Disappearing Nine-Patch Top - mid-Stipple

I ran out of the pink Prescencia thread I'm using for the top of the Disappearing Nine-Patch. Too bad, I was really on a roll. Now I'll have to run over to the Berry Patch at lunch tomorrow to see if I can get some more matching thread. It feels good to be stippling again, but I'm eager to try out the new glued binding method I read about over on Barb's blog. Imagine, a binding that stays put while you sew it down. Inconceivable!

A Year in Siggies

Has it really been over a year since I posted any siggies on my blog? (I guess my words, "Your siggy will be posted on my blog shortly" were just a big fat lie. oops) I appear to have a backlog of 17 siggies, so without any further ado, in no particular order, for your viewing pleasure, may I present: Helen McNaught of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and her lovely embroidered koala:Lilo Kreuzer of Merishausen, Switzerland and her iconic steeple. Saski Smit of Hoofddorp, in the north of Netherlands and her collection of seasonal gourds.

Ans Vollebregt of Naaldwijk, in the southwest of Netherlands, where the fruits and vegetables embroidered on her siggy grow prolifically.

Mia Jansens of Geldrop in the southeast of Netherlands with her frolicking Poo bear.

Mary Winegar from Oswego, in the great state of Illinois (the land of my birth.)

Regina Friedek-Maciolek (mother of young Martha below) of Korb, Germany, with her lovely machine-embroidered flowers.

Monique Boucher of Quebec, Canada, with the Fleur-de-lis of our dear neighbors to the north.

Sherry Beddard of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with Canada's lovely maple leaf flag. (I love this siggy, even though it is technically illegal. Gasp!)

Janet Lee Monnett of Cloverdale, Indiana in the good old U.S. of A. Love the appliqued heart!

Martha Maciolek of Korb, Germany, with her shiny free motion kitty cat.

Lotte Klint of Copenhagen, Denmark and her embroidered ravens.

Carolyn L. Hosier of Des Moines, Iowa with lovely Miss Abbie.

Ineke Lagraauw of Maassluis in the south of the Netherlands, with her affectionate penguins.

Thomas LeClerc of Pittsburg, Kansas, "Vaya con Dios"

Mary LeClerc (Thomas' wife) also of Pittsburg, Kansas with her dear little Sunbonnet Sue.

And last, but certainly not least, Willie Timmer of Ide in the Netherlands, with her exquisite hand-worked counted cross-stitch.

Whew! And yes, they have all received siggies from me (except for my most recent one from Ans, which got posted yesterday). I'm better about getting them in the mail than I am about blogging about it, thank heavens. I didn't initiate any swaps last year, just responded to requests. If this looks like fun to you (and I'm going to have an AWESOME quilt someday from all of these) join in the International Siggy Swap fun on Annelies' blog. You swap one on one with Annelies first, then she puts your name on her list and sends the list to you. There are hundreds of people from all over the world currently swapping.

Quilt of Valor Presentation Case Complete

I got the last button sewn on and the last seam tidied; my work here is done.

I had so little fabric left that the lining is from about 5 different leftover pieces.

These buttons were located at JoAnn's. I made sure the eagles were all standing up straight.

Gee, it fits in there like it was made for it or something. ;)

It's all ready to go, except the quilt still needs to be labeled. (Cheers to Dorthy for taking on that task. And a double Hoorah to Sheila for creating the accompanying scrapbook "journal".)

All three prizes are in the mail, winging their way to their destinations. I hope all three lovely ladies will let me know when they receive their gift; they were certainly prompt about getting me their snail mail addresses - I was very grateful for that!

And the Winners are....

Team Canada did very well, taking the top 2 prizes:

First Prize: from Ontario, Canada - Heather of http://www.heatherpearson.com/ wins the Kaffe Fassett "Paisley Collection" by Westminster Fibers - 30 FQ's

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Second Prize: from Saskatoon, Canada - Flo of http://butterflyquilting.blogspot.com/ wins the original Moda Layer Cake, "Happy!"

And the US brings home the bronze:

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Third Prize: from Milton, West Virginia - Katie Wiseman of http://katiesquiltsandcrafts.blogspot.com/ wins the Timeless Treasures, "Tonga Treats - Hard Candy"

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Congratulations, ladies! Winners have until April 1st, 2011 to send their snail mail address to gentle_poster@charter.net or their prize will be reassigned.

Giveaway is Officially Closed

My Blogoversary Giveaway is officially closed. Thank you SO MUCH for participating! There are about 650 chances so far, and I'm not quite done compiling the spreadsheet yet. If all goes well, I should be announcing the winner here tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Blogoversary Giveaway!

