Still Stringin' Along

Eight Tops Done!!

Here is my "Show and Tell" from my own personal quilt challenge to make as many string quilts that I could for one month. I started the day after Thanksgiving and ended it today. I got eight tops done, and have 3 quilted. They are going to be donated to kids in need charities. Thanks to all of you who sent me so many emails of encouragement and charities in which to donate them too.

I am still going to make more, because I can't stop!! There are so many color combinations that I want to do and so many charities that would love to have them. Please keep you comments and emails coming . I love hearing from each and everyone of you.

Watch for my exciting challenge. I am in the processing of organizing and setting up a great quilt-along. It is going to start in January. I am so excited.

Opps!! Forgot to post the New Give-Away on Sunday?

Who loves Sock Monkey??? We do here.

Another Give-Away !!

Take a peek at my store, leave a comment and you can have a chance at winning this cute tote bag made with Moda's Sock Monkey fabric. The tote bag pattern is from Kimmies Quilts. One of our favorites at our store. Winner will be chosen at random on January 8th.

Us Southern Girls Love Our Monogramming

This is so true for us Southern Girls. If it's flat, cute and girly, we want it monogrammed.

Talk about a difficult job. My last order was to monogram 4 zebra print umbrellas. You should have seen my Happy Voyager embroidery machine humming along. It's amazing that I didn't get the spokes of the umbrella caught or bent. You don't want anything in the way of this embroidery machine while is humming along. I really thought I would have to press the emergency stop button on these. But alas, I still have all my fingers intact and there were no trips to the emergency room. Wheew!

~~~~~~ Drum Roll Please ~~~~~~

Congratulations to Donna. She is my winner for the KP Kids Christmas tote bag. Donna please send me a quick email to sewfarsewgoodquiltshop@gmail.com with your address so I can mail your sweet gifty to you.

Keep watching. Next week it's a different contest with a super cute sock monkey tote bag.

Re-Purposing a Yellow Pages Phone Book

We all get these phonebooks in March, Right? I found the perfect foundation for making my string quilts and it didn't cost me a penny. I decided that I wanted to make smaller blocks when I make my Heartstring quilts for charity. I can get a nice 6-inch square out of one page.

This paper is really easy to tear away after sewing my strips to the foundation. This little book "fit the bill ". But wow, you should have seen the floor in my sewing room.

I went through 300 pages making all the quilts shown below.

I tore out lots and lots of pages. The nice thing about some of these phonebooks is that the ink does not rub off on anything or even mess up your iron. Do a simple check. Run your fingers along a page from the book. If you get residue on your fingers, don't use it. It will make a mess of your ironing board cover and your iron. I asked some of my neighbors if they still had one or two of these phonebooks hanging around. Well, I got lots of them now. I think I will be able to make hundreds of blocks. My neighbors came through big time.

Patriotic String Star Top

I knew that I wanted to make this patriotic star string quilt for some time now. I got my inspiration from

MaryQuilts.com

I've made progress at last. For one entire month, I am only working my string quilts to donate to charities that serve kids in need or kids in crisis. Feel free to recommend such a charity. So far, I have one going to the St. Jude's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Thanks to Lauren H. who recommended this fine organization.

Sharing My String Quilts with You!

KP Kids Tote Give-Away

It's a Cutie!!

Here is one of our shop samples left over from last year. This sweet little tote bag is made from a pattern from Kimmies Quilts. The pattern is an oldie, but still one of my favorites. This one is made from a cute KP Kids "Snow Day" fabric from South Sea Imports.

Sign up for our store newsletter, leave a comment and I'll announce the winner on December 13th. Please me sure to leave me your contact information.

Good Luck and Bundle UP. It's getting cold out there!!!

Christmas Tote Give-Away

Between running my store, making kits, shipping orders, answering emails, getting ready and hosting Thanksgiving dinner for 12, kids coming home from college for the long weekend, Black Friday Shopping, where was time for me? There wasn't.

