The End of a Great 6 Months

It's July already!?!?! Wow! This year is FLYING by (or I'm just too dang busy to sit back and enjoy it!) I really can't believe what a success my first Bee was! Make It Modern was the absolute BEST! The girls (a.k.a. my bee mates) are just plain AMAZING! I'm wowed by their creativity and skillz! I'm so happy to have made some new friends too!

(My block)

I want to say one thing though, I could NOT have done this without one amazing person helping me out. We did not know each other before this bee, but I am now proud to call her a great friend! Thank you SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOOO MUCH Jamie! If it wasn't for you, I don't think I would've made it through these past 6 months! I really appreciate all the hard work and all your effort that you've put into making this Bee a reality!

(Block for Licet)

I also want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the WONDERFUL sponsors we have had for this Bee!!!!! And with that being said, I've tried and tried to make this last giveaway really special! I tried to have 12 prizes so each person could win at least once, but it didn't quite happen. That's okay though, at least EVERYONE in the Bee will win or have won at least ONE prize! (YAY!!!!)
So, who are our final sponsors and what is it they are giving away????? Very good question. Let's get this started out right!

(Block made for Karen)

The wonderful people over at Craftsy have joined in our sponsor pool and are offering 2 FREE CLASSES! YAY! That means 2 people will win a class of their choice! (and if you haven't heard me RAVE on and on about how much I love Craftsy you can go here or here to "hear" me rave!!!)
But on a short note, Craftsy offers a variety of online quilting classes as well as sewing and other craft related classes! Once you enroll in one of those classes you will have access to it FOREVER! They have an amazing platform set up that you can interact with your class mates and course instructor! They also offer a place to buy and sell your patterns! (Trust me, if you haven't already checked them out it is an ABSOLUTE MUST!)

(Block made for Kelleigh)

The wonderful people over at Pink Chalk Fabrics are giving away a $25 gift certificate so the winner can go pick out some amazing fabric! The gift certificate is good for ANYTHING in the shop! Pink Chalk offers a wide variety of modern fabrics for any crafting need, they offer some great patterns and notions too!!! Pink Chalk always has a great selection of sale items! Also, I recommend signing up for the Chalk Talk newsletter, you'll get awesome tutorials and inspiration delivered to your inbox on a regular basis!

(Block made for Jamie)

The Fat Quarter Shop is offering a $25 gift certificate too! The "FQS" is one of the most popular online quilting shops out there! They carry just about any style of fabric you can think of! I really do get lost browsing around in there sometimes. Not only do they have a HUGE selection of pre-cuts and yardage, they work with some of your FAVORITE bloggers to create custom fabric bundles! They offer a variety of clubs and programs so you can have layer cakes, jelly rolls, FQ bundles, charm packs, and so much more arriving at your door every month! They have a HUGE sale section too!

(Block made for Jenniffier)

Brenda and Jason of Pink Castle Fabrics are offering one lucky winner 3 Fat Eighth bundles! (which are perfect for Bees!) Pink Castle just recently opened the doors on their very first brick and mortar shop!!! (Congrats!!!!!) I love shopping with Pink Castle, their prices are amazing, they are at the top of their game when it comes to customer service, and their shipping is really fast! If you sign up for their newsletter you get amazing drool worthy fabric bundles in your inbox weekly! (and a little secret, they usually have some kind of special going on the weekends!) They've got some really cool "clubs" you can join too! Perfectly named "The Stash Stack" once a month you can get a variety of fabrics in one color arriving in your mailbox, every month is a new color! And if you want to build your solid stash, they have a club for that too!!!!

(Block made for Audrey)

The lovely Nichole of 1 Choice 4 Quilting is offering a $20 gift certificate for the winner to choose whatever they want from her AMAZING SHOP! 1 Choice offers a wide variety on your choice of pre-cuts, scrap bags (which are always fun to get!), yardage, quilt kits, and that's just to name a few things! The site is extremely easy to navigate and her prices are great too!!!! Trust me, go check the site out, you will NOT be disappointed!!!

