Celestial Star QAL: Link Up Your Final Projects HERE!!!

Wahoo!! It's time to link up your final Celestial Star projects!! Can you believe it?! It got a little quiet there towards the end, but this has been such a fun QAL! I can't wait to see everyone's projects all together!!

PLEASE read the link up guidelines carefully!!!!!

There are different categories for linking up your projects. Please read through each category description before picking the category you want to enter in, as there are different options for how you can link up your projects. YOU CAN ONLY ENTER EACH PROJECT ONCE! Do not link up the same project in more than one category... see details for more info.


Before we get into all that, I want to go over the awesome prizes!!

First, I want to give a HUGE shout out to our sponsors who gave out prizes earlier in the QAL.

Pink Castle Fabrics for two beautiful fat eight bundles!

Fat Quarter Shop for giving away two $25 gift certificates!

  

I Don't Do Dishes AND Material Girl Quilts for their amazing FQ bundles!

For the Grand Prizes:

1 Block projects: 1 - $20 Gift Certificate donated by Westwood Acres 

2-4 Block projects: $50 Gift Certificate donated by the Fat Quarter Shop

5+ Block quilts: $50 Gift Certificate donated by I don't do dishes AND 1 - fat eight bundle of Mochi Linen dots donated by Knotted-Threads

More Grand Prizes: Winners will be picked at random from all entries.

Fat quarter bundle of Butterfly Dance by Cinderberries donated by Llama Fabrics

 

Liberty Scrap Pack bundle donated by Queen Bee Fabrics

Birch by Joel Dewberry Charm Pack donated by I don't do dishes

How to Win!!

The categories are:

• 1 Block
• 2-4 Blocks
• 5+ Blocks

The simple rules:

If you only made 1 block. Enter your project in the "1 Block" category.
If you made a quilt top with 2-4 Blocks, enter it in the "2-4 Blocks" category.
If you made a quilt top with 5 or more blocks, enter it in the "5+ Blocks" category.

pretty basic right?!


The Complex rules:

If you made 2 or more blocks that are in separate projects, say 3 pillows, you can enter them each individually in the "1 Block" category (creating 3 different entries), OR you can enter them all together in the "2-4 Blocks" category (1 entry), or a combination of the two (1 block entered in the 1 block category, and the other two blocks entered in the 2-4 Block category = 2 total entries). YOU MAY NOT ENTER THE SAME BLOCK IN TWO CATEGORIES! (if you enter 3 blocks in the second category, you can't enter one of those three blocks in the 1 block category. Got it?!) Same goes for the 5+ Blocks category.

Here are two of my finished pillows.

 (a pillow I made for a friend, I used the included border pattern with this one)

Say I was going to enter these two pillows. I could have two entries in the "1 Block" category, or one entry in the "2-4 Blocks" category.

IF your multiple blocks are sewn together in one project, like a quilt top, you may NOT break up the blocks individually and enter in separate entries. A single project counts as one entry only. Only separate projects may be combined into a single entry.

 Does that make sense??? I am not sure how many people made projects with 2-4 blocks, but I do know that a few people made more than one single item. SO this way I know there can be at least one entry in each category, if that ends up to be how it is... anyway.


More guidelines:
In this blog post I said I thought I remembered saying that a quilt top with 5+ blocks does not have to be quilted and bound, but the top does need to be finished to count. I tried to find which post I said that in, but I couldn't. But if I did, I'll stick to my word. A large quilt with this pattern is a lot of work, (trust me! I know!) so I think if you've finished an entire quilt top of blocks, it should still be eligible for a prize. SO for the "5+ Blocks" category, if it's a complete quilt top (NOT five or more individual blocks) it does NOT have to be a finished quilt. 

Sound good?!!



Alright, ready, Set, LINK UP!! :)


1 Block Projects

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   



2-4 Blocks Projects

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   



5+ Blocks Projects

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Winners will be announced in a week from today, on Monday October 6th!

Good luck!! and thanks for joining me!!