I usually only get to sew and quilt at night after spending the day in my office running my little quilt shop. After a quick assessment of all my UFO's, here is just a sample of what I am working on at the moment. I'm too embarrassed to tell you how many I actually have.

1. My purple "Shakespeare in the Park"
2. Cathedral Stars from a Bonnie Hunter workshop I attended
3. Waste Triangles made into Pinwheels
4. And my favorite color controlled String Quilt.


Since this is my busiest time of year with my store, there really isn't any time for me again. So, I have decided that for the entire month of December I am going to make as many string quilts that I can. I would like to donate them to a special charity for kids. I love making these sweet color controlled quilts. We get lots of left over bits of fabric from end of bolts, crooked cuts, boo boos, and manufacturers samples. If you have a special charity and would like to recommend it to me, please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion.

On the Mend Week #2 Give-Away Loralie Miss Occupied

Here is my second week's Give-Away for October's Breast Cancer Awarness Month. Each Sunday I will give away another sweet embroidered lady block from the "On the Mend" breast cancer collection designed by Loralie Designs. Check back often and see what's new. All you need to do is become a follower, leave me a comment on how you would use this sweet block and sign up for my store newsletter. It's that easy. Just fill out the form on the right column. Tell your friends too!!

Tonight's winner is JVC Scout Mom!

She gets the cute "Hats Off to You" embroidered block.

Double Hourglass Quilt

Here is my version of Cluck Cluck Sew's tutorial on the Double Hourglass quilt!!

I gotta make a few more. I think I'll use some Amy Butler fabrics in one, some lime greens in another, and maybe an Aunt Grace too!!! These are perfect donation quilts and I had some much fun making it!!

Cluck Cluck Sew

This Week it is "Hats off to You"

Don't you just love the fun and funky look of Loralie Embroidery designs?

I think these ladies from the "On the Mend" collection are adorable. I have had many customers make a quilt out of the panel that is for sale in my store. I would love to put a few samples in my gallery section. So if any of my customers are reading this, please email me and let's upload your special project.

Now for the GIVE-AWAY:

Each week I will be giving one of these special embroidered beauties away. It will be a surprise which one you get. They are machine embroidered by me on my super terrific Happy Embroidery machine. The square is about 12 x 12. Giving you plenty to room to square it up to any size you need for your project.

How to ENTER:

1. Follow me on Blogger.

2. Leave a comment and tell me how you would use this beauty.

3. Sign up for my store newsletter.

Be sure to leave me your email address. You can privately email me if you do not want your email shown. Our just use a partial email as a code and I can figure it out. Don't forget to sign up at the right side for the store newsletter. It's a painless process. You need to do all three steps.

Happy Quilting.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

GIVE-AWAY WINNER ANNOUNCED!!

IT'S VALERIE!!

Thanks to everyone who posted a comment, took a peek at my store, and signed up for my newsletter. I look forward to sharing more with you all.

Tomorrow I will post of a picture of my Double Hour Glass quilt from the Cluck Cluck Sew Tutorial.

http://www.cluckclucksew.com/

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I am putting together another contest to win this Loralie Embroidered Breast Cancer block. Isn't she neat?

Happy Quilting!

Halloween Give-Away

Just leave a comment and sign up for my store newsletter.

Here is my Sweet Pink Half-Square Waste Triangle Mini Quilt

While I was making my Southern Spin quilt, I sewed an extra seam on the other side of my drawn line and kept these little goodies in a plastic strawberry container forever. I knew I'd use them someday. There are really tiny. Just one inch with the seam allowance.

Southern Spin and my Waste Triangles

First I made this quilt called Southern Spin. The pattern called for lots of half-square triangles and that meant lots of waste. I just couldn't throw these sweet pink little triangles away. I knew I would use them someday. That's when I found about Waste Triangle quilts.

Great Give Away!!

