Link-Up Opps... All In One Place and Announcing THROWBACK THURSDAY PARTIES

 I have been blogging for seven years and it has been a learning curve for sure, and as technology changes and adjusts the social media platforms do the same and the learning curve is continually changing.

Once upon a time, blogs were all the rage.  Readers followed closely, the audience was vast and then social media stepped onto the stage and bloggers had to adjust.  Facebook and Instagram and Pinterest stole a bit of the spotlight and have become a form of micro-blogging offering a snap-shot or advertisement for what might be on the blog - the place where you can get "the rest of the story."

To support others and "share" an audience of readers link ups or linky-parties act as a sort of "central hub".  One blog can direct you to many other projects, tutorials and inspiration in abundance.

Here is my current list of linky parties that I have been participating in for a while... these are just a few of the parties I have found... I am sure there are many more.  If you host one, and would like to have it added to the list, leave a comment.  I'll be more than happy to add it.  If you participate in other parties that are not on this list... leave a comment.  Again, I'll be happy to add to the list.

BOMS Away at Katie Mae Quilts

BOMs Away at What A Hoot Quilts

 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More FunThan Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

 

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and DollQuilts

 

Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting

To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

 

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Creative Compulsions at Bijou Bead Boutique

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a FabricAddict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland

Throwback Thursday party at 
Melva Loves Scraps

And just recently, I have started a Throwback Party.  We celebrate and share each quilt finish as they are completed with pride... and then the quilt is gifted or donated, or tossed on the bed or couch and loved on...  

My goal for this linky party is to revisit some of our favorite finishes that may have forgotten about.

On the first Thursday of each month (or close to the first Thursday of the month) I will open a link up.  Details of the party are not overly difficult or strict... Link up a finish from previous years in the same month that it is currently.  For example, if the current month is February, any finishes that you had in February of previous years are welcome.  The Throwback Thursday linky party will be available all month.  

However, if you really, really want to celebrate a previous finish from a different month, you are welcome to do that as well... I won't kick you out of the party. 😉

This month, September, Maggie F and Gretchen shared several fantastic quilts!  Take a peek at them by clicking on the logo above... It is fun to see the changes in pattern styles and fabric choices over the years... and to see where we were and how much we have grown as a quilter.

Start to search your archives for your October quilt finishes from last year or before and be sure to come back to share and celebrate again.

Piece Happy!

Melva

Postcards Swapped

 A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was participating in a postcard swap hosted by my friend Mark Montano...

Kayleen and I enjoyed our morning together making and creating.

She used a children's reader from the mid 1940s as her background of the postcards...

My postcards included copies of letters and text from blog posts included in the Pieces From The Past Sew Along and pictures of local landmarks that were printed on fabric.  On the back of the postcards I included a label that stated my social media handles and a QRC that, when scanned by a smart device, will direct the individual to my blog page for the sew along announcement and my family's story of coming to America.

When the postcards were finished we packed them up and sent them off to Mark and then waited.

A short time later I received the return parcel containing a variety of 10 postcards...  Mark had more than 150 participants in this swap.  It was an overwhelming success!  So much so, that many more individuals expressed their disappointment in missing it.  So Mark had announced that he will be hosting a second swap.

It was a fun and creative activity for me to participate in.  If you might be interested in participating in his second swap you can find all the details over on his facebook page - The deadline is November 15.

Here are the details from his post...

I'll be sending out the postcards to a group of special ladies that I haven't seen for a while...

 Join our international POSTCARD SWAP! The theme for this swap is UPCYCLED, LAYERED & COLORFUL! Use your imagination!

*THE FIRST 40 PEOPLE WHO SIGN UP (and send me a screen shot of their paid participation fee AND their mailing address) GET A 5" X 7" GEL PRESS!

To be eligible you must send a screenshot of your paid participation fee to me at MarkMontanoNYC@aol.com with (GEL PRESS CONTEST) IN THE SUBJECT! Please include your mailing address in the email. We are going to try to get these out quickly so you can use them for your cards if you want! *Contest opens at 7 a.m. PST Friday morning, September 25th, so entries before that won't be considered BUT you can get everything prepared beforehand to email me at that time.

