Winner-time...

Thank you so much to everyone who entered my SMS Giveaway Day giveaway.  Your unsuitable jobs had me in stitches; you are all bonkers!!

So sad but true, only one winner, and that is…

Email in your inbox my dear; enjoy!!

Thank you!

Thank you so much to everyone who voted for my #IGminiswap quilt in the scrappy quilt category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival… I only went and bloody won!!!

Totally and utterly honoured and gobsmacked!  

So dear partner, if you happen to look in on this, you'll be getting your hands on this prize-winner in about a month…

I shall just enjoy looking at it for a little longer xxx

Happy Endings...

The end of September already!  After a seasonal/unseasonal misty, rainy start to the day, by home time the sun was shining again and it was warm enough for a power nap in the garden before collecting the kids from school!  Long may it last, I am not ready to put my flip flops away yet.

But not only that, but I also received happy mail.  Last week, on a metaphorically dark day, one little ray of sunshine broke through into my Inbox from Lucy telling me that I had won her Cotton & Steel giveaway.  It made me smile, but then life took over again and I honestly forgot, until today.

Fat Quarter Shop parcels are always wonderful to receive, but when they contain prizes, then even better.

I have been pretty selective in my C&S purchases, so this gorgeous Splash bundle is a welcome and gorgeous addition to my stash.

I love these colours.  I am working on a commission quilt so far outside of my comfort zone right now, that these beauties totally reinforce what my natural colours are.

Thank you Lucy, thank you Fat Quarter Shop xxx

All go round here!

Honestly, I don't know if I am coming or going at the moment; I still have the giant star quilt to bind, as my evenings this week have been taken over plotting and planning a surprise and short turn-around commission, along with sorting a weekend away (woop woop!) and organising even more school bags and washing than ever with the start of the swimming season.  My temperamental MacBook has consumed more than its fair share of time and swear words, but it's playing nice right now, so on we go.

I have bumped my parents from Saturday to Sunday, so that I should be finished with the quilt by then, and have time to get some pics and enter it into the Bloggers Quilt Festival; I am also hoping that I can put the house back into some sort of order too - something will have to give!

I am guest posting over at Ellison Lane today too - Jennifer trusted me to start getting you in the mood for some simple patchwork action...

It seems a while since I made this happy pouch...

So please pop over and show some love!

And as for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaways - I whizzed through those that appeared in my reading list and maybe entered 2 or 3 others, but you don't want to hear about that... you want to know who won my offering, which, I can confirm, has had the lining gap stitched closed (this afternoon!)...

Woo hoo!  I'll email you in a minute!  I met Sarah at FQR13, she was suffering from crazy-pregnant-lady-brain at the time, as you may deduce from her bag contents, she's having fun now!

Thank you to everyone who entered, I loved reading what old crap you all drag around in your bags too, I had planned to show you the contents of mine, but time got the better of me, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Right now I have the perpetual 24 clock going off in my head, see yesterday's post, so come back this time tomorrow, to see if I have managed to save the world, well my little bit of it anyway!

xxx

Happy Go Lucky indeed!

I mentioned a week or so ago that I was the lucky winner of Collette's giveaway, and before I headed out the door yesterday, the postie came good on his part of the deal.

A lovely hand quilted cushion cover, the prettiest needle case and some yummy scraps...

... it was so sunny, and for the benefit of the nurses, my toes even got their first paint job of the season!

NB. The cushion wonk is purely the result of my eager stuffing.  Thanks again Collette, I love everything.

Today then, I have been getting over the sedation, as soon as everyone was out the door, I managed a bit of tidying of my sewing area, I even hung the #looquilt, then I spent the rest of the day sleeping; I didn't intend to, it just happened, and rather than feeling refreshed, I feel like it will be happening again very soon. zzz

Winner-time!

Mister Random has spoken, and the winner of a copy of Issue 5 of Love Patchwork & Quilting and a custom-made key fob goes to...

Congratulations Marci,  purple it is then!

