Traveling Stash Box #3

I won traveling Stash Box #3 from the lovely Terry!   I have been totally stalking these boxes and this is the very 1st one I have ever won!!  I have been trying for over a year to win one here and there.  I have to say these are great ideas to shop and not feel guilty.  This is the box as I received it (today that is how excited I am):

Not the best picture, but natural light is on hold until above freezing temps, well and it was night time.  None the less you can see it has a lot of lovely items.

These are the items I kept out!

I want to make another jelly roll race quilt and thought these were super cute.  My daughter really wanted me to keep the St Patty fabric so of course I had to oblige. 

This is what I added to the box!  It is super full for the next person let me tell ya!

These are 1/2+ yd cuts, a few FQs, charm packs, and a 10" hexi template I loved so much I accidentally bought 2 so this is brand new never used still had the backing tape on it.  

So if you would love for this box to visit you then please leave me a comment.  How about whats going on in your neck of the woods.  We are having a winter like never before.  I even saw a post on FB from a local friend proclaiming Hell has officially frozen over lol!  We are also having rival school closing announcements with rhymes, songs, and funny stories.  We have missed 15 days of school I believe so far, and it is not looking good anytime soon.  So please if you are in a lovely warm sunny spot a description would be appreciated!  :)  

I will leave this open through Sunday the 9th, since we are expected to get another winter storm on Tuesday I can get it sent out Monday.  Again just a comment will do you don't have to be a follower or anything like that. Make sure I can contact you if you are the winner!  Please see the rules and guidelines.  US shipments only, sorry it is a heavy box and would break a persons bank to send it out of country!  

Rules and Guidelines 

• Be an active blogger -- post about receiving the box and the giveaway in a timely manner 
• Update the travel log in the box to let others know where the box has been.
• There is a list of rules and guidelines in the box -- be sure to follow these to keep the box full of quality items and the experience positive for everyone. 
• You may take any items from the box just be sure that you are replacing them with quality and comparable items. 
• Ship box to the next person timely -- and communicate tracking information with recipient.
• Shipping is within the US only 

 Important Things to Remember

• Please ensure that items in the box are quality. If items in the box are poor quality they should be removed. Items that are being removed can be offered for optional inclusion to the next recipient. Poor quality items can be discarded but this should be done with digression. 
• Only include items that you would be proud to own -- this is not a dumping ground for outdated or worn items
• Items should be free of smoke, odors  and pet hair 
• You must replace all items that you take with items of equal value and replacing with more than you take is welcome.

Rest and Reflection

Hello fine followers!

Well I have been as lazy as a person could possible be today.  Today is Martin Luther King Jr day in the USA, and as a federal employee we get the day off.  I have literally just gotten out of my pjs (it is 3:30 pm) just to drive to get my small child from the ole grandparents (she had school today).  I have watched movies, done a little (very little) quilting, and laundry.  I have to say it has been great!

We had a big weekend.  Small child had another small child over, and if you have had a little girls sleep over before you are totally feeling me!  Really they were very good and played outside a lot (thank the good Lord)!  Then we decided to burn off our place.  Let me tell you if you ever want to meet all of your neighbors with in a 5-10 mile radius burn your place off!  Me and my sweety are Wildlife Biologists and we do this for a living.  I used to be a wildland firefighter and traveled all over putting fires out, and he is good at lighting fire for habitat restoration so we are perfect :)  We called in some help and lit it up!  We got a wonderful burn on about 105 ac of our property, and you would have thought the Apocalypse had come to our neighborhood!  We did alert the powers that be that you are supposed to alert when doing a prescribed or controlled burn so no emergency personnel had to waste their precious time with us, but the neighbors were concerned, and couldn't understand why we would do this on purpose.  Needless to say most of them tried to hire us to burn their place off by the end of it  lol!  We live in a very very rural area so not at all in the city or any type of subdivision so please don't take this as a burn off your back yard deal cause you may have some law or code against it, and we are professionals (I couldn't even type that with a straight face)!

It was a great time and family bonding as my father is a pyro and this made my mother feel better that he was somewhat supervised in this burning situation.  He had the best time ever!  The whole family said they had fun and I would say learned a thing or two about fire management and what it can be used for.  Also and most importantly how proper planning can be key to having a safe fire and burn.  These are lessons you can't teach someone, they have to see them in place and work to appreciate!  So we have other places to burn now lol!  Funny how that works.  We will help not something we want to do for business or anything.  We don't need that kind of pressure! I got a lovely shot of the sunset thru the smoke last night!

