Winners and Water

Last week was a whirlwind.

Monday was town day.

Tuesday, my neighboring ranch wife friend and I drove to Lubbock to meet up with M (who is missed) for a visit that was long overdue. So glad we were able to sneak it in before things got insane.

Wednesday, DH helped the neighbors and he left out at 4 am. Makes for a really long day.  I mowed and worked in the garden all morning, and then we spent the afternoon feeding cattle.

Thursday we had to haul the feed truck to our mechanic, Mark. I told him that we're here so often that he needs to add us to the family tree. DH fixes most of our feed truck woes, but these old feed trucks are just about give out. Then we got a call that our new trailer was ready so we made a run to Texas to pick it up.

Friday I cooked for a friend recovering from surgery and made a trip to town to deliver food and hugs. Our girl was coming home on Saturday so I grabbed a few groceries, picked up a quilt from Jackie, and dropped off another one.

Last week's giveaway was certainly busy in blogland. I didn't have even a minute to jump in on any of the fun, but I've got winners to announce!

Lot #1 goes to:

 CathyH said...

I love to do the binding! It's the LAST step and indicates I may soon have a finished project. I sew the binding onto the right side by machine and then enjoy touching every inch of the edge as I handsew it to the back. Thanks for the giveaway. I love to read your adventures!

Lot #2 is on its way to:

 Abbigail said...

I like to hand bind my quilts to while I'm in front of the tv.
Oh if you pick my name I would love #1 and then #2 prizes! Just in case! LOL!

Lot #4 is headed to:

 Ali said...

Thank you so much for the giveaway! I am one of those people who hates binding, but I'll go machine binding over hand binding anyday, You folks who enjoy it always make me shake my head in wonder ;)

and Lot #3 was won by:

Rocksteadyemme has left a new comment on your post "It's Giveaway Day!":

emmevon(at)gmail(dot)com

love lot #3!

I'm a machine binder! 

So congratulations to all of you and I want to thank each of you for taking the time to comment and put your name in the hat. Sounds like we have lots of new quilters! Yay! And some of you really hate to bind your quilts. LOL. I've contacted all the winners and will get your packages out next time someone heads to town

And I'm ending this post on another very happy note:

Yes, we had a bit of rain! 0.2". Not a lot, but around here, it is worthy of a jig and a whoop!

And a rainbow!

Or two!

It's Giveaway Day!

This Giveaway is now closed

                                                        

 It's time again for Sew Mama Sew's biannual giveaway party. I love participating because it's a great way to meet new bloggers and it's really just so much fun giving things away and when you win, you get to look forward to receiving a treat in the mail and who doesn't like that?

There's lots of places to visit and there will be all sorts of wonderful treasures to win so be sure and check out all the participants.

If this is your first time visiting here, welcome! If you've been here before, welcome back!

 Here's what I have for y'all today. I've divided it up into 4 lots so you have 4 chances to win:

Lot #1  The ABC's of Words on Quilts by Elizabeth Scott
            A Touch of Rosie Quilts (somehow, I ended up with 2 copies of this)
            Turning Twenty Just Got Better by Tricia Cribbs

Lot #2  Fresh Fabric Treats from the Moda Bakeshop Designers
             Easy Quilt Projects (Favorites from the Editors of American Patchwork and Quilting
             Turning Twenty Feelin' Groovy (Book 4)

Lot #3  3 - 1/2 yd cuts of Amy Butler Fabric.

Lot #4  3 1/2 yd cuts: 1 Desert Daydreams by Anthropology
                                 2 Good Fortune by Kate Spain

So starting today you can put your name in the hat by leaving me a comment. Just tell me if you like to bind quilts. I like everything about making a quilt, but I think I like hand stitching the binding down to the back the most.

 I'll let the random number generator choose 4 names and the first name gets first choice and so on. This giveaway will be open until Friday, May 10th, 5 p.m. PST. I will ship internationally so everyone can chime in! Thanks so much for stopping by. Friends and family say I always feed everyone who wanders down the dirt road so I feel as if I ought to at least be handing out cookies or something in honor of y'all. Fajitas are on the menu for tonight just in case you REALLY stop in. :)

And the Giveaway Goes to...

Thank y'all so very much for chiming in on last week's giveaway. There were 202 comments and this morning random number generator chose #199.

So congratulations to:

Maria Kievit said...

