Have a Happy Quilting Day

 American Quilt Society Quilt Show here I come. Over the years I have always enjoyed attending this show. This year I will be traveling by bus for a day trip to Paducah. It will be nice to leave the driving to someone else. I am making a shopping list and checking it twice!

March   is National Quilting Month and to celebrate I've decided to offer a giveaway during the month of March. For this giveaway I will be offering 2 winners the fresh quilting puzzle  above that I got over at http://www.interweave.com

I've always loved puzzles even as a child. My mother enjoyed crossword puzzles and my dad put in a few pieces here and
there. I guess that rubbed off on me!  If you like puzzles you will not want to miss this chance to enter the drawing. Before I tell you what you must do to enter, first a little bit about why a crossword puzzle  on a quilting/craft blog.

As quilters,  sewers, and crafters we get a sense of satisfaction when we finish a project. Each project requires us to use the left and right part of our brain The left brain thinks logically and in sequence, while the right brain is creative, intuitive and emotional. We  must decide on shapes, colors, visualize, focus and be alert. How about  think outside of the box and make a quilt where all the pieces are not the same size or shape?  Maybe you are searching for order to complete the project but not sure which way to go?  Well here is where puzzles help, like quilts they tell a story and are food for the brain making you better at what you do.  How many times have you said " I'm going to put this away until I decide what to do."  And besides they are a great family activity.

With the fresh quilting puzzle you will have fun rearranging the pieces to reproduce the original picture. Why not frame it and hang in your studio if you are the winner. Leave a comment by midnight March 17th why you like puzzles and I will choose two people by random number to win this giveaway on March 19th. The winners will be notified via email and announced on this blog post.



Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Update
 Krisgray and Strandkorbtraum are the winners of the Fresh Quilting  puzzle giveaway. I appreciate you stopping by during National Quilting Month and do come back again.

Weekly Theme Quilt Along , Book Review

Love is in the air and this is the blouse I made  to wear on valentines day.  I love the fabric and hershey's kissses too  especially with almonds.

I was surprised when I received  e-mail from Charlene over at " t'was brillig and" that my Christmas Ornaments block had
won the weekly theme contest. To that end I recommend you give it a try. If you want to see what the weekly theme contest is all about go to quiltinggallery.com and click on the link that say's weekly theme contest.

And the icing on the cake are the Quilters Cookbooks  I received for joining contest. The recipes in the book are irresistible
and the book also includes photos of beautiful quilts. The title "quick and easy recipes"  say's it all.  I was charmed by the editors relationship to cooking and quilting. She said "there never seems to be enough time to quilt that's why the book is called quick
and easy so we can get back to quilting".   There are recipes from over 100 quilters and include dishes like "Red and White
Chili, Cheeseburger Meatloaf, Crandberry Chicken Bake,  all the way to  pure bliss desserts.

Any new book get's  me excited  especially when it is a gift. I was the luckly  winner of Tiny' hobbyhoekje (blog)  book giveaway, Color and Cloth during the blog hop party giveaway.

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This book made me weak in the knee's as I read about the connection between color and cloth. Good writing on color sure does
make a difference and this book does just that. Mary Coyne Penders take you step by step in what you need to know to
answer the question that most of us wonder "what will my quilt look like". She tackles topics as varied as making a color wheel, visual texture and building a fabric collection

The book opened my eyes to the many ways to use color and cloth in my quilts. I like the fact that the book includes skill
building exercises. I have not completed all the workpages but when I do I will beable to use the book as a reference. Although
published in 1989 the book is well worth exploring.

Enjoyed the quilt guild meeting this morning.  There were over 60 quilters attending and I was a new visitor. Now that my workload is reduced I will have time to visit again.

Peace, love, and art,
Angela

Sharing Blog Hop Party Goodies and bits and pieces

Here are pictures of the wonderful packages I received in the mail from the blog hop party in December over at Michele Foster's
blog, http://www.quiltinggallery.com/


                                                           Sleigh full of Goodies

The book "Color and Cloth" fabric and postcards
     

 

                         

Sun-Printed fabric and Merit badges

                 

Coordinating fat quarters and pattern

I am a happy camper for winning these goodies and thank the bloggers who sent them to me. I joined bacause I was curious but

never in my wildest imanigation  about being a winner. 

On the home front 2012 is off to a good start. Find time to sew a little bit but spend the bulk of time picking up the pieces

from the restoration work I had done in late Nov. and Dec. new roof, carport ceilings,  and inside ceilings. Most of the damage was from the floods we had in early spring. Overall pleased with the work done and give  credit to my dear brother who

orchestrated all of this.

Classes at the U of M began  on Tuesday and we have been very busy at the bookstore where I am working during rush. The days go by fast and I  am amazed at the price of books today, the average price per semester being $700. But a nice incentive is the buy back option at the 

end of the semester where the student can sell the books back to the store.  This is a great incentive and oh how I wish this was an

option back in my day .

Peace, love, and art,

Angela