UPCYCLED 4" X 6" MIXED MEDIA POSTCARD SWAP RULES:

1. There is a $10 fee to participate in the swap in the US and $15 if you are participating from another country.

This covers the cost of envelopes, organizing with my assistant, packing and 1st class postage (with tracking) for sending the postcards back to you.

Please use my PayPal.me account here: paypal.me/MarkMontanoDIY *Use the FRIEND TO FRIEND option when sending the participation fee.

2. Postcards are to be 4" x 6" in size (no smaller or larger) and no thicker than 1/8". Create any kind of art you want! Make them colorful, sparkly, upcycled and something you're proud of.

Deadline is November 15th, 2020 meaning cards need to be here with me by November 15th.

3. Everyone submits 10 cards and gets 10 different cards in return. If you want to send 11, that's GREAT! *On rare occasion a card is destroyed in shipping OR a participant's cards get lost in the mail and arrive late...I keep sets of cards for them as well just in case and an extra is always appreciated.

4. Please sign your postcards on the back so people know who made them and include a social media handle so that you can make some new friends! You could also clip a business card to each postcard. Just let your new friends know who made it.

5. Make sure that you print your return address CLEARLY so that we can easily address your package and get it back to you without a problem. We ship everything in 6" x 9" manilla envelope. If you want to enclose a return envelope, that's awesome, too!

6. Please (try) to use an upcycled material like cereal box cardboard, newspaper, phone book pages, thin corrugated cardboard, magazines or old book pages. Whatever you toss out that can be incorporated!

7. Please put 4" x 6" pieces of wax paper between each card so that they don't stick together. Sometimes heat and humidity during transit can cause some paints to stick together. Wax paper will insure everything is pristine.

8. Send postcard packages to my studio: Mark Montano 2126 Cove Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90039

9. Deadline is November 15th, 2020 meaning cards need to be here with me by November 15th

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU MAKE!

I'll be sending out the postcards to a group of special ladies that I haven't seen for a while...

Who would you send some sweet love to?  

If you were to participate, what sort of upcycled items would you use?  

I keep thinking about mini quilts... all fabric, but 4"x6" is pretty small... even smaller than the 5"x7" cards I have made.   I may give just one a try and see how it goes.  Maybe raw edges, trimmed with pinking shears... Hmmm........ 

Leave a comment... I always love to hear from you!

Piece Happy!

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Linking with:

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Gone Quilting! & A No Guilt::Go Quilt Jamaican Jerk Chicken

 Last week FLEW by!  I didn't complete each of the items on last week's Tuesday To-Do list, but I did make progress.

❧  Finish "Papa's T-shirts" baby quilt - I will be sandwiching and quilting tomorrow

❧ Apply fusible stabilizer to the t-shirts for the graduation gift and begin the layout of the quilt top.  I have a story about the stabilizer...

❧  Oh, and I have a pattern test  Still testing, but I should have the top pieced by the end of today

❧  If I have time... I would like to "harvest" the graphics of the third set of t-shirts and get the fusible stabilizer applied to these as well.  Again... the story about the stabilizer.

We enjoyed our time away.  We had a very productive afternoon of shopping and picking up the necessary supplies to continue operations in the studio and Dave's shop and made a quick stop at our oldest daughter's house for a selfie since "we were in the neighborhood".   We snapped the picture, sent it to her in a text message, and then headed to our campsite to set up house for a few days.

Suffice it to say she thinks we are weird because we didn't let her know we were there.  The conversation on facebook was hilarious!

We took a looooooooooooong bike ride on the path from Pueblo Lake State Park to downtown - 20 miles round-trip - the next day.  

We enjoyed lunch at the Ale house on the patio and relaxed in the shade before returning.  The last two miles at a slight up hill grade was totally against our personal rules of biking... always go uphill first... meaning that the downhill grade is the last of our trip.  

However, I am proud to say that neither of us walked the hill.  Woohoo!

The next day we were a bit saddle sore, but enjoyed a leisurely walk around the campground before heading home.

Home... where we found two packages sitting on our porch.  One I had expected, the other was not anything I ordered.  But neither of them were the fusible stabilizer I had been waiting on.  

I could go on and on about how I order the stabilizer from amazon, yet it comes from walmart.com... but I won't go down that rabbit trail. lol!

There was indeed a box from walmart with a sticker on it from FedEx stating that the contents of the package had been damaged, but were contained in the box.  It was a gallon jug of molasses for plants (used in hydroponic growing systems).  The jug had leaked and was placed in a few plastic bags and sealed up.

Great... now I have to try to track down my stabilizer!  But I didn't have time that afternoon... just as well, because a few hours later FedEx arrived again and delivered a box from wallyworld with my stabilizer, undamaged and unharmed.  Whew!  

I still don't know why we got the molasses... who cares?  It went out with the trash on Monday.

All is well and I am headed to my studio to continue with last week's overly ambitious list.  I might have had all of the tasks complete if we had stayed home... but what fun would THAT have been?

But quickly, before I run off here is what I happen to have in the crockpot...  You will notice that I made a few adjustments to fall into my acceptable dietary restrictions. :)

It has been awhile since I share any No Guilt::Go Quilt recipes.  

Do you have any favorite go to recipes that free up time for you to quilt?

Please share!  I'd love to have a few more to add to my collection.

Quilt Happy!

Melva

Linking with:

What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting

To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Creative Compulsions at Bijou Bead Boutique

Feeling Ambitious!

 The week flew by!  But I had a productive week!  And this week will probably fly by quickly as well since we are planning a camping trip.  Our original plan was to go to Red River, NM with some friends, rent an ATV and go exploring some of the mountain trails.  

Since their plans and schedule changed, we are still going (we NEED to for our sanity), but we will instead head just 80 north to Pueblo so that we can combine running errands, visiting the girls and grands and having some time away.  Taking a long ride on the bike path is a part of the plan.  

As we review last week, I met my goals... mostly. 😉

✔  Prepare a few more Postcard Block kits for the camping journal quilt.  

I prepped a mountain scene and a flower block

✔  Scrapbooking!  While my goal was to get all of 2018 completed, I didn't actually get all of it done, but I did complete through July.  And that was just in one day.  I probably could have continued on the next day, but I had other pressing matters to address.

And this brings me to the goals for the coming week...

❧  Get the final five patterns for the Pieces From The Past Sew Along written and sent to my new group of pattern testers.  

I have had t-shirts for three memory quilts arrive since last week!  

❧  Finish "Papa's T-shirts" baby quilt for my customer.  I am waiting on the fabric I ordered for the backing.  The Grandparents are making a trip to California to see the new baby in October and I promised that it would be ready to make the trip with them.

I can just envision Papa snuggled up with the little guy and telling him of the adventures that he and Grandma had on these road trips... can't you?

I was initially stumped and confused about the whole quilt in the beginning, but when I found the multi-colored prints in my stash I was on-board with the project.

❧ Apply fusible stabilizer to the t-shirts for the graduation gift and begin the layout of the quilt top.

❧  Oh, and I have a pattern test for Shannon Fraser Designs that is due by September 24.  It is only a baby quilt, so once I get the fabric pulled I'll be good.

❧  If I have time... I would like to "harvest" the graphics of the third set of t-shirts and get the fusible stabilizer applied to these as well.

It may be an overly ambitious list, but I can hope.  As long as the deliveries of the on-line purchases arrive in a timely manner, I think it is reasonable.  

It has been a while since I have been so productive and it feels really good to be back in the groove.  And a few days away will help even more!  

How are YOU doing?  What's your current mood?  Feeling ambitious like me?  Stuck in a rut?  I know you are probably not alone... 

But with the month of September flying by (how is it possible the middle of the month???) I don't want you to miss out on the Throw-back Linky party for September.  

We always celebrate a recent finish, but how often do we look back on some of our favorite finishes?  Let's show some love to our September finishes of previous years.  

