One Flower Wednesday--My Flannel Project-& Feels like I Won a giveaway??

"Try not to do too many things at once. Know what you want, the number one thing today and tomorrow. Persevere and get it done."  - George Allen, Sr.

Gosh I don't know if I completely agree with Mr. Allen up there.....I am a great fan of "multi-tasking".........as are most women, I think..........But, ok,  I guess have been known to tackle maybe just a little too much at once and thank goodness that I have learned to pay attention to a few little "built in" mechanisms....................When I dream about losing the brakes on my car or having an accident or losing my teeth............I know it is time to slow down.......(true!)
The other dead giveaway is misplacing my purse...........if that happens I know it is time to have a talk with myself.........lol...........
Do any of you have any of these little tidbits you would like to share on how you know you are doing too many things at once?

Ok change of subject...........I am going to talk about my flannel quilt project first because I am still not sure what I am going to show you for OFW..................I received the fabric that I bought with my gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop this week!  I decided to take care of two things I have been wanting to do (1. flannel quilt, 2. rag quilt) with one quilt pattern.  Here is the gorgeous flannel I got from them this week:

 The FQ bundle at top left is "Spice Market" by Exclusively Quilters and FQ Bundle at bottom left is "On a Winter's Night" by Maywood Studios...... I also got the extra half yard cuts on the right, as well, to use for the backing.  Here is the pattern I have picked.........

The pattern is "Fuzzy Flannel Curves" by Elisa Wilson and uses a drunkard's path template Elisa calls the 7" Crazy Curves Template..........according to her instructions all you have to do is fold a FQ twice and then use the template to cut both the circle and the outside square of the 7 inch block...........so each FQ will yield a full circle and outside which will then be mixed when sewed.  I will cut a full 7 and a half inch square for the backing using the extra half yard pieces I ordered and sandwich the batting inside and quilt as I go.  Once all 64 blocks are done I'll sew them all together, clip the seams and outside edges, wash, and "Voila!"
So stay tuned..............I am still waiting for the acrylic template because I don't want to risk messing up with a cardboard template........lol............

Now I want to tell you about the other cool thing that I got this week...........and I felt like I won another giveaway!  My Sister at Hilachas and her hubby found a fantastic Estate Sale this weekend which included a Dear Lady's awesome stash!  She had lots of good quilter's cotton fabric, some quilt blocks and backing and other cut projects she hadn't gotten to.....(typical quilter with her UFO's.....lol) .....and I am so happy that another quilter found it!  I truly believe that the quilter who it belonged to would have been so pleased to know how much her stash is appreciated and will be taken care of.........so anyway look at the treasure I got without even having to go to the sale!

Look at these six pretty fat quarters and then below are three more that Irene and I decided had a definite "Oz" possibilities...

Thanks, Irene............you are not just my sister............as we have said so many times............"You are my very first friend".............

Ok One flower Wednesday............I have mostly been working on laying out some of the flowers.........here is what I have right now........I am waiting on some Lollipop Kids fabric to come in so that it can go next to Glinda the good witch.........that panel also has the coroner holding the Wicked Witch's death certificate so will have to work it in there also............and I still need to transition the sky above the house into the brown Kansas color so the tornado can go above it............but I think it is starting to take shape?? 

 Don't forget to check out the other beautiful flowers growing at Karen's One Flower Wednesdays page....................

Also don't forget that there are still two days left on the fabulous Back to School Blog Hop sponsored by Michelle at Quilting Gallery..................Click on the Banner to go there...........and sign up for lots of great giveaways!

 Ok it is time to say Ta-Ta for now...............see you next time!


 

Blog Hop Party!

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered and to our sponsors!

Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.-Henry Van Dyke

It's that time again........Michelle at Quilting Gallery is hosting 

 a  Blog Hop Linky Party!  This party is entitled, "Celebrate Back to School Days - Quilter's Blog Hop Party"

I am participating in the party with these two lovely pocket packs from my sponsor,  Fort Worth Fabric Studio.  

Jodie's  POCKET PACKS are a Fort Worth Fabric Studio Exclusive! Each pack contains 4 fat quarters, perfectly matched and themed.

FISHING FOR LOVE includes 1 Hooked (Michael Miller), 1 Cotton Couture Solids Red (Michael Miller), 1 Piccadilly Tonal Leaves (Quilting Treasures), and 1 Basic Brights Hearts White/Red (Windham). 

 

 PUMPKIN BASKET includes 1 Farmer's Market Mini Pumpkins (RJR), 1 Basket Weave (Timeless Treasures), 1 Decadence Damask Brown (Riley Blake), and 1 Blessings Pumpkins With Cream (Studio E).

All you have to do to enter is be my follower.  Please make one comment (1) letting me know that you are my follower and then you can click on the Fort Worth Fabrics Logo below to check out the great stuff Jodie has to offer at her wonderful store.........nothing else....ONE (1) comment covers all the "hoops" here...........LOL
Giveaway ends on September 3rd at which time Mr Random will pick a winner. Giveaway is open internationally too!

Ok that's it........and don't forget to click on the Blog Hop Party Banner to enter lots of other giveaways!  Good Luck and Ta-Ta for now!

One Flower Wednesday--Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is Dead!

You've got to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you've got, and remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. Learn from mistakes, but never regret.   --Unknown

Ok here it is.............last week I gave you a sneak peek of the "rest of the flower"  (sounds like a Paul Harvey intro....lol)..........so anyway, here it is...............my version of Dorothy's house.....after the tornado.....

  

and are you ready to see it together with the partial flower from last week????     Me too..........lets look!

 "Ding-Dong, the witch is dead.... The wicked witch is dead..." 
LOL!!! I love the way this turned out!

I don't have a clue where I am going from here.........I guess wherever the fabric I have leads me..................this set of flowers will go towards the bottom of the wall hanging.....probably just to the left of center.........I'm thinking just to the right will be the lollipop flower I made awhile back....and then I have to work in the talking tree forest and the poppy fields after that........

Please remember to check out the rest of the beautiful flowers growing at Karen's garden at her One Flower Wednesday page.....

And guess what?  Quilting Gallery is again having one of their wonderful Blog Hops starting on Saturday Aug. 25th!  I will, (again) be participating so "hop" on back here to see what I have to give away.......I am thinking I may just include the goodies that Jodie from Ft. Worth Fabric Studio gave me so that she can get more bloggers hearing about her fabulous shop....and maybe I'll add some more surprises........

Just be looking for this banner.....(you can see it on the right hand side of my blog).....there will be lots of other bloggers participating too..... and let the fun begin!
 

 

BTW.....I have decided that a quilter/crafter can never have too many UFO's.....because who is to know when that UFO will become a WIP and finally a FINISH!  So with that profound statement I am headed over to the Fat Quarter Shop to spend my gift certificate on some beautiful flannel FQ bundles.....I have always wanted to make a flannel quilt and I have always wanted to make a rag quilt and I just found a pattern for a flannel rag quilt!   So here I go.......TaTa for now...........

 

Winner of Ida's 102nd Post/After Birthday Giveaway!!

Never dwell on what you have lost, only on what you have left. Count your blessings. You'll always find plenty. Your most prized possessions are your unexpired years.   -Author Unknown

The quote above reminded me of many who have started lucrative careers late in life.... It is difficult to think about starting something new at a time when some of us are retiring and "slowing down" but I was reminded of Grandma Moses, Harlan Sanders, Julia Child and others who didn't let their age stop them from starting something new that they wanted to do....I hope that I can remember that as the years continue to pass..........mostly the part about counting my blessings and realizing that the time I have left is precious......

So now anyway............guess who won that gorgeous Pink Windsor by Bunny Hill Designs jelly roll???  Which one?  This one...remember?

Early this morning (while I was working the graveyard shift....check it out....it was at 1:25 this morning!)  that "True Random Number" generating kind of guy, Mr. Random,  picked lucky number 13!

------and our winner is Anita! 

So, congratulations Anita!  I will be contacting you by email shortly to get your mailing information which I will forward on to Judi and Clint at Green Fairy Quilts......

Once they get your address they will have your jelly roll heading it's way to you.........  And, by the way, Green Fairy Quilts is having a free shipping sale right now.....that together with their sale prices is a win-win situation if you ask me............ 

I want to thank you all for celebrating my 102nd post and Belated Birthday with me and ask you to stay tuned because I will be having a 200th follower giveaway soon.....Jodie from Ft. Worth Fabric Studio has already given me a couple of surprises for you.....

I'm at 188 followers right now.....but you know me.....if I don't make it to 200 soon, I'll just have a "188 Followers" or a "Nearly to 200 Followers" Giveaway....lol

And, Wow!.....speaking about winners............I recently entered The Best Show on Earth -- the 2012 Pets on Quilts Show and had such a fabulous time hopping from blog to blog seeing all the pets and quilts.....

and although I didn't win first prize it sure felt like I did because courtesy of another fabulous sponsor, The Fat Quarter Shop....I won a $100 gift certificate!  I am so flabbergasted that I don't even know what to look at first!  But not to worry........I think I will be able to figure it out.....so thank you, thank you, thank you,  Fat Quarter Shop!  What a great place!

 I guess that's all I'm going to babble about this time...........I will talk to you again for One Flower Wednesday.............TaTa for now...........

 

One half Flower Wednesday, Traveling Stash, and don't forget about my Giveaway!

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.         -Robert Fulghum

So last week I teased you all with a sneak peek of the sneak peek I have for you this week..............LOL............
well without further ado....here it is..........remember the little red point on the left side petal of last week's flower? It's the tip of one Ruby Slipper............and here is what it attaches to........................

and so it will look something like this when sewed to last week's flower:

tada!

Ok then..........next week I will show you the flower that fits above this partial flower.............bwahahahaha.....I love a surprise!! Oh and don't forget to check out the other flowers at OFW..........click here

Next on my post list today is to let you know about Traveling Stash Box#3, which is set to go out to the lucky winner from my sister's blog at Hilachas next week so head on over there and sign up.......I, ahem, might have gotten a little peek at what's inside.....and there's some good stuff.........giveaway ends August 19th.......... 

.................and last but not least........if you haven't already signed up for "Ida's 102nd Post/After Birthday Giveaway"........you need to hurry because Mr. Random will be picking a winner on Friday night, August 17th..........Green Fairy Quilts is sponsoring my giveaway with this gorgeous jelly roll of Pink Windsor by Bunny Hill Designs for Moda.....

and you can get your chance to win it by being one of my followers and commenting on my last post..........just click on the jelly roll to go to the giveaway......

Well I guess that is all I can come up with this week so I'll see you next time...........Ta-Ta for now.....................

Ida's 102nd Post/After Birthday Giveaway!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED -- THANKS FOR VISITING! "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”― Albert Einstein

I was hoping to have a 100th Post/Birthday Giveaway but life got in the way.....and anyway do I really have to have a reason for a giveaway?  Nahhhhhhhh!

 

Well maybe I don't need a reason but at least I need a good name for the giveaway.........and since I am a little late I am having "Ida's 102nd Post/After Birthday Giveaway" Ta-da!

 

And although I may be a little late.......I am definitely NOT a dollar nor a jelly roll short!    Look at this yummy Pink Windsor Lane Moda Jelly Roll by Bunny Hill Designs!

Here is a sneak peek at the 9 designs included in the jelly roll....what could YOU do with this if you won it????

This jelly roll comes courtesy of my Sponsor, Green Fairy Quilts.... one of my very favorite online shops. 

 Click on the link above or below on their logo to check out this all their gorgeous fabric.  They are having a fantastic Moda Charm Pack sale right now....all charm packs are $6.95 and I think they have some neat deals at 30% off too:

 

Ok........now the hoops you have to jump through.........LOL

....I am one of those who is definitely NOT a hoop jumper so how about you just be a follower and tell me so?  That's it.   

One (1) comment and tell me you're a follower.  

You can put more stuff if the comment if you want to..... like tell me what you'd like to make with the Pink Windsor or tell me anything......but you don't have to...........and, well, it would be nice if you would go check out Green Fairy Quilts and tell me that you did.......but with the sales and promotions they have you would be crazy not to and not only that...they will ship internationally so this giveaway is open to everyone!

