Elephant Parade and Giveaway Winners

Let’s just start right off with the winner of last week’s giveaway for a copy of Sew Preeti’s new pattern, A Fishy Story.  Mr. Random Generator chose:

Grandma Judy B

Congratulations, Judy! Preeti will contact you to get your information and get you squared away. For the rest of you, thanks so much for taking the time to drop by last week and enter the drawing. Be sure to stop by Preeti’s Etsy Shop to pick up a copy of this delightful pattern! 

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We had another crazy week here at Chez Kizerian. Bruce’s vertigo is finally abating, although he had to postpone his driver’s license review (an annual meeting required in Utah for amputees) until May. I had a Most Dreaded Procedure done this week. You know, the one where the prep is a hundred times worse than the procedure itself (which they knock you out for). Anyway, all is peachy-keen, and I don’t have to do that again for 10 years. And who knows, maybe the 2-day fasting will help me shed a pound or two. Although I would rather not lose it like that!

But the procedure - plus rain one day and working out in the yard hauling soil and digging grass out of flower beds - limited my sewing room time. First, let me show you the last of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks for Purple April. I’m going to link this post up to Scrappy Saturday at Angela’s blog.

This week, being the last week of purple scraps, meant I was dealing with crumbs. So I made 8 - 8” (finished size) crumb candy blocks. 

They won’t be laid out like that in a quilt, but it was fun to try it for a picture. The only other color I plan to make of these candies is orange, then I’ll be able to assemble a quilt top.

The rest of the crumbs went into two 6.5” crumb blocks.....

... which in turn have been added to my Purple Creature Quilt (as in creature like Frankenstein’s monster). I have fun using old orphan blocks, scraps, chunks and such to put together something in the color of the month. 

Obviously, this is only pinned to the design board at the moment. I plan to get it sewn into a top over the weekend. Then I can quilt it AND the green one and two donated community quilts in the next week. I’ll show whatever I finish next week.

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ELEPHANT TRUNK SHOW!!

And now it’s time for the Elephant Trunk Show!!  Grab your coffee and a comfortable seat and let’s get started!

Late in 2021, I bought the pattern Stomping Ground by Wendy Shepard. I love elephants, especially after having spent time in Kenya in 2018. I tried making a few and really liked the pattern. So all throughout 2022, and part of this year as well, I made elephants in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month. And as the months went by, I began assembling them into what would end up as 7 quilts - all donated to Quilts for Kids here in Salt Lake City.

I think that for many of you, like me, this will be a fun stroll down memory lane. At least I hope so!

These first two quilts were finished in June. I absolutely loved that blue and green border fabric and ordered it from two different places. Since I had a ton of green and blue scraps, I decided to double the fun! These Jungle Elephants definitely loved their time browsing in the lush greenery!

Both of these quilts ended up at 42x47” - perfect for a child.

The next quilt to reach the finish line was this little number, Pink and Green Elephants. As with all these elephant quilts, the elephant colors were determined by the yardage or scraps that I wanted to use for the border and/or backing. Finished in August, this one measures 40x48”. The fabric came from some yardage I found at a thrift store.

Rainbow Elephants, finished in November, was the fourth finish.  It measures 40x47”. That adorable elephant border fabric (also used on the back) was given to me by Nann. 

In December I finished Wild Elephants, which was the largest of any of the quilts. It measures 43x54”. 

As usual, in this quilt the elephant colors were (generally) derived from the colors in the backing. There wasn’t enough of this delightful fabric (also from Nann) to use for borders. so I just added more elephants!

And that brings us to this year’s finishes. This bright Happy Elephants quilt was finished in February. It measures 39.5 x 49.5”.  This was a favorite of so many visitors to the blog.

And finally, here is Bubbly Elephants.  The inspirational border fabric was a piece I acquired from one of my Quilts for Kids friends. The picture below shows it basted and ready to be quilted.

I did manage to quilt it last night. Here is a closeup of the simple loop quilting. I still have to bind it, and it’ll the first order of business when I get back in the sewing room this weekend. It measures 38 x 48.5”. I’ll show a full completed picture next week.

