Broken Hearts

February's weeklies are going to be a bit different. At one of the last quilt guild meetings, we held a garage sale, and I bought a bag of scraps of very old quilts that have been cut into.
These are usually called "cutter quilts", but the scraps really were pretty and I cannot imaging cutting these full sixed quilts up. Hand pieced and quilted, they are so very thin. My thoughts about this bag were that "someone loved this quilt so much, took so much time to make it, and someone else cut it into parts". Sad, isn't it?

So I'm calling this month's theme "broken hearts". You can either interpret the sayings as a sad lonely person, or from the quilt's perspective, your choice.

End of January

I'm sorry I didn't get to posting this after they were made, but it's been super crazy after going to NYC for the New York Comic Con. (Which was fun, if exhausting...It's a sign I'm getting too old for this crap.)

January's final weekly quilt is of "kadomatsu" or traditional New Year's decorations which represent Heaven, Humanity, and Earth. They are placed at entryways and at gates in Japan, and are literally translated as "gate pines". I have seen some "plush" versions of kadomatsu, but my little graphic one is cute too. They make fake plastic ones that you can put up year after year, like the holiday decorations of your choice. I wanted to make this closer to the beginning of January, but couldn't figure out what to decorate the bamboo with.

I really enjoyed learning more about Japan for this month's theme.

Winner of my Giveaway!

The Winner of my One World-One Heart giveaway is:

MissKoolAid of Canada!

Congratulations!

Now don't fret, because everyone who entered is a winner of the free pattern, but it will take me a couple of days to get allof the emaila ddresses together and sit down and email them all out, so please be patient! Thanks for stopping by! Please take some time to look around my blog, and thank you!

Happy Day for Everyone Giveaway!

It's my birthday and it's a giveaway for everyone! On top of that, I expect to pass 10,000 visitors to my blog today!/a>

I love the idea that One World-One Heart has about doing a giveaway, so I'm pleased to be participating in that wonderful event.


I'm giving away this lovely bouquet of Yo Yo flowers, handmade by me!

What you have to do:
-Take a look at my blog, and tell me what you think.
-Consider adding me to your blog roll or blog reader by adding my RSS feed!
-Leave me a comment with your thoughts on my blog on this post only. I must have a way to contact you back, so if you do not have a blog of your own, leave your email address.
-This is open to everyone, international comments welcome.
-One entry per person.

I will draw a random name at 6pm Central time USA on February 12th 2009, and the winner will be announced then!

Even if you don't win the bouquet, you can be a winner, as everyone who comments and leaves a way to be contacted will get a PDF of the instructions on how to make the Yo Yo flowers!

Thanks, and good luck (and welcome to my blog if you are new)!

EDIT: COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED. THANKS FOR ENTERING!

The Domestic Diva Kit from hell

I was in JoAnn's shopping with some Christmas money when I spied one of these kits... It's an apron kit which is one large "cheater style" fabric in which you cut all of the pieces out and sew together.
Mine is not the one pictured above, with the chicken, but it's similar. Mine has strawberries and a light yellow checkerboard, and the bottom ruffle is all red.

What a nightmare to put together. The directions are "okay" because I know how to sew, but if this was my first ever project, forget it. It's got ruffles, bias edges that need to be turned under, the apron strings are tubes that need to be turned.... I should have serged every edge and then turned them under, but again... GAH!!! I didn't put the pockets on because I was DONE, after about 4 hours. AND I KNOW HOW TO SEW! Geez! I'd stay away from this one...