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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Giveaway! (Delayed & Instant Gratification)

This week I hit 75 followers and it is time to have fun (well, I guess we have been having fun--we are just going to have more)! I've made some good friends among you and I appreciate the time you take to visit and comment. I know that many of you first found my blog when I sent some handcrafted soap as a "thank-you" to Bonnie Hunter and she then showed it and posted a link to my blog. I mentioned then that I would give some away when I had enough followers. I had planned on doing it at 50, but I didn't get on it fast enough when that number came up. Then before I knew it there were 75 and that seemed like a good number to celebrate.

A giveaway of the Eye Fooler pattern, Tri/Recs rulers
 and some handcrafted herbal soap.

The delayed gratification will be the soap. I will email the winner a list of the scent options and make the soap fresh for them. Since it takes 3-4 weeks for soap to cure, I will send it on when it is ready to use.
The instant gratification part of the giveaway is the Eye Fooler pattern. When I posted about this quilt before it generated so much interest, I decided that pattern would make a good giveaway. And since you need the Tri/Recs rulers to make it, I've thrown those in as well (if you already have the rulers you can gift them to someone else).
There you have it!

Here is what you need to do, just be sure you are a follower and leave a comment on this post before midnight (12:00 a.m.) MST on Tuesday, July 26. On Wednesday evening I will randomly draw the winner and post the results! I will even choose a "runner-up" to receive some soap.

Just to ease the minds of any who may have less than fond memories of great-grandma's not-real-pleasant-smelling homemade soap, this soap is made with pure vegetable oils (coconut, olive and cocoa butter). There are no animal fats to smell rancid, and the essential oils make it very enticing. The colorants are all herbs and spices--no artificial colors. I started making this stuff because I have sensitive skin. After trying some my BIL made 15 years ago, it made such a difference to my skin, I jumped on board and have been making it ever since.

While we're on the subject of Eye Fooler, in spite of my forsaking this quilt for another, I have made a good-sized dent in the Eye Fooler, strictly as a leader/ender. All of the HST are finished, as are the 4-patch blocks. I'm over halfway through the Tri/Recs units and then I have an excessive amount of flying geese units to make. They aren't my favorites, so I have been avoiding them. I should have just got them over with first. It is sitting on the sidelines now, waiting for me to finish Floribunda.

Progress on my Tree of Life has been slow.
This is my second Tree of Life quilt. I finished up the first one a few years ago.

I hand quilted this one--took me about 10 months to get it finished!
These are memory quilts for my sons who have served as missionaries in South America. I try to make the blocks represent something to do with the names of the areas in which they served or the experiences they had. It was easy to find blocks that were connected to names and places in California, where my oldest daughter served, but when my first son went to Argentina things got much more complicated. Even in Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" (which I poured over for hours) there are no designs related to South America that I could see. I ended up using the tree of life pattern from "Biblical Blocks" by Rosemary Makhan, along with another religious themed block and a simple "sun" block (if I'd known how to make a Mariner's Compass when I did this, I would have produced a better looking sun) to represent the sun on the Argentinian flag. Put "Spanish Squares" blocks in the corners, for the language he spoke, and called it good!
The next son went to Brazil, and that is the one I am currently stumped on. I need to stop this frustrating habit of design-as-you-go quilting. It would save me a lot of grief.

So again, I thank you for following along. Don't forget to leave your comment by midnight Tuesday. Good Luck! I'm already excited for whoever wins!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.


34 comments:

  1. Congratulations on making the 75 mark. Actually, ti's 76 now because I just signed on as a follower. I love the Eye Fooler pattern. One of these days I'm going to try soap making but at the moment my extra time is taken up with canning the excess from our garden. Thanks for a wonderful giveaway!

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  2. Wow! I had not been paying attention to the number of followers on your side bar. Congratulations! I have been enjoying reading about your quilting adventures. Thanks for giving away some of your handmade soap.

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  3. Hey Janet, the soap giveaway is a very sweet thing to do! Also, I love the Tree of Life. What a beautiful quilt.

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  4. Congrats on 75! If I happen to win, I already have the Eye Fooler pattern and the Tri Recs rulers so you could have Mr. Random Number Generator draw another name. But the soap sure sounds devine!

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  5. What a fun giveaway! I have sensitive skin too - maybe your soaps are the answer. Thanks for the chance to win!

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  6. I love the idea of your giveaway! I follow your blog on my Google reader. Does that count? I also love the Eye Fooler pattern and I'd love to win it.

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  7. I was following you in Google reader but changed it.:) I'd love to win the soap and pattern. Congrats on 75 followers!!

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  8. Congrats on 75 followers! Would love to try your soap--since reaching this lovely stage of age, my skin has been giving me fits. I never even considered homemade soap until reading your blog, but now I'm going to look for it!