Piece Out,

Melva

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Creative Compulsions at Bijou Bead Boutique

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Tuesday's To-Do Musings

It has been several weeks since I linked with Home Sewn By Us for their Tuesday To-Do planning party...  Life was really busy, and suddenly all of the deadlines have passed and I have time to relax and take time to smell the roses.

Well, sort of... While I don't have any quilt projects waiting in line and screaming for attention, I DO have a need to begin writing out the patterns for the final six blocks of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along, along with gathering more family photos, stories and research dates and events... oh and stress over the fact that I realized that I have some of the letters that my Grandparents received from former German POW men out of chronological order.  **sigh**  Do I move things around?  Do I leave them???  

This is what happens when I guess at the translation of the dates/months.  All things considered, I have decided to leave them in the order as planned for my blog, but should something more transpire 'post sew along', I will certainly rearrange.

So, what will I plan for the coming week?  Besides plans for camping... 

❧  Prepare a few more Postcard Block kits for the camping journal quilt.  

I need to get two ready to from our weekend of "cabin camping" with our girls and grands.  

Recently I completed enough blocks to fill another row.  I now have seven rows done.  Still no idea how many rows I will end up with - perhaps 10-12 - but my husband has requested that the quilt be plenty big so that there are no gaps when we sleep on our sides.  Once I have determined that there a enough rows, I will add a small border and then add more journal blocks to create another border, two blocks wide.  

But in order to add more blocks we need to camp more!  I did notice last year that we didn't camp much in the hottest part of the summer either.  Campgrounds tend to be fuller and we have had some unpleasant experiences (like last year when we had the grand-daughters with us and loud, intoxicated neighbors that didn't seem to care that we were trying to sleep - none of us were happy campers!)

My most recent additions to this quilt were the sandpiper bird, sea turtle and pelican.  All representing nights from our vacation in February to the Gulf Coast of Texas.  The majority of the block patterns in the camping journal quilt are available from Fiona Sandwich.  A few are my own design - these three included.

We have had a few discussions about where we want to go next year.  It is looking like Southern New Mexico and West Texas right now, but there is still a lot of time between now and then and that is always subject to change.

❧  Scrapbooking!  I want to get the year of 2018 in the books.  I have had the pictures on hand for several months, but finally feel ready to archive them.  And when done I will be only 1-1/2 years behind.  

I am gaining ground!  I think I was 5 years (or more) behind at one point!

I mentioned previously that I will be doing some pattern writing... 

Anyone interested in doing some pattern testing for me?  

The individuals that have tested previously have recently had to drop out due to health challenges and busy schedules.  The patterns range from easy-peasy, beginner friendly to moderate difficulty with techniques that include traditional piecing and some foundation paper piecing.  Please leave a comment here (with an email address so I can respond if you are an anonymous or no-reply commenter or send me a message at MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com

 Piece Happy!

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Linking with:

What I Made Monday at Pretty Piney

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting

To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Throwback Linky - September

How is it possible that it is September?  Were we just in March???

BUT, since it is a new month let's celebrate some of the quilts that were completed in previous Septembers... 

We are all so proud of our quilts as we finish them - and rightly so - but then they get gifted or just become a part of our everyday life... or *gasp* placed in a closet!

Here are a few of my September finishes from previous years...

This log cabin block was featured in the "My Favorite Block Blog Hop - September 2019

Welcome To My House blog Hop - 2018

I called this welcome wall hanging "Won't You Be My Neighbor".  It found a happy home with a sweet friend who had decided to move back to town after being gone for several years.  

In 2014 I was gifted a box of quilting things and among the contents there was an unfinished quilt... I finished the quilt, though it was smaller than the original pattern, and then returned it to the quilter who had started it.     

When she moved from Victoria, TX to Seymour, TX it was a slow process and she was unable to bring all of her belongings to her son's house, but it was one of the few things she brought with her so that she would "feel at home".  Now that she is settled in her own home, she displays it on her bedroom wall.

Rescued Stars - started by Zia Miller

So what are some of your favorite quilts finished in September of previous years?

Time for show & tell!  Link up now!

Piece happy!

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Linking with:

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication 

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Creative Compulsions at Bijou Bead Boutique

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland