I'm Blushing AND There's A Winner!

I had so many sweet comments (blush) about my Dresden quilt and flowers...thank you! I loved making those Dresden plates, but I was totally intimidated by all those other ones showing up on the blog hop. There were flowery ones, zig-zaggy ones, big ones and there was that itsy-bitsy one at Sew We Quilt--all of them amazing!

I got over feeling inferior (it didn't last long) and remembered that's why we join these hops: to learn, be inspired, and show off what we create (good or bad.)

Enough of my blah, blah, blah and on to who won my giveaway.

AMY!

(From Sew Incredibly Crazy)

Congratulations, Amy!

Dare To Dresden - January 31st

January 31^th, 2013

Quilting Prolifically

Patchouli Moon Studio

Mountain Quiltworks

In Ga

Dachsies with Moxie

Color My World

Shepody Mountain Crafter

Christa Quilts

Moosestash Quilting

Lavender Quilts

Never 2 Many Quilts

Clothes and Crafts
Cathy's Chatter

Madame Samm @ Sew We Quilt 

My Email Was Hacked!

If you get an email from me saying I am stuck in Manila or some other weird email, 

please don't open it or respond. 

Stupid Hackers!

My credit card was used in France (I seem to be doing a lot of traveling lately--Manila and France--wow!) but luckily the bank caught it.

If you get hacked, run, don't walk, to change your passwords on all your accounts. That seems to help thwart those hacker's nasty activities.

I'm very careful with my information. I don't click on links that arrive in emails, I don't share my info with anyone, and I definitely don't share my blogger friend's email address. I don't know why this happened and we usually don't. Hackers are slime bags that creep into a weak spot to grab and go with our info.

Thank you to all of you who have sent me emails and been so understanding.

P. S. I'm glad you did NOT send money to Manila on my behalf.

Dare To Dresden - January 28

January 28^th, 2013

A Reformed Heath'n

Meadowbrook

Rosemary B @ “that Other Blog”

Stitch Duchess' Crazy & Sane Quilting World

Grammie Q’s

Bumbleberry Stitches

Sunshine Girl

Spiral

Butjenter Quilter

Blooming Where I am Planted

Quilting Lodge

The Tilted Quilt

Life in the Scrapatch

Pretty Bobbins
In The Boon Docks

Sew Much and More

Threading My Way
Pink Ribbon Quilts
Thimble Mouse & Spouse

I Dared To Dresden!

Those silly little Dresdens tried to intimidate me,

but they didn't succeed...nope, they didn't.

Until I saw all those amazing Dresdens on

yesterday's blogs and I realized I was in

BIG TROUBLE!

My pitiful Dresdens don't even want to be in the same room as

those other ones. They really wanted to show-up here in disguise,

but I decided to share what a beginner's Dresden looks like

and give hope to those who haven't made a Dresden, yet.

My machine embroidered centers...

my hand embroidery would never look this good.

I couldn't possibly just make one Dresden project...on no, I had to

make two (it's an illness I have that has nothing to do with competing with

That Other Lady.)

I attempted to do some hand embroidery on this one, but it wasn't great 

and I was too lazy to rip it out so I've dubbed it a

 "learning experience" wall hanging.

On one of the stems I hand embroidered,

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's Party!"

by Robin P. Williams

Since my Dresden's won't win any prizes, I thought I'd 

at least reward you for visiting my blog today. So......

There's a giveaway, too!

$20 from here:

Silly Little Rules:

1. Leave a short and sweet comment. 
2. This one is important! Make sure I can contact you if you're a no-reply blogger. There are instructions on how to fix this on the sidebar of my blog. Typing out your email address like this helps avoid spammers: iblog at aol dot com. If I can't contact you, you can't win. If you are an OPEN ID person and leave a comment, leave an email address or I can't respond. 
3. You don't have to be a Follower, but it's okay with me to have you follow me around. 
4. Only ONE entry per person.
5. I'll mail it anywhere.
6. Giveaway ends at 6 p.m. PST on January 31st. Entries after 6 p.m. PST on January 31st will not be included in the giveaway.

That's it for me, so go check out these other

amazing Dresden's to get inspired:

January 25^th, 2013

Gingersnap Quilts

Busy Bee Quilts

She Sews the Blues

Traveling Quilter

Grand Mama's Stories

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

Sew at Home Mummy

The Slow Quilter

Pig Tales and Quilts

Annie Oak Design

Jane's Fabrics & Quilts

Tea Time Creations

Mo Broker My Creative Side

Just Let Me Quilt

Words and Stitches

Just Keep Swimming

Sew Many Yarns

Sowing Stitches

Jane's Quilting
My Patchwork Life
2muchfun

Pumpkin Patch Quilter
Quilt Monster in my Closet

You can find all the Dresden's from this blog hop

over on Madame Samm's Pinterest page

HERE

Thanks to Christine from Quilt Monster in My Closet

for being the cheerleader for this hop

AND

to Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt for her

awesome ability to bring us all together to

create and show our projects

(plus she has great sponsors who offer

wonderful giveaways!)

Winner! Winner! + #300!

CARRIE

From What's Carrie Up to?

is the winner of my Follower's Giveaway!