Don't be left out. Sign up for this great Give-Away!

All you have to do is sign up for my store newsletter and leave me a comment.

Signing up is easy. Just fill out your email address on the subscribe form. It's on the right side column. You must leave a comment to be eligible to win this cute tote bag.

A lucky winner will be picked October 4th.

Checkout my new store too.

I've got lots of great goodies, promotions and free quilt patterns too!!

There's something about my sorority girls and their fluffy white monogrammed towels.

Retreat Progress

Getting a lot done today. I love retreats!!

First on the to do list was send some goodies and letters to my soldiers who are deployed. Thanks to Susan who recommended the Soldier's Angels Writing Team to me. I have a few guys and one gal that I write to. I sent them some sweet treats today. Guess what I had for breakfast? Hot Tamales. It didn't fit in my box, so I ate them. I'm bad.

Last night I finished my Thread Catcher or Quilter's Catch All. My friend Carol designed the pattern. I might put some kits up for sale in my store.

Today I attacked the massive stack of 180 blocks for my Trail Mix. I have 9 rows sewn together and I think I have 9 more to go. I am not really liking the thing. But I will finish it up and then decide later.

Retreat Progress

All right, I am not going blind. Just a massive inflammation from bad mascara. Ladies, throw out that old stuff you've been hanging on to and get a new mascara wand.

Now back to quilty things. I finished a Quilter's Catch All but ran short on time to take a photo of it in the daylight. Come on back tomorrow and take a peek.

I started putting my blocks together for my Trail Mix Quilt. There are 180 blocks. Some of the teenie tiny squares are cut 1 1/4 inch before seam allowances.

Here is what I made in advance preparing for this fun retreat:

32 Four-Patch Blocks

38 Double-Four Patch Blocks

44 Triple Four-Patch

24 Double Nine-Patch Blocks

42 Nine-Patch Blocks

Whew!!!

So now that all the blocks are done, I am starting to put them together. Quilt Police don't come here. With teenie tiny squares finished at 3/4 inch, I need to tell you that I am not the most accurate 1/4 inch seam sewer.

Now for some fun stuff

I am a having a pretty neat Give-Away at this time. You can have a chance to win this adorable KP Kids Halloween Tote bag just by signing up for my newsletter. It can be great for your kids to haul in their halloween treats, you can also use it for yourself and make quite a fashion statement. Drawing will be held on October 4, 2009.

It's easy. Just sign up for my newsletter and you may be the lucky one.

Halloween Treat Give-Away

Want this cute KP Kids cute quilted tote bag?

Sign up for my newsletter and get great notices about sales, freebies and special events at my store.

Happy Quilting.

Labor Day Weekend Retreat

Okay Ladies, I am revved up and ready to start retreating all weekend. But I woke up with pink eye this morning. Did you ever see a “one-eyed” quilter? It’s not pretty. Now that means a bit of time away from my sewing room and a trip to my eye doctor. WHAAA!!! I got lots of new things ready to put in my store ready yesterday and I got all of my give-aways ready for my blog too. I guess I will up load all of that after I know what exactly is going on with my eye. We are not working for a whole 4 days. YIPPEE. I’ll check in later.

You can also take a peek at our progress as the weekend unfolds here:

www.susanround.com

Happy Quilting

Stacey

Can We Just Say No?

Isn't it true that you always get asked from someone who knows you sew to help them with a sewing project? "It's just a simple little task" they say. Even my daughter is to blame for these type of questions. So how could I say "No"?

I was planning to participate in my own little quilting retreat and finally get something done for myself. I have been in a quilting slump this summer and I finally seemed to get back into my groove when this lovely project came into the garage from a Craig's List find.

At first we started attacking this lovely chair in the garage and then realized that it was probably 100 degrees in there. We decided to move it into the house with the air conditioning.... What a brilliant idea. After ripping the chair apart from the seams very carefully, we used the old velvet that was on the original chair as our pattern. We actually are quite impressed with ourselves how this messy little chair turned out.

But Daughter of Mine, don't ask me to do this again. I'd rather make quilts. hehehe

