Sweet Surprises and Blogger Friends!

I sometimes get this overwhelming fear that you are going to forget about me if I don't post something!  I really do!  When I have numerous post, I think they have got to be getting sick of me!  I don't know where the sweet spot is, and I'm going err on the side of caution...because I really don't want you to forget about me...see, I'm so needy!

I do have a few things in the works, but nothing that is worthy of sharing yet.  So, why not toot the horn of a few friends?!  You know it and I know it, there are no better friends than our quilty bloggy friends!  What would we ever do without this amazing community of kind, talented and inspiring people we meet nearly everyday on the internet?  

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday!  What makes it so special?  I did not expect it at all!  I am a hard person to surprise.  Surprise and shock!   But this little lady did just that to me!

Sarah who blogs at Cedar Fork Stitches, sent me a sweet little surprise!  You know the Mini Mini Quilt Craze, tiny little quilts the perfect size for a little imp...I love me a mini mini!

Surprise, surprise!  From the 'Big Sky Country', Sarah made a special little quilt just for me! I love the colors and love that they are set off with a shadow.  I know where that came from!!  

I was not expecting this at all, but the real surprise is on the back!  Are you ready?  This is hilarious!  For reference...this mini is 3 3/4" square.

Only Sarah would put hanging corners on a mini mini!  I about wet myself when I say that!! It makes me almost want to torture my husband by making him cut a board to hang it!!  

Note the Shot Cotton on the back...Sarah...do you know me, or what?!  I was completely shocked and totally blown away!

Speaking of blown away!  I am always amazed, shocked and so, so happy when someone actually uses my tutorials and shares their project with me!  I can't imagine any thing better than that when it comes to my quilting journey.  

I made a Charm Pack Shadow Block tutorial a while back, and recently Peg shared her project on Instagram.  Really how amazing is this?  Total Spring, and the shadow is just pure perfection!

I seriously get butterflies in my stomach when I see what others have made from one of my tutorials!  It's got to be the dream we all have, inspiring others.  Thank you Peg, I really love this version of my tutorial and thank you so very much!

Then you know those retreats...where we attend and spend every single waking hour quilting?  Where we need yet another weekend to recover from out weekend?  I've only done one and can not wait to feel the after effects of another!

Sweet Anja, who has been a steady commenting buddy on my blog for quite sometime. You know her... she is one who is a faithful follower and a constant, if you don't know Anja...check out her blog:  Anja Quilts.  Anja recently went on her first retreat with her guild. My advice to her was to bring lots of projects and pre-cut if you can!!  

I recently finished a tutorial for a 'Mini Charm Square Wonky Block' and Anja decided it might be a good retreat project to take along with her!

And it was!  It is such a quick and easy tutorial for those mini charm squares we all have laying around!  I love the whimsical, yet wild side of this one!  Frankly, it's just fun!  You have bright, a bit wonky, a little ca-razy, and a whole lot of perfect!  I'm so happy this was one of Anja's projects for her first guild retreat!

Thank you Sarah, Thank you Peg and Thank you Anja!  You guys are the best...of the best!

Throwback Thursday ~ Circa 2011

I've missed the last couple Throwback Thursday's, and thought this was the perfect time to share a blast from the past!  Thank you Jenn for the gentle reminder!

My share:  something subdued, something normal.  This was one of my early attempts at coming up with my own design.  The irresistible pull into the wacky world of Jay McCarroll drew me in with the fabric.  The fabric line is 'Germania', of which I had pieces of every color, but stayed blues for this little baby!  

I couldn't tell you the size of the blocks, accent blocks or even the size of the quilt.  I didn't exactly keep good records back then.  I do know the colors of the solid squares were pulled from the fabric.  I made five blocks in each print and used five different solids.  That's about all I remember!  

Oh, and the fact that I played with the border and added a totally standout yellow for the binding. That was 'crazy train' thinking!  

Pile of doneness.  I do love the funky print with the blue splats and red!  It's called 'Nerggle City'...how can you not love that?!

Back then, I didn't do much in the way of killer cool quilting.  Dense quilting never crossed my mind, crazy wild quilting was germinating in my brain but hadn't quite developed.  This was as crazy as it got back then.  

I enjoy looking back on my early quilts.  The long and windy road of what works and what doesn't, design decisions, fabric choices...it's has been a lot like Mr. Toads Wild Ride!  You never want to get off!  

LINKING:

Throwback Thursday

Needle & Thread

It's Best To Rip The Band-Aid Off Quickly

For those who have followed me for a while, you know I seem to be prone to accidents! Getting stung by bees, slicing my thumb with a utility knife, rotary cutter blade slices...the list of little incidents is endless!