So, there’s my trunk show.... er, I mean, the elephants’ trunk show. Which one is your favorite?

We’re expecting a beautiful sunny day today, so I plan to get out in the yard and work in the flower beds while Bruce works on getting the drip irrigation set up for the vegetable garden beds. A trip to the big box hardware store is probably in order, which is always fun. And usually followed by a Barnes & Noble coffee date!  Sometime next week - on a weekday, definitely not on a weekend - we’ll head to a garden nursery or two to begin buying new perennials and annuals. I can’t wait!

Have a great week!

WINNERS, WINNERS Chicken Dinners!

I’m being lazy and using one blog post to announce the winners of (1) The Quilty Orphan Adoption prize - an unfinished purse kit blogged about HERE, and my Blog Giveaway prize winners for (2) A package of Soft and Stable stabilizing foam and (3) A Hoffman Digital Cityscapes panel, blogged about HERE.

Each qualifying entry (with contact information) was placed in a hat and the winning names drawn by my brother. Without further ado:

QUILTY ORPHAN WINNER:  Kathy S
  **I have sent you an email**

SOFT AND STABLE WINNER:  Sophie
  **I have sent you an email**

HOFFMAN CITYSCAPES DIGITAL PANEL WINNER:  Elizabeth K
  **I have sent you an email**

Thanks so much to all who participated! I think we may need to do this drawing thing more often!  :-)

Giveaway Time

I haven’t done a giveaway for years, so I think it’s high time to do one. Even better, two. The original intent was to do this in conjunction with my birthday, but that passed by a couple days ago. Still, it’s the same sentiment. I appreciate you, my cyber friends and readers. I love reading your comments and feel I have met so many wonderful people all over the country. And even the world! So, although this is a modest giveaway, I hope you’ll join in the fun.

There are two items, and I will draw for each one separately. 

The first giveaway is a Hoffman Digital Panel, “Skylines". It measures approximately 28” by width of fabric (42 to 44-ish).

When I bought this panel, I actually bought two. You may recall that I made a wall hanging with one a couple years ago. Here’s a refresher picture. Sorry - it is just pinned to the design board and not hanging very evenly.  Anyway, there are a lot of design possibilities for the panel.  So, the first giveaway item is for the panel of fabric above (not the quilt; that already has a home with one of my sons).

The second item is for someone who might be a handbag maker. It’s is an unopened package of By Annie’s Soft and Stable in white. Really, it’s white - my picture leaves a lot to be desired. Anyway. I am no longer into bag making, and really don’t see me using this, so I’d rather just pass it on. Anyone interested? 

To enter the giveaways, just leave a comment on THIS POST. Tell me which one you’re interested in. If you’re interested in both, tell me and I’ll put your name in for both drawings. I’ll draw separately for each item. In your comment, please iinclude your email address if you don’t have a blog or are a No Reply commenter. I need to be able to get ahold of you! 

The giveaway will be open through next Friday, March 23 at noon MDT. That’ll give me time to get my ducks in a row before posting the winner’s name next Saturday the 24th. 

Thanks for joining in, and good luck!

Quilty Orphan Adoption Event !! And Other Stuff.

Cynthia Brunz at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework iis hosting her semi-annual Quilty Orphan Adoption Event and I have decided to join in.

Basically, if you have a UFO (unfinished object or project) that you know you will never finish, then you can offer it up for adoption and link up to her blog.  And the offer is FREE.  There are several other UFOs up for adoption linked up to Cynthia’s site, so go check them out.  

To me, this is a fantastic solution to those “What was I thinking?” projects, or projects that just turned to the dark side once they began.....  Given that I have just started seriously quilting within the last year, I would still categorize myself as an (over-) confident beginner. 

So, what is this project?  It will hopefully someday be a mini-quilt sized approximately 24” by 27”.  I used a charm pack of Bonnie and Camille’s Marmalade and some Kona White.  The pattern (included with UFO) is called Pretty in Pink (Mini) by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka’s Treasures. 

