Really Random Expressions of My Little Sparrow.

Happy Thanksgiving for all the Americans reading out there!  It's a day to think about all the things we are thankful for, but also to appreciate them.  Having lost 7 children, I am constantly thankful for the miracle of my daughter, my Little Sparrow.  So this week is dedicated to her and her goofy expressions, she is a really ham!

"Mommy, really?  Why the hat?"

"What chocolate?"

"I am a tiger! ROAR!" (We were at the Zoo on the tram)

"Yum! Root Vegetables and yogurt, such genius!"

"Hmmm...how does this compare to the original apple, apple...interesting."

Here are a couple strange quarks she has:

"I was lonely in timeout."

"Mommy, I sleep better when I have my favorite things around me."

*\0/* Cheers

Shanna

Finishes: Christmas on Easy Street.

I don't have a lot of pithy words today, but I can say how excited I am that I got this top completed!  The plan is for it to stay in flimsy stage until I can rustle up a bolt of batting to bring home.  In the meantime, you will probably see more little projects from me and wall hangings to use up my scrap batting.

So without further ado, I bring you: Christmas On Easy Street.

Mr. Sparrow is holding it for me for the picture!  This is my 300th post, can you believe it?!  My goodness how fast time goes by; I guess it's also a sign I am rather verbose!

I am linking up this week to:

Fabric Tuesday With Heather & Megan @Quilt Story
Thank Goodness It's Finished Fridays with Lynne @Never Too Hot To Stitch

WHOOP, WHOOP Fridays @Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard & Tanya Quilt

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

***For International followers I am having a giveaway specifically for you! Please stop by THIS post for more information!***

A Giveaway for International Followers

Comments are closed!  Winner shall be picked after breakfast!
Greetings!  This may seem like an unorthodox post, but I felt like it was time I honored my international followers with a giveaway of their own.  I have had 5 traveling stash boxes for US residents; right before my time away from blogging I had another Traveling stash giveaway and the last time I put something up for Sew, Mama Sew's Giveaway Day it was also for US residents only.  So now I plan to do this giveaway for international followers only.

You have three chances to enter the giveaway:

1.  Be a non-US resident follower, leave a comment telling me how you follow me.(required)

2.  Visit Fluffy Sheep Quilting Shop, leave a comment about your favorite item in the shop (*Optional)

3.  Share the giveaway. Leave a comment with a link to your blog post. (*Optional)

I will choose a winner Saturday, November 26th just before midnight US CTZ

I am giving away a certificate for 22 Euros ($30 USD) for Fluffy Sheep Quilting Shop!

I choose this wonderful little shop located in Ireland because I have loved Cindy's blog since I first started following it a few years ago.  She makes bright, modern quilts and bee blocks that she shares on her blog, Fluffy Sheep Quilting.  When her shop opened in 2012 I was attracted to the wonderful pictures and the creative stash bundles she puts up her own.  Just to clarify, this is not a sponsored post, I just wanted to do something special to say thank you!

This lovely Orange Bundle above would be perfect for Bonnie Hunter's New Irish themed-Celtic Soltice Mystery Quilt that starts in a few weeks.  The Fluffy Sheep Quilting Shop also carries a selection of fabrics and precuts like this wonderful scrumptious charm pack and yardage which are in their coming soon section.

Thank you all again for stopping by!

*\0/* Cheers, 

Shanna

What's in Progress, Wednesday?

The cool breeze coming through the window swirls around me as my thoughts are so scattered tonight.  I have been in a cleaning frenzy the past few days so the smells of Pinesol and vinegar are in range.  I felt as though I awoke Monday with a renewed sense of purpose and I wanted my apartment spic and span for Thanksgiving.   I am trying to block out the time from next Wednesday through the weekend to spend with family, but if I time my projects right, I might have some hand-sewing that I can do in the middle of everything.

It is hard to balance accomplishment with creation.  I have had a lot on my mind lately if you can tell by my posts lately.  There are a lot of projects I want to try or have already started, but it wars with my desire to just complete, well, something.  I am almost at the end of my flimsies that I have already cut batting for, one of those projects is Time Warp (Above) which uses 1930"s reproduction prints.  This is the quilt I alluded to that was spray-basted and sandwiched on Friday Night for my Sew-In.  I need to do the top-stitching which will probably just be a simple meander unless I get something in my head to try a new stitch.  I have the binding completed, ready to attach once I get it to that stage.

