What fun it was to read your comments from my School's Out Giveaway - thank you so much to all for entering.  I had Mr. Random Number Generator pick the winner and with 16 entries, everyone  had an excellent chance. My winner was #15, Amy, otherwise known as A.J. Dub.  Congratulations Amy!

A Quilt Finish: 
Last weekend I finished up Transport Your Dreams and had the wonderful opportunity this week to give it to the adorable little boy whom I made it for.  He's only a baby now and will only lie on it and shortly be rolling around on it, but my hope is that one day he loves his quilt so much that perhaps I'll see a photo of it looking very worn and loved.

Transport Your Dreams Quilt

Transport your Dreams - I just love the back!

In keeping with my travel theme, I wanted to take photos of this quilt hanging from the Pacific Electric Red Car that sits just off Main Street in Seal Beach, CA, a town I absolutely adore.  After further research about the Pacific Electric Rail Car or "Red Car" system that I knew ran in the downtown Los Angeles area in the early twentieth century, I learned that it went as far south as Seal Beach, through Huntington Beach and terminated in Newport Beach.

Pacific Electric Red Car  Museum in Seal Beach, CA

I brought various kinds of clips to hang the quilt on the side of the rail car but no luck. There was nothing to hang/attach the clips to on the side.  Oh well, I had my older son along with me for lunch and he provided the perfect "hanger" with the Red Car as the backdrop.  Success - I got my shot.

Transport Your Dreams Quilt back with the "Red Car"

Hope your dreams take you as far as you want them to take you!
Susan

School's out people and its time for me to resurrect this blog with a Giveaway!

I'm giving away four 1 yard cuts of 2wenty-thr3e by Eric & Julie Comstock of Cosmo Cricket for Moda that I just picked up at Birch Fabrics in Paso Robles, CA over the weekend.  The vintage style and fun words and graphics caught my eye while browsing through the store.  I'll tell you how to enter down below.

2WENTY-THR3E

Because it is Tuesday and to pay homage to my fellow food aficionado Debbie, here is a little Tuesday at the Table of my own:  Spicy Tuna Rolls.  This past Sunday afternoon one my Uncle's returned from a fishing trip to Mexico and showed up at my door with a huge cooler full of Bluefin Tuna.  Yes...Bluefin Tuna.  The melt in your mouth goodness that one shouldn't look at or even order as it's categorized as "Avoid" according to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch.  But when your Uncle shows up at your door with a cooler full of it, how can one refuse?  I didn't.

Last night I served the tuna two ways: Marinated, coated with sesame seeds and then seared quickly on the BBQ and rolled into Spicy Tuna rolls. I also served it to myself as I was preparing it, slicing off a sliver at a time relishing in the pure taste.  I was even able to convince the 15 year old to try a taste - he still makes the same "icky" face he made when he was 2.  So cute.

Wish I had more pictures but the camera was acting funny (it's really me who doesn't know how to work the camera, yet).

Nori, sushi rice, avocado, bluefin tuna, spicy mayo

Not easy to cut

Not super pretty but they tasted divine!

To enter my School's Out Giveaway, please leave a comment about a favorite summer memory.  I'll pick the winner on Friday, June 21st at 6am pacific time.  I'm looking forward to reading your comments.
Hope lots of smiles come your way today~
Susan 

Last October I shared here about an opportunity to make a quilt top for Hoffman Fabrics for their display at the upcoming Fall Quilt Market 2011.  I think I had about a week to get it done and mail it to their offices in Mission Viejo, CA so they in turn had time to get it quilted and bound before it left for Texas.

Latte Quilt

Here are the details:

This was not an easy week for me due to various reasons but the main thing that kept me moving forward was nice people: wonderful comments and suggestions from you all for future podcasts; students in the classroom who really enjoyed my presence and learned something; and quick meet-ups for coffee/hot chocolate with friends.  Being nice, respectful and caring can make all the difference in a person's life - no matter how short or long the interaction.

I received 55 great comments from those of you who listen to both my podcast and Sandy's (Quilting for the Rest of Us) and am truly thankful and amazed at the wide range of quilting history you all are interested in and wish for me to research and podcast about. Amish quilts, history of fabric, history of the longarm machine, 1930's quilts, Double Wedding Ring quilts...for example.  And now for the winner...

Congratulations to hiyacinth for being the winner of the $50 gift certificate to Fabricworm.com! Her suggestion of Hawaiian Quilts (prompted from her seeing one in The Descendants) will now be the subject of my next podcast coming up next week. Cannot wait to begin the research on this starting with seeing the movie.  A big thank you to hiyacinth and everyone else who entered for the great ideas!

Hope you all have a great Easter Weekend - be safe, have fun and treasure your family,
Susan

If you are looking for my giveaway in honor of Sandy from the Quilting For The Rest of Us 2nd Podcastaversary, please go here.  The giveaway will be open until Friday, April 6th at 6pm pacific time.

I need a little help with a block I worked on yesterday for the Modern Blocks Bee I am participating in. This is called Box Kite by Angela Pingel and you can see the original block here on her website.  First go check out what the block should look like and then compare it with mine.