It was a quilt-along that Heather hosted earlier this year, and once I had cut everything out per the directions, I kicked myself for not reading through them first. It seems to me that it would be much easier (and more accurate) to cut each charm vertically into 2 pieces, insert the white, then cut it vertically into 2 pieces and insert the white. Instead, we cut each charm into 4 pieces, then inserted one white vertical piece and two white horizontal pieces, hoping they match up.  Maybe I`m wrong, but I am not going to dwell on it. This gives me a headache. And all those dang pinked edges...... grrrr.  

So, if you think you might want to adopt this project for your very own, here is what I am asking. Many of the adoptee projects are intended for charity, but since this is just a wall hanging or mini size, I will not ask that. However, I would like to see a picture when you finish it.  Please comment below if you are interested; I will keep the adoption open through Tuesday, September 22.  Please make sure I can contact you; in other words, if you are a no-reply blogger, leave your email address in your comment.   I will include the fabrics for the front (I had not picked out any backing or binding), directions, and will carefully mark all the cut pieces for you.  Plus, if you would like, I will throw in a mini charm pack of Feed Company by Moda. 

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This is one of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks for this week’s Farm Girl quiltalong. It is called Sunny Sunflower. I have another block to do, and will show that next post.

I tried making an autumn table runner for our kitchen table.  I used Home for Harvest, a quilt line by (again) Heather Mulder Peterson (LOOOOOVE those colors), and you can see them also in the above block (the brown and green).  In the runner, I paired them up with some Kaufman yard-dyed Essex Linen in Natural because I have heard so many nice things about it. It was not my favorite to work with, but that’s probably just me. Besides, look at my rank beginner quilting on it.  HA!  The harder free-motion quilting is much easier than trying to sew a few basic straight lines. Go figure. 

And finally, my niece (or cousin’s daughter) Jenny, whose first quilt I showed you earlier this month, finished her second one a couple weeks later. She used solids, half-square triangles, and came up with her own layout. I think it is stunning!  Great job, Jenny!

I’m a bit sad because we will not be having our regular Sunday sewing group tomorrow due to illnesses. And I had a killer lunch planned: ham and broccoli quiche, cinnamon raisin bread, mimosas and fresh peach pie. Plus, I wanted to pawn some garden tomatoes off on them, too.  But there is always next week!  

Time to Announce a Winner

To me, this has been the perfect giveaway.  The participants are my regular blog readers, not just those who swing by to enter a contest.  That is why I never put it in the blog title.   That means fewer entries, of course, but that is good for the participants (better chances of winning). And since the purpose was not to build blog followers but to thank you all for your friendship and support, it was just great by me, too.

Well, let’s get on with it!  There were 43 entries, all of whom I had a means of contacting, so all 43 were valid. Using the Random Number Generator (instead of the Random Picking Husband), the number that came up was 5, and that is

JULI  LEVINE !!

Congratulations, Juli!  Let’s get together and select your winnings!

Thank you to everyone else for entering.  You are all loved and appreciated!  We will do this again later this year to celebrate other milestones, I am sure.

Speaking of milestones, I have finally reached 300 followers, and my Etsy sales rocketed up to over 1110 this month, approaching 1200.  I have got to stop watching that number now that I have made my goal of 1,000.  LOL.  That is the right brain part of me struggling to be recognized.

Later today or tomorrow I will have some CQ-related things to post. They are stacking up so we will get to them.

In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying Spring (in the Northern Hemisphere) or Autumn (in the Southern Hemisphere). We have daffodils here in Utah, and popcorn is popping on the apricot tree. But they were all covered with snow last night. *Sigh*.

Enjoy!

Still Crazy after all these Orders!

I finished my week #whatever TAST stitch (couching) on a Snowball I pieced for Kerry. That was a week ago, and I have had barely a moment to rest, much less blog. Is spring in the air? My Etsy shop went CRAZY (and that’s good) with orders over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Remember I was hoping to reach 1,000 sales in March? Well, I was at 998 on Friday afternoon, and then things just cut loose. When the dust settled Sunday evening, I was at 1,060 or so.

All weekend I was pulling orders and packing and mailing and answering convos and doing special orders. Whew! Today I dyed laces and tomorrow I will colorwash some, plus iron them, photograph and get listing.  Why?
Because we are going to have a Giveaway!!!!

I am going to keep it simple. At first I thought it might be nice to promote my Facebook page for Crazy by Design, but I just don’t GET Facebook (maybe because I’m an old geezer).  They keep adding more bells and whistles and revising this and that. I do look at it once in awhile to see what some people are up to, but who has the time to hang out there?  But I digress….

So, here is the Giveaway information buried deep in the post; if you are faithful and have read this far, hurray! 

The prize will be a $25 credit in my Etsy shop, Cathy’s Crazy by Design (link in sidebar). Visit my shop and check it out. Then come back here and leave a comment on THIS POST telling me what your favorite item is. One entry per person.  I will pick the winner by Random Number Generator on, um…. how about March 20, which is a Tuesday. That is the Spring Equinox (first day of spring for the Northern Hemisphere).  So entries must be posted by Monday night, March 19.

Now, don`t worry if items come and go in my shop in the meantime. I have lots of goodies, and there is usually more where they came from. Others (like the kitty, above) have not been listed as I write and post this.  I will work with the winner to give her what she wants. One other thing. You MUST have a way for me to contact you in your comment.  If your name does not link back to a blog or a valid email address, type it in.

Now, what about that Snowball and TAST stitch?  I guess that will have to be next post, LOL!

Hugs,

And the Winner is . . .

Thanks to everyone who entered my celebratory drawing for a $25 gift certificate to my Etsy Shop!  After submitting the 128 entrant numbers to Mr. Random Number Generator, he spit back this:

Min: 1

Max: 128

Result:

40

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And then counting down the entries, the winner is………. DOLORES from Canada!   Congratulations, Dolores!  I have sent you a private email so that we can “take care of business”, LOL.

Again, thank you to everyone for participating.  I would love to be able to gift every single one of you, but that would about break the bank!  ;-)

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One of our daughter’s (Bruce’s daughter Stacy) had a baby girl last night!  After only 3 hours of labor, Stacy gave birth to Remington (she will be called Remi).  They already have a little boy named Hunter who is 2 ½.  Tonight we get to go visit them in the hospital!  From the only picture we’ve received (by cell phone), I can tell she is a cutie.

I have some goodies that I unearthed at an Estate Sale last weekend.  I’ll show pictures of that later this week, along with a cool vintage brooch I found on Etsy.

And autumn (Indian Summer) has arrived here in the Salt Lake Valley. I’m trying to get some good  pictures of our yard, the Farm, and the mountains to share. We had the chimney swept, the furnace got its yearly exam, and Bruce is off to get wood tomorrow.  Hopefully it will be soon be cold enough to have a fire in the fireplace during the evening!

Hugs,

It’s time for a quarterly review of my artistic goals for this year.  I am finding that a lot of my goals have changed over time, and am now questioning the wisdom of yearly goals.  Maybe quarterly is better to allow flexibility?  Quilters, sewers, embroiderers, actually any crafter in general, knows that eventually some things will end up as UFOs. We lose interest or momentum, and the desire to see it finished.  Into a drawer it goes. I’ve read in several blogs that people are realizing that the reason some projects become UFOs is because interests and tastes change.  If they didn’t, I guess we’d all still be wearing poodle skirts!

So let’s quickly review:

1.  Goal:  Participate in 3-4 CQ round robins.   100% complete.

2.  Goal:  Piece my “CQ by 2012” quilt and have half of seamwork done.
Progress:  Nada.  I will still call it 10%, since I have my ideas and color schemes in mind.

3.  Goal:  Enter at least 2 CQ or quilting competitions.
Progress: 50%  (CQI annual handbag contest, entered and won first place).

4.  Teach a CQ class locally.
Progress:  0%.  And it will not happen this year; too many other irons in the fire. One of the things I'm thinking of is teaching basic sewing classes to girls in the neighborhood, next year.

Sandy and Cathy at CQI Retreat

5.  Goal:  Attend 3 CQ retreats or gatherings.
Progress:  I have attended two of three retreats, and will be attending the third, Val Bothell’s Pink Bunny in Wichita, next month.  67%.

