Sharing on Sunday Give Away...

Edit...This give away is now closed, but see the current give away from the link in my side bar.

Remember after the last button give away, I wanted to start a "Sharing on Sunday" Give Away. Each Sunday I will be giving away something small, something I found on sale, something I have but don't use any more and want to share with someone who will use it...just about anything. Sharing on Sunday is my way of saying Thanks to everyone for all your wonderful comments, support, friendship and for all the little gifties that I have received.

Well, here is today's Sharing on Sunday give away. It's a large vinyl tote bag that I found on sale. Isn't she CUTE!!




It has a very large zippered opening with a wide flat bottom.



It's very wide and deep, so it's great for the beach, grocery shopping, a diaper bag, a super big purse, picnics...what ever you'd like!

It's 20" wide and...

15" tall...

So, how does Sharing on Sunday work? It's easy! Just leave a comment on this post and I will pick the winner next Sunday. On that same day, I will post another little item for the next Sharing on Sunday. I will ship international, except if it's a super heavy item, Lol. I'll try to keep them light though, so everyone has a chance!!

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I just keep thinking of all the good things that have happened in my life and want to share a little bit with you.

Have a wonderful day,

~Karen~

Yahtzee Anyone? Lazy Susan Remake

Games...high tech or low tech they are popular around our house. Our girls have lap tops, ipod touches, ipods, wii and all the latest what nots, but once in a while they still go back to the basics. Yahtzee is big at our house right now. Our daughter Courtney and her boyfriend Courtland have matches all the time. We came home from Kelsie's last dance recital today (pictures later) to find the 2 Courts on the porch playing Yahtzee. Then they asked us if we wanted to play...lots of fun and Courtney won with 280 points! I wanted to share something I made for them.

When they would play on the table, they thought it was too noisy and would roll the dice on a magazine. Here's what I came up with.

I took a wooden round tray, some fabric and Mod Podge glue. I used a round tray, because the table we have it on is round so it looks cute. However, any tray would work.




Cut the fabric to fit your tray. Brush a layer of Mod Podge glue on the tray and then place the fabric on that. Once you have the fabric positioned, brush on another layer of Mod Podge.




The glue is milky white until it dries.




I added an antique box for the score cards and pens, a matching mug instead of the plastic cup it came with and cute wooden dice.

and look...I rolled a Yahtzee!!! (yeah, right)

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Here it is on the game table. I gave them each their own mug and 2 different sets of dice. You could definitely customize to your own with fabrics and colors.

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Now go through some old board games and steal 5 dice or look in that junk drawer, they've got to be in there! Go to the computer, print free Yahtzee score cards and have fun with your new homemade Yahtzee set!!

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Have fun,

~Karen~

Snowball Night Update...Add A Nine Patch

First, I would like to thank everyone who is joining in on the Snowball Night. It's going to be so much fun looking at all the different blocks throughout the week. I am compiling a list of all the ladies who are joining in. If you would rather not have your name on the list just let me know. I also wanted to mention to Jenn who asked "do you need a blog to join in"...you sure don't!! We would love to have you join us. I couldn't answer you in an email, because it was a no reply. If you want to share your pictures, you could email them to me and I'll post them for you!

Secondly, I have a great big Thank You to my new blogging friend Elizabeth from Such A Sew and Sew. Do you know she made me a code for my snowball button out of the goodness of her heart. Can you see it...top right of my side bar. I was just blown away by her thoughtfulness. She took the time out of her day to make my button a little easier to grab. You are a peach Elizabeth and I can't thank you enough. Go for a visit to her blog and give her some blogging love. She has great quilts, tutorials and yummy recipes.

As you're busy sewing your snowball blocks, maybe you could consider adding a nine patch to your design.

The only issue with using a nine patch with your snowball block is that the math would be a whole lot easier if the snowball you are making was a size divisible by 3...like a 6", 9" or a 12" snowball.

Here is a quick look at a snowball nine patch with a 6 1/2" (unfinished) block.

You will need 2 1/2" squares for the corners of the snowball and for all the squares in the nine patch.

Make your snowball with the tutorial from the first post.

Now make your nine patch. I used alternating white patches for this design. I will have another post with a nine patch with all colored squares for a different look.

When you are done with all the blocks, take 5 snowballs and 4 nine patches and now you will build a bigger nine patch.

Sew the 3 blocks across in all 3 rows...



Then sew the first row to the second....

then the third row to the second row. Now you have a big snowball nine patch block that measures 18 1/2" x 18 1/2". Keep making these along the way and all you do is sew these big blocks together for a larger quilt. This is much more manageable than sewing all the smaller blocks together row after row.

Here are some old pictures of quilt tops I made years ago. In the picture below, the snowballs are made with adorable sheep fabric with black and white polka dots for the 4 corners. The nine patch is made with 5 squares of the black polka dots and 4 squares of blue back ground fabric.

The way the fabric is positioned, the black fabric looks great around the snowballs!

Here's another old one. I made the nine patches with half square triangles in the 4 corners. Great look from far away.

Here's a close up.

Look for more posts to come, but in the mean time you can always google snowball nine patch quilt and click on google images. There are thousands of inspirational pictures.