What do ya'll think?

How Did We Do It?

It Wasn't Pretty!!

Start My engine and Get a New Rotary Blade

Hi All, I haven been a good little quilter and have not bought any fabric for
myself since November of 2007. I think that is when I found Stashbusters. Well
a local shop had some red, white and blue civil war fat qtrs for $1.00 each and
I bought some. I couldn't resist. They looked sooo good. I never really
officially send in my challenge/penalty squares, but I think now I have to do
the right thing!!! Right? I buy fabric for my store all the time and never
dip into that inventory.

I have even been in a slump this summer without quilting much. But today I am on a roll. It will be interesting to see how much I accomplish this weekend. I'll post my progress Sunday night on my blog.
You can take a peek. I usually post every Sunday night.

Happy Quilting, Stacey

Sew Far Sew Good Quilt Shop

This a nice bundle of peach, orange and pink fabrics were all bundled up my stash. I knew that I wanted to make an orange and pink quilt someday. So finally this weekend I finished it. I decided to make an Easy Log Cabin quilt. I love this pattern. It's super fast and anything goes!! I used Marti Michell's Log Cabin ruler to cut out all my strips.

Maybe you should also know that I have a problem with cutting into fat quarter bundles that I bought or have organized in my sewing room. I love seeing them all tied together so color coordinated and perfect. It's hard to use them. I bet I'm not the only one out there who "Just Can't Cut it". Drop me a quick comment about how to "get over it".

Easy Log Cabin

Everything's Peachy

I love The Fresh Market!!

Yesterday, The Fresh Market had a special event outside the front of the store. They were grilling peaches and giving away samples of peach cobbler. Ohh, it was so Yummy! I bought a huge bag.

All my kids came home for the weekend and now all the peaches gone! We just finished our sliced peaches and Cool Whip on top of Angel Food Cake for dessert. To me, this is the best part of summer. I love making all kinds of peach desserts. I guess I need to go back and get another bag full.

I actually "googled" peaches and found this neat blog about peaches.

The Produce Blogger - Fruit and Vegetable Tips and Produce Consultants...Produce Tips, Produce Advice, Produce Buying, Produce Retailing

Quilts of Valor Tops

I thought I'd show two tops that I made for Alycia's No Soldier Forgotten Project. Along with my quilting bee, we made and donated 12 quilts. We had a great time making them this spring. She has the "Not So Top Secret" pattern on her blog. It's a fun and fast pattern. You can find it here at:

alyciaquilts

This Weeks Winner is Jackie

Hi There, Jackie if you are reading this, you are my winner for this weeks Give-Away. I guess it would have helped if I put the correct email address in my post. I was wondering why I didn't get any emails. Please contact me at sewfarsewgoodquiltshop@gmail.com. Happy Quilting.

A New Week and a New Give-Away

Keeping with my Americana Theme and my love for our country, I am giving away these two cute machine embroidered Patriotic Quilt Squares.

Here are the rules for this weeks give-away:

To enter simply "tell a friend" to spread the word about my blog. You can send an email to people, post on your blog, put info in your guild newsletter, or comment on someone else's blog, etc. Then please leave a comment on my blog explaining how you might use these two cuties and then send me a quick email: sewfarsewgoodquiltshop.com and let me know what you did. Enter as often as you like. I will have a random drawing at 9 pm EST on July 26th. Feel free to post this giveaway on your site too!!

Don't forget to check back weekly. I have lots of great Give-Aways for each week during the Month of July. Remember you have to leave a post in the comment section in order to be counted.

Happy Quilting!!
Stacey

Check out my new website too!

Sew Far Sew Good Quilt Shop

Bright Lights

You can't go wrong growing these bright beauties. I just throw my seeds in my planting area and "viola" in about 2 weeks I have instant color. Every year I grow these bright orange and yellow cosmos in my front yard. The beauty is that they re-seed themselves. After they bloom, the flower heads have these little dried seeds which are so easy to collect. I just pinch them off and toss to the ground. Then they start all over again. They bloom all the way until fall. I collect the seeds by the baggie full.