It's a Blog Hop Party! Give-Away too!

Welcome!  I have been having so much fun this summer participating in Blog Hops that I jumped at the chance to be involved in this one too!  Thank you Quilters Gallery for hosting such a fun hop! For a quick and easy project I thought I would show you how I made a coffee cup cozy.... first you'll have to go to your favorite coffee shop and get one of those cardboard coffee cup cozy thingies... Doesn't matter what shop, we all have our favorites and I'm not going to judge, coffee in my book is awesome no matter where you get it and if someone else is making it, even better! Now, while enjoying that cup of coffee, dig through your scraps  and find some fun fabrics to work with for your coffee cozy.....

Use your paper coffee cup holder use it for your template. After tracing your template onto a piece of paper, measure it on your travel mug to see if it will fit.  Add to it if you need to...

Using my 'Spring Bloom' pattern, I embellished my template with flowers and a bumble bee.  Trace the flowers and bee onto heat n bond.

Using your paper template cut out the front of your coffee cozy adding seam allowances, I had to add a bit extra for mine.

Iron your heat n bond onto your flower and bee fabrics then cut out.  Iron bee body & flowers onto front of the coffee cozy. (Remember the bee's wings and flower centers will be added later)

With right side together layer front and back of coffee cozy onto batting.

Sew 1/4" on each end, trim.

Turn right side out, pin, trim top and bottom. It's time to machine applique!  After applique is done, you can also quilt the coffee cozy if desired.  I felt the appliqueing was enough.

Sew binding to top and bottom of coffee cozy using a 2" strip folded in half.

Time to embellish with yo-yo's and bee's wings following the 'Spring Bloom' pattern for directions.

Add on Velcro or closing of your choosing.  A button and loop closure would be cute too!

All done!  Isn't it cute!  I love it!!!

For the Blog Hop Party, Wilson and I will be giving away a 'Spring Blooms' packaged pattern to two lucky winners,  so that they can make this adorable coffee cozy, or a fun tea towel !

To WIN all you need to do is leave me a comment telling me how you like your coffee.  I love my coffee black, but my sis likes cream and tons of sugar.  Do you like flavored or plain coffee?  Or do you prefer tea?  To get a second chance, let me know if you are a follower.  Remember if you are a no-reply blogger, leave me your email address so that I can contact you! Wilson and I will pick a lucky winner on September 3rd.

Have fun hopping around, the complete list can be found at Quilters Gallery!
Hopping begins August 25th  and runs through September 3rd.

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you,

Spring Blooms can be found HERE as an instant download ...

The Fuzzy Hat Quilter: Traveling Stash Giveaway

Box #1 of the Traveling Stash is sitting at the Fuzzy Hat Quilters.... it's a fabulous collection of goodies.  I had one of the boxes a couple of months ago and it was so much fun to go through!  I noticed that Laura has popped in some Quilt Doodle Patterns into the box so I thought I would pass the love and blog about it.  Laura is a talented quilter.... and also my quilting buddy and sister....



One of my favorite quilts that Laura has made.



The Fuzzy Hat Quilter: Traveling Stash Giveaway:   YAY!! So.. I got the box.. Here's what was in the overflowing box Here's What I kept: Love the neutral...

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you,



Canning Day....

Fresh ingredients all ready.... notice
in the background, Wilson is
posing for the picture!

It's that time of year again when the garden screams for attention and I am overcome with tomatoes.... I love fresh tomatoes sooo very much!  I eat cherry tomatoes like popcorn, by the bowl full.  I ran across a V-8 recipe that I thought I would try, and then I decided I would share it with you too!

V-8 Juice for Canning

 But I'm not sure why I'm bothering to can this.... my husband     will drink it by the pitcher full!

