Happy New Year, and Congratulations!

Well, I was a bit slow getting going today. Not, I assure you, because I overindulged in the libations.  I fall asleep to early for that to happen. I am wondering, though, if it is possible to suffer from a garlic hangover? We went out to eat last night, and I'm pretty sure that I consumed enough garlic to keep the vampires away from my entire neighborhood for several days! But it was soooo good! I hope you all had a fun evening, with no aftereffects.

This afternoon was so beautiful around here, that it just had to be spent outside. Let me show you what I mean. We went for a walk at Barrett Park in Leominster, Ma., the same place we went walking last year at this time. Last year, a stream entering the pond looked like this.

This year, there was no snow in sight.

Last year, the view from the beach included an area for skating that had been freshly swept clean of snow.

This year, we still weren't swimming, even though there was barely a skim layer of ice over most of the pond.

It was truly a beautiful way to begin the New Year.

And now, what you've all been waiting for. We drew numbers out of a hat (the Husband did the honors), and Gina of Clay and Fiber is the winner of our Blogiversary Giveaway. Here the Younger One kicks up her heels in Celebration!

If you haven't seen Gina's work before, you need to go check it  out. As the name of her blog suggests, she works with both clay and fiber, in separate projects, and in really amazing work that combines the two materials.Interestingly, Gina just recently posted about wanting to sketch more, so the contents of the bag should come in handy.  Congratulations, Gina!

Blogiversary Giveaway

Yes! Finished my project, at last! What do you think of my Zen(tangled) Rabbit Grocery bag? I made it using the Fold-n-Go Green Grocery Bag Pattern  (I notice that their website says the pattern has been redesigned to be easier) from Oak Street Quilts and Embroidery. If you want to try making it, I'd just like to say that as long as you stay focused, and follow the directions step-by-step, you probably will have an easier time than I did.  At this time of year, focusing was a little difficult. I really like the result, though.

You may remember my little screen-printed rabbit, that I made when I took a Thermofax screen printing class from Linda Branch Dunn, with some friends. He is actually on what the pattern calls the back of the bag, but I prefer to think of it as the front.

And, on the other side of the bag are these flaps, and piece of elastic.

These allow the bag to fold up into its own little storage pouch.

What am I going to do with this bag? I'm going to give it away, in celebration of my two year Blogiversary. Yes, it's been two years since my Daughters grew tired of hearing me say that I'd like to have a blog someday, and that if I did, I would call it "Rabbits Eat Quilts". They conspired together (long-distance) to create the blog for me. On Christmas morning, I opened a package with all the information  that I needed to sign into my blog and start posting. It was definitely one of the all time best gifts that I have ever received. Not to get too sentimental, but I feel doubly blessed, both in my Daughters, and in the friends that I've made through this blog.

Do you like this bag? Want a chance to win it? Leave me a comment on this post. In your comment, tell us something about a favorite gift that you have received. Just keep it G-rated, OK? On January 1, 2012, at whatever time I manage to wake up (no promises about that!), I'll choose the winner at random from the comments. Good luck!

Oh, and what kind of shopping bag would this be if it went to it's new home empty? At the very least, it will contain the objects in the picture above. There may be a few more items finding their way into the bag. Lots of room in there!

A Clothesline of Deliciousness

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to participate in a screen printing class given by Linda B. Dunn. I've admired her work, and followed her blog, for several years now, so I was very excited about taking the class.  My anticipation was rewarded with a terrific class. Linda is a very generous teacher, sharing both tools and information, in a quiet but very positive way.  I came away from the class feeling that  screen printing will definitely have a part to play in my future quilting.

Some people in the class produced  gorgeous yardage, that I was thinking about running off with (probably wouldn't have gotten too far). I worked on small pieces, which you can see here on my clothesline.

Some of the images might look a little familiar to you, if you are a regular reader.

This piece is an old, sheer curtain, with one of Linda's tree screens printed on it. Its very interesting, but I don't know what I will do with it.

This is the same tree, with some words, and a bird, also from Linda's screens. I used newspaper masks to keep the birds showing, as I added the trees last.

Linda also made some screens for us on her Thermofax machine using our designs. This was from a drawing I made from an old photo of the Youngest Daughter. I first used it in the August Color Palette Challenge Quilt that I showed you here. The background for this was a drop cloth for an earlier dying session. Guess I'll have to look for a picture of the Older One to use for a future screen.

Finally, I used the rabbit that I drew after my recent lesson in Zentangling to make another screen. I printed a bunch of these guys, in both red and brown, on a variety of backgrounds.This one happens to be on a snow-dyed fabric from last winter, but there are some on bright purple and brown, too.

