A Plethora of Quilty Fun!

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Count von Count

Let’s see, we have a Design Wall. That’s one, one design wall. Ah, ha, ha. (Yes, I was enamored with the Count on Sesame Street!) Back to QN Street. We have the winner from last week’s giveaway, we have our February goal, we have projects to share.

Well, if there’s this much to share, I better pare down my usual loquaciousness. It’s always worth a try, I say.

GIVEAWAY WINNER!
The winner of the RSC15 giveaway: Making Quilts is…Lisa Fillion! She has a blog called: upstatelisa Her blog is very cheery and Lisa looks like a very energetic person. I think you’d enjoy seeing her blog!

 DESIGN WALL
I’ve been working on a cute quilt called Square Dance, from Gigi’s Thimble. It uses a charm pack to make. I buy charm packs whenever I can find a good deal and that’s what I used for this quilt.

 
FEBRUARY’S QUILT TO FINISH
I’ve dedicated 2015 and myself to finishing one UFO every month. I’m motivating myself through three different finish-it-up challenges. You can see my UFO list and the blogs sponsoring the cracking whip!

On my list, you can see, I finished Cascadia Quilt for January. The Christmas tree skirt will be done this week. Plus I have the blocks for other challenges: January & February's Sweet Sixteen Block and RSC15 and January and February's Vintage blocks. 

A few fabrics for Sweet Sixteen Blocks

What I really want to do this month is work on my granddaughter’s baby quilt. However, my daughter and I haven’t picked a pattern. Then I have to buy fabric. I want to get this done this month and have Darlin’ Girl’s quilt my project for March.

So what am I doing for February, you ask… I wanted something easy so I could finish the Christmas Tree Quilt, a secret project, catch or keep up with monthly challenges and prep for the baby quilt. This month I’m going to make some pillowcases that have been sitting around waiting for a long, long time. If I didn’t dedicate a month for a finish, I’d never do them. 

And here is my February project to finish for 1. A Lovely Year of Finishes and 2. TGIFF

I bought a yard of some quirky fabric that I just couldn’t live without. 

Hungry Pirhanas

My husband loved it when he saw it. Now the quandary was how to share a yard of fabric between us. Pillowcases! I can do 2 pillowcases with the fabric on one side of the case and different coordinating fabric on the back.

Once I figured that out, I went searching for more cool fabric that I could use for pillowcases. I thought this was a crazy, cool way to use quirky, one-of-a-kind fabric that you’d like to see a lot but wouldn’t if it was cut into pieces in a quilt, especially if you only bought 1/2 or 1 yard of it. (Did you know that I was crowned the Queen of Run-On sentences?)

Henceforth and therefore, my February goal is to make 6 (six) pillowcases. Sleeping is going to be a much nicer event in March!


How can I finish up this amazing post? Not easy. This was sterling work. Do they have Nobel prizes for blog entries? Okay. Enough already.

I still have one giveaway running. You may have seen the Grow Your Blog badge at the top of the left column. It took place last Saturday with over 300 bloggers participating. I wrote a post for the meet and greet party then topped it off with a giveaway. If you’re interested, the giveaway is open till February 13. I’ll give you the link, if you promise to read the post all the way through…scout’s honor. Go here and find out what I’m giving away and a welcome and introduction to my blog! Beware! If you win the prize, I will quiz you on the contents of that post!

I'm still working on getting un-tangled from Google+. Somehow it attacked my blog, without my permission. For those of you who don't want to use the Google+ comments offered (by them) below, please email me your comments: quilting_nonnie@yahoo.com

Grow Your Blog

Hurrah! Thanks for moseying over to my blog!

Nothing like a cute doggie to
make you feel welcome!

I started blogging in 2010 with no idea of what blogging even meant or entailed. The only people who read my blogs were my family and a couple of friends. It’s been quite the journey.

My first post was a review of a movie: Secondhand Lions, written a day before Thanksgiving break. I averaged about 5 readers a day until nine months later when I discovered some ways of spreading word of my blog.

