Olde World Stars and The Winners Are . . .

Remember this quilt? This was the last quilt I worked on in 2010. I had issues with this project start to finish. Not the piecing, the pattern, Root Beer Float, by Hyacinth Designs, was easy to follow and each block came out perfectly. It was the fabric that drove me crazy. (as usual)

I struggled with my fabric choices for the star blocks, but finally hit on what I thought was the perfect combination. But when it came to adding some borders, nothing felt or looked right to me. So I put the quilt away but still thought about it, add a border, skip a border, what to do.

When I last blogged about this quilt, someone suggested a plain black border, which appealed to me. Today I finally auditioned some plain black fabric as a border, here it is. I don't think it adds anything to the quilt, I would be adding a border just to be making the quilt larger, and in this case, size is not important to me. So I've made up my mind, no border for this quilt, it's done!

This is Olde World Stars, Lifetime Quilt #67.

It finishes at 66" x 66"

has approximately 721 pieces

and was made using Olde World Style fabric by Monique Dillard for Maywood Studio.

I can hardly wait to have it quilted, I think it will look great hanging in my living room.

152 folks stopped by my 250th blog post celebration. Wow, thanks so much for all your kinds words, there are tens of thousands of blogs out there, it means the world to me that you take the time to stop by mine, and enjoy doing so.

It seems my pop addiction is a common one. I've been told if I tried a Coke now, after not drinking one for a year, that I would not like the taste, and some of you have first hand experience with it, I'm not chancing it!

Applique is another goal so many of you would like to try. I think finding the right project is the secret, once I saw Evening Bloom, I knew I would do whatever it took to make that quilt, even needle turn applique. I now end every day doing just that, it is very satisfying and relaxing. Finding the perfect project will fuel your passion.

Someone mentioned Shakespeare in the Park, a quilt pattern by Judy Martin, was something they were wanting to tackle, me too!

Congratulations to everyone for the wonderful accomplishments mentioned, gong back to school, exercising, joining a quilt guild, and all the others, I applaud you.

Now for the winners . . . I couldn't really use Random Number Generator, so I wrote down every name, along with the day and time the comment was left, on a piece of paper. If you did not pick a favorite, I randomly dropped your name in a bucket, so everyone got one chance.

The French General kit was the most popular choice, but not by much.

So I closed my eyes and drew one name from each bowl.

Annette at Sunshine Yellow won the Glace fabric

Staci The Confused Quilter won the Park Avenue fabric

and Donna The Cats Meow Two won the French General kit.

Thanks to all for making my 250th post such a positive, fun and uplifting experience.

Tomorrow.....it's Tuesday, Eventide update day!! See ya then!

oh, one more thing.....those closet doors are STILL off!

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Celebrate Good Times - Come On . . . .

How about a little Kool and the Gang (does that date me or what!) to start off your day.

We're celebrating today.......

Two Things

First, I haven't had a Coke in a year! I haven't had any pop in a year, I'm off pop. (do you say soda, soft drink, soda pop, carbonated beverage...I say pop)

I'm not anti-pop, you can drink all the pop you want, it's OK with me, I'm just at the age where I figured drinking pop was no longer good for me, and when it got to the point that I was craving my daily Coke at 10:30 am, I figured it was time to just give it up. So I did, and it wasn't easy at first, but I don't think twice about it now. The other day, when I was on an airplane, and was asked if I wanted a drink, I almost said, "yes, ginger ale please". That used to be my special treat when I flew. Then I remembered , I don't drink pop, so I passed on the drink offer. So now I can say I've not had any pop for a year, not at home, not on a plane, not even with my pizza.

The next thing we're celebrating ...... this is my 250th post on my blog!!

I started my blog 18 months ago, and in that time I've finished 19 quilts (and started a few that I'll never finish). Of those 19, I would have never made 12 of them if I didn't have a blog or read your blogs. What a huge influence blogging has had on my quilting.

The comment I've gotten most often over the last 18 months is, "More Cooper Pics".

It's always from my daughter, I appreciate any constructive feedback I can get, so Ashley, this is for you. Cooper and I are playing frisbee indoors these days, the yard is just too wet and the temperature too cold!

My favorite quilt that I've made in the last 18 months, the post that has gotten the most hits over the last 18 months (non giveaway post), and the quilt that has generated the most emails for more information are all the same....

Madeline's Good Fortune

I've finally added my best guesstimate as to the fabric requirements for this project to this post and added a link on my right sidebar. I've sent this information out more times than I can count.

My second most popular post is A la Mode! You've got good taste, that's also one of my favorite quilts.

I thought I would add my "stinker" quilt to this post, Mocha Trail, but when I went back and looked at the picture, I decided I liked it! And when I blogged about finishing that quilt, you all loved it, you were right, I should have listened, I guess it was like fine wine, it needed to age. I need to get that quilt to the quilter!! 19 finishes and no stinkers! That's something to celebrate!

