Sew30SewFun June 2017 - giveaway winners =D

I hope you all are having a Happy SUMMER so far!!!  It has been so CRAZY hot the last few weeks here in Utah!  I move in extreme slug fashion when it's over 80.   I feel happy and grateful for many things! Right now, top of the list would be my air conditioner =P

 

 

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There will be no challenge for July.  I might try something a little different for August!  Thanks to all of you for your inspiration, communication and willingness to play along.  I hope it was beneficial to you.  I know that I DID get more things IN PROGRESS than before I started the challenge.  And, for me that IS progress =D


Congratulations to the TWO random drawing winners! 




The following winners... please send me an email so that I can give you the details on how to receive your Gift Certificates

Winner (1) ~ $30 Gift Certificate

 to online Fabric shop

 

 ~ Moira ~

Quilt Designer and Sr. Data Analyst and lives in Texas

You can find her on her blog

The Quilted Snail

 

 

 

 

 

Winner (2) ~ $30 Gift Certificate

to Online Fabric Shop

 

 

~ STH ~

Avid sewer/quilter and lives in Oregon

You can visit her on her blog

Living In Color Blog

 

 

 

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Sew30SewFun June 2017 check-in and giveaway update

 

How didja all do this last week of June and for the month?  I didn't do very good this month!  =(.  I was out of town for 10 days and that really put a gimp in my giddy-up =P

 

...and, yep, I was on a "SEE-food" diet! (ha ha)

 

 

But, I had a great time traveling to Washington State and hanging out with our kids and grandkids! =D.  I was able to visit a few yarn shops and a quilt shop.  I'll try to post more of those adventures in a later post. 



 

 

 

This little critter is just theeeeeee cutest

(well, from grandma's point of view LOL). 

This is our youngest grandie, Mr. "lar-lo" 

... my nickname for him.  =P

 

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Please leave a comment about how you did this month on your projects.  I will do a random drawing from all the comments for June's Challenge. 

**The comments for June's challenge will close July 5th @midnight Mountain Time.  I will post the winner by Friday July 7th =D.

 

NOW CLOSED =)

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Sew30 SewFun June 2017 check-in and giveaway update

 

I didn't get much sewing time in since last Monday.  But, I have been spinning on my drop spindle, and doing some knitting too.  We have been visiting with family in the Tacoma/Seattle area of Washington State.  =)

 

This is a Turkish drop spindle hand made by Jeri Brock

(you can find her HERE)

Shamrocks hand carved =)

 

 

Some Grandies at a fun Mexican restaurant near

Seattle, Washington. 

 

This wee one is our youngest grandie, Arlo.

He sat at the "adult" table. lol

 

 

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Since I've not been sewing his whole week...the dollars have been adding up in the Cyber-Jar.  OH!  MY!  =P.   I've decided to create TWO cyber-jars!!  =D -- Each will have at least $25!  At the end of June 2017, there will two giveaways with a minimum of $25 each.  =D.  I'm still traveling for a few days...so who knows, there could be more!! 



 



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Sew30SewFun check-in =)

*Giveaway at end of month!

 

 

We are a little over half way through the month. =).  How are your projects coming along?
Do you feel you've been putting just a bit more focus on sewing? ...even if you aren't able to get in 30 minutes EVERY day?  Do you think a bit more about a certain project?  Or are you just wanting to get more sewing time in...no matter the project?  =) 

This is what I concentrated on this last week.  =D

I wanted to angle the seams on the binding so that they wouldn't show as much on the quilt.

My Babylock sewing machine as an integrated

laser light.  It's awesome for diagonal sewing!

 

 

I always struggle with overthinking when it comes to scrappy and a lot of times with my borders too!

It makes a project take WAY longer than it should take because I get bottlenecked with decisions.  I tried about 6 other borders before coming up with the one below.  But.... in the end...

 

...I felt that the very plain, simple one below suited the quilt better.  And, it let the Clams be the focus.  So, the print will be part of the backing.  



Do you have a hard time with fabric choices in your quilts? I use the one of those color value tools (available for purchase and info HERE).  These DO help.  But that OVER thinking minion in my brain haggles with me still!  LOL

 

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I also worked a little on cutting out pieces for my Delilah quilt (more info and where I'm taking the class HERE).  Our Teacher, Kristin Barrus is AWESOME!! 



 

 

I've decided to piece my block by hand.  And, I needed a GOOD/ACCURATE stitching line.  I've opted to use the outside of the templates as my stitching line.  Then, I cut approximately 1/4" on the outside of my drawn lines.  In the picture above, you can see that I draw the lines with my fabric on top of the sandpaper board by Sue Daley. 

 

Most of the points will need to be drawn as intersections because these templates have corners trimmed for machine piecing.  My blocks will all be a little bigger.  But, they will fit if I sew accurately.  I will also be using silk thread for the hand sewing.  =)

 

 

**The cyber jar is up to $20

for giveaway at end of month. 

But, I'm sure it will hold more before then!

For more info go HERE

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Sew30SewFunJune2017 Challenge Check-in

Heeeeeelllloooo...

I apologize for not doing the check-in sooner.  But, my laptop was having KUHnipshunz with internet connections the last couple of days.  So, I couldn't log on to blogger in my usual way and upload pictures, etc.  I hope this didn't discourage you in your quest to get some sewing done for the challenge. 



How has your sewing time been going?  What projects have you been working on...maybe finishing?
Reading about your projects in very encouraging =)



My sewing has been going slowly.  =(.  But on Thursday at our local quilt group meeting I was able to get in an hour plus.  And, I did to a bit of sewing on Sunday.  My total for last week was approximately 2 hours.  I'm still *in-progress* with my Glam Clam quilt.  I've had some glitches.  I can get hung up on choosing colors when doing a scrap quilt.  And, I was having a hard time choosing extra borders.  Then, a glitch in the bottom "muffin" pieces for the last row.  Ugh...sigh...it can suck the momentum out of a smooth sailing with so many glitches.  But, I'm going to persevere.  =P

 

 

A great mug with some words of wisdom. 

Bought it a wonderful local yarn shop.







The challenge continues to help me get more sewing done, working towards finishing projects that otherwise would be sitting sadly in a container on a shelf.


Besides sewing I have been working on other crafty projects =D.  I regularly have to switch tracks with my craft genres (knitting, crochet, spinning fiber, weaving...) to keep my interests from getting too stale in one area.  I hope to share some of these projects in future blog posts. 

Do you have other handcrafts besides quilting?  If so, what?

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The Cyber (giveaway) Jar is currently:

 

 

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Winner of Sew30sewFUN May 2017 and June Challenge info

The winner of the $35 Gift Certificate is.....

 

MARY!!  ...from "Texas Hill Country"

https://hillcountryquilter-mary.blogspot.com/

 

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 Thank you SOOOO very much to all those who participated, and left comments about their progress and projects!  All of you have encouraged me to hang in there with this challenge myself!

 

 

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Sew30SewFUN June 2017

 

 

1) Try to sew just 30 minutes, 6 days a week

 

2) Please comment about your progress on those Blog Posts with the subject being... Sew30SewFUN

 

3)  There will be a gift certificate at the end of June.  The winner will be chosen from those who leave comments on Sew30SewFun blog posts. 

 

4)  This challenge can be different for different people in that a Winner for the Gift Certificate is NOT chosen only from those who actually succeed with sewing 30 minutes/6 days per week.  My thinking is that we can be successful even if we are doing better today than yesterday  =)

 

5)  There will be a minimum of $25 for the Gift Certificate.  But...it could get higher.  I will be putting $5 in the "Cyber Jar" each day that I do not sew the 30 minutes. 

 

6)  TODAY (June 5th) is the START date!  Ready?  Set?  Go...