(Block for Karen)

Winter Creek Cloth is offering a $25 gift certificate to our winner. The winner will be able to choose from a huge variety of fabrics! Their site is set up so you can browse through their drool worthy fabrics easily. You can choose to brows by collections, designers, pre-cuts, colors, and so much more!!! Plus shipping is super cheap! Only $5 to ship anywhere in the U.S.!!!!! Who can beat that? I got lost for a bit while browsing through their large selection!!! (please tell me I'm not the only one who does that?!?!)

(Block for Samantha, sorry about the horrible photo!)

And last but definitely not least Caitlin who owns the wonderful I Don't Do Dishes is offering a 2wenty Thr3e charm pack to one lucky lady! Caitlin carries a variety of fabrics to meet any quilting need. Her prices are amazing, shipping is EXTREMELY fast, and she is top of the line when it comes to customer service! So, if you've never checked her shop out, I highly suggest you drop what you're doing and go do so! You will NOT regret it!

(Block for Sarah)

I had a hard time deciding how to draw names, at first I was going to go the random number way but once I thought about it there was really no easy way to do it that way. So I did it the old fashioned way!!!!

I put all the names in my husband's hat and all the prizes in a "bucket" and drew. I figured that was the fairest way! Since there have been 5 winners already, I did hold their names for the very last drawing. That way I knew EVERY ONE in the bee would win SOMETHING!

(Block for Renae)

So without further ado the winners are: *drum roll*
Craftsy Class- Becky
Craftsy Class- Renae
$25 for Pink Chalk- Kelleigh
$25 for The Fat Quarter Shop- Jamie
3 Fat Eighth Bundles from Pink Castle- Kelie
$20 for 1 Choice 4 Quilting- Sarah
$25 for Winter Creek Cloth- Jen
2wenty Thr3e Charm Pack from I Don't Do Dishes- Samantha

Like I said earlier, this group was FULL of extremely talented ladies! I'm going to put a link here to each of their Flickr streams so you can check out some of their work!
Jamie Lee
Sarah
Karen
Jenniffier
Samantha
Becky
Jen
Licet
Audrey
Renea
Kelleigh
Me


(and if you are counting, yes, I'm a slacker and have not made one of the blocks. It intimidates me, and I think that is why I have put it off for so long. Thankfully my Bee Mate is understanding and knows that I'm in the process of making it! I'll update this post with a pic as soon as I get it done!)

Thank you to my Bee Mates again for a wonderful 6 months of block making fun!!!!
And a THANK YOU to all of our wonderful sponsors! We appreciate everything you all do for us!


~Hope y'all are having a great day!~

Craftsy Class Review and Giveaway- QAYG Patchwork Bags

Oh, do I have a good thing in store for you!!! I'm sure most of you remember one of my most recent posts where I did a class review for Craftsy, well Melissa enjoyed my post so much that she asked me to.....REVIEW ANOTHER CLASS!!!!! *happy dance*
So, which quilting class was I asked to review?!?!?  Quilt As You Go Patchwork Bags taught by Tara Rebman (aka Tinkerfrog)! Can we say SQUEEL?!?!? Really though, I knew this class was coming because I follow the instructor on IG (I told you guys, I'm addicted! LOL!) and was soooo excited to watch this class!!!
Disclaimer: The opinions in this post are strictly my own, no one has told me what to say or write nor have I received any form of payment for this review!

Buuut, before I go into my review of this class, just in case you didn't read this post let me tell you a bit about Craftsy first:
   Craftsy is an online educational website that offers TONS of classes for ANY crafting need! They offer not only quilting classes but cake decorating, crocheting, knitting, sewing, and so much more!!!
I absolutely L-O-V-E their platform. Once you enroll in a class (whether it's a free class or one you paid for) you have UNLIMITED access (24/7) that lasts FOREVER!!! You can ask questions you may have and get answers back from not only your instructor but your classmates too, you can take a video note (it helps you bookmark a specific place in the course), share your projects, and so much more! Every class comes with printable course instructions and material lists.
 Craftsy offers not only classes you can buy but they have a HUGE selection of FREE (yes, completely FREE) classes!!!!!!!! I promise you, you can find a class that you will LOVE! Craftsy also offers a place for designers (experienced and newbies) to sale their patterns! You can find a lot of free patterns too!!!