I've posted pictures of my sewing room over the last 18 months, but after 249 posts, I figured we were close enough for me to now show you my sewing room closet. (I removed the doors for this picture and can't figure out how to get them back on.....)

I file my patterns in those binders (bottom shelf), which I've blogged about before. There's nothing in that red and white polka dot hat box, but I just love it so I keep it.

The plastic bins and containers hold projects and kits.

The pink crate like containers hold families of fabric.

So here's my stash. The fabric folded and setting on the shelves is my yardage, 1/2 yard or larger cuts, from all sorts of families, sorted by color. I also have a civil war repo stack of fabric and two French General stacks. The French General fabric is sorted by family then by color. (bottom shelf, right)

There are batiks in the bin on the floor on the right, and Fig Tree and Kansas Troubles fabric in the two bins on the floor on the left.

This helps me fold my yardage,

this is the width of my shelves. I've found that if I fold the fabric as it comes in the door, it's not such a big job.

I have two bins of fat quarters,

they're hiding, middle shelf far left.

I've been sewing over 7 years now so I've accumulated a fairly good quantity of fabric and kits for me, I tend to really over think my fabric purchases, resulting in very few! Plus I don't have easy access to a local quilt shop. It's hard to make impulse purchases when you're not in a store.

The drawer units on the floor are great and I think help me keep my sewing room neat and orderly. The black unit on the left stores scraps or pieces of fabric that are smaller than a fat quarter.

Top drawer colors, middle drawer lights, bottom drawer reds. I go to these drawers first when I start a new project.

The first drawer of the unit on the right holds my rulers and templates.

I just love anything that claims to make my quilt making more accurate or faster and easier.

This is the bottom drawer, my French General scraps.....

my goal is to use each little bit of that fabric!

Most of the folks that were the first to comment on my blog still stop by, along with a host of new ones. I've lost track of some folks and others have quit blogging. That's just life I guess, folks moving in and out of it for no particular reason.

When I think of how much I would still like to learn about blogging (like how to create those great collage/montage pictures) I also remember how much I've already learned. It took me two months to figure out that my comments could go directly to my email inbasket. I actually copied and pasted each one of my first comments into an email and kept each address in an address book, a paper address book, not one online!! I also have to admit I'm still amazed when my posts actually show up on my blog.

The hardest part about blogging for me is responding to my comments. Well not the actual responding, I love that part, it's the ones that I don't respond to that bother me. I still feel the need to respond to each comment. I enjoy your comments, read each comment and make a point of answering your questions but some days I don't get to them all. Sooner or later I'm just going to have to admit that I can't get to every comment and that's OK.... I hope that's OK with you.

So in a nutshell I would have to say blogging has been nothing but one of the best experiences of my life and has made me a better quilter, expanded my list of friends, and is usually the highlight of my day. I enjoy reading what you're doing as much as I enjoy sharing what I'm up to. Thanks so much for stopping by, sharing your thoughts and experiences, and adding so much to my blog.

What's a celebration without a giveaway . . . .

The giveaway is now closed, thanks for stopping by!

To be eligible to win leave a comment with something you've been wanting to do but haven't because you thought it would be too hard, or something you surprised yourself by accomplishing and are now proud of. Also let me know which prize you would prefer to win,

1. French General's Reine des Abeilles quilt kit.

You get the pattern, fabric (Maison de Garance) , kit bag with numbered label, and a label for the finished quilt.

2. Fat quarter bundle of Glace by 3 Sisters for Moda,

with some additional holly yardage.

or

3. Fat Quarter bundle of Park Avenue by 3 Sisters for Moda,

with some border fabric.

Contest ends noon, Central Standard Time, Sunday March 13th, winner to be announced Monday, March 14th.

Now on to the next 250.

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It's Tuesday . . .

which means it's Eventide Update Day!!

First a few housekeeping items:

In order to be eligible for the end of project prizes, you need to have a finished pieced Eventide top, quilting is not required. We now have 2 prizes for our final sew along drawing, a $50 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop, (Thanks Kimberly!!) and something from Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company (Thanks Carrie!)

Technically, our initial deadline was set for March 31, resulting in a April 1st parade. First off, I think our finished quilts are too lovely to be paraded out on April Fools day, second, Sinta and Sherri have the Le Petite parade the first day of the month, and it's a wonderful parade, so I would prefer for our parade to run down blog street a different day. The first Tuesday in April, the 5th, is our official parade date. Any quilt done and in the April 5th parade is eligible to be in the drawing for the final sew along giveaways and get a mug rug from me!

Want to join? It's not too late, just send me an email!

Here's what I've been up to, I've finished all my Ohio Star blocks! My design wall isn't big enough to hold all my blocks, and I wanted to make sure that I made every block unique, so I made mine in groups.

