Talking Crazy ...

Wool Crazy, That is...

Our favorite Wool Crazy lady herself, JoAnn Mullaly,

is making her radio debut on no other than Pat Sloan's Creative Talk Radio show.Set your clocks to listen live or tune in later to download the show and listen while you craft. Whatever you do, you don't want to miss this show.
TODAY!
Monday, April 26th. at 4PM! EST
Roseann Kermes and I will be joining Pat and JoAnn for a great reveal....
We have a crazy scheme going on and we're ready to let the cat out of the bag!
I've added a direct link so you can click and listen at 4...don't forget

Spoiler Alert:
There will be Giveaways after the show...oops, did I just say that? LOL!
Better go listen for details on those, and whatever you do,
do not tell anyone that I said that...HMMM!

Angora bunny

I added this angora bunny to my first square.
How is everyone else coming along?
Happy sewing :0)

My Wool Scraps Arrived!

Just wanted to say a big thanks to Brenda! My wool scraps arrived....now, what appliques will I be making with these pieces.....my mind is already racing! :)



Thank you Brenda!

Thanks Brenda

I got my QUILT LIKE CRAZY sign in the mail today and I LOVE IT. Haven't quite decided where I am going to put it yet, still waiting for my sewing room to get emptied out so I can work on revamping it for my Vintage Taste.

THANKS AGAIN for all your hard work keeping the blog going and THANKS again for the sign.

MY FINDS at the QUILT SHOW in Rosemont Illinois

Here are some of the threads I bought at the quilt show, now I have NO EXCUSE to not get busy on my WOOL CRAZY BLOCKS. I was so THRILLED with all the great threads I found, I didn't even buy any fabric, thought about buying some wool but then this little voice kept saying "What about all the wool in the trunk of your car?" So I opted out of buying. PROBABLY A GOOD THING TOO.

Wool Applique Needles

Just a quickie post to let eveyone know that the Wool Applique needles are back in stock. There work great with the Valdani#12 threads. They are long like straw needles and I just love them. I've posted a link on the sidebar.=)

We have a Winner...and then some!

I'm so sorry for taking so long to post this . Too much to do.. I'm sure you can all relate. But without further delays I present the Winner of our first challenge, drumroll please.... TADA!!! It's Tarrah from The Pottery Shed!

Tarrah will receive a wonderful bag of wool scraps perfect for her next step on the Wool Crazy journey, the fun part, the applique. Hooray! Congratulations to Tarrah. =)

But wait! I have more prizes... the other three ladies who worked so hard to complete the challenge will also receive a prize, yes! I love a challenge and although I personally flunked, these ladies did not, and that alone merits a prize ...and how's this for a super dooper cool prize?
A Quilt Like Crazy wood sign! To Tarrah, Jeanne, Kim and SD Quilter, thanks so much for taking part in the challenge and please do send me your mailing addresses via email so I can mail your prizes .
Hope everyone is having fun Quilting Like Crazy! B=)

Last Call for Pictures!

Did you take me up on the challenge?

Did you post your picture?

Hurry, this is the last call for pictures! =)

Picture As Promised

Here is my partially done block, this is my "farm" block, I plan on putting a little barn and a windmill on it yet. Maybe some other farmy stuff too, haven't quite decided yet. I am debating on doing all the embellishments and then doing the embroidery work or doing the embroidery work on each piece as I go along. It is fun working on it, relaxing and TIME CONSUMING TOO.

Moving Along

Life has a way of interfering with my crafing. It's uncanny the way it always seems to make fun of me and my plans. I started Saturday nice and early and was on my way to success when I was sideswiped by "life". Isn't that always the way?
Needless to say, I lost my mojo, I lost my stride... and I didn't finish my block! Woe is me. =(
I did however make a big nice dent in it so here you go, this is what I have to show for my efforts. Nowhere near four hours but almost 3/4 done. I'd say, it's moving right along. See? My glass is half full, today! LOL!
The pins are there to stretch the pieces because I am too lazy to iron after every stitch. hahaha. I am using fusible batting so once it's ironed the pins go...see how some parts have no pins??? Those parts have been ironed.
It's looking pretty good, if I should say so myself. =)
Now for those who have not started I have to tell you, if you're not paying attention to what you are doing, crazy piecing will kick your butt! hahaha. Yes, I am no fan of piecing and I have to tell you that this crazy piecing is not helping my opinion of this particular step. I'll have to take pics of my
goofs to post separately. I just wanted to share what I did get done. And ask that those who signed up for the challenge post their pics. C'mon! You can show it, even if you didn't finish it, you stepped up to the plate so share your work...
I'm hoping to finish my block this week. I'm moving along. It's not about speed, it's about endurance. And as we say in Spanish, "Yo voy a Mi!" Loosely translated that means, "My money's on me!" Life will always get in the way, but we all have to work around those challenges so here's to moving along! Woo-HOO!
Oh, and post those pics...I'll wait till Wed to draw the winner. B=)

My Block Progress

I will post a photo tonight, I am at work today. I got some embellishments and some appliques added to my 1st block this weekend. Next weekend is the Chicago Quilt Show and I am going. Planning on finding LOTS OF GOOD THREAD!!!!!!!!!! So wish me luck. And I will be posting my pics this evening.