I've sent her an email letting her know she won

that little package of Nancy Drew fat quarters

AND

those cool spyglasses.

Congratulations, Carrie!

AND

300 Followers! Wow!

Lori

From Nanny's Nook

become a new Follower -  #300 - so

I think she needs a little something just

for hitting that mark. I'll be sending

her a little surprise.

New Blog Hop Alert AND Is That A Dresden?

Do you love to stitch?

This hop is for you!

Head on over to Sew We Quilt

to get the scoop on this blog hop and sign-up

to play with us (and see me attempt to create

a masterpiece with embroidery thread.)

Jane from Jane's Fabrics and Quilts

is the cheerleader for this one.

Tomorrow is the big starting day to see

what people do with those dreaded Dresdens.

You can find the whole schedule over at

Christine's blog, Quilt Monster in My Closet.

Chistine's the cheerleader who will be leading

us down the Dare To Dresden path.

DARE TO DRESDEN SCHEDULE HERE

Followers? Did I Say Followers Giveaway?

Way back in March 2008 I started my blog, Just Let Me Quilt, to

have a place to keep track of the few-and-far-between sewing projects I created.

I had some loyal family members and friends who felt sorry for me so they

FOLLOWED ME.

I quickly learned that FOLLOWERS motivated me.

Being a FOLLOWER has never been a requirement to enter my 

usual BLOG HOP GIVEAWAYS.....

....BUT

it is a requirement to be a FOLLOWER if you want to enter my 

FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY.

Contest is over!

I am so grateful to the few people who want to come back 

to visit me and I know that if they are following me, 

they will know about this extra little giveaway via their 

email, blogger dashboard, or Google Reader. 

This giveaway is my way of saying,

"Thank You" for coming back.

All you have to do is:

Be a FOLLOWER (by email counts.)

(You can become one right now if you want to be a part of this giveaway.)

Leave one very short and sweet comment

(make sure you let me know if you follow by email since your

little picture won't show up in my Follower box.)

Only one entry per person.

The Follower's Giveaway will end on January 23rd at 6 p.m. PST

(comments left after that time won't count)

Make sure I have your email address or you can't win

I'll ship Internationally.

THE PRIZE?

7 Nancy Drew fat quarters

AND

A pair of spy sunglasses!

Oh, and in case you haven't already signed up

for the Nancy Drew Blog Hop, send me

an email to join the sleuthy fun.

Check out the other blog hops over at

SEW WE QUILT!

By Jove, I Think I've Got It!

Well...I've almost GOT IT...but, I'm really, really close to having it stick in my head...the stem stitch, that is. I'm on a roll outlining something using the hand embroidery stem stitches for the Hugs and Kisses blog hop and so far so good, not perfect, but good. You guys were awesome with all your hints and encouraging words!

The hints I've used the most today (and are working so far) at my attempt to do hand embroidering were:

• Hold the thread up and let it hang down to untwist.
• Keep the thread length short.
• Back the fabric with white flannel so the threads don't show.
• Use a good thread, size 12 (I used Prescencia Finca.)
• Use good needles.
• Check out videos/tutorials online. I found this one on YouTube to be helpful, too: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8wNJ-vypRg)

When I think I've really got this hand embroidery stuff down, I'll start working on a few cute embroidery projects I have sitting around just waiting for me to start adding thread to them.

PLUS, 

I found this really cool piece yesterday at The Clover Patch Quilt Store in Santa Clara, Utah. It was all alone (and old) and was just waiting for me to buy it. It's a Singer treadle machine design and since a Singer was the first sewing machine I ever had, this piece was definitely calling my name. It looks like it is actually meant to be machine stitched/embroidered, but I can only tackle one new process at a time and right now that is hand embroidering.

The little plastic bag it was in said:

LuRae's Creative Stitchery, "The Treadle Machine"

by Charlene Miller

I'm thinking positive and happy thoughts that I'll remember how to do the stem stitch (again) when I stop writing this post. Senior moments happen around my place all the time, so I never know what I'll remember (or forget.)

Blog Hops And Stuff

Dare to Dresden starts in just a few more days, so

I've been pretty busy getting ready. 

You all probably know this trick, but I ran across a

tutorial HERE about using foil to make the centers

for the Dresdens and thought it was pretty cool.

It really worked and was so easy!

Anna Marie Horner's instructions are really

clear on what to do, but here's a short version of how-to

use foil to create the center of your Dresden.

Lay the circle fabric face down on a piece of foil

making sure the piece is larger than the actual sized

circle you're planning to use.  Place a cardboard cut-out

of the actual sized circle that you need on top of the fabric.

Fold the foil in towards the center, going all

the way around.

It will look like this-- 

Iron all the way around the foil circle, pressing

down so it will crease the inside fabric. 

Turn it over and iron again 

Remove the foil and cardboard circle

(it will be hot so BE CAREFUL!)

You can reuse the foil several times before

it starts to tear and become unmanageable.

After the Dresden hop is over,

it is time for some Valentine fun!

With a short break, it will then be on to

It's All About Me!

 It is just so amazing that Amy Bradley is sharing

this adorable pattern for those of us hopping in

But, that's not all! There's still room

in the Nancy Drew hop so come on and join

in for a sleuthy good time!