And the winner is...

I hope you got some great gift ideas from the 12 Gifts of Christmas Blog Hop! What an awesome hop Jennifer put together!

Now for the information you are looking for... the winner of the $25 Fat Quarter Shop gift certificate is...

comment number 106, which belongs to...

Bente who blogs at i like to quilt blog!

Congratulations, Bente!  I've sent you an email, but feel free to email me if you don't see mine first.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by during the blog hop!

And the scraps go to...

Jo at Sew This Mama Jo!

It's kind of weird but it appears that Jo lives in Dallas!  She's a fellow Texan and  a fellow member of the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild!  I'll send you a message, Jo, and get your address.  I've got two pounds of scraps (a Target bag full) that I'll send your way!

And to my international friends, I apologize for restricting this giveaway to the USA, but I wanted to be able to send it in a flat rate box that's one price anywhere within the states.  I promise, there was no prejudice, it's just a matter of my shipping budget.

A winner and the SGQA.

Here we go. The winner of the Cheater Friday 2.5" squares is

Jennifer

who blogs at marriedtoabmw.com.

And, get this, Jennifer is a fellow Texan! These little squares are only making a short trip to their new home. I'll send you a message, Jennifer, to get your address and get these on the way to you. Congrats!

So, I hardly need another project right now, but this is one I can't pass up.

Last year, I spent who knows how many hours (and money) chasing down the entire Katie Jump Rope collection to make the Single Girl quilt. I've had all the fabric, but the pattern seemed overwhelming with all those little templates. But no fear, Nova, Megan, and Katy have formed the Single Girl Support Group and come to my rescue. 

Over the past couple of days, I traced and cut out all the templates. My first thought was to stick with the KJR and use Kona stone for the background. But after looking around in the SGSG (Single Girl Support Group), I decided it's time to cut into some of my beloved Flea Market Fancy. I'm not jumping in with both feet this time, I only pulled FMF fabrics that I have more than one FQ of so that I'll still have a complete set of FMF. 

I want to make the king sized quilt for our bed, but I was worried about all the pink the FMF brings to the party. What would the hubby think? I called him in to the sewing room for his opinion.  

This one...

or this one.

He likes the set with the pink! Woo hoo! And I even fully disclosed that it was going on our bed. I'm not really that surprised, because he has good taste and isn't afraid to wear pink himself, but I was glad because I think that set with the pink on Kona stone is going to make a beautiful quilt.

If you've had the Single Girl quilt on your radar, but like me were intimidated by the pattern (templates, curves, etc.), check out the SGSG and jump on in!

I can't believe it's October! (And the giveaway winner!)

Thank you for all the well wishes regarding our move! Unfortunately, our house still isn't ready. I would complain about the builder, but he's my husband and I love him madly regardless of how long it's taking. Doing so much of the work ourselves takes longer, but stretches our dollars much further and in the end, that's a very good thing.

I won't bore you with details of our delays, such as of deluges of rain dumped on north Texas by a tropical storm (thanks, Hermine), broken sewer taps and dealing with the water department, or our current foe, the electric company. I won't bore you with the story of my 20 plus consecutive days with a headache, which is now gone thanks to some strong antibiotics for a sinus/ear infection and a round of steroids. (I hope I never have to take steroids again! They made my feel terrible.) Sorry, I guess I just bored you anyway.

We've probably got another week until we can move and I'm anxiously tapping my foot. Living with my mom has really been fun, but I want my stuff out of storage! I packed for about three weeks and we've been here almost six. I can hear my fabric crying out to me from the bottom of a massive stack of boxes.

I'll share a couple of construction shots of my favorite room in the new house, the kitchen!

My kitchen island without it's butcher block top and the floors pre-scraping and staining.

A corner of the kitchen with counters (absolute black granite) and backsplash (Cararra white marble). That hood is over the cooktop that still hasn't arrived. I'm so excited about cooking in that kitchen! I officially pledge to eat out less often after the move.

In crafty news, I've almost finished this quick baseball baby quilt for a shower on Sunday. It's not my really my style (sports), but I think it will be a home run with it's recipient. wha wha.

Alright, I know what you are thinking... get to the big news, Mel!

Oh, you mean who I'll be sending this bundle of happiness to?

That would be number 82...

Ashley who blogs at Our so called life!
And, wow, does she have some adorable kiddos!

I'll send you an email shortly, Ashley. I hope you enjoy the fabric!

Well I'm off to run some errands and seal the backsplash tile in the kitchen to prepare it for grouting. If anyone wants to help, come on over!