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UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed – 10/12/2011

Do you know The Intrepid Thread? The Intrepid Thread is a family owned and operated online fabric store.  I love their name – maybe it is because I am from a military family, but there is something to be said for the fact that they named their store after the USS Intrepid, the ship that Julie’s father was stationed on while he served in the US Navy.

I can’t even remember how I found The Intrepid Thread Blog, but as soon as I found it, I was hooked. Julie and the team regularly post tutorials, giveaways, links to charity projects and sneak peaks of fabric lines that are about to be released.

Here are a few of my favorite fabrics that are currently in stock:

 

Don’t you just love their fabrics?  Would you like to have some of their fabric?  How about some Delighted?

 

Delighted is the newest release by The Quilted Fish.  Isn’t it gorgeous?  I have some and I’m working an a beautiful quilted purse – you will have to sign up for The Intrepid Thread Newsletter to get the pattern!  Julie is giving away one Delighted Rollie Pollie to one of my lucky followers!

 

To enter: (you must be a follower of my blog)

1.  Visit The Intrepid Thread website and tell me what collection you are looking forward to most in the Coming Soon section!

2. For a second entry go follow The Intrepid Thread blog – say hi and come back here and tell me you did!

For a bonus entry, blog, tweet, or facebook about this giveaway, come back here and send me the link!  (That’s 3 entries total!)

Good luck! This giveaway will be open until Wednesday at midnight – October 12, 2011.

 

I call this a variation on the Ohio Star block because in the corners I added half square triangles (HSTs). I liked it because it allowed me to add a little more color to the block and it allowed me to add more visual interest. This block is part of my Vintage Christmas Sampler…which I am really hoping will be done before Christmas!

Get the know how after the jump!

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Vintage Christmas Sampler – Ohio Star VariationRead More »

I had such a wonderful weekend! My parents came to visit from California – we haven’t seen them in 2 months so it was an especially nice treat.

When we moved into our new house it was perfect – easy to do when you get to pick out everything that goes in it.  The only problem was that we didn’t have a back fence or side gates. Well….we still don’t have side gates (those are a work in progress), but with the help of my dad and one of my hubby’s army friends – we now have a FENCE! This is especially exciting because it means that Anne and I can play out side (when it isn’t raining) and I can feel safe out there.  We have had a few incidents of stray dogs wandering into our yard – not anymore!

Didn’t the men do a beautiful job?!? We still need to stain it, but I think we will wait until the gates are done too.

While the men were building, my mom and I spent our time entertaining Anne and while she napped we started working on Anne’s Halloween Costume.

Here is Anne’s handiwork decorating for Halloween. She put the decals on the window – with help from Nana. She also decorated a spider web with 3-D stickers. I think her and my mom both had a lot of fun together!

Did I mention that I made A LOT of progress on Anne’s Halloween Costume. It is all done except for the waist band…and the pressing of the seams.  I am so excited – my mom helped me cut it out and then I whipped out my Sewing Answers Book for the questions I had after she left.  Considering that I don’t sew garments this book is a must have for me.  I got mine for $8.99 at Costco last week and I am very happy with it.

What did you do this weekend?

Don’t forget to check out my newest sponsor SassyPacks! They have a great offer going on EXCLUSIVELY for my readers.

Have you heard of Sassy Packs?  They are a fabulous online quilt store that is designed around meeting the needs of the beginner quilter.  I met Vicki (virtually) back in July when I posted my (still) unfinished Christmas Sampler quilt to one of the sewing groups I belong to on Facebook. I began following her blog and we have gotten to know each other a little bit.  When I launched my new blog, she and her daughter, Jennifer, were one of the first companies that I approached about being a sponsor.  The fact that they gear their store and their blog around helping you learn to quilt and sew is what drew me to them.

When I first started quilting all I bought was quilt kits. It made the entire process so much easier for me. I didn’t have to worry about whether or not my fabric selections would look good together, I didn’t have to worry about getting the right amount of fabric and I had clear and well written instructions to follow.  SassyPacks has over 20 kits available –and they aren’t just for quilts either!  One of my favorite kits they are offering right now is the Urban Cabin – you can get the kit in two different sizes – which is a total bonus if you ask me.

If you are looking for a great Christmas present to make, they also have a kit for a Christmas Mug Rug right now – in case you haven’t noticed in the blogging world recently, mug rugs are ALL the rage right now!

They also have a great selection of fabric by the yard, fabric bundles and pre-cuts, quilt patterns and they even have a sample sale. Vicki and Jennifer test almost every pattern from the kits they sell and they sell those samples!

Now I have an exclusive offer from SassyPacks for all of the Sew BitterSweet Designs readers…FREE SHIPPING ON ALL orders over $20.00.  How awesome is that?!? I don’t know about you but half the time shipping is what makes or breaks an online purchase for me.  Take a few moments to check out SassyPacks, compare their prices to other shops; their Kona Solids rolls the cheapest I have seen anywhere!

The coupon code for free shipping is BitterSweet. Enter it at check out. The code is good for the entire month of October!

UPDATE: for all my international readers – we are doing something special for you too!  If you are interested in purchasing fabric from SassyPacks – please send them an email at contact@sassypacks.com and they will let tell you about shipping to your country and their special offer just for you!

Thank you Vicki and Jennifer! I am sew happy you are here!

I hope everyone will take some time to check out SassyPacks!  They have an excellent selection of Kona Solids and carry some of the top names in the industry! Show them some love!