May I have the envelope, please.

The lucky winner of Lynn Roddy Brown's third book, "Patchwork-Play Quilts," is grendelskin! Actually, her name is Sally, but grendelskin is her blog name. Thanks to all who left comments and posted links for this giveaway. I'm glad so many of you were introduced to Lynn's books. They are a great resource for scrap quilters!

Recently several bloggers have been putting the word out about John'aLee's request for star blocks in muted reds, whites, and blues. She is making five quilts for the loved ones of her almost SIL, who was shot in Afghanistan shortly before he was to be married to her daughter. Instead of a wedding they had a funeral. So sad! Make sure the people you love know you love them. Life is tenuous.

I was motivated by Freda's post (The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe) sharing her initial efforts and decided to jump on board. I got fabric pulled Saturday evening and started cutting. I hoped to spend yesterday afternoon and evening sewing them all up, but alas, life interfered.  I did get the cutting finished and thought I would just share the blocks in the "design board" stage. I will get a little done on them tonight, but the finish may have to wait now until my monthly "quilt with Mom" event this Thursday.

This is the Missouri Star block, though I did throw in a
9-patch in place of the plain center square. Every fabric
in this block is printed with some type of star.

This is Ohio Star. I used Barbara Brackman's
directions, but there are easier ways to make this block.
I think the red fabric looks like fireworks.

I punched up this Sawtooth Star pattern by adding
the 16-patch to the center of the block. There are tiny
flags in the tan fabric in the 16-patch.

This is called Barbara Frietchie in Barabara Brackman's
CW post. By different color placement you could make
this into an "easy Lemoyne Star", right Freda? 

Finally we have a block named Richmond, after the
Confederacy's capital city. I may play with the
color placement on this one a little more.

These blocks were all made from my "Patriotic Scraps" drawer. I am pleased with how they are coming together. If you'd like to help make star blocks click the link here for the details.

Now I have the urge to make a patriotic quilt. I made one years ago and donated it somewhere. It would be nice to have one in the house when Independence Day rolls around. I guess that urge will just have to wait in line behind all of the other quilting urges.

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

Janet O.

New Book Giveaway!! WooHoo!!

Hey, all you scrap quilters, are you familiar with Lynn Roddy Brown? If not, here is your chance to get acquainted! She is an expert scrap quilter and just published her third book on the subject through Martingale & Company, "Patchwork-Play Quilts." I own both of her other books (and love them) and had reviewed her second book on Amazon. Earlier this year I decided to see if she had a website and to learn if she had any other books. There was word on her site that she would be coming out with her third book soon. I was so excited I emailed her to let her know I was looking forward to its release.


The result of all this was that she offered to send me a copy when it came out if I would review it on Amazon as well. I suggested the possibility of another copy being offered as a giveaway on my blog. They arrived in yesterday's mail--autographed!!

                                                



As soon as I saw the package I knew what it contained.

 I was in the middle of a project with a deadline and I had to leave them sitting on the counter, unopened, so that I didn't get distracted (which is easy for me to do!). When I could see that I had progressed far enough with my project to allow myself the time to open, I let myself browse for 5 whole minutes. I was so excited! But I had to get back to my project.

Finally, late at night, I was able to settle in and really give the book a good going over. This is a treat! What scrap quilter doesn't have a stash of leftover strips, HSTs, 9-patch and 4-patch blocks? In this book Lynn shares many ways to use up those bits, while breaking down some of the fabric stash as well. Take a look at some of these quilts from the book.

I love the way she uses value in this one. The different values of the 9-patch blocks create the illusion that some of them are glowing. Wonderful!

 This quilt was made entirely from leftover HSTs from another quilt--hence the name. Lynn shares how studying a vintage quilt helped her mix up the values within the pinwheels to accomplish that aged look.

Look at this scrappy gem! What a variety of fabrics have come together in this great quilt. And by reversing the value placement from one block to the next there is so much more visual interest!

