Sunday, March 31, 2013

Toys for Tots


Today we would like to share some toys for tots that Tanya has made.  Two of them will be given as donations to a cause that contacted us looking for baby toys.  The other 2 will be added to our Etsy Store.  Tanya a few months back bought some crinkly material to sew into the baby toys.  The 2 we are giving away do not have it, because we were not sure what they wanted.


Tanya made 3 Basket Balls and added tags to them they are such cute toys.  These pictures are of both the back and front of each taggie.  If I got the pictures right the should be side by side on front and back.


After making 3 Basketballs she had to give a Ice Cream Cone a try.  I think that they turned out pretty cute what do you guys think?  Have you made taggies before and if so what do you like to make?


At the same time we got the crinkly material Tanya also bought us some Insul Bright and she had to turn one of my completed Orange Blocks (left over from my Orange and Yellow Quilt that is now for sell on our Etsy Store) into a hot pad.  She plans to turn more of my lost blocks into hot pads.  I should explain the lost blocks I have a box full of all the left over blocks on all the quilts I made.  Original I was planning to make a quilt out of it.  Now I guess Tanya plans to make Hot Pads out of them.


Saturday, March 30, 2013

2 Baby Quilts for the Price of one Jelly Roll


These are 2 tops of simple straight lines.  I have yet to figure out what I will put on the back.  I won a Jelly Roll from the Mixer for Sewing Summit sponsored by the Salt Lake Modern Quilt Guild to which I belong.  I was not sure what I wanted to do with it and while their at the mixer some one handed me a post card that had a picture of a similar quilt and said do that.  So I did that.


When finished it will be around 40 inches square.  While looking at the pictures here I realized I blundered its only 36 inches wide in this picture.  I guess I need to put 2 inch strip on each side.  I do need to cut down the top and bottom (which is not straight, but cut it off for picture).

In other news the Winner of our 400 follower giveaway is



Dawn said...56
I Liked you on Face book :)


Friday, March 29, 2013

Late Link A Finish Friday # 60


It is now time for Link A Finish Friday.  Today I would like to start with a big thank you to Fat Quarter Shop who has offered to Sponsor our Link A Finish Friday with Prizes.  This month's winner (March) will win a $15 gift certificate to spend at Fat Quarter Shop. 

Please remember to thank our sponsor by visiting their store at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ their blog http://www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com/ and Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/FatQuarterShop

Today I am running late on link a finish Friday so sadly no pictures from last week.  We are having a Quilt giveaway this is one choice.


Please see yesterdays post for more details on how to win a quilt from Richard and Tanya Quilts.




LAFF - Richard and Tanya Quilts

1) Who likes rules. Toss them out.
2) Add a link to your finish blog or where ever you show off your finishes (Not limited to quilts but I like them the most).
3) Visit a few of the finishes and comment or encourage them on.
4) Monthly random winner picked from all of the months linkups to $15 gift card from Fat Quarter Shop.

Not required but fun to do

1) Follow my blog.
2) Follow the blog of all those that link.
3) Link back to my blog.
4) No finish, go quilt and stop reading the web.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Julia's First B-Day with Quilt Giveaway!!!


I can not believe it has already been a year since Julia was born on 3/28/2012.  Julia is why Tanya and I started to quilt.  If you have been following for the last year you know that we gave away 2 quilts last year for her B-Day we did a giveaway to pick her Birth Weight and to pick her Birth Date. This year to honor her we would like to giveaway a Baby Quilt or Lap Blanket.  I like to give choices so the winner of this giveaway can have a Custom Quilt made for them (baby or lap size)  This is and example of a simple pattern I did last night in EQ7.


First let me explain the color does not have to be Gray and Orange.  It can be any color (with in reason) you desire.  For example I can make a Gray and Pink or what ever you pick color combo.  I like the random 2 1/2 in blocks sewn into 5 x 5 blocks like the gray and orange quilt I have been making. OR you can pick any quilt on our Etsy Store $50 or less.  Examples of some now on our store.







So you have a few choices a custom made quilt or a quilt from the store.  Now what do you have to do to win the quit?  Simple Share this giveaway with some one.  

You can have up to 4 chances to win.  So you can share this giveaway 4 different ways.  It can be a post on your blog sharing the giveaway.  It can be a email to your friend.  You can share this giveaway on Facebook.  You can share the giveaway with twitter.  You can share on Google+ .  You can share it with the guy over the fence.  Since this is a complete quilt keep in mind your non quilting friends as this would be a great gift for them and if they have a baby even better!

Simply leave 1 comment listing how you shared it (for each share so 4 comments max).  If you shared it on a media we can see please share that link in the comment so I can check it out.  We will have Julia pick a name out of a bowl after 1 week has passed so some time next Friday we will stop taking entry's.  I will also offer this same giveaway on our Facebook page so you can enter there too that post will be later tonight





Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Wood, not my Favorite Medium

Tonight Jared has Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts.  Richard and I are both good at using fabric, I can do amazing things with frosting, but wood working is not our thing.  Jared  wanted his car to look like a Creeper from Mindcraft.  Richard and I joked that we could just have Jared paint the block of wood and insert wheels.  Jared didn't like the idea. His car ended up being a wedge shape that was painted green and square weights that kinda look like the creeper face.   I really hope he doesn't take dead last in the race. 

