Happy New Year!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to 2012! 

 I'm looking forward to a new year full of new friends and new experiences as this little business continues to grow! Thank you to all of you for your continuing support and encouragement! 

  

Kicking off the new year with a sale to share the love! Get a 12% discount off of your ENTIRE order when you use coupon code HAPPYNEWYEAR2012 during checkout! (Coupon's only good thru 01/07/12 so hurry, don't miss out!)

Happy 2012!

Denise

Feeling Merry!

Feeling Merry today even though it's not quite Christmas yet. Why you may ask? Well I just got an early Christmas present! I'm usually more into the giving part of Christmas than the receiving, but this gift may have me rethinking that idea a little ;)

My husband surprised me with EQ7! When I grabbed saw the box he generously let me have it early!

I'm super excited to play with this awesome design software! I've attempted to put some of my original patterns onto paper but I find it quite challenging to "reverse engineer" the quilt instructions. Math isn't my strongest skill (I have been known to make an emergency run to the fabric store in the middle of a quilt because someone may have miscalculated the yardage needed) but this software handles all of that pesky math stuff. I usually just make it up as I go along...now I can actually design it first!!!

I'm also excited about some fabric additions...Etchings yardage!

I bought three bolts to go with the Etchings Fat Eighth bundles in my shop. The bundles include a darling pattern made up of flying geese units. The bundles already include the free pattern and until December 31st,  I'll throw in a free Fit to be Geese ruler on all orders of Etchings Fat Eighth bundles! Only while supplies last, tho...

The pattern is made up of flying geese units and this handy ruler from Open Gate makes them so easy!

I also have some fun deals going on in the shop right now! Christmas kits are on sale, a great Deal of the Day and don't forget to check out our longarm quilting service! We have the quilting service set up like an a la cart menu so you can easily pick out your quilt top size, quilting pattern, thread and batting. Pretty easy!

Hope you're feeling Merry now, too!

Denise

PS...the finished quilt dimensions for the free quilt pattern are 56"x62". To make the top and binding, you'll need the Etchings Fat Eighth bundles and some yardage. For the inner border and binding, you'll need to order 1 yard of rosewood. For the outer border, you'll need 2 yards of the aqua or slate that will be cut the length of the fabric. If you don't mind piecing the outer border width of the fabric, you'll only need 1 1/2 yards :)

Giveaway Winner!

I was so delighted with everyone's comments and hearing about what you are all grateful for. Family, friends and our health are certainly wonderful things to appreciate in our lives. I'd love to pick all of you but to keep it fair I used random.org and let them decide for me :)

...and the winner is....Linda V! Congratulations Linda! Her winning post was:

I am so thankful that we had another Thanksgiving with my 85 year old dad! His health is failing, so each day is a gift right now!! Thanks for the giveaway.
Linda
http://homesweetquiltinghome.blogspot.com

I'll email you Linda so I can get your choice of layer cake or jelly roll and get your prize on its way! 

Thank you everyone for your comments and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Denise

Feeling Thankful and a Giveaway!!!

                               *****GIVEAWAY CLOSED*****
Being Thanksgiving, I can't help but think about things that I am thankful for. My wonderful family, fantastic  friends, a snug home, oodles of fabric; the list goes on....

Right now, this minute, I'm thankful that all my kids are in the kitchen making a huge mess (and doing the dishes too, I hope!) and yummy food and my husband is supervising so I get a few minutes to myself!

This warm-fuzzy feeling needs to be shared! So, I'm going to have a giveaway!!! Starting right now!!! Up for grabs... your choice of any one (1) jelly roll or layer cake of your choice in my store! That's right, YOU get to pick your own prize! (Click here to see the precuts in my store!)

So here's the deal...3 chances to win!

1. Go to the comments section and tell me what you are thankful for, right now, this very minute!
2. Go to TopsandBobbins.com and sign up for my newsletter and then come back here and tell me you did (or already do).
3. Blog the giveaway to your friends and then come back here and tell me you did (or Facebook if you don't have a blog).

