My Giveaway Winner!

I just closed the polls and topped out at 439 comments. Wow. Thank you all for leaving such nice, inspiring comments. I'm glad so many of you found my blog through the giveaway, and I hope you'll come back every now and again!

And now for our winner ...

Take it away, Mr. Random Number Generator!

#22 - Anne, who blogs at Away to Me:

awaytome said...

That would be great with a moleskin to sketch in!

May 27, 2009 7:58 AM

Perfect! Anne, I'll be in touch to get your mailing address shortly ... and then the bookkeeper and Moleskines will be on their way to you!

Thanks again to Sew Mama Sew for hosting another successful Giveaway Day, and
thanks to all of you who came by and entered my little giveaway.

OK, I can't resist ...

I just couldn't stand seeing everyone having so much fun without me. So I'm jumping in ...

I have plenty of fabric to use, so I'm considering it a stash-buster. I hope to have some pictures of my fabrics tomorrow.

So if you're sitting on the fence too, consider yourself nudged. It's not too late -- come join us!

May Quilting Bee Blocks

Thanks for all of the great feedback so far on my giveaway prize. Several people have asked questions in their comments, but their accounts are set to "no-reply" so I can't answer them! By far, the most asked question is "what the heck is a Kindle?" I don't have one myself (yet), but you can check it out here. (The giveaway is still open, by the way ... so jump down and enter if you haven't already!)

Thanks also for your notes of congrats on my projects being included on the Amy Butler CD. I wish I could respond to everyone individually, but the giveaway has my Inbox overrun with comments. I promise to be better about responding to your comments once things slow down!

So apart from the giveaway and the excitement surrounding the CD, May has been an extremely busy month and has really flown by. Besides the Bookkeeper, my sewing has been limited to my many quilting bee commitments. Here is a rundown of the blocks I made this month:

In my SewConnected group, Amy (parkcitygirl) sent out fabrics from one of my all-time favorite fabric lines from one of my fave designers, "Chestnut Hill" by Joel Dewberry. I have a stash of these myself that I haven't cut into yet, so I had great fun working on Amy's blocks! Amy asked for large, 15" blocks. My first is a sort-of quarter log cabin design, with smaller blocks adapted from the free "Woodland Garden" quilt pattern by Scott @ Blue Nickel Studios. I even added in a few prints from the collection that Amy didn't send!

I (of course) had to make Amy a second block with my scraps, so I went with a hybrid 9-patch / rail fence design. I think both blocks turned out pretty cool!

For the Cottage Quilting Bee, Carolyn (who blogs at Laughing Duck) asked us to help her create a quilt with houses and trees. She even provided some block patterns for us to follow. Here is the pattern I was given and, in addition to the fabrics Carolyn sent, I added the striped fabric for the windows:

Who's this little cheeseball? : )

Here's a block for Jennifer (quayandco), who is a member of the SewConnected 3 group and wants a quilt made from scrappy log cabin blocks:

Nettie (aquiltisnice) requested flying geese for her quilt blocks in the bee inspired group. Any size geese, any size layout. I decided to go for a flock of mini geese, mostly because I love the secondary zig-zag pattern that emerges with this layout. All of the novelty fabrics were so much fun to work with, and I added a few of the owls, birds, goldfish and bikes. I also decided to include some solid orange, drawing from the Heather Ross dog & goldfish fabrics and the color of the gnomes' hats.

May was a 2-member month in bee inspired, and the other blocks were made for Deanna (giggle gear). Deanna wanted star blocks inspired by a "strawberry and chocolate milk" color scheme. Yummmmm ......

Finally, two blocks for Tine (Sodeste) in the SewConnected 2 group. Tine sent out solid fabrics, which are always so much fun to work with. Tine (from Denmark) is currently studying library sciences, so I knew exactly the type of block I wanted to make for her:

It's inspired by the beautiful "Library Books" quilt in the Fun Quilts gallery (if you've never been, you should go check it out. LOTS of inspiration!)

I had enough fabric left over to make another block, so I resorted back to my recent favorite go-to technique -- strings!! I love how this one came out.

