notes from Terry Ann

Wowie Zowie look at those prizes!

We had such a huge number of comments it took us a while to randomly pull three names that commented on all of the 12 Cross Country Christmas blogs. But we finally did it . . .

Thank you for sharing your comments and stories with us! It has been so rewarding for us to hear your feedback about our stories, hear your memories, and see your excitement about the projects. So many of you have made the projects and loaded your photos on the Flickr site. Wow!

This is what the winners are getting!!! Isn't this incredible? These are books, patterns, kits, tools and fabrics that all of us have designed or companies that we work with have graciously donated. The prizes will be divided between the winners.

So here they are.....the big winners:

1st grand prize goes to: Thea M  www.theamccurry.com

2nd grand prize goes to: Arlette from Costa Rica http://arlette0521.blogspot.com/

3rd grand prize goes to: What Comes Next   http://round22.blogspot.com/

Congratulations girls!! Please send an e-mail to Gudrun (gudrun@gequiltdesigns.com) with your shipping address so she can send you those awesome prizes.

 

Another Chance to Win!!

Yes, we are giving you another chance to win some of the prizes in the picture if you post a picture of your finished project on the Flickr site. You will have until Tuesday December 1st to upload your photos. We will then draw the name of one lucky person to receive some goodies. Instructions on how to upload a photo are on the Flickr page. This gives you an extra week to get some of these finished and snap a photo.

Gingerbread extravaganza!

The first thing I did when I got to Rochester, NY today was visit the Eastman House, where in addition to touring the beautiful house and museum, I got to see the 14th annual gingerbread house auction. The 67 gingerbread houses were made by amateur and professional bakers - and I was amazed by the creativity.

 

This Bed and Breakfast is perfect in every detail - and I love the realistic snow on the roof.

 

Here's the Geva Theater Center. The gingerbread is smooth and no cracks in these big pieces - mine is never this flat!

 

Because I was a Girl Scout and a Girl Scout leader, I especially liked the ones made by Girl Scout troops. This one is called "Girl Scout Peace Village". You can tell the girls had a great time decorating the little cabins!

 

This blue beauty was made by a Brownie troop. The blue pond has a mirror for the water - but you can barely see it under all of the blue sugar!

Not all of the entries were houses - here is the inside of a bedroom with every detail in place! (click on it to see the quilts on the beds!)

 

These monkeys live in a "Monkey Condo". I wanted to taste that chocolate frosting!

 

Here's the Rochester skyline made out of gingerbread. I didn't see much of the real skyline because it's rainy and foggy today - good thing I got to see it here!

 

Back in Elk River, this is the only gingerbread we've gotten done this year - for some reason we've already been in the mood to work on Christmas puzzles. Maybe after Thanksgiving we'll bake some gingerbread houses!

Tomorrow I'll be giving a Lecture for Sew on Sew Forth in Rochester, and then on Saturday I'll do another lecture in Buffalo. I hope to see some of you blog hoppers there!

Today is Linda's special day to share a great project with you - and we've saved the best for last - her project was definitely worth waiting for!!

It's our final day of the Cross Country Christmas blog hop and the last day to get a comment on each designer's blog - remember that if you comment all 12 designers you're eligible for one of the three grand prizes! The winners will be announced on Tuesday - so you have the whole weekend to catch up on all the projects and stories and leave comments on all 12 blogs!

Pretend this is my house

 
Just the other day I showed you some fabrics, with the promise that I would post pictures of the quilt in progress during the blog hop, ending with the finished quilt in my living room. I cut the strips and started sewing. Let's pretend that I finished it . . . here is what it will look like:

 

This is the Between Friends quilt that I fell in love with at the Bear Patch Quilt Shop. It's from my Happy Hour book. I actually do have some blocks done, but since I'm on my way to Buffalo in New York I can't take a picture of them - you'll have to take my word for it. It's gonna look really good in my living room because one of the walls is turquoise. Maybe even this Christmas!

Here's a Butterfly Trails quilt from Time Out Quilts on the turquoise wall - and a Stars and Strips quilt on the chair. This is not how my living room usually looks - picture it with the quilt rumpled up and a kitty napping on it.

 

Of course this is not my dining room table - you know my Christmas table has red Fiesta! It's from a wine/cheese/decorating event called "The Affair" that I went to a few weeks ago in Minneapolis. I accidentally stumbled upon the event because it was right next door to the Sewing Expo. They had a table decorating contest with elaborate themes. I love the dark brown tablecloth with the greenery and crystal.

 

Here's a Dr. Zhivago table - so wintry with the fur napkin rings.

 

This is more my style - a Happy Holidays runner with a candy cane/candle centerpiece - plus it looks great with my red Fiesta dinnerware!

 

A few years ago I got this great little lime green tabletop tree on sale. I've been collecting bright colored ornaments to go with it, but those ornaments may never see the light of day. My family is very traditional, and the kids threaten mutiny if I put this tree up. They want our traditional tree -preferably with the old fashioned big lights. I did get to use this tree in a picture for my Fat Quarter Fonts book - the quilt is called "I Spy Christmas" and I used a charm pack of Sandy Gervais fabric. My family suggested that I could get the book out and look at the picture any time I want to see my lime green tree . . .

Today is Roseann's special day to share a great pattern with you - and with the overload of creative juices that flow through her brain you know it will be wonderful!

I can't wait to hop to all of the other Cross Country Christmas blogs today to see how the other designers decorate with quilts during the holiday season!

The best gifts are from kids!

Derek and Megan each made an animal in grade school art class and gave it to me. I love these animals and I keep them right by my computer.  Megan asked me why still have them - now that she's older she thinks they didn't turn out that great. I told her that I'm a mom and I don't see animals - I see the personality of the kid that made it!

Derek's teacher had the kids make alligators. He practiced making the scales with pla-doh after school every day so that when he started his project at school it would turn out just right. Megan's teacher let them choose any animal - and she made a grey cat because she loved our cat Smiley. I can picture her feeling and squishing the clay - she has always enjoyed the process more than the end result. What a gift to have two such different kids!

 Hop over to Carrie's blog today. She has a free pattern that is sure to become a favorite. You still have time to make one for Christmas - get started today! 

During our Cross Country Christmas blog hop, enjoy a free pattern from each of the 12 designers and remember to comment on all 12 blogs to be eligible for a big grand prize!

I'm having a great time meeting you and hearing your Christmas memories!