I won!

I had a lot of fun blog hopping the past couple of weeks. Two of the blog hops were for Island Batiks with their brand ambassadors: Tammy Silvers' new line "Coastal Mist", and then there was the New Beginnings Blog Hop. Then I went hopping with Fresh Snow Hop from Marian's Seams to Be Sew blog.

I was diligent in following these hops, because I have fallen in love with Island Batiks. And I must have been pretty lucky, because I won a few prizes!

From Maria Michaels Designs, I won a one-year subscription to Quilt Pattern Magazine online. That looks like a great resource and a fun, sharing community of quilters.

Next, Nancy Myers of "Patchwork Breeze" gave away this gorgeous 5-inch "stamp pack" of Sea Canyon by Island Batik. The colors are so beautiful, and I need to narrow down what I want to do with the pack! Island Batik really knows how to do purple, green, and blue right!

Oh yeah, I can't forget the reason that I won! Nancy wanted help naming her design for the New Beginnings challenge quilt that she created. I don't know if I'm great at names, but I do love puns and wordplay. I replied with a few of my ideas, and Nancy's husband read through all the replies/entries, and chose mine: "Dancing DNA". What a fun contest, and I feel honored to name her design!

And finally, I won this little bundle of 1/2-yards of autumn-colored Island Batiks. Look at those camouflaged deer on that pumpkin-orange background! And pine needles and swirls. This one was from Pam Geisel's blog "For Quilts Sake". She is so talented and creative, and it's a lot of fun following her blog. I love seeing what she's up to with each challenge as an Island Batik Ambassador.

And then, sometime in November or December, I won a giveaway from APQ (American Patchwork and Quilting): an archive of their magazines and patterns! How cool is that! It's going to be a great resource and a lot of fun to read all the digital back-issues.

I feel pretty special right now, and I'm so thankful for these wonderful prizes. They've been bright spots in a very snowy winter with my health problems. They make me want to try harder to get up and get through this pile of quilttoppers and quilt them, and also inspire me to practice designing. I would really like to be an ambassador for Island Batik and Bernina some day!

QM mug + announcement

Hello! Happy weekend! I've had a crazy week and worked nearly full-time...crazy for a PRN!

Anyway, didn't have a lot of time for quilting except in snatches. Got the fusible center ready for Maltese Dresden. Last night after getting home from work, I trimmed and squared the Starburst. It was 1 am, and it wasn't much, but it made me happy to do something quilty. Tonight I finished the binding on the second fire truck quilt, and made binding for Starburst.

Two weeks ago, was the blog tour for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 7. Wow. That's a lot of blocks! I enjoyed reading stories, meeting new designers and seeing more of my favorite designers. I managed to win one giveaway: a mug with all 190 blocks, and a copy of the magazine! Whee. Seriously, someday I'm going to do some samplers with my favorite blocks.

Speaking of giveaways, I have an announcement! I'm getting close to my one year anniversary of my blog. I thought it would be fun to have a giveaway for my anniversary. And the opportunity presented itself! I will be hosting my very first giveaway. Look for it this next week.