Pinwheel sampler progress, I'm a winner again and an awesome coupon

Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-Along Block 7

All caught up in the pinwheel sampler quilt along. There's only one block left!

The quilting gods are smiling on me this week. I won one of the many prizes from Quilting Bee Blocks' grand opening giveaway! I've gone on and on about the fabulous Quilting Bee Blocks blog before, so I won't repeat myself. All I'll say is: If you haven't been there yet, go now!

I will soon be the proud owner of two adorable fat quarters from Darci at Stitches & Scissors:

(image from Darci at Stitches & Scissors)

A big thank you to Erin and Darci for the fabulous prize. Robots and stars... it really doesn't get any better!

In sale news... I checked twitter this morning, which I don't do often, and I saw this:

FatQuarterShop: COUPON: $10 off order! Expires Fri 4/16, midnight CST. Exclusions apply, see FB for details! Code "AprilCoupon" http://ow.ly/1xC3R

How fortuitous that Kimberly announces a coupon code on the day I get paid! Guess I'll have to get used to it, Kimberly says she'll be posting special discounts on Facebook and Twitter every Wednesday!

I got two charm packs (only $12 with shipping!), one Make Life to go with my Layer Cake prize and a Love U simply because of the cute owls and snails:

     

I've been drooling over hand-pieced hexagons on Flickr and Texas Freckles, so I'm hoping to make some adorable owl hexes for a pillow or potholder.

Crossing items off the to-do list — feels so good!

I'm making decent headway on my to-do list from earlier in the week:

1. pinwheel sampler quilt-along block five
   
   
   
2. put together backing for Happy Campers
   
   I really hate cutting long lengths of fabric. I don't have a lot of table space to work with, so it's incredibly difficult to get it accurate. Luckily backing fabric is supposed to be a bit larger on all sides, so it doesn't matter if it's a little crooked.
   
   
3. baste Happy Campers
   
   I used the tutorial from Oh, Fransson! on making a quilt sandwich, and it really simplified the process. I had to stitch together (by hand — ick) two pieces of backing since I didn't buy it pre-cut. I had a 45" x 5 yd. bundle that I got on sale at JoAnn's a while back. I also decided to go with the tried and true and basted with safety pins. This is definitely one of my least favorite parts of quilting.
   
   
4. work on sashing for whirlygigs

The only thing stopping me from quilting Happy Campers is lack of thread. I want to use a beige/neutral color, but the only quilting thread I have is bright white.

I guess in the meantime I'll get to that sashing!

Oh, and in sale news: V and Co. is offering a 25% refund on your purchase at her etsy shop through the end of the week. Just mention "simply utah" in the notes on your order.

Use code "SEVI" at The Dizzy Daisy (an adorable fabric shop you should check out) for 10% off your order through the end of the day Saturday.

Use code "MM2010" at Connecting Threads for 20% off your purchase until the end of the month — this code is good on clearance stuff, too!

Inspiration from Flickr

It's been a few days. I haven't posted because I haven't gotten anything done since the Friday Night Sew-In. I've been taking care of a sick boyfriend and a sick puppy with my free time this week. I have about 8 days until I can buy more fabric and thread, so I need to make do with what I have. But I have been practically drooling over the Modify Tradition blog and Flickr pool. These are a few of my favorites:

(each photo is a link to the Flickr page, hover or click over for details)

I've been doing some online window-shopping for a FQ bundle or layer cake, because I am absolutely dying to make my very own Modify Tradition-inspired sampler quilt. They're doing a quilt-along over there, but I think I want to do this at my own pace. I'm already behind on Rachel's pinwheel sampler — I caught up for all of one day!

So here is my to-do list before I can buy more fabric. Hopefully posting it here will keep me accountable...

1. pinwheel sampler quilt-along block five
2. put together backing for Happy Campers
3. baste Happy Campers
4. work on sashing for whirlygigs
5. get paid

The last item on that list is probably the most important :)

In sale news: QuiltHome is giving 20% off Valori Wells fabric, patterns and books through March 29 with the code vwf20.

Fabric.com is giving an extra 30% off sale (which is already 30%-50% off) through March 29 with code CLEARANCE323.

ps: I am also completely addicted to the Fresh Modern Quilts Flickr pool. Inspiration city.

National Quilting Day and Friday Night Sew-In results

Happy National Quilting Day! Today is also my the first day of Spring and my half-birthday, which means I'm six months away from the big 2-5. I'm still getting used to being 24. Weird.

I got a ton of stuff done yesterday! It was the Friday Night Sew-In, but I sewed pretty much all day. I think I spent about 8 or 9 hours cutting and sewing.

