Tag Archives: Blog Hop

Craftsy Sweetens Up My Quilting Life! – WHOOMP #18

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 Thanks for visiting my stop on the Craftsy Sweetens Up My Quilting Life Blog Hop! and my WHOOMP There IT Is! #18 Linky Party.

For those of you who haven’t already heard of Craftsy, I’m about to take you to school!  It’s an online platform that delivers crafts education classes via full-length, professionally-produced, interactive, high-definition videos. The beauty of Craftsy classes is that they never expire!  AND,  you can watch them anytime, as many times as you like, provided you have a proper internet connection.  Oh, and remember, it’s interactive! This means you can ask questions and/or  post pics to get help from the instructor or other peeps taking the class.  Craftsy offers a wide array of classes, from photography to knitting to cooking…however my class of choice is Quilting! And more specifically, Free Motion Quilting. 

 So how does Craftsy Sweeten Up My Quilting Life?   Craftsy Keeps Me in Motion!

I was very naive when I signed up for Start Free-Motion Quilting w/Elizabeth Dackson.  I thought I’d be an expert FMQ-er by the time it was finished. I couldn’t have been more wrong.  However, I did learn a lot of things from this class.  Important things you need to know before getting started, like needle and thread selection, how to start and stop, how to bury a knot and how to move the quilt. Thanks, Elizabeth!

The Secrets of Free-Motion Quilting w/Christina Cameli  is another class I’m enrolled. It’s also packed w/great information like sketching and stitching, staying in a straight line and getting out of corners. Thanks, Christina!

Help How DO I Quilt It? is my most recent class. This class will definitely help w/the dilemma of how to quilt your quilts.  It will also teach you how to add lots of texture and movement to your quilts.  Thanks, Angela!

All of these Craftsy classes are great and I’d recommend any and all of them. The instructors are extremely encouraging and the classes do exactly what they are designed to; build your confidence as you learn FMQ. They make it look easy but remember, they’ve been doing it for years. They all stress this important point:  Practice, Practice, Practice! And the MOST important point of all…Don’t compare your work to that of others!  Why? Because Comparison is the Thief of Joy! 

 Craftsy is also a place where independent designers can sell their patterns. There are thousands of sewing and quilting patterns to choose from and even a great selection of free patterns! Click here to browse my pattern store and be sure to download my Easy Grocery Bag Catcher, which is free for a limited time.  Thanks, Craftsy!

Here’s the complete line-up of stops.  Be sure to hop over and visit each stop to see how Craftsy sweetens up their quilting lives!

Wednesday 10 February

Helen @ Midget Gem Quilts

Thursday 11 February

Friday 12 February


Saturday 13 February
Anja @ Anja Quilts

Sunday 14 February

Monday 15 February

Julie @ Pink Doxies

Did you like reading about these classes? Does all this sweetness make you want to join one? Class discounts will be available for one week following each post, and while you’re there you can click through any bloggers in the hop to enter the Craftsy Giveaway.

And now the moment y’all have been waiting for…the giveaway!  Enter here for a chance to win.

Two peeps will win one class each, and 1 peep will win this fabulous grand prize:
1- Boundless Solids Crown Jewels by Amy Gibson Quilt Kit 

Boundless Solids Crown Jewels by Amy Gibson Quilt Kit - None

1-Boundless Solids Modern Brights Pre-Cuts 6″ Strips

Boundless Solids Modern Brights Pre-Cuts - None

1-Boundless Solids Modern Brights 10″ Squares

Boundless Solids Modern Brights Pre-Cuts - None

Enter the Craftsy Giveaway here, or on any site during the hop. One entry per person.  Enter until Sunday, Feb 21, 2016, at 11:59 pm MST.

The winners will be announced Feb 22 at Pink Doxies and Musings of a Menopausal Melon.  

 If you are still w/me and would like to show your stuff, it’s time to link up!

A Quilted Passion

A Quilted Passion

Thank the Host
Everyone likes to hear “thank you” and know their effort is appreciated.
Spread the Love
The more love you give, the more you get. Pick a number (mine is 5) and commit to visiting and commenting on that many link-ups. Let them know where you’re visiting from and ask them to visit you. (This works well for me!)
Direct Link
Use a direct link to a specific post, not your main blog.
Link Back
In your blog post, include a link back to my post/blog and/or grab the WHOOMP There IT Is! button above and put in your post or sidebar. Thanks for spreading the love.
Follow Me 😉
Of course, I would love for all you linky-uppers to be followers, but it’s NOT required.

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A Thread for Life

My Best Posts of 2015

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Thank you, Cheryl, for hosting the Best of 2015 Linky Party.  ‘Tis a splendid idea!

Best of 2015 Linky Party

I chose my best based on most visited (# page views).  They are listed in ascending order.  Click on a title to read the original post in its entirety.

