C'mon and Rock my World!!!!

Wow! I got home a bit later than usual today. I had to stop by Mom's and give her a B12 shot. I do that every two weeks.  (and no, I am not a nurse or a doctor but I learned to do it)   Then we went next door to see my Aunt and Uncle. My uncle had gotten his second eye operated on for cataracts on Monday.  He is doing fine.

So anyway, I got home and started the computer, and did a few small chores.  Then I sat down and opened my email.   I had at least 3 emails telling me that I needed to check FaceBook.  Why?  I seems I had won an AccuQuilt Go! cutter from the AccuQuilt people.
HUH?  They haven't reached the 5000 fans yet have they?  No, not yet but you should go be a fan if you aren't already.  No, I had entered the IHAN contest to win a Go! but Kelly hasn't drawn for it just yet.  I wrote a limerick for her giveaway entry. Well I decided to post it on AccuQuilt's wall on FaceBook.   I was tickled when I saw "AccuQuilt likes this"
Here is the Limerick
There once was a quilter named Gene.
He wanted a Go! machine.
A Go! cuts with ease
it has dies, sure to please
And for quilters that is serene! 


The message on Facebook said " Gene - Very clever limerick! Please call Beth at 888-258-7913 Ex 611 to receive your Free AccuQuilt GO! Fabric Cutter. " 


Oh, ah...uh....OH MY!!! It was a couple of minutes before I could dial the phone.  Then - "the office is closed for the day, but if you know your party's three digit extension you may dial it at any time."   I dialed it and left a message..but my cell phone started ringing.  Ha ha.  Fortunately, I had an email address for Beth so I emailed and told her my phone number and mailing address.  


I am just waiting to get THIS in the mail or UPS or FedEx:

AccuQuilt is trying to increase the number of fans on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/accuquilt ) and that they give away GO!s when they reach various milestone numbers of fans.

Alert ALERT

My friend Joanne, who is also a great quilter if you need one quilted, is having a giveaway!!!
She won an Accuquilt Go! cutter for being a Facebook fan. She is going to give cut pieces to make a QUILT in Black Red and White. (I want to win this! )

So go over and read about it. GIVEAWAY!!! Tell her I sent you.
If you FaceBook, become a fan of Accuquilt and mention MY NAME - Gene Black - in your post when you join!

Come on friends...help me out here. Or maybe help yourself to win it. All Accuquilt Fans on Facebook will be eligible to win a Go! cutter when they reach 5000 fans....what are you waiting for?

Was I missing? I didn't realize it.

I hear that I have been absent. Ooops. I have been a bit busy with life in general. I was glad to know someone missed me. (you know who you are!) And if you missed me and didn't tell me...that is okay too.

I have been working on some commission quilts that I won't post till they are finished (if at all.)

Other than that, I made this week's Jelly Roll Quilt Along block (ppsssst look over there ---see the button? Uh..down a bit..under the Followers!) Here it is. I have made them all - seven so far.


I have made them all - seven so far. This is good for me. I made a star block. (well it is kind of a star isn't it?) I don't like all those points so this is an accomplishment. Guess what? I love the way it turned out. I think I messed on on either the seam allowances OR the cutting. it is a bit smaller than the previous blocks. (oops - I will fix it somehow!)

I also got s nice bunch of small paper pieced log cabin squares from another blogger. (thanks Kate!)

There are more there than it looks. I am considering making several table runners and just using a row of these across each end. That is, unless I come up with a layout from them that rocks my socks.

But not tonight, I am exhausted. At work we did a simulation or exercise. I was in the sun all day and had to do more manual labor than I am used to doing. Right now I am yawning and wondering if I will make to till 8 pm before I crash (it is 6:25 pm now.) So forgive me for not being too funny AND for the mistakes I am sure are in this post. I am one whipped puppy tonite.

I really REALLY want to win an AccuQuilt Go! cutter.

I am posting this as an entry for the "IHAN GO! Fabric Cutter Giveaway"

There are lots of ways you can enter- I chose one that I thought was fun.  I like trying my hand at limericks.

Here are TWO limericks that I wrote. Kelly said "Write a Limerick or poem about IHAN or the GO! Fabric Cutter by AccuQuilt "

I had to write one about EACH of them

There once was a quilter named Gene.

He wanted a Go! machine.
A Go! cuts with ease
it has dies, sure to please
And for quilters that is serene!

Trying to win from IHAN
I thought I had me a plan
But the sweet lass there, Kelly
Said my idea was smelly
but nevertheless, I'm a fan!

Recent Purchases and an Announcement - The Winner is....

First off my purchases: There is a tale to tell with these.   I stopped in a local shop...well not exactly local...but local to a friend I was visiting.  They also have a location in my area. But the other one has Home Dec and upholstery fabrics.   I had some spare time so I went back in that area.  I was in the back corner...no windows nearby.  I had just decided on some fun fabrics to play with when Thump!  ZzzzzT.  The lights went out.  I was IN THE DARKNESS.    I decided to go toward the light.  Ha ha.  I found the guy that could cut my fabric, but he was on the phone calling about the lights.  (and anyway, he couldn't cut it in the dark!) Finally the emergency lights came on and he offered assistance.   I got the four home dec fabrics shown on the left.  I got a DEAL!  They were 99 cents a yard clearance stuff.  There are two yards of the colorful stuff in the back and a yard each of the black/gray and purple stuff.  I have no clue what I will make with them, but they will be fun to play with.  I love the colorful stuff with the stars and shells on it. 