8 quarts chopped fresh ripe tomatoes

1 large bell pepper, chopped

2 large onions shopped

1  1/2 cups diced celery

4 carrots diced

 2 bay leaves

12 fresh basil leaves (2 teaspoon dried)

2 teaspoons prepared horseradish

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup lemon juice

Place all ingredients, except lemon juice in a large stainless steel pot.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes until veggies are soft.  I then run the mixture through the blender and strain.  Return the juice to the pot and stir in the lemon juice and bring to a boil. 

Pour juice into clean hot canning jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Process for 40 minutes in a boiling water bath.

V-8 cooking away....

Yum.... all ready for this winter... if it lasts that long.

My sister and I also picked sweet corn this weekend at my sister-in-laws home, so I am also busy freezing corn.  Not much quilting going on today but tons of canning... my favorite sweet corn recipe for freezing can be found below...

Quilt Doodle Doodles...: Gena's Sweet Corn Recipe

10 containers all ready for the freezer.  Woot! Woot!

Christmas Bowls

Stacking bowls is soooo much fun!  I had such a good time with Regina's pattern.  Thank you Regina for the pattern! I also want to thank Carol at Just Let Me Quilt and Madame Samm for organizing this wonderful blog hop.  Today is my day to show you what I made... when I saw this pattern it reminded me of my grandma, and when I think of grandma, I think of Christmas.  So here is how I made a Christmas themed Bowls with Borders.

Christmas fabric from Marcus Brothers would be perfect for this project.
(Spirit of Christmas)

Here's the first bowl done.... now it's time to stack!

It's so much fun stacking bowls!!

All ready for quilting... I  put a strip border around my pieced block.

Quilting in the cream space...

Sewing on my binding....

Stacked Bowls with Borders
Finished size 8" x 19"

Now, time for the giveaway!  Two lucky winners will win a PDF version of a pattern of their choice from my Etsy Store. Hummmmm .... leave me a comment on what your favorite cookie recipe is.  One of my favorites is Chocolate Crinkles.  For a second chance to win, let me know that you are a follower.  Wilson and I will announce our lucky winners August 30th using random.org.

Hope you have fun hopping around, I'm having a blast seeing everyone's bowls.  Here's a listing of today's bowl bloggers...

Binks

Robin S.

Trish

Quilting Along Life's Way

Sew Me Something Good

Quilt Doodle Doodles (You are here!)

Happier Than A Bird Quilts

Dizzy Daze

Bee Tree Designs

Daisy Days

A Quilting Sheep

A complete listing of the particiapants can be found HERE.

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you!

Takes Two Quilt Progress....

Life sometimes happens and we need to adapt and adjust.... that's been my summer pretty much.  Last weekend was our scheduled quilt retreat and well, life threw us a curve ball again and I had to get my catchers mitt out and I adapted and made some adjustments.  Quilt retreat was spent at mom and dad's sewing at the dining room table as I helped to care for my dad.  My sister joined us and it was very nice.... I still got to see what everyone was working on and enjoyed visiting with my family.  I maybe didn't get as much done but that's OK.  I allowed myself time to just slow down.... I watched some John Wayne movies with dad while I stitched along, I got to admire my sisters projects.... she's got a super cute block made for the Dots on Dots Blog Hop. Mom worked on a pretty fall quilt.

While at mom and dad's, I worked on my Takes Two Quilt.  I am so hopelessly behind on this project.....  big sigh...... I started my weekend putting my printed instructions in order.... I haven't worked on this in months.  I just faithfully printed up directions twice a month and man, did my stack pile up! So here is what I got accomplished this last weekend....

Here's block #40
It took a while to get pieced together, don't look too close... my set in seams aren't great.

I was able to piece together section A.  Woot! Woot!

These are the blocks I got done this weekend.  I'm in love with the
airplanes... I think they are so sweet.  You can't see it here because I
strategically layered my blocks to hide it, but one block is put together wrong.
I made the same mistake TWICE... so I put the block away for another day....

Happy Quilting and perfect stitches to you,

Think Christmas Blog Hop Winner!