6.  Goal:  Take a class with Carole Samples
Progress: I’m enrolled to take this at the retreat next month (Oh Happy Day!) and will soon be 100%. But for now, let’s say 50%.

7.  Goal:  Finish or give away at least 3 UFO’s.
Progress:  100%. This was done at mid-year.

8.  Goal:  Finish Seascape Valance. 
Progress:  Seriously? I HAVE been working on it. My first step is to stitch seam treatments over all the fused seams, and I worked on it at the CQI retreat, getting quite a bit done. I will be doing a post later this month to re-introduce this project to my readers and show my progress.   20%.

9.  Goal:  De-stash.
Progress: 100%.  I took several garbage bagsful to the CQI retreat in Colorado for the Stash Dash, and donated more stuff to the fire relief effort for Texas stitchers being coordinated by Shari at the Yahoo StitchMap group. I have even dug into my tubs of fancy fabrics to sell assortments on my Etsy.

10.  Goal:  Sew a quilt for granddaughter London.
Progress:  Well… I am getting antsy to do it, does that count?  LOL.  It’s getting colder here, and London loves to nap with blankies.  One of these days I may just whip out fabrics and have at it.  Everything is gathered, though.  25%

Need to get this listed!

11.  Goal:  Ramp up Etsy presence.
Progress:  My sales have been going great, and I have rearranged my schedule (have quit my bookkeeping job at the Farm) to accommodate more time with Etsy. I have over 100 listings at any given time, and I still have so much more to do.  But my goal (ramping up) is met 100%, even though I plan to keep growing. Especially with the Holiday crafting and gifting season coming!

12.  Goal:  Begin reselling vintage fabrics, linens and collectibles.  Progress: Rolled into #11.

13.  Goal:  Conduct a local sew-for-charity event.  100%.

14.  Goal:  400 blog posts. Nope, I just don’t talk that much, LOL!
       Goal:  3 Giveaways and 2 Tutorials:  100% (counting current giveaway)
       Goal:  Reach 250 followers.  100%.   Thank you, dear friends!

Overall progress:  roughly 62-65%, about where I should be. And it probably won’t get better than that, considering my abandoned goals.  But I am happy,  especially as I recapped it all, because it represents a lot of work.

Next year: no formal goals.  Maybe some quarterly targets to shoot for, but that’s it!

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Don’t forget to enter my 250 Follower Giveaway!   You just need to leave a comment on yesterday’s post (link here) and you will be entered to win $25 of merchandise of your choosing from my Etsy shop.  And I add new things every day!  Deadline is Sunday the 16th and the drawing will be on Monday the 17th.  Good luck!

Hugs,

Giveaway Time Again!

Better late than never (which seems to be the story of my life, LOL), it’s time for the long-promised Crazy by Design Giveaway, which I promised to have when I reached 250 subscribers. So let’s get to it!

Golden Dyed Venice and Tulle Butterfly

The Prize:   A $25.00 e-gift certificate to my Etsy Shop.    The winner will get a special coupon code to enable them to select $25.00 worth of free merchandise from my Etsy Shop (see link in sidebar). You will be able to select from my hand-dyed golden venice laces and appliques, DMC perle cotton threads, zippers, twill tape, or other sewing supplies; other laces and trims,  fancy fabric assortments; vintage sewing patterns, and whatever else I can get listed between now and the deadline!  :-)

How to enter?  Just leave a comment on this post.  Make sure that you leave an email address if your comment does not link back to your blog or email address. I must have a way to contact you!  Entries without a means of contact will not be considered.  

Deadline:  All comments must be made on THIS POST and THIS POST ONLY by Sunday evening, October 16, 2011.  Midnight my time (Mountain Daylight) or as long as blogger time stamps it before midnight of the 16th.

On Monday afternoon (can’t get to it before then), each post will be assigned a number in chronological order.  Then our old friend, Mr. Random Generator, will select the winner.  I will post that name and number on Monday evening.

That`s all there is to it.  No extra entries for being a subscriber (although if you’d like to subscribe, we would love to have you!) and no other hoops to jump through. Easy is Good.  :-)

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Next post:  My 3rd Quarter Goals Assessment for this year.

