Basket for Baby

One of my coworkers down in Phoenix is about to have her little baby.

It's a boy.. and her theme is Monkeys.

I had a very hard time finding Monkey fabric that was blue. I had a certain fabric in mind because I had used it to make this quilt and gifts. But I knew time wasn't on my side since this fabric was from a couple years ago.

I had originally planned to make a blanket. But since I couldn't find the fabric I wanted.. I had to resort to my scraps. And I had just enough to make this instead.

I started with 6 burp cloths.. I loosely used these instructions that I originally discovered a few years ago. I put super soft light blue flannel down the center.

I love baby gifts that are also useful!

Then I made another soft basket. I seriously love making these. Tutorial HERE.

They are very versatile too. I made one a few years ago for my niece who was coming to visit and filled it with girly stuff.. hair clips.. PJ Boxers.. etc.

You could also make a "Spa" basket for a new Mom or a friend!!

Anyway.. back to the gift.

I rolled up all the burp cloths and put them inside.. 

And added a tulle bow and a "handmade by heidi" tag.. and then boxed it up and shipped it to Arizona!

P.S. If you want to know who the winners of the Quiltmaker Giveaway are.. Click HERE.

Swap Reveal

So I stopped at the post office yesterday to check my mailbox..

And to my surprise, there was a package for little ole' me.. all the way from Australia!!

Maria, from Life on the Block made me this beautiful Sewing Organizer.

The fabric couldn't be more perfect! And the freemotion quilting on here.. amazing job! (I actually have some of this fabric in my stash.. I had plans to make a pin cushion of some kind with it.

When it's open.. there are 4 zipper pouches.. and she filled them with goodies for me.

This retractable measuring tape - perfect since I've always wanted one, but never bought one.

And this little scissors to keep next to my maching for snipping threads. The timing of this couldn't have been better either - because I was just complaining about my little scissor last weekend. My husband oiled them for me but they still needed to be replaced!

She also added these adorable buttons and lace.

And these vintage quilt labels! I love it all!!

The little matching fabric tag Maria added to the scissor was love at first sight! What a great little idea. I'm so stealing this idea Maria!

Thank you so much!

How about you.. Have you received your packages? Tell us about them.. or leave a link in the comments - I'd love to check them out.

Welcome to the 100 Blocks Vol 5 Blog Tour

Winners have been selected!! Thank you so much for all the kind words!

Winner #1 of an advance copy of 100 Blocks Vol5 is..

#196 - Wendy who said... "Hey well done! Love your block."

Winner #2 of the "One Yard Wonders" book is...

#154 - Lisa who said... "I love the block, it would be awesome to be in a magazine! I am excited for all of you, it is so fun to find out the blocks come from bloggers! Thank you for having such a terrific giveaway to win would be fantastic."

Winner #3 of the Moda Labels is...

#165 - Linda who said... "Great prizes! You're so generous. Thank you for the chance to win. Any of them would be appreciated."

Winner #4 of the "This is how I roll" window decal is...

#82 - VickiT who said... "Heidi ~ You've created a beautiful block and the Jovial fabric line is one of my absolute favorites. Great job! Congratulations on your block being in this next issue of 100 Blocks. How exciting for you. I've seen the decal before and thought it was funny. LOVE the sew in labels and that book was one of the blog tours I followed last year. It's an awesome looking book although I never did win one."

Welcome!

I'm so excited about this latest issue of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 5!

The magazine will be officially released next Tuesday, May 8th. Here is a sneak peak at my block that is located on page 55...

Name: Christmas Cards

Fabric: Jovial by Basic Grey for Moda Fabrics

The magazine is full of inspiration! So many techniques and styles to choose from.

In Celebration - I am giving away a few prizes.

Prize #1 - An advance copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 5

Prize #2 "One-Yard Wonders" This is a great book full of projects that each only require 1 yard of fabric. The authors are from way up here in Minnesota.

Prize #3 - These great "100% Handmade" labels from Moda.

Prize #4 - This fun decal for your vehicle. "This is how I roll".. with a rotary cutter. Makes me giggle every time I look at it.

Don't forget to visit all the featured Blogs this week! You will get to see some of the blocks from the magazine - and there are some great prizes up for grabs!

Links to all the featured Blogs on the Tour can be found at Quiltmaker.com

I will keep the giveaway open until Saturday (May 5th) @ Noon!

Good Luck - and thank you for stopping by!

A New Twist on a Runner

I made a Table Runner...

It was simple.. and fun to make.

The possibilities are really endless...

You could make it with all one fabric.. or a variety of prints.. or solids.

I added buttons...

And then I put this all in a box and mailed it to my swap partner today!

Hopefully everyone who joined the Quilters Day Swap has mailed their packages to their swap partners!! Tomorrow is the deadline to mail!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Vol 5 Blog Tour.

I will have some awesome things to giveaway!! I will be drawing 4 winners and I have some pretty great prizes!

And the best part - I will be revealing my block!!

Giveaway Winners!

I almost forgot to draw 2 winners for the 100 Blocks Vol 5 Giveaway! How could I forget?!

Using Random.org....

The first winner is #27 Lisa who said "If I could only wear one color, it would be BLUE! I love almost every shade of blue and I realize that so much of my stash is blue. I am addicted to BLUE!"

And second winner is #72 Kim who said "I would definitely wear green."

I must say that BLUE was very popular. PURPLE seamed to be a close 2nd.

Send me your address and I will get these mailed out to you!!

Don't forget that next week is the Blog Tour for 100 Blocks Vol5. There will be a lot of giveaways and goods to be had. I have some great things to giveaway that you won't want to miss.

Are you my Friend?

In just 2 months, it will be 2 years since me and my family moved all the way from Arizona to Minnesota. Can you believe it's been 2 years? Where did the time go?

Anyway, in the two years we've been here, I have failed to find a local sewing/quilty friend. I've met people who sew.. but none of the actual friends I've made quilt at all.

So, I decided to take a leap. I joined a bus trip offered at my LQS in June. It's a one day trip down to Rochester MN for the MN State Quilt Show.

The only person I know that will be on the bus is the owner of the quilt store (The Quilted Dog). But I'm optimistic and a little pumped. This will be my first big quilt show and I can't wait!! It's June 16th.

Hopefully I will "connect" with someone on the trip. I do have some "friend" criteria though.. I don't care how young/old she is, but she must be easy going and not get offended easily. I have a pretty sarcastic sense of humor and can have a bit of a potty mouth sometimes. (Not at first of course) 

My backup plan if I don't find a sewing / quilty friend soon - I'm going to have to teach one of my existing local friends to sew!!

Are any of you "locals" planning to go to the Minnesota Quilters Conference? If you are.. holla... I'd love to connect with you!!

Reminder and a Giveaway

First a reminder to everyone participating in the Quilters Day Swap.. Don't forget to mail your package before May 1st.

So many of you have already mailed and sent me pictures. I must say we have some great swappers! Some pretty amazing things are being made and shared.

And finally - my husband went to the post office today to mail my box of pillowcases.. and he came home with another great package for me! I got my advance copies of the new 100 Blocks Vol 5.

So many pretty blocks!!

I can't resist sharing!! So leave a comment for a chance to win a copy!! I will draw 2 winners.

Just answer this question

"If you could only wear ONE color for the rest of your life, what would it be?"

I will draw a winner on Wednesday evening.

Good Luck!!