One more 'share' of how my days have gone!  And please, don't feel sorry for me...I've always been a walking calamity of mishaps!  

I took some time to prep the yard of it's winter funk.  Flower beds weeded, bushed planted, bark mulch freshly laid.  Oh, bark dust you say?!  Sunday my husband and I went to the Home Depot.  Love me some Home Depot!  We bought 16 bags of mulch (twice actually). In an effort to help and stay out of the way, I leaned over the seat with the headrest in my boob area...pulling on the bags to make a nice stack.  At some point, my hand pulled, slipped and I crashed full force into the headrest.  Resulting in a scream of pain.  It appears I may have cracked a rib!  So there you have it.  Accident prone.  Anyone who has possibly cracked a rib knows the pain involved.  A sharp pain every time you breathe.  It ain't pretty!  I've been taking it easy, but it's so hard to do.  Even the simple movement of using a rotary cutter is painful!

Now I sound like a whiner and I'm a bit embarrassed about this mess I'm in!  I didn't have to 'fess up', but who doesn't like a good story?!  I'm a big suck it up and deal, don't complain...who needs a doctor kinda girl...I did just that by finishing two loads of bark mulch and not complaining or telling on myself until that night!  

After a couple days, it was time to get over it and Improv!  I was asked if I could make a wall hanging using a certain variety of colors.  Sure I can...with a general guide these are the colors that will be used.  These and any thing remotely close.  The plan is to have red as the standout color.  The grey will become the background letting the red shine!

As of this afternoon, I have this much done.  Not a lot, but it's a start.  I always forget how much I love Improv.  With a break now and again, it feels like coming home when I get to start something like this!

     
Occasionally it takes something akin to 'ripping the band-aid off' to get started with improv.  I need to cut, slice, stitch and press ...just to get started.  After that there is no holding back!   

In the end this wall hanging will be 35" x 40".  Still a lot to go, but I've started and that's half the battle!

Honestly, I wasn't sure how these colors would work together.  It wasn't until I pieced a few blocks that I realized they do and they will!

My carnage!  It isn't bad, and I love having a mess like this.  It makes it so much easier to create for me.

These pieces are the left over pieces from round one.  I'll pick it up again tomorrow and hopefully make more progress.  

My little thread catcher pixie basket isn't the best size for improv scraps!  I don't know about you, but when I see something like this...I know I've been busy!

LINKING:

Needle & Thread

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Crazy Mom Quilts

Comment Email Notification Issue

Thank you everyone who has been patient and supportive with my computer issue the past week.  While the problem isn't fixed to perfection (or my way!), it is much better and I'm able to work around it so much easier. 

I thought I would share what I learned, what I know and how it was eventually fixed.  

The problem:  Not receiving email notification when a comment was left on my blog.  

With no prior issues, I was totally flabbergasted when all of the sudden I wasn't receiving notifications.  What I eventually discovered was the notifications were going straight to the trash in my gmail account.  What threw me off was the fact that I would receive other notifications from my gmail account for Pinterest and Etsy.  Naturally I assumed it had to be a blogger/google issue.  After contacting Blogger and Google, I waited and basically got nothing from either place. Crickets!

I continued to search, look, read and pull my hair out for several days.  This is what I eventually learned:

You should go check your gmail account every once in a while.  Make sure your settings haven't changed on their own!  My primary account was all I used.  I didn't feel there was a need to gmail check!  

If you are unsure what to do, this is what I did:

Go to your gmail account, click on the gear, scroll down to settings.  

Settings will get you to this screen.  From here I clicked on the 'Forwarding and POP/IMAP' tab. (my eyes glaze over at this point!)

The only way I was able to receive comment email on my primary account was: 

Forwarding:  Forward a copy of incoming mail to 'my primary account' and mark gmail's copy as read.

~and~

POP Download:  #2 When messages are accessed with POP mark gmail's copy as read.

I didn't touch any other areas, and for the record, after setting up this gmail account I have never changed any settings at all.  Nothing.  I don't know why all of the sudden things went south, but they did.

It still isn't an ideal solution.  I will have to go in my gmail inbox and delete messages often. Plus delete the trash.  But at least I'm getting notice that I received a comment!  Whew!!  I'll take that!  

I don't know if it made a difference or not, but I did disconnect from Google+ as well.  I don't think that was a big deal and frankly, I don't even know what it's all about!

Thanks your for your patience!  If anyone is having issues like what I had, hopefully this will solve your problem!  Sometimes you plain and simple do not know where to start!