Happy Wednesday to everyone else too; hope you have got over the mid-week hump with smiles on your faces xxx

Put a sock in it!

Or in my case, probably not!

I was the lucky winner of Di's beautiful sock sack earlier this week, and today, (when I have been feeling a bit grim), this amazing, cheerful pouch arrived and put a smile of my face...

Once again, a pattern on my 'want to make' list has come my way without me having to lift a finger, for which I am ever so pleased!

It looked like a great pattern for more than just holding knitting, and now having my own, I can definitely see why I have seen many popping up in my Instagram feed.

Thank you so much Di, it's perfect.

And because I have been on the winning side a couple of times recently, I think tomorrow I will host a teeny-weeny giveaway of my own, does that sound OK?

There has been some sewing over the last few days too, but I am stocking up on blog posts as I reckon with half term and the new pills, I may not be so productive this coming week xxx

Winner!!

I have consulted with Mr Random, and he has declared that...

Joanne you are my winner!  The scarf is all yours, the daughter is optional!  I will email you shortly.

Thank you to everyone who entered, and for making me feel like I am not alone in my last minute making panic, in fact some of you have made me wonder what I have to worry about!!

Happy weekend everyone xxx

Pinch me!

I am so thrilled to tell you that I won the Mini Quilt Viewer's Choice over at Fiona's Holiday Memories Competition; thank you so much to everyone who voted for my mini or for any of the other entries, there were so many lovely winners, Fiona was a wonderful host.

I know, I know, you guys think I win everything - Mr Random and I had a fling a year or so ago but he seems to have moved on to younger, brighter things; this is only my 3rd win this year, and the second was Megan's pattern two days ago.

However, and most excitingly, this is the first time I have ever actually come first for something that I have made.  I have had a couple of runners up placings, but have always been pipped trounced at the post!

So this is a big, humongous, wonderful deal for me.  I am not going to go all Gwynnie on you, but I cannot thank you guys enough.

Mwah!  xxx

Winners!

I mentioned last night that I was a member of The Team who won the Retreat Pub Quiz, (not a quiz about pubs, as thought by some of our overseas friends); we were lucky enough to win handfuls of Jen Kingwell patterns courtesy of the uber-generous Amitie.

These are what I came home with...

The Midnight At The Oasis was on my 'wants' list, so I am sooo chuffed.

Obviously all of us who were there were winners, what with amazing goodie bags stuffed with fabulous freebies from the amazing sponsors... Liberty, Aurifil, Pat Bravo, Moda, Ahkaban, Riley Blake, Makower, Eternal Maker and many more I have forgotten...

I think I did mighty fine in the winning stakes, especially when topped off with the sample swap.  I swapped my Liberty pincushions for this amazing haul...

... a fantastic cushion cover from the amazingly cute Rachael, perfect Pezzy pouch, pencil and ribbon from Amanda, a beautiful heavy-duty Retreat pin cushion from Mary and the prettiest fabric basket and extras from Sue.  I think we owe Trash big-time!  Thank you ladies for a super swap.

I still have selling, shopping and even sewing to show you, I know!  So more tomorrow.  I spent so much time and energy building up to Retreat, I am most certainly going to eek a weeks worth of posts out of it!

And so onto another winner; the winner of my big 3! giveaway.  Thank you for all your lovely comments, I am sorry I could not respond to you all individually, but please be assured that I value everyone of you who takes time from their day to pop by here.  

Right, enough; schmaltz over.

I will add in a couple of the Jen Kingwell patterns and other bits into the mix, because I am nice like that.  The winner is...

Congratulations Rachel!!!

I may well have emailed you already, if Blogger is having another 12 hour posting delay like last night, apologies.

Laters xxx

Groundwork and smiles!

This afternoon, I took advantage of our dear exhausted Cub's decision not to go swimming, I really didn't try to talk him round.  I flopped out in the sun with my bag of Liberty charms and scraps; which incidentally is a little Liberty bag I received at last year's Retreat from Mandy in the sample swap, and I pulled all the reds, pinks and blues to make my swapsies for this year.

