I am so freakin' excited about this giveaway! This is different from any giveaway we've done, and I know there are tons of quilters out there who are going to being dying to win this one.
Felicia Graves, owner of The Quilting Bee, is a machine quilter. She has been in business for six years, and most of her work is freehand. Before learning to machine quilt, so worked as an artist (painting needlepoint canvas for Rebecca Wood Designs) so her favorite thing to do is "draw" on quilts using her Gammill longarm quilting machine (I know!). So all you quilters out there, admit it--you have at least one quilt top just waiting to be quilted. Don't we all? This is where Felica comes in. People send her their quilt tops and backing, and she puts them together with a one-of-a-kind quilting design. Look how gorgeous these quilts look with Felicia's finishing touch.
In my opinion the quilting is really what makes a quilt. Felicia's work is so amazing--she is truly an arteest. And guess what? She's friends with our girl V from the other day. There's some crazy creative vibe coming out of that little town in the middle-of-nowhere-Utah. I just may have to make a stop there next time I'm there visiting family in Utah so I can soak up some of their amazing-ness!
So here's the coolest part. Felicia will be quilting a quilt for free (up to 56"x56") for our lucky winner! Here's what you have to do to enter. Go to The Quilting Bee blog and tell us your favorite of Felicia's top 10 quilting memories (hint: they're all in her April archives). Make sure to leave us a comment by Wednesday, June 3 at 11:59pm PDT! Oh, and while you're there, scroll to the bottom and watch her slide show of more amazing quilts she's quilted. It's mesmerizing.
Good luck to you and your quilt tops!
Her #4 memory is sweet. It must be great to have a friend to quilt with and I love Vanessa's work. Felicia's quilting is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOuchie bobbin story!! I'll remember that one and be sure not to lean over my machine.
ReplyDeleteV's quilt is perfection. What a truly talented lady!
ReplyDeleteI love the story about how the denim quilt came to be. It's too funny!
ReplyDeleteWow what pretty quilts! My favorite quilting memory of hers is #2 quilting for relay for life. The quilt is really pretty and I am think it was nice of her to donate a quilt to be actioned off for cancer research. Thanks for entering me into this great giveaway.
ReplyDeleteunforgetable_dreamer_always(at)hotmail.com
Yay! I found her blog the other day and FELL IN LOVE with her stuff! Favorite top 10 Memory was the winding bobbin. Her husband laughing and leaving her there to get the camera is hysterical!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
I love that she quilted for relay for life....and I LOVE the quilted purses!! Would love to get my hands on one of those!!!
ReplyDelete#1!!! I don't think I've ever heard of that happening to anyone before...and the picture is priceless!!!
ReplyDelete::::::hyperventilating:::::: What beautiful, amazing work!! And those stories - I really enjoyed reading through them! My 2nd favorite was reading through how she decided to go into business, but I'm sorry, #1 winding the hair into the bobbin? I laughed so hard, and sent that one to my friends. LOL
ReplyDeletei REALLY like #4 that pinwheel quilt is darling but seriously #1 takes the cake!! so funny!! I am glad her husband got a picture.
ReplyDeleteLove that she came from a quilting family (#10) and has decided to pass down that tradition. But I love the #1 where her hair got wound up in the bobbin. Funny.
ReplyDeleteLove the bobbin winding incident! Too funny!
ReplyDeleteLove the quilting memory of her getting her hair wound around the bobbin, too funny! Great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteWow, I would LOVE to win this prize. Unfortunately, there are more than a couple quilts that need be quilted...
ReplyDeleteMy favourite quilt memory was "starting a business". As a mom of two young babes, I've often wondered about starting my own business. I find this story very inspiring.
The story about getting her hair caught in the machine and the resulting grease spot on her forehead! I can totally see myself getting into a situation like that - with the same "hahaha" from the husband!
ReplyDeleteThat bobbin story is HILARIOUS and totally something that would happen to me!
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a fabulous giveaway!
