Sunday, April 9, 2017

Goofin’ Off Around the Let’s Bee Quilt’n Blog Hop

Today’s post is a special one.  I have been working along with some fellow quilters in a group called 2017 New Quilt Bloggers as I try to learn the ropes of being a new blogger.  I’ve been making new friends and learning lots of great things about blogging.  Today’s assignment is participating in a blog hop with my new friends.  For those of my friends who enjoy quilting, it’s a great opportunity to meet some other quilting bloggers.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading a few friendly quilting blogs linked below:  


As a quick introduction to any new readers, I’ll try to give you a little introduction to me and how I came to choose my blog name.  The “Goofin’ Off” part comes from my family always looking forward to spending time and having fun together.  Our family motto is:  The family that plays together, stays together.  It's not uncommon for us to take extended family vacations to Disney.  The picture on the left is from a cruise I took with my niece five or six years ago.  It was Pirates in the Caribbean night when this picture was taken.

Our family has such a special affinity towards Disney and often the times we spend to together is spent playing Disney games, going to see Disney movies (including the Marvel and Star Wars universe), and running off to play in the theme parks whenever time and money allow us.  We love Goofy.  We especially like to goof off with Goofy.  My hubby and Goofy even have a special handshake.  If you don't believe me, check it out below!  



Back in middle school, I had the opportunity to take a class where I learned all sorts of fun things such as knitting, crocheting, embroidery, cross stitching, and sewing.  I loved the class but definitely had picked out a few favorites by the end of the semester.  I found I really enjoyed counted cross stitch.  It provided a stress relieving outlet throughout my high school years and after.  Here is a picture of one of a series of a Bee alphabet.  I have completed the alphabet and hope to make each of these squares as the center of a quilt block and sew a queen-sized quilt for my bed.


Somewhere in my late 20s, I decided I wanted to try my hand at making a quilt.  This is where the “Around the Block” part of my blog name comes in.  I bought myself a magazine that included some quilt-making basics and just went at it.  I didn’t have a sewing machine at the time, so my first dozen quilts were 100 percent hand sewn and hand quilted.  I eventually bought an inexpensive sewing machine and the rest is history.  I believe the quilt on the left is the second quilt I completed.  It was from a Thimbleberries Quilt Club kit.


Around my mid-30s, I worked on my first charity quilts for Project Linus.  I enjoyed making these quilts and was always on the lookout for simple quilt patterns that went together quickly.  The quilt on the right is one of my favorite patterns.  It uses strip piecing and requires exactly one yard of each fabric.  When I'm shopping for fabric, I try to just look for three coordinating fabrics and purchase one yard each.  I hope that somehow each charity quilt can bring a little comfort to someone no matter what their circumstances.

As a huge Disney fan, I find myself drawn to Disney prints.  I also find myself drawn to fabrics that reminded me of the Disney parks and resorts.  I might find myself looking at a camping print that reminded me of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground.  Or I might find a print of baked goods that reminded me of the smells of the Disney bakery.  I was drawn to the fabrics in the quilt on the right because it reminded me of the carousel at Disneyland.  Have I mentioned yet that we are a Disney-obsessed family?    

So tell me in the comments below, what inspires you in picking designs for whatever your project is…cross stitching, quilting, painting, or whatever floats your boat?  

61 comments:

  1. Love your quilting story. Yes, you are Disney obsessed, but you are having a great time!

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  2. I had to chuckle when you said you were drawn to Disney prints - I can't resist the Dr. Seuss prints! Great to meet you!

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    1. Well, Dr. Seuss is every bit as whimsical as Disney. I've got some Thing 1 and Thing 2 prints as well as a Lorax print in my stash. Too much stash and not enough time.

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  3. HI Amanda, it's lovely to learn more about you in this post! I am glad to see you in the blog hop.

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    1. It's nice to see you here, too! This is quite a fun way to get to know my fellow quilt bloggers.

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  4. Hi Andrea, it's been fun to read a bit about you in your blog and to see your quilts. I'm enjoying reading the posts from our hive today; how fun!

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  5. Andrea, I love your family motto. It is great to have a motto and then to live it. You have some lovely quilts and I can't wait to see what comes next for you.

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    1. Thank you, Jan! We love our motto, too. We're hoping to have a Pirates of the Caribbean game night this weekend. We've got family coming in from Salt Lake City. We love it when family visits and we've got extra family around to play with.

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  6. Hi again Andrea - hope you are enjoying the NQB group and the blog hop! So much of my inspiration comes from everyday things around me - in fact my children are getting rather tired of the refrain "That would look great as a quilt!"

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    1. I know what you mean about "that would look great as a quilt." I have been known to take pictures of odd objects because I love the way the colors go together. I'm always looking for new color combinations.

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  7. I love how totally Disney you & your family are! I went back and read a few other posts--all Disney! :) I also make quilts for Project Linus and love knowing that someone enjoys the quilts I make. I find inspiration all over, sometimes from the fabric itself, sometimes from pictures I see from other blogs and the like. Like you, I look for fairly simple patterns for donation quilts.

