GIVEAWAY!

My first giveaway!

I picked up a few FQ's at the shop hop this weekend just for my readers and followers. I wanted to get something very springy and I loved the bunnies since it is Easter this weekend.

I can almost see the wonky stars I would make with these already :)

Here is how you can win:

1. First you must leave a comment, I would love to know what project you would use these springy FQ's for.

2. You can blog about it, but you must leave a link so I can check your blog.

3. Be a follower. If you are already a follower simply leave a comment telling me that you are already a follower.

I am going to leave this open for a few days as I am going on a trip and might be traveling over the weekend.....so come Monday be sure that you come check my blog to see who won.

Good luck!

Lots of Goodies!

I went on the Houston Shop Hop this year. If you are following my blog then you might be somewhat familiar with it. To be entered in the grand prize drawing, you have to visit 16 of the 20 shops and I barely made it! I was at my 15th store on the last day of the hop and it was 6pm (closing time). Lucky for me the girls at that store were so sweet and called the next store owner to see if she would stay open for us to get my final stamp, and she did! She was a very sweet store owner and had an awesome store! If you are ever in the area you can visit her here, very small store in a Historic city, birthplace of the Texas Flag!
So now on with the goodies......

First, some of the stores were giving away FQ's or little kits to make things. These aren't all of them. I still need to sort through all of my goodies. You also got a block pattern at each of the stores to make a Shop Hop Quilt. They gave you the pattern and if you wanted the kit it was available for purchase.And here are some of my finds! I tried to match up all my fabric so that I would have a collection. I am happy with what I got.

I really love the Black, White and Teal here! Its all FQ's so if anyone knows a good pattern for FQ's let me know because I am looking for one!This is my favorite find of all the stores! I am going to order more of this in yardage. I really do love it! We were looking for it at every store after the fact and couldn't find it anywhere! (I did pick up the pink dot at a later store).

So this is the next obsession fabric that I must have, and lots of it!!!!! Riley Blake Rainy Days and Mondays! That's basically it for the shop hop. To sum it up: Very fun, lots of fabric, lots of nice people, lots of stores, and very tiring. I am so glad they are only once a year. Next year my plan is to do it in 4 days not 2!

Another little goody I received in the mail was a $10 gift card and this thank you card from my sewing machine dealer! I thought it was very thoughtful and nice for them to send the card but to include the gift certificate too! They have a customer for life!

I also want to thank all my followers and readers. I did buy something on the hop for all of my online (invisible) friends so stay tuned as I get it ready. Just to give you a little hint: Think spring and Easter!

Finally, I want to leave you with this. I saw the sign on the way out of one of the shop hop stores and asked if I could take a picture of it! I just love it! It was so awesome that it was the only picture I remembered to take on the shop hop. I guess I was too mesmerized by all the fabric.

A few new things

First things first, I finished the top that Quilt 4 Kids sent me (on right) I also made my own top out of some fabric from a "purple" swap that has been sitting in my fabric box for quite some time now. I figured I would go with a purple theme and maybe some little girl that loves purple will get this quilt. I'm pretty sure I am going to name the purple quilt Purple Surprise, but I still haven't thought of a name for the other one. If you can't see the focus fabric in the picture, it has hockey gear all over it and since I don't know much about hockey I can't think of a name for it just yet. If anyone has any ideas, they are more than welcome! I need to label and quilt them still. Second, our guild had its second meeting/first sew-in which was tons of fun! I really enjoyed spending time with people that share the same interest as me. Maybe now I can stop bugging my mom about quilting so much...lol
A few of us are getting together this Friday and Saturday to do the Shop Hop! I am so ready and so excited! I went on a Shop Hop in California and it was so much fun. I even have my brother watching my daughter on Saturday so I can actually enjoy the Hop and the company of some new friends.

Finally, I will leave you again with my Star Bright quilt, as I took some better pictures of it.
Here is a close up of one of the stars and quilting, if you can see the quilting.

....and here is the label I made. Aliya wanted a heart so that's what we did. Also since she helped pick out the fabric and stars she had to get creative with the label. After all it is her quilt!

