Saturday, March 15, 2014

Celebrate National Quilting Day with DCQ

Good morning, and Happy National Quilting Day!
Yesterday, as I was happily stitching away on the Chateau Rouge Candy Dish quilt, I racked my brain for how to best celebrate this important day.  It finally came to me as used my scrap pile to stitch the Tuffets (shown below), with my scraps.  I thought about how many Tuffets I’ve made (probably 50 or more), and how many I have left (not very many)…
The reason?  I love to make Tuffets and give them as special gifts to my quilting friends.  I try to customize them to “match”  each recipient… by either using their scraps  from their favorite quilt project, or making them a special little tuffet in a color or quilt block pattern that reflects their personality.
This gesture signifies what I love most about quilting… it’s such a personal thing.  Every quilter I know has their own unique style, talent, and favorite technique.  Their quilts they make, and usually generously give to others,  are a window into their soul.
Which brings me to today… I invite you to share what you love most about quilting.  Enter your thoughts as a blog comment… and three lucky winners will receive either,
The Grand Prize… A set of three matching French General Tuffets, that I made, just for you, yesterday!
cd25
Or, the Runner Up Prize, a Chateau Rouge Candy Dish Quilt kit…
cd1
Or, the Consolation Prize,
Two patterns, the original “Tuffets” by Miss Rosie, plus her new version, “Morsel”…

Links to items in this blog:

I’ll ask my quilting friend Kari to help me judge the comments and pick her favorites.  She’s the most creative quilter I know!  We’ll  announce the three lucky winners next weekend.
Oh… I also have to show you my other set of Tuffets I made last night, for my friend Jaci.  She made me the most delicious homemade 5 cheese ravioli.  I made her some Tuffets… I just love the littlest one… it is so dang cute!
cd26
Happy National Quilting Day!  Be sure to enter the coupon code NQD into your orders this week.  Read our newsletter to learn why...


~ From Laura, Wesley & Matthew

9 comments:

  1. What I love about quilting is the community. It gives me a chance to meet some of the most wonderful people in the world and see some of the most creative and beautiful creations around. It also give me the freedom to do what I love and be creative in the way I want to be. There is nothing as wonderful to me as seeing other's creations and having someone say how wonderful they think my creations are!

    I love your tuffets, too! I have never seen them before!
    Sandy A

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  2. Sandy... Thanks for being the first to comment. The tuffets are stuffed with walnut shells, and meant to be pin cushions. But, I also love them as decorative accents. For some reason, they just seem to look best in sets of 3.

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  3. Should have read further before I commented above. I absolutely love the set of three French General Tuffets. Like you, I'm not very good at making things for myself -- they seem to sink to the bottom of the pile. Quilting is like Christmas shopping, finding the perfect gift for someone on your love list, no matter what the time of year. Something that has that person's name on it, that just screams Raye or Don or Randy or . . . Even if it's March. And then not being able to wait for Christmas to give it.

    Love the French General Candy Dish quilt kit also. Just want to grab those fabrics off of the screen. And since it would have been meant for me, it would be extra special. and I would enjoy every minute I fiddled with it. The Schnibbles pattern for Tuffets I already have, so winning it would mean that I could create my own Tuffet kit to give to someone else! I've never seen one of the Little Bites patterns.

    This comment has ended up being a ramble about giving and receiving. That's the truly wonderful thing about quilters and good friends of any sort. They are always thinking about giving. And then giving, and giving some more. Quilters don't keep score. Every gift received, every giveaway won is a little miracle because it is unexpected. I don't enter giveaways to win. I enter because the time it takes to comment is time I spend thinking about giving. Wishing that I had a blog, so I could sponsor my own giveaways. Being inspired by something I see or read to picture just the perfect things to make for people. What I can give to those who have less than me.

    I have always defined the perfect friendship as a relationship in which each person feels that they receive far more than they give. And the best thing about it is that there is no need to "keep score" because you are always ahead in the receiving, always wanting to share more to catch up in the giving. And quilters generally are wonderful friends, whether you know them or not.

    Boy I have really rambled and jumped all over the place. But then, I tend to have "blather fingers" (the written equivalent of motormouth). I don't know when to quit. But then I really like bed-sized quilts to plan and make the best. As scrappy as possible. With as many pieces as possible. And I like doing 1500 piece jig-saw puzzles. I love having and fondling little tiny things, boxes and pictures and miniature quilts and needlework, but lack the patience to always finish them. I always want to make them bigger. I guess our traits truly are consistent across genres!

    I feel a little silly about this comment, but it's what came out. I'm having to make a deliberate decision to stop typing and hit post!

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  4. Brenda~ your post is perfect! Thanks for sharing! ~Laura

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  5. Quilting is my neutralizer - between things I have absolutely no control over (Shingles) and my ability to do anything I want. My Room is all of my memories that are stored, my presence, my wonderment, and all my tools to feed my joy and creativity. My quilting room is the meeting place for friends and family to come together.

    I love your little tuffets - did not know that there was a Schnibbles pattern book. Thanks from Judy C in NC for all you do for our sewing community.

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  6. Judy... The Schnibbles patterns are all individual, as far as I know. There's 2 Schnibbles patterns (Tuffets, and Patriotic Tuffets, both are charm pack friendly).. plus a new pattern called Little Bites, Morsel (candy square friendly, uses 2 1/2" squares, plus assorted scraps.

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  7. Quilting is my signature in this world. I find it makes me happy whenever I get the chance to do it and when I give my quilting as a gift it makes another person in my world happy as well. How do you beat that?!!! I love French General fabric. I have made 3 different quilts with it and love your little projects. I do have some scraps and fabrics left which would be perfect. Have a wonderful day and I hope you find some time to stitch. Thank you for the chance to win a really sweet quilty giveaway.

    Mary

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  8. Laura, being a Carrie Nelson fan, she has a book Schnibbles Times Two which I have, where she presents a Schnibbles-sized pattern and then upsizes it (with variation) to a larger lap/throw sized quilt. She may have a second similar book out now -- not sure and have been out of touch with quilting for a couple of years; just getting back into it. . . . Just checked Barnes and Nobles, new book is Another Bite of Schnibbles.

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