A Finish and a Scrap Bag Giveaway

Monday, August 8, 2011

Well, it's been the summer of swimming lessons, scout camp, a pioneer trek (and a bunch of other stuff that I can't exactly put my finger on right now).  


I'm sorry there hasn't been much blogging around here lately.  With some camera issues and 2 kiddos to entertain all day, I'm lucky to have gotten a few posts under my belt.  Thanks for bearing with me though.  I hope you're all still out there?!?  It seems a little quiet on my google reader these days so maybe I'm not the only one taking it easy for the summer...

There are a couple things I want to share with you today. 

First, my button.  You may have noticed it over there on my sidebar.  You are welcome to grab it and share it, if you'd like.  I was pretty proud of myself for making it :)  Can I just say, "Yay me!" !?!  I must admit though, I did not figure out the coding on my own (I'm not that smart).  I did have some help.  This link gave really easy-to-follow instructions that anyone can follow (even me):


I might be the last one on earth to "have a button" and you all are probably thinking, "it's not that big of a deal".  But I did it and it felt good to learn something new. 

***

On a different note, I thought I would share my newest finish.  Well, it's just a quilt top right now, but that counts doesn't it?  You've seen a little snippet of it before (when it was in its newborn stage).  But look how she's grown! 

She started out as this:

and it ended up as this:

I'll show better pictures when it's finished, but she really is so different than my original plan.  A few new blocks were introduced, setting triangles were added, and I'm thinking a scalloped border is in order.  I hadn't thought to put the blocks on point until they were just about done and I'm really glad I decided to do it.  

   
All of the blocks came from the book, Around the Block with Judy Hopkins.  They were really fun blocks to make with simple, clear cut instructions.

This was a project that my quilt group decided to do.  We just picked out 12 blocks and each made our own quilt using our own color schemes and settings.  Mine will hopefully be done soon (as I am a little behind in starting and finishing this project).  I'm trying to keep up with these ladies...

My 2 favorite blocks?
This one (in the middle) called, Old Favorite.


and one right next to it called, Arrow Crown.


All the blocks finished at 10" and the size of the quilt is now measuring about 63" square.

Well, enough about that. 
I mentioned a giveaway, didn't I?

I was thinking that it's been a while since I did a giveaway on here so I decided that I am going to give away my scraps from this project and I'll throw in a couple of patterns (your choice which two) to one lucky winner.  I love these fabrics (most of them are Daydream by Stitch Studios for Riley Blake Designs).


I really thought some dresden plates out of these scraps would be so sweet, but since this is my second and a half quilt made out of these fabrics I thought it was time to move on.  Didn't want to over do a good thing, ya know? 

So we'll make this real easy for ya.
Just leave me a comment below telling me the best thing you did this summer.
Leave some contact info. and make sure you're a follower.

You'll get an extra entry if you blog about it on your blog
(just leave a separate comment saying "blogged it).

This giveaway will close Thursday night at midnight. 
I'll announce the winner this weekend.  Good luck!

~ Amber


89 comments:

  1. Best thing so far this summer has been a guided fishing trip down the Mackenzie river. I agree, I think a Dresden quilt would be lovely in these fabrics. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  2. I just used that same tutorial to make my button! It is on my blog, but I haven't posted about it yet.
    I LOVE your quilt top. LOVE, LOVE LOVE it. Great job! The best thing I did this summer was start my blog. I know, it's lame, but it's true! And, of course, I already followed your blog. :)

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  3. Wow I love that quilt! And love love love the arrow crown block! Congrats on figuring out the button, I always enjoy learning new things!
    Best thing I did this summer....Picnic in the park with family :)

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  4. what about an extra entry for facebooking your link? eh?

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  5. This summer was a summer around town. We did a lot of stuff without even leaving town. Hung out with friends, went to the town festival, county fair, etc. We vacation in the winter when its way to cold to be here in MN :) Thanks!

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  6. Wow, the top turned out great. I am loving the red polka dot fabric.

    Best thing I did this summer was spending a week at the beach. lovely, lazy, fun days.

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  7. I love all the colours you've used in your beautiful quilt!
    The best thing this summer was watching my lovely daughter graduate from university!
    I'm a follower!

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  8. THe best thing i did this summer was going to the fireworks with my kids. I love fireworks. thanks for the give a way

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  9. I really like how it is turning out. I agree, it look much better with the blocks on point.
    I hope the best thing I've done this summer is yet to come, it has been a bit of a disaster. We went to Northern Spain (live in Madrid) for two weeks and I think we saw the sun during ten minutes in total and seven of the days I had a terrible flu, so was in bed most of the time.
    I still have 3 more weeks before I start to work, hope to make some fun things with the kids.
    We had a great family day today, ending up seeint the Smurfs.
    Thanks a lot for your giveaway!

