My Favorite Christmas Gift ever

On Christmas Day

17 years ago

I found this under the tree...

Happy Birthday Little Boy!

Merry Christmas!

The littlest star

Kind of applicable for this time of year.

This is definitely the smallest thing I've ever made.

It's part of a larger block in one of my "That Quilt" quilts.
(For non-US readers, a dime is less than 3/4" in diameter - about 1.75 centimeters.)

The White House Gingerbread House 2009

So pretty!

(Photo courtesy of ObamaFoodorama.blogspot.com)

There's a shadow box view of the State Dining Room – the room that the completed gingerbread house sits in throughout the holiday season for visitors to view. This shadow box even includes the famous painting of President Lincoln by George PA Healy that hangs over the fireplace. This room is where you’ll find the only inedible parts of the gingerbread house – the light fixtures!

They also included the new White House Kitchen Garden and Bo. Both are made out of marzipan. In the garden, you’ll find baskets of carrots, eggplants and cabbage as well as other seasonal vegetables.

There's a video and description of the whole process here on the blog: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/12/22/making-white-house-gingerbread-house

I WANT one!

And the winners are...

After removing anonymous comments which I wouldn't be able to verify, people who commented more than three times (yes, really!), and people who claimed to have posted on their blogs but didn't (yes, really!), here are the winners of the Wild Thyme fat quarters:

Susan
Fairlygirly
Joanna
Bec
Sewtakeahike

Congratulations everyone!
I've sent each of you an email.

If you didn't win and REALLY like these fabrics, here's a coupon code just for readers of the blog: WLDTH01
Enter this coupon when ordering from the store and you'll receive 20% off!  (The coupon expires December 31st)

A Special Deal on EQ6

I'm about to order EQ6 to install on my brand new laptop.
This one, my Christmas gift to myself:

I'm probably going to put a couple of EQ6's in the store, but especially for Christmas, I'll do special orders at a very good price just for my bloggy buddies.

If you're interested, send me an email before December 25th.
These will likely not ship until after the New Year, since the suppliers are taking a Holiday Break too.

(almost) In the mail!

It feels like I'm catching up just a teenie bit over here.

It's Wild Thyme for a Giveaway!

I'm so excited!
Wild Thyme has arrived!
As you may remember me mentioning before, this is my store's first WHOLE collection. Every single fabric there is.
I'm totally in love with the fabrics.


To celebrate this milestone, I'm giving away some of these pretties.
4 fat quarters of Wild Thyme fabric to each of five winners.

You have three chances to win.

1: Just leave a comment over here.
2: Post about this giveaway on your blog and then leave another comment telling me you've done so.
3: Hop over to my little fabric store, then come back and tell me in a comment which fabric is the 15th one listed in the Wild Thyme Collection in the store.

Entries close at Midnight PST on Thursday December 17th and I will draw the winners on the 18th.

Don't forget that, if you're a Facebook Fan or a Twitter Follower, there's a 20% off coupon for you to use until December 31st. Perfect for a little "gift to self", I think.

Also, I'm planning a week of giveaways in the New Year, so stay tuned.

Scrap-palooza

Whenever I have something I HAVE to do, I suddenly get the urge to do something else that I've been putting off. Does this happen to you?

So, instead of writing block instructions, I pulled out the scraps.
Tons of them. And bagged them up.

Each bag contains one pound of scraps (according to my kitchen scale), which totals about three yards of fabric.
Some pieces are small but some are pretty big and there are definitely a couple of fat quarters in there.

Fabrics differ. Some I've had for years, some are current, some are fabrics that are in my store right now.
They are not pre-washed and will be very wrinkled since they've been stuffed in bags.

If you're interested in growing your scrap collection email me: twiddletails{at}gmail{dot}com.
I only request that you pay for shipping them in a USPS Priority Mail envelope - $5 US, $13 everywhere else.
First come, first served.
SCRAPS ARE GONE!

Nothing much

I was definitely not nearly as productive as I was hoping to be this weekend.
We went out for dinner twice.
I finished the back for Wild Thing. Woohoo! Basting it tomorrow.
I made this:

No, I didn't design it myself. You can find a free template over here.
And Anna now also has some others for sale over here so you can make a whole little Christmas village. I may have to do that.

Last but not least, did you know you can follow twiddletails (well, me) on Facebook and Twitter?
There's a 20% off coupon for followers until the end of December.
I have links in the sidebar over here. --------->>

I love it when...

...I can imagine people's projects through their fabric orders.

Focus

I started a new project and then quickly managed to put the brakes on it.
I have to stick to my priorities. Really.

I completed and scanned all the Rainbow Jane blocks yesterday. Yay for me!
And I started on the back for Wild Thing this morning.
I have a date to go baste this on a large floor on Tuesday. Nothing like a deadline to get you moving.

I made the letters using Tonya's tutorials.

Houston Part VI - Best of Show

I have many more Houston photos but I thought today I'd share the Best of Show.
Thread painting was very big in Houston this year.
Photos do not do this quilt justice.
On the Wings of a Dream
by CARYL BRYER FALLERT
of PADUCAH, KENTUCKY

Detail:



To read about Caryl's process in making this and see other quilts she's made, visit her website.

Wow!

I didn't mean to disappear for two weeks.  Did you miss me?

Around here there has been disease and illness, a busy Thanksgiving, and trying to catch up on some things so I can have some Joy in the New Year.

I just haven't had any photos to share (I'm sure you don't want to see my red-nosed family members) and I hate posts without photos.

