I Would Like to Thank the Academy . . .

Okay, not exactly--EXACTLY would be I would like to thank Donna over at The Calico Horse. As some of you already saw, I was the lucky winner of a FQ bundle of Moda/3 Sisters Sanctuary line. Some of you may have clicked on Donna's name and found that there was no mention of the FQ bundle giveaway on the blog it led you to, so I wanted to set the record straight--if you click on Donna above, you'll get to her shop blog.

Donna also has a personal blog called The Quilted Star. Then her daughter, Michelle, has a blog called Star Hollow Quilters which links to her shop where she sells jelly rolls and charm packs--check out Michelle's blog and enter for a chance to win a charm pack and jelly roll!

What a blogging family! It's a wonder there's any room LEFT on Blogger for the rest of us!

And in case you weren't already aware, Donna is kind enough to employ Cheryl (who just had a birthday, by the way). So Donna does quite a lot to keep Cheryl out of trouble. (But then again, Donna makes Cheryl dress up like a reindeer!)

And you know Sharon (Red Geranium Cottage)? Well, when she's not running around all over the world, taking photos of her husband, Sharon sometimes teaches at Donna's shop. And I'm not saying anything about keeping Sharon out of trouble because I suspect that's not even possible!

So here I am, stuck up here in Northern California while all the fun seems to be going on in SoCal. Not only are those gals I mentioned down there, but Vicky and the infamous (albeit invisible to Blogland) Jane are also down there. And you know what? Now that I think about it, maybe the high concentration of crazy quilters in SoCal goes pretty far to explain why they have all those earthquakes! You think?

So, anyway, there's a photo of the Sanctuary FQ bundle up at the top. I sure am looking forward to getting to fondle and touch it. And, gee, I'm really sorry Upstate Lisa that you didn't claim your prize, but you know the old saying--you snooze, you lose! And now that your time's up and Donna picked me instead, I guess it's okay if I untie you and let you out of the closet, but you have to promise not to tell, alright?!

Halloween's Just Around the Corner!

Halloween's one of my favorite holidays. The outside temps are finally starting to cool down--here in Northern California, it still feels like summer all through September and into October--but Halloween seems to mark the start of the winter holiday season.

Last year, Bonnie Sullivan of Maywood Studios came out with a line of fabric that I just fell in love with. I made the tabletopper/wallhanging above using that line. I love the vintage Halloween look of those silly cat heads! This was a quick project to make. I simply made shoo fly blocks and fussy cut the cat heads for the setting squares. I think I used two fat quarters for the setting squares and a couple fat quarters for the sho fly blocks, then I added the borders.

This year, Bonnie's back with a continuation of the same line, and I couldn't be more pleased! I've picked up a few fat quarters of both the old and the new line (above) as well as a length of the striped border print and some of the larger squares featuring the same vintage black cat images (below). Paired with some of my leftover fabric from last year, I have more than enough to make another cute project or two.

Last year, my friend Kairle also made a project from the fabric line, and she found several patterns by All Though The Night using this year's fabrics. Here are two I just might make:

You can see a couple more patterns at Colonial Crafts, or you can search at Quiltshops.com, enter "Maywood Halloween," and click on thumbnails to see the fabrics and patterns. Better yet, enter "Maywood Halloween Sale" for a few good bargains!

I can hardly wait to play with this fabric again! Have you made anything using this line? I'd love to see!

Author's Note: Not that I want to twist your arm, but I purchased those fat quarters shown above along with a panel of the large squares as a bundle on sale here. If you're interested in making something from this line, this should be enough fabric for a small project. The same shop has yardage from the line on sale. They also have quilt kits using the All Through the Night patterns.

Connecting Threads Fabrics

My online group has had some discussion lately about the new Connecting Threads' lines of fabric. Have you seen those yet? Five different lines of fabric and at least a couple kits for each of the lines. Of course, you can also buy the fabrics by the yard, or purchase charm packs, etc. The kicker, I think, is that the fabrics cost $5.95 a yard, and right now, Connecting Threads is offering free shipping for orders over $50. They ship to the US and Canada (I'm not sure if there are extra shipping charges to Canada). I've picked a photo of a kit from each of the lines to give you some idea of what they look like, but if you want to check it out for yourself, click on "Connecting Threads" up there in the first sentence.

