Mini-Giveaway #21 - country fabric

Welcome! 

I debated whether to host this giveaway so close to Thanksgiving....I finally decided, why not.....

So here it is.....

This fabric is slightly slightly heavier that one would usually use in a quilt, although it might be used.  There is about 3 yards of it. I received it from a relative of mine several years back.  The selvage was cut off, so can't help you there....It is a nice piece of fabric......

As usual, DH will do his magic and pick a winner after 10:00 am on November 17.  Please be available for contact......and all that jazzz........

Trip news.....

We finally made it back home after experiencing a necessary delay....we visited cousins in Beeville and my brother in Corpus Christi.  When we realized we were going to have to stay longer than expected, we contacted my sister who owns and rents a small condo right on the beach in Corpus...she made arrangements for us to stay there the remainder of our visit....

These were taken from our balcony....

   The guy above was practicing "surf sailing"...is that the right terminology???....anyway, he was doing flips and the wind was really blowing him along...

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Backing up a bit.....I had planned on stopping in Giddings twice...once on the way down to see the one quilt store I had not seen and once on the way back to see the other one which I had seen before.  Plans change.  I did stop on the way down at this store....

http://www.gerlinesquiltshoppe.com/

Of course, I did not take pictures....but the website will give you an idea. It was a busy time for them...I was told later that they had 11 buses coming from Houston in 3 days (because of the Quilt Show there).  They said the customers consisted mainly of people from other countries who had taken this chance to head out and buy from the "local" quilt stores.  Luckily, I arrived between buses and was able to shop quietly....

On a side note....please take note of the On Line Auction coming up on Nov. 21th which they are helping to sponsor ... This is to help the volunteer fire station which, during the fire flareup in Texas a few weeks ago or so, lost 3 of their vehicles to the fire, as well as homes of 8 of the firemen....They are auctioning off quilts, with the proceeds going directly to the station in hopes to have enough of a downpayment for at least one vehicle...more info on the site if you are interested.

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I decided I was going to skip the stop on the way back in Giddings....I knew we were going to be more than ready to head directly home, so while I was in Corpus, I went to another quilt shop...again no pictures....

http://www.thequiltcottage.com/TQC/Home

They had just come back from Houston with oodles of goodies, not even unpacked, just scattered around the store.  Their rented van was even still parked outside.  I felt as if I was in someone's attic, looking at all the stuff.... And I had fun there, too.

You will see what I got on another post...don't have the pictures yet.....

See ya soon.....

Whew! Winner, Finally, of Mini-Giveaway #20

My quickie trip to see my brother turned out to be a little longer than anticipated....while there, we received word that my aunt who lived in the same city had passed away (she was 90), so we stayed and came home yesterday evening.

I was too pooped to do anything last night, but am ready to roll today, even if it is a little(?!) late.....

And the winner is:     MARTH225!!!!   I have e-mailed her and will be sending the package to her shortly....

Now, unless something unforeseen happens again,  the next giveaway will be scheduled on the 15th, as planned.....  see you then......

Working and Keeping Busy Post ....

I'm trying to get back into posting....really, the only reason I haven't posted was because I had no new pictures of new projects to show you...and pictures in blogs make them so much more interesting, don't ya think?

But after I saw how long it has been since I posted, I decided that pictures of anything be better than not posting at all.....and I have been working....

Sometimes you work really hard at something, but it's like water boiling,,,,,no one wants to hear day after day, "the water hasn't boiled yet, but it's coming".  So it is with my hand quilting....and I really made it worse by deciding to stop quilting on one sandwich after it reached 20% completion and starting on another.  I know where both of them are going, but I am really excited about the 2nd one, and the 1st one has waited this long, it can wait some more.....

So the second one has only strips to work with, and I have completed 5 of the 27 strips...

3 long lines on a strip X 27 = that's 81 lines.....each about 64" long....that's enough math to tell you it will be awhile before I finish...

No pictures of these,,,will have to wait until finished.

Now, to keep my mind from going to jelly while I quilt, I have been working on a some charity quilts...a couple of them you have seen...

The one I was going to finish while my car was being serviced....wasn't.  My DH came with me to town so that has been put on hold until the trip this weekend....that and my HQ will make the journey with me.

I am preparing another top so I can sandwich it after the trip.....

I got the main fabric from the church group and was able to match the colors for the borders from my stash...an easy task since I have straightened up my stash a little....hopefully it won't be so bright that it will keep the owner awake...