I am going to make pincushions from Liberty Love, like the one I made before which was won by Trudi...

I have since cut all the pieces, so I am all set for the fun sewing bit.

I also cut the panels for a pouch that I am sending over to Danny for this year's Teen Reach Adventure Camp appeal.  If you would like to whip up a simple zipper pouch, drawstring bag or pillowcase for kids in the US Foster care system, take a look and please sign up.

And after all that prep, I checked my emails, only to have my day get even better by a surprise from Liberty to say I was selected as one of five winners to receive a FQ bundle after May's Instagram competition; I'm beaming!!

So now I am all set for a sewing session tomorrow, and with the prospect of more Liberty sessions to come in the mail.  And all this on my first day back at work!!

I'd like to say I hope your Monday was as good as mine, but really, you would have had to of won the lottery or something!

Sew Mama Sew Winner!

The winner of my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway is...

Lindsey!!  I have sent you an email already my friend.

Thank you everyone for entering and telling me your favourite fabric combos.  It seems that I should be getting some more purple in my life! 

And to all of those who mentioned the 'B' word, you will be either shocked or pleased that I have been making plans for my F8ths of Echo, and there are many (good) browns in there!

Have a great Saturday everyone xxx

Giveaway WInner...

Thank you all so much for entering my giveaway.  The karma gods were looking in when I closed it this evening.  Actually I did have a pang of 'they'll think it's a fix!' when I saw who the random number belonged to!  But Mr Random has chosen, and who am I to disagree?

Come on down Number 70...

Birthday Girl Trudi!!!

I will get it wrapped and sent to you soon my friend!

Thank you all for sharing your favourite makes, I might love the pin cushion as much as my kids, but guessing you really would prefer the Liberty Trudi!?

Afraid I have nothing for my non-UK friends this evening, but if you are at a loose end this weekend here in Blighty, it's free-entry time at the National Trust, so download yourself a voucher and go have some fun!  xxx

Bags Of Fun - Winner!

Mr Random has spoken, and the winner of the full collection of 9 Sew Sweetness bag patterns is...

Congratulations Cathy!!!  I will email you straight away.

I am sorry you couldn't all be winners, but fear not, there are more chances out there on t'internet.  I already know of giveaways over at Katy's and Megan's, so all is not lost.

You could always treat yourself to a copy of your favourite from Sara's online shop, a super speedy PDF pattern might just be what you need after all those Easter Eggs!

Thank you all so much for entering, and a huge thanks to Sara for such a generous prize. 

***

I only managed to get a little hexie stitching done today, nothing photo-worthy yet.  We also went to my sister-in-law's for egg-hunting, Wii-ing and smiles all round...

... a good start to the weekend for us, and hopefully for you too xxx

Winner!!!

I felt like a winner, plucking my finished Brit Bee quilt from the tumble dryer this afternoon; oh it is so beyond what I was expecting.  Working close up on it all week, despite laying it out on the floor from time to time, still didn't prepare me for the full effect of having it held up to be oggled at!

Of course there were photos, but I am going to save the full reveal until tomorrow, when I have had the chance to sort the pictures; however just to keep you going...

Enough of the teasing, I have a winner to announce.  The recipient of a roll of 1.5" HSTs, courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop and Alyce's Having A Starry Time bloghop is...

Congratulations Mareenchen I will email you shortly.

Thank you for all the naming suggestions and block history, I would love to be a position to need to give it a name, but it was just for fun.  I really liked Benta's Scrolling Stars imagery; I had been thinking Staggered Stars, but Chiska's Peek-a-Boo Stars really made me snigger like a 14 year old!

I want to mention now that I noticed there were a tonne of No Reply Bloggers entering this giveaway, fortunately I picked someone I can contact.  Please check your settings peeps, or leave your email address within your comments; I'll make it worth your while again in a couple of days... just saying ;)

So see you tomorrow, when I will reveal my Brit Bee Diamond Nips in full glory xxx

Super Saturday...