I could really keep going on and on and on about how wonderful Craftsy is, but weren't we here for something else? Oh yeah, A CLASS REVIEW!!!!

(yes, this is a screenshot, I'm "resourceful" that way! LOL!)

Where do I begin?
I guess I'll start with the description from the website....
"Learn the theory behind the quilt-as-you-go technique by working your way through a charming potholder before creating the “Tinker” patchwork bag from blocks you create on the fly. Tara shows you how to use scraps from your stash to build out from a single square using a freehanded approach that celebrates the uniqueness of each quilted bag. Whether you prefer straight-line or free-motion quilting, your extemporaneous blocks will blossom as your bag comes to life. Add a simple pocket or follow Tara’s instruction for a painless hidden zipper pocket. Learn how to add material to the bottom of your bag for extra durability and box corners for extra stability. Finish off your quilted bag with a magnetic closure and eye-catching bias binding. Or hand-sew an invisible binding for extra sophistication"



I love the description they give! It's right on the money (is that the expression I'm looking for? I hope so!)!!! Tara does an amazing job with breaking down the process of QAYG (quilt as you go), and you can take what you learn from her and apply it to ANY quilty project! Tara breaks down this process by teaching you to first make an adorable pot holder, which I think is great because it is a small project, so you don't get overwhelmed! After she teaches you how to make the potholder she moves on to her own pattern, the Tinker Tote! She breaks down the ENTIRE process of putting her bag together, I mean the ENTIRE process! (Even if you are new to making bags after you take this class you can apply a lot of the techniques to other bag projects!)

I can't tell you how much I LOVE this class! Tara knows what she's talking about and makes it SEW EASY to understand! She gives you tons of extra tips along the way to help you out! I learned a lot about (cue horror movie theme song....) bias tape! (I really hated the thought of bias tape before this class, just so you know!) I took away a lot more than what I expected from this class. I've made QAYG bags before, but Tara's method is a lot better than the free tutorials you find on Google.
I can really go on...and on....and on...and on about this class, but you're just going to have to take it to believe me. Then once you do, you can come back here and say "WOW! You were totally right!" LOL!

I really really really wanted to make a Tinker Tote for this post, of course I have way too many other obligations going on right now. Though I did find the time to test out Tara's technique! Do you wanna see what I made?
Of course you do!!!

Aint it purty? :) I really love this clutch! Just so happens, there is a FREE TUTORIAL for this clutch right here on Tara's website! Don't pay attention to my flap though, it's all uneven and out of whack! I still love it though!

Here is a view of the back of my "Crazy Cute Clutch".

I mean, I REALLLLLLY love how this turned out!

It's a really good sized clutch too! I stuffed it full of scissors and rotary cutters for this pic! :)

So, are you all ready to go take this class yet????? I hope so, because the wonderful peeps at Craftsy said I could giveaway a Quilt As You Go Patchwork Bag class to one of my LUCKY READERS!!!
*happy dance* (again)
Okay so here are the details for this giveaway:
I only have on rule: You need to be a follower of mine! (You can now follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the Bloglovin icon in the upper right side of my blog!)
Then all I need for you to do is CLICK HERE and sign in/register! Once you've done that come back here to this post and leave me a comment letting me know you did! EASY PEASY!!!!

ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON!
You have until this Thursday (June 27th, 2013) to enter!
This giveaway is open to EVERYONE!

I will announce the winner of the giveaway on Friday (June 28th)
Edited to add: This giveaway is now closed!
~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!~

Make It Modern: May's Sponsor

Wow! Is it just me or is time just FLYING by? I mean really, FLYING by? Gah, I keep meaning to post like a ton of things and never seem to get the chance. I guess that's what I get for choosing to sew instead, huh? Y'all will forgive me right? I'll have lots of pretties to show you very soon! (at least I hope!)
So, May has come and gone already! Wow!!!! So I'm going to pretend it's still May, (I'm only a day late!)
This month's sponsor for the Make It Modern Bee is the fantabulous online shop called Pink Chalk Fabrics!
Pink Chalk Fabrics is owned by the ever so sweet Kathy Mack! I'm going to let her about page do most of the introduction here....
In 2008, Pink Chalk Fabrics launched with the mission to provide the best cloth, pattern, and tools available for modern sewists. Our motto here is Do What You Like, Like What You Do. The entire Pink Chalk Fabrics team is dedicated to making your sewing journey a happy one. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with an experience that will exceed your expectations.



