Winners

Marilyn is the winner of the target card  Whooo Hoo

And

Judy is the winner of the Starbucks card

Enjoy ladies!!!

And Sew well!!

Sandra Dallas Book Winner

Just so you know I did draw at 6pm, but then dinner was called.... and in my house if you don't show up quickly - there is NOTHING left to eat. Case in point.... I made 12 hamburgers for lunch, I ate 1, and there is only 1 left. Wish me luck.....
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Anyways to the important part - the Winner.......
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NFCMS is the winner. And they left an email for me to contact them - so be looking for your email!!!

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Thanks for playing....

Sandra Dallas Book Giveaway

I have to tell you I am so excited!! Sandra Dallas has come out with a NEW book. I love Sandra Dallas books. I think I have read them all, and even made a quilt like one in her book - "The Quilt that Walked to Golden"
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And now she has written a NEW one. If you have never read a Sandra Dallas book before - head on over to Amazon or your favorite Book store and get a book written by her. My favorite book is "Prayers For Sale". Oh, or maybe it is "The Persian Pickle Club", Oh, and I like "Tallgrass" as well. Kind of reminds me of the area in which I now live.
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Another way for you to be able to read her new book "Whiter than Snow" is a giveaway!! I have been given the opportunity to give away one copy of her new book to one very lucky blog reader. So if you are so inclined to be included in this giveaway. Leave a comment on this post before Sunday June 27th at 6pm, and tell me what your favorite quilt pattern or block is. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you for your address to send the book to if you are a lucky winner!!
Here is an excerpt from Sandra:
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Sandra Dallas, Whiter Than Snow

Nothing defines my characters more than their sewing.
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In my first novels, my female characters smoked. My books are set in earlier times, long before we knew about the evils of tobacco, when a woman who smoked was independent, a little daring, sophisticated. As a writer, I could do so much with smoking: A character could watch the smoke curl up or blow smoke into someone’s face. She could pick a speck of tobacco off her lip or snuff out a cigarette in anger. And there was all that wonderful smoking paraphernalia, such as Bakelite cigarette holders, monogrammed cigarette boxes, and remember those huge standing ashtrays with sand in them? But today, smoking says something negative about a character, no matter what the time period. So my characters have quit smoking. Instead, they quilt.
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The way a woman stitches says something about her. A woman who takes small, even stitches is different from one who sews with big, sloppy stitches. A quilter who selects black and white fabrics for her quilt is more somber than one who picks primary colors. And the patterns the women choose, whether an intricate design with thousands of pieces or a big, bold pattern of large blocks, say something about them.
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The titles of the quilts, too, affect the stitchers. Log cabin quilts were a favorite of women who helped escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad. More than one pioneer woman pieced a Road to California before setting out for the West. And it’s hard to imagine that a woman who likes her toddies would make a Drunkard’s Path.
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My characters don’t just sew. They are part of a community of stitchers—the quilting circle. I first wrote about a quilting circle in The Persian Pickle Club, thinking there were a few quilters out there who might relate to the subject. What I didn’t know was there are 27 million of them and that they understand the significance of the quilting circle far better than I. So I’ve included sewing in virtually all of my books, to a greater (Prayers for Sale) or lesser (Whiter Than Snow) degree.
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What these readers know is that quilting isn’t just about making bed covers. In a quilting circle, women support each other. They share each other’s joys and sorrows, help in times of need, pull together when a member is threatened or in trouble. Quilting is a way of sharing, and the work of the women’s hands represents warmth and comfort not only because they are making a quilt but because that quilt is made with love.
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I’ve often been asked if I’m a quilter. Some years ago, I wrote The Quilt That Walked to Golden, a history of quilting in the Rocky Mountain States, for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, Colo. In the book, I write that quilting all but died out during World War II, and the women who picked up their needles a generation later were often self-taught. They did things no self-respecting quilter would do today, such as use polyester fabric or quilt in the ditch (on the seam line.) I tell of one woman who made a quilt for her sister as a wedding present, a stuffed quilt made of huge puffs filled with cotton. She didn’t know when to stop stuffing, and as a result, the quilt weighed 25 pounds. Their brother had to take it to the wedding in the back of his pickup.
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But my sister cherished the quilt anyway.
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© Copyright 2010 by Sandra Dallas. Reprinted with permission from the author

http://sandradallas.com/excerpts/snow-excerpt-1.html


GOOD LUCK!!!

Collections and Stash Acquistions

First off - I am feeling better about my lack of blog posting last week. I asked my husband what happened... and he reminded me of how I spent my time. Thursday I got to quilt and get groceries. That is a monumental task sometimes!
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But Friday - Friday makes me feel really good. Our tank heaters in the water tanks had froze up in the extreme cold, and one water spout had froze. So I spent the better part of the morning chopping ice, and heating up the water spout so I could fill the tanks. Then I had bought myself a present, and I had to set that up. I didn't take a picture because althought the present was exciting to me and Smokey it probably wouldn't be so exciting to have a picture taken.... what was is you ask? A heated water bucket for my dog! And that led me to 3pm which led to kids, drum lessons, dinner and swim practice, 2nd dinner ( for the boys) and bed!
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So now that I feel justified - are you still reading?
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Yesterday I acquired some more items for one of my collections. And it got me to thinking about stash, acquiring stash, collections and acquiring items. Do you think that it is genetic? Or do you think that it is learned? My Mom was telling the boys about my ability to make collections out of completely useless things when I was a kid - and I notice my boys can do that too.
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But I have continued collecting. I had a collection of Quilt magazines that I have recently started to share.. ( read give away) Fabric has been my collections of choice lately. But I do have a third collection much to Wrangler Mans dismay ( tee hee)
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So my questions - do you have other collection besides a main one? Are they hobbys? Or work related? What is it that makes you go - I want that! And If you can guess what I acquired for the collection in question... I will send you a really cool little Quilt of Valor pin that we had made up. Just make sure I have a way to contact you.
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And the pictures - these are Chubby Puppy at 5 weeks. I think she grew out of her chub, she sure got tall and is a little wild woman!
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Off to work....

