Another GO! from Irish Muses

Would you like to win a GO? I sure would! Here's your chance at:
http://thedote.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-time-for-accuquilt-go-giveaway.html

Ends 11/05/10

Winner - Fall Into Fall Giveaway!!

Thanks to all who participated in my giveaway! I've truly enjoyed reading all your comments and words of encouragement! I hope to have all the comments compiled by category and posted in the next few weeks. :)

Congratulations to Jen from http://thequiltyhome.blogspot.com/

Jen said...
"I guess my favorite quilting tool is blogs! Inspiration, stories, techniques, videos, and tutorials. It doesn't get any better than that! Truthfully, it's the quilting tool I use most often!"

Thanks again to all of you and I hope you will enjoy following my blog or pop in from time to time.

Take a Look at this one!

Long address, but great prizes for the giveaway!! :)

http://hobbieswithalittlebiteoflife.blogspot.com/2010/10/fall-into-fall-free-give-away.html

Bliss Giveaway

Look at the great prize on the Fall into Fall Giveaway. This is one of the business sponsors. http://crazyquiltgirlfabricshop.blogspot.com/2010/10/fall-into-fall-giveaway.html

Sew Happy is Celebrating

SewHappy is celebrating her followers with a magazine subscription giveaways.
http://sewhappy10000.blogspot.com/2010/09/october-magazine-give-away.html

600th-post-giveaway

Look who is celebrating her 600th Post!! She is having a giveaway to share with her readers. Check out her giveaway and wonderful tutorials. http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/2010/10/600th-post-giveaway.html

Another Go! Cutter!

If you are interested in winning a Go!Cutter head on over to: http://alderwoodquilts.blogspot.com/2010/10/alderwood-quilts-october-giveaway.html

Fall into Fall Bloggers Giveaway is HERE finally!!

Comments are now closed.. We have a winner!! See the post from today 10/18/10 for the information.

Part of the fun of blog giveaways is seeing what the hosting blogger wants you to do to enter. You will have several chances to enter which will help ME too! Telling you how this project developed for me will allow me to gain some valuable insights from my readers. I hope you will find some humor in my mistakes as a novice.

When I first signed up to be a part of the bloggers giveaway, I thought how fun this would be! I like to create gifts and enjoy "meeting" new people. Then reality set-in... I realized I had to have my giveaway ready by Oct. 1st and that was only a week to get something together. YIKES!! Getting the "big eye" is always a challenge for me. I think I can do more in less time than it actually takes. Working full time and commuting 3 hours a day doesn't leave much playtime, but this is something I REALLY wanted to do. So, being stubborn as I am, I went full steam ahead.

While I realize this is a "Fall" giveaway, cooler weather always makes me start thinking of the coming months of snow & Christmas. Being a big fan of everything Christmas and snowmen, my fabric stash is mostly Christmas related. So I thought, why not make something for Christmas?

While searching for ideas, I spied a snowman applique pattern for three mini quilts that was just adorable. I had all the fabrics, but I didn't have the fusing or any experience!! :O I've always wanted to try my hand at applique, but never had the nerve. But I wanted to be bold and take the chance.. (Feel free to insert foreboding music here.)

Here's my first attempt. Unexperience in this applique world, I made a "fatal" mistake. I bought the wrong fusing.. the no-sew kind.. So, yeah, you guessed it. My pieces were all cut, assembled and layered "just so" cute. With the pieces ironed in place, I head to my sewing machine only to find You really CAN'T sew it.. it's rather impossible and leaves large needle holes.. Lesson learned the hard way.. Strike One..

Attempt Two: Get the Heat-n-Bond LIGHT and start again. This time I modified the original design to make one bigger wall hanging. I also added some snow and made some other changes. This second attempt is looking awfully cute!

However, my brand-new quilting machine does not have a zigzag, so I thought hand stitching would be nice. Normally, I can hand stitch pretty well, but for whatever reason, it was NOT working. Maybe the stress of the deadline?? So I attempt to stitch on the machine. A no-go there too. It wasn't looking good!! Ugh! Strike TWO!! What to do now?

It's Tuesday evening and panic is beginning to set in.. The snowman project idea is totally scrapped and a new project emerges. A Christmas table runner!! This time I tried to keep it simple for time's sake. After cutting my squares and sewing the blocks together (the first time) I didn't like the arrangment. Too much green and not enough red. The rows were partially disassembled and more fabric was added. I like this result much better. After a late night of stitching until 2 AM this morning, the little runner is "nearly" complete. I'll finish stitching the binding on the back today.




Hurried stitching doesn't make for perfection, but it's cute and soft. I call the design "Bows & Boxes"... When viewed from an angle, the little pairs of smaller squares look like bows perched on top of a gift. (The winner may choose the runner or 4 fat quarters of the same material.)







I hope you enjoyed a giggle or two with my mistakes. Enough of my ramblings onto the the fun!!

You may choose to enter by completing as few or as many of the options below. Be sure to include your email if you have your settings at "No-Reply". (If you are unsure of your settings, SewCalGal has a wonderful tutorial on her page: http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html just scroll down about halfway.)
Additional prizes may be given to most original &/or helpful comments. *Ü* Leave your comments HERE at THIS POST to be entered to win. Here you go 10 chances to WIN.

1. Be a follower of my blog and leave a comment that you are.
2. Post a comment & link on your blog about my giveaway and leave a link to the post here.
3. Share your ideas/tips on the following. Each comment/post should contain only one subject and therefore will be a different entry. After the closing of the contest, I hope to compile the best comments on each subject and share with the group.
- I've read many books, websites, magazines and find conflicting information on pressing seams. Some say to the darker fabric and some say always open/flat. Which do you prefer and why or when (in certain circumstances).
- What is your favorite applique technique and why?
- Besides the Accuquilt cutters and dies that we are ALL trying to win, what is your favorite new quilting tool and why.
- Share an idea for uses of everyday items recycled for quilting/sewing function.
- Some quilters prefer to prewash all the fabrics before and some do not. What is your preference and why?
- Cotton or Polyester batting and why?
- Explain the "One Block Wonder" technique. I've searched for it online, but no luck.

Good luck to all of you. I'll be "seeing" you on the other blogs, too! Click on the scarecrow on the right to visit all list of participants.

Happy Blog Hopping!