Jo Morton's new Essex collection features beautiful damask prints on a 100% cotton duck. It's perfect for bags, small upholstery projects, and quilt backing and piecing. (And don't forget that cute memo board I made.)

 

                                                              

The Grand Prize winner of the fat quarter bundle is:

                                    Karen   of  The Painted Quilt blog!

                          

Here are the 5 winners of the Essex charm packs:

• Karana S  -  kbsouthard

• Sandy J in cold Minnesota

• Linda Z in IN

• Marianne -  mariannesnijders

• Robin  - solsticestudio  

Thanks again for visiting my blog and Congrats to all the winners!

Winners: Please send me your names and addresses. I will compile a list,  forward it to Andover and they will send you your charm packs. (Click on my profile at the top of this blog for my e-mail).

Again, thanks for entering the giveaway and better luck next time if you did not win today.  Happy Holidays!  

                      

 

Take a Memo - Another Fabric Giveaway

Memo: It's time for another fun Andover fabric giveaway - just in time for the holidays. Starting today, leave a comment on my blog and you'll have a chance to win some fabric. One of you will be the Grand Prize Winner and receive a fat quarter bundle of Andover's new Essex fabric (designed by Jo Morton) that I used to make this cute fabric-covered memo board (also called a French memo board). Even better, 5 of you will win a charm pack of this fabric.

 

All you have to do to win is follow the instructions below and then leave me a comment to enter. There will be 6 winners in all. Please make sure you leave your name and a way I can contact you if you win.

 

 

Okay - read this carefully. In your comment, tell me the top item on your Holiday Gift List.  What would you like Santa to bring you this Christmas? Leave your name in the comment and a way for me to reach you if you are one of the winners.

Comments will close on Thursday night, December 20, and I will announce the winners on Friday. Again, make sure you leave your name and a way for me to contact you if you win.

 

Here's how make a memo board -

1.  First, buy a large foam poster board at an office supply store. 

2.  Decide on the size of your board and pick out your fabric. The Andover Essex fabric is home decorating quality and so is a little thicker than your usual quilting fabric and perfect for this kind of project. I wanted to make mine to hang in the kitchen but we have very little available wall space in our kitchen so I cut the board to about  18"  x  24" to fit in one spot.

 

3.  Cut your fabric an inch and a half larger than your poster board all around.

 

4.  Layer some batting with the fabric (cut it the same size as the board). I found some old polyester batting in the basement that I don't use for quilts anymore and doubled it to give the board a little padding. Place the fabric face down with the batting on top. Then place the board over both.

 

5.  Bring the edges of the fabric over and staple to the back side of board, all around, pulling the fabric taut and starting with the opposite sides.

 

6.  Once the board is covered you can add your ribbon. I used 11 feet of  3/8 inch green satin ribbon. Measure and cut 2 diagonal strips of ribbon, at least one inch larger on each side. Pin then to the fabric, crossing in the center. Staple to the back.

 7.  Mark the center of each side on the back of the board. Measure and cut 4 more strips and place on the diagonal from the center of the long side to the center of the short side, creating a diamond shape on top of the X shape and an overall lattice design. Staple these to the back, again keeping the ribbons taut.

8.  Add some pretty buttons where the ribbons intersect. I stapled the intersections first and then used my hot glue gun to glue the butttons in place.

9.  Hang your board with  3M command strips or hang it from a loop of ribbon stapled onto the back.

 

There are so many options with this fabric and different colors of coordinating ribbon. I thought at first of using red ribbon for a nice contrast. I think maybe I'll make a few more smaller ones to have in different rooms around the house. Perhaps one for my daughter's room. She said she'd like one in the red fabric with a cream satin ribbon. Yep, more gifts to make!



 

 

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Leave me a comment and then go make some cookies or finish your shopping and think about what you'd make if you won some of this yummy fabric. And please let Andover know how much you love and appreciate this whole fun holiday giveaway by telling them and "liking" them on Facebook. Good luck to all of you!

 

More Snow

It's snowing and I'm working on more ornaments -

 

I didn't make this stocking - bought it at a craft fair a few years ago - but now I know how so I bet I can whip one up.