 





Sew30SewFUN June 2017



 

Last Check-in for Sew30SewFUN May 2017, giveaway info

 

Well, peeps....how did things go for the Month of May with regards to finding/creating more time in your life to work on projects?  =D

 

 



 

I actually feel pretty good about my progress in finding more time to work on my projects!  I didn't get as far as succeeding in my challenge for myself...of the 30 minutes EACH day for 6 days a week.  But, setting the challenge was VERY good for me because I found that I at least thought about it and made each week to at least TOTAL the time of 30 minutes times 6 and getting that total of 3 hours SOME how within the week.  THAT I did succeed in doing...so, I feel there was progress for me compared to time I gave to my projects in several months previous to May.  =D

 

 

My hope is that my challenge for myself encouraged others to find time that they hadn't previously committed to working on projects.  And, that the time found was enjoyable and confidence building =)

 



 

 





I will go back over the comments made on blog posts and instagram hashtags since the Challenge began that relate to Sew30SewFUN. And comments to this post will be open until Friday evening (midnight mountain time).  Each person's post (each time) will be listed and put into random.org for the generated drawing.  The winner  of the $35 gift certificate will be posted by Sunday morning of this week. =D 



 

Should we try do the Challenge for June?  Was May's challenge helpful to you?  Let me know what you think? 

 

**Comments now closed for Giveaway



 



 

 



Sew30SewFUN May2017 check-in (5/15-5/21) and give away update

#Sew30SewFUNMay2017

 

 Okay...sooooo, hmmm...last week for me wasn't fulfilling my challenge to myself of 30 minutes EACH day/6days.  HOWEVER... =D, I DID sew for 3 hours for the week total.  The sewing was mainly on the weekend.  Being true to my commitment to the "cyber jar" (giveaway monies),  the jar now contains $35!!! 

 

 

yeth...I know... the numbers are skatty-whampus.

I'm still learning to edit photos =( 

 

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Some Sew30 escapades:

 

 

 

I sat down to my favorite sewing seat.  It's a small student/office chair purchased at Target.  I love the bright turquoise color.  I dunno, it's just a cheery color! I have tried many seat options to help with my back hurting after sitting in the chair for sewing over several hours.  I do get up to cut and to iron.  And, I've tried back supports, heating pads, larger/super-padded seats with larger backs.  I've tried heating pads and pillows.  I've tried the rubber-y blow-up seating pad.  Nothing I've tried over the years has helped more than this seat pad. It has a special shape of cushy memory foam.  If I place it this direction and a bit forward on the chair, I can sit in a way that keeps my back from arching or adding any pressure to my spinal cord.  I LOVE it!!

 

Then I turned on some fun, favorite songs...and, off I went into my sewing happy place =)



 

 



More GLAM Clams coming along!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This may seem a waste of time to some.  But, I really do love to use pins to keep things from sliding all around.  I find that pins (maybe many in a small space) help me to be more accurate than I otherwise would be.  I don't like to sew with urgency or in a hurry to finish.  So, putting (and taking out) pins is worth the time for me.  =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cut some more pieces of my Buggy Barn "Reelin".  This is the snail's trail part that will go between the stars. 

 

(image is from back of the book Positively Crazy )

 

That's my sewing for this past week. 

 

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Below are some pictures of a quilt I made a year or so ago and was kept nice to give away to someone special that might enjoy it.  With bittersweet feelings, I boxed up this quilt and...

 

 

sent it off to a very special lady.  I'm so grateful that I had a quilt with her favorite color in it

...PINK!  =).  I'm so happy that I can give something from my heart.  But, I am also VERY sad and my heart is VERY heavy because...

 

this sweet lady is suffering from the later stages of cancer.  =(  =(  =(

 

I hope it arrives safely in it's flat rate priority box.  I hope that it brings her some comfort, that this quilt will bring a smile to her face =).

 

 

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Are you are having some progress in your own personal challenge to add 30 minutes of daily sewing to your life? =)   Maybe you are getting projects completed that you didn't think you would finish before the challenge?  Or maybe you are just getting in a little bit more sewing in your week?  Your sewing escapades encourage and motivate me!  =D

 

 

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 Isn't it soooo awesome that quilts CAN give hugs?!  And, that each time a person uses it, they get yet another hug...  =D