It starts bright and early tomorrow morning! I'm excited. Are you? 93 bloggers and 16 glorious days and of blog hopping joy and Red, White and Blue bliss. I cannot wait to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

My day is Monday, July 2nd. I'm feverisly working on my blocks and hope to have my final plan complete on time. As usual I couldn't just do one 10 1/2" or 12 1/2" unfinished block, I had to actually make it into something. If I can hold up in my studio for the rest of the day today and tomorrow, I'll be golden.

And did I mention there might be a giveaway or two on my assigned day? MMMAAAYYYBBBEEE. In fact, I'm guessing there will be a lot of giveways to be won during this hop. Here is the complete schedule for this awesome summer adventure. 

July 1st

Mary on Lake Pulaski

Hot Pink Peonies

VroomansQuilts
piece peace

The Cuddle Quilter

Marcia's Crafty Sewing and Quilting

July 2nd

Sharon P-Camp Gramma

Snoodles

The Raspberry Rabbits

In Stitches On the Compound

Quilts From My Crayon Box (That's Me!)

Elaine

July 3rd

quilt.keep.cook

Just Let Me Quilt

Quilt Doodle Doodles

Sheila's Quilt World

A Quilt and a Prayer

July 4th

janesfabrics-Our Awesome Hostess

A Reformed Heath'n

krislovesfabric
KatieQ

The Recipe Bunny

Closet Quilter

July 5th

Mrs. Pickles

CraftNurseQuilt

Dexter Days

Judith Hand Made Treasures

Insanity Defense

unDeniably Domestic

July 6th

Cherrys Prairie Primitives

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle

Quilt Taffy

Quiltingfiesta

In The Boon Docks

tubakk

July 7th

Why Knot Kwilt?

A Passion for Appliqué

QuiltQuest

crafty imaginings by jen

sew me something good

Grandmama's Stories


July 8th

QuilterShelia
Amanda Murphy

The Slow Quilter

Creativity Amongst Chaos

Diane P (I will host)

Mochawildchild

July 9th

Home Designs by Amanda

A Stitch in Time

Karen ~ Briarside Lane

Stitching by the Lake

Moose Stash Quilting


July 10th

Tinks mom

beaquilter

Quilted Sisca (I will Host)

sharon-dancing thru threads

Connie C

Cate`s Linens

July 11th
Nancy R

North Hills Quilter

Michelle N

Sunshine Girl

Grammie Q
knitnoid

July 12th

quilter in motion

Linda's LInes and Loves
QuiltnQueen

Cherry Blossoms

Kim Sherrod Studio

July 13th

Cat Patches

quilting by dawn
Bobbie

Plum and June
Kathy H (I will host)

Sparrow In Flight

July 14th

Diann C  (I will host)

Quilt Monster in my Closet

daisy and jack

sewingly along

MoomMist

Susie’s World

July 15th

Pink Pincushion

Quilting Nana

bacon then eggs

living life-martha

Quiltscapes

PigTales and Quilts

July 16th
PolkaDotClassic

Patchouli Moon Studio

Scrappy pieces

little bits quilting

busy as can be

Madame Samm

Simple words aren't enough to thank Jane and Madame Samm for putting this Patriotic Party together. It definitely promises to be filled with fireworks galore!

The weekend before we went on vacation, I finally gave in, retired my poor exhausted basic Razor cell phone and bought an IPhone. 

L O U D & C L E A R! I will not be changing my blog name. Promise. Actually it was so wonderful to read all your comments and learn that you love my blog's name, the images and feelings it evokes. That is what I attempted to do and I guess I succeeded.

You all had a lot of other great things to say about my blog's layout and hearing that you can navigate around easily was a good thing. A good thing indeed. The header still isn't what I want and it will most definitely be getting a makeover soon. The rest....we'll have to wait and see how I feel about it once the new header is done.