Cool huh?! 

Well I have another quilty project complete for my Valentine swap.  It is a cute little project and I was pretty excited how it turned out.  It is a cute little 9-patch I made from diary of a quilter  I pretty much followed it except I used two mini charm packs.  I used Moda Surrounded by Love fabric.  It is super cute.  Here it is!

It is a mini quilt to use how ever my partner would like.  I have tried it out as a center piece on my table and have to say it works nice :)!  

I hope all of you have had a wonderful day off or on whichever it is. 

 

Finishes for 2014

Wow I have really been doing pretty good with my resolution.  I wanted to finish more projects.  I have a bad habit of starting a new 2 or 3 projects while the last 2 or 3 have not been completed.  I went out and made a list of all my WIP (works in progress)  and put them on my dry erase board I have in my sewing room.  This is usually where I list out what needs to be done and when the deadline is.   I already have 2 finishes to show you!  I am just so excited about actually doing it! 

The Hemisphere Quilt you have seen me working on a couple times.  It is finally done!  I have to say I just love this quilt!  It challenged me so much and I am proud of myself, I guess for actually not just saying forget it!

This is a jelly roll race quilt from like 2 years ago.  Maybe like the 2nd or 3rd quilt top I ever made.  It now has a back, binding and finished!  I will be gifting this to a very good friend of mine whose birthday is this week.  The video to make one of these is here!  Very quick and fun to make.  A really good beginner project!

I am working on my Valentines swap from my FB group Sew Swapit!  I also have all the stuff cut out for a man quilt I am working on.  I still have several items on my finish from forever ago list.  I just love checking those things off as done!  Oh another finish was my Bee Block For January! 

It is a wonky star using this tutorial!  Very fun to make.  It will be on its way home next week!  I really think I am going to enjoy being in a quilting bee!  If you are interested; it is the Newbee Quilters group on Threadbias, and the waiting list is up for Hive 8 click here to check it out!

I was thinking about my blog the other day and what is missing.  I don't really do any tutorials, but I think they are all out there, and I like linking back to ones that are already there.  Why reinvent the wheel ya know.  I am also not at any state of goodness to try and tell someone else how to do something.  I need all the help I can get!  I hope that is not a bummer for any of you out there, but I do like to give credit where it is due, and wouldn't want to do a tutorial mirroring someones like it was my own.  I just don't think that is very nice! 

I do have a OMG story for you about my just regular crazyness.  It isn't quilty related so I thought I would put it at the end.

Ok so just to set up the scene; picture it (golden girl reference) a regular Wednesday heading to the Head Dr (what I loving refer to my headache Dr as) which is 2 hrs away.  Just as we are pulling into the parking lot it starts sleeting, but it is 33 degrees so we do not fret.  Get that done and go to Lowe's.  We are at town and thought might as well look at some blinds. Two hours there cutting blinds to fit our windows.  Still raining and randomly sleeting during all this time.  Phone rings school back home is letting out.  Call my mother, who is Johnny on the spot with weather, she says its raining but still 33.  So we again do not fret.  We head back north, but need to stop at our cattle farm to feed cows and horses since winter weather is coming.  Wait what is that I must have ran over something.  Hummm probably nothing.  Feed and put out hay.  Huh my oil light is on, better check that .  Oil is pouring out of my car and there is a hole in the oil pan.  Oh and temps are now below freezing.  So call road side assistance.  1.5 hrs later (temps 28 and can't turn the car on) the tow truck pulls up.  Now it is dark and folks are sliding all over the place.  Well we take what is usually an hr drive to the dealership, yes in the tow truck who the driver; "yeah they call me beaner" is hating our guts since he has to drive us that far on solid ice.  That surprisingly only took us 1.5 hrs.  Get there get a loner and head back now it is like 26 and so icy.  The hour trip takes 3 hours we about flip the loner in the ditch but finally make it home.  Thursday I don't leave or go anywhere.  Work is closed and school is closed.  Solid ice out there.  Friday I leave to go to work and slide off into the ditch in the loner about 100 yds out of my drive.  Even though it is like 46 degrees the ground has been frozen so long only the ice on the trees is melting and so you have solid ice on the road with water on top!  Have to get the tractor to pull the loner out.  It goes back in the garage and I don't even try it anymore!  Ugg!  What a mess it was.  Such a lovely week!  Just thought you could get a kick out of my story.  The rest of the community had found humor in it lol!  Love those small towns!

