Wednesday, May 24, 2017

New Website......I Moved

 


Well I think I have finally figured out all the links and tools so that all of you lovely people who have chosen to follow along on my journey will be transferred to my new website location with me! 

But......on the off chance that I missed something or messed up, this post is to let you know that I have moved and then I will go over to the new website and post a very brief post welcoming you!!
If you don't receive the welcome post by tomorrow....you will all know that I messed up....

So here's what I need you to do for me, if you could take a minute....
If you receive the welcome post, can you leave a comment...just say hello, or have a look around the new site and let me know what you think!!
If you don't receive the welcome post, in 2 days, can you leave a comment here on the sign off post...and I will try and figure out what I did wrong and fix it, or if you would rather...the sign up options are in the sidebar near the top on the new site....but I am hoping that won't be necessary and we will transition seamlessly!!
Fingers Crossed....see you at my new website....

www.upstairshobbyroom.com


Wednesday, May 17, 2017

GiveAways: We Have The Winner...Eddycrest Naming Contest



So the good news....
The Eddycrest team has chosen the winning name for their newest sewing desk design......

The not so good news.....
We did not reach our goal of 1000 names....

We fell short of the 500 names mark....making the Prize Level 1

I want to say thank you to all of you who shared and added names...
And there were a few of you, you know who you are, who went above and beyond....
Trying to help reach that ultimate goal of Level 3!!!

But...

Stay tuned and stay connected....
I heard a rumour that the Eddycrest Team may try another contest at some point......

I also want to say a big thank you to the other Sponsors who stepped up and offered amazing prizes for you all to win!!! 














One more little TidBit of info for you all.....
I've been working on a new website....not me really, but a friend.....lol
And it is almost ready to launch....just tweaking some last minute issues.....
Like you being able to continue to follow my blog by email, etc....
and a few other, oops forgot about that, things

So keep a look out for my last post here, coming soon....which will direct you to the new sight...

I'm super excited to switch...but be patient when it does happen there will be some tweaking that will still need to be done..and a learning curve for me on the new interface....
But, I'm hoping for a very smooth transition!

Also, I will not be shutting this sight down, as the last post will help direct anyone who misses the announcement the first time or just happens to land on my home page from old links....
but when all is said and done all the content from will have moved and will be available in a much more user friendly format!!


Now on let's announce the Winners.....

The winning Desk Name is......


Submitted by:
Tamara Isaac-Smith

Tamara will receive the Quilt Hanger for her name submission.

Runner Up
Compact Starter 
Submitted by: Sharon Tucker

And Honourable Mention
Just A Table
Submitted by: @friedatong



The winner of the Random prizes:


Gwen Brewer




Monique Atkinson




Shared on Social Media Prize Winner
Kholoud Abdulaziz

All winners will be contacted shortly by the prize sponsors! Thanks so much everyone for participating and a special congrats to all the winners!!


Have a great rest of your week!!






Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Blog Hop: It's my day for New York Beauties & Flying Geese




Finally I get to share....I've been so excited about this book and blog hop, it's been hard to wait!


I'm not exaggerating when I say, I have always shied away from curved piecing ( It scares me, intimidates me....You get the picture) and when I have tried, I didn't much care for the outcome.....




But, I also like to push myself and except a challenge...and when asked to be a part of the blog hop.... This book cover just sucked me in....


Who wouldn't want to create some of those amazing projects!!
As I flipped through my ebook, I fell more in love with Carl's patterns, so I decided
failure was not an option!!



I don't know what clicked, but something finally did, and I am so excited to share my finished project!!

I also wanted to say thanks to CT Publishing for the above photos from New York Beauties and Flying Geese, and for inviting me to be a part of this blog hop, thank you Carl, it has been such a pleasure. I love everything about this book...from the gorgeous sample quilts representing the patterns, to the book's layout...Carl includes lots of tips,
fabric idea and layout plans....
I had such a great time working on my project for this blog hop event, so I know you are going to love hopping from blog to blog over the remaining 10 days seeing Carl's patterns come to life
through all the different bloggers joining in.