So today, January 25, 2014, I have 31 followers. I know that also others follow me by email, which doesn’t show up in my stats. I’m just thrilled to be out “there” writing about my passion and having someone read it.

It's hard to get a good picture of our family!
This is only 2/3 of the family. My son & his wife aren't here.
Neither am I!

 I am a wife to Mr. Wonderful. Really. We have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren. I’ve given every family member a “blog name.” I want them ensured of their privacy. You can check out those names and who they refer to (and why) in the tabs.

A rare picture of me, I'm always
behind the camera. Even more rare,
this was taken when I was teaching.

By day, my cover persona is a teacher to blind and visually impaired students. When the school bell rings, in the evenings and on the weekends I assume my Real Life. Wife, mother, and QUILTER!!! I don’t get much time to quilt during the school year and so I live for vacations! Summer is so delicious it practically tastes like pizza! Okay, I love pizza. And, shocker, I say it here for the first time: I don’t like chocolate!


Before you click the little x and find another blog, please be tolerant of the vast minority on the earth who don’t like chocolate! Do you know how disheartening it is, year after year, to go to church parties, school parties, get foodie gifts, etc. and it’s always chocolate. Good grief people! Have you ever heard of lemon, cinnamon, or molasses flavored ANYthing?

But I digress… This just brings me to the next item about my blog. I love to write, and my posts generally have stories. Most posts are about quilts, but every now and then I just sprout a completely unrelated quilt post.

I love my blog! There have been several times where I have seriously considered stopping. That was mostly due to the inability to carry it on during the school year. I couldn’t stand it though. I love writing. I love sharing. I love all the different parts of my blog. I now realize I have to pare it down during the school year to one post a week, maybe two. When summer and breaks come…yee-haw! Giddy-up! I’m riding at full tilt!

Oh, and by the way, if you’re beginning to think I’m some sort of cowhand or farmer or western something-or-other. I’m not. I sometimes break out into cowboy vernacular cause I get so excited. I even know what a farrier is! That shows my level of cowboy-ness. My mom was raised on cowboy songs, which are now called country music. She learned so many of them and sang them to my sister and I as we grew up. The family saying is "My Mom Never Knew A Happy Song." The cowboys always died in the end!

I thought I would share with you my favorite post and one of the most wonderful happenings in my life. I wrote it this last Thanksgiving about my oldest daughter. You can find it here.

One of the things I like about my blog is it gives me an outlet for my love of writing. I wanted to be an author (and a postman) when I was in the second grade. I’ve never lost the writer’s bug. I have written anecdotal histories of my children’s escapades and another anecdotal history of myself. When I retire in two years I want to Quilt, Volunteer and Write.

Oops! Not that kind
of a ghost!

My goal for Quilting is to make more so I can give to others. My Volunteer goal is to Do It. My Writing goal is to ghostwrite a biography of someone who is in their 80s or 90s. They have such a rich history and stories. I also want to try my hand at writing children’s stories.

Chris the Fireman

Onto quilting! I started quilting in 2002. My daughter asked me to make a quilt for my grandson’s second Christmas. You can read the provenance (a record of ownership or how something developed) of Chris the Fireman quilt here.




I am a traditional quilter, brought up on quilts made by my Aunt Marie. She was from the “old days of quilting.” Every quilt she made was cut by hand, sewn together by hand and quilted by hand. You can click here to see posts about her quilts.
These are a few of my favorite quilts:

Click on the names below to go to blog post about the quilt.
Top Left: 42 Stars
Top Right: Purple Hugs
Bottom Left: String Obsession: I've been looking for a half-hour and can't find the post. However, if you go to the tab at the top "My Quilt Provenances," number 9 is String Obsession.
Bottom Right: The 70s Are Calling: They Want Their Fabric Back

Because of my love of writing, I have developed some of my own features here at QN blog. And while I love my “features” to death, they only appear during the summer and some vacations. You can see the links for these features in the right column of the blog.