That's it!!! Easy Peasy! Oh, and please put your email at the end of your comments so I can email the winner!

Giveaway starts now and will be open til Monday @ 9:00pm Pacific.

Good luck!!!

-Denise

Getting my Christmas on!

I love Christmastime! It gives me warm fuzzies having all of the beautiful decorations up, listening to Christmas carols, enjoying some cocoa or hot cider while playing games or baking goodies with my family. All of the kids like to help out and it makes for a fun, (somewhat messy) wonderful time!

I know that it's not quite Thanksgiving yet, but I know that Christmas is just around the corner so I'm making more stuff for my holiday home. Being a quilter, I'm going to decorate with quilts of course, and this is my new favorite!

I love Nancy Halvorsen and her Art To Heart books; can't get enough of 'em! This set of Ornament quilts is from her book "Jingle All The Way". The Santa is adorable and I love all of the embellishments, too! From the rick-rack at the top of each quilt down to the cute buttons and bells on the Santa quilt, I'm officially an embellishment junkie! I have several of her books and kits available so you can get your Christmas on, too!

Denise

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy (almost) Halloween! 


I love holidays but Halloween is extra special...it's my youngest son's birthday! 
Happy (almost) Birthday, Kyle!


This year Halloween feels more like Christmas to me..I just got presents in the mail! Well, maybe not presents exactly, but it sure feels like it!


Ruby yardage is here! I have six beautiful bolts of Ruby, just waiting for the perfect home! She is so pretty with her Retro feel and luscious colors: ruby, aqua and green are balanced with soft creams and grays...Gorgeous!
       
                         
I also received the long-awaited I Heart Cute Bots in blue...this is some seriously stinkin' cute fabric!

For those of you who have asked about longarm quilting, it should be listed on the website soon! You'll be able to browse through a flip-book to see our quilting patterns, too! 


We have tons of new pre-cuts, too! Be sure to check out our website @ www.TopsandBobbins.com for fat quarter bundles, layer cakes and jelly rolls! Butterscotch and Roses by Joanna Figuroa,  Late Bloomers by Sandy Gervais, Blueberry Crumb Cake by Blackbird Designs and more are here and ready to be stitched up into some scrumptious Christmas gifts! Use coupon code GRANDOPENING10 for 10% off your entire purchase!


I appreciate all of the encouragement and sweet comments from everyone; I feel so blessed having so much support from my wonderful friends and family! You guys are the best!!!


-Denise

TopsandBobbins.com!

WooHoo!!! Finally get to share my big news...drum roll, please....
TopsandBobbins.com is officially official! It's a real store and everything!
It's stocked with fabric, quilt kits and patterns. There are pre-cuts like jelly rolls and layer cakes and all kinds of deliciousness... I'm soooo excited! 
There's a lot more fabric and stuff on it's way but couldn't wait to get started! I'll just keep adding to it! 

 I'm constantly shopping for fabric and quilting supplies and one day it just hit me: I need my own quilt store! I told my husband this and he told me I have plenty of fabric wisely agreed. So, I started contacting fabric manufacturers and this is the result! Have I mentioned how excited I am? You can share in all of this excitement, too! Use coupon code GRANDOPENING10 during checkout for 10% off your purchase!

I got an Accuquilt Studio to make kits...I can't believe how fast I can cut out a quilt with this! So amazing!

I'll still be longarm quilting and making custom quilts, too...I can't think of a happier way to stay busy! 






Now you get busy, too! Go check out TopsandBobbins.com

...I'm off to make more kits... 

Denise 

It's been awhile but I'm still here!

Ok, ok, I know I've been neglecting my blog. I could give you all kinds of excuses but they'd be just that: excuses. So rather than whining about how busy I've been, I'll just share a few of the things I've been up to in the last six weeks...SIX WEEKS since I've blogged??? Ummmm...does "I'm sorry" take care of my apologies? It does? Phew! You're the best!!!