Ann had some terrific thought producing comments, about what I want from my blog and the direction I want to take it in. While I only started it to blog about my quilting life and keep it separate from my personal family blog, I do see the day when I'd like to take it to the next level. 

Sponsors? I'd love to at some point but I don't know how to do that. Making money from my blog isn't my goal but if I could at least get some fabrics once in a while to help keep my budget in check or products to review, that would be cool.  Drawing isn't my cup of tea so I don't ever think that I'll be designing fabric but never say never. It would be ultra cool to make a quilt to be displayed at market one day. I'd probably feel as if I had died and gone to heaven!

I do have a tote bag pattern tutorial drafted and hope to be able to actually make one up soon so that I can share it with you. It's definitely different from most of them available and has a specific purpose so keep tuned for that. There is also a series of very unique blocks in my idea notebook that I might do as a Block of the Month series. Again, I need time to work on it. 

Ann also shared a link to a list of best blogs as compiled by Quilters Home Magazine so I'll be checking those out to see what I like and don't like about them. I'm sure I'll find loads of ideas to try out here.

So Quilts From My Crayon Box will remain Quilts From My Crayon Box but I hope in time that it will look even more wonderful and will bring loads of new readers to follow along on my adventures.

The final block contributions for the Tribute to Danny quilts are coming in and I want to share the beauties with you.

This one came from Terrie (no blog) in . I love what she did. One minute it seems to me that the red is jumping into the spotlight, the next it seems the black is pushing to be front and center.

Thursday's mail delivery brought this great block made by Sunny in Maryland.  I do love it so and really appreciate her taking the time out of her busy life to whip this one up for me.

"Walk a Little Slower, Daddy," said a little child so small.

I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they're hard to see;

So walk a little slower Daddy, for you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up, you're what I want to be.

Then I will have a little child who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true;

So, walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you!

Happy Father's Day to all the special Daddies in your lives.

This is the final reveal of the teacher quilts. It too has been given tonight to its new owner. This one is named Guiding Young Discoveries. This beauty was for the lead teacher. She is represented by the very center purple rectangle and the rows of color around it are each of her students. Plus each of the pieced blocks around the center log cabin also represents one of the students.

The bright sunshine doesn't show the colors their very best but it still looks pretty cool if I say so myself. The pieced backing was the first free-flow, whatever-comes-to-me one that I've ever done and I do like the result. It was a bit of a tackle because after cutting off strips to save for the scrappy binding, I had a variety of sizes and shapes left. I just winged it and pieced them together until it was big enough.

The labels actually were put on the front of this quilt in the white center blocks at the middle of the very top and bottom rows. The top label had the name and a great poem that I found online. The bottom label had the school's name and the school year dates along with the names of all the kids in the class, along with my name, the name of my long arm quilter and the date. 

Again my quilter used green thread on this one in another swirly design (she knows what I like so well) and it broke up the big areas of white just enough. She truly understood the meanings behind the fabrics and the blocks so together we chose to not overdo the quilting and let the blocks shine instead

When the lead teacher opened the package, she started to cry immediately. Exactly as I expected her to do. I don't think in all her years of teaching she has received a gift nearly as precious. I had to laugh of course when she said "this is why you asked me what my favorite colors are".  As I said before, I wasn't sure how these colors would work together and how this quilt would come out but when it is all said and done, I'm very pleased with it.

Finished size is 86" x 81". Along with each of the quilts, the teachers were given a scrapbook. On each page is a picture of a student, a quote from the student about what they like most about that teacher and a piece of the fabrics contributed by that student's family to the quilt. This way the teacher can match up the quote and fabrics with each block in their quilt, similar to the 100 Good Wishes Quilt tradition. 

Making these quilts has fulfilled a need for me, to truly thank the people in my child's life that has such a profound influence on him. In this country, most teachers aren't appreciated as they should and I didn't want that to happen to my son's first teachers, the ones that would start the shaping of his school experience for years and years to come.

