I’ve been busy working on a new web site for my sister that we launched last night. It’s for daycare providers and parents in Durham Region, Ontario. If you live in the area, or know people that do, please visit. It’s an exciting venture for her and I wish her all the success in the world.

I’ve also been planning the finer details of my trip to Nashville. I’m leaving on Sunday, driving through northeastern New York, into Ohio where I’ll stay one night and explore Dutch/Amish country the next day, then head into Kentucky for another night, then continue on into Nashville arriving on Tuesday. If you know of any must stop and see quilt shops on the way, please let me know. I’ll have my cell phone with me, and my laptop, so if you want to get together drop me an email.

I’ve received 14 lovely submissions for the Lazy Days of Summer Photo Contest which I hope to post on the weekend before I leave. Note, you don’t have to be a member of the Quilting Bloggers directory to submit a photo, I think there was some confusion on this. It’s open to anyone. Keep those submissions coming!

I also have a new guest blogger to feature later this week, or early next week. And, I’m busy working on something very special for this site … to be revealed in the next couple of days.. stay tuned.

Oh, I do have a request for help … I’ve been waiting two months to get some black perle cotton size 12 from the local shop here. Apparently, they are the only place that has it in town, and guess what, they still don’t have it. Does anyone know where I can buy it in the US, perhaps a chain store, that I can stop at on my way. I’m bringing some pieces to hand blanket stitch for my niece’s quilt, and I’d really like to get working on them once I hit the road. Does Joanne’s sell it (I’ve never looked), or Michaels in the US? Do quilt shops normally carry it, just the ones I know about up here don’t?

Happy Quilting,
Michele

I added a new page to this site, How to Add a Logo to Blogger. Big thanks to Nicolette for sending me the instructions. You can find the various logos for this site on the Promote page.

Did you see that earlier this week, the total number of Quilting Bloggers went past 1,300 respresenting 42 countries. Wow! The Directory will be two months old next week. I am amazed and thrilled at the number of quilting bloggers there are. I’ve been trying to estimate how many there will be by the end of the year … sounds like a great idea for a Contest. More details to follow.

Some other site news:

• There’s one more Charity Quilting project post to come in the next couple of days. I’m still working on the summary post of other Charity Quilters, if you have a post already on your site (or want to do one), just send me the address and I’ll add it to the list.
• The first Guest Blogger will be featured soon too, probably on the weekend. If you’re interested in being a Guest Blogger, drop me an email.
• For those that subscribe to receive notifications via email whenever this blog is updated, I switched the mail service to FeedBlitz. There seems to have been a few bumps along the way, but I’m hoping they will be sorted out in the next day or so. If you’ve stopped receiving notices, and things don’t improve by the weekend, let me know, please.
• I have my first paid advertiser for the next issue of the newsletter due out at the beginning of August. If you’re interersted in advertising, contact me to discuss the details.

I’m hoping someone could help me out. I get a few requests a week from Quilting Bloggers that would like to add one of the logos to their sidebar, but they don’t know how. Since I don’t have a Blogger/Blogspot account, I’m not able to tell them how to do it.

If someone has time and could send me the detailed step-by-step instructions on how to do this, it would be greatly appreciated. Either post in the comments, or if you want to send me the instructions in email that would be great too. Thanks!!

Speaking of logos, there’s a new 125px square logo available for Quilting Bloggers. You can see it below. What do you think of it?

Update: Many thanks to Nicolette for sending me the blogger instructions. I’ll get them posted later on today.

… I’m really behind these days. A couple of days before Canada Day, I switched Internet providers and something went very wrong, resulting in me having no access for several days. While this might not be a big deal for many, for a web developer who works from home, this really caused me a lot of nuisance.

I had every intention of starting the Charity Quilting Month posts on July 2nd, but just haven’t had time to get them together. I hope to get caught on the Wednesday or by the weekend for sure. If you’re waiting for an email reply, please be patient, it’s coming too.