First, I'd like to share a quilt that my quilt guild pieced (& I got to quilt!) for The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Inland Empire Affiliate. I think they are auctioning it off today here http://www.komenie.org/assets/race-documents/2011-race/sleep-in-for-the-cure.pdf or on October 4th here http://www.wildwomenofwinecountry.com/about-us.html. I'm so excited; hope it raises TONS of money for breast cancer research!

Just a small sample of the many blocks pieced by the fantastic ladies of Victor Valley Piece Corps...beautiful work ladies!

I've worked on a few other quilts as well & if I just picked one to share it would be this...

How stinkin' cute is this? I pieced it from  Kim Brackett's Scrap-Basket Sensations and used Connecting Threads fabrics. Then I quilted a leaves pattern all over in cream thread. It was a gift for a friend of my sister's for a very special birthday...Happy Birthday Amy!

There's a lot more coming in my next post...I'll be better this time, promise! There is some big (HUGE, GIGANTIC, COLOSSAL) news I'd love to share but I need to wait another week.
(I am NOT pregnant!)
See you then!

Charity for a Very Worthy Cause!

You all know that I follow Judi of Green Fairy Quilts and admire her work. Well, there's a fantastic reason to admire Judi and her husband, Clint. Not only do they do amazing things with their business, they are amazing people!
Every year they take a trip to Romania to deliver quilts, food, and school supplies to needy children. This year is no different. They are going in September and will be making some special children very happy! The even better news about this is that you can help!
Visit their blog @ http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.com/ and click the Donate button on the right to contribute; every little bit helps! All donations will go to purchasing food and school supplies; they pay their own way and 100% of your donations go to helping someone in need. Doesn't that make you feel great that you get to be part of this?! Yeah, I thought so....

Happy Birthday To The Both of Us!

Happy Birthday to me! Oh, and you, too, Joyce! (I'm 6 minutes older so I get the birthday wishes first!)

In honor of our special day, I'm having a sale all weekend @ my Etsy shoppe! 10% off of everything, including quilting service thru Sunday!

Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/TopsandBobbins and enter BIRTHDAY10 @ checkout. 

Green Fairy Quilts Giveaway @ A Quilting Life

Soooo, want to get your hands on some free fabric? Yep, I thought so! Judi of GFQ is sponsoring a giveaway @ Sherri's of A Quilting Life.  The fabric is a cute Meadow Friends Layer Cake by Deb Strain.

 All you have to do is visit her blog to enter. Doesn't get much easier than that!
  

Sneak Peek!

I've been busy this week. I went to a quilting class, some awesome quilt stores, helped my daughter register for college, and my twin sister came for a visit (miss you Joyce!). But you don't want to hear about that, do you? You want to see the goods!
I bought some fun Nancy Halvorsen fabrics to make some Christmas projects.
And a few Art To Heart books to go with the new fabric.

And I finished piecing this top I've been working on for two weeks. It's finally getting quilted, I can't wait to see it all finished!

Rocket Ships and Gender Roles

I'm going to open my blog with a picture of a little quilt that has been getting lots of comments in my Etsy Shoppe.

This quilt cute Rocket Ship quilt was designed by my 11-year-old son, Kyle. We  stopped in at the Calico House in Placentia, CA and Kyle saw this fabric from "My Universe" by Exclusively Quilters and he knew instantly what he wanted to do with it. He designed the layout, the applique, the quilting and even did some of the sewing!

Now why is it that I have three teen-age girls and not a single one of them is interested in sewing or quilting but my two boys know how to pick out fabrics that will complement each other? My girls like make-up and all those other girly things. (But can't even sew on a missing button!)

My boys will happily kill Zombies and bad guys in any video game and help their dad with yard work and shoot each other up with Paintballs. They will also pick out beautiful fabric coordinates with a plan in mind.

So as I reflect on this question I realize that it must be all those years of getting dragged into endless quilt stores, being trapped in a shopping cart with bolts of fabric while I was on a quest for the perfect fabric for a new project. 

I blame myself... and I'm okay with it!