90 days 12 hours 27 minutes 51 seconds til Christmas!

"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves." ~Eric Sevareid


I know a lot of the bloggers I follow have been sewing up Christmas stuff year around but I finally got a project done! 


This summer my son laid some new tile in my living room which just wasn't going to look as good with the 15 year old carpet....so I decided to take advantage of 18 month same as cash financing for some new carpet..........well and the 20 year old heavy sectional I had just wasn't going to look as nice so I got a new sofa and loveseat...(not heavy at all!). 

This is sounding like that old story about "When a Mouse eats a cookie"!

But anyway....the sofa and loveseat have  throw-pillow backs so I thought I would use a panel (also that I've had for at least 15 years!) to make some pillow covers for the smaller cushions.....5 of them!

 

I also sewed up a little "Pumpkin Princess" Costume for my granddaughter.........I had visions of a pumpkin-shaped costume and I used a little dress pattern then sewed some stretch knit to the bottom to round it out and then sewed a tutu to the leggings to help fill it out.........I found a darling pumpkin cap at Hobby Lobby and made a crown to go over it.......I am so looking forward to getting a picture of her when Mom and Dad dress her up in it!

 

 

My Sis just came back from a visit in California and she stopped in a local quilt store there and told me that she had "saved so much money!".........it appears that they not only had quality FQ's for $1 each, but if she bought 10 FQ's she got an additional one free!  Well she quickly calculated how much she could SAVE by buying 20!!!  Guess who was the real saver here???  Me! Because she gave me 11 of those FQ's!  (Can't argue with that kind of math)   

 

 Thanks Sis........I love the fabric but I love you more! :)

 

 

 

 90 days 11 hours 49 minutes 24 seconds.....and counting......

 

 

 

 

Parade Winners!

“Winning is something, but participation is everything.”
― Debasish Mridha

As promised, Mr. Random worked deep into the night deciding the winners of the Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade, and did his magic for several link-up winners.........and here they are!

The winner of our first place prize donated by our sponsor at the Fat Quarter Shop is Barbara at The Flashing Scissors.  Barbara gets a $50 gift certificate from FQS!  Contratulations Barbara and thank you, thank you, thank you FQS!

Winner of the Moda Jellyroll is Lin from St Victor Quilts

3rd place goes to Lynette from ...and the little sister follows

4th place winner is Lisa Marie from Quilts by Lisa

Honorable Mention Christmas/Halloween FQ bundles go to Missy from Missy's Homemaking Adventures

and Jo from ButterZ

 

 

Did everyone read the inspiring quote at the top of this post?

Well for this link-up participation is definitely everything so I am asking everyone to remember to send me your mailing address.  We still have the cookbook and the gardening set and other prizes to send out...........If you commented or linked-up please send me your address and I will send you a surprise!

click the email link below and email me your mailing address.

 

Send me your mailing address!

 

The Parade is Over!

 

 

“Dieting is the only game where you win when you lose!”
― Karl Lagerfeld

What a fabulous 10 days we had at the Perfectly Pleasing Pin Cushion Parade! We had 29 link-ups this year!

 

I want to thank everyone who participated and also want to remind you that I said that everyone in the parade would win something.  Mr. Random is still spinning around deciding the big winners are and will tell me something later tonight, but now I would like to ask everyone who linked up or commented to email me your snail mail address so when we hear from Mr. Random we can get your prizes sent out to you because

EVERYBODY WINS!!

 

 click on the button below to email me your mailing address so I can send you a surprise:

Email me



 



Pin Cushion Parade Continues!

"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." –Albert Einstein

The Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade Continues....and you can still link-up your pincushion posts for a chance to win some great prizes....the link-up will remain open for 4 more days....and will close on September 15....

We already have a great collection of linkups this year, some with fabulous tutorials for you to try.

So I made three new cushions  after finding them on the PPPP linkups..........

First I had to try that awesome star........I came home and just used some precut samples I had in my stash and put this together rather quickly.....I want to make another one now using fabrics that I choose but this was my sample try..........The photo on the left is the top and on the right is the bottom.....