Scraps Winner

The weekend goes by way way to fast....

The Winner of the scraps is Joanne over at http://nappinnanaquilts.blogspot.com/ so Joanne email me your addy and I will get the scraps off to you to make something wonderful with.!

And the Winners Are:

Just so you know - I did not dissappear. I had plans - lots of good plans.... with kids!

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And Now - the "stuff" you have all been waiting for!!

The Designer of our Mystery Quilt of Valor Sew Along - is the gracious Bonnie Hunter, of Quiltville.com

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I contacted her about doing this and she was so nice - she gave me permission almost immediately. And in the land of email I expect things to take a little longer than that. But this quilt is her Chunky Churndash Quilt pattern. I have wanted to make one for about a year in Patriotic Colors. And having you all sew it with me was the push I needed to just suck it up and do it!! Its not like I didn't have any Red White or Blues around!!.

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The Book that the drawing was for is her book "Scraps and Shirttails" It really is a great book! And it is signed by Ms Hunter herself!! So the winner of that book is Denise... so Denise in Colorado send me your snail mail addy and the book will be on its way to you!!

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Next - the $25 gift Certificate from Equilter.com. The winner of it was Heather at Spiritblog.net . Heather I'll send you an email and we will get the certificate on its way to you. No making beach coverups ... just kidding!!

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Hope you all had a good Friday - and will have an even better weekend!!

and the winner is

Elaine at http://elaineadairpieces.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Elaine!! Now you can start up that QOV ( tomorrow right? LOL)
Email me with your address and I will get these 12 FQ's in the mail to you.

Thanks for playing everyone!!

Number 5

I just did my 2 1/2 inch strips drawing.. I went to Random.org and put in 12 comments and number 5 won.... so.....

So QUILTIN TRUCKER.... you are it!! When you can send me an email at AlyciaQuilts @ Gmail.com ( remove all the spaces) and tell me where you want your strips sent to.

Thanks for playing!!

Beth and the HunnyBees

I just love hearing about the names of peoples sewing groups - this group comes from Idaho, and is called the Hunny Bees. I love it!!! And I wonder how they got that name?

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They sent in 6 quilts!! Two of them are the Not So Top Secret quilt - I think it is so cool to see all the versions of this, and it makes my oldest son feel so good. He had quite a hand in pushing that quilt pattern along!!

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Thanks Beth and the HunnyBees! You all are awesome!!

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On another note.... Schools Out for Summer.... Yay!! Hands are clapping and kids are screaming!!! Yesterday was the last day till August and boy were my kids ready!
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And then it rained and lightening'ed last nite....

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So with that - the kids at school were able to graph the first 725 quilts that came in for our soldiers. They kept track of which state they came from. Take a guess and see if you know which state the most quilts came from, the second most and the third most. Make your guess by Monday the 25th at 7pm. I'll have a surprise gift for the person that gets the (or closest to) three states)

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And with that - we are off to play!!! See ya tomorrow.

Giveaway!!

Well I said this weekend and the weekend went so fast, that I must have really meant Monday! What is better than a chance to get a cool thing on a Monday?

What is this giveaway you ask? It is the coolest thing next to Sliced Bread!

It's a WATERPIK Powerspray plus mist and Massage.

A Hand shower with a 5ft metal hose, it installs in minutes and has up to 30% more water force, but at the same time has a flow regulator so it doesn't use more than 2gallons per minute. This is good if you have a teenage son and well water!! And it really does install easily - took Wrangler Man about 5 minutes. It retails at $39.99

I have one of these in my shower now and I love it. It feels so good on my shoulders and back after I have been quilting all day. This one has been opened because - well I have kids - and they open things. They think that is their job in life - but it has not been taken out of the package.

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How do you get a chance to win this Waterpik? Leave a comment and tell me your favorite Christmas/Holiday Cookie/Treat . All comments must be recieved by Saturday December 13th at 8pm Colorado Time. I will then have my kids draw a random person and they will be the winner. If you don't leave a way for me to contact you - be sure to check back on Sunday so I can get all your details!

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Happy Monday!!

And his name is....

Wrangler Man...

We ( and by we, I mean the children) really like superheroes around here. Superman was a close second, but they really, really, liked Wrangler... as long as they could add Man to it - works for me.

So Ms Paula the Quilter - you are the winner in the contest. You get a $30 gift card from http://www.knotsandbolts.com/ She has great fabrics and lots of knitting stuff... which if I remember from your blog - you do. I think I remember seeing socks. Which I thought - I wonder if I could make those? So I took a knitting class - and decided that No I really can't - I will have to rely on the stores to keep my feet warm.

Paula - email me at alyciac @ quiltygirl.com and lets get all your details so you can be shopping by tomorrow evening, as you are putting your feet up from a hard day at work, with your computer on your lap - and maybe even a glass of tea by your side...

Don't know if you can see it - but there is a hot air balloon behind our corrals. He was fun to watch this morning.

Have a good one!