Keeping with the Christmas Theme

In mid-December, I entered a giveaway over at The Happy Zombie. Now, I always am flabbergasted by the generosity of quilters and their willingness to giveaway fabrics, notions, projects, etc. I try to be fair and only enter those giveaways that I actually would want/use.


I've been blog-stalking (in a harmless, oh my goodness, I love what you're doing) Monica at The Happy Zombie for a while, and was so excited when I saw her Christmas fabric line called Holiday Happy come out. As the title of my blog might suggest, I love gnomes. No, really - Mr. Gnomemade and I even had a gnome-themed wedding - which I realized I never admitted to on this blog - I really should post some photos of our gnome related items...put that on the to-do list (you would think I would have gotten around to that, but what's eight months in a lifetime we'll spend together...but I digress).

Anyways, where was I...oh yeah...gnomes. I love gnomes and I immediately fell in love with the little "Gnoma-Claus" on Monica's fabric. I went to a couple of local quilt shops, but couldn't find the gnomes, so I was browsing on the internet instead to see where I could find some of this wonderful fabric...this brings me to the giveaway.


So, I put my name into the ring, never expecting with over 1200 entries, I'd be picked. But I won! Oh my goodness, I won. And shortly after - this beautiful stack of fabrics arrived at the post office for me! Isn't the "Gnoma-Claus" just adorable?

So, here the stack of fabric sits - on my trunk waiting patiently to be cut into and made into our first ever Christmas quilt. It's wonderful! And thankfully, I have a very supportive husband who encourages me (and goes with me to quilt shops/online shopping) to get all the matching fabrics I'll need to turn this fat eighth bundle into a snuggly quilt for us.

Thanks so much, Monica!

More UFO Progress

When I first started quilting, I was strictly a machine project girl. The only handwork I did was turning over a binding and when push came to shove - sewing on a button.

I did try my hand at hand quilting two different quilts...but seeing as how the first one arrived a month after the wedding it was a gift for, and the second arrived over 2 years after the birthday it was a gift for, I quickly tossed aside the idea of handquilting - except for some small projects.

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, when I arrived at my first small group meeting arranged through my quilt guild. I was instructed to bring some embroidery floss and a hoop, to do embroidery. Now, the floss I had plenty of - what self respecting 80's child didn't make tons of friendship bracelets in her day? But, I had never done any embroidery! Thankfully, I had some great teachers and it seemed like a fun concept.

Then, I found Gail Pan's Free Block of the Month, and figured I'd give it a try. That was 2009. I made the first block back then, bu tthen in the midst of engagement and wedding, it got pushed aside.

Well, I've picked it back up and made some progress, if I do say so myself.

Here are 5 of the 9 blocks.
I've got numbers 6 & 7 complete, and number 8 just needs a couple more french knots. Then one more to go and then I just need to put it into a quilt! The fabric for its been sitting around since '09, and I'm hoping to get this UFO crossed off the list before Christmas 2011.

Better than the dishes...

While Mr. Gnomemade did the dishes last night, I spent some much needed time on this project.

It's one of my many UFOs that have been in the works for way too long. But recently I've plowed ahead and carved out some time (like during the dishes) to finally get some quilting onto it. Can't wait for the final product and hope to have all the quilting done and binding ready to be turned over by the time the SuperBowl rolls around.

We're hosting the annual SuperBowl party for all my co-workers at our place again this year. A series of events have led to my family becoming major Steelers fans, so I know who I'm rooting for, as well as Mr. Gnomemade! Looking forward to some good snacks, great times with friends, a good game and some crafting - all in one!