I got all caught up on the pinwheel sampler quilt along. (Of course, Rachel posted a new block today!)

block three


block four

After that, I switched to whirlygigs:

I managed to cut fabric and piece all twenty of my whirlygig blocks! I'm incredibly pleased with how they turned out. They were remarkably simple to put together, which was surprising because not only had I never made one before, I wasn't following a tutorial. They will be about 8" finished.

For the second block of the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-Along, Rachel included an amazing tutorial on taming the bulky seams in the center of the blocks. I honestly think I'm addicted to it. The way you press the seams gives the blocks a pretty cool effect. I used it for all my whirlygig blocks.

If you participated in the Friday Night Sew-In, what did you get done? How are you celebrating National Quilting Day and/or the first day of Spring?

In sale news: Natalia at Piece N Quilt is giving you 25% off your purchase using coupon code "Nationalquiltingday" through midnight tonight.

Leah at Burgundy Buttons is offering 10% off with the code "NQD" all weekend.

the elusive perfectly matched corners

I hope I didn't jinx myself with that title. I put together the first two rows of Happy Campers and (drumroll, please) ... the corners match up!

I was pretty nervous about this when I began piecing my blocks, because despite my best efforts, they were not exactly 12½" square. But the quilting gods are smiling on me today, because the blocks seem to be off by the same amount. This has made my day.

One thing I learned while piecing the rows: be very aware of which end of the pin is going in your mouth. When I'm sewing and a pin gets in the way of my needle, I'll usually just hold it in my mouth instead of trying to find my pincushion. While I was putting these two rows together, I stabbed myself in the lip. No blood, but boy did it sting!

In sale news: Take 10% off a purchase at Sew, Mama, Sew until March 15 using code "10MARCHLION2010". I especially like the Modern Meadow collection, but the 10% off is good on sale stuff too!

Get 5% off at Piece n Quilt using code "12109news" — all their patterns and books are on sale until Monday.

And, of course, every day there's an amazing deal from the Missouri Quilt Co. A couple days ago, I got a charm pack of Everything but the Kitchen Sink for less than $10 with shipping. I think I'm going to try my hand at whirlygigs with these.

It's Tuesday, and you know what that means!

I didn't get any sewing done before work today as I had planned. I was taking Pierre outside to do his business, when a neighbor's pit bull bounded down the stairs and started to attack poor little Pierre! The neighbor's dog had run out of her apartment when she opened the door to let the maintenance guy inside. I was horrified! I was yelling and trying to stop the dog, but I couldn't catch it. Poor Pierre was crying and kept running away and getting caught again. The maintenance guy caught the pit bull and I held poor Pierre. He was only bleeding a little, but he was all muddy and wet. Luckily he only had one or two small scratches, so we didn't have to take him to the vet. Unfortunately, after that ordeal the poor thing had to have a bath. So I wound up spending the rest of my afternoon cuddling with Pierre and rubbing his belly. I can't imagine what we would have done if he had any serious cuts.
All that aside, Tuesdays are usually my favorite days of the week. So many great things happen. First of all, Tuesday is my "Friday" at work — any of you who work in a 7-day-a-week industry (I work at a newspaper) know what I'm talking about here. 

Second, Tuesday is when Julie over at Jaybird Quilts posts her list of blog giveaways. I've yet to win anything, but I have found some cool blogs in the process. And I will keep entering and discovering new blogs each week!

Last, but most definitely not least, Tuesday is LOST day! I have been obsessively watching Lost for the past few years. I seriously love everything about that show, as frustrating as it can be at times. But enough about my Lost obsession...

In sale news, reprodepot.com is offering 20% off their '20s- and '30s-themed fabric. They have some adorable stuff (I absolutely love feedsack prints!), but it's kind of pricey ($6+ for a half-yard). To get the 20% off, use code "THIRTIES20" when checking out. The code is good until March 12.

ETA: fabric.com is offering 25% off the So St. Croix collection (Wednesday only).

(This is So St. Croix in Lee Aqua)

So many beautiful paisley prints! The boyfriend loves paisley... maybe he'll buy me some :)

Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-Along

I've been drooling over pinwheel blocks and quilts on the internets and my various magazines and books lately. So when I stumbled across an ad in this month's BHG American Patchwork and Quilting with a link for 25% off sampler bundles at Connecting Threads I took it as fate. I ordered a fat quarter pack and a charm pack of their collection Cheep Talk — for less than $30 with shipping!

The pack has some simpler prints as well as these adorable birdies:

     

All I'm missing to start the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt-along at p.s. i quilt is a solid background fabric. Hopefully another coupon will come my way by the time my fabric arrives.

(click the button for a link to the quilt-along)

They're already four blocks in, but hopefully I'll catch up pretty quickly when my fabric gets here in a week or two. I've never ordered from Connecting Threads before, so here's hoping they're speedy with the shipping.