Stitching, Sewing, and Schatzi

Two 18" pillows I recently completed for a dear friend...

I'm taking a break from my sewing machine to do a little blog update this afternoon....I've been at my machine most of the afternoon and I thought I would sit down for a virtual chat while I get a dose of caffeine and clear my head.

Last night, I finished a HUGE project for Just CrossStitch magazine that will be in the October issue...oh how I wish I could share it with you now, but you will have to be patient - it was A LOT of work, but so worth every minute...and I am just thrilled with how it turned out...

Have you been voting daily for my AccuQuilt Block Design Contest entries? - if you have, then I truly appreciate you! I know I ask for your votes every year...and for some reason, they make the voting process last a lifetime...but I want you to know that I am thankful for each and every vote. I hesitated to enter this year, after some of last year's results and the voting process - I know there was a lot of frustration across the board...but this year it is not just popular vote...and the block entries have to be made from AccuQuilt shapes (not just a fabric panel with a photo or a picture of a quilt)...this year, it seems much more fair and actually as described - a "block" design contest. They do have the direct view links working now, so I will provide them to make voting even easier. If you feel so inclined, you may bookmark them and vote daily through April 19th...every single vote helps - and THANK YOU!

Simply click on the direct links listed and click on the word "VOTE" - no registration is necessary and no e-mail address is collected. You can vote every 24-hours per device for all your favorites (meaning you can vote for all four of my blocks each day, along with any others you like)....

In The Pink: http://bit.ly/1xmF620

Sequined Stars: http://bit.ly/1C7P1IE

Petal Piecing: http://bit.ly/1CFvLV8

Perpetual Pinwheels: http://bit.ly/1ATmFOz

You can also visit: http://www.accuquilt.com/contest to submit your own block design and/or view all the entries!

So, today, I am back to working on four AccuQuilt GO! Value Die Sampler Quilts - I have most of the 48 sampler blocks complete and plan to have them all pieced by the end of the day...there are a total of 844 half square triangles (2" finished square) in four sampler quilts, so at this point, I really don't want to see triangles again for at least a few days. I cut all 1,384 pieces before starting, so now I am just putting everything together. I wanted to be done with all of them by now, but there are only so many hours in a day and matching up all the triangle points is taking me quite a bit of time. Maybe in the future I will do a block by block daily tutorial, including my tips and tricks - if you would like to see something like this, send me a message...if there is enough interest, I will see about putting something together.

GO! Simplicity Block Pattern

GO! Boat Block Pattern

GO! Whirlpool Block Pattern

GO! Double 4-Patch Block Pattern

GO! Road to Oklahoma Block Pattern

The original GO! Value Die Sampler Quilt I created....

I am now off for my daily training walk with Schatzi (my German Shepherd training partner) - temperatures are in the mid 40s and it has stopped raining, so it should be a nice evening walk - we will probably do around 6 miles. We have been doing some walks around the lake, but tonight, I think we will stay in the neighborhood...then it will be back to my sewing machine until 11:00 PM (I'm on a schedule and a deadline)...

Schatzi at Blue Heron Lake (Raccoon River Park) over the weekend...