Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations!

enjoy the dearSTELLA fabrics

give them a thank you

or a fb shout out

we're still celebrating the dog days of summer

with another giveaway post later this week

please check in with us again

for now, let's just take a moment

to hold good thoughts for all of those

affected by Isaac

thanks again for following along

and for taking the time to comment

feel free to drop me a line any time with suggestions

or things you'd like to see

here

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

dearSTELLA fabric giveaway

we're having another fabric giveaway

but first...

my latest smoothie recipe

someone has got to calculate the calories for me tho

because I'm sure I'm having a 2,800 calorie smoothie every morning.....

 one banana, frozen or not, after giving the dog about one inch of banana
(he loves bananas)

five frozen strawberries - the costco big frozen bag kind of strawberries

one large tablespoon almond butter

two large tablespoons of fage all natural non fat greek strained yogurt

and the rest of the spoon for the dog
(he loves plain yogurt too)

half teaspoon of turmeric, teaspoon of cardamom

tablespoon of flax seed

serving of Amazing Grass Green Superfood

serving of Amazing Grass Amazing Meal (I like Vanilla Chai infusion)

water and ice cubes

oh, yes.....and a large handful of spinach

(makes three generous servings)

take a moment to post your best guess calorie count

we're still enjoying the dog days of summer
with a great giveaway series
dearSTELLA sent us some wonderful quilting cottons
and we have been giving them away to you, our loyal followers 
this fabric is "It's a Shore Thing"
and this is going to be our next giveaway bundle...it's a whole lot of beach chairs, sand dollars, and sunglasses
it's a stunning bundle

but
I also want to ask you all to go to the beyond the reef facebook business page and "Like" the page
(no liking a comment....you gotta like the page)
and remember, you have to be a blog follower to be 'entered' for the giveaway

don't you wonder why there are bloggers that ask you to follow along?
just like getting good greens and flax seed and turmeric and spinach
to stay healthy
we have to keep our "numbers" healthy too
part of that depends on us - on giveaways and interesting posts
and part of that depends on you - having you follow or like or pin or comment
on the content we bring you
it says to our industry that we're 'healthy'
there you have it
(probably more than you ever wanted to know about 'quilters in the industry')

finally

we have some housekeeping

we have not been contacted yet by our urbanCountry Quilts book winner

we need a note from you with your mailing addy

if we don't hear from you by this Sunday, we will select another name

and the winner of the last giveaway was noted on our facebook page

post numbers four and thirty five

on the Road to California faculty interview post

please email me your mailing addy and I will send you each a bundle

of dearStella fabrics - Petal Pusher or Marea

thank you so much for the comments, all of you!!

that's about it

fabric.fabric.fabric

some housekeeping

and a little something to keep us all healthy

happiest dog days of summer

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

(we'll announce the random number generator selection for this bundle on Tuesday morning)

Dog days of Summer continues....giveaway!!

the

dog days of summer

continue

with another fabric giveaway!!!

(keep reading...)

I thot I would share with you, a simple recipe for a summer salad

I invited some friends over for dinner...I planned...and I thought by now it would be cooler

hah

 so here's another summer salad recipe for you

trader joe's basmati rice or whatever very light fluffy rice you might have locally

and a huge bunch of cilantro

rough cut everything

costco has baby romaine in a box so I used both the baby and the regular romaine

my rough cut technique is pretty simple - hold on and cut lengthwise four or six times turning after each cut

some of you will want to gently tear every leaf, I understand

add lettuce to shallow bowl or serving platter

add jicama

add black olives

add costco edamame salad

(or make your own with edamame, cranberries, roasted corn, red bell peppers, carrots, 

red onions and more cilantro with a rice wine vinegar)

roast a whole chicken, or cut up costco whole chicken

add sliced black olives and avocado

done.

cool.

for the winter version of this you can make it mexican style with rice and black beans

and pico de gallo instead of the edamame

there's always room for cilantro and jicama

and the frozen roasted corn in a bag is a good addition to this one

so there you have it

cooking beyond the reef style!

for the Hawaiian style, rice, shredded pork, chopped pineapple, mango, jicama would do, too!

for dessert, I put out two plates of big cookies

and four different ice cream flavors

with scoopers so that everyone could make their very own custom

ice cream sandwich

(thank you to Little Natalie for this great dessert idea)

many of you live without

costco, trader joes, "everything made for you kind of stuff" stores

but I assure you

some rice, a chicken, and a stop at your local farmers market or your own garden

will let you toss up an evening of good conversation with good friends

any time there is a little rice and lettuce around!

we have some book winners to announce

Leadmewood - Everyday Handmade

Cecilia - Sew the Perfect Gift

Diane - Urban Country Quilts

please email me your snail mail addy and I will get your books in the mail to you!

and for those of you that wanted a copy of the title(s) but didn't get chosen, 

Martingale & Company is having a sale!

