Little Forest Quilt Along & News Flash

Okay so it here it is the final day for our Little Forest Quilt Along -  is everyone finished?  No?  Well that's okay as we are going to extend the finishing date to Oct 14th.  I think quite a few of us need the extra week.  Do I hear cheers and applause?

I do want to show you Alamosa Quilter's finished quilt.  It's really so fun and glorious!!  I don't want to take it without permission - so please click here to see it. She is the first to post a finished quilt.

As for Hubby's quilt - the binding is half way done.  It will be finished tonight.

A few seconds after snapping the above picture....Neptune made herself comfy.  She thought I put it up there just for her.  

Aww... Now get down Neptune.

News Flash!   We have a new driver in the family!!

I'm so happy she passed on the first try.  And now I have a willing person to run my errands for me.  For a while anyway, then the newness of driving will wear off and she won't want to.  So I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Linda

Quilting the Little Forest Quilt

I do like quilting - not great at it yet.  But that doesn't stop me.  (Didn't stop me from piecing either.   And eventually I became better at that!)

I had ninety squares to quilt.  Because I like math each night I was quilting I would figure out how many squares I wanted to finish.  If I finished 22.5 squares I would have 1/4 of the quilt done, 30 would be 1/3 of the quilt .   I only finished 15 squares the first night, making it only 1/6 of the way.   Of course once you get the rhythm it goes much faster and I ended up finishing 45 squares on Sunday. 

The border was quilted in one evening.  Whew!  Glad that is done. 

Last night it was time to teach Hubby about binding. I always enjoy doing the binding.  And this striped binding is so cheery. I let him do the whole thing - even the ironing.  (I did the dishes - no - I didn't think that was fun.)

And he's doing so well with the 1/4 seam even without the 1/4 foot. In the meanwhile I got the sauces made for tomorrow night's dinner, did some laundry and other assorted cleaning.

After that he was ready to learn how to hand sew the binding on the back.  I was tired  from cooking and cleaning - this just isn't like the old days (what a week ago?) when I got to come home from work and sewed.

But I do really like how the quilt is turning out.  So pretty and Christmasy!

And the Winner of The Devil's Puzzle is .......

I suppose you have all been on pins and needles wondering who would win the book.  (No?  What?? You even forgot about it?  Sometimes I forget about give-aways I've entered, and then a couple days later I'll remember.)

So the winner is...

Okay you really don't think I'm going to tell you right away do you?


First I have to tell you all that I put all the names in a hat (it's a little better than using a pot).

I stirred them around and mixed them up good.  Then picked one..

Oh the suspense....

Congratulations to Kelli of Seriously...I Think It Needs Stitches.   Kelli has a pretty entertaining blog that I'm sure you all would love to check out. You can tell it going to be fun just by the name.  Please send me your address Kelli and I'll get the book in the mail to you.

Thanks everyone for playing!!

Who's Ready for a Give-away?

Up for grabs is a new book by Clare O'Donohue, THE DEVIL'S PUZZLE. 

Plume books was nice enough to send me one to read - I'll review it soon and they gave me one to GIVEAWAY!  Are you liking this so far?

O'Donohue is "an avid quilter..... is a freelance television writer and producer, who has worked on a variety of programs including HGTV’s Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson.  She is still trying to use up the fabric she was given while working there."

Here's the write up on her book "Witchcraft in a small New England town typically harkens Salem , Massachusetts . However, amateur sleuth Nell Fitzgerald finds the upcoming anniversary of Archers Rest, New York drawing out the town’s own dark history of witchcraft, as well as that of its residents in THE DEVIL’S PUZZLE. Nell is thrilled when her grandmother Eleanor’s boyfriend plans a double surprise—restoring the rose garden of her old Victorian house, and a marriage proposal. However, Oliver’s plans are put on hold when a skeleton is unearthed in Eleanor’s backyard. Police Chief Jesse Dewalt launches an investigation, and for once, Nell vows to stay out of his way, instead focusing on organizing a historic quilt show as part of the town’s upcoming anniversary festivities. When clues lead to questions about Eleanor’s past, Nell is forced to uncover the truth. As the anniversary approaches, a chilling wave of vandalism strikes town hot spots, raising fears that witchcraft has returned, and revealing secrets that could change life in Archer’s Rest forever."  