 

 

I'm not the only one who loves this white stuff . . . . It's in and out, all day long.

 

 

Deep Freeze

Brrrr! It's pretty cold here in Chicagoland. 8 degrees F right now. It was only 6 degrees this morning when I went outside to fill the bird feeders. Please don't stop feeding the birds in winter. It can be a difficult time for our feathered friends and they need the sustenance in extreme weather in order to survive.

 

                                         

 

Beautiful Lake Michigan

 

 

 

Last weekend my daughter and I went to see the movie Frozen. We both loved it. What perfect timing too, what with the freezing weather and all. It was loosely based on The Snow Queen, one of my favorite childhood fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen. The animation was fantastic and the music was wonderful.

 

 

So, the reindeer are out around the house. It's almost time to bring out the Prancer  video too . . . . probably my favorite Christmas film ever since my kids were little. It's a tradition in our family now. I know I tell you this every year, but watch it if you haven't seen it and tell me you don't feel the magic of Christmas like a kid again.

 

I am almost finished with the felt ornament for my daughter but my fingers needed a rest - they're cracked and chapped no matter what I do. Sewing is a little painful and I hate wearing a thimble. I became so caught up in the ornament thing (as I do every year about this time) that I even pulled out my Prairie Schooler Santa and Christmas patterns. If my fingers heal in a day or so I may get some cross stitching finished too. But it will probably be this small reindeer ornament, not the Christmas Village I started in 1999.

 

                            

 

 After all these years, I still love almost every single Prairie Schooler pattern. I WILL make them someday.

 

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Have a good rest of the week and weekend. On this coming Tuesday, December 17th,  there will be another nice Andover fabric giveaway here (if I finish the project in time! I'll be working this weekend . . . . ) so make sure you hop on back to take a look at what I've come up with and to see what you can win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Cozy Day at Home

It's snowing! We bought the tree and all the lights are on. We'll get it trimmed later tonight. A small portion of the house is decorated. I've brought out the Chrsitmas dishes and the Christmas cds. Beef stew is cooking in the crock pot. And I have a new obsession - Wool Applique.

 

 

 

As usual, I'm a little late on this craft too. But I'm having fun and now I can do something with all that wool I bought earlier this year. See the pattern for this cute little Russian doll ornament here.   Shhhh! I'm making one for my daughter for Christmas.

 

I'm making my doll in red with a gray backing. Don't have pink for her cheeks yet. Maybe some prettier ribbon trim too? Honestly, I feel like I'm all thumbs. It took me most of the day to get this far . . . .

 

 

I would like to make a few more if only I were a little faster at this darn blanket stitch . . .  I need more practice. But now that I do wool applique I have a few ideas for simpler ones (although this one is pretty simple. You should try it.).

What could be better than a cozy day and night at home?

'Tis the Season

I finished making jewelry for Christmas. The Holiday Craft show was a success and I sold a lot of the items I'd made. Plus, it was fun to do something a little different for a change.

 

 

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When I was at The Quilt Merchant I bought some red and green prints along with a couple of fabric bundles. I wanted to try to make something red and green this month.

I really cannot resist bundles . . . . Such a variety and so many pretty fabrics I just would not buy in yards.

Then, for this month's small quilt challenge, I gave my Yahoo group a pattern for a 5-inch star block to make a Christmas Stars quilt that's perfect for December.

Put two and two together . . . Yes, I am making some Christmas Stars for a small quilt. Instead of a 5" star I tried making a 4-inch star block yesterday to see if I preferred that to the 5-inch one. Still thinking about which size I'll use for the quilt. 

Out of the drawer came my Quilt in a Day Flying Geese mini ruler. I bought both the larger and smaller rulers and used them for the signature blocks I made this past summer. I don't buy a lot of rulers and gadgets but I found this one helpful for small blocks. And the lines on the ruler match my quilt.

 

 

You line them up and trim.

 

 

It seems like I haven't sewn anything in a really long time so it was fun to sit down at the sewing machine again.