Here's all the dark pointed stars . . . .

Red pointed stars . . .

and caramel pointed stars!!

Next up, creating the perfect layout, pictures of that next week!

Here's another update from Deb,

" I've completed all of the large star points and I like the looks of this quilt. I need to finish up the smaller ohio star blocks, should have them done this week and want to get the center put together by this next week. I think I'll easily have it done before the end of the month."

Great progress Deb, I love how that Jo Morton fabric looks in this project!!

Here's an update from Gayle. Her Eventide is a wedding gift for her son and soon to be daughter-in-law.

Gayle's not using fat quarters or fabric from a specific family, it's all coming from her stash!

Gayle will be using darks blues, olive greens and khakis with some scattered dark reds. She also plans to use red for her inner border.

Here are Gayle's Ohio Stars. Gayle added "Some of these will not be used, but this is a great way to see how they are all going to look together. I’ve realized I want to keep the light background fabric more tones-on-tones and eliminate some of the movement that appears in some of the backgrounds. "

Gayle started by planning and making the six muted stars in the background. She plans to have three large stars with dark blue points with small green interior star points, and three large stars with dark olive green points with small dark blue interior star points.

Gayle's Eventide project is a wonderful example of how it doesn't take a specific line of fabric or even a family of fabrics to make a great Eventide quilt. Great Job Gayle, I love it!

Here are some Eventide updates from the blogging sew along participants:

After rethinking her initial fabric choice for the large star points, Nicole/Sisters Choice, has gone a completely new direction and is back on track! Way to hang in there Nicole!

Beatrice, who is going with Colletion for a Cause - Heritage, has finished the inside of her quilt, now it's on to the borders. It looks great Beatrice!

Carol's Red White and Blue Eventide is stunning, I never would have thought to go with those colors for Eventide, but I really like it.

Gretchen at Stella Bella quilts worked all day Saturday on her Eventide, finishing her large quarter square triangle blocks and half her Ohio Star blocks, wow, now that's a productive day!

Judith has 3/4ths of the center of her Eventide pieced, you can really see the Christmas flavor of the quilt now.

Lisa's Luna Notte Eventide is coming right along too, very very lovely Lisa!

Paula is squeezing in a little Eventide sewing in between several other projects.

Sherri at A Quilting Life has been working on her Ohio Star blocks and has colorful little parts and pieces on her sewing table.

Sinta Pink Pinkcusion, raced through her Ohio Stars and is now working on her quarter square triangle blocks, it's not been smooth, Hang in there Sinta, it's all downhill from here!

AND we have our first finish, Sue at Cozy Little Quilts is done! Congratulations Sue, your Eventide using Luna Notte looks wonderful, as pretty as the picture on the pattern! Not only do you have a lovely quilt, you're the winner of the "First Finish" prize, this calls for a celebration, how about some cake, any layer cake of your choosing from the Fat Quarter Shop!

Would you like a layer cake from the Fat Quarter Shop? Just leave a comment on this post before midnight Wednesday,CST, Wednesday, March 9th. Any comment will do.

The winner of last week's giveaway, any book from the Fat Quarter Shop, is Mary Lou at Cheaper Than Therapy Quilting. Congratulations Mary Lou, thanks for leaving a comment and participating in the sew along, look over the books and let me know what appeals to you!

That's it for this week, if I missed your update I'll catch it next week!

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It's March ! ! !

I figured a new month meant I better swap out the quilt I had hanging on my living room wall. Myths of Avalon had been up since the first of January. Even though this wall doesn't get direct sunlight, I plan to change quilts every couple of months. I would go with a new quilt every month, but I just don't like climbing that ladder.

So I looked over my available quilts and decided on this poor quilt that rarely sees the light of day. It's too small for a bed and too big to hang over the red couch, I think I may have hung it over the bannister once, but it usually just hangs in a closet.

I think the prints are good for this time of year, they add some color to the room but don't shout spring, the colors kind of whisper spring, which matches the March weather we usually see in Illinois.

At first I thought it may be too big for the wall space that I have, but since it's not an overly busy quilt, I think it looks fine up there. I don't think I could go with a quilt that's any bigger, that's for sure.

If you would like more information about this quilt, this is Lifetime Quilt #16.

Race Update

Thanks so much for all your good wishes for my marathon weekend.

First, I'm happy to report I only lost 2 "jewels" from my shoes during the race! Most everyone was dressed up for the race, plenty of tiaras and tutus, but I didn't notice any other bedazzled shoes! When we picked up our racing bibs, my daughter and I actually squealed like 6 year old girls when we saw our names, "Princes Thelma" and "Princess Ashley"!

Disney sure knows how to pamper their princess runners,

here we are, being greeted by our footmen before we pick up our race packets.