I only have one more side to put on before the top is finished.  I would have it done but I had to do a little ripping....twice....once late at night when I added the purple strip on backwards, and the other when that same strip seemed to become attached to the red side, not the yellow like it was supposed to be.... 

Good news is that I remembered how to do what I call a quick rip..instead of cutting every stitch from the wrong side, I cut a stitch every 1/2 inch or so from the right side...then when I started pulling them, the pieces came apart easier.... 

I hope to have enough of this fabric for the backing and binding...

Finally, I found the fabric for the binding of the wall hanging that has the names of all my family, DH, children, and grandchildren....their names, and birth dates...

Obviously, this cannot be pictured because of all the personal info, but hopefully, when finished, I can show you something..... That is supposed to be a light yellow binding.....

See you after the trip...if I can remember to take my camera AND take pictures, I may show you the quilt store I hopefully will discover in Corpus Christi.....

Mini Giveaway # 20 - Another Practice Fabric

edited: 1:45pm (CST)  So Sorry Guys!!!  When I scheduled this post I didn't proofread and had it scheduled for Nov. 3, not the 1st.....   So, I added a few days to the time frame (see below).....

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Hello, after a long time of not posting.....more on that later....

Now, this practice fabric actually has simpler designs, less busy than the last one....although there does seem to be a lot of  the same theme running through it.....feathers, petals, etc....

I sewed a little on it, without sandwiching, to see how it would look with red thread on the designs...but decided again it was not for me...

It is on white fabric, regardless of what the pictures show (click on them for a better view)....and about 35 inches, or a very scant yard of fabric....

So,,,here are the pictures.....please disregard the folds....did not want to iron it or heat it up because of the design....didn't want to chance either setting the ink or making it disappear......not sure which, if either, would happen....

Good Luck to all and remember that the winner will be announced after DH does his thing on Nov 7 after 10:00am due to a trip we have planned this coming weekend starting early Friday morning. ..... See how one goofup can multiply into a whole mess?......We might stay over and come home on Monday, the 7th....if so, it will be middle to late afternoon before ya'll know what's what around here. 

BUT,  all good things comes to one who waits.......and wins.    Too, remember please to be available for contact so you will know you won.....

 I am trying to get a couple of sandwiches ready for binding so I can take them on the trip with me.  Also, I have been trying to work on my handquilting a lot since posting last, and have not had much to "show and tell" with pictures. and other things have been either given priority or getting in the way....That is no excuse, but wanted my followers to know that everything is hunky dory and hopefully soon I will be getting back in the groove. 

Winner! MiniGiveaway #19

Edited: 11:15pm (CST) 10/19/11:  Sonya is the winner!  She contacted me and I will be sending her the package shortly.....Thank all of you for joining in and I'll see you again on Nov 1......


...is a fellow Texan....Sonya Threadgill Nelson .   Congratulations on winning, Sonya.  I hope you will enjoy using the fabric.  I'll be sending you the package as soon as you let me know where to send it...I didn't see any e-mail address where I can get in touch with you, so be sure and contact me.

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edited 6:30pm (CST) 10/18/11:  Still waiting for Sonya to contact me..I commented on both her blogs..don't know what else to do....Hopefully, she is just busy and will check in later.....

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 I'll let everyone know when you contact me by editing this post...But just in case, I need to announce that I will redraw after Friday, October 21 at 1:00pm...  

Ya'll  all be sure and check back here on the 1st of next month...well, you can come on in before that time and read also, but the 1st is the next Giveaway.....

Sure has been fun seeing where all my "stuff" is heading.  I'm making little splashes of excitement (I hope) all around the sphere here. Will keep it up as long as I can find stuff I can give away...my room is starting to look a little cleaner...

See you next month!

Mini-Giveaway #19 - Practice Quilting Fabric #1

Welcome! This time I am giving away practice hours or minutes, depending on how fast you are......It is almost a yard of printed practice loops and designs for machine quilting (or handquilting)....

The border has the words.....Machine Quilting Skill Builder Sampler #1   (c) Renae Allen for RGA Design, 2007....  Evidently, you sandwich this and then use it to practice your machine quilting...

It is on a white background, and the designs will wash out, so be sure and use it before washing....... there are no directions, only small arrows to suggest a path in various designs....

They are pretty designs.  When I bought it, I had the idea of handquilting portions of it in red thread and creating a quilt out of it....one of my ideas that did not fall on any fertile and willing ground....