............. ok I'm going to stop there before I have to lock up my hoop closet...........LOL

Giveaway will close one week from today....on Friday, August 17th (midnight MST) and I will announce the winner on Saturday Aug 18.

That's it.........Good Luck and Ta-Ta for now.....................

 

One Flower Wednesday.......getting closer to Oz.....and Pets On Quilts Parade

In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.                    -Theodore Roosevelt 

Every Wednesday Karen at Journey of a Quilter's One Flower Wednesday has her linky which opens up her garden for all of us to see lots of pretty hexagon flowers.......Click on the link above to go look at all of them.
Here is mine for this week....."The Road to Oz":

I fussy cut this out of a couple of totally different fabrics and with the magic of fabric pastel paints I was able to bring the two together!.......The petal I worked on is the left side middle petal with a section of grayish-white fence and the brown area on it. The yellows didn't quite match either but they do now! (I also painted the brick lines on the yellow brick road with the fabric pastels.)  After you paint as you wish, you place a piece of paper over the fabric and iron on high to set the paint so supposedly it can be washed. (we shall see...lol)......

Next week I will have a "sneak peek" for you instead of a full hexagon flower........and this week I actually have another "sneak peek" for you...........notice the tiny red point on the same petal with the fence I added?  I will show you what it is next week...........

Now I want to remind you all about the fabulous "Pet On Quilts" Show going on at Snoodles Lily Pad Quilting Blog.

 and beg ask you all to go there tomorrow and vote for my quilt (Josh's Kitty Quilt #33) and if you can cast more than one vote please also vote for my Mama's quilt that she made for Josh when he was a baby (Granny's Gift #55)

I am still plugging away at the Dresden State Bird Quilt......I finished one of the center plates plus 4 side bird medallions this week......on my way back up there now to see if I can do a little more........I'm glad I have until Christmas to finish this one..............

I guess that is all for today so I will just say Ta-Ta for now.............

 

 

State Bird Dresden & Traveling Stash Updates and other interesting stuff........

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.-Albert Schweitzer

 I worked on the State Bird Dresden quilt for awhile last week and I am pleased to report that I got a lot of quilting done..........

 I stitched all around the diamond State Bird Patches and down the seam lines which then gave me a hexagon shaped border around each plate and a diamond around each corner patch.

And isn't it always this way......no matter how much we pin and place and fret........the backing never comes out in the right place once we have quilted!  My backing is too long on the top and too short at the bottom.....lol..........But I will just cut off the top and sew it to the bottom and get in that moving train and look at the back of  the quilt from there.......I bet I won't even notice that seam..........

I still have to quilt around the petals and I'm wondering how that will go.........did I mention that this quilt is 102 x 86??  Well  I was going so good that I decided to start the quilting on the plates themselves...........well lets just say that this quilting has not gone as fast as the other...........in fact I have one plate about half done and it is still sitting at my machine.....waiting..........

But I'm determined NOT to move it out from under my machine until I get at least the middle plates done.....lol..........

Other stuff from this week.......I got some nice packets in the mail!

A few times a year, Barbara, at The Curious Quilter has a postage stamp swap..........

this year I signed up as a "Newby" which means that 4 lovely ladies have signed up to send me 50 postage stamp charms to help me get started on my PSQ.......and so far here is what I received from Bunny, Mary, and Mandy........and I still have some charms coming from Mary Ann, who emailed to tell me she had dropped them in the mail yesterday.

From time to time, my blogging friend, Cherie  and I swap a FQ or two and she sent me a couple of nice pieces from her Swap Shop.

this is called Critter Community and you might have noticed next to the Postage Stamp Charms above is another piece she sent called Deer Valley.

.....and I spent more time working on my Hexies for my Oz hanging.......

 and the good news is that I have my flowers for the next THREE weeks done!  So now more reasons for having NO excuses for not getting to work on quilting the dreaded wonderful State Bird Dresden!

I am happy to report that Josie from Insanity Defense   is the winner of the Two Sisters Traveling Stash box and it will be going to her on Monday! Congratulations Josie!