Another month under my belt ... I hope everyone likes their blocks!!

(I'm on the) Amy Butler Softwares CD!

{psssst ... if you're here for the giveaway, it's in my last post! oh, and welcome!}

Lots of great quilt-related stuff going on around the Quilt Dad household these days ... not the least of which is the complimentary copy of the new Amy Butler Softwares package that I received recently from the nice folks at the Electric Quilt Company.

Why complimentary, you might ask?

BECAUSE I'M ON THE CD!!

That's right! See my name up there?? Shortly before the holidays, I received an email from Sarah at the Electric Quilt Company telling me a bit about the new product and asking if I'd be interested in submitting some items for the inspiration gallery included on the CD.

Well, heck yeah!

If any of you read the first few posts I ever wrote on this blog, you might remember that Amy Butler -- through her fabrics and patterns -- played a huge role in my first getting interested in sewing and quilting at all. So it was a really huge honor to be invited to play a small role in the launch of this product.

I've only just started poking around the program itself, but it already looks like it is well worth the $29 it costs to purchase it. There is amazing photography and inspiration throughout and, in addition to the user-submitted projects in the gallery, there are full patterns for tons of projects from quilts to bags to items for the home. I can definitely see myself making several projects from this CD.

Thanks again, EQ!

Giveaway Day TODAY!

{Edited to add: it's now 9:45 PM EST on Sunday 5/31 and I am officially closing the giveaway with 439 comments logged! WOW! I'll be posting the winner shortly ...}

In celebration of Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day, I am happy to give away this homemade bookkeeper / Kindle holder. For those of you who are Kindle-less (like me), I will include a Moleskine that tucks neatly inside for you to record your thoughts, ideas, and inspirations.

I made this nifty little bookkeeper based on a tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop using a Moda honey bun and some scrap fabrics for the lining and binding. If you haven't checked out the Moda Bake Shop yet, head on over to see all of the amazing projects that you can make from Moda pre-cuts (like their jelly rolls, layer cakes, charm packs and honey buns). You never know what's bakin' over there .... ; )

I will also include some extra goodies, like some fabrics and sewing notions. I haven't pulled them together yet for a picture, but I promise they will be good!

Just leave a comment to this post, and I will leave entries open until midnight EST on Sunday, May 31st. No need to say anything other than "hello", unless you have some great ideas for projects you'd like to see on the Moda Bake Shop. I will select my winner via Random Number Generator sometime on June 1st. International entries are always welcome!!

Good luck!

Jewel of the Sea

Recently, I wrote a post about the quilt I sent out for the Doll Quilt Swap 6. Shortly thereafter, I received my quilt from the swap ... AND I COULDN'T HAVE BEEN MORE EXCITED!!

Those of you who participate in these swaps know the deal: you watch the photo pool and all of the pictures that people are posting of their works-in-progress, thinking "oh, I can see how that one might be being made with me in mind" or "wow, I really hope that one is coming to me".

As soon as I saw the first sneak peek of this quilt, I thought both of those things. First, anyone who reads my blog knows that I am a huge fan of Tula Pink's fabric lines. And second, the colors and pattern just struck me in such a way that I really, really wished that it was for me.

And it was!

The quilt was made by Joy from Australia, who blogs at Stitchin' Skilly. Joy's been great and really took notice of my preferences and style when planning this quilt. It turns out I had made a comment in a discussion thread a few months back about really liking the charcoal & lime green color scheme, which planted the seed of inspiration.

It also seems like this quilt had quite the time making its way to North Carolina. After leaving Australia with Joy as she traveled to the states, this quilt has been to LA, MI, NY, and LA again before being sent to NC. Wow, even I have never been to LA! I really appreciate all of the time and effort that Joy put in to making sure I got the perfect little quilt for me.

As part of the Doll Quilt Swap, we all agreed to take pictures of ourselves holding the quilts we received as part of the swap. It's been great to be able to put all of the names with a face! Here's the picture I took, along with "daughter no-nap". (I usually end up taking all of the pictures for my blog and Flickr during my kids' nap time on the weekends. Little Ms. B stopped taking naps months and months ago, so she is usually my helper on these photo shoots while her brother and sister are sleeping!)