Isn't he cool? I have a blogoversary coming up at the end of December. I was thinking that I could make something from one of these rabbits for a celebration giveaway. How does that sound? Maybe a notebook, or a bag of some kind.... How about a tote for when you go to the grocery store to buy greens for your favorite Disapprover? That would probably need to be a BIG bag!

Back In Business

The power came back on late yesterday. The first thing I had to do was deal with the refrigerator and freezer. We lost about half of what was in the refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen. When I went to check on the freezer in the basement, there was a little red puddle leaking out of the bottom panel. If this had been an episode of CSI, that eternally pissed looking red-head would have dipped a swab into the puddle, and held it up, watching it turn purple, and glaring at me. Then one of her flunkies would open the freezer door, to reveal my husband, with icicles hanging off his eyebrows, despite the fact that I had been telling the neighbors that he had run away to some South Sea Island with a blonde co-ed. Luckily for all of us, it was just a blackberry pie on the top shelf that had tipped, thawed, and poured its contents over everything below. What a mess. We are having our revenge, though. There is pie for dessert tonight!

Time to get back to the real business of this blog. Weasley. I wanted to get his  help drawing the name of the winner of the Moose-tacular Giveaway. He was sleeping in the sun. My first mistake was waking him up.



I tried adding some papaya to the bowl, hoping to get him to show a little more interest.



He barely moved the paper while extracting the treats. How can bunny lips be this dexterous? He went back to sleep after munching, so I had to do the job myself.

I closed my eyes, stirred the papers, and picked one out.

Congratulations to our friends over at Fab Furs! Fargo is going to be a very happy Kitty! Please e-mail me with mailing information, so I can get the package out to you. And a big Thank you to everyone who participated. This has been a lot of fun. I think we'll have to do it again. Maybe if I rub banana on the slips of paper, I can get Weasley to pick the name next time!

Technical Difficulties...

This is Daughter Number Two... Mom has been out of power since Saturday. She is currently sitting in the dark throwing logs on the fire to keep Weasley warm. Today was supposed to be the post of who won the give-away, and she will do that as soon as she gets power back. If you want to enter and you haven't yet, check out the post on October 20th with the details.
Weasley REALLY hopes he will be seeing you tomorrow for his Weasley on Wednesday post.

P.S.  Jade and Mickey Mom hopes that you have power, and that you are staying warm.

Hey Mom! Guess what? The downside of having me do this was now I know your password!!! :D

Moose-tacular Giveaway

I love the colors of the foliage in the fall (which, by the way, we don't seem to be experiencing much of this year).  I also love the scent of wood fires and dry leaves, and the sounds the fallen leaves make when you scuff through them. But my favorite part of fall is the sky. The sky is that clear, deep blue that is somehow much richer than the blue at any other time of year.  And yet the sky still has a warmth to it, even on cool days. Maybe its the reflection of light from the changing leaves. I walk outside, open my eyes wide, and just try to soak it all up.

Unfortunately, with all the rain we've been having this fall, we haven't seen much of that sky. Since it rained during most of our trip to Maine, I was able to do a lot of shopping. As promised, I picked up some goodies for a giveaway.

I wish you could sit here in the sun with me this afternoon, so that I could show them to you in person. Maybe while enjoying a cup of tea, and a cookie or two, and drinking in that sky.....

Since it was Maine in the Autumn, I decided to go with a Moose theme. First, in a little shop in York, whose name I unfortunately misplaced, I found a deck of Moose cards. At a stop in Cotton Weeds  Quilt Shop in Freeport, I found a packet of 6 fall colored fat quarters of fabric.

At On Board Fabrics in Edgecomb, I found a fat quarter of Moose fabric, and the silly Moose card. Pins and Needles, in Farmington has fabric, and exquisite yarns. That's where I got the skein of fall colored yarn, which is 73% mohair, and which I can't stop petting.

Finally, at Mooseville, a shop in Farmington with everything Moose, I found a cookie cutter Moose, complete with cookie recipe. I considered the Moose hat, but thought that might be dangerous during the hunting season. The cookie cutter will let you eat your own Moose, without having to get a hunting license.

So that's it. An odd assortment, I guess, but I hope you find it appealing. What do you have to do to win this giveaway? Leave me a comment on this post, by November 1st at 8:00 AM, Eastern Time. Tell me what you like best about Fall, or about Blue, or maybe even about Moose. I'll pick a winner randomly from the comments. If I can get Weasley to do it, I will, but that doesn't seem very likely. Good luck!

Oh, yes. There may be one other item included in the prize. But, that will be a surprise....