Winner!!

Wow!!  I had over 300 comments on this giveaway! That's incredible, thank you all for participating!  I read every comment but didn't get to respond.  Your answers to "What makes you happy" were so wonderful, each one brought a smile to me, it was awesome!  So, thank you!!

If you decided to stick around and become a new follower, thank you!  I hope you'll enjoy it here ; )

There were 304 eligible comments and the random number generator chose #7!  (I don't know how to make a screen shot....so you'll have to trust me!

The 7th eligible comment was....

Crunchy Con MommyDecember 3, 2012 10:39 AM

My preschooler makes me happy (and my husband!) And Christmas carols, cozy boots, sunny days, and sewing projects that turn out well :)

Sew. Quilt. Give. finished charity quilt

Today I am super pleased to present to you the finished quilt from another charity bee I have loved participating in: Sew. Quilt. Give.

I was in charge during the month of July and requested simple and colorful granny squares using this tutorial from Blue Elephant Stitches.  

I received absolutely lovely blocks in return and made about 10 more to get the quilt to the size I wanted.  Finished, this quilt measures 45 1/2" x 54" and has been labeled and mailed!

I love how this quilt turned out!  I really wanted to do something a little extra bright and happy so whoever receives it will maybe be more inclined to smile or at least have this quilt to smile about!

I hope they love it.  I hope it brings peace and warmth and comfort.  I hope it is a happy place to go to when everything else seems to be wrong.  Jenn will be taking this quilt, and all the quilts made in Sew. Quilt. Give., to the Alexandria House in Los Angeles.

Christmas Time is (almost) Here!!

Since I'm allowed to have the tree up with lights on now without embarrassing my husband, that's exactly what we've done!  We did put it up early though.  He was a little mortified....haha!

I thought I'd show you some of our Christmas Spirit and decorations.

We have lots of Nativity scenes.  At least 6. 

I grew up in Palo Alto, CA and every year, the church would put on a Christmas Creche exhibit and showcase different Nativity scenes from all over the world, made with all kinds of materials.

It was a tradition to go see it, and as it got to be a bigger event we would help with it as well. 

It was one of the highlights of the season and fell between my birthday and Christmas and I still miss it!  So we have several Christmas Creches here...

We have one Advent calendar that my mom made.  Each day we add a new ornament to the tree

I've seen this wonderful idea floating around and decided to try it out this year.

What do you know we already have 24 Christmas books suitable for kids!!  So I'm looking for one more, that might be a Christmas gift we can read last.  I'm thinking something that tells the Christmas story, not the Santa one as it'd be fitting for the day.  We'll see.

So I got all of them wrapped (Abby used my extra paper to wrap a couple of her books.  And no I didn't show her how to wrap, she just watched me and then copied me.  Like she does.  With everything!)

I'm excited for this month (and in total denial that it's actually here)!  I'm hoping we can enjoy these traditions and make some new ones as well. 

What traditions do you have in your family??

Happy Giveaway Day!!

And it's Monday again!

Welcome to anyone here from Sew, Mama, Sew!  I hope you'll like what you see here and want to hang around a bit.

My name is Marian and  I have 2 kids, 1 dog, and a wonderfully supportive husband.  They're all the best and so encouraging and tolerant of my need to buy fabric, cut it up, then sew it back together again.  I love them.

I make mostly quilts, and have an Etsy shop here (coupon code alert: THANKS25 for 25% off everything until the end of the year!) where I sell baby and toddler quilts, pillow covers, and zipper pouches, and whatever else I can think of!

Here's what I've been up to lately: 

 (photos by Allisa from her post)

Just yesterday I was featured on Allisa Jacobs' blog with three pillow covers I made using her fabrics (designed through Spoonflower) as part of her sewing social group!

 (photos by Allisa from her post)

It's a fantastic post, and group, with so many talented women I'm just thrilled to be part of!  I loved making these, Allisa's designs are gorgeous, and you should see what else she does!!

 (photos by Allisa from her post)

I've been broadening my skills by pattern testing for Diane at From Blank Pages.  She's a total doll and I've so enjoyed getting to know her through Instagram (I'm mgriffin87 if you feel so inclined) and her blog.

I was so scared of paper piecing.  It was on the "maybe I'll try it in 5 years if someone comes to my house and shows me how" list, but I figured I'd give it a shot when she asked for pattern testers! At least she'd get a total beginner's opinion right?

Well I totally love it.  This pattern in particular is so incredibly versatile!  I'm planning to turn what I've made here into a quilt, with this block off center with a neutral or solid background and awesome quilting.  I hope you come back to see how it turns out!!


AND the part you've been waiting for...the giveaway!!

I am offering this bundle of fabrics to one of you lucky ducks to enjoy!

This giveaway will be open to US READERS only (just to keep shipping costs down this month since I haven't shipped xmas gifts yet - so sorry to my international friends!!) and will be open until December 7th at 5pm at which point I'll pick and announce a winner!  

To enter: leave a comment on this post telling me something that makes you happy!

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!!  I read every comment and as soon as I figure out how to number them, I'll pick a winner!!  Thank you!  I am so excited at how many participated!!! 

Ready......GO! and have fun with the giveaways!  Hope you win something awesome!

the one where I do all the things : )

Well, I missed WIP Wednesday again, but still feel the need to track my progress so here goes:

Finished this past week/weekend:

-do. Good Stitches Bliss Circle house quilt

-Broken dishes baby quilt

-baby quilt for my nephew (can't show you this yet, sorry!!)

-Bee blocks for the Quilt Around the World II bee (mailed yesterday)

In Progress/Next:

-Pattern testing for Diane and Tracey (pictures soon. or follow me on Instagram @mgriffin87 to see my progress so far)

-Kawaii Winter Sampler cross stitch -not really next, but I keep telling myself I can work on it soon as a "reward" if I get things done.  It's so stinking cute I just want to stare at it (even though my little owl has a lopsided tummy!)

-Sew Quilt Give charity quilt - basted, ready to quilt.  Hoping I can get this done today and in the mail tomorrow.

-Christmas Quilt for us - top is done, I've started the backing but really have no clue.  Maybe I'll go to JoAnn's and get some flannel for the back and finish it this weekend.

-All the other bee blocks that need to get done - next year I'm not joining so many but they sure are fun! This is a major one, I'm hoping to ge them all done today so I can mail them tomorrow also...

-Christmas Pillowcases/other decorations - my husband is totally embarrassed that we've already got a tree up and the lights on it ("in broad daylight!" were his exact words, silly man) but I just figure it's one less thing to do the week of Christmas.  I got some Christmas fabric with Fat Quarter Shop's awesome sale and want to make us all some pillowcases.

-I've also got pillow covers and table runners to finish and put in my Etsy shop, so I might extend my sale a bit since those didn't get done as quickly as I'd hoped (discount code THANKS25 for 25% off everything)

Well, the kids are watching Cars with sandwiches and pretty intense focus, so I think I'm going to snatch some time to get this list checked off!! 

And I haven't even made a list of what I want to sew for Christmas yet!!!!!!!!  Oh boy....

Linking up with Diane at From Blank Pages today!

finished broken dishes baby quilt for a friend

I've got this adorable pregnant friend who is ready to pop any day.  Hopefully they'll be parents this week, but you never know!

I made this quilt out of charm squares from my stash, many from participating in a boy/girl i-spy charm swap on flickr and then pairing them with a contrasting, or complimenting fabric in a broken dish pattern. 

I used this lovely tutorial from 3 kitchen fairies and I totally recommend it.  Super easy, super quick, and it turns out super lovely. 

The top went together so fast, partly because I was planning as I went and just played with it.  So fun. 

My favorite kind of sewing is when having fun makes it go quickly and together nicely.  That doesn't always happen, but it's sure nice when it does! 

Anyway, this little quilt will be gifted this week and hopefully will get to snuggle a new little girly before much longer! 

do. Good Stitches Bliss circle finished quilt!

I'm having the hardest time waking up today.  It's about 11:30 and I'm still in my pj's.  In my defense I washed all my pants at the same time and they're still in the dryer ; )
Anyway, I had a pretty productive weekend and finished two quilts and made a bunch of backings so I've got lots to show you this week! 

This is a project I've held onto way too long, but it's so cute I bet you'd do the same thing. 

Back in April (yes...that long ago) I was in charge of the Bliss circle of do. Good Stitches charity sewing bee on Flickr and had everyone make me two of these adorable house blocks for a quilt.

Then this past week, I made 4 more houses to make the quilt a little bigger and came up with this lovely top, which I was afraid to quilt!

I had great suggestions on Instagram to add clouds, windows, doorknobs, and other neighborhoodly goodness.  This also scared me, but I pressed on and gave it a try. 

And I LOVE it.  It's easily my favorite thing right now.  I've decided to make my kids a neighborhood house quilt and the block isn't really that hard to do.  I might be making some Christmas houses to turn into pillows also.  Won't that be cute?! 

Anyway, I'm thrilled to check this one off my list, and even more thrilled that it turned out so well!  I used an existing binding I had leftover from a quilt I made in July, and made a backing with fabric from my stash as well. 

 Yes, I did quilt a snowman the size of the house into it. 

It measures 45 1/2" x 56 1/2" before washing.

Now I just need to find the label and give this baby it's first spin in the washing machine and send it on it's way!!

I'm linking up to Sew Modern Mondays with Canoe Ridge Creations and entering this quilt into the Celebrate Good Stitches contest over at Stitched in Color, when December 10th rolls around of course!

*don't forget to use THANKS25 for 25% off my entire Etsy shop good through this week only (ending Dec. 1) and check back often for new items I'll be listing just in time for Christmas gifting!