Quilt Qwazy Queen blog hop... my day

Hello All,

Welcome to the Ridge. So glad you could pop in. This blog hop by Marian is in celebration of quilting, as March 19th was National Quilt day and all of March is National Craft month. Thanks for putting it together Marian! And thanks to all our sponsers, there's some great prizes being given away every day!

I have a prize to give away! ONE  beautiful FQ bundle (sorry, you don't get to choose) from Timeless Treasures AND Marian has a giveaway on her blog also, so don't forget to drop by her site. I'll pick and annouce the winner of my prize Wednesday at 9pm (so you have 24hrs to enter). Please make sure I have a way of contacting you!

                                               

This hop is all about our 'quilt qwaziness'... lol.. or why we enjoy quilting so much, our journey, etc. Well, I am crazy about fabrics. I love making things... bags, table runners, small quilts, large quilts, sewing machine covers... lots of things!  I have 4 old machines that I use. My two favorites are my late 1800s White Treadle, and my early 1900s Singer 210. I do all my quilting on this Singer.

I started out being a hand quilter. Then about halfway thru my quilting  'career' I turned to machine quilting. Which I still don't do a lot of quilting, as my HUGE stack of quilt tops convey :) I guess I am a piecer at heart ;) So I guess you can say I am crazy about piecing!

I taught myself how to piece and how to quilt (although my Grandma and Great-Grandma both quilted, I wasn't able to learn from either of them). When I was a newlywed and had lots of time on my hands (23 yrs ago), before the kiddo's started arriving, I would go to the library and check out stacks of quilting books (there was no internet back then). I look back at those first quilts and just have to laugh. Points are cut off, seams don't match, there are puckers and so forth. But those are treasured quilts for my kids, that I still have.

 Ten years ago (or thereabouts) I joined a group of online quilters at a forum. That forum is gone now, but a few years after I joined that group, a group of us broke off and started our own forum. LOL, well, really, Jess started the forum and runs it today. But I think of it as 'ours' as I was there from the very beginning and have helped Jess out along the way. My long time readers know how much I love making mystery quilts, and that is Jess's line of business. Thats why I have so very many quilt tops packed away, waiting for them to become quilts. I tested most of Jess's patternes over the years, and for a few years, I tested some of Jess's Mom's patterns too. I've learned so much from these Ladies on the forum.

I eventually made it to making my own patterns. Bags and quilts, table mats and more. You can find my tutorials at the top of the screen under the 'tutorials' button. I have some tutorials over at Samm's site too (you can find a list of them on the right side bar). But many of my patterns are just first drafts, tucked away in a three ring binder. Who knows, maybe one day they'll come out and see the light of day. I always thought it would be fun to sell them.

This one I made for my oldest son a few years ago.

And here's the one I made for my dd last year.

I designed both of these quilts for my kids, it's one of my favorite parts of quilting. I love to design and pick out colors, I guess you could say I was crazy about it ;)

I have helped make many donation quilts over the years too. That is always fun, making quilts with friends who love to make quilts :) 


This year, I've been working on my Cornerstone blocks quilt. And it's finally a pieced top! Yah. This is my own creation. Very simply two blocks put together to make something a bit different.

I love the corners.

Although, there are a few blocks I would turn around.... if I wanted to undo the quilt... which I don't LOL.

It just fits my queen sized bed.

And here's how far I've got on my Round of 9s reinvented. 
Lots of chain stitching going on, to make all these little 4.5" 9 patches.

 Here are my piles of segments I'm using.

Part of my love of quilting is helping others learn my craft. So you'll find lots of little tips and tricks through out my blog. I hope you stick around and browse my posts. Have a great day! Don't forget to go over to Marian's for another giveaway. I'll be using a random number generator to pick my winner. So be sure to leave me a comment!

 The winner will have to provide me with a valid email address which I will share with

Marian @ Seams to be Sew

who will email you the information to redeem your prize.

 As a gift to everyone, the Fat Quarter Shop is offering  a 10% discount during the hop.

 This is not good for gift certificates however. Use this code at checkout to receive 10% off your purchase:

seamstobe316


Please visit these ladies today:

March 23
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Ridge Top Quilts
Quilt Art
Patchwork Breeze
Kwilt Krazy  Is rescheduled for tomorrow    

THE CONTEST IS OVER. THE WINNER OF A TIMELESS TREASURE FQ PACKET IS TINA JEO! CONGRATS TINA, I'LL GET YOUR NAME TO MARIAN AND EMAIL YOU.