Can you pick out the 4-patch and 9-patch blocks that create this wonderful argyle pattern?  By using the same orange fabric in the center of each 9-patch, Lynn was able to bring a unifying element to this scrappy mix.

 Can you believe this mind-boggling 9-patch? Lynn gives a schedule for making the blocks that is doable to have all of the elements ready over a year's time.

This is one for which Lynn doesn't give the pattern, but she shares it as encouragement for us to use up our leftover elements. She made it using the HSTs, 4-patch and 9-patch blocks that had been piling up from exchanges and quilt leftovers. She only had to make one 6" 4-patch to create this top.

Well, that gives you a good idea of the types of the 17 patterns within the pages of this book. I realize I didn't include some of the quilts she shares that are still scrappy, but with a more controlled color palette. If that is your style there are patterns to warm your quilter's heart as well.

I love some of Lynn's homespun, scrap quilting wisdom. She talks about mental-health sewing, when she can just sew up some scrap units without a specific project in mind, saying, "Touching my fabric and hearing the hum of my sewing machine is very therapeutic for me." When sewing units this way, or for swaps, there is the added benefit of sewing without the stress of having to "agonize over fabric choices." She puts the units aside for later use and DOESN'T consider them a UFO. She says that fabric started in her stash, it is still in her stash--it has just changed form. (Love it!) According to her, "if you already own the fabric, you might as well enjoy playing with it."  

Lynn also includes the story of her journey as a scrap quilter, plus a wonderful section of the role value plays in the look of scrap quilts (if you couldn't already tell from the comments on the quilts above, it is a big factor!), and a great 13 page section with full color illustrations sharing some of her favorite techniques in quilt making. Is your mouth watering yet?

How can you win your own signed, spine-never-cracked copy of this great book? Just leave a comment here saying you are interested. Also, I don't usually do this on giveaways, but I want Lynn's book to be seen by as many as possible, so if you have a blog and will post a link there to this giveaway and say you have done so, I will put your name in a second time. I will ship the book wherever you live, so don't worry if you are an international reader. I will take comments on this until midnight, Monday the 26th. I will post the winner on Tuesday, the 27th.

And just in case you are not familiar with them, here is a look at her two previous books.

They are both excellent books for scrap quilters, and as I said in my Amazon review of the "Block-Swap" book, you don't have to participate in swaps to use this book. I have never done a swap, but I have used the book to make a wonderful scrap quilt seen here.

Okay, there you have it! Leave your comment and you are in, link to this and say so and you are in twice. Good Luck!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows--and is very high on the pollen count right now (you can tell I have allergies),
Janet O.

We have a winner!

Doesn't Connie B. look happy? She should! She just won the quilt that was donated by Randy at Barrister's Block for my daughter's "Running for Ben" fundraiser . You can read about the fundraiser here (look for the Chinese Coins quilt near the end of the post), and the donated quilt here. Randy, she wanted you to know that the quilt was going to someone who understands and appreciates the work that goes into making a beautiful quilt like this.
My eight-year-old grandson was so taken with the quilt that he even entered with his own money to try and win it.
The quilt helped us raise over a thousand dollars at our booth at the Top of Utah Marathon this past weekend. Thank you, Randy. It really made a difference! It has also made me want to be more productive so that I will have quilts on hand, ready for good causes. What a great reason to make more quilts!
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Goodies in the Mail from LuAnn at Loose Threads!

If you haven't seen LuAnn's post with the instructions for this quilt check it out. This is LuAnn's own version of the Flurry pattern available here for free download at the Fat Quarter Shop.
She wanted a wall hanging so she made her packages using charm squares, rather than a layer cake. Then she had a giveaway for the fabrics to make your own and I won! The package arrived today.
This gracious woman was already going above and beyond in her give away--it included 1 1/2 yards of Kona white and 1/2 yard each of the Kona red and green, along with 2 of the Flurry charm packs.

