And even more Eye Candy

Thought I would share some of my favorites from the quilt show. Above is a quilt by Heather that I thought was absolutely funny! It is so cute!

This great Stack N Whack was made by Judi. I love seeing how all the blocks look so different.

This one is by my friend Joan. It is Charity Crosses from the Moda Bake Shop. Of course it is done in 30's fabrics!

And I always love a Carpenter's Wheel. I"ve had this pattern for ages and just never have made it. Guess I had better get to it! Pam's version may just make me dig that pattern out again.

And check this one out - isn't it great! Those log cabins are teeny tiny, let me tell you. Mary did an awesome job on it don't you think!

And how about Mary's Round Robin quilt. I fell in love with it!

And who doesn't love brown and blue in little quilts. This is Hilda's Wyoming Star.

A little about this beauty. I made a mystery for our guild several years ago. Jeanne finished hers this year. I love how it turned out. It was roughly based from the book "Bears Paw Plus: Make New Tracks with Sampler Blocks" by Pat Syta. Mine has been done for year except the quilting. Need to get that one finished!

And another quilt that has been on my to do list.... Mary's To Grandmothers House

Had to share Lois' Dinner for the Family. That is all paper pieced.

And this is Rose's Winter Wonderland. I have about 1/2 of the blocks for mine done. But it is slow going for me. This gives me inspiration to get mine done!

And look at Susan's Jungle Rain. Simple yet striking!

And another one from Joan in 30's! She calls this Lemon Delight. You should see it in person - it really sings.

And Lois' "My Wishful Garden". I love these Jacobean like florals.

And here is Nann's Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt - Roll Roll Cotton Boll

More Eye Candy

Thought I would share some more eye candy from our show with you. Give you a peek at some of the other ribbon winners from the NQA judging. Above is my friend Joan's quilt - Dresden Delight, which got 2nd in the Applique, Machine (Long or Home) Quilted category. I helped her figure out the setting for this and talked her into using purple - isn't it great!

Below is another one of Joan's - Dresden Fans. Can you tell she LOVES 30's fabrics! She got 3rd place in the Applique, Machine (Long or Home) Quilted category for this.

The next one below is another friends quilt - Lynn, who got 3rd place in Pieced Bed Long Arm Quilted. Look all those great blue fabrics.

And this is another friend Madelyn's - Illinois Hard Times 2011. This got 2nd place in Bed Pieced Long Arm Quilted. Isn't it wonderful! A bit more about this quilt:
"the orginal of this quilt is owned by Marti Michell, circa 1900-1910 made in Tennessee. The name of the quilt is Tennessee Hard Times. The pattern was taken from scrap, patchwork and quilting by Marti Michell. Madelyn used all reproduction fabrics to make this quilt similar to the original. Obviously, 1900-1910 was a hard time for the generation, and here we are today in 2011 going through difficult and challenging times. It's fitting to call this quilt "Illinois Hard Times 2011"".

The next is my friend Sharon's quilt - Wildflowers. She got 1st place in Pieced Bed Home Machine Quilted. The flowers are machine embroidered and appliqued on.

Next is Pam's - Pieceful in Fall quilt. She got 2nd in Pieced Lap Long Arm Quilted. Pam does wonderful machine quilting.

This is LeAnn's "Fit to be Geese" quilt which got 1st place in Pieced Lap Machine Quilted".

They one below is one of my favorites by my friend Lynn - Stars Divided. She got 3rd place in Pieced Small, Hand Quilted. Don't you just love those stars and fabrics!

Now for you wool lovers - check this one out by Mary - Wool Bed Rug. This got 1st place in Applique Machine (Home or Long) Quilted. Isn't it a beauty. The applique is wool but the background is flannel.

Last but not least is Pam's Autumn Sunflower. She got 2nd in Art Quilt - Original Design Any Size.

More tomorrow.

Finally a bit of quilt stuff!

Our guild had their quilt show this weekend. I finally have some quilty things to share with you. Today is a peek at the 2 ribbons I got! I was so surprised when I walked in yesterday! Our show is judged by a NQA judge so that made it even more exciting. My Brownstone quilt won "Best of Show"! How cool is that!

And I also got 1st place in the Miniature category for my Cheddar Squares (Lori's Cheddar Cheese and Crackers quilt).

Tomorrow I"ll have more pics from the show.

So much Fun!

I am having so much fun with my My Memories software! I had a bit of a delay with posts here due to a family issue that came up - but believe me, I'm still loving My Memories!

