Cloudy with a chance of Jewel-it

We're in the last few hours of 2011, I've officially rid the house of 8 year olds and replaced them with two 9 year olds, the new electronics are miraculously working, and I'm ready for a festive NYE celebration of fondue and falling asleep by 10:30pm. Just call me the party animal that I truly am.

I had a little fun this morning, and by that I mean "I found it fun, but you will likely find it almost as pitiful a way to spend time as passed out on the couch at 10:30pm" creating a cloud of my labels for my posts over the last 16 months of blog ownership. You can find it over to the right under my lecture info but ahead of the popular posts. You might even find your own name if you are lucky.

Creating the cloud taught me a few lessons:

1. I need to be better about labeling. I mean really, only THREE labels for Jewel-it?

2. I am Terri Sontra's biggest fan, apparently.

3. I crack myself up with labels like "hot mailcarriers" and "corneal damage".

So as much as I hate New Year's Resolutions, I am going to try to be good about labeling my posts in 2012.

I'm also going to attempt to keep my studio organized - it's not QUITE as fab as I first showed you 8 weeks ago, but it's still pretty good and I'm proud; keep ongoing projects to a manageable number so as not to become overwhelmed and give up on them before finishing (yep, that was a problem this year); take an EQ class at Quilt University so as not to have to ask inane questions; and use the color red in a quilt because apparently I hate red. So far this seems fairly manageable. But give me a month.

Anyone have any more exciting resolutions or advice?

Last minute crafters unite

We're in the final countdown to Christmas week, or as we call it in the Helfter household "Cakefest (insert year)". With three birthday girls eight days apart and Christmas smack in the middle it's nothing if not a caloric extravaganza to strike horror in the hearts of personal trainers everywhere around here this time of year, so it's good that I am able to find little last minute projects to work on that allow me to unstrap the feed bag now and then. Impressive how I brought that back around, huh? There was a moment there where I didn't think I was going to be able to do it.

When I cleaned out and rearranged earlier this fall, I found several UFOs. I know. Can you even imagine not finishing every project you start? What would be the point? Horrors. Anyway, one thing I've done for years is to turn orphaned blocks into little quilts or even tree ornaments, and I've made a few this year. Wanna see?


Don't those trees look familiar? I only know how to grow one kind of tree, and it's the funky kind. These guys are all about 3" tall at the most and I just think they are so cute.


I'd make an amazingly consistent tree farmer, wouldn't I? Doesn't putting them on a red background make them all that much more stunning?


Imperfect snowflake, anyone? I should stick to tree farming and leave snowflake making to the water fairies. I do like the red/white contrast, though.


A close up of the beads in the middle confirms what we have all feared: I'm going to have to mention Jewel-it in a post again. Because I clearly was out of my head with fever or something when I made this one, I decided to (wait for it...you might want to be sitting down...) SEW these beads on. "Why?" you ask in horror. "Why would she ever do such a mad thing as thread a needle and sew on a bead when she is the president of the Jewel-It Fanatics Club?" Your questions are well justified and the answer is thus: I truly have absolutely no idea. I don't recall my thought process here and I would like to think that is because there was not an actual sane thought going on, as evidenced by the fact that I chose to use red thread with clear beads. Really? What kind of wacko am I?

One who needs to stick to gluing, that's what kind.

My final project for the season, which I'll have to show once they are done, is turning three wooden beds into retreats worthy of the American Girls. Eva wants "Julie's bed", the one with the hippy beads hanging down, and I'm pretty sure this is a job for Jewel-it. Paige and Greta want canopy beds for Emily and Marie-Grace, which means some sewing of curtains, and with any luck I'll be using thread to coordinate with the fabrics. But this being me, don't count on it.

If you've gotten this far, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading this blog this year and supporting me in all the ways that you have during 2011. I have so much fun writing it, and hope to be able to keep connecting with all of you on a regular basis in 2012. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and if I don't see you before then, I'll see you in 2012!

Winner annoucements - Blog Hop Party and Giveaway Day

Or in other words, the Blizzard Buddies pattern and What's for Dinner placemat have new owners. Woo hoo!

I won't make you wait today:

Blizzard Buddies pattern and iron-on braid (which is fabulous): Kess
What's For Dinner tablemat: (And how apropos is this?) The Hungry Crafter

Congrats, ladies! Check out your inboxes and get back to me with your addresses!