Wow! She is very talented! I love all of them! I think my favorite of her memories is the one she did for Alyssa. How very thoughtful! Colors are very cheerful!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory is a tie. Between #1, getting hair stuck in the bobbin, and #10, her first quilt was just a "scam" to get her own bathroom. That's funny, but at least she learned how to quilt and become this amazing quilter she is today!
ReplyDeleteWow! What inspiration! My favorite memory was #10...the one that got her into quilting and how she got a shower out of it. Totally something I would have done!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the #3 Quilt for Alyssa. My mother just started chemo. Before she started, we made 2 blankets together. One for her to snuggle and feel close to me when she was sick and one for me to snuggle and feel close to her. I live just a meir 14 hour car ride away from my mom;( So the blankets are wonderful!
ReplyDeletebrenbren13@gmail.com
I love her story about her quilt for the relay for life. Such a great cause and a beautiful quilt to boot!
ReplyDeleteheatherdemke(at)gmail(dot)com
I hate to be the first comment...the random number generator does not usually pick number one...some mix this one up in the jar :)
ReplyDeleteI love the bobbin in the hair. I know it must have hurt...I'm sorry for that part....but it does make for a great laugh. Bad way to make pin curls ay?
Kelly
IHaveANotion@yahoo.com
Her hair getting caught in the bobbin is my favorite, how funny!
ReplyDeletebyubabe14 at yahoo dot com
WOW!! She is truly amazing!! My favorite memory was #9 about starting her business. As a business owner that followed my heart, I could really relate to that one!!! Looks like she made a great decision!
ReplyDeletei love felicia! seriously the woman is amazing! she's done a few of my quilts and i have always walked away happy as a clam eating chocolate!
ReplyDeletemy favorite quilting memory (there's a few but i'll pick a sentimental one) is when she and i found out that one of our friend's here found out that her 2 year old daughter had cancer. we bought fabric and pieced and quilted a quilt all in one day. all we could think of "what can we do for this little girl" so we made her that quilt.
i hope i win cause i have like a bazillion quilts i'm making and that will be helpful to my pocket change!!!
Sad but funny! I thought that was blood but glad it was grease from getting her hair stuck in the machine
ReplyDeleteThe bobbin story - of Course- because I've always wondered if anyone else has ever done that. Now I know it's not just me.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory of Felicia's is #6 because Marsha is my mom, and she is the host of the fabulous Mountain Valley Quilt Retreat! I'd love to have a quilt top quilted, so I'm crossing my fingers that I win!
ReplyDeleteOh, my the bobbin in the hair is so funny but how humiliating! Her work is incredible. I am just learning and I am in ahhh..
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I just finished a quilt top so I am so excited about this giveaway!! I really liked #5 and #6 of her quilting memories. Mostly because I just moved to a new place and I am hoping to find friends. Her stories helped lessen my fears of breaking into a new area. Great give away!!
ReplyDeleteWOW!!! I want one of those machines! How cool! I love the story of her hair getting caught in the machine-- he, he!
ReplyDeleteOh my favorite is for sure the Bobbin story! OUCH!!!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is #3. The quilt for Alyssa.
ReplyDeleteL-O-V-E the Moda pinwheel quilt... classic perfection!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the denim quilt story. So funny!
ReplyDeleteI love that her bobbin was caught in her hair, that is so something that would happen to me!
ReplyDeletetuesdayef (at) aol dot com
Hands-down memory #1. I am always terrified of this.
ReplyDeleteMine is #3. What a wonderful giftto give a sick child. Plus I really want to know whre to get a machine like that.
ReplyDeletequilt for Alyssa, how sweet is that. I don't have a quilt to be quilted but if I win I am going to put one together, what a great giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteThe bobbin story is hilarious!! But my favorite is her first quilt. She got a bathroom and made her first quilt. How fun it would be to make a quilt with your Dad!
ReplyDeleteWow, that bobbin story is hilarious! Can't say that's ever happened to me. What beautiful work! I totally understand what she meant about "finding herself" again during postpartum. I too turned to sewing during that time in my life.