Next I have laid out the blocks for the Easy Street Mystery Quilt (Above).  My goal has been to get the quilt top completed before the start of the next Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt, so assembling this top is my main focus this week.  I honestly haven't decided if I shall add borders to this quilt because I had planned for this to be a lap quilt and this is already going to be a very generous couch napping quilt as it is!  It feels like it belongs in a log-cabin in the Alaskan wilderness.  This quilt has turned out semi-scrappy with the background being of one fabric.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am linking up to:
WIP Wednesday with Lee @Freshly Pieced
Fabric Tuesday With Heather & Megan @Quilt Story

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

***For International followers I am having a giveaway specifically for you! Please stop by THIS post for more information!***

It's Just a Tale but I am Rather Attached To It...

Well, It's Monday again, I swear this day just happened a week ago!  Monday usually means movie Day for Miss Z while I catch-up on laundry and ironing (It's the movie we shall not mention, again).  I can hear the dryer cycling and I believe Pooh Bear is about to sing again, but our washer is broken today so I thought I would sneak over to the computer to update my blog.  I meant to post on Saturday what I accomplished from the "Friday Night Sew-In" but you know things happen!  Thankfully I can chill in my PJ's when the USPS guy comes to pick up the Traveling Stash boxes, well at least for the people that have sent me their mailing information.

Let's see, what did I accomplish?

1.  I finally finished the last two sets of blocks for the Easy Street Mystery Quilt.  I still need to lay out, assemble the quilt and decide on borders before the top is completed.  I don't have binding made for this one yet.  This is the main item on my design wall this week!

9-#1 blocks

4-corner blocks

2.  Completed the backing, sandwiched and spray basted the Time Warp Quilt (the one in 30's repro prints); the binding is ready to attach when stitching is done.  I am waiting for thread to arrive in the mail.  I promised a friend that I would give the Aurifil thread a fair shake so I needed White thread for this quilt.

3.  Made my extra Zig Zag blocks into a throw pillow cover.  I did not get to the quilt itself though for prepping.

Front

back

4.  I cut more fabric for my Holiday Happenings table runner.  All I had to start was a pile of four-patches for the project, so I am happy I am getting somewhere with this project.  I will post a picture of this project on Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by!

I am linking up this week to:
Design Wall Monday with Judy@ Patchwork Times
BOM's Away with Lyn @ What a Hoot Quilts
Anything Goes Mondays with Marelze @ Stitch By Stitch.

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

***For International followers I am having a giveaway specifically for you! Please stop by THIS post for more information!***

And the Winners Are...

Greetings!  I had a blast working in my craft room for Friday Night Sew-In all this past night; I will put together a post a little later today after I have had coffee and perhaps breakfast, of what I actually accomplished.  I was up in the middle of the night, could not sleep, so figure that since I was up, it was technically morning, I should go ahead to click the button for the winners of the traveling stash boxes!

[I am using random.org, but I am not posting pictures of the drawings, it will take too long to figure out, especially in this sleepy state, so please just trust me on this one!]

Winner of  Box #1 is:
#5--Jennifer who said:  Wow! Thank you for contacting me! Yes, I would most definitely be interested in casting my name into the drawings.  All the boxes look fabulous, so please put my name into the box(es) of your choice.

Winner of  Box #3 is: (updated 11/22/2013)
#2--Sue who said:  Hi Shanna! Put My name in for Box #1 (She later amended it by saying to throw her name in the hat for all the boxes)

Winner of  Box #5 is:
#13--Hilary who said: Oh I would love any of the boxes!

Winner of  Box #6 is:  (updated 11/22/2013)
UNKNOWN--New winner has been contacted.

Thank you all who entered in for a chance to have a  box visit you.  If you did not win, please check out the winners' blogs for their giveaway in the next week or so!  I am shipping the boxes out as soon as I get mailing addresses, they are already boxed up and ready to go, so they should get to their new blog spot by next weekend.  In fact the LQS closes about 5pm so I would be more than happy to take a trip out there with the boxes today-They happen to be our local mailing spot!  You can keep up with the journeys of the traveling stash boxes by going to Katie's page HERE.

"I hope my International followers will stop by Sunday for the start their giveaway!" she said sheepishly.

Okay I am going back to bed, see you guys a little later with an update!
*\0/* Cheers,
Shanna

Another Bright Little Finish!

There are yards upon yards of binding cut for finishing off quilts laying in a pile in my crafting area, not all those quilts are ready for the binding, but I like to prep several bindings at once.  I have also taken to making double the binding for every quilt so that there is some binding already made up that I can choose from on later projects. Sometimes I have also used up left over bindings on inner borders since I like the measurement of 2.5" for my width for both!  