(link from our facebook page - beyond the reef)

now for the fabric giveaway

please take the time to leave a comment on the

Road to California

blog

I am actually "faculty" this year, and they asked for an interview

I hope you'll comment on that post, letting them know why you follow

beyond the reef

maybe you'll even want to sign up and come to the lecture....

I will select a name from THAT POST

and that person (on sunday, if they release the comments in time)

will win this wonderful dearSTELLA fabric bundle

please, tell a friend, share our blog and the facebook page with a quilt buddy

thanks.

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

The Dog Days of Summer

It's a Martingale and Company book giveaway!

It's also the dog days of summer

I had to look that one up, just to be sure it was okay

The Farmers Almanac tags the dates to be July 3 to August 11

Ancient Rome, July 24 thru August 24

The Gregorian Calendar adds, leap years delete, but overall let's just call it "good"

It's the time of year when Sirius, the Dog Star, appears

and when we have our "warmest summer temperatures"

when dogs hit the pool, or the beach, and then begrudge us the bath that follows

(yes, yes, just like the kids playing in the sand, getting dunked in the bay for a quick clean up)

I think I will put it on next year's calendar 

and make it a tradition

people are enjoying the last few days of summer, taking vacations and flocking to the beach
with that kind of
"oh, my gosh, it's August and we haven't even been to the beach yet"
look in their eye

(insert lake, hike, camping, bike riding, hula hooping, having any fun at all, word, here)

the arugula from the garden is growing again after the birds have had their share of salad
and having friends over for dinner means sun tea, frosty beers, light wines and a cold crisp salad

many of us, as quilters or sewists, are thinking

"oh my gosh, the holidays will be here in no time and I haven't even started those gifts"

and so, thanks to Martingale and Company/That Patchwork Place, we are going to do a triple giveaway

for the dog days of summer

because before you know it, you'll be sending those kids packing (to school that is)

and you'll have time for

everyday HANDMADE

(currently on sale, in case you don't get chosen here)

SEW the Perfect Gift

(also on sale, by the way!!)

or even

URBANcountry  Quilts

pincushions

eco friendly re-usable snack bags

stunning quilts

(dare I say dorm quilts?)

jackalopes

and my pick from the bunch.....a knitting needle caddy

so let's greet these last dog days of summer

with a triple play giveaway

invite your friends to come follow the blog

leave a comment on which book you'd hope to have sent to you

and please, share a recipe or a 'last picnic of summer' story with us

the random number generator will select

THREE

comments

(on Friday)

and we'll send you your books

but only if you are a follower, or you have invited a friend that becomes a follower

because

our giveaways are our way of saying thank you to our loyal readers

and I DO thank YOU!

natalie.

be.do.create

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

dearSTELLA, meet Jaybird Quilts

what a lovely surprise!

I received a box of dearSTELLA fabrics

and I thought I would share them with all of you!

we're going to have a series of giveaways for these brand new fabrics

because it's a well known fact, at least around here, it's a well known fact,

that what you give, you get back ten fold

here's a peek at

It's a Shore Thing by Jack & Lulu

and this could just be my very favorite

Indochine

but today, I am working with

Playdate

which just happens to come in cotton AND flannel

so this weekend's giveaway is for the flannel version of

Playdate by dearSTELLA

 after thinking about a fussy cut for the elephants

I just knew I was gonna cut into some part of them

so I opted for....

 

Skip the Borders by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts

you know

Martingale & Company

within no time I had a pattern selected that had no regard for the elephants, 

and I had the pieces cut for a baby snuggle in no time

the blocks came together in a snap 

 

so.

the flannel bundle is yours, along with the remaining cottons that weren't used

in my baby cuddle

but let me just tell you, you gotta get your own copy of

Skip the Borders

this copy is personally autographed

but if you are in Southern California, you can stop by Sew Modern tomorrow between 12 and 2

and get your own copy personally autographed

oh, and the tip of the day?

popping your seams on your four patches

you do pop your seams, don't you?

no?

try it, it's easy, and you'll eliminate all of the bulk in the middle of your four patch

now, all I have left to do is to sew the blocks together

it's back to Jaybird Quilts' book for me

and it's off with you to become a follower of the blog

leave a comment

tell us all about a moment

when you have

"given, only to receive ten fold"

we'll announce the recipient of the flannel bundle

on Monday

natalie.

beyond the reef

be.do.create

in order to be chosen by the random number generator, or my UPS guy,

you MUST be a follower

I can't reply to you if it says "no-reply blogger"

it's not that I don't appreciate the followers that I have because you know I do

but I can't help but wonder -- people have thousands of followers

and I know I have thousands of readers

but I would love to have you all become followers

I won't overblog you

I promise