Wonky

In January members of the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild made 9-patch blocks to be made into quilts for Project Linus Make-a-Blanket Day.  Last month several of us got together to sew those block together into quilt tops and managed to make 19 beautiful quilt tops!  There were a few blocks leftover because they were either too small, too big, or not the "right" color.  Rather than let these blocks go unused, I decided to square them up "wonky style" and put them together regardless of color.  It's now quilted and bound and I dare say that this little quilt is my favorite of all those we put together on Make-a-Blanket Day!

You can see a photo of the rest of the quilt tops that we assembled HERE.

Come On Get Happy

As I was working on my latest Priority: Alzheimer's quilt I noticed that something about it was familiar.  Although not exactly the same pattern, it reminded me of the Partridge Family's bus!  If you are a child of the 60's like I am, you most likely spent every Friday night between 1970 and 1974 in front of the television watching The Partridge Family.  The brightly painted bus, the trouble that Danny got into each week, the music, and *sigh* David Cassidy!  All those wonderful memories came back to me as I finished this quilt.  Over 40 years have passed and I still remember that show and being "in love" with David Cassidy...I just hope that those memories will stay with me and not be taken away by Alzheimer's Disease. 

A Few Loose Ends

Pinterest has announced that they are updating their terms of service.  I guess they have received enough complaints that they are taking notice and making some changes.  I do think that this is a step in the right direction for Pinterest, but I'm still not convinced that these changes are enough.  For now, I think I will take a wait-and-see approach before I change my opinion.

The new Pinterest terms of service go into effect on April 6, 2012 and can be viewed HERE.

And the moment that everyone has been waiting for...

The winner of the hand-knit pincushion from Half Pint Knits is #6!

Teresa in Music City said...
Love the bluebird nest! Also love free shipping for March! But mostly love that adorable & unique pincushion!

Congratulations, Teresa!

Silent Sunday

Giveaway Reminder

Just a quick reminder that you still have time to enter the Half Pint Knits Giveaway!  Click HERE for more details on how to enter to win this cute hand-knit pincushion.

My Love-Hate Relationship With Pinterest

When I first found Pinterest I loved it!  Hundreds of wonderful photos and ideas all on one page meant hours of browsing fun and inspiration...even without opening a Pinterest account!  One day, I even happened across a photo that I had taken of a quilt that I had made and I was incredibly flattered that someone thought enough of my work to pin it.  However, recently some things about Pinterest have come to light that aren't so wonderful.  Improper or no links back to the original source, copyright violations, and poor terms of service have all made me rethink my position on the ever popular Pinterest.  For the most part, I'm happy to share my work, but my main concern is that Pinterest is not making sure that proper credit is given where credit is due and until that problem is corrected I will not allow my images to be pinned to the Pinterst site.

If you want to know if your work has been pinned, go to: http://pinterest.com/source/ add your domain name here .com/

To find out more about the problems with Pinterest read Ellen Brundige's article, Is Pinterest a Haven for Copyright Violations?

To learn how to prevent others from pinning your images without your permission, visit Virtual Jottings" How to Add the "No Pin" Code to Blogger
(Note that this only prevents pinning to Pinterest and does not prevent someone from using their computer's  "save as" or "print screen" options.  If you want to completely protect your work, do not post photos of it on the world wide web.)

And finally, for those who cannot give up their pinboards...I ask that you please pin responsibly!  Visit A Guide to Proper Pintiquette {Pinterest Tips & Tricks} for more information.

Quilt Failure

At our last art quilt group meeting we were talking about quilting failures when Madalene made the comment, "If you don't fail once in awhile, you are playing it too safe."  Brilliant words to say the least!  I have had struggles with some of our challenges, but no real failures.  Maybe I have been playing it too safe?  I think Madalene will be proud of me with this challenge, because I have had not one, but two complete quilt failures!  Now I have a whole new challenge because most of my allotted scraps have been cut into teeny tiny bits and I only have a few useable pieces left.  I sure hope I can make Plan C work!

Half Pint Knits Giveaway

Today I'm excited to announce that my daughter-in-law has just opened her own Etsy shop!  Half Pint Knits specializes in hand-knit toys for children of all ages, but you may also see a few other items designed for children and adults as well.  In the store right now you will find Steve the Stegosaurus and Simon Slithers; no doubt that these two will be joined by other knit friends in the very near future, so keep checking back to see who will be added next!

Of course, a grand-opening requires a giveaway!  Half Pint Knits is offering a special knit "toy" perfect for quilters...a fun three tiered pincushion!   For a chance to win, just visit Half Pint Knits and then leave a comment here about your favorite item or an item you would like to see listed in the future.  Simple as that!  The winner will be selected by Random Number Generator and announced on Monday, March 26.

As an added grand-opening bonus Half Pint Knits is offering free shipping for the month of March, just enter the coupon code FREESHEEP at the checkout.

Silent Sunday

Take Two, They're Small

Our quilt guild is collecting Baby Bereavement Quilts for a local hospice.  These quilts are made in matching pairs.  One quilt is given to parents who suffer the loss of a baby before or after birth, while its mate stays with the baby...a small quilted bit of comfort at a very sad time in the life of a family.  Because these quilts are mainly designed for premature babies, they are very small, only 18-27 inches.  It almost takes longer to load them on the frame than it does to quilt them, so I got the idea to load them two at a time.  It worked like a charm...I had two quilts finished in the time it would take to quilt one!

Next Challenge

My art quilt group has another challenge due next month and I have no one to blame but myself if I have a difficult time with this one, because it was my turn to issue the challenge.  I decided that we would select a few scraps from each others scrap baskets, add one solid and make a quilt using the theme of "spring".  No special techniques just a simple theme using scraps.  Easy enough, right?  Hmmm...maybe not as easy as what I first thought!

Ruffles!

I was at a quilt show recently and one of the vendors had a huge basket of assorted ruffle yarns on display.  I chatted a bit with the lady who was demonstrating how easy it was to knit pretty boa style scarves and as soon as she mentioned that I could knit one in an hour or two I was sold!  I sure wish I had tried ruffle yarn before I got the bright idea of knitting "the ruffle scarf from hell" with lace weight yarn!

Silent Sunday

Leap Day Giveaway Win

It's been a good week for mail this week at my house!  Look at the lovely charm packs that I won from Vroomans' Quilts during the Leap Day Giveaway Blog Hop!  Moda Domestic Bliss is such a fun fabric line and the red solid charm squares match perfectly...now I just need to find the right quilt pattern to go with them.

Lucky Winner!

Brenda from Scraps and Strings held a giveaway not long ago and I was one of the lucky winners.  This wonderful zippy bag, an assortment of her very own hand dyed charm squares and a too cute tiny hand bound notebook were all waiting in my mailbox yesterday.  I just love it when the mailman brings me something besides bills!

Simple Math

I'm making progress on my Unruffled scarf and I do like how the pattern is working out, but I think I will do the math before starting my next knit project!  800 stitches x knit front and back of each stitch = 1600 stitches x 7 more rows = 11,200 stitches to go! (But who's counting?)

Silent Sunday

Let The Bidding Begin!

The March Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative Auction begins today!  Yes, the AAQI holds an online auction the first ten days of each month, but I like to think that this month is special because one of my quilts is being auctioned along with twenty-six other beautiful art quilts.  If you have never participated in an AAQI auction why not place a bid this month?  There are some wonderful quilts up for auction and every dollar raised brings us that much closer to finding a cure (or better treatment) for Alzheimer's Disease.