Several folks asked for me to post a picture of me running with my shoes and tiara, so here you go! I was smiling because I think I had less than a mile to go at this point! (Princess runners don't sweat, they sparkle!!)

13,091 ladies finished the race, the fastest runner ran 13.1 miles in 82 minutes, I was a little slower, I was 5,295 runners behind the winner. Think you're too old to participate, the oldest finisher was 82!

Here we are, in front of Cinderella's Castle, proudly wearing our finishers medal. Ashley and I ran the entire race together and crossed the finish line at the same time.

It was a wonderful weekend, the weather could not have been any better.

For some reason, crossing the finish line with my daughter, was a very emotional moment. I was just so thankful to be healthy enough to finish the race, to share the experience with my daughter, and so relieved that my training paid off. I cried like a baby when I received my medal.

I'm still behind on my email after being out of town, if you're waiting for a response from me, I hope to get caught up this weekend!

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It's Tuesday . . .

. . . which means it's Eventide Sew Along Update Day!!

And boy do we have some great updates, most of the folks sewing along have at least made their fabric selections and I think most of us have also done a little cutting and sewing!

After I finished my large hour glass blocks, I decided to move on to the Ohio Star blocks with the colored corners.

Eleven of them, all done!

(I'm not sure that block with the blue star points is going to make the cut.)

After getting this far along, I felt I had a good feel for the fabric and the direction I was going

so I cut the rest of the fabric for the remaining Ohio Stars. Enough about me, here's what everyone else is doing!!

Deb doesn't have a blog, but she sent this picture of her progress

12 Ohio Star blocks. Deb is using Jo Morton fabrics for her version of Eventide. It looks good to me Deb!

Anita is cutting out and piecing a few blocks to get a feel for her fabric, Rural Jardin.

We have some more fabric choices;

DZJ has joined the fun and is using Martinique fabric.

Gretchen, at Stella Bella Quilts has decided to exchange her original fabric choice, Central Park, for some Fig and Plum by Fig Tree, which gives our group 3 Fig Tree projects. Stop by her blog to see if over the past week she was able to untie and start cutting that lovely bundle of fabric.

Brenda - Quilting Along Life's Way has decided to use Luna Notte for her Eventide.

Chris is going with Minnick & Simpson's Charlevoix.

Sharrieboberry at Needles Zing has pulled a lovely assortment of pastel fabrics from her stash for her Eventide, the colors are fresh and say spring to me, our first true scrappy Eventide I think, take a peek.

Sherri at A Quilting Life blogged on Friday about her Eventide fabric choice, a very interesting combination of Park Avenue (the fabric I'm using) and Maison de Garance (which I'm also using) with some Rouenneries thrown in. (which I'm not using) I'm eager to see Sherri's version because she dropped the blue from her Park Avenue family, the color I struggled with but decided to keep in my version! Stop by and take a look, I'm intrigued!

Carol at This and That has decided on Wiscasset and has made her first Ohio Star block.

Here are some other updates:

Judith at Smokey from the Netherlands got her pattern - a good first step!

Lisa - Stashmaste has cut out all the fabric and immediately went to piecing the quarter square triangle units for the Ohio Stars. Her sewing table is a beautiful assortment of Luna Notte bits and pieces.

I think it looks Like Nicole at Sisters Choice Quilts is leading the pack, her design wall is filling up fast and looks great!

Shelley at Poplun is like most of us, she has a sewing room with many projects in various stages but has decided to sew along and finally make a quilt for herself. Good for you Shelley, I'm happy you're putting yourself on your To Do list!

Sinta - at Pink Pincushion is going to town on Eventide too, great job Sinta!

Sue - at Cozy Little Quilts is giving Nicole a run for her money on finishing her Eventide first. Sue's design is filling up too! Sue, your Luna Notte fabric looks wonderful on your design wall.

Sarah has started the cutting (a big job that thankfully is behind me!) her Luna Notte fabric and is going to start sewing today! Sarah's super sizing her Eventide, she want's to make it "fit for a king", by adding some borders. I'm curious to see Eventide surrounded by borders and am giving this some thought too!

That's all the updates that I caught this week, but after being out of town I am a little behind on my email, so if I missed you this week I'm sorry and I'll catch you next week!

Now for some winners!!

The comment winner from last Tuesday's post, is Baskets of Quilts. You're the winner of any Carrie Nelson pattern currently available from the Fat Quarter Shop. Congratulations and thanks for leaving a comment. Drop me a note with your selection and address!!

This week's sew along winner is Cheryl! This week's giveaway is any quilt book currently available from the Fat Quarter Shop. Cheryl, send me an email with your book choice and mailing address!

If you would like to win a quilting book of your choice from the Fat Quarter Shop, leave a comment on this blog. You have until midnight, CST, Wednesday, March 2nd to be eligible. Any comment would do, but I love quilting books, and would be interested in knowing what is your all time favorite quilt pattern book.

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