You know it's a good day when a package from Kate Spain is in the mailbox...

Lately, I've been lucky enough to win a couple of giveaways in addition to the traveling stash (by the way, congrats again, Sara - I'll be sending it out to you later today!).

First, there was a Kona Color Card from Jeni over at In Color Order. Thank you Jeni, I absolutely love it and I can't wait to use it on my next quilt! This thing is huge though... wow!

I love just petting all the little fabric swatches... I can't help it... I know I'm not alone here... I'm talking to a bunch of quilters... haha!

Then, today, I get THIS in the mail... I know there's a lot of black but this is a pretty sweet envelope...

I don't know if she'll ever see this, but thank you so much to Kate and Fat Quarterly! I'm totally in love with Terrain (as well as, like, every other Kate Spain fabric, haha) and I cannot stop looking at how cute these mini charm packs are!

I went to work right away and made something with one of them - I made quilted thank-you note cards. A very easy process. Next time I do it I think I'll write a tutorial.

Then, I made my block for Heroes Helping Heroes - it's going out in the mail tomorrow :) It was so easy and fun, I think I'm going to make a string quilt one of these days...

Did you get a lot of sewing done today, or did you go Black Friday shopping (if you're in the States?) I did both and made out like a bandit at Kohls!

Traveling Stash Winner and Etsy store sale!

I hope everyone in the U.S. had a fantastic Thanksgiving! I ate wayyy too much but it was so worth it, and had lots of fun family time as well. It's been a great week. :)

-----I'm having a 25% off sale in my shop if you are interested!-----

To answer the question in the giveaway, myfavorite holiday dessert has to be either pumpkin bread, or cheesecake. Yum, yum, yum. It was fun to read all your favorites! I was getting hungry...

So, I used the random number generator to get a winner...

who is...

SARA! Congrats! I'm emailing you right now! Ironically, the RNG picked Sara, who happens to be one of my best bloggy friends!! :) I guess I'll have to put in some extra special goodies...

Thanks to everyone who entered, and I hope you'll stick around!

Look to Sara's blog soon as she looks to pass on the Traveling Stash once again... :)

Traveling Stash Giveaway!

I was lucky enough to receive the Traveling Stash today from Shannon!! Woo! (P.S. she has a great blog, go check it out :) )

For those of you who don't know what the traveling stash is, it travels all around the U.S. (and Canada possibly). This one was started in August 2011. It's filled with fabric, notions, patterns, you name it - and opening it is super fun. I couldn't believe how much was in there!

Here's a peek at what was in the traveling stash when I got it (there's a TON of big cuts of fabric, you can see that towards the back, plus lots of precut squares and patterns... and that's only part of it):

Here's what I took out:

(I didn't mean to take such a bad picture =P Underneath the precut squares are a few fat quarters and a big cut of blue butterfly fabric).

Right now I'll tell you a couple things I'm putting in: fat quarters including In the Beginning and Soul Blossoms fabrics, as well as lace and a Soul Blossoms charm pack (22 squares). To see the rest, you'll have to enter to win the stash!

1. You MUST be a U.S. resident. I can't afford to send it anywhere else!

2. You must pledge to put in an equal amount of what you take out - quilt quality fabrics, for example, and approximately the same amount of yardage you took out

3. You must have an active blog and hold a giveaway to send the traveling stash to its next location.

Want to win?

1. I'd love for you to follow, but you don't have to! Your first entry will be to leave a comment answering the following question: What's your favorite holiday dessert? (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate at the end of the year).

2. Post about the giveaway on your blog. The more people involved, the better! Leave a second comment saying that you did this, with the link.

This is going to be a short one, as I would like to send this out before I go back to school (i.e. on Saturday). This giveaway will end Friday morning at 9 am EST - Black Friday!

Good luck!

Favorite Things Friday #9: Knitted Edition

Hi everyone! It's been a busy week and it's only going to get busier with the end of the semester coming up, but I DO look forward to posting about quilting next week! I'll be home for a whole week - woohoo! And I LOVE Thanksgiving!

It's SUPER cold here in New Jersey today - biting, actually. I said last week on my way to Zumba with friends that there was only a little bit of time left to forgo the sweatpants on the walk there - but I think the day has come! No more being lazy - gotta drag out my warmer clothes.

I LOVE the knitted beauties on Pinterest this week (click on pictures to be brought to source):

I'm looking forward to learning how to make a cowl like this - right now I only know the basic knit stitch!

How ADORABLE are these??

A cute little cozy

A Slytherin house scarf - what I'm trying to make for my sister - it's almost done!

Cute hat with a bow- another goal of mine!

I'm in love with this wreath. Nothing else like it that says: a crafty person lives here!

So intricate... so beautiful. I'd be afraid to wear this!

So, what are you up to this weekend? Are you inspired? :)

Winter Sewing Goals and Little Apples Quilt Top

I'm a list maker. I make lists. For everything. What I need to do the next day, what I need to bring home from school (and back from home), what Christmas gifts I still need to buy (almost all of them), what music I need to buy when I think I can afford it, etc. It's only habitual that I make a list of my winter sewing goals (though I'm just a little too late to link up with Sarah over at Fairyface Designs).

1. Finish my Little Apples quilt. This one has been a WIP under the radar for a few months now. Last time I was home I had the inspiration to keep working on it. Here's the quilt top, following a Drunkard's Path kind of pattern!

I'll be blogging more about my inspiration for this quilt and the process when I am DONE! It may be a while, though. Maybe not even this winter.

2. Make 3 commissioned t-shirt quilts and 1 gift t-shirt quilt. Yes, that's four t-shirt quilts. I feel like this is going to take over a majority of my winter break. At least all the shirts are cut - just need to lay them out and get sewing!

3. Finish any and all holiday gifts - this is a major priority next time I'm home. This includes super secret t-shirt and the Slytherin scarf for my sister - it's getting there!

4. Work on my wedding quilt. The goal is to get all the borders sewn on to the dresden blocks, and work on quilting them. I'm still playing around, but I think I'm going to try "quilt as you go" (though I'm a little nervous)

5. Finish my last Pay It Forward! (due in February).

6. Make my block for Heroes Helping Heroes (due in January).

I think that just about sums it up! I know I missed Favorite Things Friday, but I took my Praxis exam this weekend (teacher certification exam) and did a lot of thesis work... but I'll make up for it soon. I've decided I'm going to gradually make my way back into blogging - I still have a bunch of posts planned that I need to get to. :)

Favorite Things Friday #8: Autumn Edition, Part 2

I promised some more pictures of my college campus (in New Jersey, in case you are new here :) ), so here ya go!

I took these last week on my way to class; the campus is still in full fall color but many of the trees have already lost their leaves and/or the leaves look brown and sad :(

But, such is fall. It lasts for a few weeks and then it's gone again.

I was super behind up until today on blogs and answering emails - I'm working on it! Also, I have a bunch of posts planned for the coming week. Looking forward to being back in blogging swing!

Guest blogging today!

I'm over at A Law Student's Journey - the lovely Kitty is having a Blogger Bonanza!

I've submitted my tutorial on fabric magnets.

I'm currently without a laptop, but I'll be back to regular posting by the end of the week!