It was another of those wonderful starts to a weekend where a quick look at my Blogger Reading List, before facing the day, brought a big smile to my face! 

I popped my #scrappytripalong into the January Made With Pink Castle linky last week, like you do, and guess what, it got randomly picked to receive a surprise prize!!  When I pre-ordered my FMF from Brenda last year, I pretty much had to sell a vital body part or two; but I knew it would be the basis for my favourite quilt ever, and I was so right!  I'll let you know when my surprise arrives!

Then the postie came, just as I was setting up my sewing machine for the morning; Judith's Brit Bee fabric had arrived and was ready for the making.

You know how Brit Bee are all super friends, and we are able to take those liberties that common or garden acquaintances might not, well following my month, a 24" block, (that's really 4 blocks, but who's counting!), Judith wanted 16" half square triangles to make into a beautiful wall-hanging for her bedroom, and a second hidden star block.  Judith explains more, and way better here.

Middle picture to prove I am capable of matching points, but apparently only sometimes!

Well these came together so quickly with her pre-cuts, and because my points left a little to be desired on the star block, I whipped her up a little 4" square of 1" HSTs made from the off-cuts; Judith is the queen of waste-not-want-not!

After lunch Kerry had a little Instagram de-stash, which created complete havoc with trying to make a triple zip pouch; playing Quick-draw McGraw with Emily to bag the bargains was fun though!  She won, but I got the Pips I was after, and some Japanese bunnies which will no doubt come in useful when the Easter-making urge comes over me!

You won't be surprised to hear that I did finish my triple-zipper though, but that really deserves a full post of its own tomorrow. 

I hope your weekend got off to a flying start too.

And the Winner is...

Dah, dah, dah...

Congratulations Catherine, I will email you in a second xxx

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway, I am completely blown away by the number entries and all the lovely, and also barking mad comments.  Welcome to all my new followers too - it has not gone unnoticed that I have raced over the 500 mark, so I think another giveaway in the New Year may be in order, but only if you want one, obviously!

I am recovering from the school Christmas Bazaar right now, so please excuse me whilst I try to get the ringing of Christmas bells out of my ears.  Here's to a good weekend everyone xxx

And the Gold medal goes to...

... I'll tell you in a minute!

But first an enormous thank you for all your Olympic ideas - some of you truly have too much time on your hands!

I think there is a strong knitting contingent in our midst, with the FMQ team close behind!  I don't want to get into trouble with the IOC - Ravelry users (Ravelers?) will know all about that, so I think we should draw a quilted veil over this and look forward to the real thing!

And so Mr Random has spoken and picked...

And that, dear friends, is...

Madame Pings, time for a lap of honour!  The purse and book are all yours...

Thank you all again to all of you for your continued support and encouragement, I wouldn't be without any of you!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Winner Time

I am blown away by the response I have had to my little giveaway!  Your thoughts on what you think of as typically British were great!  I am sitting here with a cup of tea, apologies, it's actually a mug, not a delicate teacup and saucer, and I am not wearing a hat of any shape or size. 

Today though, in typically British-style I must tell you that the weather was beautiful, and I went to visit a 900 year old castle...

I want to officially welcome all the new followers who chose to sign up during the giveaway, hope you will stick around for my daily witterings - I've topped 400, that's amazing!  Thank you.

So without further ado, Mr Random Number Generator has plucked lucky number 188...

(Please note, in the interest of fairness I have just done a bit of housekeeping and had to remove 3 or 4 comments that were duplicates before drawing, so your comment number may have shifted about a bit in the last hour!).

And in case you haven't skipped straight to this bit anyway, that's you Amy of Amy's Crafty Shenanegans...

Congratulations Amy - I will email you in a mo'.

Thankfully Amy was not a No Reply blogger, because then I would of had to pick again.  Please make sure you aren't, or if you are, always, always add your email address to your comment.  Check here if you are unsure.

I will leave you with just a few more pictures of my day...

Tomorrow I will be Jubilant!