Haven't bought too many presents yet, and the house is half decorated yet, but with the kids help and a good day shopping here or there, I will get it all done. Thanks for a nice giveaway.

I've emailed Maria and will send her package out to her as soon as I hear from her. 

I don't feel as if I can post today without at least mentioning the tragedy that took place in Connecticut yesterday. My deepest sympathies and prayers go out to all of those touched by this senseless, unspeakable act. 

Sometimes there are no words, but always... there is prayer.

Feeling Spoiled

The past few months I entered a couple of giveaways and much to my surprise, I came out on the winning end. I was a lucky recipient in Happy Quilting's giveaway for Natalia's Beginner's Guide to Free motion Quilting:

Thank you Melissa...and Natalia! I am so excited to tackle FMQ and this book gives me more confidence to do so! Everything is written in such detail and the designs are great and they will soon be finding their way onto my quilts.

A while back I won a giveaway from Amy, over at  Diary of a Quilter, and this lovely FQB, Tend the Earth, came to reside at the end of the dirt road via Judi, at Green Fairy Quilts :

Such pretty prints that truly deserve to be stitched into something lovely. Thank you both!

Then I was a big winner over at the FQS for a copy of Pixel Play, by Emily Cier. What a fun book! I've been intrigued by the quilts I have seen using solids and this is a playful way to discover them. It's like coloring! And Kimberly and Emily were just incredible generous because this is what arrived:

I have been coveting that Kona Cotton Color Chart and Aurifil is my new favorite thread! Then Emily included this wonderful Motley pattern and the wheels are turning for color combinations. And THAT is being fueled by this wonderful Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool. I just sat on the couch the other evening and played with it. Emily also include a coupon for shopping at her shop, Carolina Patchwork. I've got my eye on Scrap Republic! :)

Thank y'all so much! I am adding lots of projects to my list!

Winners and Flimsy Complete

Wow! I think it's safe to say that y'all like giveaways and you like to read! I want to thank each and every one of you for chiming in and thanks to Quilting Gallery for hosting a week of fun! Lots of great gifts were offered up and hopefully fun, new bloggy friends were discovered! As for me, I now have a LOOOONG list of books to keep me busy for a really long time. I appreciate y'all sharing your insights to what you were reading as well. Y'all are a well read bunch!

So I imagine y'all just want me to hush up and spill the beans about who won.  I used Mr. random number generator and he said 220 is the winner and that just happens to be:

 ytsmom said...

Either one would be great, but if I won, I would pick the clips. I have been wanting some of those for quite a while.

So the second number that was drawn was 86 and that happens to be:

Amy DeCesare said...

Right now I'm reading Killing Lincoln. It sounds upsetting or depressing, but it's really fascinating, and I'm learning so much about history.

Amy wins the fabric!

So if y'all will drop me a note and let me know where these little packages need to be sent, I will get them out to you! Congratulations and I hope y'all enjoy them!

This weekend a little birdie told me that September is National Sewing Month and a few people like Darlene, whom I always listen too, said that we had to sew every day this month. I'll try, but I'm not making any promises. We'll be shipping this month and that tends to remove me from my stitching schedule. Ppfftt. Schedule! What schedule? I'm sure shipping or not, Darlene expects me to sew. :)

However, I did manage to finish up a flimsy. I finished piecing the Gypsy quilt!

The border is on,  I pieced the back, and made the binding. Now I am in a quandry about what to chose for the quilting. This is another big quilt...surprise! It measures 100x100. For some reason I have a pretty good sized stack of blocks left over. Don't know what I was thinking when I did the math, but there will be a Gypsy sidekick one of these days.

Back to School Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed - Thanks for playing! 

Quilting Gallery is hosting another fabulous giveaway so get your hopping shoes on!

If you can hop in heels, you get extra points. As for me, I don't even own a pair of heels except for the heels on my boots. If I had to hop in heels...well, it would not be pretty. I can't even walk in them.

So I hope you've all cleared your calendar and precooked in order to make extra time because these giveaway parties always gather a big crowd. Lots of goodies to be had and new blogs to discover. The list of participating blogs can be found here.

