Candy Land Quilt Progress!

Can you believe this quilt has taken me so long? Ok, I can. But still. I am SO happy to at least have the top done! It will be complete once I get back from the Sewing Summit! This quilt is the do.Good Stitches quilt from February (hanging my head in shame), from the Harmony Circle. The pattern is the Candy Land quilt, and I have a tutorial for each block style that can be found here. The measurements are for 1 or 2 blocks, not the whole quilt, so this is great if you want to use it for a quilting bee, or where multiple people will be contributing blocks.

 Man, what an awesome group of girls we had! I still miss them and wish I could be back sewing with them some days. :) Rachel finally sent me a message last month giving me the kick in the butt I needed to get going on this. Trust me, this has been at the top of my list, or 5 lists, for months and months! Thanks Rachel for the welcomed nagging. ;) I needed it. I guess I'm good at skipping around on my lists... Anyway, I think this is the ONLY thing I worked on in September (darn that feeling sick!).

I finished the top Sunday morning and had fun taking pictures! They don't give a super clear picture of what it actually looks like in normal light (except the first picture), but I LOVE the "stained glass" look. :)

The softest, lightest blocks went in the middle, with the darker blocks around the outside. I think my two straight blocks actually ended up being the darkest. oops. I'm super impressed with how well they all go together!

I think it's interesting how all the different columns look with the sun light behind the quilt. Everyone ironed their strips just a little bit differently and it makes it look like the columns are different widths. They really are all the same!

Everyone did such an excellent job! I really had no problems lining up all the different blocks, and they all match great! I'm so glad that my tutorial really did work since I was the last one to use it!! lol.

Thanks to all the wonderful ladies who helped me!! I can't wait to quilt this!! :)

The Charming Travelers Update!

Christa has a giveaway up over at Dolci Deleria for The Charming Travelers! 

Her giveaway is open until Wednesday the 10th, so hurry and hop over there and enter!

This is for the red pack, US only.

The next stop for the blue pack (Canada included) is at Army Quilting, with Sara. Keep your eyes open for the giveaway post, and hopefully I'll catch it too and let you know! :)

I am updating the map as I type this... ;)

I'm a Mormon!

I'm sure some of you know I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka, a Mormon, aka LDS. they're all the same thing). Some may not. Some of you may know members of this church, and some may not. I'm sure some of you are members. I'm sure everyone has heard of at least one "Mormon", Mitt Romney, it's kind of hard to ignore him right now. Anyway, the point of my post today is to share with you an opportunity to learn a little bit more, if you are interested. (all links shared are to the official webpage of the church.)

The fastest overview of some of our most important beliefs can be found in the Articles of Faith. Joseph Smith wrote the Articles of Faith in 1842 to help people who are not members of the Church understand how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is different from other churches.

The sixth Article of Faith reads, "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."

Just like there were prophets in the Old Testament, Adam, Noah, Moses, we believe that God has called modern prophets today. Joseph Smith was a prophet. We have a living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson. He has two counselors, you can see them here. We have 12 apostles, just as Christ called apostles to help lead His church. You can see who the current apostles are here. Pretty awesome.

 

Why I want to share this with you now, is because twice a year we as a church, and the world, have the opportunity to listen to these men, and other leaders of the church speak to us in what we call General Conference. It is 4 - 2 hour sessions that are held over the first Saturday/Sunday in April and then again in October. Yep, this weekend (sessions start at 10 am MST and 2 pm MST). The speakers study, ponder and pray about the messages they share. Some talks are specific to members, and some are specific to non-members (Elder Russell M. Nelson is a good example of this from yesterday mornings session). Some may be specific to certain age groups, life circumstances, or gender, but all are full of wisdom and answers, and often promises. Watching/listening and later being able to study the talks in the Ensign/Liahona (a church magazine), always helps me find direction and wisdom for my own life. It doesn't matter how old you are, who you are, or where you are. It doesn't even matter what language you speak (the church is in over 150 nations and is translated into many languages), God is your God and He loves you. He wants you to be happy!