Well, in amongst all this binding I have finally bound my Fresh Garden Quilt. There was another name I was calling it, but somehow this one fits better with the pebbles walking around the garden fabrics.  I used Aurifil thread for the first time on this quilt.  I have used up most of the remaining thread on this spool piecing other projects.  In the end I figured it's not bad thread, but I still like my Connecting Threads threads better, especially for the price!  I can buy 1 spool for $2.79 at Connecting threads or $12 for a spool of Aurifil at my LQS; somehow that just doesn't seem worth it to me.

I simply love the orange with white polka dot fabric I found in my own stash for the binding!  This quilt has long been in the UFO/WIP pile.  The fabric is actually half a jelly roll, a few spare charm squares and some red yardage that was left over from making this quilt HERE 3.25 years ago!  I added the Yellow fabric I picked up at a JoAnn Fabrics Black Friday sale about 3 years ago for the back, the green is from my LQS, but I don't know the line or any info on the fabric since I used it all up.  This is my first completed project for the Finish Along 4th quarter list!  And my first finish since May for any of the other linky parties!

I am linking up this week to:

Fabric Tuesday With Heather & Megan @Quilt Story
Thank Goodness It's Finished Fridays with Audrey @Hot Pink Quilts
Sew It's Finished with Wendy & Dawn @Sew It's Finished

WHOOP, WHOOP Fridays @Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Link A Finish Friday @ Richard & Tanya Quilt

Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

2013 Finish-a-long hosted by Leanne @She Can Quilt 

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna

** Check out my post HERE, leave a comment to be entered in to win one of four traveling stash boxes (US Residents with a blog only, sorry).  I choose the winners on Saturday morning.***

***For International followers I will be having a giveaway specifically for you starting November 17th. So please be looking for it!  Clue:  Just follow the baaaaaaad jokes I will be posting***

The Penelope Purse

Greetings, I want to share with you a project I pattern-tested for Jennie over at Clover and Violet.  It is called The Penelope Purse and I really like how it has turned out.  I let my daughter help me pick out the fabrics for this project, which probably explains why she keeps taking off with the purse and hiding it!

I like that the pattern has both options for a zippered top or closure using a magnetic clasp.  Within the purse there is a padded pocket and a zippered portion on the other side of the lining. The out side is layered in such a way that it really gives the purse structure and durability.  The purse has a   padded shoulder strap which lays on the shoulder comfortably as it hits the area between the arm and the body in such a way that it stays put rather well.

This is a pattern I would definitely use again as I found the purse the perfect size for those things I carry around every day without being too large to really carry.  If you are interested in finding out more about the pattern you can go to Clover & Violets Shop posting HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

*\0/* Cheers,
Shanna

** Check out my post HERE, leave a comment to be entered in to win one of four traveling stash boxes (US Residents  with a blog only, sorry).  I choose the winners on Saturday morning.***

***For International followers I will be having a giveaway specifically for you starting November 17th. So please be looking for it!***

What's In Progress For FNSI?

Easy Street:  8-Side setting triangles

It doesn't feel like it was that long ago when I spread out the king Sized batting on my living room floor and tried to lay out as many finished tops on it as I could, 4 was the best configuration that I could do.  The quilt in the lower left hand corner was finished many months ago before I took my blog-break.  Tomorrow, the binding on the quilt in the lower right hand corner will be in place and hopefully ready to show.  In the evenings, when my husband would like me to come out and breathe the air in the living room, I have been hand-stitching the binding on while we catch up on our favorite cooking shows.

Easy Street:  4-Block #2

This Friday we have Friday Night Sew-in on the Schedule.  Have you heard about it?  Ladies from all over the world lock themselves into their craft rooms and dedicate the time to working on their list of items.  It's like a mini-retreat but without all the traveling, some might call it a staycation.  My plan is to work on the backing and prep the binding for the quilts in the upper half of the photo (Zigzag, and Time Warp). The Easy Street Mystery Quilt, by Bonnie Hunter, has been really going well, but it has reached that part where I might have to to take a couple days break.  I have been keeping myself at a brutal pace to meet my deadline of completing the quilt top before she shares the Next Mystery, which starts November 29th.

Random Triangles needs some love and attention as well.  I have these plans of doing something with the border to make it more interesting.  I cut the Orange border larger than it needs to be to have more flexibility for what I come up with.  Sometimes you just don't see the design until you are cutting away at it, thus revealing it.  I hope I am able to get somewhere with this project.

What are you working on?