My mom and I had a great visit, we did some stitching (her knitting, me blanket stitching some applique) and shopping and eating out at restaurants. It was my birthday on the weekend, and I got some great gifts from my family (including home-made cookies that the cats ate already) and a lovely professional seam ripper from a friend of mine. My mom was here for breakfast that day, and she left right after so I spent a quiet afternoon and evening, relaxing, reading, watching some television and drinking some beer. It was perfect as I didn’t want anything elaborate and preferred to just forget about it altogether (yes, it was one of those big ones).

Anyway, I was back to work and getting client stuff done today, so I feel more in my groove than I have the past couple of weeks.

I was reading Judy L.’s Patchwork Times blog earlier today, and she was kind enough to post about my Charity Quilting Month in this great post of her Charity Quilting projects, which gave me a great idea to tie into the theme here. If others want to post a blog entry on their own site about their charity quilting efforts, then send me an email, I’ll gladly compile a list of the posts together in one spot on here. Depending on how many I get, I’ll do a couple of posts this month to highlight your submissions.

Have a great week,
Michele

My mom’s in town to visit for a few days, so posting will be limited, as I didn’t have a chance to get some posts ready ahead of time. However, the newsletter is just about ready to go out, look for it late tomorrow.

Have a nice week/weekend!

Darlene from Bee Sew Whimsical, in Australia, has kindly offered to feature the Quilting Bloggers directory in the July edition of her The Whimsical Honeypot newsletter.

Her newsletters are simply gorgeous and filled with wonderful information. Definitely one of the best newsletters I’ve ever seen and I’m sure you’ll think so too. If you subscribe today you’ll get to see the Quilting Bloggers feature in July when the next edition comes out.

Thank you Darlene, I can’t wait to see the Quilting Bloggers feature in the next issue.

Technorati Profile

July will be Charity Quilting Month here at the Quilting Gallery. This will be an opportunity to feature the many wonderful charities and organizations out there where quilts and quilters are involved. We are a very generous community. My hope is to have a charity to post about every other day during the month of July, but if I get more submissions, all the better.

Are you a charity organization and want to be featured here?

I’ve created a series of questions below that you can use as a template in preparing your submission. Send me your submission along with any photos or logos you would like used in the post. Please don’t just send me a URL, I don’t have time to do the research myself. Feel free to skip questions that are not appropriate and add ones that are more applicable to your particular group.

• Describe your organization or group.
• Did any one person or event inspire the creation of the charity quilt group/organization?
• Geographic location of your organization or group (i.e. world-wide, country-wide, or city/state/province only).
• If applicable, how many chapters are there world-wide or country-wide?
• If applicable, how many charity quilts have been donated?
• Are there any special yearly events, such as a quilt-a-thon?
• How many volunteers are involved?
• How can one volunteer, donate or get involved?
• Submit photos of finished quilts (maximum of 4).
• Submit logo or other branding for use in the blog post.
• Web site address?
• Other contact information.

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I reserve the right to edit any submissions; however, I’ll be sure contact you if I’ve changed anything significant.

I’m pleased to announce that in just over three weeks, we’ve reached a thousand (and one) Quilting Bloggers, representing 34 countries, 49 US States, and 5 Canadian provinces. WOW!

Here are the winners of the Reach a Thousand Contest.

1. Registrant #1053 - June 17, 2008
   Lil - Addicted
   Luxembourg
2. Registrant #802 - June 6, 2008
   Sue - The Monomaniacal Quilter
   Michigan, USA
3. Registrant #664 - June 4, 2008
   Cordula - Stichelei
   Germany

A huge thank you goes out to everyone who registered their blog and those who have helped to promote the Quilting Bloggers directory. You’ve been great!

And a great big thank you also to the wonderful donators who gave the three prizes:

• Dorothy Baker - Comfort Is… baby quilt pattern and fabric bundle
• Marguerita McManus and Sarah Raffuse - Crazy Shortcut Quilts, Quilt as You Go and Finish in Half the Time! book and a fabric goodie
• Pat Sloan - Learn to Machine Quilt with Pat Sloan book

This morning’s entries also saw two new countries added to the list, Romania and Hungary.

