Grow Your Blog #2 Blog Hop, a Giveaway and Some Great News!

Hello! Welcome to the 44th Street Fabric blog and, if you've visiting here fort the first time and joining the party over at 2 Bags Full, I hope you will stop by often and that we will become friends!

I don't even know how long I've been blogging here. I originally started because I started an online fabric company, 44th Street Fabric. The shop is winding down for a variety of reasons and the blog has really become my personal quilting blog.

I started sewing at the age of 4. My grandfather had a White sewing machine store in John A. Brown's department store in Oklahoma City. He also worked in sales for the company are flew all over which is something that not many people did in those days. The zig zag machine had just come out and it was so easy to use that he would set me up and I would stitch. Women would come by and say, "well if that little girl can sew those difficult looking stitches, so can I". He even took me to trade shows-lol.

I went to school, got married, had 3 babies and lots of other stuff happened and now I'm single and  live with the cutest little dogs ever, Charlie and Lola, the old Shih Tzu couple I have a pesky "real job" where I can work from home and I love to piece quilt blocks and sew them together. I have a lot more quilt block projects going than I have finished quilts and I like to share the progress.

Here are some of the projects I've been working on this last few months:

A Farmer's Wife quilt that started out as a quilt made with some of my stash fabrics. Then I decided I didn't like the way it looked so I changed it to blocks made from a fat quarter pack. I didn't like that either so I combined them for this little quilt. I'm making a little Farmer's Wife topper right now that is just blocks-not assembled yet out of aqua, red, pink and gray. And I'm using Karen Walker's Craftsy methods that are soooo much easier than cutting out all those little pieces.

I'm working on a quilt I call Oklahoma Beauty. The blocks are all completed -- I just need to add the border and get it put together. I just haven't chosen the border yet:

I finished a little Basket quilt:

and I'm working on some Lady Liberty blocks that just need to be put together:

 

Are you seeing a trend? Yes, I'm a serial piecer! It's kind of embarrassing now that I'm adding the photos all together. The worst part is that there are more! 

I really try to do two or three blocks a day. What I'm bad about is putting them all together! 

My blog friends give me advice and encouragement and we laugh together and cry together. In fact, I have some GREAT news for people who've been following along! Our blog friend, Judy of 20 North Ora blog just went through her husband John having cancer surgery. They were told that it would be extensive. Everyone was praying and the surgery went well! It was a mass localized under the skin and the surgery was quick and he is already home! Great news for some very kind people who spend time doing nice things for other people.

So now for the giveaway! I decided to give away some of my favorite patterns! I'm giving away 3 patterns - one to each of 3 winners! Just leave a comment to enter and I choose the pattern for you unless you tell me you already have one of them! You don't have to follow the blog to enter but if you are already a follower or become a follower, let me know and I'll give you another entry! I'll announce the winners on February 14th. People outside the US can enter also! Here are the patterns I'm giving away!

I LOVE this pattern...here's the Sugar Dish top I made (no, not quilted yet....sigh) from this pattern:

The second pattern is Strawberry Social from Pattern Basket. I've done 3 blocks on this one--easy and fun!

and the 3rd pattern in this giveaway is Remember Who Loves You by Acorn Quilt Co.

This is a really cute pattern that my friend, Jenny, made in Halloween colors. I think it would be a great baby quilt! All of these patterns are available in our eBay shop!

Please look around the blog and I hope you will come back often and visit! Vicky from 2 Bags Full has done a great job in organizing this blog hop, so do hop over HERE to see a full list of participants on Saturday, the 25th of January. Enjoy hopping through blogs! XO and cheery wave from Bev