They have a fundraiser dinner before the race starts with really good food.  As a Webelos leader I get do help out selling tickets and handling money.  Last year we missed out and didn't attend, because I was in labor with Julia.

Julia on slide with her heart taggie.
This is going to be a busy next week. Cub Scout Fundraiser today, nothing Wednesday except assemble cake and birthday gifts.  Autism Gala Performance and  Fundraiser on Thursday and Julia's 1st birthday, James has a 3-D Competition at State level on Friday. The usual Saturday fun, swimming lessons, run errands and add in Easter egg hunt and a mother daughter church dinner with Rebecca. James starts his first job on Sunday at Lagoon  Amusement Park, he is on call Saturday, so maybe then as well. It is about a 15 minute drive from out house to get him to work or over 1 hour riding train and biking.  The train doesn't run on Sunday, so one of us will be playing chauffeur. Lots of busy fun at our house and hopefully a little time for sewing.

 The kids are out of school next week for Spring Break. I'm jealous, I wish I could have a week off from work.

I also received this Book and Little Twister ruler from  Stacey at StasaLynn in her first giveaway.

Monday, March 25, 2013

Been Puzzled Again


Today I am showing off a quilt that is no longer in our possession.  I would get a better pictures of the full quilt, but well forgot too while we had it.  Both of my boys are both  diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism.   Jared goes to Spectrum Academy, a school specializing in its help for kids on the autism spectrum.   Last year we donated a quilt you can see it here to the Autism Gala they hold once a year as a fundraiser for their school.  We were pleased how much it went for (it was the first sold item we ever made).


This year my wife is trying to up our score,  we have made yet another puzzle quilt but this time we used the fabric line Pieces of Hope which is a line by Riley Blake to support the Autism Cause.  This fabric line is fantastic.  Tanya for Christmas last year received from me a FQ bundle of this and we were able to make 2 quilts out of it (the second one is in the pile of quilts that need quilting).


We even made a tag for the back listing our name and the quilts name.  The Gala is this Thursday, I can't wait to see how much this one raises this year.


I have been a slacker the last few weeks at making posts, but I have been busy.  I have been working off and on, on my Gray and Orange quilt project.  


This weekend I took my bag of grays and started sewing them together. I have a ton of strips now.  As you can see my basket is full of them, now to iron and then sew them into blocks.


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Link A Finish Friday # 59

Today I would like to start out by reminding any one who has not entered my 400+ followers giveaway please see this post.    I have been busy the last week or so working on some blocks for a quilt I am entering into a contest at HMQS in may.  It is part of the SewBatik contest.  My wife thinks I am a little funny in my choices of color's and blocks.  My plan is to have a 3 x 3 block quilt of the bottom set of blocks with one replaced out by one of my 2 top blocks.  The idea of this is the feeling as a Quilter I am the "Odd Man Out" does this sound too lame what are your thoughts?



It is now time for Link A Finish Friday.  Today I would like to start with a big thank you to Fat Quarter Shop who has offered to Sponsor our Link A Finish Friday with Prizes.  This month's winner (March) will win a $15 gift certificate to spend at Fat Quarter Shop. 

Please remember to thank our sponsor by visiting their store at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ their blog http://www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com/ and Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/FatQuarterShop









These are some of the wonderful quilts linked up last week.  Please share with us what you have done this week.  New this week we have a button that you can now use. You can grab the code out of the box below or from our sidebar.

LAFF - Richard and Tanya Quilts

1) Who likes rules. Toss them out.
2) Add a link to your finish blog or where ever you show off your finishes (Not limited to quilts but I like them the most).
3) Visit a few of the finishes and comment or encourage them on.
4) Monthly random winner picked from all of the months linkups to $15 gift card from Fat Quarter Shop.

Not required but fun to do

1) Follow my blog.
2) Follow the blog of all those that link.
3) Link back to my blog.
4) No finish, go quilt and stop reading the web.

400 GFC Follower Giveaway!

Today we are celebrating our 400+ follower though GFC.  Richard and Tanya Quilts has come a long long way since that first desire to quilt about a year and half ago.

I would like to share a few of my favorites along the way before getting to the giveaway.  The first up is the first quilt I made for Julia Hearts and Flowers it is a rag quilt made with cotton fabric rather than flannel on the top.  We appliqued hearts on to some of the squares and ragged the edges of the hearts.

From the beginning of our quilting, Tanya and I have not been good at following patterns or even doing things in a traditional manner.  We like to mix things up and make them more creative.  From mixing techniques like rag quilts and applique to doing non tradition mix of fabrics and styles.  To in a sense, making a style all our own.
For the first while Tanya and I made only rag quilts, and boy did we make a lot of them.  Mostly this was because we could not figure out how to quilt and bind a quilt and had to go slow at doing this.  Train Wrek was the first of our Quilted quilts and was like most of our quilts a quilt designed by us more out of frustration then plan.  This is where I learned that you should have a plan long before you sit and quilt and have enough fabric.








