A Halloween Story and Winner Announced

                               

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE…. Are you all ready for the little ghosts and goblins coming to your house tonight for candy?  We all know they are all ready and can’t wait to get started.  So get your candy ready here they come…

                                        

I want to give a special thanks to Wendy at “Why Knot Kwilt” and Madame Samm, for they both did such a terrific job in hosting this hop.  I have been really busy here since I posted and they really kept me up to date with all the other blogs and what was happening.  I enjoy going and reading all the other blogs for you can really learn a lot. 

                                        

I wanted to tell you about my son, his friends and Halloween.  He is never afraid to try anything and is always out for a good time.  So one year he and his friends decided to get a float together and enter the Jack Frost parade in Hamburg, PA. 

These kids are pure “Country”.    Is what they did was decorate their float for Halloween, and recorded a few country songs by singing Karaoke.   But when they did, they sang them with a very strong Pennsylvania, Dutch accent.  Then dressed as Amish and called themselves the “Dutchy Duo and the Boogie Woogie Buggy Boys”.  Believe me....they really looked the part!

The first year they did this, it went over really big.  Everyone had soooo much fun.    The girls (one which is now our sons fiancé) dressed in cow costumes.  They had pounds of candy and passed them out to all the children along the route. 

The next year they did a lot better but some had other things to do at the same time.  The band got a little smaller and they lost their drummer at the last minute.  Our son had a great idea, he called his aunt.  Sure enough, she did not let him down and was in the parade that year.  

The next two years were the best.  They all got together and even  had the correct costumes, the boys were now out of school and most grew their own beards.  They were all set!  Why they even got a new drummer.  Our oldest grandson.

They did great! They sang and danced to their songs.  Why they even danced with some of the watchers.  The girls, when not dancing,  passed out candy to the children along the route (until they ran out.  WOW, to tell a little one you ran out of candy, now that is hard for them.)    They won the prize at Hamburg and lucky for them there was a scout there from the “Mummer’s Parade”.  This is one of the large parades out of Philadelphia. They were asked  to enter on New Years day.  They sure did and won second place in their division.  What an experience for all of them.

We were very fortunate, for all but one parade, my husband pulled the float and I took the movies.  They also gave me the important task of pushing play on their recorder, hahaha.

Memories…..make lots of them with your children, you will never regret it!

OK, enough of that…I know that you are all wondering who the winner of my stack of Connecting thread fabric is.  It is time to go to Random.com.   I had        comments (entries).

It gave me number      17  ...........   MOOSE STASH QUILTING                  

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

                                               


I will be sending you an e-mail shortly to verify your winnings.   
I do hope everyone is making memories tonight……

                                           

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!
   

To get special designed quilts or to see my gallery, check out my site at: http://janesquilting.com

LOOK OUT...The Wicked Blog Hop & Giveaway

LOOK OUT.... The Wicked Blog Hop is off to a GREAT start!!  Today is only the second day and I know everyone is having a WONDERFUL time thanks to Wendy from Why Knot Kwilt and Madam Samm.

So, today is my day and I want to show you my block.   I drew three Ghosts stacking up Pumpkins.

After my previous paper pieced block...This was a piece of cake!   I once again dug into my scraps (one of my favorite things to do.  Course I have so much)  I was in high search for the right shades of orange for the pumpkin and wanted green to look like grass and blue to look like the dark sky. 

I used Lite Steam-a-Seam II and cut out all my pieces and sewed my grass and sky together.

Next I arranged them onto my block where I thought they looked good.  I pressed them in place then machine appliqued them on using the blanket stitch.  Then squared my block to a 10 1/2" square.  

Unfortunately I have so many things going at this time, I did not yet figure out what I am going to do with it.  I am leaning toward making a pillow.  Or add it to the one I made before, the paper pieced  ghost.  Or, make a small wall hanging with it.  What do you think?  

I do want to share my Wall hanging I made earlier.  I call it "Come On In".  This one is 22 " X 33 1/2" .  I have it hung on my entry door.

Here is another that I made last year.  Everyone who knows me, knows I like to be different and have fun.  "Trick Or Treat"  Total size is 36" X 17".  

Now that you seen my block, I want to ask you to continue on this Wicket Hop and check out all the others that posted today.  Here is the list:

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much?

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Hill Valley Quilter

Fignie - A Geekie Crafty Life

Hot Pink Peonies

 Sew Me Something Good

Buzzing And Bumbling

Polkadot Classic

Piece Peace

Selina Quilts

Pigtales And Quilts

But don't stop there.  Check out Wendy's blog  and get the list for each day to visit everyone's post and see their blocks.  I heard there are some pretty Wicked ones coming.  Believe me, you will not want to miss a one!!

