The Spunky Diva

Hey there ~  Happy FRIDAY! My friday fill-in and 5QF answers are posted at: http://thespunkydiva.net/?p=710   - Hope to see you there! Don't forget to check back at http://www.thespunkydiva.net/ tonight for my Fab 5 on Friday at 5 post.  There are some awesome and beautiful projects out there this week.

Hey there ~ In case you didn't see... The Spunky Diva has moved to wordpress at http://www.thespunkydiva.net/ or http://www.thespunkydiva.com/ .  I am still working on updating the gfc read to show my current posts on the wordpress blog, but until then... My giveaway for the Splash Into Summer Event is $10 in Amazon Giftcards. You can enter at http://thespunkydiva.net/?p=633 DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS THREAD FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

For some reason the Blog Reader feed is not picking up the blog posts from the new Wordpress site {www.thespunkydiva.com or http://www.thespunkydiva.net/ } So....  I am reposting the button for the Accuquilt Giveaway.

The Accuquilt GO! Baby Giveaway is up and running on the Wordpress Site. {Click graphic below}

Due to all the blogger issues last week, and then working at a H/J horse show this weekend, I am a little/lot late in getting these questions and answer posted.  On another note… I am going to be switching to a Wordpress blog, and am in the process of getting it set up.  If you want to watch the progress {and change your bookmarks} the new blog’s site address is www.TheSpunkyDiva.net .  I will switch/redirect the domain www.TheSpunkyDiva.com once I have all the blogger content moved over. Five Question Friday at My Little Life 1. Tube socks, calf socks, crew, ankle, none? (From @ThisDaddys_Blog ) – I love to go sockless when I am wearing slip-on shoes {which I love to wear}, but… when  I am wearing sneakers I wear angle socks.  And when wearing boots it is calf socks.  I only use tube/knee high socks under my tall riding boots.  Can you tell I like to have a sock between me and my shoes? 2. Was your childs (children's) name a mutual decisi...

Recently there were several episodes on Love of Quilting {my local reruns} that focused on a Quilt of Valor idea {picture to the right is the finished quilt featured on the show}.  I found the quilt to be stunning, and the idea behind the charity, Quilts of Valor , to hit very close to home.  Every man in my immediate family has served their country in the military.  Luckily none of them has been severely injured or given their life in this way, but none the less… it is a sacrifice they have each ‘chosen’ to make. SewCalGal is making her next Challenge/Giveaway a block drive for Quilts of Valor .  Check out her blog post about requirements, and ways to enter the challenge. I am excited since I missed Moda’s deadline to send blocks to them, to have the chance to send blocks to this wonderful charity through SewCalGal.   Blocks need to be mailed no later than June 20th, and the address is listed in the post. Sponsors for the challenge are: AccuQuilt , ...

Over at The Fabricworm a bundle of Circa 50 fat quarters is up for grabs!  This bundle is a great combination of Birch Organic Fabric, and Robert Kaufman Solids! Ends Monday, May 16th.

Lara, over at Sew Many Stitches Later , is giving away a Fat Quarter Bundle of 14 prints from the Picnic and Fairgrounds fabric collection, and a second set of prints.  TWO WINNERS! Entries for this giveaway end on May 15th.

Check out who is giving away my favorite thing!  Everything Etsy is giving away fabric from The Fat Quarter Shop all month long.  Head on over there to enter the current giveaway, and keep you fingers crossed.  I know mine are, LOL.

With all the fabulousness that I find each week on the various craft link-ups, I have decided to share my top 5 picks each week.  These are things I want to do personally, but may not actually add to my to-do list here on the blog.  Check out these Fab Five, and let them know that you are visiting them from The Spunky Diva! {Baby’s Memory Quilt at Elle Belle Creative} {Jewelry Organizer at Create-Celebrate-Explore} {Quick Cathedral Windows Quilt at Fashioned by Meg} {Spring Infinity Scarf at The Cottage Home} {Vintage Bottle Cap Magnets at Merriment Design}

Here is the finished block… This is the most complicated block I have ever attempted, and it was fun!  I love how easy the triangles are to make using this chain method of layering to square pieces of fabric, stitching a 1/4” on either side of the diagonal line, and then cutting to create your triangle pieces.  It is super easy and quick! I used a tip I got from a Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting about chain piecing.  If you are doing several ‘chains’ in a row, cut your lead piece/thread saver off and add it to the end of the chain before you stop sewing.  Then cut your ‘chain’ of pieces off the thread saver, and you are set to start your next ‘chain’.  Saves just a few seconds, but it adds up when you are doing several ‘chains’. These triangles are ‘sew’ cute!  Love how they turned out. The one on the right is before squaring the block down to 3.5”.  It took a couple tries for me to get the block laid out correctly, but I made sure t...