I never know what to give away during these parties, but I want to give away something good...something I would want and I want some of these:

So I am giving away 1 package (50 clips) of these little red binding clips

And for a second giveaway I have 7 - 1/2 yd cuts of Amy Butler's Daisy Chain:

I bought these thinking I would use them in my Gypsy quilt, but I ended up not using them because the pretty design would get lost in the little pieces I needed to cut.

The first number I draw will have their choice between the two and the second number I draw will get the one the first winner does not choose. I will gladly ship internationally. So please be sure and let me know which is your preference in your comment.

I love replying to comments, but due to the number, I may not be able to do that, but thank you for taking the time to chime in!

No hoops to jump through. Save your energy for blog hopping. Just let me know what you are currently reading. I am a voracious reader and always love discovering new authors and titles.

This giveaway will close on September 3 at midnight EST and I will announce the winners on the morning of the 4th.

Thank you for taking the time to chime in on my giveaway, good luck and a big thanks to Quilting Gallery! If you hop over there using the link, there will be a list on Sunday with all the participants.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Winner and Wearing out a Rotary Cutter

Whew! Is everyone tired from dashing around blog land and entering giveaways last week? I want to thank all of y'all who stopped in and put your name in the hat and a special welcome to those of you who joined up with the dirt road crew! I'm thinking if y'all all came to visit in real life, we sure could get a whole lots of fence built around here! LOL. I always tell everyone we work hard, but we feed well!

So on to the announcement! I put all of your numbers into random number generator and in the blink of an eye it spit out  # 11  . So in this case, spitting is good if you are # 11 who happens to be:  captainsharmie   who said...

i LOVE coffee! it was being in university that got me hooked. at first it was just during midterms, but now? every day at work. sometimes my boss will even bring me one! and i got jamaican and brazilian coffee for Christmas this year, and boy is that stuff good!

So congratulations! I love that name! Sounds like a superhero - :) I'll get these out to you on Tuesday!

On the sewing front, not much to report, but I have been cutting up a storm. I cut out the pieces for our daughter's quilt. The largest piece is 3 1/2 x 5 and there are a lot of 1" strips...a lot for this quilt which are not pictured:

  
And since I have some new projects in the works, I figured I might as well cut some for them as well. If I handled a piece of fabric and it was red, cream, or blue, I also cut a 5" strip for a QOV zig zag quilt. That stack of neutrals is over 6" high. I think I'll be making more than one!


 If it was blue or brown, I cut another 5" for another zig zag quilt.

If it was a cheerful color, I cut a 2 1/2" strip for a colorbox quilt.


That left me with a really dull blade. I don't know why I always wait until my rotary blade is as dull as a butter knife because whenever I do replace the blade, I realize how nice it is to cut with a sharp blade.

 Now that I've got lots cut, let's go sew!

And the Reindeer Goes To...

Early this morning I woke up Mr. Random Number Generator and asked him to choose a winner because if I had my way, I would be making 90+  more reindeer and I'm afraid that the Whopper shelves are bare. He chose:

#32! -One of these days I will figure out how to get that little box on my blog!
Congratulations Kerrylynn!

Your little package is all boxed up and ready to head your way as soon as you drop me an email and send me your address!

 I have to thank each and every one of you for chiming in. It was so much fun reading everone's comments and I've now got quite few  fabulous new things added to my baking list!

Blogland was a virtual giveaway mecca this past week! I hope y'all enjoyed the hopping. I have a few things to share from giveways, but I haven't taken photos yet so I'll get back to you on that. I can however, say that I have been doing the Snoopy Dance. It entertains DH.  Y'all are incredibly generous!

One kiddo arrived yesterday and the other one showed up this evening...can you say excited?! Praising God that we are all under the same roof tonight! Now that my baking buddies are home, the baking can commence so if you happen to be in the area and you see a hazy cloud of flour and powdered sugar on the horizen, you are getting close.

I also want to welcome all of my new followers! Y'all just tickled me plumb to pieces! I know how busy everyone's lives are and I am honored that y'all would want to spend a few of those minutes with me. I probably will be quite scarce until after the New Year. We'll have a housefull with people coming and going. Lots of washing of sheets will be taking place and I want to spend every possible minute with the kids while they are here. Our son will only be here for 2 weeks before he heads back to Camp Pendelton.

So I want to wish each of you a very Merry Blessed Christmas:

 May you make time to savor the precious  moments in each and every day and celebrate the gift of Christ's birth amidst the busy-ness. Love and hugs to all of you!