First Block Ready For Stitching....

This was done in slow steps over the whole weekend. I think the actual foundation square was intimidating enough to stop me from even getting started. Thanks, Brenda, for helping us see that we can do it! Now...onto all the ideas and trinkets and lovelies we have been collecting....

I did it! I completed the challenge!

Well, only one finger cut later (I grabbed the rotary cutter with the blade up....OUCH!) I DID IT!!!!! Wooohooo....thanks Brenda for the jumpstart! I made the foundation for my very FIRST crazy quilt square! Now, it certainly isn't mistake free....I learned a few things as I went along, and I definately have a better idea of it now, but that doesn't matter....those mistakes will be hidden! :)
I won't take the time to point those mistakes out because I am quite embarassed by them, but oh well...live and learn. I never made a quilt like this before, I never did anything like this before with the crazy quilt piecing, so I think I did an ok job for being a first timer. ;)
So....here they are with the first two being the "in progress" pictures...the green gingham fabric that you see is the foundation fabric (what I sewed my wool on to).

You can see the rough cuts of the wool that I didn't trim down until I had them in place and sewn on.

And here is the finished square:


So, hopefully I will be the lucky one and win the wool scrap cuts now after my hard work!!!!!!! :)

New block done for challenge

New 24" inch block ready for embroidery and applique.........done with the flip and sew method......wool batting in the center layer.  Block number one continues to "grow" :0)
Happy sewing

A Challenge And Its Rewards...

The first step in completing any project is actually getting started. Sometimes this is the hardest part. We have excuses; we don't have time, we don't have the "rest" of the stuff so why bother starting????, and so on and so forth... Well, I should know. I'm just like you.

No Wonder Woman here!

With this is mind I decided that maybe you need a little incentive, a little push to get started. I challenge you to piece one block this weekend, one crazy block background. I will make one background, and if I can do it, you can too. Four hours, that's how long I will invest in that one background. If I make it in two, well, I might make two... but if I only do one thing, I will make this one background, in four hours or less!

I am leaving the Wool Crazy Staring line,

are you coming with me?
Sign up to participate in this challenge by leaving a comment. This is a challenge to make one brand new block...piece one brand new background for your Wool Crazy quilt. This is not a challenge to complete the block, this is to piece that background of one block. Baby steps, I only have four hours. I set myself up for success; you should too!
I will give away a wonderful Wool Scrap bag (One Gallon Sized Plastic Bag, I just emptied into a basket for a better view but that's just the top of the pile...aren't they gorgeous?)containing scraps of all sizes, colors and textures. All hand dyed wool, All these yummy woolens are from my Shoppe. They come from wool bundles, samples, and kits I have made. All these wonderful scraps are perfect for applique projects and for your Wool Crazy Blocks! Yep, the same ones I use in my bundles, my kits and my own wool projects.

You'll love these!
I will draw a luck winner only from those participating in the challenge.

To be in the running you must leave a comment and post a picture of your completed block (NEW BLOCKS ONLY! If you have one in progress take this opportunity to set it aside and piece that second background this weekend! This quilt has four blocks and I don't think any of our members has completed three blocks yet so that shouldn't be an issue. Well, except for JAM, LOL! ) Again, leave a comment (with your blog address) so I know who is IN. We have 34 members so your chances are really good! Make the commitment, join the fun, you can do it. One background and then you are ready to start the fun part... the applique!

Leave the starting gate with me this weekend. We can do it together! I will give away the wool regardless of how many participants take me up on the challenge. If only one person makes the block...well she's in luck, and that could be YOU! It goes without saying that this challenge is only open to the 34 Pumpkin Patch Primitives Wool Crazy Sew Along Members. Membership has its privileges around here.

Note: New members are always welcome but only the 34 active members at the time of this post will qualify to enter the Challenge Giveaway.

Start your Wool Crazy Journey this weekend....join the fun and seal the deal by joining the Challenge! Brenda=)

I'm Biting The Bullet!

OMG! I am officially starting my first block. I can do it, I know I can... I have set aside four hours on Saturday to piece the background (not sure how many blocks I will make (as in piecing the background only...no applique), maybe just one but one is a start, a real good one!
Four hours might not be enough time to make the mess, sew the block and clean it up but I'm thinking I'll have to stock up on Red Bull, LOL!
I know many of you are feeling the craziness but taking the leap of faith is the hardest part so If you're not sure where to start I suggest you check out how the pros do it... yep, YOU TUBE!

This is the lead I have chosen to follow:

The way she does it seems pretty simple. No muss , no fuss. (You didn't really think I was piecing that background by hand, did you? LOL! Fat chance. I'm not that good!) Piecing is my absolute least favorite part of quilting. UGGG. I am piecing it with an open mind. I am not stressing over what goes where, I refuse to be bogged down by technical difficulties. Life is too short to spend it worrying about those things (I should know, my Dad always has spare parts when he builds things...yet they always seem to work just fine. Kind of makes you wonder, huh?)

Anyway, for all you new Crazy quilters I say Take the leap with me. Four hours, this weekend. Post your progress. I have a surprise for Monday so post your background by Sunday night. Four hours...leave the starting gate!