” A modern day Jane Marple on steroids.”   - Mark Sadler, Suspense Magazine

If you are interested please leave a comment - and I'll throw your name in the pot. 
 
Okay I'm going to go grab me a cuppa
 

And one of these to cuddle with and start reading.



She always sits like that  - with her legs crossed.  Such a lady.



 

Step #5 (Final Step YEA!!!) for Little Forest Quilt Along.

You do know what today is don't you?  That's right!  The final step; step #5 of the Little Forest Quilt Along.  YEA!!!!! 

Can you believe we are now at the final part? 

Step # 5  Bind your quilt and post the finished project on the Little Forest Quilt Along Flicker Group.  This is an important step - because a give-away will be connected to this. Deadline is Oct 7, 2011.  



Okay here's my binding fabric.  Nice and Christmasy. 

If you need a little help with the binding, check out Oh, Fransson's tutorial. I have found that I like cutting 2 1/4 inch strips for my binding, instead of the standard 2 1/2. I make a double fold and end up with a nice fit. The batting fills up the binding. Much nicer than having empty loose binding.

Remember last week I said I have a tendency to procrastinate when it comes to the quilting.  Oh dear.  I did that. 

Of course last night (yep - I procrastinated right down to the last day!)  I cracked the whip and made hubby pin the quilt. 

He's so good at pinning - I'm serious.  The man has a talent for pinning a quilt nice and tight.

One reason I procrastinated is because I didn't know how to quilt it.  But because the pressure was on, I just sat down and did it.  Well, started it anyway. I should be able to finish it and the binding before Oct 7th.

I put his name in there as a surprise. 

And I have to thank all of you because there is no way I would have gotten this far on my Little Forest Quilt  without you.  THANKS!!!

Thanks to you all for joining and posting your pictures. It's been so fun to see every one's interpretation. Didn't you think we had totally awesome forests? I truly like each and every one. I learned something too because I never would have thought to do brights and/or Polk-dots.

And a special THANKS to Stephanie for hosting this quilt along with me!  Don't forget to check out her blog, Peas in a Pod.


Now are you ready for my dirty little secret?  I love french fries.  Totally love them with lots of salt. (And I mean LOTS of salt.)  So instead of salting all the fries - thereby making them too salty for everyone, I sprinkle salt on the paper mat.  Then rub my fries in it. Like other people do with ketchup.  Yesterday I noticed I went through 3 packages of salt!  WHAT??  I realized I had passed on my terrible habit to all the grandkids!!  See there's Violet caught in the act!!

BAD Grandma - I'm going to have to change my evil ways.  But not today - maybe tomorrow.

I'm so excited!

I'm so excited.  I know I shouldn't be excited about something so silly, but I just can't help it.  And I know that all you fabric addicts, er, I mean lovers, will understand.

I went to the store for batting for the Little Forest Quilt Along.  Hubby went with me.  Oh Big Mistake.
First he wanted to get wool batting. Not happening.  I'm sticking to my usual batting that I know will work.  As I was having the batting cut, he brought up this fabric.  Squeal!  Isn't it cute?  See? He makes me spend money.  And on Fabric!!

It was his idea to make pillowcases for the trailer.  Oh...good idea. And yes, this fabric would be cool with the different states.  It even has my state California. And we do need another set of pillowcases. 

I don't know why buying that one piece of fabric set me off - but it did!  I went back and bought what I really wanted to buy.

Aren't they wonderful?  I have wanted some Halloween fabric for so long.  I'm going to make pillowcases for the family (well, most of the family.)  No wait!  Hubby is going to make pillowcases. He got me started and I'll let him finish it.

This is for him. 


This is for me.  The guys at work were shocked that I like spiders.  I think it is so cute.


The rest of the fabric will be for the grand kids and the trim and bands of the pillowcases.

Now if he's sewing pillowcases while I'm at work  - I should be able to quilt my Little Forest Quilt in the evening.  This might just work out fine.

Linda

Veggie Hunter is having a Giveaway

Just thought you might like to know that Veggie Hunter is giving away some cool Halloween items.

She will have two winners.

So go check out her giveaway.

Linda