I do wish you all could win as you all seem like lovely people and many of you wrote heartfelt essays about your love of my designs and wish to own one. Thank you for your lovely words; they truly remind me why I am doing this! Several of you asked about kits, patterns, or sets of the tablemat. I do have an etsy site where the mats can be custom ordered - lots of different oilcloth patterns to choose from, and if you enter IDIDNTWIN3 I'll waive domestic shipping for you. I also sell the kits there. http://www.etsy.com/listing/86836573/kid-friendly-tablemats-tablesetting. As for my patterns, please do ask at your local shop for them as I always want to support LQSs. If they can't help you, I am always more than happy to provide what you might like via email, so don't be afraid to ask.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the two giveaway blog hops last week. I feel blessed to have seen a lot of new faces at my blog and hope you will come back often. Several fun things are already in the works for next year, and you don't want to miss out!

Stop me, I'm giving something else away

www.sewmamasew.com/blog is having a giveaway week, and somehow I just can't resist.
Clearly I didn't listen to the sage advice of Maria Peagler during a webinar earlier this year - "Free is not a business plan." Or we could look at it this way - I've had a good year and I need some more tax writeoffs. Let's go with that.



I'm a little late to the party, but I honestly thought it was next week so yay me for finding it better late than Monday. And I'm giving away a lime green stripe version of my "What's For Dinner?" tablemat, a great tool for teaching messy kids to set the table, read what is for dinner because you've written it on the chalkboard part, and avoid utter ruination of your quilting fabrics for all eternity because it is totally wipeable rather than stainable. Kits and patterns for this design also available for those do-it-yourselfers, but hey, sometimes it's fun to win something premade.

A second chance to win can be had by becoming fan of EvaPaige Quilt Designs on Facebook, www.facebook.com/EvaPaigeQuiltDesigns.

Now go make the spaghetti.

Good luck, and enjoy the giveaways!

I am the 10%

The thing I remember most, or shall we say the only thing I remember at all, about my training session before my first day of work at JCPenney as a junior in high school, was this tidbit from the lovely video we had to view: (Quotation likely not exact, but you get the picture) "If you give good customer service, 1 out of 10 people will tell their friends about you. If you give bad customer service, 10 out of 10 will tell their friends." Amazing the random thoughts that stick in my head and yet I can't remember to buy Tide when we have no clean socks left in the house.

It must have stuck with me in part because to me, it is not only a sad statistic, but fairly unbelievable. Because, hotties, I am a gusher. If I like you, or something you are wearing, or think your garden is pretty, or you opened a cafe and make incredible sandwiches (shameless plug for my friend's place, Blackbird Cafe in Groton MA), or you take one of my classes and I love your fabrics, I am all over you with compliments and telling you and everyone else exactly how much I love whatever it is I love about you. True, if you chomp your gum at me the whole time I am in your checkout line, or spell "Catherine, Caroline, and Douglas" as "Cathrin, Cardine, and Douglas" on my friend's baby shower cake, or sell me a computer that OOOPS! never had the control panel turned on before it left the store, yeah, I'm going to talk about you too. But I like to think at least I make up for being one of the 100% who will complain with being one of the 10% who gush.

It is in this spirit that I need to gush today. As some of you who have been readers for a while know, I was very skeptical about buying EQ about a year and a half ago. I tend to design things that are rather freeform blocks, and I didn't see how it would help me. I got a good price on it, though, so between that and the urging of Jen Eskridge at ReannaLily Designs who promised me it would change my life, I caved.

It has not changed my life to the same degree that Jewel-it has, but that would take a miracle.

Anyway, I really have had fun with it and actually designed two things on it that were groundbreaking for me for reasons which will become clear at a later date. Suffice it to say that yes, I do enjoy it and yes, I am really glad I bought it. Not a HUGE gush, but gush nonetheless. Stay tuned, the waters will burst momentarily.

Fast forward to all of my computer meltdowns this year, including an actual gush of hot tea frying out my laptop containing my EQ software. Crap. Got the thing fixed, reloaded software. Took laptop on trip, and after it went through security it never woke up. Double crap.

I finally had a new laptop delivered last week, and I attempted to load EQ7 (AGAIN!) onto my blank (AGAIN!) laptop. This is all getting very old. Imagine my horror when I find that I cannot use the software because the activations were both used for my copy. So I had used two activations on two computer crashes and had nothing to show for my software purchase. I was a little devastated.