I'm happy to share with you the other assistant teacher quilt, completed and given to her this evening after the Pre-K graduation ceremony.This one has been named Expanding Young Horizons. Finished size is 56" x 64". This quilt, in the blues and yellow, was the perfect one for her because she is expecting a new baby boy next month.

The same basic plan was used, having one pieced block to represent each child and a pieced backing of the leftovers. I really love the way this back turned out. It is almost as wonderful as the top.

The teacher who received this quilt is so sweet and kind but she isn't sure she wants to share it with anyone else in her family. I think it is OK for her to horde it for herself for a while, don't you?

The quilting is another swirly design in a variegated blue thread. As with the green teacher quilt, the quilting really completed the overall design.

I chose to use the yellow for the binding instead of using a scrappy one and I think this turned out to be just right for this quilt. Again I did all the binding by machine. It isn't perfect but I know that no one will know but me.

There is a funny little story for this quilt. When I picked up Jammer from school the other day, this teacher was still there. She saw that I had a thread stuck in my hair and removed it for me. Of course I couldn't tell her that the thread came from the quilt I was finishing for her. Tonight she put 2 and 2 together and realized the connection to that small moment 2 days ago and the quilt she now held.  Speechless isn't adequate to the response she made when she received this gift and I know that it will be cherished and loved for many years to come. 

The teacher quilts are totally complete and tonight they were given to their new owners. I'm proud to finally be able to share the finished quilts with you.

The name for this one came to me very easily. The green fabrics and the basics of what teaching means immediately led me to call this quilt Growing Young Minds. I think it really fits. Getting good outside pictures was a challenge, between struggling against the wind and rushing before the rain came yesterday to still more wind today but plenty of sunshine.

This wasn't the layout I drafted for this quilt. When I laid it out that way, it didn't look or feel right. With the help of a graphic designer, soon to be a quilter friend, we readjusted and came up with this layout. Much better. Each pieced block represents one student in the class and the scrappy border worked well.

I pieced the back with leftover scraps and I really like the result.  I think pieced backs are going to be more of my norm than not from here on out.

The white is actually a very pale pink that kept the greens looking softer and I chose to use the same for the border.

The quilting is a swirly design in green thread that really worked well to blend all the elements into one cohesive piece.

I am proud of how this quilt turned out and it was a major learning experience for me. Finished size is 46" x 62".

Because of the time constraints for getting this quilt done, I sewed both sides of the binding on by machine. While the binding is certainly secure, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Until and if I ever learn to do that much better, I'm definitely going to prefer hand sewing the binding the more traditional way.

The young teacher that received this gift tonight was speechless. She is more of a quiet type of person and she is new into her teaching career and I'm sure she never expected such a meaningful gift. She was definitely moved and grateful. I hope it helps her to see just how special teachers become to their students and their families.

It is time to announce the winner of my 100th post giveaway. I still haven't figured out how to show the results of the random number generator on my blog and it seems like every time I have a giveaway, I'm in a rush and therefore have no time to search the web for the answer to the problem. I know that it is out there somewhere and I promise to find it some day. Anyway, Mr. random chose Number 3 who happens to be Lisa and she said:

LOL, the thought of naming my sewing machine never occurred to me. Which is strange since I name my cars. Ok, we'll give it one now. It's a Brother Project Runway, which makes me think of the Fab 5. So I think I'll name it Fabio! Congratulations on 100 posts. And thanks for the generous giveaway!

I've fulfilled part of my sentence and have washed some of my quilts. On Sunday I was able to do the 3 teacher quilts plus Thistles and Vines.

Reporter: These here within are the official minutes of the most recent proceedings.

The scene:  Quilt High Court

The Judges:  The Honorable Ms. Moda, King Kaufman, High Priest Henry, Magistrate Miller, Father Free Spirit, Reverend RJR and Barrister Benartex.