 

You obviously don't have to view any of these links, videos, or conference. I am grateful that I have a blog where I can share so many of my activities and projects with you, as well as a peak into my family life on occasion. Here is one of those times when I want to welcome you to come past the computer screen and get a little bit deeper glance into my life and who I am. :) If you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. If you want to meet more Mormons, or read more about us on a more basic level, I invite you to visit Mormon.org, where average members share their stories, experiences, and a bit more about the church. There are musicians, actors, politicians, garbage men, bloggers, teachers, athletes, Olympians, etc.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

1 day left for 3rd Quarter FAL projects!

Wow! I almost missed this!!! Are you participating in the Finish-A-Long at Quilter in the Gap? Well, there is only one day left for the 3rd Quarter! I almost missed it, so I didn't want anyone else to either!! :)

I have ONE finished project to link up... not a very successful quarter, but oh well. It's the Rainbow Me Happy quilt. You can find my post about it here. And my original post for the pre-3rd quarter is here.

The link ups for pre-4th quarter is open on the 8th, so don't miss that either! You could definitely add your projects for the 100 Day Hustle to this list to help kill two birds with one stone. :)


Since I'm trying to hurry and finish up the Candy Land quilt before Sewing Summit, I think I'm going to try and see if I can't finish it in the next day! How awesome would that be?! Then I'd have two finishes. I am telling you, this last minute motivation is awesome for me!! I hope that Rhonda keeps doing this every year! ;)

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.

FQBH Winners!!

Sorry I didn't announce the winners yesterday, I was still waiting on some judging... but the votes are IN! :) Before I get to the good stuff, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the blog hop! This was my first blog hop and I had SO much fun! I really appreciate all the nice comments and feedback that I've already received about it. It makes me giddy inside to know that others enjoyed this as well! If you have any comments, feedback or advice on how I could run a better blog hop if I do another one, ever. I would LOVE to hear what you have to say!! Be honest! and Thanks! :)


Judges Picks:

Ok, So I wasn't sure how to divvy up the judges top picks, so I just randomly picked prizes to go with their top votes.


First up:

$40 Gift Card to Sew Fresh Fabrics

goes to Lee's pick, of Freshly Pieced:

this *awesome* pillow by Whitney of The Peacock Tree.

Next up:

One Gift Card to Fabric.com

goes to: Faith's top pick, of Fresh Lemons Quilts

Wall art by Markia of Live, Laugh, Love... Sew

And...

$25 Gift Card to Fresh Squeezed Fabrics

goes to Megan's top pick, of Canoe Ridge Creations:

Friendship Bag by Jane of Buzzmills

Congrats ladies on some beautiful projects!! :) And thanks Lee, Faith and Megan for helping out!!


Now for the rest of the prizes!!

a layer cake OR jelly roll of 

Amy Butler's Lark collection

goes to:

9. Juliet of Tartankiwi

Fat Quarter shop is giving away 3 prizes:

the layer cake of Simply Color by V and Co.

goes to:

3. Friendship Hexie Pouch by Samantha of Making Life Prettier

 

charm pack of Metropolitan Fair by Barbara Brackman

goes to:

 

16. Dana @ Water Penny

 

 

 

 

charm pack of Tapestry by Fig Tree Quilts 

goes to:

 

 17. Danielle Hudson of Fresh Off the Spool

 

 

 

 

 

 

3 - $20 Gift Cards to Pink Chalk Fabrics go to:

 

 

 

6. Friendship iPad Bean Bag by Kristin at Pritty Tings

 

15. Jayme @ Finding Sweetland

 check out ET! Awesome!

23. Jill Fischer

 I can't share the photo, so be sure to click on the link and check out her beautiful quilt if you haven't already!

 

 

 

 

 

The other 2 - $20 Gift Cards are for the 80's photos! Thanks for digging up your old photos and sharing them with us! I had a blast remember things I'd forgotten from my younger years!

Ok, the winners are:

6. Becky at Solar Threads

3. Taryn

I have to say, this popples shirt is awesome! I actually still have my sister's and my popples from when we were little! My kids love them. :)

 Congrats to all the winners! And a HUGE thanks to the wonderful sponsors for this event!! I hope you will stop by their wonderful shops and give them some support!! :)

If you continue to make Friendship Quilts in the future, I would still love to see them! You can share them in the from blank pages... flickr group! :)

*** If I have your email I will email you as well as pass it along to the different sponsors so they can contact you about your prizes. If I don't have your email, I will wait until I hear back from you, so either leave a comment, or send me an email at fromblankpages@gmail.com.