I am linking up to:
WIP Wednesday with Lee @Freshly Pieced
Friday Night Sew-In with Wendy @Sugarlane Designs

*\o/* Cheers

Shanna 

** Check out my post HERE, leave a comment to be entered in to win one of four traveling stash boxes (US Residents  with a blog only, sorry).  I choose the winners on Saturday morning.***

***For International followers I will be having a giveaway specifically for you starting November 17th. So please be looking for it!***

A Little Further Down Easy Street!

I will get this finished, I will get this finished, I WILL GET THIS FINISHED!!!

The Clock is ticking in my ear, counting down the time I have left to complete this project.  I have given myself two more weeks to get this quilt completed and you know, it just might be doable!  Bonnie Hunter writes a fantastic Mystery Quilt!  Here I am at the tail end end putting together the blocks and I still cannot quite figure out what the quilt will look like when it is finished and that my friend, is the sign that it is a good mystery or I royally messed up my blocks, so let's hope its the first one!  I have signed up to join a "Honey It's Done" Class at my LQS which runs from 6pm to 11pm on the 23rd to give me that extra push towards completion, the night before I also plan to hide in my bedroom/crafting room for Friday Night Sew-In.  Hopefully my family understands my desire to complete some items.

So let me show you how much I have done in the past 7 days:

8 Side-Setting Triangles

4--Block #2

What remains to be done:
9-Block #1
4-Corner Setting Triangles
Assemble the Quilt Top
Sandwich the Quilt
Top-stitch Quilt the Quilt
Decide if I am keeping the Quilt
Tag the Quilt
Bind The quilt
Start Prepping for the Next Mystery!


When I was separating the blocks for the remaining Quilt blocks I realized that I need 4 more mini-blocks of each type, so I plan to dig back into my scrap stash  and see if I can come up with some fabrics that run in the same families.  Somehow I missed the 4 corner blocks, which turned out to be missing some blocks which are part of the count to be made.   I think the count was off because I decided to make exactly half of the blocks, but I think more are needed to make the lap quilt square.

I am linking up today to:
Design Wall Monday with Judy@ Patchwork Times
BOM's Away with Lyn @ What a Hoot Quilts
Anything Goes Mondays with Marelze @ Stitch By Stitch.

*\o/* Cheers
Shanna

PS** It turns out I have had very good luck recently, so I am having a drawing for FOUR more traveling stash boxes!!!  Please consider letting it visit your house.  Check out my post (with pictures) HERE, leave a comment on that post to be entered in to win it (US Residents only, sorry).  There are 2 more delicious boxes being given away, to find out more about those boxes click over HERE, and to read about the guidelines go HERE.  I will pick a winner early Saturday Morning.

***For International followers I will be having a giveaway specifically for you starting November 18th. So please be looking for it!***

A Missing Finish

Photo by Lisa Francis

Photo by T. Greene

Memories
I have been working on transferring pictures from old computers, old phones, and old memory cards recently.  It is with a sigh of relief that I am finding beautiful pictures of my daughter the day she was born, the proofs from the photographers that requested for her to sit for them the first week she was born and lastly pictures of a dress I pattern-tested for the sweetest designer this last Spring.  I feel like preserving the picture memories of my daughter are more fragile to grasp, like the delicate strings of a spider's web, since she will be an only child I want to cherish every moment of her life.  I won't go too crazy following her around every minute she breathes, but I will probably take a lot of pictures!  I will probably make her a lot of clothes, especially as she loves her twirly dresses!

THE Missing Finish
Along with Miss Z's Baby pictures, I found pictures of a dress I pattern tested in May.  The designer Melissa Stramel designs for little girls in mind under the company of Lilac Lane.

The Hopscotch dress before I added the waist draw string.

The Dress with the waist drawstring in place.

You can't tell from the other pictures, but the dress comes to just under the knees.

Another cute picture of the dress!

Close-up of the sleeve

Close-up of the waist and the pockets

The last photo is of an active Miss Z with one of her Godmothers.  I made my version in all solids, however the pattern directions plan for the use of several fabrics that strip across the dress, I plan to do that next.  My main reason for going all with one fabric instead of the strips of fabrics, was because I wanted to test the other construction bits.  I wasn't sure at first if i was going to like the elastic at the neck and on the sleeves, but it makes it one of my favorite dresses to have Miss Z wear when we would go out to eat because I knew her clothes would stay in place even as she moves around!

 Have any of you used patterns by Lilac Lane?  What are your thoughts?  There are a couple other patterns I really want to make for Miss Z, but I also have a pile of Oliver + S to tempt me!  There are so many good designers out there right now for children's clothes!  I have several other pieces of clothing I plan to share with you before too long as Miss Z is out-growing everything including the Hopscotch dress pictured above!

Thanks for stopping by!

*\0/* Cheers
Shanna