But the package contained more. Along with everything promised, LuAnn had added 3/4 yard of this cute candy fabric for binding. She had gone to Quilts Plus to see how they had quilted their Flurry quilt and decided to get this to bind hers. She got some for me, too.

Isn't it fun? What a nice surprise to find in the mail on a busy, hectic day!
Among other things, I had just returned home from a nearby cemetery where I visited the grave of my dear friend who died after a brief illness in May. This would have been her 60th birthday today. I had driven to town first and picked up some of her favorite flowers to put on her grave. As I stood waiting for them to be wrapped I just started crying as memories of this special friend flooded my mind. I felt very conspicuous, and couldn't get out of the store fast enough. I drove to the cemetery in tears. Once there I sat on a bench by her grave in this little burial place at the base of the mountains. I looked back toward the entrance that gives a beautiful view out over the valley. I spent about 20 minutes there, all alone, listening to the birds. They were usually the only thing I could hear, and it was very calming.

I left for home feeling more at peace. When I found LuAnn's package in the mail and unwrapped this treasure, I was smiling. Thanks seems inadequate, LuAnn. You are most generous!

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

Hometown News

Have you seen this everywhere today? You can't click on a news site without it popping up. (The guy from the motorcycle was trapped under the car--bystanders rescued him at their own peril.)

This is in Logan, Utah--my hometown. I'm sure people in your town would have done the same. There are good people everywhere, aren't there? Heartwarming--and not because of the burning motorcycle. : )
Janet O.

What a Beauty!

I just had to share this. You may recall a few posts back that I mentioned donating a quilt for my daughter's fundraiser and how I was sorry I didn't have another quilt ready for her next one. A very generous blogger offered to send a quilt to be donated and it arrived today. With her permission, I wanted to show you what Randy has sent us. It is a beautifully scrappy double 4-patch in a controlled color palette, and mostly batiks. It is a very soothing combination of blues, purples and pinks with splashes of yellow in the narrow border.  I love it. I don't think my photo does it justice. I told Randy that I sat with it over my lap for a while this evening admiring the fabrics and I think we bonded. Wonder what my chances are of winning it?

Thank you so much, Randy. I hope to be able to pay it forward someday!

A Labor Day respite

DH and I are usually quite the stick-in-the-muds when it comes to 4-day  weekends. We don't go anywhere or have fun plans--just hang around home and water the garden, mow lawn, do dishes--you get the idea. 

This year we deviated from the norm and drove up the neighboring canyon for an hour to a beautiful little lake nestled up in the mountains (locals will recognize this as Tony Grove).

In the cool morning air we walked the loop around the lake (about 40 minutes IF you don't take pictures--DH said next time he won't remind me to bring the camera!).

The lake was glassy--sometimes it was hard to tell what was real and what was reflection. Can you pick out the far shoreline in the photo above? From the other side of the lake the morning sun made these yellow flowers glow.

 The photo below is kind of fuzzy, but it has a story. As we walked in the stillness all we could usually hear was the buzz of the bees in the profuse wildflowers. Suddenly we heard a whooshing sound overhead and looked up to see this hawk swooping down on its prey. It missed its mark, circled a couple of times and flew up to this dead tree limb to scope out a new victim.

Here are some of the bees about their labors on Labor Day. Believe me when I say that this is only a fraction of the wildflower pictures I snapped. DH will confirm that.

On the road to and from the lake I worked on stitching hexagons to papers--I will conquer that project yet! At home we watched some of the U.S. Open and I pulled out the t-shirt quilt which came back from the quilter a couple of weeks ago and got the edges trimmed and ready for binding. I've only bound one other king size quilt and that was over 10 years ago. I have no idea how long this will take, but knowing my speed, don't expect a post of a finished quilt anytime soon.

Our morning jaunt was just a three hour excursion, but it was very refreshing and set the tone for a good day! How did you spend your Labor Day?

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

Janet O.