ReplyDelete#3 is such a sweet story and made me think of when someone made a quilt for my little peanut when she was born 15 weeks too early.
ReplyDeleteI'll always love Felicia's story of starting her business. Only someone as super talented as Felicia could jump into it that way and be so amazing!
ReplyDeleteHaving little girls I would say the Alyssa Quilt is darling.
ReplyDeleteI love the bobbin story and the quilting with V on Mother's day weekend. This is such an awesome giveaway!
ReplyDeletethe bobbin story is hilarious! what a memory! my husband would have done the same thing...
ReplyDeleteI laughed hystercially at her #1 memory, because I would totally do something like that.
ReplyDeleteBut, I think the memeory I'm most drawn to is her #2 memory - quilting for Relay for Life. This is my second year as a Relay participant and I think ti's a great way to put your talents to a good cause.
i love the #1 memory i could not stop laughing!!! that could totally happen to me i get way to into my sewing! i would love to win this giveaway i love to make quilts but im horrid and quilting!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite story is when she moved to her new town and made such a good friend (#4). I have moved and know how hard it can be until you meet that special someone who you just "click" with.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with so many others, the bobbin story is priceless! ALthough they are all great stories.
ReplyDeleteI have the perfect wall quilt that needs to be quilted and I can't afford to do it! So...my favorite was getting the bobbin stuck in her hair. Seriously, that cannot be topped.
ReplyDeleteI love her #3 Quilt for Alyssa is so so cute!! :-) Her work is AMAZING!!
ReplyDeleteI think I love the memory of how her business came to be. I've been mesmerized by those machines long before I decided to even think about pieceing a quilt.
ReplyDeleteHer creativity is astounding and her going out on a limb like that takes guts!
#1 is one of the best stories I've heard!!! I love her quilts! They look amazing!!
ReplyDeleteI have to say that i LOVE the bobbin story that is so funny(sorry) i always wondered if that has happened now i know! liquidgirl2004@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI loved memoried number 1 and 10, they are all so sweet and special but I like the funny stuff. and I can't believe they drywalled over a garbage can full of jeans. hahahah I would lover her to quilt the one I am working on because I don't know how to quilt.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite was #3 Quilt for Alyssa. Having spent some time a Childrens Hospital I have a whole new perspective on parents who have sick kids. That was so sweet of you to make a quilt for Alyssa.
ReplyDelete#1 is super funny and sounds like something I would do...and #3 is so sweet and she is so thought ful.
ReplyDeleteOf course the bobbin incident. That's definately I could see happening to me and my hubby just laughing. I also liked the jean quilt story. Beautiful quilting, I wish I had anywhere near that talent.
ReplyDeleteOh I laughed outloud about the bobbin story!!! So glad she got a picture of it too. I really want to win this one ... I have a quilt ready!
ReplyDeleteI really love her memory of making the quilt with V. for a little girl with cancer. I have so much compassion for those who have to face that. BTW, I have 2 quilts that could use quilting.
ReplyDeleteI love the story about Mother's Day weekend with Vanessa. Probably because my name is also Vanessa, and I am a military wife whose husband has missed that last 5 Mother's Days so I can totally relate.
ReplyDeleteMemory #1 with the denim quilt and the bathroom ordeal. Love that one. They were all fun though.
ReplyDeleteMary
Stop it! I was dying over quilting memoru #1...DYING! That is just classic, and I love that there is a photo to go along with it. You just can't make stuff like that up!
ReplyDeleteHer #1 memory is too funny! Will have to watch out for that!
ReplyDeletetornem(at)yahoo.com
What gorgeous work! I wish I had that talent! I love the bobbin story - that is priceless!
ReplyDeleteI loved the one with the bobbin, but the one that was the leap of faith and purchased her own machine to start her own business was great...such strength and faith! Loved it....
ReplyDeleteI like #1, funny but sad. She makes some very pretty quilts!
ReplyDeleteHa! I loved the bobbin story. That would be soo hilarious and painful!
ReplyDeletemeloniew a t g m a i l d o t c o m
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete#1 all the way. That sounds like something I would do. And my husband would have reacted the exact same way.
ReplyDeletethanks!
When her hair got caught in the bobbin! That is one I'll never forget! She does have beautiful quilts....just lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the chance and have a lovely weekend!
;-)Brooke
I love the bobbin story/memory because I think it is something I would do! How generous of her to offer this.... I could only wish I could do that!My last quilt was hand quilted because I didn't have the money to pay someone, so this would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the bobbin story!! Sounds like something I would do:) I hope I win!!
ReplyDeleteQuilting for Alyssa. That is a truly touching story.
ReplyDelete#1 is so funny. Glad her husband took a picture.
ReplyDeleteI like cute little Alyssa's quilt
ReplyDeleteHer hair got stuck in a bobbin?! That would get my husband running for the camera too.
ReplyDeleteFelicia is awesome! Her personality is even better than her quilting (is it even possible for something to be better than that?!) I must say my favorite memory is #1, the bobbin, because I still can't seem to wind one of those dang things and it's good to see even the pros can't handle them sometimes!
ReplyDeleteI like #9 how she started her business. It was nice to learn more about her.
ReplyDeleteI think the sweetest story is the quilt she made for her friends daughter who had cancer. Beautiful quilts!
ReplyDeleteThe denim quilt story is my favorite. Thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteI like the story about her dad and the denim quilt.
ReplyDeleteI love Quilt memory #1! So funny! She is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI really liked her "updated" version of sewing! Getting the kids ready for 30 minute game/movie intervals, getting music ready for quilting time! And of course the bobbin hair incident is classic! She really is a true artist.
ReplyDeleteI love the denim quilt story! And oh goodness--I have a quilt just sitting here waiting to be quilted. What a delight this would be!
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely work! I like the bobbin story :)
ReplyDeleteMy favorites are tied: number 1 - the bobbin story is hysterical! And number 9 - how she got started. I love to read about people's histories and their inspiration :) Her quilting is GORGEOUS!
ReplyDeletethe bobbin story is great, so funny! i guess it happens to the best of us. I also liked learning more about how she started her business.
ReplyDeleteMemory # 3. What better way is there to show your love to a friend in need then to use your special talents. I'm sure she loved the quilt. Lois
ReplyDeleteI agree that the quilting can make a quilt. I like #4. I really admire Vanessa's work and I love her sense of humor. She is someone I would really enjoy meeting and since Felcia has such good taste in friends, I'd love to meet Felcia too.
ReplyDeleteLife is nothing without good friends I am so grateful for the support and encouragement of good friends, including my husband (:
izazbz at yahoo do com
This is the best giveaway EVER! I am keeping my fingers crossed-have the perfect quilt to quilt!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory is #5-My Quilting friend Becky. This is my favorite because I have a dear friend named Becky, but she passed away in October from cancer. The quilt I would like to have quilted is one I was working on for her before she passed and never finished. We found out she had brain cancer in June and it was just so fast. Anyway, Felicia's work is stunning.
Donna
buggaboosmommy@yahoo.com
Wow, I'm not sure which one I enjoyed the most.
ReplyDeleteQuilting with her friend on Mother's Day, the rubbermaid tote of jeans drywalled up in the shower area, or the bobbin in the hair.
Okay. Maybe the bobbin in the hair. hee,hee
My youngest, Parker, is trached. Because of his severe airway issues a trach was necessary for him to be able to breathe without wearing his heart out.
Because of this Parker can't use fleece blankets or quilts tied with yarn because of the potential of the 'fuzzies' being inhaled via his trach......and straight into his lungs.
We call quilts that have been machine quilted 'trach friendly' and are always hoping one might come to live with Parker.
Maybe this will be our lucky contest. :D
And this talented quilted is from Utah....that's Parker country!
Such a beautiful giveaway!
hods (5) mom (@) aol (dot) com
Oh my goodness. Her quilts are absolutely amazing. I hope to learn how to quilt someday. Anyway, my favorite memory of hers is #4. Quilting with friends has got to be the best.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is her Starting a Business memory.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is #8 because she mentions Ann Collet who just happens to be one of my favorite Great Aunts (and lucky for me she is in town visiting this weekend). :)
ReplyDeleteI could soooo see my hubby grabbing the camera before helping me detach myself from my sewing machine! That's just priceless.
ReplyDeleteI also loved her memory of starting her own quilting biz...that's gotta be scary and exciting all at once!
My favorite is the #2 Relay for Life story. My mother had breast cancer and we as a family heartily support the Relay for Life every year. I praise her for her donation!
ReplyDeleteI love memory #1 - looked painful but a great lesson!
ReplyDeleteI love her memory of her first quilt, the denim one that was traded for a bathroom. What a Hoot!
ReplyDeleteI love that she made a denim quilt with her dad and getting the hair wrapped around the bobin is pretty hilarious!
ReplyDeleteouch! bobbin story! Ohh my goodness...I'm so glad I have to wind a bobbin on top my machine; but I'll have to keep that in mind!
ReplyDeleteQuilting Memory #3 is the one that stands out. My answer to everything in life is quilting -- It's seems to heal everything. Thorw my name inthe bucket.
ReplyDeleteI like the first one! While being grimly scarey and embarrassing...it reminds me of the year I was around 10 and trying to make a heart shaped cake for my mom for mother's day. my long hair got caught in the beaters and it rolled all the way up to my head. LOL
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is Felicia's number one quilting memory when her hair got caught in the bobbin and her DH ran for the camera.
ReplyDeleteGina
daretadream (at) q (dot) com
i love how's she made friens through quilting - vanessa and becky - way to love your job!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe bobbin story!
ReplyDelete1 is probably my favorite and most memorable. I know people knit with animal hair, but quilting with human hair seems a bit of a stretch. I'm glad it
ReplyDeletewas captured on film.
without question, number 1, sorry, but that's hilarious!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the bobbin story!
ReplyDeleteMemory #1 is definitely hilarious. I love the picture of the bobbin still caught in her hair! Poor thing! I also love the quilted bags (not a memory, but I really want one!).
ReplyDeleteI love the story of the birth of the denim quilt.
ReplyDeletejinii_boren@yahoo.com
little alyssa's quilt story! but i have to say that i thought the first story about the bobbin was crazy!
ReplyDelete#1 Oh my goodness, I had no idea that you could wrap your hair in a bobbin! Going to pin my hair back next time I get out the sewing machine!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Valerie (at) thecraftyclassroom.com
I love this idea of writing about 10 quilting memories. I think I'll "steal" this idea for a future post at my blog. :-)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all of them and of course laughed about the bobbin incident. But my fav was #4.
What a wonderful support Felicia was for Vanessa. And what a cool way they supported one another on that Mother's Day. I wish more people would/could offer that kind of support for women whose husband's are gone.
I liked the memory of coming together with Becky, a once form of "competition." What a great story of humility, friendship and courage!
ReplyDeleteMemory #10. I love that her dad was such a sweetie to break open the drywall just so his little girl could make a quilt (even if it was actually just a devious plan, hahaha).
ReplyDeleteIt has to be the bobbin story. I never knew you could do that, now I am certain it will happen to me someday, hopefully not soon!
ReplyDeletemellisa.willis@sbcglobal.net
i have two favorites...one that made me laugh, and one that made me almost cry! her hair getting caught in the bobbin..made me laugh! my husband would totally laugh and run for the camera! then, the sweet quilt she made for little alyssa. what a wonderful way to minister to a hurting family!
ReplyDeleteMy fave memory is #1. I don't know if I can imagine exactly how that could happen, but at the same time, i feel like if it is going to happen, it'll probably happen to me. :o)
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is often frustrated by bobbins (that's me, novice crafter!), memory number 1 is my hilarious pic.
ReplyDeleteAll i know is I know how it feels to put hemming your jeans at the bottom of your list! I love her Red white and blue quilt now I want to do a quilt for every holiday!
ReplyDeleteI liked #9 the best. It was neat to hear how everything came to be.
ReplyDeletei like her whole cloth quilts :)
ReplyDeleteWhat great memories! I love #3, the quilt for her friend's daughter Alyssa, who was diagnosed with cancer. Such a hard trial to go through. Beautiful intricate quilts, I love them!
ReplyDeletebobbin in the hair...that is so something I would do!! ha
ReplyDeleteOkay, I like several but I'm going to have to say my favorite is #1. Getting a bobbin stuck in her hair sounds like something I would do!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the bobbin incident! It is something that I could so see happening to me!! Ouch!!
ReplyDelete#1 is definitely my favorite! I laughed hysterically when I read that! Her quilting is beautiful.
ReplyDeletesusanlanthrip@knology.net
the bobbin story is classic, it made me chuckle. However, I really enjoyed reading about how she got started.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great give away! The #1 quilting memory is something I would totally do. In fact, I'm amazed that I haven't done it yet. I'll have to keep on my tows and avoid the bobbin winder and my long curly hair! Ouch!
ReplyDeletei love #4. Quilt of Alyssa. It's a sweet story and i love the pink and green quilt.
ReplyDeletemy fave is #1 quilting memory. Ive had similar things happen to me!!
ReplyDeleteI really wanted to NOT choose #1 because it seemed way too obvious or easy a pick - but honestly, it's probably the funniest quilting story I've ever read! The kind of moment when you just want to yell, "what's a nice girl like me doing in a place like this?"
ReplyDeleteNumber one is the best! How classic that the hubby laughed, got the camera and then helped her. angelou22@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteMy favorite memory is #3 - Quilt for Alyssa. Her quilts are absolutely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThey're all great memories, but winding your hair in the bobbin sounds like something I might do, so it gets top billing! Thanks for the giveaway...going back to her blog to learn more. I secretly think of getting a longarm someday!
ReplyDeleteI've been a fan of Felicia's work for a couple of years and I would absolutely love to have my own piece of her wonderful talent!!! It is tough to pick a favorite post but tonight I have to say I really can relate to the 4th post - her Mother's Day weekend quilting and enjoying the company of her good friend. I am also the mother to boys and I know how wonderful it can be to get together with a good GIRLfriend and create and visit and have fun! The bonus to this post was Felicia's admittance that her quilt hasn't been quilted yet - I can ultra relate to that too!!! Whether I win or lose I am glad I can view her work and dream of future quilts because her work inspires me to get busy!!!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa's quilt by far.
ReplyDeleteI am a cancer survivor,
thus you hit a spot in my
heart. My Daughters BF
right now has Leukemia,
and my daughter just donated
her hair for her friend to
have a wig. You are a
gentle soul. Thank you.
I have to go for her reaching out to Becky, knowing that there could definitely be tension, and making a friendship out of it instead.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!
My favorite memory of hers is the Mountain Valley Quilt Retreat, #6, because it reminds me of some of the art retreats I've done, specifically a long weekend of shibori fabric dyeing at a place called Peter's Valley art center in NJ. I love how inspiring it is to work with other artists.
ReplyDeleteNumber one for sure! That is hilarious!!!
ReplyDeleteThe bobbin story has to be the best ever - even more so than some of the crazy things I've heard at my guild meetings.
ReplyDeleteOh, the denim bathroom story is priceless! And the bobbin--painful. It sounds like something I'd do...
ReplyDeleteI know the deadline is way past, but i still wanted to add my two cents: The hair-bobbin is way funny. Pretty quick of you husband to think of the camera!
ReplyDeleteWay to go to laugh at yourself!
I can certainly learn from that!
I was so touched by #3 - Alyssa's Story, but really loved #1 - the Bobbin story. Such wonderful quilting memories!
ReplyDelete