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    1. Thank you, Emily! I am really enjoying this opportunity to meet other great quilters and bloggers. I wish I had more time to give right now to be making more quilts for Project Linus. I've got a million things on my plate at the moment, but I am hoping that changes within a month or two.

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    2. That's understandable. I feel like I will have a month when I'll have several quilts to donate, and then a dry spell of several months with nothing I've finished.

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  8. I have been quilting for 25 years. I did enjoy cross stitch, but then I found and fell in love with quilting!
    cork@pa.rr.com

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  9. Everything anything.Fabric can get me going or a quilt pattern..Could even be a dream..Always have an open mind.. happyness04431@yahoo.com

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    1. Yes. So many things can get our minds thinking about quilt designs or fabric color themes. I've been known to take pictures of an object that has my husband shaking his head. Usually it's not the object but the color scheme of it that I'm trying to capture for future projects.

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  10. Hi Andrea, I'm visiting from the Better Bloggers Hive and it's great to meet the other quilters from the other Hives. I started as a needlepointer and soon graduated to Quilting when I realized that I could make quilts. My way of quilting is to buy fabric first and then decide what to make--very rarely do I buy for a pattern because that takes too much time and thinking. Glad to get to know you and I hope you enjoy this blog hop as much as I do.

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    1. It's nice to meet you! I am really enjoying this hop. I'll be visiting all the blogs this evening and look forward to getting to meet so many new friends.

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  11. Nice to meet you Andrea! It's great that the whole family shares the same love of Disney!

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    1. It's nice to meet you, too, Paige! We are definitely a Disney family. We start 'em early here.

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  12. Hi Andrea, I'm goofing off on the east coast /Atlantic side in Virginia. One day, perhaps I'll get the itch to blog. Until then I'll be happy and inspired to read yours. Welcome !

    bluestarof2(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  13. Glad to meet you. Like you I make lots of charity quilts and I am always on the lookout for quick simple projects. I chair the community outreach committee for my guild so any project ideas I can pick up from you would be wonderful. It was a pleasure getting to know you through your post.

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    1. It's nice to meet you, Lisa. There is just something about making those charity quilts that makes me happy. I'm really enjoying making new quilting friends.

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  14. I share your Disney love. One of my favorite childhood memories is of being a little girl, growing up in Southern Cal where we could see the fireworks at night. The neighborhood rule was that when the fireworks display was over, all the kids had to go inside: bedtime.

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    1. Being able to see the fireworks? Now that has me really jealous. Hubby and I talk about moving to Florida when we retire. Maybe some day...

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  15. So nice to learn more about you. Can you believe hubby and I have *never* been to Disney?? Even though our children are grown, it's something I would still love to do. I usually start with a design and then look for the perfect fabric.

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    1. Beth, Disney is not for everyone. But we really aren't about the thrill rides. There is so much more to do there. When we were there last month, there was a flower and garden show going on...lots of beautiful flowers, live entertainment, and gardening workshops. It's been a treat getting to know so many new friends blogging.

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  16. I love that your hubby has a special handshake with Goofy, I'm a bit jealous! I love hearing how people picked up quilting and why they stuck with it, thanks for sharing! I especially love that you quilt for Project Linus, I'm a sucker for charity! My quilting group sews therapy pillows every second Tuesday of the month for Mending Hearts, a charity that helps open heart surgery patients. And if you don't mind, I think I'll poke around your blog a little more!

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    1. Rita, Please feel free to poke around all you like. I'm a relatively new blogger and learning as I go. I love to receive feedback from my readers. The Mending Hearts therapy pillows sound fantastic. I'll have to check around and see if there is something similar in my area. I just wish I had more hours in the day...or didn't need to sleep. It's been nice getting to know my blogger friends.

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  17. I Love Star Trek, so a lot of my colors will be chosen because they remind me of space or geek stuff.

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  18. We are a "Disney Family" as well. We live right around the corner from Disney World and try to make it to the parks at least once a week.
    My quilts tend to go with whatever my family is into at the time...fox for my daughter, flag for my son & Voltron for my husband. Our inspiration definitely comes from our lives & loves!

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    1. Kara, I am so jealous of your proximity to Disney World. We bought into DVC when I received a small inheritance from my grandmother. Between that and frequent flier miles, our annual trips are actually quite inexpensive considering we live near Seattle. Maybe we'll have to meet up in the parks on one of our trips.

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  19. I think your family motto is wonderful; play is something that we seem to loose touch with as we age. I find inspiration in nature, not that my designs seem that way... but I am often outside or inspired by a natural color palette when I design. Thank you so much for joining the hop this year!

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    1. Thank you for visiting, Yvonne. Playing definitely seems to keep us young despite our age. I hope it's something we can always remember to do as a family.

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  20. Hi Andrea! It's nice to hear about you and your family. sounds like great times!

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  21. Hello Andrea! Your post is a nice way to get to know you. I have done all sorts of quilts in my 10 years, but applique quilts are always my favorites. I also do Project Linus quilts but our group really needs older kids and boy quilts so I focus on those. Have a great day!

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  22. Hi Andrea,

    Great to meet you. Home economics was 1 of my favorite classes in school. It is fun to meet other quilters and find out what inspires them.

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  23. Andrea you are too cute! It does sound like you are a small Disney fan ;). I am inspired by so many things, but I definitely gravitate towards certain colour palettes that I want to work with.

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    1. Samantha, Thanks for stopping by. Although I always look forward to trying new color palettes, there are a few that I definitely gravitate back to also.

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  24. Nice to meet you Andrea. I used to live in the PNW (Seattle area) and now live 2 miles behind Magic Kingdom in Orlando and can see the fireworks nightly from our house. And even though we live that close it never gets old hearing the train whistle every 4 minutes. It's a magical sound.

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    1. Diana, It's nice to meet you. You're one more quilter living my dream life. My hubby's dream job is working with the trains at Disney World. Maybe one day. We've got a few years ahead of us before we retire.

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  25. I love Disney too! Just saw Beauty and the Beast and loved it. Of course I also love a good musical so this movie was perfection because it had both. I don't have little kids anymore so I prefer to go to Universal when we're in the 'hood. I see you just went to the Wizarding World! We must have spent days there the last time we went. So cool.

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    1. Jennifer, Thank you for stopping by. Our trips are becoming split more between the two...Disney and Universal. We spent three of our days at Universal on our last trip. It's fun to see so many fellow quilters also enjoy Disney.

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  26. My inspiration for my quilts really comes from other bloggers. What a wonderful world we live in now that we can see and share fabric art from around the world!

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  27. Hi Andrea! Great intro! You should consider doing a trip to Tokyo Disneyland, to experience Disney with a Japanese influence. Nice to meet you!!!

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    1. Hi Nancy! It's nice to meet you, too. Visiting Tokyo Disneyland is definitely on our Disney bucket list. All we need right now is more vacation time and lots and lots of extra money.

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  28. Hi Andrea! I am so ready to go back to Disney World! My hubby took me when I was 58 and I cried when I entered the Magic Kingdom. He said it was worth the price to see my face when I saw it. We are truly all kids at heart...now I am a recycled teenager. What inspires me when I pick a project? Sometimes I have fabric I am itching to use and that will inspire me, other times I see it on Instagram or someones blog and I have to do it. {And add to my ever growing pile of WIPS!} Other times it is a technique that inspires me.

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    1. Hi Sharon! Thank you for stopping by. Glad you enjoyed Magic Kingdom. Of all the parks, that one seems to stir the most emotion and bring out the kid in me. I love hearing how and where everyone gets their inspiration.

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  29. My family loves to spend time at Disney too! I hope I can make it there some time this year. Great post! I really liked seeing some of your quilts.

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    1. Hi Sarah! I hope you can make it to the Disney parks sometime this year, too! There is so much fun waiting for you there.

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  30. Disney World has been a family favorite for many years. Now that my sons have grown, we have not visited in a while. However, we now have two grandchildren, so it looks like is time to make another visit. I am inspired by fabrics. I love colorful quilts.

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    1. Hi April! Glad you made it to my blog. Our son is grown, too. People give us a funny look when they know we're still going to Disney...even without the kids. For us, how we approach the vacation is different, but the magic is still there. I love colorful quilts, too.

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  31. Hi Andrea, you look like a fun family! I have never been to Disneyland, think I’ve missed out somehow...never too late though eh? I love that you hand sewed your quilts and that the lack of a sewing machine didn’t deter you, that’s dedication! I also love cross stitch, quilting, painting and drawing, knitting...in fact I’ll give anything a go!

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  32. What a fun introduction to your quilty journey! My inspiration comes from a variety of sources, sometimes it's the fabric that calls to me first and I need to find just the right project for it, other times it's a pattern or another quilt that catches my eye and begs for an interpretation.

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    1. Lancer, Thank you for stopping by and sharing where you get your inspiration.

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  33. Great intro! I love your projects and hand sewing your first quilts is such a neat thing! Goofy has been my favorite since I was a kid and he is still the bomb! I watched The Goofy movie recently and still enjoyed it like I was 5! haha.. What inspires me? My kids and husband. Also if I see a fabric that jumps out at me, I might have an immediate idea of what I want to make with it! Thanks so much for the fun post!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, Amy. Since you mentioned "The Goofy Movie," it reminds me of how much my hubby and son enjoyed it. I think they related to it as father and son. It's awesome that your husband and kids inspire you. Family is everything to me.

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  34. Great to meet you and read your story Andrea. Inspiration for me depends on where I am in my life. I have tried various kinds of needlework in the past, then I started quilting and my true passion began. Inspiration often comes from need, from aspiration, and most definitely form the wonderful quilters and bloggers I meet. Good luck on your quilting and blogging journey.

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    1. Thank you for visiting, Kate! Your inspiration for quilts from a lot of really nice places.

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  35. Cool blog! Is your theme custom maade or did you download it from somewhere?
    A desighn like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog
    stand out. Please leet me know where you got your theme.
    Many thanks

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    1. Thanks for dropping by. This is one of the basic blog templates on Blogger. I plan to do a bit of tweaking in the not too distant future. I've been playing around but just haven't published it yet.

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