Kathy carries a great choice of Modern quilting fabrics to meet most any sewing or quilting need! I love drooling over her selection! (Please tell me I"m not the only weirdo that does that?!?!?!)
And not only does she carry great fabrics she has an amazing selection of patterns and notions too! I find her site very easy to navigate and her customer service is TOP NOTCH!
So, y'all ready to see some droolworthy fabrics? I know I am!!!

I love me some Pearl Bracelets!

And who doesn't love Lotta Jansdotter's line Glimma?
That's just a few of my favs from her shop...I could really go on forever!!!!
If you guys like getting some great mail on a monthly basis I STRONGLY suggest you check out Kathy's Monthly Clubs there are quite a few of them!

Anywho....Kathy is offering a $25 gift certificate to her shop for one of the Make It Modern members!!!! Y'all know the drill by now, huh? I can't believe we are going into our last month of this Bee!!! It has been a great experience for me and I'm so happy to have made some great new friends! I feel very honored to have been in this Bee with such an AMAZINGLY TALENTED group of women! I can't wait to see what June brings us!!!!!

~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~

Make It Modern's April Sponsor: The Intrepid Thread

Hey there strangers! Long time no see!!!!! It's been a LOOOOOONG month! And a very busy one too! I'll tell you guys more about that soon though. I dropped in today to let you all know about Make It Modern's sponsor for April!!!!!!

This month's sponsor is none other than the AMAZING Julie Duek, owner of The Intrepid Thread!!!!!
I know you guys have heard me rave about her and her shop, and I honestly can't say enough good things about her! I'm going to let her about page do the talking for a moment:
"Owner, Julie Dueck, started the Intrepid Thread out of a desire to feature her own favorite fabric lines and designers, as well as offer the best possible customer care available! Not only is Julie passionate about fabric, she possesses a knowledge of fabric that only comes from years of researching it, blogging about it and buying it!
When you purchase fabric from The Intrepid Thread, you’ll benefit from Julie’s expertise! Julie keeps her finger on the pulse of the modern quilter, carefully purchasing each bolt of fabric herself. In fact, if she wouldn’t want to sew with it…then it’s not good enough for her customers either!
Julie’s impeccable taste in fabric, as well as her knowledge and ability to stock the most sought-after designer fabrics, sets her apart from other fabric dealers. Her hand wrapped packages, tied with a bow and a personal note, let customers know just how important they are." 

That really says it all! I absolutely L-O-V-E getting a package from Julie! They always make my day! Her handwritten notes lets you know that she really cares about her customers! I recommend her shop to everyone I know!
Julie just recently opened up a brick and mortar shop! (Congrats, Julie!) The only downside to that is that I don't live close enough to go see it for myself! The pictures on her home page show a really gorgeous shop!
You can visit her blog to see what is going on in her shop and what all she's into....ya never know, you may find a giveaway to go enter! :) I'm just sayin.....

Julie keeps her shop stocked with the latest modern fabrics! And with her FANTASTIC prices....it's hard to say no.... Let me just show you some of my favorites......

My favorite line!!! Comma!

Tsuru.....

Color Me Retro (I LOOOOOVE the colors in this line!!!!!!)

I'm inlove with this one! 2wenty Thr3e! I wish I could get the WHOLE COLLECTION!!!!!

So you see, you really really really really REALLY need to go and check out The Intrepid Thread because it is just an all around AMAZING shop! I promise you will NOT be disappointed!

So, what is Julie offering to one lucky Make It Modern member?

This gorgeous, and I do mean GORGEOUS fat quarter bundle of Luxe In Bloom!!!!!
You girls know the drill! Have your blocks in the mail already (since it's the very last day of the month) and have a pic of each of your finished blocks in the group pool to be in the drawing! Jamie and I will be announcing the winner tomorrow! Good luck!