I'll be sure to share the rest of my progress shots this week and my finished quilt by Monday!! :)

A Week of Finishes: Activity Book

I have finished a lot of things lately, but I can't keep track of what I've done, or what I still need to finish. And obviously I haven't been blogging about them. I decided, right now, that this will be the Week of Finishes! Every day this week I'm going to share with you something that I've finished recently! :)

A Week of Finishes!

Do you want to join me? I'll add a linky to every post so you can link up anything and everything you've finished recently too! (It'll be the same linky, so there won't be any need to go back and re-link up any of the same posts. They'll show up every day!) :) Maybe I'll even try and make a button for it. I'm sure I'll want to do this again sometime. :)


For my first finish, I'll share a custom order activity book that I made. Everyone seems to really love purple (glad I have some in my stash!) :)

The Front - using Cuzco by Kate Spain

The Back

The Inside

I still need to finish Hunters. Every time I start making one he asks if it's his. Oops. At least he enjoys using the other two I have made for my other children... :)

I used some heavier interfacing for this one, and I really like it, though I still have one more adjustment to make for the final pattern. I'm getting pretty excited about this one. These are so quick and easy to whip up! :)

Hooray for a finish!!

<center><a href="http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com/p/a-week-of-finishes.html" target="_blank"><img alt="from blank pages..."  src="http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo253/dbByDesign/Blog%20Buttons/from%20blank%20pages/A-Week-of-Finishes_zps3c8beb03.jpg"  width="150" /></a></center><br />

If you link up a project, or two, or twenty, be sure to link back here so others can come join the fun! :)

A Lovely Year of Finishes - February

I was looking around Flickr and noticed that the link up for February for the Lovely Year of Finishes (flickr link, or read about it here at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs) closes tomorrow. I have one project in mind that I definitely want to finish up this year. ... so here is my link up blog post!

I know I already posted about this today... I have so many repeat things on my blog. Hopefully that will end as I finish things up!! Which is my ultimate goal, of course.

I want to finish my knitting needle roll!

I'm really trying to get more organized, as well as beautify my sewing/crafty space. I love looking at everyone's awesome sewing rooms, and then I look at mine and it definitely needs some help. ;) Anyway, I'm making this strip of 1" finished hst blocks for the front strip. Then I will use the tutorial here for the roll. I used this same tutorial for my Sew Sew Modern swap, and it was so quick and easy and turned out great! (sorry another repeat of info if you are a regular reader. p.s. thanks for reading!) ;)

So anyway, if you have a project you want to finish this month, be sure to go link up! 

You can win some prizes too if you finish. :)

Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday!!

I am so excited to be hosting TGIFF today! :) I love projects, especially starting new ones, but there is never anything better than finishing a project! Whew, what a relief.... when one is done I don't feel as bad starting a new one. ;)  If you are new to my little corner of blogland, I hope you'll stop and stay a while and check things out! I've been a bit quite so far this year, but if you are on Instagram, I've got plenty of things going on over there (my username is fromblankpages). Come follow along. :)


For my finish today I want to share with you an activity book I made for a custom order. I've made two for my little kiddos and they LOVE them! I still need to make one more (as well as finish up the pattern). They've been perfect for church and in the car on long trips. I'm usually not a purple person, but I love how this one turned out! :) Most of my purples are Kate Spain's Cuzco. I instantly fell in love with how SO silky soft those fabrics are!

The front

Measures 10 inch tall by 7 inches wide

The back.

Under the strap there is a full sized pocket to hold paper and other flat things, mini book, etc.

The inside.

I found these mini clipboards at Walmart and that is what inspired the idea for these! They are perfect for a half sheet of paper. I want to find some coloring pages and print two out per sheet. So far I've just cut plain paper in half and my wee ones have enjoyed those a lot so far. :) 

I also found some spiral top notebooks that fit perfect as well! Bonus!

Holds 8 mini twistable crayons, or regular crayons, but I LOVE these twistables.