But, going with the adage we all know is true that quilters are nice people, I wrote an email yesterday to tech support, outlining my dramas and dilemmas, and basically begging them to allow me a new activation. I expected to be told "I'm sorry, you are a complete computer dummy and should have known better than to drink a hot beverage near your laptop; it is not our problem if you are an idiot" and I really couldn't have blamed them.

Instead, I get this "We are so sorry you have had so many troubles, but we aren't going to add to them." Really? REALLY? You don't want to confirm my story with the repair guy (who actually has also been quite awesome)? You don't want to have me ship this one back, you just will reactivate my code and allow me to fix this problem in a matter of seconds? EQ people - YOU ROCK!

And I will tell everyone I know. Even if they aren't quilters and really don't care. Because I'm a gusher.

Party it up, Hotties!

It's Quilting Gallery's 4th birthday (http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/quilters-blog-hop-party/), and we all get presents! Fantastic! By now you probably know what's going on, but if not, here's the scoop:

To celebrate, Michele Foster of Quilting Gallery is hosting a Blog Hop Party, with something like 300 quilting bloggers participating! And not only will you find some cool new blogs, but you'll have a chance to win something AT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Feeling lucky? Just comment on the individual blogs for a chance to win their giveaway.

For those coming to hang at the haven for the first time, welcome! I started this blog a little over a year ago as an outlet for my incessant need to overshare of myself with the quilt world, and I've had so much fun with it. I do try to keep it quilting related for the most part, but now and then it's also been cheaper than therapy for me. I consider myself a quilter who likes to let loose my goofball side and that's what you'll find here. I've been very lucky to have been chosen AQS Blog of the Week back in August, and was also Michele's guest blogger back in May.

I've often said, here and in real life, that my favorite part of my design career is sharing my designs in person through my trunk show lectures. I'm currently hard at work to finalize the details of my second trunk show "Plays Well With Others", which will be available to guilds at the beginning in April. The show focuses on group quiltmaking of all sorts beyond your basic round robin, because over the years I've discovered that I am no longer that control freak third grader who never wanted to work in a group in school because no one was quite as good as she was. I now leave that role to my daughter Paige. I've found a lot of joy in working on projects along with other quilters and quilt designers, and I want others to discover how fun it can be to give over a project to someone else and see what they might add to it.

To that end, I now and then will call for participants in a group project here on my blog because I always want new fodder for my lecture, and I am currently planning a new group quilt project for January. The basic block we will be creating is shown here, and I promise that in real life it is totally square so I have no idea why it looks so wonky here, and can be made from scraps you already have - in fact, that is what I am going to WANT you to do. More details will follow, so you'll want to come back in January, won't you?

Another way to keep apprised of the goings on of my random thoughts is to become part of my facebook EPQD community. I try to update it daily with just a Twitter-like statement or link to my newest blog post, and I've really tried to make it a fun place to be to exchange ideas and inspire each other. I also give away a gift (often patterns, kits, fun notions I love, once even a table runner) at the end of every month from a drawing of my new members for the month. To get to my FB page, click here. I'd love to see you there and have you join the fun, and joining this month will give you yet another entry in my giveaway!

So, you've sat through my intro/sales pitch and by now you are surely wondering if I will ever tell you what I am giving away. After all, you have 299 more blogs to visit, and I have taken up plenty of your time. To celebrate winter and all it's splendor, I am giving away a copy of my "Blizzard Buddies" pattern, along with a spool of light blue iron-on braid for embellishing your snowmen. In the snowman close up (also the profile photo for my FB page this month), the hair was made from this stuff. It's way easy to use and totally addictive. You'll be ironing braid to everything and we'll have to call you fancy.
To enter, all you have to do is leave me a comment below. In it all I ask is that after you tell me how this is your favorite new blog site (totally kidding), you let me know what your favorite and least favorite colors to use in your quilts is.

Have fun at the Blog Party and good luck! I hope to see you back soon at QHH.

Sounds of the Seasonal Sewing Studio

Try saying that 5 times fast.