First is “Mish Mosh Monday: Musings on Life and Other Activities.” This my chance to let my mind go and write about anything not quilt-related. I’ve written about my love of bread, cowboy movies, etc.

Second are two features that alternate Saturdays: “Quilts from My Sewing Machine” and “Marvelous Marie.” These are the stories about quilts my Aunt Marie and I have made.

Another feature is “Pass the Peanuts Please” On Wednesday, these are stories about the statues of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy that were displayed in our town. I live in Santa Rosa, California, home of Charles Schulz. He was the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.

I guess what sums up my blog is what I wrote as the subtitle for the blog back in November of 2010:

“Thanks for visiting my site. I’m glad you found it! My blog is about my love of quilting, books, movie and various stories about my crazy family.”

It was true then and just as true now.

I’m pleased you actually read through to the end of my post. And, like really good things, I have a lovely parting gift:

A Giveaway!

I love doing pieced quilts. I love whimsical quilts. I don’t do applique very much. I love applique quilts though. Two of my favorite designers of appliqued quilts are Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins, known together as Piece O’ Cake Designs.

I am giving away this lovely collection of appliques. There are 20 bird and flower blocks, all adorable and cheery.

To enter, leave a comment and tell me your passion! Is it quilting, embroidery, DIY, crafting, love of all things vintage or??? If you so desire, I’d love to hear what you are currently working on.
The winner will be drawn at random by Raptocopter and announced on February 15. Please be sure that I have your email address if you do not have a blog.

This giveaway is now closed.

***Now for another treat: There are more Grow Your Blog posts today! It's a great way to meet bloggers and hear about what they love about blogging. You'll also learn about what is the passion that drives their blog. Lovely! Use the Grow Your Blog badge at the top of the left sidebar.


And now, a word about blog provider:

I did some changes on my blog a few weeks ago, which it turned out I didn't like. In the changing back, Google+ commandeered my comment box. My TGS (Talented Geek Son) is trying to fix it. It's very frustrating because readers aren't commenting because they don't have Goggle+ or because they don't want their comment posted on Google+.

If you want to make a comment, but do not want to use the Google+ comment box below, please email me! I want to hear your comments and you want to be entered in the giveaway!

My email: quilting_nonnie@yahoo.com

RSC15: January and Giveaway

With the end of January nearing, I got my block done this week. I have been looking forward to doing this quilt for almost a year!

Last year, I saw this block someone else was making for RSC14. Immediately I knew that this is what I wanted for RSC15.

This is a 14" block!

 At first glance, I thought it was a Courthouse Square block. Looking at it more closely, I realized there was a difference. Fortunately I was able to track down the block. It is called “Soul Searching.”

After doing some “Google Searching” for the pattern, I found it was designed by Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession. Maybe Kathy’s name or reputation is familiar to you, but it drew a blank from me.

Kathy makes quilts that are very modern. Anyone who reads my blog knows I’m a traditional quilter, which is probably why I never heard of her. The quilt is in her book, Making Quilts. There are 21 colorful and imaginative quilts. I have to confess I viewed them and transformed them in my mind to more “traditional” colors and fabrics!

Oh snap! Kaiju is trying to help with the photo shoot!

This is the book with my quilt block

I don’t have many black on whites, so I did have to go shopping. Oh darn! The good part is that after I cut the strips what is left is scraps! I guess I’m doing the reverse process of a scrap quilt!

Pay attention to this ----> Quilting Nonnie GIVEAWAY

I'm going to give away a copy of Making Quilts to one lucky reader! It's not quite new. Some quilter somewhere used some pages to learn how to make a soul searching block. 

All you have to do is tell me what "type" quilter you think you are and what you love about it. Results will be announced January 31st.

I’m hooking up with Angela at So Scrappy. Mosey on over and look at what others are doing with blue blocks! The badge is in the right sidebar.

This giveaway is closed.

And The Lucky Winner Is....

Last week was my 4-year blogaversary! I didn't blog very much the first couple of years; I was a newbie. I knew nothing about blogging or getting my blog out on the web to be seen. It's been an educational process, but nonetheless very gratifying and a heap o' fun!