The little pocket above the crayons is great for stickers or other fun stuff you want to carry along.

Hooray for finishes! :) Now it's your turn! Feel free to link up any recent finish you have, being sure to link back here so others can join the fun. You can grab the button from the main TGIFF site (or if you want to learn more, go here.

Also, stop by some of the link ups and comment on what others have finished. We all love a bit of comment love!

Thanks for stopping by!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Gifts and a linky

Can I just tell you that December isn't any less crazy than the rest of the year?! :) I think that should be my slogan, ”life is crazy”. I don't think I'll ever get used to the hectic life of having three small children. This why I am always questioning my future situation. Anyway, I'll save that for Friday (hopefully).

So Hunter has had a fever since Monday night, luckily no one else has gotten it yet, but I worry that it's lasted so long. I also hate that he's missing preschool. Looks like he'll miss tomorrow too. Pior kid. :( we've had some fun though.

Ok, so onto the sewing stuff, because that's what makes all the craziness bearable. I love that my husband is always telling me to not stop sewing. I think he understand more than I do how much I need this outlet. ;)


I have finally buckled down and made my

Handmade Christmas List! 

(though I can't share everything because I don't know who is reading this. I'll have a big recap after the new year.)

• a quilt
• travel bag
• phone pillows
• angry bird bean bags
• some bags and unspecific things (7 - 1 big, 4 small, 2 are finished - to help me keep them straight)
• a superhero cape for Mabel
• a family gift that I'll share a bit below

and if I can get them done:

• I want a purse, but i'm not counting on that getting done
• I want to make the kiddos some infinity scarves, maybe crocheted, so they are faster.
• maybe some doll accessories for Mabel. She will need some. :) (I love having a girl)

Besides Christmas gifts I also need to

• put together an iPad pillow pattern
• finish activity books and a custom order
• take pictures of and post the candy land quilt, I LOVE it! (it's been freezing outside and I don't want to go out in it.)

 I am such a list person. I think that is actually everything. :) I hope so anyway.

So here's my new thing as of yesterday. If you follow me on instagram (I'm @fromblankpages if you're on there!)  you've probably seen it. It's a Mini Stocking!

This one was a practice to make sure it would work and I had the pattern right. The fabrics are not my favorite, and I definitely want the cuff to be in a different color.

I wanted to make these last year as a family gift to other close families that we (I) want to give a little something too. I didn't get it figured out in time last year, and I slightly recall Neil getting mad at me for having too many projects, which I think he's already done this year too. Lol. Anyway, I think this is so cute! It's about 6.5 in tall, which I think will be perfect to put a bunch of candy canes in. :) I want to put the last name of the family on the cuff with Merry Christmas and our name and year on the back. Then put enough candy canes in them for each member of the family. They aren't too big to hang on the tree I think, but maybe I'll shorten it by 1/2 an inch anyway. I'm hoping to be able to finish a pattern and post a tutorial on my blog today tomorrow.


So what do you have going on right now? What is your handmade Christmas list? I think it's funny that I like to make stuff for everyone else, but then we just buy all our presents for our kiddos. :)

 I think I'm going to leave this linky up until the end of the year, and just keep posting the same link each Thursday, I don't know if I'll really keep up with the linky this month with everything going on. Seeing as how I already missed it last week. Oops. Just keep adding posts as you share new things!


**Please make sure to link back here so others can come join in the fun as well! :) and stop and say hi to the other great bloggers too! Comments are always a happy thing!

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!!

from blank pages... #11

SOME BLOG HOP NEWS: 

I am waiting for  two addresses to forward onto The Fat Quarter Shop - I emailed you this morning - so if it's you, be sure to email me! I'll send off all the info for The Fat Quarter Shop together. ALL emails regarding prizes have been sent! For everyone else, I contacted all the shops and passed on your info! You should hear back from them in the next day or so! :) Thank you to everyone who left your email in the comments! That was a huge help so I didn't have to do as much searching. ;) Congrats to everyone! :)

I think September was national sewing month, or at least for some reason that's what I remember seeing somewhere. Well, I don't think I sewed much of anything at all! Last night I started freaking out about the Sewing Summit since I will be leaving in a few hours short of a week!!!! WAHOOOOO!!!!!! But guess what, I am not.ready. nope. So do you know what I started this week? ok today? A list.

eww. these photos are yucky yellow. They didn't look like this on my phone. sorry. I need to stop taking so many phone pictures and get out my actual cameras again!

