happy birthday to me giveaway :-)

It's that time of year again! Don't worry, I don't shy away from birthdays....I am proud of each and every year I have accumulated ;) Plus, there is cake and presents- what's not to love??

This year I thought I would share the fun by GIVING a gift to one of my readers. I just rolled over the 300 follower mark- wow! Thanks, guys! Lots to celebrate. So, a little something for you.
Here's how to play- leave a comment and guess my age (be kind). That's it. One guess per person, though my lovely followers may have a second crack at it. If more than one of you gets it right, then I will call on Mr. Random to decide amongst the smarties.

If you poke around my blog, you will get a bit more info about me and see a few pictures to help you guess. I'll also give you a few hints:

1. I am older than 20, younger than 50.
2. I had an original Cabbage Patch Doll and liked to watch the Smurfs.
3. The first music I bought was on a record.
4. I learned to type on an actual typewriter.
5. I sported a perm and big bangs in high school.

What do you get if you win? Well, how about some fabric?

Randi at Fresh-Squeezed Fabrics is offering up a fabric gift certificate, the dollar amount matching my age! Don't you wish I was 100?? Not yet, my friends, but hopefully someday ;)




If you haven't yet been to Randi's shop your should really click on over and give it a look. Go ahead, I'll wait....I'm not getting any younger, though! Anyways, she carries basically anything your little heart desires. How about some Soul Blossoms?
Don't you love these Michael Miller bikes? They make me think of spring {sigh}.

Parisville, anyone?

Randi also has an awesome blog called i have to say. Pop by and say hello!

Now, it's time to eat cake! We'll meet back here Sunday after noon Central time to pick a winner! Good luck!

"Love" prevails- finished Sherbet Pips quilt

In the matter of love vs. hate....love. Definitely, love.
I have coveted the Sherbet Pips line since I first laid eyes on it- all my favorite colors, and such cute, lovable characters! I was so happy when I got my hands on a couple layer cakes! But then came the debate of how to put it all together.
I loved some of the snowball designs advertised by Moda for this line, but I decided to mix it up and make it my own by alternating it with 9 patches. By keeping the corners of the snowballs and 9 patch squares all the same color, I really like the pattern it creates! I used Kona Medium Grey as my solid, and needed just one layer cake to make the 42 blocks you see here- perfect lap quilt finishing up at 55" by 65".

The back- my goal was to keep it simple! I normally spend a lot of time doing a pieced back (like here, here and here), but decided that I needed a break after the hockey quilt :-) Also, there is no coordinating yardage of Pips yet available to tempt me. The answer was clear- minky! My friend Kathy has made a couple quilts with minky that I adore, so I wanted to give it a try. I admit I was almost scared off after reading this post, but I am so glad I went with it. It is SO soft and cuddly- perfect for this winter-themed quilt! It came in 59" wide so I didn't even have to piece it, just spray basted it and away I went. No trouble at all in quilting...the only issue came in trying to do some UN-sewing. Impossible to seam rip this stuff! I wasn't happy with the quilting design I had started, and wanted to take it out...anyways, after a bunch of frustration, I decided it wasn't worth the drama to stitch rip out and I just continued with it. Not perfect, but good enough!
Another thing I discovered with minky- hand quilting patterns are lost on this stuff, as it just swallows the stitches. My hand stitching was looking terrible on the back as some stitches would be hidden in the "hairs", making it look uneven. My solution? I ended up removing what I had started, then continued hand stitching the quilt top and batting layers only! Problem solved, and ample machine quilting elsewhere to hold the thing together, so why not?? My quilt, my rules ;) I used 5 different coordinating shades of Perle 8 cotton thread to frame each of the snowballs.
I think my favorite detail is the faux piped binding. I LOVE how this turned out, it really made the quilt for me. I used some Amy Butler lotus dots, then added the red solid piping for extra punch. I used this awesome tutorial. The binding/piping is machine applied as opposed to hand stitched, so this was another new experience. Will definitely use this technique again.
Finished it up this weekend, and already have spent lots of time enjoying it... a great cuddle companion for a movie, it was a tablecloth for a princess tea party, the aqua minky side was a pool where we played dolphins, we used it to make human burritos like this one....
This little lovely is a birthday present for me, from me. Yes, it is true- I am aging on Wednesday. I know, I know, hard to believe, I am looking so youthful! Extravagant gifts encouraged ;)

I'll have a gift for you as well- check back for a giveaway with Fresh Squeezed Fabrics!