Thanks everyone!

After reading Alice’s comment, I remembered that I have a stack of Quilting Gallery business cards that I would like to get rid of, so I can order some new ones next month.

If anyone would like some cards to distribute at quilt guild meetings or other such events, I’d be more than happy to drop some in the mail for you. Please send me your mailing address and an indication of how many you would like. I think 25-30 will fit nicely into a standard envelope. I have limited quantities, so please let me know soon.

Also, if you haven’t already, as a thank-you to the ladies who gave the very generous donations for the Reach a Thousand Contest, please be sure to visit their blogs. Only 55 more Quilting Bloggers needed before we reach the 1000 goal… WOW!

• Pat Sloan - She’s having a SeW AloNG, starting on Wednesday.
• Dorothy Baker - Check out the baby robins, they are growing so quickly.
• Marguerita McManus - She’s got something funky and fuzzy going on over there.
• Sarah Raffuse - Shares some interesting information about composting.

Have you seen how many Quilting Bloggers there are now in the directory? As of this writing, 848, which means we need only 152 more to reach the end of June goal of a thousand.

I have been overwhelmed with the many kind words that have been sent to me via email and the various blog postings that have been written about the Quilting Bloggers directory, and of course the hundreds of you that have posted the banner on your site to help spread the word.

The enthusiasm, excitement and generosity has been wonderful. Now, with the help of four fantastic Quilting Bloggers, we are giving back to the blogging community. I have had three fabulous donations offered as contest prizes.

The Contest

How does it work? Once we’ve reached a thousand, three random members of the Quilting Bloggers directory will be chosen as winners. The first person selected will have their choice of which prize they would like, then the second person and finally the third.

The three prizes donated are:

1. Crazy Shortcut Quilts book and a fabric goodie,
2. Comfort Is… pattern and fabric package, and
3. Learn to Machine Quilt with Pat Sloan book.

Complete details of the prizes and their generous donators are below.

How can you help?

Continue to spread the word asking your friends and family to submit their site for inclusion in the directory.

Another way to help is to write a blog post about the Quilting Bloggers directory and, if you like, share your experience. I’ve had several emails from people saying how they’ve met new friends and acquaintances, found new connections in their new community, and have enjoyed an increase in their site traffic, all because they’re listed in the Quilting Bloggers directory. Since it’s only two weeks old, this is bound to continue growing and bringing the community together.

Posting a banner on your site is also a great help.

How do you enter the contest?

If you’re already listed in the Quilting Bloggers directory, you don’t need to do anything. If you’re not listed, and you have a blog, Submit your Site. The three contest winners will be chosen from the first 1,000 approved listings.

A Note on Submissions

I have had a few submissions to the Quilting Bloggers directory for blogs that are as little as a few hours old. Unfortunately sites that are too new to be reviewed and evaluated for inclusion in the directory, will be put on hold for at least two weeks, or until such a time as I can make an informed decision to include the site or not. These submissions will not be included in the Contest and do not count towards Reaching a Thousand.

Prize #1

Prize #1 has been donated by Marguerita McManus and Sarah Raffuse, authors of the book, Crazy Shortcut Quilts, Quilt as You Go and Finish in Half the Time!. Included with the book will be a fabric goodie.

Prize #2

Prize #2 has been donated by Dorothy Baker and is a baby quilt pattern she designed called Comfort Is….. The finished quilt measures 38 1/2" x 46 1/2". Also included in this prize are pre-washed fabrics for the bunnies and for some of the flowers and leaves.

I was thrilled to discover that Dorothy is the designer behind the wonderful quilt, All About Bears, that I had the pleasure of seeing at the Upper Canada Village quilt show last year. This has to be one of the most gorgeous quilts I’ve ever seen… one day I hope to be able to make something that beautiful.

Prize #3

Prize #3, has been donated by Pat Sloan and is her Learn to Machine Quilt with Pat Sloan soft-cover book.