Virtual Bee's

Ok so I am part of a bee Sew to Speak where everyone makes a block a month for 12 months, one month being yours where you send out blocks for everyone to make. (see the button on the side of my blog)

Well today I was looking over there and found this: Pretty in Pink Bee a bee where you have to incorporate the color pink. Sounds like fun to me! Here's hoping I get in. Anyone want to join me, hurry because spaces go fast!

If that one doesn't interest you (say you don't like pink) there are other bees that pop up from now and then here. Or say maybe you just want to check out some of the awesome blocks people are making for some inspiration you can also find that here.

I am working on my Quilt for Kids top right now hopefully I can finish it up by this weekend.

Finally finished!

I know the pictures aren't the best, but we have a ugly rainy day today so it is hard to take good ones and I just wanted to be rid of this quilt. I am very happy with how it turned out but I had so many problems with it! From running out of fabric during the making of it, to my sewing machine not wanting to FMQ right and getting tangled every few inches, to me having to take half of the quilting out and start over, to getting a new machine that quilts so much better!!! To finally being done with it and out of my hair! Now Alliekat herself can enjoy this quilt!

Not too bad for my very first free motion quilting project (other than practice).

New and Improved!

I am in the progress of updating and giving my blog a new look. The last template was a pre-made one from The Cutest Blog on the Block and it worked well as I had just started blogging.
I decided I wanted to make it more original, (since I saw my background on another blog), so I came up with this. Again, with the help of the tutorials here. I also made it a 3 column blog.

Stay tuned for more updates as I get it the exact way I want it. Let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions for me?

In with the new!

But I'm still keeping the old! Here is my Janome RX 18s, she is wonderful and I love this machine but I really did grow out of it and needed something that could keep up with all my quilting. Sooooooo....guess what I got! I bought the Baby Lock Espire. I was really torn between the Janome 6600 and the Espire. I really love both of them but ended up with the Espire because my husband picked for me, and I had no choice. He knew I would keep changing my mind, because I liked both machines so much, so he went in the store and picked the Espire out for me. (It was so cute).
Plus the incredible bargain we got on this beauty! $1499 out the door, that is all taxes, warranties and even a class for the machine. I really like some of the features she has, like the computer is awesome in this machine, the presser foot button is something the Janome didn't have and I liked the threader a little better with this machine. She sews like a dream!! So far I am very happy with her and I hope she will last a very long time!I also got a new desk, thankfully I went this weekend or they might not of had any more of them. Turns out they are not making this desk anymore so I am super happy I got one while they still had it. $50 for the desk and it is very sturdy and easy to put together. I am using my old table for a cutting table now and it is raised up so it is perfect for cutting fabric. I also made a skirt for it that matches my curtains so I can store things underneath later, it also looks much better and finished off. I have to get something to hang over the table so it doesn't look so bare but that's my sewing room in a nutshell. I also finished my two blocks for my online sewing bee. I should have the button up on my blog later, but you can see the blocks here and they will be on their way to their owner sometime next week.

I also just want to thank everyone who offered their wonderful advise about their sewing machines, you all truly helped me! While I was researching I didn't see one machine that was better overall than the others, this was really surprising to me.

I really feel like I got a quality machine! I am blessed to have a husband who supports my hobby!

Need Help!

Ok, so I narrowed my search for a new machine down to 5 machines that are in my price range (some still a little more than I am willing to spend and are at the top of my range) I really need a machine that does free motion quilting, has a large workspace, cutter and threader. Those are the main features I am looking for.

1. Janome 6600p
2. Viking Sapphire 875
3. Baby Lock Espire
4. Pfaff Expression 4.0
5. Brother QC 1000

If you have any experience with these machines or have heard anything about them I would love to hear your review. I have searched online and seen several reviews and in my opinion these are the best and have what I want on them. So any advice will be awesome! I really do appreciate it! Hopefully I will be able to go and sew on them this weekend.
Also if you can think of any other machine that I have left out I would love to know...thanks!

100 years old!

My Great Grandma turned 100 years old this week! Here is a picture of the cutest Grandma ever!!!! Happy Birthday Grandma!!! Love you!!!!

I think I decided

Well, I still want to go and look at a few more models but I saw a few yesterday and I really like the Janome 6600. I have had my Janome for a few years now and have never had a problem with it, other than this last event, but I honestly think that is my inexperience (being the first time I free motion quilted anything) not the machine!