                                                                    








The star is made with 15 total equal-size square patches. Mine were about 2x2....I think I would use 2.5 mini-charms next time. The top and bottom each have five square patches sewn together then the middle row of 5 squares connects the top and bottom.

                              Here is a side view of the finish

 I also made these two little pincushions from ideas I saw on the link-up:  First a biscorno made from a tiny stitchery I found at the second-hand store yesterday.

Then my little Sis and I made twin cathedral windows from another tutorial I found on the linkup:

I'm having so much fun at the parade! If you haven't already checked out the link-up please go on over and see the beautiful collections there!  And if you have some pincushions you're trying to hide from us.....bring'em out and parade them!

Click HERE to go to the parade!

My Pin Cushions for the Parade

 “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt



I am linking up today on the Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade. 

My favorite pin cushion is this one my son, Jeremy made for me when he was about 12 years old........at the time I had no pincushions at all so he made this one for me.  His sewing skills have improved but I wouldn't change a thing about this pin cushion.

I made these three little pin cushions for the parade.......

First a pincushion attached to the top of a little jar that can be used for pins, buttons, etc...............

.........and then I used some of the selvages I've been collecting to make this one.................

and finally a red hat complete with ribbon and feather!

Here is a pincushion my sis gave me............

and last but not least.............I think I found this at an estate sale...........the bottom says it was made in Italy..........it has a pretty ceramic flower on the top and is another of my favorites.................

...........and that's all I have to show today...........but I know where you can see lots more...........click the Picture below to be transported to this year's Perfectly Pleasing Pin cushion Parade link-up page!  There will be lots of link-ups for you to enjoy......and why don't you join the party while you're there and link-up your own pin cushions?

Perfectly Pleasing Pincushion Parade Link-up Page!

"Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself." --Michel de Montaigne

So here it is everyone!  The Link-up for the Perfectly Pleasing Pin Cushion Parade 2016!  I know I am going to be perfectly pleased with all the entries--so come on and show us your pretties!

 

 The Link-up will open on September 5th and close on September 15th so you will have 10 days to post and link-up your page.  A list of Rules will follow the list of prizes.....or do you want the Rules first???? I didn't think so!

So first let me thank Kimberly and Melody and all our friends at Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring the Parade with our First Place Prize!  Our first place winner will get a $50 gift Certificate from FQS!!!!! I want to invite you all to click the link above or click on the FQS Gift Certificate below to go visit them and see all the fabric and fun stuff they have for you to drool over!

 

Our Second Place Prize is this yummy Moda jelly roll by Me and My Sister Designs----I love these colors!

 

 

 

 The Third Place winner can choose between two quilting books and accompanying fabric: 

 

 First  we have 3 Times the charm! by Me and My Sister Designs.........there are 7 different quilt designs with 3 examples of each......and we'll get the winner started on her first design by sending along a Moda Charm Pack of "Ho!Ho!Ho!" by Deb Strain with the book.

 

 

Or............if the 3rd place winner likes this book instead..........we will send out fat quarter quilts along with 4 fat quarters in chevron prints by Riley Blake Designs!

Our 4th place winner will take home whichever of the two prizes above is left when 3rd place chooses their prize.

 

Honorable mention winners can choose between winning a Christmas Fat Quarter Bundle or a Halloween Fat Quarter Bundle.........

 

 

And we have more prizes!!!! Remember "Mom How Do I boil Water".........and that nifty Gardening Journal Set?

 

 

 

And we have sewing notions and patterns to give away...........everybody who enters will win something!

 

So Now the Rules:

 

 

As I said before........Link-up will run for 10 days and winners will be randomly selected.  If you don't link-up you can't win.

 

I have included a "grab my button" on my side bar.  If you post it to your blog you get another chance to win...........Comment here and let me know you grabbed it!

 

If you blog about this link-up you will get another chance to win........Tell me about it in a comment on this post.   That's 3 chances to win!  How about it?  Go out....spread the news....then come back, link-up and win!!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up