So far, I only know of one quilter who has tried it--Linda Z. who leaves comments on my blog occasionally. When someone asked her about the quality of the fabric, she said she was pleased with it and that it had a feel similar to Moda.

I need more fabric like I need a hole in my head, so I'm trying to resist right now, but I'd be interested in any input anyone has. Here in the US we've seen fabric prices creep up to $9 to $10 a yard or more, so this sounds pretty promising!

Rabbits!

I have a bit of a "thing" for rabbits. Not all rabbits, and I have no desire to see rabbits everywhere I look, but I DO like the occasional rabbit here and there. I'm not all that excited about "real" live rabbits either--I've heard about rabbits that have been litter trained and I think that would be pretty cool, but I don't have the patience to do the training, so the real thing is probably out for me.

That rabbit at the top of today's post is a ceramic rabbit my mom gave me a few years ago when I admired it in her china hutch. She said someone had made it and given it to her, and she thought it was pretty ugly, so she didn't mind me adopting it. Ugly? No way! I think it's just about one of my favorite things!

Anyway, today I was looking through The Quilter magazine and saw a quilt made with rabbit panels. The rabbits were taken from vintage/antique rabbit illustrations, and I thought they were pretty darn cute.

Remember the other day, that $75 spool of thread I bought? Remember I said I bought some bunny fabric but didn't know why since I don't have kids around to make anything for? Well, I guess I lied to you just a little bit because of course I KNEW I bought it because it was bunnies! Still, why that fabric, I haven't a clue.

But THIS fabric that I saw today--yep, this is right up my alley. And yes, yes, as a matter of fact, I did indeed put my order in despite the price tag for a panel. And no, I have no idea what I'll do with it but I really felt I MUST have it! Besides, it's my birthday month, so I DESERVE it, don't you think? I'll show you a photo and give you the link to the shop, but I'm telling you right now that if you're susceptible to MEGGING--and you know who you are!--just turn away right now because I'm not going to take the blame if you feel you MUST HAVE IT too, okay? (They also sell entire kits in three colorways--click on the photo to see the rabbits better.)

Imagine here some sort of legal disclaimer which I should be able to whip right out, given my profession as a legal secretary, but I really want to do a little quilting tonight and I'm tired of the legal blah, blah, blah, so I'll just repeat that I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE for your purchases if you feel a need to click HERE.

Now I'm going to go hop on down the bunny trail into the Sweat Shop. I swear there's fabric in there that seems to multiply like rabbits despite the fact that I try--I really DO--to not buy much!

Danger, Will Robinson!

I think some of you reading my blog like Thimbleberries fabrics. And/or Christmas fabrics. If YOU are one of those people and don't want to be tempted, please look away. Actually, this is my second post today and I posted later in the day yesterday, so if you don't want to be Megged, just scroll down a bit and read the other posts. Ignore any photos you may see on your journey. Just place your finger on the down arrow button and close your eyes for a few seconds.

When I got to work today, I found an e-mail from the Fat Quarter Shop, kindly inviting me to look at the new Thimbleberries Christmas Street fabric that had just arrived. I was lucky enough to view fabric cards/samples of this and other upcoming Thimbleberries lines a few months ago, when the Northern California manufacturer's representative came to visit our Thimbleberries Club. This new line comes in three colorways and features three focus prints--two of a Christmas village scene in two scales (large and medium) and one of pine trees on snow-covered hills. You'll see photos of these focus fabrics below.

One of the three colorways has prints with blue backgrounds and other blue fabrics. I asked the rep which stores in my area had ordered that colorway and was informed that none of the shops had, so I was looking forward to seeing it online. I particularly like the fabric with white snowflakes on a blue background--sometimes at Christmas, I get a little burned out on all the red and green! So, be warned--if you like blue too, you might want to check with your LQS to see if they've ordered it; if not, you may want to order it online. Just watchin' your back, quilt buddy! LOL!