This is my #1.....I have another piece I plan to use in another Giveaway in the next month or so...

So here are several pictures...

As usual, DH will pick the winner on October 17 after 10:00am (CST) , who, naturally, should be available for contact and mailing purposes.....

Good luck to all.....

Quiet Week..Sick Machine...

My Janome is sick.

I am hoping it is just a simple cold or allergy...I had just run out of upper thread so used the opportunity to clean, dust, change needles and thread.  I used a new 80/12 needle I just bought, one that is an "easy thread".  I also put in a new bobbin with thread to match the new upper spool I started to use...

It started showing symptoms (coughing bobbin.. stuffy, stopped up needle..runny, shredded thread).    

So I am going to try some home remedies.....I will change everything (sounds like a thread allergy now that I am re-reading this) in hopes that it will clear up the symptoms...if not, it will need to go to the dr....

In the meantime, my little Singer has been spiffed up and has been stepping up the the plate...

It is hard when one of your children is sick....but so glad both of them are not under the weather...that would be really stressful...

It is Done....Back to Regular Scheduled Programs.....

My "Forget everything but this quilt" is done.....It is taking a bath as I write and will be sent off on Monday....

This is for my brother.  He likes simple old-fashioned things so I complied, tacking the quilt instead of quilting (it takes a shorter time, also.  I had to buy the backing, which I also used as the binding.  I made 8" squares, 7 x 9, so the approximate size of the quilt is 56 x 72....I didn't measure it before it started it's bath.  I have had the fabric for the squares a long time, don't know if it had been washed before or where the pieces came from, so I added color catchers (3) in the wash.  The back is dark blue and I expect the catchers will catch some color from it also.....

So, it is done,,,,now I can clean and mop floors that have been waiting for over a week to do....

I have to reward myself some way!

Why My Title????

Dawn at As Sweet as Cinnamon is asking bloggers why they chose the name of their blog, and giving a prize as well... 

 My blog came about after I realized that this quilting phase I was in wouldn't go away.  I was stuck.  I wanted a way to show what I was doing, and every once in awhile what I had done. 

I thought of various names but finally decided on One More Quilt.  I may have plans, ideas, stash all over the place, but it all comes down to finishing just One More Quilt.  If I can do that, I am still accomplishing what I want.  That Quilt may be months in the making/handquilting stage, or it may be one I "throw together" in a hurry, or it may spend most of it's life as a top (or flimsy) before I can get to it again, but I continue on....

In between, I have squeezed in bags, curtains, ironing board covers, mug rugs, and a variety of other items.....

But I always come back to....One More Quilt.....

Part of the story is also the photo I have in my header.....

You can read the background of this picture behind one of the tabs above.  Just want to say that my Great-Grandfather's pose (?) was a perfect fit for the feeling I want in this blog...happy, excited, unexpected, and as is mentioned, spontaneous....

Hope I can live up to it at times.....

A New Project.....

As of last weekend, I am embarking on a new quilt....this is one that was planned, but has been bumped up to the forefront of the list for reasons of my own.  It may end up being a  "Work on it NOW, and other people can cook, clean, and do dishes" quilt....(Other People = DH, of course...)...

Here are the ingredients....

It will be a simple block quilt, because it is for a simple, no frills person....

My computer time will be limited to very few posts, but I will be here...lurking..maybe posting...who knows....

See you in a bit.......

I'm Here,,,I'm Here....Winner of #18 Mini-Giveaway!

Have been out of pocket this morning....

Jessica!  You are the winner of the Giveaway!  Congratulations!  I Knew there were some people who could use this item!  Will be interested to learn what you will be doing with it....

See all of you later this month for the next Giveaway.....

Mini-Giveaway #18: Flowered Shower Curtain Remnant....

Obviously, this is a non-quilty item, but it is so pretty that someone, somewhere could be interested. So ya'll look here........ (cool...I just scheduled this post...look at the 1s and 0s....2011-10-01 10:00 )

This is a remnant measuring approximately 2 yards x 21 inches....It is from the type of shower curtain which needed a plastic curtain on the inside to catch the water.  It is clean, sturdy, made of something like ducking, and the flowers continue down the entire 2 yards... Probably was cut off a curtain before using, due to the width needed.  Except for the cut edge, there are nice hems on the sides [counting the one where the (3) button holes are]. No plastic is on the inside of the hems...