And on a separate note, Mrs. Quilt Dad and I were married in Chapel Hill, NC, eight years ago today. Happy anniversary to us! We'll be celebrating with a dinner out tonight ... possibly followed by a movie, if we're not too sleepy! : )

It's baaaa-aaaack!

The folks over at Sew, Mama, Sew! recently announced the second Giveaway Day. May Giveaway Day is coming next Wednesday, May 27th ... so what are you waiting for?? I had 381 entries last time, so you know it's a great way to get people to visit your blog. So go sign-up and host a giveaway, too!

Now I just need to figure out what to make ... ... ...

Doll Quilt Swap 6 | Fresh Nines

It's been so great to see the nine-patch revival happening all around blog- and Flick-land lately, as evidenced by Amanda Jean's latest quilt-along, Happy Zombie's Bake Shop tutorial, and Anina's Three by Three block swap over at Twiddletails. Even Rita's getting in on the action! It seems that new takes on the classic nine-patch block are all the rage right now ... and I can honestly say that, for once, I was a bit ahead of the curve!

That's because I drew up the plans for this, my Doll Quilt Swap quilt, a few months back ...


I'm calling it "Fresh Nines"! What do you think?

It all started with a charm pack of the "Fresh" line that I received as a special bonus in a fat quarter swap a few months back. I played around with a few ideas, but ultimately settled on a mini nine-patch design. I'm really in love with the layout of one fabric in the four corners, another in between the corner blocks, and a third in the center square. I was first taken with this idea when I saw all of the beautiful blocks being made in this design for Erin in the original Virtual Quilting Bee.

And in my tradition of trying something new with everything I make, I opted for white linen instead of quilting cotton for the sashing. I think it gives it a nice, but subtle, touch. It was my first time sewing with linen, and I'm glad I bought enough of the white to use on another project!


This little quilt recently found its home with Jessica a.k.a. jmbmommy, who was also the recipient of my Gee's Bend quilt a few months back. The funniest part? She also made a 9-patch quilt for her partner ... the aforementioned Rita! Everything comes full circle ...


Here's a shot of my pieced backing ... I love the print with the hummingbirds, and since they were too big to fit in the little squares on the front, I decided to use it on the back.

I'm still waiting patiently for my doll quilt to arrive ... there are still so many great ones in the pool that just haven't found their way home yet.

Flock & Awe and Big Scrappy

May is Jessica of SunnyNole's month in the SewConnected 3 swap, and she decided to make a scrappy quilt made of all of her favorite bird-themed fabrics. What a cool idea! I had a lot of fun combing through my fabrics for birdy fabrics and some coordinating prints. Of course, it didn't take me long to raid my "Nest" stash and decide to feature this green guy:

I dubbed this block "Flock & Awe". Heh heh.

Here's my second block. Jessica sent the Joel Dewberry "Aviary" print ... I still have a full FQ collection of that line because I love it so much, but haven't decided what to do with it yet. I went pretty improv on this one ...

Here they both are being watched over by our newest backyard friend:

Note to self: add a bird-themed quilt to the must-make list.

And in the Cottage Quilting Bee, Ashley Ann (who blogs at Hot Butter) sent out a bunch of scraps for everyone and asked for "super scrappy" blocks, keeping in mind that her favorite color of the moment is "rainbow". Her instructions? "Follow your heart, go crazy, make cute blocks". You can't ask for any better than that!

This one came out huge -- like 14" x 18" or so -- so I am calling him "Big Scrappy". I really went to town on this one, pulling the scraps from a bunch of different recent projects into the mix. Again, total improv style -- I had no idea where I was going with this until I decided that I was done.

Fun! Thanks for the great challenge, Ashley!

A late-day wish ...

... to all of the moms and grandmas out there ...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

And a special Mother's Day wish to the beautiful, generous, and supportive Mrs. Quilt Dad, the world's best mom and my biggest fan ... without whom none of this would be possible:

Happy Mother's Day!! I love you!