My Mother also has a Janome 6500 and she has never had any problems with hers either. Which she uses with her Grace and it works beautifully.

What I really love is that it has a long neck area so I can quilt larger quilts and even use it on a grace if I decide to get one at some point. It also has tons of features, you can see the very long list here. It also has very good reviews. All the quilt stores I have called said they sell very quickly, when they get one in it is usually gone within the week.

I still want to keep looking at other models so I will be looking at a few more this weekend, but the hubby said we can go and look at the Janome this weekend.

I will be keeping my other Janome if I do get a new machine because this one weighs a beastly 24lbs! Plus mine will be for my Sweet Allie Kat when she is ready to learn to quilt like her mother, grandmother and great grandmother!

New sewing machine may be in my future...

Nothing is wrong with the Janome, I still love her! I guess when I tried to free motion quilt this last week it made me think about what I want in a sewing machine.
The Janome is my very first sewing machine and it works great but I am thinking I want a few more options and maybe even one that is a little more excited to do free motion quilting (since I really love to do free motion) Plus I plan on quilting everything on a domestic sewing machine for a very long time so it may be time to upgrade. I guess I out grew her.

So I am looking at some new machines and plan on taking a few for test drives over the next few weeks to see what I really like. I just know I really want a needle threader and cutter, and the option where my needle will stop in the down position. Other than that I just want something that us user friendly and loves to work :)

I will take suggestions, What machine do you have and why do you love her so. What are some of your can't live without features?

On a quilting note, I have taken all the stitches out of the Star Bright quilt and plan on sewing it this week. The husband got rained out today so I think I will head over to Ikea or maybe even check out some sewing machines :)

My Janome doesn't like it?!

Free motion quilting. I have practiced before and all was fine so I am doing my first free motion quilting on the Star Bright quilt and I can't get my machine to stop skipping stitches. I have messed with the tension a ton, re threaded it a ton, changed the needle (using a 90/14) I am using 100% cotton thread (same in top and bottom). I am really not sure what else it could be.

I am going to try to oil my machine tonight or tomorrow while I am taking out a TON of quilting because I just figured I cannot live with it. Then I will be going to the store tomorrow to try to buy more needles and try a different thread. I might try a polyester but I really wanted a cotton. I cant find the variegated thread in any other brand than the one I have (Signature from Jo Ann's) I may have to just get a yellow in Guitermans.

Completely frusterated at this point!

Hello Beautiful!

Look who showed up on my doorstep today! Of course I HAD to let her in! I just love this so very much and plan on making something for myself out of it. I might even use it for the bee that I am in, but I really don't know yet.

I want to showcase the fabric and I'm not sure how I will do that. I still need to gather some other fabrics to go with it (sashing and maybe a few Kona solids in pink and orange). I am a little bummed they did not have the fishies that went with this line but I am happy with what I have and so far this is my favorite fabric! I just love Heather Ross! (especially when its not 16 dollars a yard...lol)

And of course the best part of this order is that they really over cut the three yards on the left. So I have 11 yards of HR fabric....I must be the luckiest girl in the world! (and no I did not pay full price, coupon!!!)

Anyone have any quilt ideas for me :) I would love to see them!

Finished Top!

The top is finished! Now I need to go with Aliya and have her pick out some backing fabric later today. I will probably end up using flannel for the back. The binding will be in the stripe, that's why I added the extra yellow border so I could do that. A funny little side note. While I was putting on the borders I asked Aliya how she liked it (this was when I had just added the pink border) and her response (with her finger in her mouth like she is thinking really hard about this) "Its Really, Really, (pause here) Different" ....LOL
My 4 year old going on 10 year old.

So here is a little list of things to do this month:

- Finish Star Bright quilt
- Work on 2 Quilt 4 Kids quilts
- Finish the Wonky Nine Patch quilt
- Do block for Sew 2 Speak group

Also, I might take a trip to San Antonio. Looks like my hubby might be working there for a little while and if he does I plan on going to stay with him for a few days and maybe take Aliya to Sea World! Sounds like fun right! Well fingers crossed they get this bid! (job)