Thursday, September 26, 2013

Giveaway Winner


I am happy to announce the winner of the $25 gift certificate to Stitchin' It Up Quilt Shop from my blog hop giveaway.



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Result: 89

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The winner is comment 89 who was Amy McCabe.  Congratulations, Amy.  

Abbey Bag Sew Along

On Monday we will start our Sew Along of the Abbey Bag.  If you do not have your Abbey Bag pattern or fabric yet, I have patterns and kits available in my online quilt shop. 


Merrilee

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Christmas Quilt in Progress and Giveaway

My thought today is if I post a quilting project that I am working on for everyone to see on my blog that it will make me accountable, and I will make some progress on it.  We will see if my thinking works.  I have wanted to make a Christmas quilt for our spare bedroom for quite some time.  I had in my stash a collection of fabrics from the Merry and Bright collection and a few miscellaneous other fabrics that went well with them.  
 
 
I love the look of the Disappearing 4-patch blocks, and they are so fun and quick to make.  Here are the first four finished blocks.  I hope to stay on track and have this finished before Christmas.   If you are interested in seeing how the Disappearing 4-patch block is made, check out this excellent tutorial made by Missouri Star Quilt Co.
 
 
 

Link Party

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Check out what other quilters are working on for some inspiration. 
 

Giveaway

I currently have a giveaway going on for a $25 gift certificate to my quilt shop, Stitchin' It Up Quilt Shop.  If you haven't had a chance to enter, check out my blog post from Sunday for the details on a chance to win. 
 
Merrilee

 

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Pin it Blog Hop and Giveaway

I am excited to participate in the Pin It Blog Hop.  The theme of this blog hop is pincushions.  There have been some amazing pincushions already shown in the first four days of this hop. 

 
 
The pattern I chose for my pincushion is called "The Abbey Bag" by Abbey Lane Quilts.  It was a very fun project to make.  I used a couple of sewing-themed fabrics from the Love to Sew line from Michael Miller Fabrics.  The bag that is attached to this pincushion is a great place to throw your discarded threads while you are sewing at your machine or small fabric scraps if you are using it at your cutting table.  I stuffed my pincushion with crushed walnut shells.
 


I also got to thinking, this would be an excellent thing to have on the arm of my favorite chair while I am hand sewing the binding on my quilts.  I can keep my spool of thread, a small scissors, and my binding clips in the pouch and store my needle on the pincushion when I am not using it.


Kits available

I have put together some kits for this pincushion and bag using the fabrics pictured above, and they are available in my online quilt shop, Stitchin' It Up Quilt Shop.  If you want to use your own fabrics and just need the pattern, you can purchase the pattern alone

Sew Along

For those of you that want to try this pattern to make your own pincushion, I plan to host a Sew Along starting on Monday, September 30 and will post tips for you that I discovered while I made my pincushion.  Order your pattern or kit today and join me. 

Thank you

Thank you to the mastermind behind this blog hop, Madame Samm from Sew We Quilt, and the super organizer of the pincushion hop and my friend, Kristen from Meadowbrook.  It was a privilege to participate in this well-organized blog hop.  I look forward to participating in future hops.

Giveaway Time!

I am doing a giveaway today.  I am giving away a $25 gift certificate to be used in my online quilt shop, Stitchin' It Up Quilt Shop.  You can have two chances to win:

1.  Like me on Facebook and leave a comment here letting me know you are following me on Facebook.  If you are already a follower on Facebook, just let me know you are already a follower.

2.  Go to my quilt shop and leave a comment here letting me know how you would spend the gift certificate if you win.  

Comments will close on Saturday, September 21 at 5:00 p.m. CST, and I will notify the winner by e-mail. 

Blogs of the other participants

Be sure to check out the blogs of the other participants who are showing their pincushions today.  
 
The Stitchin' Post (This is me)
 
Happy Blog Hopping! 
 
Merrilee

Monday, September 9, 2013

Mystery Quilt Finished

 
With September now here and fall approaching, I pulled a quilt top with some fall colors in it that I finished over two years ago and decided it was time to get it quilted.  I finished sewing the binding on yesterday while watching the football game.   
 

This was a mystery quilt that was designed by one of the members of my local quilt club.  We chose our fabrics for this project without knowing what the final quilt would look like. 



I am very pleased with how this quilt turned out.  It feels great to have another quilt done from the "to be quilted" pile.


 

Link Party

I am linking up for the first time with Design Wall Monday hosted by Judy at Patchwork Times.  Check out her blog and the other quilters who have posted their work in progress today. 


Pincushion Blog Hop

Starting tomorrow there is a blog hop going on organized by Sew We Quilt and hosted by Kristen at Meadowbrook.  The theme of this hop is pincushions.  Over 90 quilters will be showing off their pincushion creations.  The blog hop starts tomorrow and finishes up on September 17.  Check out Kristen's blog to see the entire schedule of participants.  I am on the schedule for Monday, September 16!

Merrilee

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A Proud Mom

I love to share my knowledge of quilting with others.  I especially enjoy working with my 13-year-old daughter who has shown an interest in quilting.  Today I am a proud mom.  The quilt that she made this year for her 4-H project won a blue ribbon at our local county fair, and she was given the opportunity to exhibit it at the Minnesota State Fair for the last 12 days.  Yesterday she participated in conference judging at the State Fair, and the judge awarded her a blue ribbon.  


A picture of some of the beautiful quilts made by 4-Hers from throughout Minnesota displayed in the 4-H Building at the Minnesota State Fair (I have pointed to my daughter's quilt with the yellow arrow)
 
Quilting her quilt on the long-arm earlier this summer.

 

 
 Another picture of her sewing on the binding.
 

 
The finished quilt.
 
 
 
Can't wait to see what she makes next year!
 
Merrilee