I"m still a bit busy but My Memories gave me a freebie Designer Pack to post for you! It contains 2 quick layouts and all the elements needed for them. I'll have more freebies to post in coming weeks, but wanted to put this one up right now while I"m still busy. I'll also add links to my sidebar when I get a chance.


Link to the freebie Designer Pack: Click Here

And my coupon for My Memories is still good. Use STMMMS22117 (I suggest copy/paste if you use it so there are no typos) which will allow you to save $10 off the My Memories Suite software AND a $10 credit to the My Memories store!

And the winner is.....

Number 6 - SueB!

SueB said... 6 I would pick Dotty Boy. I have a new grandson and would make some great pages with it. You did a great job on your blog with it.

10:01 AM

Sue - I'll get in touch with you and help you get your own free copy!

Thanks for hanging in there. I had a family issue arise and wasn't able to draw the winner until tonight.

It's Giveaway Time! (And Coupon!)

The day is finally here! Time for the big giveaway!

I was so lucky to be contacted by the My Memories company to review their digital scrapbooking software! While I don't do scrapbooking in the traditional sense, I do use elements of scrapbooking on my blog, for cards, labels, envelopes, newsletters, posters, etc. I'm always looking for cute and easy ways to make things. And I do like to document my quilts in an album.

The software was super easy to download and install, although it took a bit of time since my internet connection was slow that night. As soon as I had it installed I opened it up. I'm not a computer novice, but I"m not a super whiz either! Take into account I don't read instructions before I jump into most software either! So I took an initial look and thought - "where do I start"! Let me tell you, a few clicks around and I had a page made! I spent a bit of time playing with the different options and functions and felt fairly comfortable with it! I then made all those little pictures in the giveaway tease post below. All with my first time in! And not reading any instructions!

Want to know what I did so far with it? I updated my blog header!

I made a quilt label to print off on those photo fabric sheets. I can then sew this onto the back of a quilt! How cute is that!

I also made a really fun movie slideshow! Something I want to share about this. On my computer the movie file it saved is easy and clear to see. The quality is great. But when I loaded into blogger it goes to fast, it doesn't wait the 5 seconds per page. It goes much faster. I'm sure this has to do with blogger since it is fine on my computer. I then made the movie with longer page turns. But once loaded onto blogger it went at the same faster speed.



Pincushions5-small.mov

So then I tried loading it on webshots and linking it to my post. While this holds the page turning speed to what I saved it as, I lost a lot of the picture quality in webshots.

So know that you can get beautiful movies, even full screen - but I haven't had good luck "posting" the movie. I"m sure there is something I need to do "somewhere" but haven't had the time to track it all down.
There are TONS of papers, embellishments, layouts, etc on the My Memories website that you can purchase, and even some free ones. I also found some other digital scrapbooking sites and was able to download from those sites and use in My Memories Suite software.

Overall I love it so far. I can see myself stretching what I would use this for! It isn't just for scrapbooking anymore!
Have you stayed with me so far? Before I get to the details I want to list out a quick summary

Likes:

• Easy to Use


• Tons of papers, layouts, embellishments, etc


• Makes movies, jpg's, albums, photo books


• Can print from home or professionally

Dislikes:

• When I did try and search the help for things I was having problems with it wouldn't skip to the word I was searching on. I had to click through all the pages of the help button to find what section I wanted. Not sure if that was my computer acting up or the software help. But I did struggle with that.


• I dislike that when I got to save a page as a jpg that I can't give it the name I want it. It saves it by the name of the project and the page number. So while I can pick what directory I put it in, I would like to be able to choose my own name for the jpg.


• Right now the only page sizes I can see are Square 12" x 12" or 8" x 8" and 8.5" x 11" either Portrait or Landscape. Could be I just haven't figured out how to make other sizes. I would love to make it something like 3" x 5" or 5" x 7"

Wishlist:

• I would love to see an addition to this to be able to print out things like address labels or return address labels! I alway make my own return address labels and all the papers and embellishments in this software would make them so cute! It would make it so much easier to dress up my labels. (who knows - maybe I just haven't figured it out yet!)

Want more information or ways to check out My Memories? Here you go:
Blog- http://blog.mymemories.com/
Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/pages/MyMemories/140359372717593
Twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/mymemoriessuite
And check this out - You Tube tutorials! - http://www.youtube.com/user/MyMemoriesSuite

Want to play too? To Enter:

I am making it simple! Just check out the My Memories website and tell me what digital layout or pack you would like to use and what you would do with it first. It is that simple! Leave a comment below with this information and you are entered to win! Entries close at midnight Oct 15th (US Central Time).

Winner will be chosen from Random.org. Make sure you are NOT a no-reply blogger, or leave your email in your post. If I can't contact you - you can't win.