I decided to have my first giveaway to celebrate my achievement! There were to be two lucky winners; the first won a book: Flowering Favorites by Piece o' Cake. The second one 10 fat quarters (or at least a quarter of a yard) in a color of their choosing.

My apologies on showing results. I couldn't get the widget (pick the number) to work on my web page. (*##%! Mumble mumble #*#%!# computer *##@@! stupid ##%%*!) And that is why the random generator isn't shown here. Since I knew everyone who entered, and had no favorites, these are the winners!

Let the suspense end!

First winner is:

Lucky winner of Flowering Favorites is lucky number 3: Jasmine! She writes the blog: Quilt Kisses and is cheery and delightful. She recently celebrated her 1st blogiversary  on November 18th! You can read her celebratory blog in which she shows some cool bags she made for her three boys here.  I also enjoyed and giggled at her post (here) about being sneaky when making quilts for your children. She spoke to my heart when she blogged about making a quilt with her niece. I've done that with two of my grands and am thinking it's about time we did it again.

Second winner:

Lori, lucky number 7, won the 10 fat quarters! Her blog is one I just discovered in the past few weeks. I instantly liked her style and blog: Humble Quilts. Lori just concluded a mystery QAL, which is how I found her blog. There was a link in a blog I read that talked about how wonderful Lori's QALs were and that there was one going on right now. I actually was able to follow this QAL because it was a mini-quilt and used lots of 1.5 inch squares. I had those aplenty! Just last week was the delightful reveal. Lori based her quilt on an antique quilt she had seen. Even though the QAL is over, you might want to try it anyway; it is fun, easy and finishes quickly.

Congratulations Jasmine and Lori! I've sent you an email and you can get me your address so I can send your prizes winging your way.

It was an interesting process running a giveaway. I had 51 people visit this particular post; 7 people left me a comment. Seems interesting. I'm glad for those that entered and am very grateful for all who read my blog.

Thank you everyone reading my blog. I check several times a day after posting to see how many people have read my post. I get so thrilled and do many happy dances to find my little blog (that started with just my family reading) has expanded to so many others.

An Anniversary and a Give-Away

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY 

QUILTING NONNIE BLOG!

Four years ago, I started this blog! I had no idea what I was doing. I just started writing, and my four family members plus a couple of friends read it.
It’s a long road since then…and I have loved, enjoyed, savored every piece of blogging.

Things I Would Do Differently:
1. Have a different blog name
2. Change the layout and style of blog

Things I Would Keep the Same:
1. My “special” features, like Mish-Mosh Monday.
2. A little more eclectic blog than all 100% quilting
3. My style of writing
4. I love all the pictures I put in the blog. It takes a load of time, but the result is worth the effort.

I overdid it when I put this picture in a post about the Log Cabin I was making for my DS & DDIL. I had posted about this quilt so many times, that I decided to be a little artistic in this point. In the nine months since I posted it, that picture has grabbed the attention of 2067 people! I know it’s because of the picture! Just to prove it, my next highest viewed post has 592 people.

I have been wanting to do a giveaway for a long time. I was waiting until I had a certain number of viewers, but since I’ve been absent from blogging for six months, I don’t know where I was then. Having a fourth anniversary of blogging is a BIG event, so I'm happy to announce!

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY's EXCITING DETAILS:

There are two splendid prizes:

For the first place winner:
Flowering Favorites, a book by those spectacular Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece O’ Cake.

For the second place winner:
10 at least “fat” quarters in your favorite color. The quarters can be skinny or fat. But it will be at least a quarter of a yard. In the picture of the book above, you can see a sample of blues I have.

To enter, write a comment telling me what your favorite color is and what is your favorite type of quilting.

Just for your random facts file, my favorite color is turquoise and I love to quilt traditional, scrap and string quilts.

Good luck to all! I am so excited to offer my FIRST giveaway.

Winners will be announced on the first day of December!

Winners will be chosen by Random.org.