It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s quilt contest is Commemorative Quilts. Grab yourself a cup of coffee, a pencil to make note of your faves and maybe even a box of tissues. The stories with these quilts are heart-warming. You can vote for FIVE quilts this weekend.

Our sponsor, Road Home Quilting, is giving away this gorgeous Grandmother’s Garden Tote kit for this week’s winner.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to FIVE quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos of all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Be My Valentine. For this contest, you can also enter other items made with fabric that fit the theme… and quilts too, of course. Also, it does not have to be something you made this year. Let’s see all your Red and Pink love!

Get your cameras out! To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EST). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest

The Learning Center

In The Learning Center this week, we continue with the Studio Organization series. In the first post, Pat Sloan shares ideas on Finding a Space of Your Own.

Plus, everyone is invited to share their BEFORE photos and join our link party for a chance to win a copy of Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter. Two winners will randomly be selected next Monday.

Want to win? – Add your link here!

The second post this week includes several Project Storage Tips from Pat, myself and other quilters. Lots of gorgeous photo inspiration is included!

My grandmother taught me to knit and my first project was a doll skirt. My first cross stitch project was a rooster on a red cloth with black floss. I embroidered a pillow case at camp. I made my first outfit in middle school (then it was called junior high)! And I made all my clothes when I went to college. And it didn’t stop there. I always had a project going my entire life and I still do today. But if you would have told me that I would become a designer with my own company because of a cat – I wouldn’t have believed you.

Twenty years ago we moved to Florida with our 2 cats. My family had vacationed there and I loved it. It was my dream to become a "little ol’ lady on the beach with lots of cats"! Be careful what you wish for! Thanks to a loving husband, I am living my dream!

However, one thing I didn’t anticipate was having lots of hurricanes (a few maybe, but not lots)! We evacuated many times. Not much fun, but very necessary. We always took our cats – there was no way I would leave them behind. But 20 years ago, not much thought was given to animals in emergency situations. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 changed all that thanks to the many animal agencies that responded to that disaster. Emergency Management officials saw the need, but it was a slow learning process. The issue was raised again with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and fortunately, since then, emergency officials have listened.

There was a little black cat that came into my life right before Hurricane Opal in 1995. Casey was a feral cat and I couldn’t get close to him when we evacuated, so I had to leave him behind. The next day when we returned (and that is another story) Casey ran to my arms. I became very attached and when he passed, I decided his little life should not be in vain. Read the complete story of Casey on my blog!

Because of Casey and my love of animals, I became involved with The Humane Society of the United States and was part of their Disaster Animal Response Team (DART). As a result I worked fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes. I saw firsthand the need to get the word out about taking care of pets during disasters. Therefore I created The CASEY Plan (Caring for Animals Safely in Emergencies during the Year) in memory of my little black cat to help promote animal disaster preparedness.

And that is also when I created Purrfect Spots. Living in a resort area, I designed cross stitch patterns of local landmarks. A portion of my sales goes to The CASEY Plan which promotes animal disaster preparedness. My first effort was the Seaside Post Office (Picture).

One thing led to another and I started creating all sorts of cross stitch patterns and then added needlepoint.

Well it was only natural to go into quilting as a lot of my patterns worked beautifully as appliqué.

I fell in love with quilting and that is what I design today, both applique and pieced.

I love to hand quilt as I find it very relaxing and good therapy. It is one place in my life that I can make the pieces fit (if they are cut right). I am also the Marketing Director for The Quilt Pattern Magazine. However I still am very much involved in the promotion of animal disaster preparedness and safety. Casey’s legacy lives on! That is why I created this “Safety Tips for Pets” slide show for all my sewing friends with pets.

Give-Away

I have enjoyed being a guest on the Quilting Gallery today and I hope you have enjoyed the story of my journey as a quilter and animal lover. In appreciation of your visit, I do have a contest!

Leave a comment below telling me if you have a pet, (name & description) plus what poses a threat for them in your sewing room. There will be a random drawing for a special gift next Wednesday!

Thank you again for visiting.

For the animals,
Nan Purrfect Spots

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s quilt contest is Snowy Friends. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for FOUR quilts this weekend.

This week’s sponsor is Valerie from Pastimes Online. She specializes in Block of the Month clubs that include all of the supplies needed to complete the block as well as a unique member’s only area with tutorials for each block. Check out this gorgeous Vintage Sewing Machines BOM that she’s hosting for 2012.