The Prosecutor:  Mr. Norman Stuffshirt, Esquire

 The Defendant:  Yours truly

Prosecutor: Your honors, the Defendant is accused of not ever washing any of the quilts she has made so far. Not one of them has had the final step of being made all soft and cozy completed. She has been derelict in her duties of being a finisher. 

Me: In my own defense, I have the following arguments to put forth:

     *I have 2 small children that keep me busy and I am lucky to get any time to sew at all most weeks.  No one can disagree that family must always come first no matter what.

     *One said child nicknamed Jammer was so impatient to actually put his Sound the Alarm quilt on his bed to snuggle under that I barely got to snip the thread on the last binding stitch before he whisked it away.

*Younger child known as Sunshine also was very impatient about receiving her completed Loving Sunshine quilt but so as to be able to call it "Mines" and not because she actually wanted to use it which to date she has not done. Her temper is so nasty that I desperately don't want to bring on her wrath unnecessarily by taking it away when she isn't looking.

*I returned to work, although part time last October, and between that and now having a much bigger house to maintain, my To Do List is forever long and I'm never getting caught up. The kidlets have a play room but still insist on bringing practically everything from there into the Great Room where I step on (mostly cars) or have to navigate around just to walk in there. Good cleaner-up-ers they are not (and therefore that job falls to me).

*I will also admit that I've been a big huge chicken. Petrified in fact. I love my finished quilts and I'm scared to death of the colors running and ruining them. I've heard about those things called Color Catchers that are supposed to help and I did actually buy some but because having clean undies is way more important and required than having soft quilts, those must take precedence in the laundry schedule.

*So I plead Guilty as Charged and ask mercy of this esteemed court. I hope the honorable and respected judges take my circumstances into account when deciding my sentence.

See there your Honors, she admits her guilt publicly. She has no defense, Her arguments are not relevant to this case. Her circumstances are no different for every other quilter in this world and should not be considered during your deliberations. I rest my case!

Reporter: The judges whisper amongst themselves for a very long time. They scan through many official quilting books while glance up at the accused now and again. Head nods of agreement and shakes of disagreement can be seen by the audience. The Prosecutor looks smug and assured of the verdict and the Defendant seems genuinely remorseful.

Chief Judge: This court has considered all the evidence and the accused's own statements, consulted the bibles of quilting and have taken into account our own experiences. While we certainly don't condone her behavior, we have to acknowledge that she is not a seasoned sewer and is still learning the ways and laws of this profession. Each judge on this panel had to admit that we were in her shoes ourselves in the beginning. So this Quilt High Court hereby states the Defendant is indeed Guilty as Charged but with Extenuating Circumstances and therefore is sentenced to immediately remediation of the situation along with 100 hours of house arrest sewing service in her studio, to be served as her family responsibilities allow.  Mr Prosecutor, while we know that you are inclined to seek out and try every quilter for this breach of quilting etiquette, we gently remind you to tread lightly. This is meant to be fun for all and we will never grow and expand our club membership if you are constantly scaring the bejesus out of everyone by bringing them up on charges before this court.

Reporter: Stay tuned America to hear the Prosecutor and Defendant's reactions to the verdict and as well as further investigation by this news seeker if she has indeed reformed her ways and is here on out correctly following in the footsteps of hundreds of quilters before her.

Guilt. Lots of guilt. I have it in abundance. Over all the money I've spent in the past 1 1/2 months on my quilting obsession. Being an accountant and keeping the bottom line in mind isn't always a good thing.

Besides as I mentioned before and realized more clearly when I did my mini clean up of my studio last weekend, I have plenty of projects and stash to keep me busy for a while.

So I've decided that with a few specific exceptions, I'm going on a shopping hiatus for the summer. Of course I made this resolution after I bought a few more goodies last Sunday. I heard about a going out of business sale at Quilt Kit Market from Kristen and just couldn't resist helping her clear out her inventory. I bought this full size Sophie by Chez Moi kit for a whopping $35. It will be a good quick project to have on hand for the next unexpected gift needed.