All good things usually come to an end.... the Think Christmas Blog hop has been so much fun!  I enjoyed every one's posts... so much inspiration and wonderful ideas!  I want to thank everyone who stopped by the Doodle Blog during the hop.  I appreciate all of you and hope that you were also inspired.  A huge 'Thank you' to Madame Samm and also Leslie for all of their hard work organizing this great collection of blogs for the hop.

Now onto picking a name out of the bag of entries.  Wilson is all excited about picking a winner, he's prancing about the house in excitement!  Our friends at "The Fat Quarter Shop" donated a wonderful prize!  A fat quarter bundle,  either Jolly Christmas Fun or Lively Christmas Fun by Lynette Anderson....

And the winner is........ drum roll please.............

Lisa Marie

Lisa Marie has left this lovely comment

during the "Think Christmas Blog Hop!"........

"Well that runner is about the cutest thing ever! Thanks for the giveaway, I would love to win the Lively Christmas fun bundle. "

Congratulations!!!

There is more quilty fun to come!  I'm all signed up for the Bowls with Borders Blog Hop.  Happening August 13th-21st.  I will present my 'Christmas Bowls' on the 15th. Check it out.... I have the button on my sidebar....

Wilson is participating in the Pets On Quilts linky party.  Voting starts on the 9th.  Please stop by and place a vote.... Winners will be announced around the 15th. Click on the icon on my sidebar....

I'm on my way to quilt retreat with my favorite quilty family and friends at the end of this week.  I'm looking forward to a few days of great food, friends and laughter. (Along with a ton of quilting too!) I'm looking forward to sharing it with you when I get back.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and find some time for yourself. 

Happy quilting,

Coneflowers....

Source: Coneflowers #401 via Quilt Doodle on Craftsy

I love cornflowers, they are one of my favorite flowers since I always have luck growing them in my garden. My garden is the inspiration for this new design. I will be sending this pattern to the fall quilt market along with a few other items that I have yet to design!  I thought I would share with you a quick tutorial on how to make this mini quilt.  The pattern can be purchased as an instant download on Craftsy, it is also available on Etsy too~~

I skipped a few steps here.... after tracing the pattern, doing the embroidery, trimming the center block down you are then ready to sew on the borders...
Here the pieced borders are ready to be sewn on to the center block.

After sewing the side borders on, then you sew on the top and
bottom borders using a 1/4" seam.

In the corner block, I traced part of the lazy daisy border.  Here I am embroidery
the design.

Layer the quilt top, batting and backing and pin it so that it can be machine quilted.

Here I am quilting along... I quilted around the main design.

Sewing on the binding....

All done!  I love it, looks so cute in my mini quilt stand.
The finished size is 12  1/2" x 12  1/2"
The perfect size for the stand.

I hope that you enjoy 'Coneflowers'... the colors can be switched up to match whatever fabric you used.  (In my sample I used Bali Handpaints #229 Wisteria and #535 Purple Haze.)  I've been doing a lot of embroidery lately.  I really enjoy being able to work on it while watching a movie in the evening.  I find the handwork to be very relaxing.   Hope to have more designs to share with you!

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you,

Applique Kits!

My mom loves kits, all kinds of quilt kits.  Well that got thinking that I should offer more kits in my Etsy shop. So I spent yesterday packaging up applique tea towel kits.  I also made up so mug rug kits too.  So if you want to try applique, hate picking up fabric, need a quick project, small gift for a quilting friend.... give one of my kits a try!  The tea towel kits have everything you'll need, down to the seed bead eyes and heat n bond!  You just need to have the time and some thread.  My mug rug kits come with everything, batting too!  You'll just need thread and heat n bond.  They're quick, easy and tons of fun!

Kringle Mug Rug Kit

Witchy Poo Tea Towel Kit

Tom Turkey Tea Towel Kit

Jolly St. Nick Tea Towel Kit

Snow Friends Tea Towel Kit

There's also tons of quilty fun still going on... check out the Pets on Quilts Linky party, the Think Christmas Blog Hop.  Both buttons are on my sidebar. 

Happy quilting and perfect stitches to you!