And the winner is...

#101! Trusty random.org brought it up and that turns out to be Diane! Congratulations Diane. And thanks everyone for playing! I appreciate all the lovely comments. I've got a lot of ideas about homemade Christmas presents! Now to get to work...

Giveaway Day!

Welcome to my blog for Giveaway Day! Sew Mama Sew organizes a giveaway day all over blogland, with many fabulous crafters participating. You can see others here. I'll be giving away this cute little bag.

Sorry for the light--when I use a flash it is super washed out. It's a deep purple on the outside, sort of a velour fabric, and a reddish fabric on the inside from Basic Grey's Urban Couture line.
It's got a snap closure and a pocket in the lining. Also included is a fat quarter of fabric!

To enter, just leave a comment telling me what Christmas or holiday gifts you are making this year. If you're not making anything, what would you like to make? Also, please make sure that I have a way to contact you--through your blog, email, Flickr, etc.

I'll use random.org to choose the winner on December 6th--St. Nicholas Day.

Good luck!

Hip 2 Bee Square November

Keira requested a disappearing nine patch block. She even sent us the squares already cut up! So it was pretty easy to put this together. Above is the "before".



And here is the after. Just under the wire though. I didn't get my fabric until two weeks ago, and I've been out of town, and under a pile of work at work, so my sewing machine has been neglected as of late. I whipped this up while DH was making dinner. To see what else I whipped up while he was making dinner, tune in on Wednesday for Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day. I'll be giving away something cute.

progress on "out of line" quilt

A while back I posted a big pile of strips. There were over 100 of them, and now they make this lovely quilt. It is a gift for some family friends, but they don't know they're getting it yet. :)

Obviously I still need to quilt it, but I'm so happy to be making progress! Here is a more close up shot.

The pattern is called "Out of Line" and it is from Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr's book The Quiltmaker's Color Workshop. I highly recommend it if you don't own it already.

"block party" quilt finished

I got my quilt back from the longarm quilter and finished the binding. It was a beautiful fall day on Sunday, so I took it outside to get some better lighting.

A detail shot.

As I mentioned before, it is a gift for a family friend who is getting married.

I pieced the backing, to give it some extra interest.

I need to make an extra special label for it before I send it off. I hope they like it!

The pattern is called "Block Party" and I found it in an old magazine. It's by Jason Yenter, of In The Beginning Fabrics. It's pretty simple--similar to a "bento box" quilt in that you cut up the squares once you have finished them. But rather than no sashing, or sashing the outside of the block, you sash inside. I really like the "window" effect. The finished size is 67*79.5, so not a full bed size but a generous lap quilt--large enough for two newlyweds to snuggle up in (DH and I tested it to be sure). :)

Live Piecefully 2 October

These blocks are for Dorie. She wanted 8" blocks that were cheery, for a children's quilt. I miscalculated a bit and one of my blocks ended up too large. I'm not sure if she would be ok with just cutting it smaller, or if I should have taken it apart and re-done.

I'm going to let her decide because I really think it could go either way, and it will depend on what other types of blocks she gets.

I hope she likes them anyway!

Hip 2 Bee Square October

This block is for Marblesbestfriend in Hip 2 Bee Square for October. She asked for a traditional log cabin block. The fabrics are not something I would have chosen originally, but they are really nice and I really like how they fit together.




I like the vines and how they draw your eye up the block. I hope she likes it!