Finished For Friday: A Charming Pillow And A Little Giveaway

 Giveaway Is Now Closed:

It is really a shame that I don't have very many charm packs. ahem....... When I first started quilting, I sorta became obsessed with these little packs of fabrics that included whole collections. Notice the emphasis on sorta. I purchased several....as in a lot....as in more than should be allowed.

See what I mean??? I turned them around so you could not count the bands....because I fear you might think I have a not so charming problem. I mean after all, I have all of these, and sometimes more than two or three of each line and still can not bring myself to cut into them. Ever.

I have some that are out of print and impossible to find simply because I can't bring myself to cut into the packages.....and they are safely tucked away for safe keeping. Crazy....I know.

 Mary and Connie of Country Threads has a new book out and let me tell you it is wonderful!! Country Threads is a very unique quilt shop located on a real working farm in Iowa!! Here is a link  to their shop, stop by and say howdy.....you will feel right at home.

The new book is titled Back to Charm School....how fitting because in this day and age, a lot of these wonderful charm school rules sure don't seem to be practiced much anymore. I was so inspired to bring myself to open a charm pack and make something from their book.

How cute is this?? I don't know about you, but I avoid any type of pattern whether it be quilting or sewing that has to do with circles. I seem to have a phobia with circles. I think it stems from grade school and a time when we were supposed to cut circles out of construction paper and mine looked like eggs. The boy sitting next to me made fun of my circles and told me I was dumb it was not Easter....and that was when the fear of cutting them started....all the way back to second grade. Did I tell you I am turning fifty this year....that is a long time to carry a phobia like that.....circles....who knew??

So, I decided if I could tackle a project with circles....than pretty much anyone else could too! And just have a look at what I was able to do by working through my circle phobia.

I absolutely love it!!! The directions were so easy, and walked me right through the process. Even if my circles are still not perfect, this project sure boosted my confidence in my abilities and I even was able to machine quilt the back myself. It is a super project that goes really fast and is a lot of fun. Best part for me is all the instructions are easy to follow and understand. That says a lot for me, as I usually toss a pattern to the side and try and figure things out on my own. Most times, the instructions confuse me and I get frustrated. Not the case with this book. After reading several of the patterns, I know my rather large stack of charm packs will soon be shrinking. My daughter already wants a pillow or two for her couch. She fell in love with this pillow too!!

The charm lesson for this pillow was really quiet adorable: Clean  your whiskers after a meal

Now, I don't have whiskers, thank goodness, but my husband does and my three dachshunds do too....so it is a gentle reminder of an old charm school lesson.

 Do you remember the lessons of charm school or do you need a brush up? Do you have a small charming problem like myself and have lots of charm packs sitting around not being used? Well, you are in luck, I am giving away a copy of the Back to Charm School by Mary and Connie and one charm pack for you to make your own charming pillow. The charm pack is called A Breath of Avignon by Moda and would be perfect to use with any of the 20 patterns in this book.

If you'd like to enter my giveaway, just leave me a comment below and share what you think the most forgotten lesson from charm school is in today's world. I will use Random Number Generator and announce the winner Sunday Night. Good Luck everyone....I know I will have a charming time reading your comments!!