I have made many quilts based on ideas that I have found on other blogs and my blog following is long.  When I checked today even I was amazed that on my following list is over 1000 blogs.  Not all quilting, but most are.  I follow too many blogs to read every one ever day any more, but I do enjoy taking the time when I do have time to read as many as I can and more importantly look at the quilts made by others.

Last year my goal was to complete 52 quilts in 52 weeks.  I have not gone back and figured out exactly how many quilts we made, but it did exceed that.  My goals this year have shifted to maybe a little less quilts to more quality and more designed out quilts.

For example I made Pillar of Fire using a pattern that I created and shared called Helix you can follow that link to download the pattern.  Tanya is also working on some patterns to share this year as we try to focus a little more on quality and process and less on quantity and speed.  One problem we realized early on is if I am making 50+ quilts I have to find people willing to take them off my hands.  That sounds easy at first, but you have only so many friends and family to take them all.

Because of this last year Tanya started our Etsy store at https://www.etsy.com/shop/RichardQuilts where we sell some of the excess items.  It is slowly starting to be found and we have been able to sell a few of our quilts.

One thing you will be sure to find at our blog is a variety of quilts and quilting styles.  Tanya and I both have different tastes and different styles.  As a way to appeal to all audiences we have tried to make our blog and its posts available in different locations.  We also started a Facebook page so we could reach out to those (like Tanya) that use it.  You can find us at http://www.facebook.com/RichardAndTanyaQuilts.  I am a fan of visual ideas and unlike Tanya I am not a huge fan of Facebook, but I do enjoy Pintrest and you can find us at http://pinterest.com/richardandtanyaquilts/  I love to see what people like and follow.   I like to share what inspires me on it.




Well enough talk, lets get to the giveaway.  First I would like to thank our sponsor http://www.fatquartershop.com/ for making this giveaway possible.

Please remember to thank our sponsor by visiting their store at http://www.fatquartershop.com/ their blog http://www.fatquartershop.blogspot.com/ and Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/FatQuarterShop

Our giveaway will be a $25 gift certificate to buy something you love at their shop.


To enter the giveaway you can do 3 things (so 3 chances to win)
1) Follow our blog in GFC, email, RSS or other following options  This is required as its a follower giveaway.  Leave a comment saying how you follow.
2) To support Tanya's love of Facebook go like our Facebook page and leave a comment on Facebook on the blog post for this giveaway (if so inclined share the post with your friends) This is a optional entry. No comment on blog needed as we will count the entry from comments on Facebook.
3) To support Richard's love of Pinterest find any blog post other then this one and pin a quilt or item that you enjoy. Optional Entry, no comment needed I can track pinners on pinterest if your name differs from your Comment name here just add your Pinterest name to a comment.  You can also follow me on pinterest, but not required. This is optional entry.

Giveaway is open until March 27th at midnight.  We will also be having a baby quilt giveaway starting on March 28th (Julia's 1st birthday) on Facebook.  If you are interested in that, be sure to like us on Facebook.


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Claim this!

To claim my blog on Bloglovin I must Claim it by making a post.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Those of you who follow blogs though Reader I am sure is aware of the loss of our good friend Reader.  I am still lost on whether will uses Bloglovin or http://www.feedly.com  Or try something new.  But as for this short post I am just claiming my blog.  If you have 2 cents to add on your thoughts please leave them here.


Monday, March 18, 2013

The Orange and the Gray's!


A couple days ago I got into the mood again to work on my "Orange and Gray" quilt.  I have worked off and on this year, on this quilt.  The funny thing is I don't know what size quilt I am doing for sure.  I have mulled over the idea of making a queen size for my bed (not sure if Tanya could live with it) or making a twin size or even lap size.  For that matter I could make a few baby quilts.


I have 30 plus different orange fabrics and same with gray fabrics (Well maybe a few more shades of orange then the gray).  The design goal I have for the quilt is 5 x 5 blocks like below in rows alternating with gray blocks also 5 x 5.  I plan to put  strips of gray between the gray and orange alternating blocks with orange corner stones.


Before making these newest 11 blocks, I had 13 orange ones.  A grand total of  24 orange blocks.  I think my gray blocks are in the range of 15 or 16 last I checked.  If I do a lap size I might already have enough.  If I do a queen I still have a lot to go.


Sadly I had to put the blocks back away today and get to work on my SewBatik challenge quilt.  So far I have finished 6 of 9 blocks.  I had stopped working on this last week when I had ran out of brown. The first time I ordered more, I accidentally ordered the color I wanted in Rayon.  I don't even know what Rayon is, but its definitely felt wrong. Anyone ever used Rayon? I have some and don't know what to do with it, just know its wrong for my quilt.


What secret projects have you all been up to over the last few weeks?

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