~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~

Make It Modern Sponsor: The Fat Quarter Shop

Wow! I can't believe we are already at the end of March!!!! Is it just me or is this year FLYING by?
So much to do, so little time to do it all! But, I HAVE to tell you guys about Make It Modern!

This is a group of some VERY talented women! The blocks they've made are AMAZING!

These are the blocks I've made for the month. I had so much fun making them and let me just say that those Half Square Rectangles are pretty tough! If it weren't for Jamie's tutorial (which can be found here) I don't think I could've done it! And while on the subject of Jamie I just want to say THANK YOU a million times over for helping me out with everything. Really, I could NOT have done this without your help! You are AMAZING and I appreciate you more than you will EVER know! Thank you girl!!!! You're the BEST!


Okay now, let me introduce March's Make it Modern sponsor......
The (Amazing) Fat Quarter Shop !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is one of the most popular online shops and if you haven't heard of them, you are about to! Really the Shop is just AMAZING! They carry EVERYTHING! I mean, seriously, if you are a traditional or modern quilter The Fat Quarter Shop carries it all!

Here is a little bit about their shop, taken straight from their website...

The Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly. An avid quilter, Kimberly began her shop as a side business while still working a corporate position, cutting, packing and shipping right out of her house during evenings and weekends. From the very beginning, she was committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer. As the Fat Quarter Shop's reputation grew, Kimberly decided to make it a full-time operation. Her husband Kevin joined her not long after, and with his help, lots of hard work, and a tireless commitment, the store began to grow. Over the past few years a few more people have joined the staff!

As a team, we continue to branch out with the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, BOMs, and more. And we will always be driven by the passion that Kimberly founded the store upon, which is always giving you the best products and service!

You can connect with them through your favorite social medias....
Their blog, The Jolly Jabber, can be found here
You can find them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

I love this shop, I mean L-O-V-E it! I go to their Coming Soon page on a weekly basis to see what new lines are coming out and when...and if you find a line that you really like they have the option of signing up for an e-mail to notify you when its available!!! Which I think is just awesome!

They have OVER 50 pages of SALE items that can be found here! If you are anything like me and love a good sale you will LOVE it! You can find out what their Book of the Month is and their Notion of the Month there too!
They have TONS of different clubs you can sign up for here and I promise you, you will want to sign up for at least 10! Their clubs include Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundles and Designer Select Fat Quarter Bundles!!!!

Here are some of my favorites.........

They are ALWAYS getting in new fabrics! They have 16 pages of KONA COTTON!!! Which I'm obsessed with! :)
They have the FASTEST shipping, literally, I've EVER seen! If you order before 3 p.m.CST your order ships THAT DAY! Their customer service is amazing, they answer all e-mails with lightning speed!!

So, I bet you are wondering...what are they going to be giving away???? Well one EXTREMELY lucky member of Make It Modern will win....

this GORGEOUS FQ bundle of Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Camille!!!!!! And they will have me begging for it! LOL! I love this line!!! The colors are amazing! I just recently discovered this line and how amazing it would be for a very special little boy's first quilt. I actually told Kimberly (owner of the Fat Quarter Shop) how much I wished I could win this! (So, Jamie, if you are reading this, just put my name in for the drawing, no one else's....we will keep it as our little secret!) LOL!

Anyway, I'd like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to The Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring this month's giveaway! You guys are amazing at what you do!!!!!!!!!

~Hope y'all are having a GREAT day!!!~

1 year....and a little something for you!

1 YEAR!!! I can NOT believe it's already been a year!!! What's been a year? Well EXACTLY 1 year ago today (3/22/13) I started this blog! I decided to look back through this past year and see how far I have come. I know I haven't posted a ton on here but it's crazy! I actually can see how much I've grown as a quilter (not so much a blogger...I think it's prolli cuz I'm not to tech savvy)!
I mean WOW!!!! If you look back here to my very first quilt for example...