Further to my post last week on Sewing Ergonomics, Marguerita sent me this post she wrote on making your own Custom Sewing Desk - Cheap.

While not the prettiest to look at, this idea definitely has potential for me. I am loving free-motion quilting, but finding the stress on my shoulders and upper back prevents me from sewing as much as I would like.

I need to find out if I can buy adjustable legs from Ikea for my existing table, then I’ll look into getting some foam core. I have some spare paint, and might even try painting the foam core… we’ll see how ambitious I am.

I have some concerns about the static, as my apartment is very dry in the winter with electric heat and concrete walls. Does anyone have any ideas? I wonder if I can eliminate the vinyl altogether and instead use a paint that has some slick-ness to it. I think a phone call to my Dad, the Handyman is in order.

Contest Update: I have had three wonderful donations offered for the upcoming contest… you’re going to love them. Details will be posted in the next couple of days, so stay tuned.

Newsletter Update: If you missed the first edition of the Quilting Gallery Newsletter, it is now available on-line: Issue #1 - June 2008 - Are you a Quilting Blogger?.

Yes, I do need to clean house … no I’m not going to show you photos of the mess. However, a few things I wanted to mention this wonderful Monday morning.

If you’ve sent me an email, and I haven’t responded yet, and you think I should have… I apologize. If you don’t get an answer by end of day today, please get in touch again. I discovered this morning that I had inadvertently set up a mail filter, which resulted in me missing a tonne of messages, so I’m trying to play catch up now.

I’m looking for some prize donations for an upcoming contest this month. If you’ve written a book or pattern(s), can donate fabric or other supplies.. I’d love to hear from you. Minimum donation $10 value, please, and you take responsibility for mailing it to the winner. What you’ll get in return, lots of link love, good will, free advertising. Drop me a line, let’s talk!

July is Charity Quilting Month … more to come in the next few days. If you make quilts for charity or belong to an organization that does, please check back as I’ll have the details posted on here about how to submit your information.

Approval for new Quilting Bloggers will be slightly delayed over the next couple of days, as I play catch up and focus on other things. I’ll get to them once a day, instead of several times throughout the day.

I’ll leave you with a photo of the card I made for my friends that were married on Friday. The card uses the same fabric as I’ve used for their quilt, which I’m in the process of quilting. I hope to give it to them in a couple of weeks. Which reminds me, I’m looking for a quilt pattern or instructions to make a bag for the quilt, if you have one, please post it in the comments, or send me a message directly.

Happy Monday!
Michele aka Mishka

Here’s a handy tutorial on Joining Batting pieces together that will help you save money and help the environment all at once.

My sewing machine has a zigzag stitch (called double ZZ) that puts three stiches in each zig and zag. I think this would be a great stitch to use for adding strength and durability, if you have it available.

Did you know?

I’m always looking for tutorials, tips and techniques and free patterns to post on here. If you’ve written something and would like it featured on this site, please don’t be shy, send me the information, and if it’s relevant, I’d be pleased to post it and throw you some extra link love.

Did you see?

There are now 748 Quilting Bloggers, representing 29 countries, 47 American states and 5 Canadian provinces. WOW! Thank you to everyone for all of your wonderful support, seeing all the blog posts about the directory, makes those late nights developing it all worthwhile, and I think judging by the responses, you do too. Please keep spreading the word, I think reaching a thousand by the end of June is well within reach.

The mailman brought me two wonderful Pay it Forward gifts the past couple of days.

Caron from Michigan Quilts sent me this lovely Tulip Needlecase.

Tami of Lemon Tree Tales sent this gorgeous Mini Art Quilt.

Check out the great hanger on the back … soon to appear on a project of mine too. hehe

Thank you both, the gifts are treasured.

Quilting Bloggers update:

The total bloggers is now at 686… more than 60 added today alone, and it’s only mid-afternoon my time.

I updated the Promote page which contains banners that you can use on your site to link back here. I added the code blocks to make it easier for you to copy and paste the code itself to add the banner to your site. Any problems or questions, please contact me.