The biggest progress I've made has been completing and scanning in all the Rainbow Jane blocks.  While I make each block as I write the instructions, sometimes the applique and scanning parts get left behind because I run out of time.  Let's just say I've been doing a lot of applique in the last couple of weeks.  Most of the appliqued ones have not been scanned in yet and I still have a couple to complete.
I love this quilt.  If you think you have the patience to make one, I have free instructions over on my "That Quilt" blog, where I'm making my original Jane quilt (the one before Rainbow Jane).  I promise you will be a much better quilter at the end of the process.

I also made some progress on Grandmother's Flower Garden and the Cathedral Window quilt.
This week I have to make the back for "Wild Thing" so I can get it quilted and handed over before Christmas.

And the February 2010 American Patchwork & Quilting magazines have arrived in the store.  How crazy is that?


See?  I have been busy.  What have you been up to?

It's Raining Magazines!

How is a person supposed to focus with all the distractions Mr. UPS drops on the doorstep?

I HAVE to make this...

...and I know my Sydney would love one of these.

(Quilts and More Winter 2009)

Houston Part V

As long as you don't mind I will just keep these coming every so often.

This Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt was a sight to behold!
The hexagons are less than an inch in size.  As someone who is working on a GFG quilt and knows how long it takes to sew these by hand, I am in awe.

Made by Noriko Kido, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
She says about this quilt:
"I love quilts of simple patterns. The hexagon is especially interesting for me. This wonderful world is composed of many colorful pieces, which are cut from only one hexagon template."

The quilt is hand pieced and hand quilted.

Time to get it together

Now that the sickies have left (I hope), it's time to get things under control over here.
The last couple of weeks have been hectic and this house is a mess.
I need to clean and organize because on Monday I'm planning to start Jacquie's Joy in the New Year Challenge and get some projects done.

Right now the entire contents of my pantry is on my kitchen counters, however.  On Monday we had insulation put in the crawlspace and guess where the access is.  Today they're wrapping and sealing the ductwork down there.
Tomorrow I'm hopefully getting a quote to run a gas line to the island so we can get a gas cooktop installed.
I'm also thinking that, while the patry is empty we should put some new flooring in there and paint.
Those kitchen counters may not get cleared for a while...
We have quite a few more fun projects in the works around the house.  I'm excited about it all, except for the draining of the bank account that comes along with the fun.

Enough boring chatter.
Here's a little sneak peek at the collection I told you about yesterday.

Still here

Things are looking up around here.
Except for some serious night time coughing, I think we've dodged the bullet.
Fun from the UPS guy helps, of course.
Spotted Owls by Alexander Henry.
I've already cut myself a huge teenie piece of this because I don't think it's going to last long in the store.

In other exciting news, I recently ordered my first entire collection of fabric. My store is little. This is a big thing for me. Today I received a fat quarter of each one of these fabrics in anticipation of all the bolts coming soon. I feel a giveaway coming so stay tuned.
Happy, happy...

I think there may be...

...H1N1 in our house.  Now I'm going to have to stay home and sew.

And bake.


(Recipe over here.)
Have I mentioned that I hate the new Blogger editor?

And knit.

Just Arrived

Just thought you might want to know...
Yesterday the UPS guy brought this:

It's stuffed with cute projects including the "Plenty of Pockets" bag by Monica, otherwise known as The Happy Zombie.

There's a whole bag section!
How do you like this little owl pillow?

There's also a bunch of table runners and some cute quilts including a quick and easy Christmas quilt.
As always, it's 15% off the list price in the store.

Wild Thing

It's my first twin sized quilt.
A gift.
Pretty wild but I like it.
It's big - 72" x 90".
I'm not sure I have a big enough space to pin this.

Look what Mary did!

She puts me to shame! I'm SO inspired to finish this project. It's on my list of things to do before the new year.

Mary is the first person I know of to actually complete the Geese in the Forest quilt.

I love the border and I'm going to see if I can order some of the dotty fabric for the store.

Not only did Mary complete the quilt, but she hit a little printer bump in the process and made 46 blocks too small.
Look at what she did with them!

If you'd like to congratulate Mary on this wonderful accomplishment, hop on over to her blog and leave a comment.

BTW, Geese in the Forest kits (that's what Mary used) are back in stock in the store after a long wait for white and lime green Bella Solids.

Have your cake...

It was my birthday on Thursday.
It was a fun day of shopping, lunching, dinner-ing...
On Friday more lunching and cupcakes for dessert.
If found this in the cupcake bakery:

My birthday gift to myself.
Don't you just love it when you stumble upon something that just makes you giddy and happy?

Houston Part IV

Are you fed up with this yet?
I'm trying to space these posts but I have a lot of photos...

This quilt was AMAZING!
Everyday Barns & Family Farms
by KAREN HANKEN
of JACKSONVILLE, OREGON

Detail:


Cuteness:
Pup Art
by NANCY BROWN
of OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

And more cuteness:
Just Sing...Sing a Song
By Tom Russell of Katy, Texas (Thanks nanann)

I must be nuts

I think I may seriously have a mild case of ADD.
I started a new project yesterday.
I've always wanted to make a cathedral window quilt.
Yesterday I saw one online and suddenly HAD to try the technique. I could think of nothing else.
I couldn't find instructions on how to make the blocks using the traditional, hand-sewn method anywhere online.
I had to resort to a book. Gasp!

According to the book, for a twin sized quilt you need 572 background squares and 1100 colored squares.
I may be making a table runner.

Geometrics

I think the mojo is back. Now just to find the time...

This morning I knew I had to make Cathy's block for SC3.
She mentioned that she likes geometrics and I remembered a little puzzle John once sent me when I won a giveaway.

It wasn't exactly conducive to piecing (I don't do inset seams) so I redrafted it in EQ5 with some minor alterations.

Lots of little squares and triangles later:

I'm quite pleased.