On the off chance that someone else struggles with curved piecing...
here's what I did differently this time....I am so sorry I forgot to take a picture....
I found the centres of the first two sections that I was joining, by folding in half and finger pressing. Then I pinned the pieces together at that centre mark. Then I matched the straight outside edges and pinned there, and finally I used my hands to guide and manage the fabric, matching the curves.  I had much more success this way then trying to add extra pins.
The other wonderful thing I discovered...the further out in the circle I went the easier the curves are to piece!!! Whoop, Whoop!!! (you probably all knew that already, lol, I can be a slow learner)


I have to laugh at myself...the longest part of the whole building of the blocks, for me, was in gathering and laying out my fabric choices from my stash...but it was so worth all the time...and that is just me...way to picky and an over thinker....


I decided to choose four random blocks from the templates at the back the book, so I could try multiple different styles of the piecing....
And then join them together to make a square pillow. It was also all I had time for right now! I will be making a larger project in the futures!!! And one of those round pillows...they are fantastic!!



And you can lay your blocks out in multiple different ways, which is fun to see...




But, chose the circle for my pillow, so it looked more like the colour wheel I was aiming for.


I quilted the pillow top with one of my go to digital pantos called Malachite!


And used leftover pieces to add a cute flap to the zipper back!!






Well I hope this has inspired you to think about picking up a copy of Carl's new book for your very own and try one of these fantastic blocks or quilts!!

But.....
One lucky blog hopper is going to be lucky enough to win a copy of their very own....
If you live in the US, CT Publishing will be sending you a hard copy of the book,  an international winner will receive an ecopy.

Just to make it easier for me to pick a random winner I'm using Rafflecopter, but keeping it really simple.
Leave a comment, anything...what you've liked best so far, are you afraid of curves like me? A tip or trick for curved piecing if you love it......just say hello......lol

And a winner will be chosen at the end of the blog hop, and I am pretty sure every blogger is giving away a copy, so drop each day for the link to the next blogger!!

And just a heads up....
my blog address will be changing in the next few weeks. I will send out one final blog post from here, before the change is final....still some tweaking left to do.....
but I am so excited about the new layout, but nervous about learning a new interface.....hopefully it will all go smoothly!
Following me is always optional, but if you don't want to miss out on any of the happenings and especially the move coming soon, please consider following along by email (in the bar on the right hand side of my blog page) or IG @upstairshobbyroom or Twitter @upstairshobbyrm
or if FB is your thing I have a FB Page


New York Beauties & Flying Geese Blog Tour:  Schedule

Mon. May 1:


Wed. May 3:
UpStairsHobbyRoom: You Are Here

Thurs. May 4:

Fri. May 5:

Mon. May 8:

Tues. May 9:
Pink Door Fabrics: Instagram @pinkdoorfabrics

Web. May 10:

Thurs. May 11:

Fri. May 12:




a Rafflecopter giveaway


Monday, May 1, 2017

The New York Beauties & Flying Geese Blog Tour......has started!!!!







New York Beauties & Flying Geese 

I was super excited to be asked by Carl and CT Publishing 
to be a part of his new book, New York Beauties & Flying Geese, review and blog hop!
As many of my followers will know, I stay away from curved piecing....
But I also love a challenge, especially when it's handed to me.
So when I was asked to join in....of course, I said yes!

I'll share more of my curved journey in my post on May 3!!

Till then enjoy!!! And Good Luck, I'm pretty sure every blog is hosting a book giveaway!!

Here's the complete blog hop list! I will update to direct links as they come live on their days.


New York Beauties & Flying Geese Blog Tour:  Schedule

Mon. May 1:

Tues. May 2:

Wed. May 3:
Thurs. May 4:

Fri. May 5:

Mon. May 8:

Tues. May 9:
Pink Door Fabrics: Instagram @pinkdoorfabrics

Web. May 10:

Thurs. May 11:

Fri. May 12: