Donate fabric, earn prizes. I am totally doing this. Have you read my post about my stash yet? Shyeah... I totally need to send some to do some good.

And suddenly I quilt?

So I got the bug, that's right, suddenly I have begun making quilt blocks. 

Why?

Well, it started off by just following blogs for their giveaways... I love me some free stuff! 

First, I started following Happy Melissa because Sew Mama Sew told me to. And after all the big Giveaway Day stuff was done Melissa kept having giveaways so I kept following her!

Enter Sew We Quilt. Madam Samm has started a Want To Be Quilters campaign that Melissa blogged about. Basically, if you are not a quilter, you get a sponsor (see Melissa for that), follow the Sew We Quilt blog, and check back each day to see the new giveaway. She has like 3 months worth of giveaways going on, one each day, M-W-F for Want To Be's, T-Th for actual quilters! So I started following and posting M-W-F and then had a conversation with her where I learned that while I'm not really a Quilter per se, I am a "sewer" (manic giggling at the term) so I actually qualify for the T-Th giveaways and not the M-W-F. :( But whatever, I already have a machine and needles and all kinds of crazy fun sewing stuff, not to mention a stash like nobodies business (more on that later) so whatever, man.

Well, shortly thereafter Melissa started a Quilt-A-Long! And if Madam Samm considers me a quilter I may as well do a QAL, right? Yay! She has been posting about 2 blocks/week and all those participating make however many blocks of each they want, post them on Flickr, and when all is said and done and we all have our tops assembled, there will be a winner! Yay! Another giveaway of sorts! Of course I'm excited to join. Each block has 5 different sizes for the inside block to be (before sashing) and she's posted 5 of the 6 blocks thus far. She's doing 6 of each block but that requires me to make more choices so I've decided to make 1 of each size of each block so in the end I will have 30-12 1/2 inch blocks. My quilt top before sashing will be 5x6 feet, whatever size bed that fits is beyond me but that's what it will be. Yes, I have made all 5 (25 total) blocks so far and get this (this being where the size of my stash comes into perspective): I've made them all using Only scraps, Mostly (98% maybe?) PINK scraps. If I have that many PINK SCRAPS, what does the rest of my stash look like? I'll tell you one thing, I really don't like pink all that much. I'll tell you something else though, much of my stash is hand-me-downs. So what does my stash look like? I won't show you. Tempting to photograph it (in the multiple rooms that it's in) but no, that means I would have to make some order of it first.

I have a Flickr now, only for posting to the QAL. I think my handle there is Mamajes. It's nothing special, just my quilt blocks, and not very good photos of those at that, but I have it! 

Oh, and Melissa is having a giveaway right now, too! For some threads, for quilting! Haven't actually started the quilting part of quilting yet, but I have a dream... A dream that will never happen... Involving my in-laws, Christmas, a quilt frame, and a happy extended family that enjoys each other company. *sigh* Like I said, not likely, but a girl can dream...

Oh, what do I plan on doing with this quilt? Well, if it's not too ugly when I'm done with it, and if I get it quilted before April 2012, I would like to donate it to the ALSA Flowers silent auction, After all, I did get a bunch of quilting stuff from that same auction this past April. And I really want to do something that will make a difference to someone with the stuff I make. I'm kind of growing tired of swapping for others (and in return for myself/my kids) and just straight up crafting for myself. Dorothy claims I have too much time on my hands and I say no, I have time for what I want to have time for.

And if you're still reading this, our ALSA fundraising team is raising funds again, if you're interested. You know what you get for donating, right? Well, for $25 you get Kimmy';s should be famous Cookie Recipe and for $50 you get That recipe + Kimmy's 3 favorite recipe of Mom's: Texas Beef Brisket, Jalapeno Poppers, and Mom's Potato Salad. So what are you waiting for? Go donate so you can make your family a real dinner that they will really like!

Yer Mom

There, I said it.