Until next time!

More “For the Birds” Blocks

It was a busy day today, but somehow busy days often become productive stitching days, despite errands and other obligations.  My granddaughter London (now a big girl of 20 months) spent the day, and we visited the Farm in the morning. Her hands-down favorite was the cows (maybe because Grammy is also biased toward cows?!?), but the piglets and horses were also hits.

Bruce and I went out to dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday, and then settled in for the evening.  I stitched, and was able to finish the block for Connie in our “For the Birds” round robin.  In addition, I completed my portion of the group block.

This is the full six-inch block that I stitched.  The apple in the lower left is velvet, with a velvet leaf.   Connie asked that we use the colors in the fabrics of the blocks, but to also try to coordinate with colors from other blocks.  Two of her blocks are primarily red-green-gold like this one, two are purple-yellow-green, and the other two are green-brown-blue with yellow-gold bits.  So... I added purple to this block as well as a small bow of yellow.  

And this is the group block.  Nicki Lee had the block first, and added the blue lace with embellishments. I added everything else, going overboard a bit.  For some reason, I thought there was only one lady stitching after me on this one, so I did a lot.  Then when I was done, I realized that there were two ladies to stitch on it after me, so I’ve hogged too much of the space (sorry Janet and Cathy L!!)

My Name That Doll contest is still running through Friday.  I would love to have you help me select a name for my lovely new Hankie Couture doll.  Check out the post here and leave a comment with your name suggestion(s).  Thanks!

Commemorative Royal Hankies... and Snow!?!

Although I did not get up at o’dark thirty to watch the Royal Wedding (I was awake, sick with a cold, but I did not get up), I have been fascinated with the replays, pictures and stories.  William and Catherine (hey, what a nice name she has! Why isn’t she Cate instead of Kate?) are a lovely couple.

Back when Charles and Diana wed, I did not collect any commemoratives. Nor have I gotten any of Will and Kate. But I would if they made commemorative ladies hankies! Unfortunately, they didn’t. They did make a men’s handkerchief, but in my humble opinion it is butt ugly.

I checked the actual wording of Lord Chamberlain`s decree regarding Royal Wedding Commemoratives (this is the relevant part - textiles)

            Textiles.  Royal arms, emblems and titles can be used on carpets, cushions, 
            wall hangings and head scarves, but they are forbidden from being used on
            textiles. This includes articles of clothing such as T- shirts, drying up 
            cloths and aprons.

William and Kate t-shirts abound, as do all manner of tacky items designed to lighten the wallet of the casual collector. But they are not officially sanctioned. So, maybe I will just look for one of those scarves. Or not.

In the meantime, I’d like to show you the Royal Commemoratives I do have. They are from Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.  At that time, hankies were quite fashionable, so there were a lot made.

Rather interesting, don’t you think?  And the following are also from the UK, although they are not commemorative. I had a friend who went to England about 8-9 years ago and bought me two Nottingham Lace hankies in London at a place called World of Lace in Covent Garden. They are the white ones on the right.

The Scotland hankie is silk and has been in my family longer than I have. I don’t know the story behind it, but I have always loved it.  Detail shot below.

Do you have any hankies from your mom or grandmother or other female relative that you love?  Are there memories and stories attached to them?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway here and help me name my new Hankie Couture doll!  The winner will receive eight lovely vintage hankies (and my thanks for helping me select a name).  

And finally, this is the sight we woke up to this morning.  

Depressing, isn’t it?   But it did melt by 6:30 or so in the evening, and unless it gets really cold tonight, everything seems to have come through unscathed.

Bruce and I went to Lowe’s and bought a new electric lawnmower so he won’t have to throw out his back starting the old one.  He assembled it and charged it.  Hopefully some time in the next couple days it will be dry enough to mow (or plow) our grass.  It’s been so wet that no one in the neighborhood has mowed, so we are not the only ones with a wild lawn. We do, however have lots of those “pretty little yellow flowers” (as Bruce calls dandelions) and are also waiting for the lawn sprayer guys (I’m sure there’s a better name for them) to show up.  I sure wish spring would get here!!

Hugs,