Please have a wonderful week and bee safe out there!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Imperfectly Perfect Quilts!

As you can see I changed a few colors and such, nothing major.  I just wanted a slight upgrade with a new year and all :)!  I hope the new year has found you all safe and sound.  I did nothing special, well I actually did.  I just hung out at home with my family and we pretended that New York time was our time and celebrated about an hour early.  We laughed at ourselves as we usually do and were happy, so that to me is special! 

So some finishes I haven't posted yet.  Well I did my tree skirt for the santa swap with my lovely swap group sew swapit on FB!  Love that group so much!!!   Since I do not have anything else finished that I actually took pictures of here are several lol!  I have to say I did love this!  My family however gave me nonstop crap about it being square and not round, but I love that it is square.  I really want to make one for our tree like this as well.  The pattern came from here. 

This is the back, but it is reversible. 

I have to say I hate the bias binding in the center.  I have never done it before, and well I need some real practice!  I hate how it looks, but it was literally the best I could do, and the tree will cover it, if not then the presents.  My swapee said she loved it and I sure hope it was ok.  I did love making the rest of it for sure!

Up next projects:

• A quilt for a friend.  I am using a top I have had finished for like a year lol!  I actually have it sandwiched and ready to quilt!
• Another quilt for a friend.  It will be two panels with flannel on the back and no batting.  That should be fairly doable I hope!
• Bee blocks for my very 1st bee on threadbias the Neebee quilter site.  I am in Hive 7!  Very excited about that!
• Valentines swap for my FB group.
• All the other unfinished projects from the last couple years, 2012 and 2013 BOM on craftsy, I have a baby quilt top that needs something done, I am in desperate need of some wall hangings for my house.  I also have a new embroidery machine I got myself for Christmas (lol) and I want to make some things and support my fabric habit with that income lol! 

Wow I need to get busy!  What are yall working on?  I need more things to add to my list lol!  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Well hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.  I had the flu!  Which means no one wanted to be around me so I didn't get to do a lot of visiting, and I don't think I got one photo!  I really thought I had been extra good this year, but the flu must mean I was on the naughty list in a BIG way!  So I still haven't been through my photos of my recent projects or anything.  I still have a terrible cough and runny nose.  I truly hope everyone else had a wonderful time visiting with family!  I was telling my co workers today I may be the only person who actually lost weight during the holidays from being sick!  I did get some lovely Christmas gifts.  I got a dress form for my sewing room!  I guess I need to learn what to do with that lol!  I wanted to wish everyone a very safe and Happy New Year!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Well I still can't seem to figure out how to copy and past the random number thing.

True Random Number Generator  Result: 163 Powered by RANDOM.ORG  

That is about the best I can come up with, so lucky number 163  which according to my calculation is: 

LauraDecember 13, 2013 at 10:19 AM

My tween and teen cousins have been making a ton of those rubber band loom bracelets... maybe she's like a kit for those? Good luck!

Thanks for the chance

 

 

I will be emailing you for your contact info.  I would like to personally thank all those that came by for a visit, and I tried to reply to all that are reply bloggers.  I do appreciate everyone stopping by and all the great gift ideas!  Thanks you so much and every please have a Merry Christmas.  I also hope you all had great luck with the giveaways.  It isn't looking to good for me as of yet!  Thanks again and I will be posting soon about some projects I have completed!  

Sew mama Sew giveaway

Hello all!  Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blog world.  I am running a little behind this morning.  I have a terrible headache and just can't think straight, but I am working through it.  We have have had a bit of winter weather here in Arkansas (2 in of ice and 6+ in of snow).  I think this cabin fever may have spurred a migraine.  As you can imagine we are not used to this much winter weather and not for this long (been here since Thursday).  It sure is pretty thought!

 
Ok on to why you are really here.  I will be giving away 6 fat quarters and a lovely quilting quickly magazine.  It is the winter 2013 issue.  I will ship anywhere.  All you have to do is leave a comment to enter.  How about gift ideas for my girl tween (a kid that is not a teen but acts like and is almost one).  I just have no good ideas, she has everything anyway.  If you are a follower or want to become one leave me a comment letting me know for an extra entry.  Thanks again for stopping by and don't forget all the other giveaways.  Giveaway is open till December 13 at 5 pm, random number generator will select the winner!