It's made ENTIRELY of bandanas!!!!!! Bandanas....cuz I didn't want to waste money if I couldn't get the whole "quilting thang". HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Now, I have an ACTUAL stash!!! And I don't think I could stop quilting if someone paid me a million dollars....seriously!
I've went through each of my posts and read them and laughed! LOL! I remember BEGGING you guys for some tips on basting, binding, quilting, EVERYTHING! And a lot of you have helped me! (Which I sincerely appreciate!!!!) A lot of it I've become better at just by doing it. I didn't/don't have anyone that helps me learn new things, I've learned everything I know from the internet and trial and error! Seriously, all these wonderful blogs and classes online are AMAZING! I love Craftsy I have learned some AMAZING things from their classes!!!!
So, I went from the above pictured to this....

(I'll tell you guys more about this in another post)

I think I've come pretty far.
Over the past year I've went from knowing NOTHING at all about quilting to:
Making my first quilt, Free Motion Quilting (which I'm getting a little bit better at), doing some improv, joining my first swap (and a lot more of them just because I LOVE SWAPPING!!!), not only joining a quilting bee but STARTING not one but TWO Bees!!!! And I've done so much more! I can't thank all YOU enough for encouraging and supporting me through this wonderful, amazing journey! I really wouldn't have kept going if it hadn't been for your comments and emails!!!! I've met soooooo many amazing people through blogging and the online quilting community, I could not be happier with my decision to start this blog!

So, as a THANK YOU for supporting me I'm teaming up with the LOVELY Caitlin of I Don't Do Dishes to bring you a little giveaway! Who doesn't LOVE a good giveaway???? The winner will get to pick a charm pack of one of the AMAZING new lines....

Comma by Zen Chick

Simple Marks by Malka Dubrawsky or.....

2wenty Thr3e by Eric and Julie Comstock


Caitlin owns an AMAZING shop that offers GREAT PRICES on some AMAZING fabrics!!!! She has a little bit of everything! And did I mention her prices? THEY ARE FANTASTIC! Plus she is SUPER sweet and her customer service is top notch! Shipping is fast....WOW! GOOOOO GO GO GOOO!!!! Check out her shop I promise once you do, you will NOT want to leave!
(Thanks Caitlin for sponsoring this! You really are amazing!)
So how do you enter?
ONLY ONE ENTRY PER PERSON!
Be a follower, new or old and leave me a comment! That's it! Easy Peasy!!!!!!
This giveaway will be open until next Thursday (3/28/13) and is open to US residents only! (sorry to all my international followers, I still love you!)

And as I mentioned, this is post # 101, I will be doing something special for an upcoming post as a way to celebrate hitting 100 posts! So make sure you stay tuned!

Wish me luck, tomorrow is the first meeting of the Tri Cities Modern Quilt Guild!!! EEEEEKKKK!


~Hope y'all are having a great day!~

Make It Modern Sponsor Quilt Taffy

Who is this month's sponsor for the Make It Modern Bee? Quilt Taffy!!!!
A little about Quilt Taffy: Owned and Operated by sisters, Corrie and Des out of their home state of Idaho!
They blog about all kinds of things over here, they call their blog "Taffy Talk"! I love their little saying about their blog.... "Taffy Talk is a kind of chewy blog, made by stretching and pulling a sticky mass of boiled creativity, butter-flavored ideas and coloring until fluffy....Much more than the left-over candy in your child's Halloween loot"
I think that is awesome! They have lots of free goodies on their blog too! You should really go check it out! You can also find them on pinterest and Facebook!
Their shop offers great prices on some of the newest fabric lines out there. They also carry patterns and notions. Browsing around their shop, here are some of my favorite things that they have...

2wenty Thr3e charm packs, layer cakes, jelly rolls, AND Fat Quarter bundles!!!!

Comma jelly rolls

Some really awesome metal coin purse frames

All of the precuts in the GORGEOUS Boho line!
They carry some really awesome quilt patterns too!!
Their customer service is great, shipping is fast, soooo...GO GO GO check them out!!!
What are they offering up to a member of Make It Modern? A charm pack of their choice!!!! YAY!!!
Of course, for a member of Make It Modern to be eligible they HAVE to have posted a pic of BOTH of their FINISHED blocks and have them in the mail by midnight on Feb. 28th! The winner will be randomly selected on March 1st!

All photos are property of Quilt Taffy.


Keep your eyes out for my next post about the new Quilting Bee I'm going to be starting up very soon!! I hope you'll join me!
~Hope y'all are having a great day!!!~