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  10. I have been really obsessed lately with dresen plates...but have never tried one. Maybe these scraps would be just the incentive I need!! :)
    My best thing this summer was spending time at our cabin with lots of our family around. But back to reality now!
    (I am a follower)

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  11. The best thing I did this summer was make quilt tops for the Joplin Quilt Project. I really wanted to help in some small way, and this was something that I could do, as the Long ladies were going to finish the quilting. Thanks for sharing the beautiful fabric :-)

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  12. I am following you - absolutely a stunning quilt. Beautiful colors and I love LOVE the dots to make everything else just pop -

    Best thing I've done this summer is to stay cool in the 115 heat here by goint to sit n sews at my city's art museum at night - GREAT fun !

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  13. I'm a follower and the best thing I did this summer was enjoy our home on the lake with family and friends!

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  14. Spending time with my kids is my favorite thing to do any time of the year!! Beautiful quilt top, can't wait to see the finished quilt! Thanks for a fun giveaway :)I'm a follower.

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  15. So far the best thing I did this summer was take my daughter to Wild West City, NJ. It truly was set up like a wild west town with re-enactments and she loved it. Thanks for the chance to win!

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  16. I watched the birth of my new little grandson in July- he is soooo cute.

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  17. Love your quilt top! Spending time at the lake has been my favorite thing this summer.

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  18. The best thing I did was visit my two newborn nieces! :)

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  19. Hi! I am a new follower! Your quilt is wonderful--I am a big polka dot fan...so that really makes me smile when I see your quilt! My summer? Uh. I spent it looking for a job! The good news? I FOUND a job!! Yeah!!

    Deb from clutteredquilter.blogspot.com

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  20. Great quilt!
    Best thing I did this summer was a two day get away with my husband for our 10th anniversary. It was so quiet and we really needed it!:)

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  21. Lovely quilt!! My favorite time this summer has been camping several times with my husband; relaxing times under the stars around the campfire.

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  22. What a beautiful quilt... wow... just out and out gorgeous!

    The best thing I did this summer? Spending time with my granddaughters... and trying to lure them to the dark side of sewing and quilting... *lol*

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  23. Camping together as a family. We caught fish, we tubed the river, we ate so good....
    Love your quilt and those two blocks are probably my favorites too.
    Nice work!

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  24. Wow! Your quilt top is gorgeous!!! The best thing I have done this summer is relax and spend time with the family! I don't relax that easily, so this was a very good thing!!! I've been following you for quite a while now!!! Thanks for the chance to win!!!!

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  25. We kept our grand children for 2 weeks while our son and daughter-in-law celebrated their 10th anniversary. I recently retired and this is the first time we have been able to do this. They live in Texas and we live in Alabama so we are not able to see our grandchildren much and they are growing up so fast. It was so much fun (and work!!) to have them here!

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  26. That is a GORGEOUS quilt!!!!! I love the fabrics and you did a terrific job on it.

    Best thing that I've done this summer is sharing time with the grandchildren - canning and sewing.

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  27. I love this quilt top (and I love your blog!). I'm a follower (psychdog) and the funnest thing I did this summer was to take my 10 and 12 year old kids to D.C. for a week. It's an amazing place and we had a great time.
    hickenfam at hotmail dot com

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  28. Your polka dots have given me a great idea on how to finish a project! Thanks for the inspiration. The best thing I have done this summer ... ate ice cream with my kids all over Europe.

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  29. Your latest quilt is gorgeous! Lots of times I don't see any unifying theme with sampler block quilts. You did a great job with using the fabrics to make the quilt feel like the blocks related to each other. I guess that's why you're a designer! :)

    WONDERFUL!

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  30. Happy Summertime!!! Your quilt is just so very beautiful :) A sampler is my favorite!!! k.bugbee@att.net

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  31. The best thing I did this summer is take my daughter and her friend to the Montana state fair. Eric Church was playing, he was incredible!!!!

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  32. Your quilt is so lovely - I know you're going to be over the moon when it's finished!

    The best thing I did this summer was I took the week of July 4th off, and kept my granddaughter. It was just the two of us, and I had such a wonderful time with her.

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  33. Hmm...my best thing this summer would have to be going to a water park for the first time ever, with my 7 year old daughter. She makes a wonderful partner in crime!

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  34. That's an awesome quilt! I have a love/hate relationship with triangles. I love the way they look but hate sewing them. :)

    I follow you in my google reader!

    Sydney

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  35. This quilt is really pretty; I look forward to seeing it completed.

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  36. The best thing I did this summer was to stay home and pretend I was on vacation. I did lots of knitting and a fair amount of quilting!