This is definitely the most important list. Priorities you know. If I forget all my clothes and walk around in my underwear the whole time, at least I won't forget to eat good food and get some of my beloved, and greatly missed chocolate covered cinnamon bears! lol. Seriously though, this stuff is important. ;) If only someone was coming down from Logan and could bring me some Lemon Custard Aggie Ice Cream! oooohhhh. melt-in-your-mouth-to-die-for-ice-cream. That's what it should really be called. lol.


Ok, so then I made another list. This one is my BEFORE list. pretty important too, I guess. Lol.

I think if I wasn't still in such a rut of no energy, being sick, blah blah blah, I would also add a purse to the list (which I did start, but need to finish), as well as a pouch, a sewing kit pouch, and perhaps the duffle bag I bought the pattern for last year. I will be with the "heathens" as they call themselves in the google group - the people who aren't making anything pre-sewingsummit. :)

oh, and of course I do need to make a list of supplies. ;) (I do have one started on my phone.


I think overall this is a pretty good starting point! Wahoo! :) But now the countdown is on! I can't believe it!!!

Other sewing summit news... I'm staying in the hotel! Wahoo!!! We finally worked it out and I'm so excited! :) SO excited for the people I'm staying with too! THANKS!!!! Now the only thing I'm a bit nervous about is leaving at 3 am to drive to the airport. I hope I survive that first Thursday!


One note from last week... I was dumb and totally ruined the surprise for what pattern I was going to share for the blog hop. I am now doing something different than the cat... just so you know! So you better come by and see! Have you been checking out the patterns that have already been shared? They're AWESOME!! :) You can get a preview of all of them at Whims and Fancies!! plus there are giveaways! just saying.

So now it's your turn! What beginnings do you have to celebrate?

Just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

p.s. since I'll be at the sewing summit next week, or at least on my way, I will not be hosting this linky party next week... unless someone wants to host it for me!! That would be fun! :) let me know.

from blank pages... #10

Despite being down and out this week (which has unfortunately meant that some of my fun blog posts for the Friendship Quilts Blog Hop didn't happen this week...) I did actually start on something new last night! Hooray for progress, right?! I am really getting tired of being tired and sick of being sick. heehee. I hate when it draaaaaaaaaags. Hopefully that I'm feeling a little better last night and this morning means I'm on the mend! crossing my fingers!




Onto my new beginning:
 Did you hear about the "Something Wicked This Way Comes" Halloween paper piecing blog hop at Whims and Fancies? Well, it's almost October already and that means it's about to start!! That also means I need to get crackin on my block! I am so excited to participate in this hop and have an excuse to finally use the cute Halloween fabrics I've had in my stash for a while now. :)


Originally I was thinking a castle, or bats, a witches broom, a black cat, a witches hat... and I'm sure I found a few other images on google that I thought would be fun. Last night I drew up a few images in Illustrator,

a hat

and a cat.

More people liked the cat on Instagram, so I'm going with that... (my user name is fromblankpages if you're on there, come follow me!) 