Vintage Sewing Machines BOM

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to FOUR quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos of all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Update: The prize for this contest goes to the second quilter with the most votes. Please, if you wish to enter the weekly contests, read the rules and guidelines first.

Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Commemorative Quilts. Be sure to explain what your quilt commemorates when you enter this contest. Get your cameras out! To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EST). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest

The Learning Center

Check out the new Learning Center hosted by Pat Sloan. For the month of February, we’re tackling Studio Organization… a topic I’m sure that we can all use some help with.

Our first post Organization 101 a la Pat Sloan, will help get you started. Look for new Learning Center posts Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Big Overhaul

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s quilt contest is Winter Landscapes. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for FOUR quilts this weekend.

This week’s sponsor, is Vicki Welsh who creates gorgeous hand dyed fabrics. Vicki has donated a Stash Pack of hand dyed fabrics containing 10 fat eighths and a Goddess Sheet Teflon pressing sheet from Mistyfuse for this week’s winner. Plus everyone can enjoy a 15% discount through to January 29 by using coupon code WINTER15 in Vicki’s online store.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to FOUR quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos to display all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Snowy Friends. Get your cameras out! To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EST). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest – Opportunities for 2012 now available

New Beginnings Mini Quilt Swap

Registration closes next week for the New Beginnings Mini Quilt Swap. Join the fun today.

Aloha from Hawaii! This is Linda Ezuka from Quilting Under The Influence. I am just a random modern day mom quilting under the influence (cocktails, chocolate, children) as I run thru the journey of life… I quilt for fun, my sanity and to build a community of quilters in Hawaii and beyond! And yes, it is another beautiful “winter” day in Hawaii, a beautiful blue sky day with the palm trees swaying through the 85 degree weather… I apologize in advance for those who are surrounded in snow right now!

Well, I decided to organize QUTI’s (“Cutee”) first exchange this past holiday season and I am still beaming ear to ear! Not only did we get great participation, everyone sent their fabric packs (you longtime exchangers know how rare this really is!), and I have new quilty BFFs. Woohoo!

We started with a simple mission, to exchange 5 pieces of 5 inch squares of Christmas fabric with no other guidance or expectations! That’s right, the mini-charm packs were sent in November and you are not going to believe the creativity that resulted! These women rock! Each quilter was instructed to go forth and be as creative as they wanted and the best part… they got to keep their lovely creations!

There must have been some serious convergent and divergent production going on in these ladies processes, because I am and will remain in awe of their talents, spirit and art! We all sent such different fabrics, some blue, some pink, certainly a challenge to bring it all together! But have no fear, the QUTI Club delivers!

Our Fearless Participants: Kelly G. of QUTI, Deanna, Stephanie, Dawn, Lizzie Marie, Jan, Marta P., and Dorthy G.

See their amazing work:

Jan

Stephanie

Killerella

Kelly

Jan

For my project, I chose to expand my horizons to be wild and crazy with a new technique – English paper piercing! What was I thinking, I thought once I got one piece pierced!?! No joke, patience isn’t quite my virtue, so this project took all I had to complete it! I have absolutely no shame in admitting that at times I had a cocktail or two, just to keep me paper piercing! But in the end, I love my new skill, new-found patience, and a lovely new technique. Oh, before I forget, I love, love, love, http://www.paperpieces.com/! They have awesome tools, ideas and they ship super fast!

I also attempted my first ruche, aka ruching. First of all, I had no prior knowledge of this word and it is still so fun to say… “I ruched today” or “Got Ruche?” or Ruche it baby! Hmmm, maybe I should make up a cocktail to go with that Ruche? See, I got a little distracted! Back to topic, I used a ruffler… ok… this is another funny one… this tool is a little intimidating and looks like something from the doctors office at first and then you should see it whirl! Woohoo! Too much fun! The lovely little models are holding up the finished product!

Want more fun? Join the QUTI blog, friend us or tweet with us!

Cheers, Linda Lewis Ezuka

Blogging Under The Influence
Tweeting Under The Influence
Facebooking Under The Influence

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s contest is Black and White quilts. On Thursday, I opened the contest up to include those quilts with a punch of additional colour too. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for THREE quilts this weekend.