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Hope you're having fun sewing!

~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Quick Ribbon Organizer

Happy Tool Time Tuesday. You know I love anything galvanized...anything! So, when I was in (where else) Home Depot with hubby and saw these spikes, I had to get them. My poor husband doesn't even ask anymore why there are a handful of 12 inch spikes in our carriage. Love him to pieces!
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Well, my thoughts were:

• cute
• galvanized
• Tuesdays
• and 65 cents...that's the best one

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This is what I did with them and I love it! The head of the spike is large enough to stand on it's own, plus the support of the cardboard ribbon case. Oh, I know what you're thinking...that pointy tip. It's not sharp, because the spike is so thick, but you could file it down if you wanted to.
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It's so easy to see what you have for ribbon, what you need to use up and what you need to buy. I use ribbon a lot for gifts, packages, boxes, sewing etc. I kept them in a nice neat box, which was fine, but when I use something quite a bit, it's better to keep it handy and where I can see it.
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I actually went out and bought a few extras and separated the colors more. I also have a little pair of scissors that I leave there, so I can always have something there to snip the ribbon.
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Have a wonderful Tuesday and don't forget to see yesterday's post about joining The Snowball Night!
~Karen~

I've linked this post to We're Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything. Grab her button on my side bar and join the fun.
Also linked to Somewhat Simple: Strut Your Stuff
and...CSI's Hardware Store Challenge

Let's Have A Snowball Night...

I know, I know...it's summer here, but I want to have a Snowball Night!! I never liked snowball fights, so this is much better.
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Sometimes sitting down to sew a whole quilt or a stack of blocks can be daunting, especially with crazy schedules (or a quilt "to do list" a mile long). I was thinking...why don't we pick a night that works best for each of us and sew a few snowballs (get it..sew instead of throw ok, you all know me by now!). If we do a few snowballs a week, before you know it, we'll have enough to put together a whole quilt and just in time for winter.
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Grab my button (see it up there in the top right) if you'd like to participate. It will be linked to all the posts I will be doing along the way for tips and tricks with snowballs and inspirational pictures.
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I don't do well with the codes, so you just need to...

• highlight the button and save it to your picture file.
• go to your layout section of your dashboard and click add gadget
• click add picture
• then just fill it in with the title, picture and link (url) to the snowball post, then save it
• easy, easy well easy for me because I don't do codes. It took an act of God just to get the button made without photo shop, but that's a whole different post!

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Sew...let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!
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This is the basic tutorial for a snowball block. As I add more information to this event, there will be different block configurations that go along with the snowball block!
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First, I am starting with an 8 1/2" block. The larger of the squares will end up being your actual snowball.
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You will also need 4 squares cut at 3 inches.
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If you would like to make different sizes of snowballs you can follow this guideline

• 5" snowball (charm pack) you will need 4 corner squares at 2"
• 6 1/2" snowball...you will need 4 corner squares at 2 1/2"
• 10" snowball (layer cake) you will need 4 corner squares at 3 1/2"

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Now, back to sewing...draw a line in pencil from corner to corner on each smaller square.

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Place all 4 squares on the snowball right sides together. Pin if you'd like.

This is an extra step, but oh so worth it for the bonus blocks in the end. Mark a dot a 1/2" away from the first line.

and draw that in pencil too.

Now sew on all the lines.

Use your center guide line on your machine to help you along the way. The diagonal line is so easy to follow with a guide line or tape on your machine, you might not need the pencil line once you get going.

Here are the four main lines all sewn. I left the strings on to show you a tip...

Much like chain piecing, sew a line, lift your presser foot, pull on the thread a little and then bring your next square to the needle without cutting it. Saves thread and saves that bunching up thing on the back that happens when you begin a new stitch.

Here is the finished snowball all sewn up.

Now cut between the 2 lines. Because the space is 1/2" wide each piece should have a 1/4 seam.

Press all 4 corners.

Then lift up each square and press back.

Tah Dah!!! This snowball is so much better than the other kind!

Now press those little extras that we cut off. Press open to the darker fabric. There will be other posts about these little gems later. These will square up to 2".

Now for a little inspiration to get you started... Three very generous ladies have allowed me to share their photos of their absolutely beautiful snowball quilts. You must visit their blogs, they are AMAZING!

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First, is Nicole from Sister's Choice Quilts. Aren't these just beautiful. If you look through her archives under 1-22-2010, 7-7-2009, 10-22-2007 and 9-18-2007, that's where I found these photos. Actually, you just have to look through her whole blog, because every picture is better than the last!

This stunning quilt is from Twin Fibers. A wonderful blog from twin sisters Jennifer and Jessica. Their blog is just spectacular...you have to go visit. The photographs are amazing, as is every project they post about. This quilt is from their 1-14-2010 post. Just the prettiest quilt and the fabric...to die for.

Thanks so much ladies for letting me share your wonderful creations!

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Now let's get the Snowball Night going.

• Post my Snowball button on your blog
• spread the word
• and as you get sewing, pick a day during the week to post about your mounting pile of snowballs

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Happy Sewing and look for more snowball posts this week,

~Karen~