Busy, Busy, Busy

OK, I know it's the wee hours of the morning (top o' the morning to you!) but I have a zillion things on my mind and needed to get up and start doing them. Sipping my coffee (yes, with creamer) and on a roll. Don't you love it when you can get up early and have those bonus hours in your day?

Anyway, I'm updating my Etsy site and adding a few Fall and Winter items. After all, it is time to think about fall sewing! I have a new quilt that I'm working on for Fall market, it's applique and I'm actually doing needle turn applique for a change. I generally do quick fuse but I love the look of needle turn. I'm using freezer paper and it's really fun. Have you ever done needle turn applique and if so, how do you do it?

I just got the latest 4 X 4 back from the printer-
It's called 4 X 4- Winter. Has 4 designs and projects. It's the last 4 X 4 for a while since I have other things to finish for market.

I'm excited to do some fall sewing for myself. A long time ago, I had a great pattern for a 5 foot scarecrow that stands alone and remember that pumpkin pattern I did in 1998? Well, I think I'm going to make them again and put them on my porch for Fall. Some patterns are just classics. I have such fun making the fabric pumpkins also. I make a lot of them from quilt batting and chenille and then paint them with different shades of orange. I add coffee to the paint and it gives the pumpkins a great aged look. I use real wood stems- grape vine painstakingly cut by my husband, and that's not fun either as they are very sticky when you cut them! Fortunately, they dry well! I know it's not hot here yet but I'm already looking forward to Fall.

Don't forget to enter the drawing for the quilt by Saturday night.

Sundays are my favorite day of the week!

It's a great day here- we have rain and about 55 degrees. It's only great because I have nothing to do outside and it's the kind of day you can snuggle up under a blanket and read a good book! With summer coming, there's not a lot of those left. I'm sitting here watching old Newhart reruns with Larry, Darrel and Darrel.

I was trying to cut out creamer again as I'm trying to start a diet (again) but my addiction got the best of me. Yesterday, I slept in because I knew I had no creamer in the house- hence no coffee for me. I can't drink coffee without my beloved Cinnamon Vanilla Creamer. I was totally depressed- really! I moped around most of the day and had no energy to do anything. It finally dawned on me- I missed my morning coffee. My husband finally went to the store and got some for me after seeing me suffer all day. I feel like an addict going through withdrawal. I guess somehow I'll work the coffee/ creamer into my new diet. I won't survive otherwise! I always say it's a sickness with me- now I'm sure it is. ugh.

We do have a winner for the $50 gift certificate- it's Linda from AZ. Congratulations Linda! Check your email.

As promised, I have a finished wall quilt this week for a drawing. It's called My Secret Garden.
All you have to do to enter is email me at PGPeddler@aol.com by midnight Saturday night, May 21.
Put SECRET in the subject line.
Stick your name and mailing address in the body of the email for easier shipping for us.
I'll choose a winner next Sunday, May 22.

Good luck!

A New Day, A New Winner!

Happy Mother's day everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a great day with your family. We went to church with my daughter-in-law and two grandsons and had a great dinner. It was a first for us- salad and pizza! Usually we do big dinners on Sunday but today was a no nonsense kind of day for a change! It was fun! We have a winner for the magazine- it's Glenna from Canada. Congratulations Glenna, email me with your mailing address.

For today- the very last QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks will go to one last winner. Comment TODAY- your chances are very good to win! I'll be sending them out this week.

It was exciting to be a part of the QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks Volume 3. It was a lot of fun to read all of the comments all week. Today, in honor of those who commented, I'm offering a chance for a $50 gift certificate to my website- www.prairiegrovepeddler.com.



All you have to do to enter is email me at PGPeddler@aol.com by Saturday, May 14 at midnight, put your name and address in there and GIFT in the subject line.

I'll draw a name next Sunday and post it here.

Next week, I have a quilt for a drawing. Stay tuned!

Sorry for the delay!

Sorry for the delay- I had a late night last night, my son's first prom/formal. It was great- they had old fashioned ball room/community dancing like in the movie Pride & Prejudice and every couple danced and had a blast. It was so fun to watch. I stayed and worked at the cake and punch table with a few other mothers (a mothers job is never really done, right?). My daughter and her husband are here and well, between all of the visiting, I just got behind!