Remember, quilty people are imaginative people,...a couple of uses come to mind..

...the flowers and petals could be used as a decorative addition to an outdoor project. 

...a sturdy bag or purse (even a beach bag)

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DH will draw a name out of a bowl on October 3rd after 10:00am (CST). Be available for notification and acceptance..... The winner will be announced then.  Good luck on the draw.   

Old Fashioned Embroidery Patterns

I was looking through a stack of old, OLD, craft magazines that belonged to my grandmother and ran across a folded (and torn on fold) paper that had these iron-on transfer patterns of long ago.

No, this is not for my Giveaways....

but,

if any of you would like close up pictures of any of these as a go-by, you are welcome to them.  Here they are....

(1)  two flowers

(2)  circled lady

(3) flower basket

(4) horses

(5) tulips and heart

(6) cat softie

Hopefully some of you would be interested in bringing these old patterns back to life...

 If you cannot get the pictures copied from this blog, I'll be glad to e-mail the pictures to you, just let me know which ones you want. 

This would be quite an undertaking, but would love to see any results you have later.....

edited:  I added the picture of the cat softie after it was requested..

A Revealing Look....

My Goal regarding Giveaways at the first of this year was for them to last at least 12 months...and it looks like I will make it...

My other goal was to straighten up my sewing room and give away items I no longer had use for, or what I thought might interest someone else...

As for straightening my sewing room....well, on a scale of one to ten , one being as it looked in the beginning of last year....I rate about a 3...so you can imagine, as you look at these pictures what it looked like then...

Granted I have added a few items, large and small, to my room...and I still can't find some things needed that I know are there...and some of the same items are scattered in 2 or 3 different plastic bins, when they could be consolidated...

Anyway, enough of that....... Here are the pictures and the hopeful plans of yours truly.....

Where to begin,,,I guess with the first pictures I have...

Here is my sewing table, which was my mother's drop leaf dining room table.  I just added my featherweight to one end,  and hope that, with a little arranging when needed, it will stay. Yes, the ends of the table can be lowered for a smaller space, but I need every inch. 

In case any of you are worried that the leaf might accidently drop with my lovely on it, please note the sturdy supports underneath.  So unless I decide to sit on the leaf, it will more than likely hold this little jewel safely. 

Now to my notions "wall"...

Having 2 machines (I'm sure a lot of you have more), I realized that there are some items that I must keep separate due to possible confusion of which is which...Also, one cannot keep EVERYTHING right next to her work area/sewing machines.. So I have started gathering (and will label) the various drawers and other containers needed for such storage.  At least then I will know that what I need is Somewhere on these shelves... Of course, that means I will have to find other places to put the boxes, etc. that are there now.   I am still deciding about my templates...that grillwork is just begging for something to hang there, but hopefully not in the way of what is on the shelves....

This is another "wall" (they both are roll-around BTW).  I am going to try and dedicate this one to my fabric, except for an area where I will put my dies for my Go Baby.   I actually have started working on this also...In fact, this is where I stopped and started taking pictures so that Hopefully! I will be able to show you the results of my efforts in a few days/weeks/etc....

As you enter the sewing room (see door), there is evidence of my #3 rating on the wooden bookcase.  I also have a small number of baskets I hope to put to better use around the room later.  The stuff in the corner????....beginnings of Christmas presents...that's another job and another story.

Ahhh, my roll around cart.....my Jack of all Trades....it's use varies as I see fit...I am now envisioning it as a base for my small ironing board when needed.   Now it contains possible future giveaway items.....No, the Coke can is not on the list....

My cutting table is still in the middle of the room, but no picture of it here.  This is about storage...although it is piled up with stuff now....Naah...ya'll can imagine that.

Now to my closet....

This is where I keep my (again) roll around table I use when basting and sandwiching.  It acts as a semi-storage of some big items such as batting and portable sewing "baskets". 

But I have shelves here too....These hold some of my office supplies as well as odds and ends I want to keep, but use very seldom..at least that is my goal when I finish.  This is where I hope to really create some space...

as well as here....

So much wasted space that can be put to use!

Don't know what is under all this, but hope to find out....soon!

So there you have it...I will be sewing and quilting while I work on this,,I have to have some fun...but hopefully, I can soon show you some more results and go from a rating of 3 to maybe even 6 next time...who knows???

Also, I am finding more things for the giveaways.....maybe I can continue beyond the year...

Wonder how many of these posts I have to write before my room gets magically clean?????