As of today I have been blogging for 3 years, and I'm having a blog giveaway to celebrate. I've met so many nice people, made so many lovely friends, and received so many great gifts, that I think it's high time for me to give something back. This past weekend at the Dallas Quilt Celebration, I hunted for 3 items that would express my gratitude to the blogging community.


Drum roll please.......


Third prize: From Timeless Treasures, "Tonga Treats - Hard Candy"

Second prize: An original Moda Layer Cake, "Happy!"

First prize: The Kaffe Fassett "Paisley Collection" by Westminster Fibers - 30 FQ's

Here's how to play:

• 1 chance - leave a comment on my blog between March 14th and March 21st - max one comment per post.


• 2 chances - become a follower of my blog.


• 3 chances - post a link to this post in your blog, max one link.


• 4 chances - put me in your blog roll.


• That's up to 10 chances to win! Tell me in your comment how many chances you get, NOT in an email; I'm gathering information from the comments only.


• On March 22nd, I'll randomly pick three winners, either with names in a hat, or with a random number generator, if there are lots of entries. The winners will be posted after March 22nd, and will have until April 1st to provide me with a snail mail address. This you can do via email. ;)

Final notes:

For all of you lovely people already following my blog, and/or who have "Susan in Texas" already ensconced in your blog roll, well, that counts the same as if you just put it there! Just remind me in your comment how many chances you get.

No matter how many chances you can get, you can only win one of the prizes.

Overseas bloggers are welcome to play. I don't mind paying shipping costs to Australia, Europe or anywhere else where the package is likely to actually be delivered. I'll make the final decision on that. In fact, I'll make all final decisions. 8)

This giveaway will be null and void if my house burns down, or if a catastrophic computer problem wipes out any of the comments, or if something else horrible happens in the next week. (Just trying to cover all my bases!)

Vacation in Scottsdale

I had to tear myself away from the earthquake and tsunami videos to update my blog. We love Scottsdale, and were there last weekend for the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. We had a blast! We're members of the Heard, so we got all dolled up for the Best of Show and Silent Auction held last Friday night.

I don't often get the chance to wear my squash blossom necklace. Virtually everyone there was in their best silver or turquoise. We we thrilled when our bid won the silent auction on a very small "Wide Ruins" Navajo rug. We met some really interesting people, and had dinner with the entire editorial staff of "Ornament" magazine. We're definitely going to subscribe!

We really loved the fair and market too. Navajo fry bread, yum! I took these pictures of sand paintings for my good friend, Virginia.
These two paintings blew me away! I've never seen a sand painting of corn before; the wheel below is more traditional. The detail on both is unbelievable. Can you believe this is how they are made? I'm still not sure how they "fix" them to survive upright. The painting of sand is about 1/4" thick.We have a small collection of katsinam, (more commonly known as kachinas - but my husband is a purist.) One of the highlights of the trip was getting to meet several of the Hopi carvers who made our figures. We memorized the (incredibly difficult) Hopi names of our carvers and asked those with the same last names if they were related. In both cases they were first cousins! The Hopi people are very family oriented and super friendly, so were able to pass along our greetings to the absent carvers. We had a really wonderful time, and, as usual, hated to leave Paradise Valley.

New Mug Rug

Quilting Bloggers are really the nicest people! Look what recently arrived in the mail for me: Isn't it darling? A few weeks ago, LuvToStitch posted that she had gotten a lovely mug rug in the mail from GreenMare, who had sponsored a mug rug giveaway to commenters on her blog. I left a comment on LuvToStitch's blog complimenting her sweet little rug, then thought nothing more of it. A few days later, I heard from Mary at GreenMare who had seen my comment, and would love to send a mug rug to me too! I really like the back too.Mary & I exchanged emails, and come to find out, she's from Mishicot, WI, a few miles from my hometown of Green Bay. Go Packers! Mary also sent me something so "Wisconsony" that I after I put it up in my cubicle this morning, I pulled over my co-worker buddy from Racine to take a look. It is a series of postcards featuring life-size art cow statues decorated all different ways. I particularly liked the quilted one call "Cowpatch" and the one split in two pieces called "Half & Half". 8)

I've been on the receiving end of so much bounty lately that I have decided to sponsor a giveaway for my 3rd Blogging Anniversary, which is coming up in a few weeks. I can't believe I have been blogging for 3 years! I'm making it my mission at the upcoming Dallas Quilt Celebration to find some extra nice goodies for the giveaway. Stay tuned for details on how to participate.