I was on a roll until I got to the ears. I'm a little stuck about how I want to break them up. I would love to keep the head one piece, so we'll see what I can come up with. :)

I don't know if I'm supposed to do this much reveal before the show, but hopefully this gets you excited!! I can't wait to see what everyone else is making!

p.s. Don't forget that tomorrow is the last day to link up your Friendship Quilts Projects!!! I am LOVING what projects have been shared and hope to see more!! :)

So what have you been dreaming up or working on??? I am really loving seeing your projects that you've been sharing!! :)

Just a few things with the link up:

1. PLEASE make sure to link back to this post in your blog post! Let others know where you're sharing your projects so they can come share theirs as well! :) You can also grab a button from my sidebar.
2. Make sure you are talking about some kind of beginnings in your post. If I can't figure out how it ties into this theme, I'll have to delete your link. no offense.
3. stop by others posts and leave some comment love! :) 

Linky will be open until Saturday night! :)

Friendship Quilts Blog Hop Recap and Link Up!

I want to give a huge shout out to everyone that joined me in this fun blog hop! I hope you all enjoyed the projects they shared!  I know I did!! :)

If you missed any of the projects I hope you'll go back and see all the great details for each of the projects. And just because it's fun to see them all together, here they are...

I think there is a definite theme of friends, quilting and POUCHES. lol. I love them ALL!

2 - blog hop button
3 & 4 - Diane @ from blank pages...
5 - Whitney @ the peacock tree
6 - January T @ Sew Sew Go
7 - Melinda @ Quirky Granola Girl
8 - Courtney @ Mon Petit Lyons
9 - Jill @ Made with Moxie
10 - Danielle @ Fresh Off the Spool
11 - Kelsey @ Kelsey Sews
12 - Kristy @ Quiet Play
13 - Marika @ Live, Laugh, Love... Sew
14 - Karen @ Sew Well Maide
15 - Rachael @ imagine gnats
16 - Katey @ There & Back



Now it's YOUR turn to link up for some FANTASTIC prizes!! Want to know what you can win???

In no particular order...

Westwood Acres.
Amanda is offering one Amy Butler Lark
layer cake or jelly roll. (winner picks their preference)




Fresh Squeezed Fabrics
Randi has offered one $25 Gift Card to her shop.

Fabric.com is also offering one Gift Card, of unknown value. 

I have a feeling someone is going to be very lucky!

The Fat Quarter Shop is giving away 

1 layer cake of Simply Color by V and Co.

and 2 charm packs:

Metropolitan Fair by Barbara Brackman

and Tapestry by Fig Tree Quilts

to three lucky winners.

Sew Fresh Fabrics is giving away one $40 Gift Card! 

Wahoo!! ;)

Pink Chalk Fabrics is giving away five $20 Gift Cards

to five lucky winners!

Here's how it will work:

 You have until Friday September 28th at midnight to finish and link up your Friendship Quilt projects! Be sure to share who the special recipient is!

 - don't have a blog? link up a Flickr photo, you can easily add some info in the description.

 - making an actual quilt? A finished quilt top will be sufficient. All other items smaller than a quilt - wall hanging, mug rugs, coasters, bags, etc, do need to be completely finished.

 - you can link up as many projects as you have made, but they need to have different blog posts.

Once the linky is closed, voting begins! Megan of Canoe Ridge Creations, Lee of Freshly Pieced, and Faith of Fresh Lemons Quilts will pick their top favorite projects!

I will announce the judges picks on Monday October 1st, as well as give out the rest of the prizes by random.org!

BUT I will be saving 2 - $20 Gift Cards from Pink Chalk Fabrics for the OTHER linky that will be opening up on Monday September 24th! Dig out your best 80's photos and link them up! I will pick two winners on Monday October 1st as well! I say it's not fair if we're the only ones sharing our photos! I want to see yours as well! (you can share your photo in the same post as your project if you want)

<center> <a href="http://fromblankpages.blogspot.com/2012/09/friendship-quilts-blog-hop-is-here.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Quilting for a Cause" src="http://i381.photobucket.com/albums/oo253/dbByDesign/Friendship-Quilts-Blog-Hop-Button291-1.jpg"  width="150" /></a></center>

Am I forgetting anything? I don't think so... and that means Let the Party begin!!! :)

***Be sure to grab a button and link back to this page so others can come join the fun as well!! Visit the rest of the projects as well! I can't wait to see what you've made!! :)