This kit was also irresistible. How could I not like something Halloween- that is this cute? It will be the new  decoration on my front door this fall.

What else did I indulge in? Well....I bought this Tropicana Batiks jelly roll for $27. I just love the combination of colors in it and might already have plans for it.

Lastly I added a little something to my order for a future giveaway prize though I'm certainly not going to tell you what I chose . In total I spent just under $100 but it was still $100 that I didn't need to spend. Yes I will be happy to have these beauties but more guilt also came with the "Pay Now" button.

My plan? Try hard, really hard to be good through Labor Day.  My Quilting To Do List has been updated with all the projects I have ready to go or are in the serious planning stage and the only purchases I will be making outside of this hiatus are specific ones that I need for 3 of the items on that list.

One of those "needs" is some yardage for a Christmas quilt. I finally decided what I'm going to do with the Fruitcake jelly roll that I won from Kristen last fall and I needed to get the rest of the coordinated fabrics before it disappeared totally since it already scarce. Last night I found what I wanted at Sew Fabulous Quilt Shop for $4.50 per yard. At least I got a great bargain.

My other allowed purchase will be: 1) Backing and binding for another baby girl quilt due over the summer 2) 4 yards for a swap I'll be announcing soon and 3) Sashing, border, backing and binding for the Tribute to Danny quilt, due at the end of July. I'm actually hoping the quilt shop in his home town will actually donate some/all of this.

There is a motive besides just keeping my guilt at bay and wallet closed. I hope to attend the big quilt show in Philadelphia in September and if I do get to go, I want to be able to spend as close to guilt free as I possible can.  These 3 specific projects are far from the only ones on my list. There are actually over 25 plus another 9 stacks of precuts in my stash that I have yet decided what to do with. Hopefully if I can be successful and only work on that which I already own, I'll be able to enjoy my fall and shop to my heart's content.

Hmmmm. What to write about? My 100th post should be a really good one, right? It should be hilarious and thought provoking and inspirational all at the same time.

I have a bunch of posts in Draft mode, maybe I should just finish up one of those and use it. Perhaps something else totally awesome will come to mind. Wouldn't it be terrific if the light bulb in my brain went off while I was in the shower (my typical place to dream up ideas) and the perfect little spark would form?

Oh the heck with it. My brain is in a fog yet again this morning. The never ending sinus pressure and drainage is driving me a bit insane. By this afternoon I will be breathing easier but the mornings are murder, murder I tell ya.

And I know you only want to know about the giveaway anyway. So here it is....(3) one yard cuts of Hip Hop Hearts by Ro Gregg.

Strange title for a blog post? Perhaps. But it sums up what I decided to do this weekend...namely skipping my local Shop Hop. Really! And I'm happy about it. And relieved. After my shopping spree during the NJ Shop Hop last month and acquiring Lucy last weekend, I felt the need to curb my spending for a bit. Plus the fact that 1) I've recently visited half of the shops in the past month while helping my friend research machines so I've seen all they have to offer 2) hopping is fast and furious work and there isn't much time to browse leisurely (which I prefer) so my friend and I decided to do the other shops on mini road trips over the summer months and 3) it is impossible for me to NOT buy something when hopping and I certainly don't need anything at the moment (curbing the spending plan ya know)....so overall skipping this year's hop is a good thing. I did buy the shop hop bag weeks ago and therefore I will be able to take advantage of the 20% off-all-you-can-fit-in-the-bag-sale that happens for one week in Nov. By then I will feel ok about buying again.

So what is/was the plan for this weekend? Well...yesterday afternoon I sewed on the binding on the blue teacher quilt but it was raining all day yesterday so no pictures. Hopefully the weather will cooperate today and I can get the shots to share with you.