If you would like to get a visit from one of the Traveling Stash boxes, you can go to Cherise's Page at Sewingly Along to get the scoop on how to sign up for one of the stash boxes!

 

Well finally I'm going to wrap this up by just reminding you that today is my Birthday and my 101st post and I haven't forgotten that I owe you guys a giveaway........I have ordered some goodies so stay tuned........as soon as I get them I'll post the giveaway so YOU can get them!     TaTa for now

 

OFW Hexie , Pets on Quilts, my 100th Post& ?

"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement."   - Henry Ford

Well I don't know if Henry Ford would include quilting mistakes in the quote above but I guess it's possible to sew something wrong and decide you like it better............

So anyway........I am at the point with my Hexagon Oz Wall Hanging that I am not sure I want to sew the whole flower together for fear I will have to take it apart.......so I have been making mountains of petals for the Kansas side of the Oz hanging in hopes of finding just the right colors that will transition from a tornado sky to the blue sky of Oz................but in the meantime I found some more "flying" animals to add to the Kansas sky..........I may have found the perfect batik fabric this week at my LQS and I think I will use it to form the tornado..........

the flowers don't show up as well on this fabric although I like the way the cat and the pig could be placed so they look like they really  are flying in the tornado...... but here they are on another background so you can see them better.

Have you all been to Karen's OFW page today?  She has a beautiful garden and you can go there by clicking on this LINK

In the next part of my post I want to tell you all about the linky party at Lily Pad Quilting............it is the wonderful, fantabulous, (drumroll) 

I hope you will click on the link above and check out all the incredible entries.
This is my first year to enter and I am entering the quilt I made for my son, Josh.  I am entering it in the category, "Cat on Quilt/Cat themed quilt".  I don't know if that is one category or two but I am entering both. Voting will not be open until August 9 and will run until August 12.  I hope you will vote for "Josh's Kitty Quilt" and help me win some fabulous prize!  I will place a link on my page on the 9th if you would like to vote....Ok here we go!
  First photo is of just the quilt.........

 and a closeup of the center block:

My son, Josh has loved cats since he was just a little tyke and during his lifetime we have had two wonderful cats running in our house, so I found it fitting to dedicate his quilt to Lucy and Tinkerbell.  Lucy is the cat represented by the two opposing yellow cats and Tinkerbell is the gray cat.  The center block is "Snails Trail", which is perfect for the 4 cat tails...............
The quilt was made after Lucy was no longer with us (she crossed the Rainbow Bridge at the ripe old age of 19)  but we are lucky that Tinker (14 yrs old now) is still with us.
Here are some photos to show you how Tinker approves of her namesake quilt:

 As I mentioned earlier.....Lucy was with us for 19 years.....I brought her home to be a "mouser" in 1980 so she was already 6 years old when my son, Josh, came along.........and Josh loved cats from the first.....here he is over the years with sweet Miss Lucy......

We rescued Tinkerbell in a rainstorm from the rain gutter at Albertsons's grocery back in 1998.   Josh and I were just leaving when he said, "Look, Mama, there's a poor little kitty over there in the rain"..................

When we drove up, stopped and got out, the kitty had disappeared!  I had a feeling that the kitty had caught a ride under our car so I drove back home (a block away) very slowly.....then we pulled into the garage, got out and went inside..........about 15 minutes later Josh had gone out to check and heard "meow, meow, meow....".....and so is the story of Tinkerbell's "adoption"............A cat will decide who will be her master and Tinker chose Josh........(Lucy was mine). We actually had two cats in the house for a couple of years....but now Tinkerbell runs things..........Josh just got home from work and he indulged his Mama in one more photo........here he is today with his Tinkerbell

Tinker does like to be "consulted" with other quilting projects........here she is helping me with my State Birds Dresden quilt.......

 Gosh this is the longest post I've ever had...........and so it is fitting that it is also my 100th post!  And another thing is happening this month........I will celebrate my birthday on Saturday and I was just thinking that this would be the perfect time for a giveaway!  Since I have already stretched your patience with this lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng post........please forgive me.....I will just ask you to stay tuned because I will post the giveaway soon! TaTa for now!