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  9. Of course I want to be part of the giveaway!!!! Anything from you would be a treat!!!!

    Blessings

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  10. I would just love to try some of your homemade soap. I'm sure a lot of work goes into making it. And I just love that Eye Fooler pattern. Great giveaway, and congratulations on the followers!

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  11. I've just found out that I have an allergy to fragrances, after all these years (or maybe it just developed?), so I would love to win a sample of your soap. I've also been admiring the Eye Fooler pattern and love the idea of doing it as a leader and ender project.Love your blog.

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  12. Congrats on 75++++. I love secondary quilt patterns.

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  13. Well my silly computer never pulls up the follower section...so I'm probably not on there, but as you know I do read your blog. )

    I love that pattern and it is one that I would love to make someday. I think you have a great idea by doing it as a leader and ender project, sooner or later yu will have all of the sections pieced. Most times I feel that so many patterns look alike but I've loved this one from the first time that I saw it on your blog, it is very different!

    Love homemade soap! I make ours too, with milk from our goats. I have only made a few different kinds of it but I would love to try some different recipes.

    Have a wonderful day
    Kristie

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  14. I Love that pattern! What a great scrappy quilt! Handmade soaps are the best. Someday I'll give it a try until then, I support those that already do. :) Great giveaway!

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  15. I'm #79!! I was introduced to your blog by Bonnie! Love the pattern, it is one that I would love to do as a leader/ender project.

    I used to make my own soap from goat's milk but have done that in a while. I would love to have a bar of homemade soap again!

    Keep up the good work on your blog! I enjoy it very very much!!!

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  16. I think I'm one of your latest followers and yes, I did get your information from Bonnie. I love the colours you use and would love to make the Eye Fooler quilt. Your soap sounds wonderful and I'd love to try it - my skin has been very dry lately. Keep on quilting!

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  17. That Eye Foller pattern is great. I agree with Pati, it would make a great leader/ender project. Your Tree of life quilt is gorgeous. Home made soap is so much more sophisticated now, than the lye and animal fats stuff. It is wonderful to feel, and smell and use.

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  18. Congratualtions on your growing following.
    Your soaps look lovely as is the quilt.
    Generous giveaway!
    Thanks for sharing.

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  19. I have such a great time reading and writing blogs. It is such a great way to keep in touch and not waste any gasoline!
    I would so love some homemade soap! I am a follower since Bonnie's posting.
    XOXOXO Subee

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  20. Thanks for the giveaway. Most of them are too demanding anymore. I also have made soap but not regularly. I need more practice! I,d love to know your scent recipes. Claire

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  21. Janet,
    I don't know for sure that I am follower but you are on my blog list. The followers are not there just now.
    I love hand made soaps and I am sure yours will be beautiful.
    The pattern looks lovely too. Thanks for sharing your talents and for hosting a very nice giveaway.
    Warmest regards,
    Anna

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  22. Well congraulations and thanks for the opportunity to win!

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  23. I found your Blog via another follower last week and I am having such fun reading along. Your work is beautiful and inspiring, especially Tree of Life #2, so today I joined.

    How sweet of you to have a giveaway to a lucky follower. I eyed that pattern when you mentioned it previously!

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  24. I think the memory quilts for your sons are so special. When I think of Brazil now, I think of the movie Rio and Angry Birds. They are filled with lots of bright reds, yellows, and greens. Good luck with your design.

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  25. What a nice giveaway. Thanks for a chance to win. Soap sounds lovely.
    Cindy W

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  26. Congrats on your win; and your followers.

    I didn't know that you made soap; what good, clean fun! ;)

    I'm unfamiliar with the Eye Fooler, well, I was before I read this post. What a terrific pattern.

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  27. Wow it is a big day for you! Congrats on 75 followers, and Congrats on winning the quilt jewlery! How fun is that! Your eye follower pieces are looking good!

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  28. Wow. I would love to win. I too have sensative skin & would love to try it too.

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  29. I thought I was a follower already. Oh well, I am now. What a great pattern! Congrats on the followers

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  30. Love the Eye Fooler quilt and would love to win it! Your soaps sound marvelous!

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  31. Almost missed this! What a generous giveaway.
    LOVE the tree of life quilt. Looks like you used grays and greens. Don't see that combination very often, but I love it.

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  32. Homemade soap sounds fun and the pattern looks good too. 75 followers is a bunch! I didn't make quilts for my Missionary sons. Barely got Photo albums started. #2 helped finish his on 4 days after he returned so we could show it to family who came to hear him speak.

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  33. My friend Denny makes handmade soap, and I love it when she brings me "seconds" (not pretty enough for selling but lovely just the same!). i found your site through Cheaper Than Therapy Quilting and have enjoyed reading your posts.

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