Announcements, Etc.

I have several things to announce today.

First, the winner of the Stash 'n Store from the Villa Rosa Blog Hop.

The winner is Marie L.  

Cathy B will be getting a set of the blog hop patterns from Villa Rosa Designs.

I pulled 5 other names for different prizes for the Villa Rosa Blog Hop and sent those names to be entered for the other prizes from the sponsors.  Each blogger who participated turned in 2 names for the 'big box' prizes.  Finalists from my blog are Sarah S. and Quilting Tangent.

Each blogger who participated also turned in 3 name for other prizes from our sponsors.  Finalists from my blog are Concordiabelle, Darlene B and Kay.  

Good luck to all 5.  I hope you each win!  We'll see.... (I'm not sure exactly when the winners will be announced).

Unfortunately, I had almost 50 commenters that did NOT have an email address that I could reply to, so they were not entered :(

My next announcement is my 4th grandchild was born on Monday.  Welcome to Emmalynn Sage, 10lbs 4oz, 21 1/2 inches long.

Emmalynn Sage

I finished Emmalynn's Compass quilt the day she was born (except burying the thread tails and washing it).  Well, the oil/grease marks DID come out, thank goodness!

Emmalynn's Compass

showing the quilting

showing the quilting and faux piping binding

I quilted this myself, using straight line quilting with my walking foot. I put light gray minkee on the back of this quilt.  This will be in my guild's quilt show in March.  If you will be near the Chicago area March 11 & 12, you should come to the show.  I'd love to meet you in person.

Friday is my Birthday! (it's a BIG birthday this year)! I tend to get money for my birthday and also for Christmas from some people.  Well, I've saved it up (for several years) and I bought myself a BIG present!  I got myself a (used) Accuquilt Studio 2 cutter.

I also bought a Studio 2.5" strip die and 2 trays and some other things from the lady selling the Studio 2 cutter (all used, so deeply discounted).  I also splurged and bought the 12" Block Cube set (8 different dies) from Accuquilt (on sale!).

the set makes 72 different quilt blocks

I did try this out using another die that the seller gave me (for free).  It works!

nice cuts with this die

I've printed out all 72 quilt blocks from the illustration above.  I've already chosen some for some upcoming block exchanges.  I also bought the Morning Star die after seeing Vicki's pretty table runner that she made with that die.

Villa Rosa Designs Fast & Fun Blog Hop & Giveaway!

Hello,

Today is my turn in the Villa Rosa Designs Fast & Fun blog hop. I'm also having a giveaway on my blog, not just the sponsor giveaways.

I was asked to participate by Trisha.  I'd participated in a blog hop for her book 'I Love Precut Quilts' back in 2017.  I enjoyed that blog hop, and thought that this blog hop would be fun, too.  

I'm a quilter, thrift store junkie and collector of vintage sewing machines.  I also do most of my sewing on vintage sewing machines (mainly hand cranks and my Featherweight).

We were given 5 different patterns to choose from for this blog hop.

You can purchase a set of these 5 patterns HERE.  Villa Rosa is also giving away sets of these patterns on each blog that is participating.

I chose to make the Hillside Charm quilt since I had a panel sitting around that I hadn't gotten around to using, that I could trim to size.  I also had all the other fabrics in my stash.  We've had so much rain and gray skies since I finished this, that I had to take photos of the quilt at my large quilt guild's meeting a few days ago (large gym with lousy lights, but a great carpeted wall to pin the quilt to).

Tinkerbell

The directions on the pattern were easy to follow.  I did change up one thing.  It called for 9 different fabrics for the 5" squares, but I had collected 10 different fabrics, and went ahead and used all 10 fabrics.  I'm sure the extra squares that I cut will be used in another project.  Using the 'extra' fabric made it so that I could arrange my fabrics in 'order', not random (I'm an order type of gal).  

