A Funky Little Giveaway

It's crazy prep time for the biggest show NEQDC has ever done, A Quilters Gathering, this year to be held for the first time in Manchester NH rather than 8 miles from my home in Nashua NH. I'm trying very hard to get over my bitterness about the move, but I won't lie, there is still work to be done on that front.

The Gathering is the first show I ever attended way back in the fall of 1995 when it was still in Westford MA (also only 8 miles or so from home, just saying) and I was knee deep in red and green triangles having just discovered quilting and using my skillz to create my iconic "Christmas Tree Standing on a Picnic Table". Those of you who have seen my PIO lecture know the joy and beauty of that little piece of quilted wonderment. Those of you who haven't can consider yourselves lucky that you have not had the need to avert your eyes in horror.

In any case, no matter where it may be held (she said begrudgingly), the Gathering is always a special show for me, and this year for the first time New England Quilt Designers Cooperative made the cut and we get to vend, which will be a four day odyssey of crazy fun. There is always such an energy to the Gathering, and the quilts and vendors are always amazing. We'll be offering our many fabulous kits, patterns, books, and notions, and today I put together a whole bunch of these cute little funky tree kits:

to sell either separately as cute folded fabric trees or along with my "Funky Tree Farm" pattern. I've tried them in the past and always had trouble keeping them in one piece, but I think I finally got that problem solved today and I am very excited about this new product!

I'll be taking some tonight to my lecture with Burlington Quilters Guild and use them as a test market, but I also figure why not give one away here? It's been a while since a giveaway and, in Greta's favorite words, What the Heck? You'll win a funky tree of my choosing and the pattern just in time to whip it up for Christmas.

Enter by becoming a follower either of this blog, on my facebook page, or both, or commenting on this post. The more you do, the more entries you get, just be sure to outline for me everything you did to enter in your comment!

In other news, the camera was hijacked by the children and I got about 35 photos of Antebellum paper dolls.

Apparently the South is preparing to rise again.

Also I finally got the latest group log cabin quilt put together.

Excuse the odd angle and the leaves on the thing. It is wicked windy here and you wouldn't believe how hard this was to photograph even in this half-assed manner today. I was not about to stop the presses over a leaf or two.

I love the setting, I love the blocks, for which if you read this post you may recall I gave very little direction other than "use blue" to those making them, and now I am finding that something is not turning me on about this quilt as much as I had hoped. I think it might be too.......blue. It needs something (beyond the obvious need for a border), but I have yet to determine what that might be. Ideas? Ooooo! Anyone giving me some ideas gets an extra entry to the funky giveaway!