The other three on the right are some pieces I got to use with the commission quilts I am making..if they go with it. If not they are stash builders...like I needed some! yikes.

Say what?  you want to know about the winner?  I hope some of you remember the Follow Nick giveaway I announced back in April.  I know a few of you do. Ha ha.  I did a couple of reminder posts also.  

Is the tension killing you yet?

Golf ball critter is one of the prizes. 

And some fabric 

And some of my art on notecards.

Who won?  Well We took the list of commenters and compared it to the folks who are following Nick  A list was made from the ones that matched and Random.org picked a winner. 

I know , I am just killing you, huh?

Pat from "A Little of this and a little of Pat" is the winner.   I have already notified her of her good luck.  Her prize will be in the mail in about a week - or as soon as I can get it packaged and sent!

Yaay Pat! Give her a big round of applause. 

Quilt Along update AND presenting my Newest Fabric

First up is my Block from the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along.

Then I want to show you my newest printed fabric.  I had it printed by Spoonflower.com  You can even order some for yourself, if you would like - rotary cutter not included.  ORDER by clicking HERE

What else have I been doing?  I am still working on the commission quilts.  That is taking lots of my time.  Oh and working at my job and keeping up a house....yeah...I am not a slug. (just so Barb knows, ha ha.)

I made a big pot of veggie soup this evening.  Yummy!

Edited:
You know what? I thought the painting was on my website, but it isn't. You can see it here

My Mom

I am a super lucky guy.  I have one of the best moms in the world.  Forever she has loved everything I make and give to her - and some of those have been pretty hideous.  I don't have a photo from this year, but here is a purse I made for her two years ago.

I put the yellow in the center since bright yellow is her favorite color. The bag is mostly black and white and then I used all three primary colors so it would go with most things. I has nice big pockets inside (and one small one) to keep stuff separated.  The lining is a light color so that things are easy to find. 

Another present I gave her is a lap quilt.  She really liked it when I showed it to her, so I waited till Christmas and gave it to her.  It is a disappearing nine patch with piano keys for the border. 

It is on the back of her sofa.  However, she keeps the patchwork turned to the sofa.  The backing fabric is navy and teal in a geometric pattern. That is what you see when you go to her house. Ha ha. I wonder if she is 'saving' the front so it doesn't get dirty?

Designing Fabric

One of my blogging friends mentioned that she didn't know I had designed fabrics. I have a couple of my designs currently available on SpoonFlower.  I want you to click and see my favorite design at this point.  That link will also get you to a place where you can purchase some of this for your very own. It is a 4 ounce quilting weight cotton that is very smooth and soft.

I had previously blogged about this fabric. So here is a picture of the actual fabric from that blog post:

The other design I have available is this one:

These two are currently available to purchase.
I have two other designs that are in the process of being printed.  Once I receive them and approve them for printing, they will also be available for YOU to purchase. (and GOOD NEWS: I got word that they shipped today, so it will be about a week or less!) I will make a small profit on them -which will go toward being able to have more of my designs made available.  
I would love for one of the wonderful fabric companies that make our lovely quilting fabric to ask me to design for them.  I have some blenders and variations of my fabrics designed and waiting until I can either afford to print them on SpoonFlower OR someone takes that chance on me.  If you know anyone who you can direct my way,  I would certainly appreciate any assistance in reaching this goal.

Wanna Do some EQ?

There are a few chances to win EQ7 going on.  The EQ Blog listed them and I have decided to post the entire list of bloggers right here.  Go and enter, but PLEASE let me win one of them.


And now, for the winners who are also giving away a copy:


(some of them may not have posted a giveaway just yet)
Leeann Hansen
http://www.quiltwhangarei.blogspot.com
Cherri House
http://lizzyhouse.typepad.com/cherry_house_quilts/
Christine Wipplinger     �
http://patchjane2.blogspot.com/
Kiyomi Uchiyama
http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/kiyoming/
Jennifer Hadlock
http://jennifercanquilt.blogspot.com
Anita Peluso
http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/
Viv Wride
http://highwaycottage.wordpress.com
Ann Waldron
http://prairieprimrose.blogspot.com/
Susan Brazeal
http://handcraftingwithlove.blogspot.com/
Mary Hartmann Bowden
http://mequilter.blogspot.com/

EQ 7 -- WOW!

All of you have seen some of my Quilt creations that I have designed using EQ5.  (Electric Quilt that is)

So when I saw that EQ 7 is on the way, I got excited.  I would love to have this program to work on my design skills and jump to the heights.  I read on the EQ BLOG  that they want lots of promotion.

I am here to tell you. Get ready for some kind of wonderful.

Did you ever wonder why?

My darling friend Tonya won some Mod Podge in a giveaway (IHAN's 31 days of giveaways)  Anyway, I sent her a message that she won the "Modge Podge."    I have always called it Modge Podge.  When I looked again,  I saw that is it really MOD Podge.  Am I crazy?    (well maybe, but let's move on.) 


My friend Pat said "We both say Modge Podge BECAUSE it used to be called that years ago. " Okay then, and she sent a link http://crafts.suite101.com/article.cfm/modge_podge_decoupage_glue   
I felt better but I went looking for a picture of the OLD product with Modge Podge on the label.   I didn't exactly find what I was looking for. BUT I did find that a company in South Africa  (I think) makes this:

So there! 




Ever wonder why YOU call something by the wrong name?  I  can certainly send you on a voyage of discovery. 








Oh, and I also found this gem of a blog post.  It made me laugh out loud. 
My Sordid Past with Mod Podge  especially the last bit about a toilet seat.