I did minimum quilting on this, and I'll finish the center quilting by hand at a later date (I'm not good at free motion quilting, and I want to outline Tinkerbell and the letters TINK, along with some of the hearts).  I did add a nice flange binding to the quilt using the same pale aqua in Tinkerbell's wings.

flange binding

I also added one of my labels on the back of the quilt.

I had some Tinkerbell flannel fabric, but not enough to cover the borders, so I added some yellow to finish the backing. 

back of quilt

Yesterday, I was given another panel that would be great for this pattern.  I may be pulling more fabrics and making this quilt again using this new panel.

panel for another quilt

I also have ideas for the other 4 patterns, that I'll make in the future.

Villa Rosa Designs and their sponsors are having giveaways. 

Everyone is eligible to win prizes. Please note that winners outside the USA will receive a digital set of the 2023 Blog Hop Rose Card pattern collection.

There are several opportunities for you to win prizes during the blog hop:

1. Individual bloggers may be hosting giveaways on their blogs for you to win. Please visit these bloggers to find out about their giveaways and how to register.
2. Villa Rosa Designs is giving away a 2023 Blog Hop Rose Card pattern collection on each participating blog.
3. Sponsor prizes have been donated by our lovely Sponsors, above, and even from some of the bloggers, too! These prizes are divided into 2 different categories —
   • Grand Prize Boxes (of which there are 2) are filled with tons of quilting goodies including books, fabric, precuts, notions, patterns, and more.
   • Individual Prizes (each blogger will select 3 winners on their blog) which may be books, patterns, fat quarter bundles, 5″ squares, 2 1/2″ strips, 10″ squares, notions, and more.

WOW! That’s a lot of prizes if you do the math.

Sponsors

Here are the most generous sponsors:

Moda Fabrics

Hoffman International Fabrics

Timeless Treasures

Creative Grids

The Gypsy Quilter

Electric Quilt Company

Banyan Batiks by Northcott

Benartex Designer Fabrics

Quilts of Valor

Annie's Publishing

So, how do you win?

Hop from blog to blog from January 19th through January 26th and register for prizes at each blog. The more participating blogs you visit and register at, the more chances you have to win prizes! It’s really that easy, I promise.

Winners will be selected randomly. Each blogger will select 2 names to go into the Grand Prize Box drawing and 2 winners will be selected randomly to win. Each blogger will also randomly select 3 winners for the Sponsored Individual Prizes.

Prize registration closes Sunday, January 29, 2023.

Winners will be announced the beginning of February 2023. Prizes will be shipped in February 2023.

No purchase is necessary to participate in the Blog Hop or to win prizes.

Here is our Blog Hop Schedule:

01/19/23 Thursday	Villa Rosa Quilts
01/20/23 Friday	From Bolt to Beauty Kathleen McMusing Jaftex Companies
01/21/23 Saturday	Pieceful Thoughts Little Penguin Quilts
01/22/23 Sunday	Quilt with a View mmmquilts
01/23/23 Monday	Cheryl’s Teapots 2 Quilting - ME! Devoted Quilter Quilts of Valor Foundation
01/24/23 Tuesday	Needle and Foot Am I Shouting Yet? Electric Quilt
01/25/23 Wednesday	The Crafty Quilter Jo’s Country Junction Keepsake Quilting Stitchin At Home
01/26/23 Thursday	Villa Rosa Quilts — Blog Hop Wrap Up

Ok.  I mentioned a Giveaway.  I'm also including a prize for those who enter on my blog.  I'd like it if you followed my blog, but that isn't required.  I'm giving away a Stash 'n Store (USA entries only, please, for the Stash 'n Store).

To enter, please let me know if you have a vintage sewing machine, and if you do, do you sew on it? 

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!

I can't contact no-reply bloggers

If you don't get a reply from me to your comment, then, I can't contact you.  I reply to every blog post comment that has an email address.

Prize registration closes Sunday, January 29, 2023.