Box Kite block by Angela Pingel from Modern Blocks by C&T Publishing

My questions for you:


1.  In the original block all four points of each individual "box kite" should come to a point, not cut off like mine are.  What could I have done wrong to have these points cut off when I cut all of the fabric out correctly?

2. The "box kites" should continue all the way to the end of the 12.5 x 12.5 inch block - I added a black border to increase my block size to that dimension.  Again, what did I do wrong?

I am looking for perfection but I want to understand what I did wrong so I can either make another block for my partner and/or learn for the next time.  Any input you have would be appreciated.

I'm linking up with Sew Modern Monday and Manic Monday today. Please visit them both!



Thanks everyone! Have a safe and productive Monday,
Susan

It's not my anniversary...it's Sandy's!
Sandy from Quilting For The Rest of Us is celebrating her 2nd Podcast Anniversary and has designated April as a month of giveaways on her blog and she has invited her fellow podcasters (like me!) to help celebrate in this first week.  Please go visit her blog here to see what she and the other quilting podcasters are giving away this week.  If you have not yet discovered the wonderfulness that is Sandy and Quilting For The Rest of Us, please check her out.  She makes me laugh, reminds me we are all human and teaches me something in every episode.

Podcast episode notes now....my giveaway below:

I visited the Glendale Quilt Show with my friend Zina - here are a few of the quilts we saw:

"Picnic Blanket" by Aviva Nizani

"Triangles Galore" by Patti Sparks

"Once Upon A Time" by Vicki Chase

I made Butternut Squash and Kale Bread Pudding recently - recipe here at Epicurious.com.  

Butternut Squash and Kale Bread Pudding

Venice Canals at low tide

Over the past 2 1/2 years the online quilting community has opened up a whole new world to me.  Fabric, texture, color, design and movement.... Flickr, pinterest, swaps, linkys, comments....I could go on.  But the most important thing that it has opened up for me is friendship.  Friendship through a shared craft/hobby/art although online should not be overlooked or undervalued - the access we now have to others across the globe to enhance/learn more about our love of quilting is real.

For example there is Debbie from A Quilter's Table - a perfect example of an online quilt blogging friend who has slowly crept into my daily consciousness with her witty prose and her amazing creations.  Although we may never meet (I sure hope we do!) in person, I so enjoy the almost instant feed back if I have a question or a photo to share with her.

Then there is Zina who I met through the Goodie Swap 2011 - she made me these for the swap:

Just love that bag...I used it last night!

Well last Saturday Zina and I went to a local quilt show together and had a great time.  Who knew there was another quilter approximately 1.4 miles away from me who is normal?  I laugh at typing this as when I called her to set up what time I would pick her up I told her that I was "normal" and that she shouldn't worry...what a laugh we had in the car about that later.  Thrilled to have a quilting friend so close!  I see trips to M&L in our future, Zina.

My last example brings me to my best bud in my daily life. She is going through a divorce right now and one of the things she told me she wanted was a quilt for her bed as her soon to be ex never liked quilts.  So now her mother and I are working on making her a quilt for her bed.  Love the idea of making my best bud's life a little better with a quilt.

On to the WIP's - what I am no longer working on:

Supernova - finished

Supernova is done and folded up on my couch right now.  Will probably wrap myself in it tonight after I return from Back to School night at the high school.  The rain and (relative) cold we are experiencing right now make it a perfect night to wrap in a quilt.

What's next?
The T-Shirt Quilt  - shirts sent to me by my cousin in Maryland.  Shirts cut out and 1/2 are now backed by interfacing.
Quilt top for my Best Bud - I'm only doing 1/2 of the blocks for this quilt top and then will hand them off to her mother to finish.

Lastly, the Giveaway:
I've just hit 50 followers (actually 51 now!) so to celebrate I'm giving away a $50.00 gift certificate to the  Fat Quarter Shop for starting me down this wonderful quilting path that my life is now on.  Their ad Martha Stewart Magazine  2 1/2 years ago began my now love of quilting so they deserve all the credit/blame.  :)

To enter in the giveaway please leave a comment telling me what got you started down your crafty/quilting path.  Was it a family member, a friend, a magazine, a blog?  You know how I got started so tell me how you did.  Make sure I can get in touch with you.   *The Giveaway is now closed as of Thursday, October 13th at midnight.*

I'm linking up with Lee from Freshly Pieced so please go on over a check out what other's have on their WIP lists for today.

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday,
Susan

First up the giveaway winner:

Debbie who said:

A kindergarten memory I have is of me with a nose in my book on the way to the bus to go home. I ran into a post & pretty much knocked myself out & they had to call my mom! hahaha. Silly but true!

Greek Cross

 

Mosaic

All three together:

I'm off to record HQ Episode #11 ~
Susan

A very good morning to you all this gorgeous Friday here in Southern California!

School is out!



Now for my first ever giveaway!  It is time for me to pay it forward with my own giveaway.  I am participating in the Sew Mama Sew 2011 Giveaway Day on Monday, May 23rd for the first time.   Stop by on Monday for a Yoga Retreat recap/photos and details about the giveaway.


Have a great weekend everybody!
Ciao!