Olympic stress levels... and a giveaway!

As I write, most of Canada is holding their breath and sending positive vibes across the oceans to Sochi, Russia. I'm not even a big hockey fan and I'm up early on a Sunday morning to watch our boys in the Gold Medal game! What am I using to keep the nerves at bay? Why EPP, of course!
I've been plugging away at these throughout the Olympics... though I must say that the stress of the Women's Curling and Hockey gold medal games saw me adding a lot of diamonds. Frantic stitching offers some distraction!

 It was so lovely in the studio this morning that I couldn't resist this sunny money shot!
Quatchi and I have planted ourselves on the couch in front of the TV, just where we were when Sid the Kid scored the Golden Goal four years ago in Vancouver. Not that we're superstitious. He likes the blue diamonds best.... they match his earmuffs!

After seeing all these pics, are you leaning toward something rainbow-y or bright? Keep reading!
You know those fabulous Kona fat quarter collections that arrive in my mailbox monthly? Well, the shop behind all that fun is having a big deal of a sale coming up. It's Fat Quarter Frenzy at Sew Sisters!

Carol over at Sew Sisters stumbled onto me during Blogathon Canada (huge shout out to Adrienne at Cheezzetcook Modern Quilts for that hook-up!) and has asked if I'd host a giveaway. Would I?!!! You betcha!

So here's what you might win...

 

It's bundle of 5 Bright Fat Quarters. And because those Sew Sisters are just so nice, the giveaway is open to international participants as well.  The giveaway starts NOW!!! and is open until Wednesday, February 26th at 8 pm AST. Talk about a nice way to finish off the Month of the Dark Lord! The giveaway is now closed.

To enter, just leave me a comment telling me your favourite fabric over at Sew Sisters. There's certainly lots to choose from. You might even want to consider following their blog so you don't have to rely on me to let you know when there's a sale on. Just sayin'... And if you're one of my followers on Bloglovin' or by e-mail, leave me a separate comment to let me know and you'll get a second crack at the giveaway!

Okay people... fingers crossed - for the giveaway and for an Olympic Double Double! That'd be Gold in Men's and Women's Curling AND Hockey!

J 

WiP - A herd of projects on the go... and a little surprise!

I'm pleased to say it's been a busy quilting week - even with the ridiculous amount of Olympic coverage I've been watching. Thank goodness for live streaming on CBC! If you're dedicated enough to read this entire post, there might be something in it for you!
Much progress has been made on Young B's Oh Deer quilt. Last week, I finished the blocks. I was just having so much fun seeing it coming together that I couldn't stop. I so need a permanent design wall... it's so much more effective than the design floor!

 And all sewn together... chillin' on the clothesline!

When I was cutting the brown strips, I got a little overzealous. All that stuff on the left wasn't needed for the quilt top... yikes!

I don't use much of brown anymore, so I was concerned about having all those strips hanging out in the stash. An idea was born - why not a pieced back? I opted to use the never-ending strip technique that I've fallen in love with lately. It's not the best pic, but it's -24C with windchill today! So cold that my camera battery decided it was done!

 

Pieced backs are so great, if I do say so myself! I have a tendency to hoard fabric left from special projects (aren't they all special?), but pieced backs have me using them for a good purpose. It also means I don't have to spend as much on yardage for the back. Win-win!

Also this week, I finished basting most of my Olympic Diamonds and got to piecing. Quatchi, Sumi, & Miga tried to take credit, but they don't even have thumbs... how could they possibly stitch all those together?! It is nice to have their company while I overdose on luge, ski jumping, and half-pipe competitions.
I also spent some time this week quilting my Skill Builder BOM Ruler block. I have another lesson coming soon, so I wanted to be up to date. Still have the Spool block to quilt, but I'm making progress! First up, I bought a pile of thread...

Then used it to follow the quilting instructions to the letter - I can take no credit for creativity! I do love to pebble!

Then the numbers... I printed them onto full page labels, cut 'em out, stuck 'em on, and quilted around them.

 Next up, wavy lines to fill the yellow. I managed to stop and start very little.

And here it is all finished... out in the snow. Don't worry. It was only there for a moment! But, here's the burning question - can you spot the error? It's okay if you can't... the designer and her two testers didn't catch it before the block went live!

Phew! That's a lot of quilting... and there's some I saved for another day! I did promise you a surprise, didn't I? Well, today is.... gulp... my birthday. Generally, I keep that a secret (something about not liking it when children sing AT me!). But this year, I'm switching it up. In honour of my birthday ☺, you might get a present. Remember these?

If you're observant, you might notice that I made ten of those when I needed only nine for my Bee mates. Leave me a comment telling me what you'd put in it and you might win my first ever giveaway! If you're a no-reply blogger, don't forget to leave me an e-mail address so I can track you down! Giveaway closes on Saturday, February 15th at 8pm Atlantic Standard Time!  Giveaway is now closed. :(

Happy birthday to me!

J

P.S. AND I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced's WiP Wednesday!

Another love...

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Nope, not February. That's not my favourite... ugh... the Month of the Dark Lord. But once every four years, the MoDL is significantly improved. That's right....

It's Olympic time! I love it so much that I even hosted an Opening Ceremonies Olympic Kick off party, complete with these...

 

But what about the quilting? I hear you saying. This is a quilting blog after all, not some sort of Olympic fan page. I'm thinking I really need a new EPP project. Especially since I'm going to be spending a lot (and I do mean A LOT) of time in front of the television for the next 2 weeks. I got to cutting during the Opening Ceremonies (the live morning broadcast, not during the evening party!) I was so distracted by the pageantry, I sliced the tip of my finger with the rotary cutter!

On Saturday, I mooched a few more cuts from Q-D when she (and the rest of the Squares) were here for a Quilt Therapy session. My goal is to have no fabric repeated in this project. Have you figured out what the plan is?

Here's a little hint...

 

I am completely in love with this imagery from the Games. It's on everything... volunteer jackets, snow fences, race bibs, you name it. I even went on the Olympic website and considered buying a scarf or something. But the shipping from Russia! A little prohibitive. So... I'm gonna make my own! Perhaps a pillow or maybe a mini wallhanging.

Even though I'm no where close to finished, I'm linking up with the In Hand EPP link party at Splish Splash Stash.

Go, Canada, Go!

J