We have a winner for the MUG! It's Kathleen. I'm not sure which state she is in but she is the winner! I emailed her and I'm waiting to hear back from her.

Congratulations Kathleen! You won the coveted QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks Vol.3 coffee mug!

For today, comment and I'll select one more name for a free copy of the book- QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 3. I have two more copies to give away, one today and one tomorrow.

Stay tuned, next week the drawing prize is a quilt!

2:45 pm UPDATE- no word from Kathleen yet. I know she's out there somewhere. We'll give her a few days to respond. That's the only bad thing about blogs- there's not always information to get a hold of someone who comments. The first choice today came with no information- no way to contact them, and signed anonymous. :(
We had to pick again. Normally when I do drawings, I have you email me so I can at least contact you when you win!

Please, if you enter today- give a hint of who you are if you are listed as anonymous!

9:00pm UPDATE- I finally heard from Kathleen- the winner of the mug. Congratulations Kathleen!

I'll check the comments early in the morning and select a winner for the book. If you don't win tonight, try again tomorrow- the comment numbers are dropping quickly so maybe you'll have a better chance then!

Having A 100 Blocks MUG Giveaway Today

OK, I know there's a lot of you who really want one of the 100 Blocks Coffee Mugs with all of the blocks on it. It just so happens that I got a special cup sitting here and I'm dying to share it with one of you. Comment today and I'll choose a name from the comments to receive it. I'll post the winner tomorrow right here on the blog.

Just added- I was away all morning and came back to the comments! Wow, there's a lot! I have to physically post the comments, as they are moderated, so sorry to everyone who thought their comment didn't arrive. They are all posted now. I wish I had 100 cups to give away but I only have one. I'll choose late tonight and post the winner here. Good luck!

OK, one more post- I will be out for a while this evening. When I get back, I'll post the rest of the comments (so don't think I missed you) and I'll pick a winner before I go to bed tonight.
Good everyone!

Tomorrow, I will have one more drawing for the last 100 Blocks Magazine that I have. Be sure to comment to have a chance at it. Thanks!

Two Winners for The Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Magazine

I was reading the comments on the QuiltMaker's Blog tonight and I noticed all of the comments about applique and the lack of knowledge of it. I just want to mention that it is beautiful to do needle turn applique but I often use Steam-A-Seam II and do quick fuse applique. It's really fun, fast and easy. It's like gluing your fabric down with an iron. Steam-A-Seam is a wonderful product and I've used for many years. It is made by the Warm Company- you know, the ones that make Warm & Natural Cotton Batting.

It makes a permanent bond if you pre-wash the fabrics you are using. The directions are on my website under the heading Steam-A-Seam http://www.prairiegrovepeddler.com/ . All of the quilts on my site were made with Steam-A-Seam II. It really is easy to do applique the quick fuse way, I promise. All you need is a pencil, scissors and and iron.

Here's a mock up of a small quilt using 9 of the blocks, sashing and a border......

Here's an idea for a table runner in different colors...

There were a lot of comments all day so I chose 2 winners instead of 1 for the QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks Magazine. I'll be contacting the winners for addresses- they are Janet from South Dakota and Marcia from Florida. Congratulations ladies!

Thanks for all of the comments- it was an honor to be included in the magazine and fun to read the comments. I hope you all visited the other 19 blogs for Monday and entered the contests there also. Remember there will be 20 new blogs highlighted each day this week. QuiltMaker will also have 2 drawings later this week for a goodie basket with lots of things in it.

100 Blocks Blog Tour Begins Today!

The Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour begins today- Monday, May 2.

Check out their website - http://www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks.html

There are a lot of other designers featured this week. They have
giveaways and lots of fun things going on. There are some beautiful blocks in the book, all hand signed by their designer, and Quiltmaker Magazine is giving each of the 100 blocks away during the week.

Winners of the first two books- My block is the purple flowers on the cover, under the "B". It's not my normal look but I guess I can't fool too many! The first two ladies who guessed correctly are Kimberly B. and Martha S. I'll be sending a free copy of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks books to them this week.

I'll be giving away a another copy today- just leave a comment here on the Blog. I'll choose a winner by the end of today. I'll also include all of the email responses I have gotten so far today in the drawing. The magazine is on sale starting May 10.