Oh, now I have something Wicked to GIVEAWAY.   Oh yeah, I have this pack of  26    -   5 inch charms.  There are  colored leaves, acorns, etc.  all in different cool fall colors.

Oh yeah, this is the assorted Fall Charm pack called "Maple Skies" from Connecting Threads.

All you have to do is be a follower and leave me a comment.  Tell me, what are YOU doing this Halloween?  Are you getting dressed up, if so, what is your costume going to be?  On October 31st, I will go to Random.com and pick a winner which I will immediately announce that day.  Have I got a great Halloween story to tell you........

Till then,

HAPPY QUILTING EVERYONE 

To get special designed quilts or to see my gallery, check out my site at: http://janesquilting.com

My Paper Pieced Ghost Block

I must admit this was a big challenge for me.  I only ever made 1 paper pieced block before.  So this was going to be my second time.  No Problem....Right??

The first block I ever did went good. I had no problems, actually had fun making it.   So why would this one give me any problems??

Now, I have a problem with following a specific pattern - I always have to add something of my own to it or just simply draw my own.  So why couldn't I draw my own this time?

   (Boy was that a Mistake!!)

Well, I did - I drew this simple (so I thought it was) block.

It will end up a 10 1/2" block. So next I colored it in so I knew where to put what colors when I sewed it.

So far so good....but now I had to draw the lines as to where to sew it all together.  I bet I worked on this for hours, trying to figure out where and how.  (It sure would have been easier if I knew more about paper piecing.)   After a day of staring and erased lines everywhere.  I came up with this idea:  

I found that dividing it into sections was the easiest.    The first section is the center.  The bottom of the house, tombstones and  the upper section of the ghost.  (hardest is over...YEAH)  (To get my pattern, copy and paste to your PC and use dimensions mentioned on pattern.)

Then I sewed my moon and roof top. When they were completed, I sewed them fast to my first section.

Next I sewed my tree together.    PHEW... I am getting there.  

I added this to the side of the house and am now ready to put the last section on.  So I sewed the bottom of the ghost together.

I added this to the bottom, aligning my seams carefully.  After all this I don't want to goof it up now.   

Well, here is my block:

Total finished size is 10 1/2"

Now when I did mine - I goofed and didn't have enough green for the last piece.  Unfortunately, I didn't even have enough to rip and re-do it.  So I just added a little piece to the bottom corner.  Whew!  I can't believe this was so much trouble.

I must confess that by the time I finished by block, I had lines everywhere in my pattern.  So I re-drew it for this blog.  If you  copy and paste the pattern, make sure you enlarge it to the size given on each piece,  hopefully you will not have any problems.  If you do, let me know and I will e-mail it to you.

After all the problems I had with this, I had to try to make another, but with a pattern.  I had to prove to myself that it really isn't hard.   So I made 2 witches and 2 pumpkin blocks.  Each measured 4 1/2" square.

These went really easy after that other block.  So, I added them to a plain center to make a table topper for our Dining Room table.  I quilted it in a grid pattern and in the ditch in the rest.  

The reason I made the middle so plain....My husband made me this beautiful Granite Lazy Susan for on top of it.  Let me show you.  

I do not know yet how I am going to finish my Ghost block.  I am certainly am not giving up on paper piecing, just making my own blocks for now.  Gee, I think I will make some of the other Halloween paper piece blocks that I have seen.  I do want to thank Soma from "Whims and Fancies" for all her help and support.  She pushed me beyond what I thought I could do.  Thank you for that.  

Everyone, Please go to her site at:   Whims and Fancies   Check out the schedule, for each day this month you will see a new Halloween pieced blocks.  I know you will not want to miss a one.  

ALSO,  Coming up "Something Wicked is Coming this Way"   Blog Hop.  It will start on October 22, and run through October 31.  You will not want to miss this one either.  

                                         

Till then:

HAPPY QUILTING EVERYONE!!!

To get special designed quilts or to see my gallery, check out my site at: http://janesquilting.com

What's Coming Up Plus Winner of McCall's Giveaway

Today I am announcing the winner of my giveaway of a One Year Subscription to McCall's Quilting Magazine.

But first - Let me tell you some of the things that are coming up.