This week’s sponsor, Contemporary Cloth, have generously donated three $15 gift certificates. Plus everyone can save 20% off! Use code QG when you check out.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to THREE quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos to display all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Winter Landscapes. Get your cameras out! To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EST). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest – Opportunities for 2012 now available

New Beginnings Mini Quilt Swap

Registration is now open for the New Beginnings Mini Quilt Swap. Join the fun today.

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s quilt contest is New Beginnings. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for THREE quilts this weekend.

The Fat Quarter Shop has generously donated two $25 gift certificates for the contest winners. Be sure to check out their Designer Mystery Block of the Month program. Here’s a sneak peek so you know what to sort of expect…

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to THREE quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos to display all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is Black & White Only quilts. Shades of grey are acceptable too. Get your cameras out! To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EST). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest – Opportunities for 2012 now available

Quilting FUN Everywhere!

January always marks the start of many new fun quilting projects. See the massive list of Quilting FUN Everywhere! that I’ve put together. The photo below is for Erin Russek’s new Mini Bloomers BOM.

It’s voting time!! This week’s quilt contest is for sharing the Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along Blocks that were made in from the quilt-along hosted here last year. You can select up to TWO quilts/blocks this week.

We have six beautiful submissions. Sadly, I wasn’t able to reach the other participants in time for them to enter this week. You can view all the gorgeous blocks in the Flickr group. I don’t have a sponsor for this week, however, all quilters that entered the contest will win copies of the two Quilter’s Cookbooks.

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts/blocks with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to TWO quilts/blocks this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos to display all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s contest is New Beginnings. It’s up to each individual to interpret that theme as they wish. It’ll be an open-ended contest. Get your cameras out and submit your quilt photo.

Want to sponsor a weekly contest? – find out how.

Stay in touch!

Subscribe to our Newsletter or Like us on Facebook to get notified of the latest FUN!

I started working on these table runners back in September. The mittens appliqué are from Erin Russek. You can read the original post, which includes the various links to Erin’s free pattern and tutorials, here: I’m Smitten with Erin’s Mittens.

This was my first time using Aurifil’s 12wt cotton thread for the blanket stitch. I used a 50wt thread in the bobbin, a size 14 top stitch needle and lowered my tension to 2. It worked like a dream. Love the depth and texture it added to the mittens. I’ll definitely be using this thread again when I want some definition to my appliqué projects.

I wanted the table runners a little longer, so I added 1/2″ finished yellow sashing and used up the leftover charm pieces to add side borders. The red border finished at 1″ and the green border at 2″. The table runners finished at 40″x16″.

I stitched in the ditch around the blocks and all sashings. I did a small stipple in the blocks around the appliqué pieces. For the red border, since it was already stiched in the ditch, I just did a straight line down the middle. For the outer border, I marked where the binding would be attached then evenly spaced out lines to form the diamond shape. I did a simple crisscross design in the coloured sashing edge pieces.

Close up quilting of one of the blocks:

You might recognize the fabrics and colour scheme from the Christmas Ornaments wall hanging I did. This one I kept for myself, as it fits the round table in my kitchen perfectly. I suppose I should pack it away with the Christmas stuff and make something new for my table.

P.S. I’m linking this post up with Pat Sloan’s Show me your stuff post. So many lovely projects to look at!

Linking up here too: WIP Wednesday.

Please note, Facebook, email subscribers and RSS readers: You need to visit the Quilting Gallery blog to vote and view the quilt photos: CLICK HERE

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s quilt contest is Christmas. We have many, many beautiful quilts for you to look at. Grab yourself a cup of coffee (or two!) and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for SEVEN quilts this weekend.

Our friends from the Fat Quarter Shop have generously donated two $50 gift certificates for the contest winners.

Be sure to check out their Countdown to Christmas deals where they have one collection or a group of collections from 30% – 50% OFF!

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to SEVEN quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted, or that the voting period has ended, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos to display all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

Next Week’s Contest

This is our last weekly contest for the year. We’ll return with new themes in January. Want to sponsor a weekly contest? – find out how here.

Blog Hop Party

I hope you’ve been having fun at our Blog Hop Party! Many give-aways will remain open until Saturday.

Also, I’m participating in Another Give-Away Party too. Winner chosen next Monday!

Stay in touch!

Subscribe to our Newsletter or Like us on Facebook to get notified of the latest FUN!