Today: 172 lbs Weight Loss To Date: 28 lbs {bye-bye…} Pounds to Goal {140 lbs}: 32 lbs A pound is good… for as little as I am doing, LOL!  At least this week I can laugh at it.  Before you have kids you totally don’t understand what ‘having’ kids does to your time, your goals, and your body.  Nothing ‘you’ have is ‘yours’.  It is all about community property, and I wouldn’t trade if for anything. My goal for this next week is to renew my no food after 6 pm vow.  I was ‘sneaking’ stuff after that and during the night.  Ms. Diva has discovered Vanilla Wafers, and just adores them.  Well… her mama adores them too.  So, xnay on the wafers this coming week.  I can have two with dinner {if it is before 6 p.m.} and only if I am going to waste away to ‘nothing’ if I don’t have them.  Isn’t the point of this whole weight loss ‘thang’ to waste away?  At least to my healthy goal weight?  Something to think about there… Tuesd...

As you know… I just had a baby three-ish months ago.  During the last few months of my pregnancy {as is standard} I had a doctor’s appointment every other week and then every week.  During this last few months I carried my used needles container from my sewing nook.  Do you think that I remembered while AT the doctor’s to throw those used needles in the Sharps container?  Of course not! So this is what I came up with as a solution to my forgetfulness. When you have child proof pill container that is empty, assuming you aren’t going to use it for something else, put your used needles in it, close the lid tightly engaging the child proof part, and then safely throw it in the trash.  You don’t have to worry about someone retrieving it from the trash and opening it.  And the needles won’t poke through the trash bag. I have used my empty prescription bottles and vitamin bottles to do this with. What is a tip you have to share?

I skipped Block 6 and went to Block 7 , since it seemed more straight forward.  Definitely a plus when in a time crunch.  Blocks 6 and 8 are next.  Here are a couple tips I picked up while putting together this block. When adding small pieces to the end of longer pieces, see if you can sew both ends at the ‘same’ time by chain stitching. The odd man out here is the strip with a piece add to just one end. After sewing and pressing, I double checked that my strips still had two straight edges. This did help in the straightness of all these long seams in the final piecing of the Stacked block.  The last tip is an old one… double check that you are putting the right pieces together. {Before Seam Ripper} The green strip at the top isn’t ‘supposed’ to be the top strip, LOL. {After Seam Ripper, and Restitching} Here is the finished puppy-dog Stacked Block!

Today’s Daily Poll question {worth 1 SB just to answer} asked how many Swagbucks you have earned.  It took me a few minutes to figure it out, and so I thought I would post where you can find that number. 1) First select the ‘Swag Store’ Category on the Ledger.  You find the ledger by selecting ‘My Swag Bucks’ and clicking the Ledger tab. 2) Add your current ‘bucks’ with the amount you have used in the Swag Store, and you have the all-time total bucks you have earned. To date I have earned 6,707 SwagBucks .  Which equals $70 in Amazon Gift Cards.  Not bad for simply using this as my daily search site, and earning on average 4 SB by completing the Daily Poll, NOSO, and checking out what Trusted Surveys are available.

You didn’t realize that they sent a real Baby, did you?  They don’t???  Guess you are right, here is the Accuquilt GO! Baby fabric cuter. The thee Dies I picked, and the mats to go with them. Front of the Box Back of the Box You can use any of the Accuquilt GO! dies that are these sizes.  If you have any questions about ordering a specific die each die description includes which Accuquilt fabric cutters you can use the die with. I have been having a blast trying out the GO! Baby {so has Ms. Diva, LOL} .  I love that I don’t have to worry about her cutting herself if she manages to swipe something off the table when I am not looking in her direction. So far I have cut through four {4} layers of denim, twelve {12} layers of tulle, and eight {8} layers of cotton.  It is ‘sew’ easy to use!  Here is a flower that I made today using the Rose of Sharon die.  I will be posting a tutorial later this week. I wish to thank Accuqu...