Your reward!

Your reward for sticking with me through all of this is a My Memories coupon! My Memories gave me this code STMMMS22117 (I suggest copy/paste if you use it so there are no typos) which will allow you to save $10 off the My Memories Suite software AND a $10 credit to the My Memories store! How exciting is that! So if you don't win the giveaway, you still can win by using this code on their site!

Good Luck to everyone!

The small quilt found its new home!

Check it out! The small quilt I made has made it to its new home! Go to Kathie's blog and check it out, along with the AWESOME new book she got (not from me). Now I need to get that book!

Advance Notice - Tease

Just wanted to let you all know I'm having a BIG giveaway in a week or so.... so you will want to keep watch.......... (no unfortunately it is not a baby go! - how I wish it were!)

How is that for a big tease!

Surprise Project

I've been working away on a surprise project for someone in blog land for the last few months (keep in mind I've been busy, so even though I said months, it isn't that big of a project)!

As of today it is winging its way to the happy recipient! I can't wait to show you what it is. But until then here is a peek at it!

Chloe continues to help...

Chloe continues to help get the Tshirt quilt together. Even when I don't want her too!

Procrastination

Yes, I do procrastinate at times. This project is one of them. 2 years ago my daughters best friend asked me if I could make a Tshirt quilt for her with some of her old favorite Tshirts. I said of course but we were busy getting ready for Holly's wedding and I had friends from Australia visiting. So it wouldn't be until after Christmas before I would start work on it. Well a year flew by. One thing after another kept me from starting it. Finally earlier this summer I got all the Tshirts stabilized and cut out. Hmmmm - this I just never got around to starting the piecing. So finally this weekend I made a dent! And now it is going smoothly. I just need to find time! So let's hear it for me actually starting this top!!!! Wooo Hoo!!!

The big finish!

And this is the BIG FINISH from camp! Ruthie brought finished the quilting and I picked it up from camp. I got the binding on and my friend Joan hand stitched it down for me while she was chilling up stairs on the couch! How is that for team work!

And I didn't make Joan hand sew the binding down. She likes to do it and I was busy working on other stuff and chatting away with friends, so she just picked it up and did it!

Isn't it wonderful! Make sure you go tell Ruthie how much you love it too!

A fun find! And another tree skirt

Had to show you the awesome fabric I found on our shopping trip before camp! I have no idea what I will do with it yet - but I knew I would regret it if I didn't pick some up!

And here is Chloe modeling the latest Christmas Tree skirt! And one not on her!

Sewing Lamp

If you want to see the other lamp that was a door prize at camp Ruthie at Threads of Mine won the other one. Go check it out!

What I worked on at Camp

So I bet you are wondering what I worked on at camp? Mostly I just played around and visited and laughed! I needed that! But here are a few of my things I worked on! Above are the luggage tags we made. It was one of our "make it, take it" projects. Luggage. Cruise. Aren't they awesome!

And our other make it, take it was little coin purses. I made one for myself and my 3 girls!




I worked on my confetti cake blocks. I have about 22 done. I need 36. This one has been going on for a few years. I work on them off and on!

And I made "Dow Jones" schnibble! I wanted something quick and easy. This was a fun one to do!

Fun at Camp - Big Wins!

What a blast we had again at camp this year! There is so much to share with you I don't know where to start. So I decided I would share the theme and a few "wins" I got at camp! The theme this year was "Sail the Blue with Old Tippecanoe!" (Old Tippecanoe quilt guild). I found these awesome wall decorations at my local party store - so I had to deck out our walls!

And I found this wonderful hat for our friend Linda - as you can see she really enjoyed it!

And I was SO LUCKY and won the big door prize of the weekend - a sewing lamp! My other friend Linda's husband (different Linda than fish head Linda) collects old threads and sewing notions during the year at auctions and makes 2 lamps each year for camp. And I got the thread one!!!! I"ve been waiting to win for years! I was so excited.

I also scored one awesome vintage sewing box! Linda's husband has been scouting one of these out for me for a few years at auctions. And he finally found one, in almost perfect condition! Isn't it wonderful! As you can see Chloe is helping to check it out! I need to clean it out and apply a little murphy's oil soap and it will be as good as new.

An Old, Old, Old top finish

I"ve been busy getting ready for camp! Only 2 more days!!! But I did dig out this old UFO to finish up so I could take it down to the quilter at camp. I made this probably 5 or 6 years ago. The only thing I had left was the little red berries and pine cones to machine applique. Well it is done! And this will be it until after camp!!! I can't wait!