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  37. I havn't actually done it yet.. but I'm really excited about it anyhow, so I'll tell you. I'm going to see my momma and daddy this summer for the first time in 9 years.. I'm SOOOOO thrilled I tell ya! It will be the best thing I've done in years!!

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  38. Oooh Amber, I LOVE that quilt -- the colors are fantastic. (Don't enter me for the giveaway, I have WAY too many scraps of my own!) It IS quiet in blogland -- I'm hoping it's just summer vacation and not that people have "moved on".

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  39. That's a lovely top. I love how it showcases the blocks. Best thing I did this summer is buy a cabin!

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  40. Like you my summer revolves are two kiddos(and I love it!)...best thing this summer was watching them both in baseball!

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  41. Best thing I did this summer was take my kiddos on their first camping trip! Was such a lovely hike through the woods and a idyllic spot by the lake. It was complete with hot dogs, and smores over an open fire.

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  42. I don't have my own blog but am a follower of yours! Love your quilt top and that fabric is just lovely. The best thing I did this summer was go visit my sister and talk 'quilts'. She is my long-arm quilter and I'm so thankful for her. It has been great to have this 'quiting fever' in common!

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  43. Such a lovely quilt and gorgeous scraps! My hubby and I spent last week-end from Friday to Monday in Santa Barbara; beautiful weather away from the heat. The down side was I tripped on a speed bump in the parking lot at the beach. Thankfully, no broken bones just huge black bruises. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  44. Awesome quilt - love the polka dots - would love to own my first Riley Blake (and scraps!)
    Excited that got to babysit my grandnieces - twice for an entire day - the 6 month old baby is absolutely adorable. Thanks for the chance to enter the giveaway - wonderful dots for the background.

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  45. Probably the whole family watching the old Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn comic movie Bringing up Baby! Still funny and the kids had never seen it!

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  46. Gorgeous Quilt and who doesn't love scraps!

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  47. The best thing will I hope happen tomorrow as I'm going to Cadbury World (chocolate) tomorrow with my daughter.

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  48. The best thing I did this summer..mm, I've got to think, my holidays just started yesterday. I took over a nightshift from a college who was filling in for another college who was ill.I planned a lot of things to do, do they count? Shopping with my two girls, having a wedding from my brother and of course, do some quilting.I want to finish two tops.
    Before I forgot, your blocks looks great;o)

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  49. The best thing for me is that it hasn't happened yet (being in the Australia). Also my hubs and I decided to move back to Canada in October and I'm very very excited!th e

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  50. OOO I would love some scraps - "one quilters scraps are anothers treasure !!" -

    This summer we had a visit from family we haven't seen in years - SOOOO much fun - We went to Big Kahuna's waterpark with the kids, did some outlet mall shopping & enjoyed the beach - Such a lovely visit.

    Thanks for sharing your fabrics/patterns with us :)

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  51. The best event this summer was meeting with my husband's family for a mini reunion!! We hadn't seen each other in years and it was a blast!!

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  52. The best thing this summer was my daughter's wedding ~ outdoors with unique touches. It was beautiful!
    You are not the last...I am going to figure out how to make a button... :D Thanks for the link.
    Love the use of polka dots in your quilt...something fresh and simple about polka dots. Thanks for a chance to win your scraps.

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  53. We bought our first house, moved in on Mother's Day and have pretty much spent the summer here getting things put together - no exciting trips or anything. We did have a great 4th of July BBQ with new neighbors and family though!

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  54. Create a new flower bed. It is gorgeous from the kitchen window.

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  55. The best thing I did this summer was to go camping with my mom, stepdad, and little brother. I love to just hang out with my family and hardly get the chance to! I would love to play with your scraps! thanks!

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  56. I focused on my kids this summer. We swam at the lake, took mini vacations, watched movies in the backyard, and had lots of fun together. I don't think there is one thing that I could pick as my favorite for the summer.

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  57. Best thing I did this summer was take up quilting!! I love it. : )

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  58. I have to say the best thing I did this summer was finish my first quilt. It is for a friend of mine who just had a baby. I am so very proud of it and can't wait to make many more quilts!

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  59. I am going to have to say the best thing I did was get new flooring for my quilting studio!

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  60. I put in a new floor in my quilting studio!

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  61. I guess I am a bit odd. My favorite thing I did this summer was to land a full time job. Yay. I paid for my daughter's grad party/dinner and bought her a Pandora bracelet all on me. Very proud. sooooo that is about all I do now is work. Weekends are for quilting and the wash. I have finished three quilts. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  62. Helped my neighbor get an old rescue dog - they just needed each other!! VermontPines@aol.com

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  63. The best thing I did this summer is spend time with my grandkids. I am a follower. Thanks for the chance to win the cute scraps. lynnegibson32@gmail.com

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  64. I am really loving this quilt. I love the colors, the blocks, everything! Of course, I really like all of your quilts. Its refreshing to see a quilt on a blog that's not a kalaidescope quilt though, lol.

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  65. The best thing I did this summer was to take the kids and grandkids to the beach. To spend a week in one house with everybody together was amazing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner all eaten together. We live in the desert, so the water at the beach and the ocean breeze are unbeatable. I am planning to do some scrap quilting so your scraps would be loved. kathy

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  66. I blogged it here:

    http://itsonlynaturalwithkathy.blogspot.com/

    thanks, kathy

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  67. Wow that's a beautiful quilt! The best thing I did this summer was spend time with my family.

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  68. Your quilt is so beautiful! I love everything about it. I've had a great summer. We took two trips with all our kids and that was the best ever.

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  69. Your quilt turned out beautiful and who wouldn't love using the scraps! Best thing about this summer was staying home! Didn't travel anywhere for a change and it was nice. Long days of sewing and just hanging out with my kids and husband. Am going to miss these lazy days as school starts soon.

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  70. What a beautiful quilttop! I love the "airy" colors of the fabrics. The best thing I've done this summer is to start sewing again. I just love it :)

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  71. My favorite thing about this summer so far was getting to spend two weeks with my nieces who live across the country from me. I'm a new follower and I love your blog!

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  72. I also blogged about your give away!!

    Deb from cluttteredquilter.blogspot.com

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  73. What a great quilt. I love the colors. The best thing I did this summer was not to make too many plans. I love the freedom of doing what I want when I wzant. If I want to sleep in I do. If I want to sew all day I do. Thank you for the give away it is sweet of you to share your scraps!!

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  74. Love the quilt. It's so crisp and happy. Summer... Hmmm...I work full-time so anytime I can take some time off is great. I got a week off a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Of course going back after being away a week was horrible. :0)

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  75. Best thing I've done this summer? Probably spend lots of time with my little boy before he's no longer an only child! Oh, and organize the house we just moved into, but that is a work in progress!

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  76. The best thing I did this summer is go to my cousins wedding. It was great seeing the family again.

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  77. Hi Amber. :0)
    This has been a strange summer. My husband has traveled so much. So we are enjoying family time every chance we get. I now have my very own sewing room. I feel like someone handed the moon to me. I love it. :0)
    Thank you for the opportunity to win your nice give away. I love your quilt!!!
    Sincerely, Trish

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  78. Hi we are in winter here in the south, the best thing i did this summer (january) was to take the whole month off in the beach, first time!! i usually take 15 days.
    And this winter, june, july and august i did spend a LOT of time with my 6mo niece and that ROCKS

    Lovely giveaway thanks

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  79. I love the red dot fabric you used on your quilt!
    The best thing I did this summer was go to China and adopt my daughter, Loralyn. :)

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  80. The best thing I did was take the long way home from a wedding and drove right up to the most awesome waterfall I have ever seen. (Other than Yellowstone park)Thanks for the chance!

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  81. Great giveaway and I love you fabrics! The best thing I did this summer was to create my own blog! I am enjoying communicating with other quilters about quilting and fabric and stuff. I've also gotten a lot of sewing done this summer since it's been very hot outside and I'm not really an outdoor person.

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  82. Best thing I did this summer was to visit with my daughter and son-in-law in Washington DC. Went to the National Gallery of Art for a full day of total-immersion inspiration!
    Great new pattern design - very fun quilt for any kid or anyone young at heart.

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  83. Best thing I did this summer was spenad a day at the zoo with my daughter and grandsons. It was hotter than blue blazes but we managed to have a great time anyway. Any day spent with them is a day in heaven!

    Love your new pattern!

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  84. Congratulations on a beautiful finish!
    The best thing I did this summer was see my little girl learn to walk, and to see her give her big brother a kiss.

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  85. The best thing I did this summer was spend lots of time with the grandchildren.

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  86. The best thing I did this summer was Sunday evening family dinners/cook outs. All the family comes and we swim, play wiffle ball, have weinie roasts...and the very best evening I caught lightning bugs with my grandchildren--a 3 year old boy and two 1 year old girlies :)

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  87. The best thing I did this summer was take my kids to my mum's and my brother's. I love the bonds they have built with each of them and just sitting back and watching the interaction. Add in a great beach and life is perfect.

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  88. The best thing I did this summer is let my kids get dirty. I'm usually running after them with a wipe (not literally but almost), but they have more fun when I let them do their thing. Then they're happy worn out, and ready for bed after a bath!

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  89. I was wondering about how much fabric you used for this quilt. The sashing, posts, and red dot to make it on point, as well as for each block. Thanks, Alyssa

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I ♥ to hear from you so please feel free to leave a comment. I read each one and try to respond as often as I can. Thanks so much for stopping by! ~Amber