After that little bit was complete and while I struggle with deciding on a name for that quilt (amongst also getting the mountain of laundry done), I decided to do a quick cleanup of my studio. It has been a jumble for weeks while I worked on the teacher quilts and I just couldn't take it any more. Messes and me do not go together!

I figure you'd like to actually see what my studio looks like, bare white walls and all. As soon as mid July rolls around, the deadlines are over and a couple of trips are complete, some of the wall painting in this house is going to commence but until then, the starkness continues.

I so love having my own space, where I don't have to put it all way just to have dinner and I can see what's going on. Plus the gorgeous light that streams in those windows is absolutely wonderful (even though it washed out this photo). This is how I left things at 11:30 pm last night. My little body was bushed and although I really wanted to finish the sprucing up, I gave in and went off to bed.

On the right you can see my design wall with some of the Tribute to Danny blocks. There are a bunch more but they kept falling off from the breeze I created every time I fluffed out the teacher quilt to lay on the floor and clip the binding over. I promise that I will put them all back up soon and share a photo of the beauties together. The pile on the floor are the other 3 quilts that desperately need bindings: Jammer's 100 Good Wishes Quilt, Miss M's 100 Good Wishes Quilt and the Pretty in Pink baby quilt. The table covered with the vintage cloth and hosting some of my scrapbooking things and the kids' 100 Good Wishes scrapbooks is my mom's vintage Singer, all nicely tucked up inside. At some point I'm going to set her up for the kids to use. No reason not to let them get more into this quilting thing if they want too. Under is my magazine basket and to the left is my drawer bin with thread and other miscellany in the bottom, my scraps in the middle and all the envelopes and lovely notes sent with the Danny blocks in the top bin. Sitting on top is my basic sewing box that hubs is allowed into if he needs to sew a button back on a shirt, not that he ever does that and I end up with that task, but a girl needs a sewing box and I hunted for 2 years until I found one cool enough.

I'm sure many of you will think I am batty because I love the desk I use for a sewing table. Yes it sits higher than a typical sewing table and my machine does not recess into it but I actually prefer it that way. It makes me sit up straighter and I've found that I have a lot less back stress and aches this way.

Again to the left (I am right handed after all) is my awesome cutting table that I bought off of Craigslist last fall for my birthday. It is mega huge and really sturdy and I paid a whopping $75 bucks for it. A better deal than the flimsier ones from Joanns. I can easily clear it off to take the overhang if I am working on something big. The scrapbook tote against the wall works perfectly for my rulers, scissors and cutters etc. All the pockets make it easy to grab what I need and then put it back to help keep the mess under reasonable control. Underneath are my basket for strings (I hope to do something with these at some point), the trash can, the cross stitch projects that are meant as Christmas gifts if I ever finish them and my 2 baskets of projects in waiting (that grew from 1 basket recently). This is just proof that I need to stop buying and get sewing more...I want some of those projects actually done.

This great sign was bought during the winter and today it will get hung on the wall right above this spot. I'm tired of waiting to get this room painted before I hang things on the walls. They can always come down and go back up after, right?

And this is the other side of the room. I'm not even going to tackle the closet until I get some shelves in there even though I'm itching too. Once I get the cleaning and organizing bug I prefer to keep going until it is all done. The dresser was a pass it on from our old neighbor which holds my stash, my scrapbooking tools and small supplies. You can see all my paper bins on the top. Where originally my stash took up about 2 1/2 drawers, once I added the bounty from the NJ Shop Hop and the leftovers from the teacher quilts, it now almost totally fills 4 drawers and the scrapbooking stuff is crammed into the top one. Reason #2 to quit buying for a bit and use up some of what I already have and have plans for.

On today's agenda: finish the clean up in this room, deal with the cut offs from the blue teacher quilt (the batting bits go in a bin in the closet) bind the purple and green teacher quilt and get labels for all 3 printed. The last teacher quilt will be picked up tomorrow after work and then I only have a week to get them all totally done.