So lately I've been doing some writing for an upcoming pattern, and therefore much of my time in the studio has been spent at the computer with music in the background, and because it is officially December much of what I have been listening to is Christmas music. I find it amazing how little variety there truly is on the stations that play holiday songs 24/7, which is where Pandora is a godsend. Their "Contemporary Christian" and "Christmas" Christmas stations are delightful.

So because we all have our favorites and our least enjoyed songs of the season, I thought I'd share with you mine. Let's get the top three Songs Which Never Should Have Been Written And I Would Be Thrilled If They Died a Much Overdue Death out of the way first.

1. "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas." Really? Did a zookeeper at an underprivileged zoo write this? Because that is the only excuse for this piece of drivel.

2. "Dominick the Donkey". If I have to hear "EEeee Aweee EEeee Aweeee" one more time, I will not be responsible for my actions. It's like blue food, touching wool, and fingernails on a chalkboard all rolled up in one for me.

3. "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer." It was extremely slightly amusing the first time. After that it was nothing but stupidity, and it needs to go away.

Who's with me? Anyone actually enjoy these songs? God love you. You are more tolerant than me. Granted, that may go without saying as you may have surmised, correctly, that I am rather opinionated.

My top five "Songs I So Far This Season Can Listen To Ad Nauseum and Not Be Tired of Them" are as follows. They run the gammut from traditional to contemporary, religious to sassy, and I hope you enjoy them. I'm also hoping the videos actually embed as I planned. Fingers crossed.

1. "We Need a Little Christmas" This song always makes me smile. It's happy, it's bouncy, it makes me want to run right out and buy a spinnet. This version is sung by the cast of Glee. It gives me a little shot of Christmas every time.

2. "Believe" by Josh Groban. Now, granted, Josh Groban could just stand on my front lawn for the day and that would be enough for me**, but any of his Christmas songs really just up his wow factor immensely. This one is one of my favorites.

3. "I Need A Silent Night" by Amy Grant. I first heard this song last year and it became an all time favorite immediately. It is a wonderful message, and something every mom can identify with this time of year. The video has some cheesy moments, but some of the photos are really cool and/or cute, and the lyrics get me every time.

4. "Baby It's Cold Outside" (Will Ferrell/Zooey Deschanel version). Truly, I love all versions of this song and always have. It's just a little bit of naughty mixed with the seasonal nice. Add in it's inclusion in the movie Elf, which is a family favorite, and it had to be on my list.

5. "Joseph's Lullaby" by Mercy Me. Joseph was quite a guy. It's hard to imagine being put in his position and not running away screaming. This song is just beautiful.

**Let it be known, however, that should Josh Groban break into a funky rendition of "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" while standing on my front lawn, or of his own volition in the recording studio, I will renounce him. Big time.

So what are your personal favorites and personal cringe-inducers this time of year? I'm always looking for new music to brighten my season!

Winter Whites Winner!

Thank you so much to all who visited my little slice of blogdom during Sew Cal Gal's Christmas Quilt Show this past week. It was so much fun to share my quilt with all of you, and your comments truly made my day every single time a new one posted. I also am astonished by how you all helped that one post ratchet all the way up to the number one read post of all time on this blog in just five days! I do love how QHH has made me feel more connected with quilters everywhere.

I have chosen my winner for the pattern for "Winter Whites", and must admit to you all that unlike every other time I chose a winner, this one was not random. Several things about her just struck me, and I hope you will understand if because of that I feel compelled to give her the award. Her name is Kelli, she is from California, and she is a nurse (I'm not, but I certainly enjoy them) and a quilter who has a blog called "Seriously....I think it needs stitches" (http://thatlookslikeitneedsstitches.blogspot.com/), which I think is the most fantastic blog name ever for a nurse quilter, so props to Kelli. Kelli also won me over with her blog tagline "Mostly crafty....sometimes personal....never perfect". HELLO! Kelli is me living in California. Add in her five year old, and the resemblance is uncanny. So Kelli, congratulations! I am thrilled to give you a copy of my pattern, along with some beads and Jewel-it so that you might be inspired to give it a go sooner rather than later.

So many of you commented on my bead work that I must thank you again for your wonderful comments. My head is larger than life. Those beads are easier than you could ever imagine, I promise. I often tell people who admire all my beads on my quilts "I did this in one 10 minute segment of Glee." Castle seems to work as well, and I have heard tell that Grey's Anatomy is equally productive.

Again, Congratulations, Kelli!