Something Wicked Comes This Way.   On October 14th, I will be posting my second ever, paper pieced block.  If you did not hear, each day this month someone is blogging on a special Paper Pieced Block that they are making.  It is being sponsored by Whims and Fancies.  Each has a tutorial of how they made their blocks and some even have giveaways.  So please, check the schedule out at:   http://www.whimsandfancies.com

But wait - there is another "Wicket Blog Hop" this month.  This one is sponsored by Wendy and  Madam Samm starting on October 22nd and going thru October 31st.  My day to post is going to be  October 23rd.  Please keep in tough here for the schedule:  http://why-knot-kwilt.blogspot.com   You don't miss a "Wicked" thing.

Oh, but I am in one more this year....This one is Holiday Lane with Pauline at http://quiltnqueen.blogspot.com and  Madam Samm.  This hop starts on November 21st and goes thru November 30th

 

As you see, I am having lots of fun and hope you are too. 

NOW  -  Time to find out who the Winner of a One Year Subscription to McCall's Magazine is.....  First I must to go Random.org.  I had 188 comments (entries) 

It has chosen number   147 .........      JUDY

CONGRATULATIONS!!

You will be receiving an e-mail from me shortly for conformation of your winnings.

Thank you all for all your support and wonderful comments.  They are greatly appreciated.  I truly love hearing from you all.  Thank you for stopping by and hope to see you again.....

TILL NEXT TIME.....

HAPPY QUILTING EVERYONE

To get special designed quilts or to see my gallery, check out my site at: http://janesquilting.com

Leaf's Me Happy Blog Hop and Giveaway

Well, today is the fourth day of the “Leafs Me Happy”  Blog Hop and I am happy to say that it is also my day to blog. I want to thank Madam Samm and Cherry Blossom’s Quilting Studio for their hard work putting this all together and making this hop “Leaf into Action”.


I am so excited and happy that Fall is finally here.  Fall was always my favorite time of year.  The leaves changing, turning into beautiful shades of reds, yellows, and orange. The crisp clean mornings, sounds of the football games in the evening.  Oh yeah, seeing the school buses (memories) and then there is the smell of Apple Pie.  Who doesn't love the smell of Apple pie coming out of the oven?

I  drew a little wall hanging to Welcome fall.
I started with lots of different fall prints.  (What I thought was fall prints, anyway)

Then I made my little blocks for on the side.  I made five plain, 3 four squares and 2 pinwheels.  When I sewed them together I staggered them to make it look more even.  I added them to the larger piece.

  (I am sorry I lost the rest of the picture)

I added my top, bottom, and side boarders to it all.  The appliqué was  put on last.   I machine appliquéd the bouquet of sunflowers and the letters in “Welcome” with the machine in monofilament thread.  I then quilted it.   Total size is:   15"  X  25 1/2"   I named it  "Leaf's Welcome You"

Here is another that I had made in the same manner ---- but different....I only used one Sunflower but added 2 Chickadee's and 2 Pumpkins.  Total size of this one is:  14 1/2" X 24"

I also want to share this Wall Hanging I made.  I love doing different things.....Years ago I remember seeing a picture in a magazine of a turkey holding a sign that said "Think Ham".  I painted it on my Living Room window for my youngest child one Thanksgiving.  So I came up with this, total size is:  36" X 16"

How about more inspiration?

Visit these blogs for more yummy fall eye candy:

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Patchouli Moon Studio

Free Motion by the River

Quilt Doodle Designs

Apple Avenue Quilts

Spoilt Dog Quilts

Ramblings of a Quilter

Deborah

A Passion for Applique

Gracie Oliver Arts

So, What am I giving away this time?  GEE, I thought I would be different.  I am going to pick ONE winner only.  This winner will receive a 1 year subscription to McCall's Quilting Magazine.  

Yes, you read it right....a 1 year subscription to McCall's Quilting Magazine.  (I receive this magazine and get great ideas from it.)  

              

To enter is easy.  All you need to do is be a follower and leave me a comment.  

But, I was always told to let everyone have the chance to enter more than once if they would like.  The more you enter, the better your chances, right?  So, for a second entry, check out my web page,  Jane's Quilting  "LIKE" and come back and tell me what you think.  I would really like to hear what you think of my site.

For a 3rd entry.......gee, go to  Jane's Quilting Facebook page  and "LIKE", come back and comment again.

Oh, and if you already are receiving this magazine, it will just be added to your subscription.

SO GOOD LUCK........Giveaway ends midnight October 10th.  I will go to random.org to pick a winner and will post it on October 11th.  

TILL THEN HAPPY QUILTING EVERYONE........

To get special designed quilts or to see my gallery, check out my site at: http://janesquilting.com