#5 My Favorite Tutorial – I wrote about my absolute favorite tutorial:  Faux Piped Binding, which is still my fave!

#4 My Sewing Room Make Over – I wrote about my sewing room improvements in week #2 of my WHOOMP There IT Is! linky party.   I revised my DIY sewing table, built wall to wall shelves in my closet for fabric storage and added risers to my cutting table.  *I’ve since made more improvements which I will soon be sharing, so stay tuned to A Quilted Passion!

#3 My Wishlist to Santa – This fun post features my remix of the classic song, Santa Baby. It was this year’s wishlist to Santa.  *I did get almost all the items on my list, which will also be featured in an upcoming post.

#2 WHOOMP There IT Is! #1 – The 1st post of my brand new linky party! It features a beautiful comfort quilt and Practice Makes Perfect which is a quilt I FMQ in an afternoon after taking Angela Walter’s class Help! How Do I Quilt it?

A Quilted Passion

#1 Grow Your Blog 2015 – Of course, this post is #1. It was a blog-hop specifically organized to generate blog traffic.  I had lots of visitors! (Thank you All!)  I wrote about quilting and my desire to play the bass guitar (which I’ve honestly only “practiced” once this entire year!) and why I started blogging in the 1st place.

Thank you for visiting! Here’s to a fantastic 2016!

A Thread for Life
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Cor. 11:13

Grow Your Blog 2015

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I’ve been working at growing my blog since I started it over a year ago and am super excited about this GROW YOUR BLOG event!  Thank you Vicki at 2 Bags Full for coordinating it! 

My name is Zenia Rene and I am a quilter. I started quilting in 2011, thanks to my friend Mel who was so persistent in me going to “Quilting”.  You can read more about that,  here.  I feel quilting is a gift from God. You can read about why, here.  


 I started blogging about quilting in 2013 to give my family, coworkers and non-quilting friends a break from all my “quilty” talk.  And...I wanted to share this incredible, God-given, quilting passion with others who love and appreciate it as much as I do.  The funny thing is, I hated writing when I was in school.  However, when I start/finish a new project, find a new pattern/tool, or make a great fabric score, I just have to write about it and share it w/the quilting/blogging world!

I do work full time, but I’m looking to go part-time real soon. My 3 kids are all adults but my 2 sons still live at home.  I have 2 grand-kids and my daughter is due to have her 3rd child in about 3 weeks.  I’m still single, but very much desire to be married someday.  I’m a born-again Christian and enjoy going to church.  I recently bought a bass guitar and named it Ruby.  If I ever take the time to practice, I might get good enough to play Ruby in the worship band at church…which is my goal.  


My creating process is pretty simple.  I keep two lists. An extra long list of Quilts I Want to Make and another list, not quite as long of Peeps to Make Quilts For.  I choose a pattern and a peep then pick out fabric based on their favorite color/colors.  If  I’m not making a quilt w/a specific peep in mind, I choose fabric based on what I like and want to put together.  A lot of the time, my choice is scrappy. I am quite fond of scrappy! (I also adore pieced backings and I don’t think they have to match the front of the quilt at all)  I usually get all the cutting out of the way in the beginning, then I start piecing.  I never get bored because I always have multiple projects going at once.  I’m sure some would disagree, but I feel this process makes me more productive. I made 22 quilts in 2014!

My writing mostly coincides w/the progress of the various projects I’m working on. Rarely, if ever, do I write anything philosophical.  However,  I do like to end each post w/something encouraging; be it scripture, song lyrics or just words of wisdom from devotions or other quotes.  I call it A Thread for Life.


This is one of my current projects which I’m in the process of quilting.  I call it  Walk Like An Egyptian.  The pattern is Broken Chevron and written by the very talented Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic.  It was an honor to be one of your pattern testers Jan!

I follow a bunch quilters via Blogger, Instagram and  G+,  many who are mothers of young and/or multiple children and it seems like they quilt and post constantly! I have no idea how the heck they do it!  I think many of them are stay-at-home moms. But even then…how they juggle motherhood, homeschooling, quilting/crafting, AND still have time to blog and post so often, truly AMAZES me…and makes me a little envious.  KUDOS to you ALL!

Several months ago I committed to writing 1x/week and had been meeting that commitment for quite awhile, but lately I’ve been slacking.  On my honor I will try… to get back on the 1x/week blogging track soon. 

Thanks for stopping by!  If you are so inclined, follow me!  I look forward to visiting your blogs too!

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life
What’s The Good Of Prayer?  Lord, teach us to pray. — Luke 11:1

It is not part of the life of a natural man to pray.  We look upon prayer as a means of getting things for ourselves; the Bible’s idea of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

When a man is at his wits’ end it is not a cowardly thing to pray, it is the only way he can get into touch with Reality. Be yourself before God and present your problems, the things you know you have come to your wits’ end over. As long as you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

It is not so true that “prayer changes things” as that prayer changes me and I change things. God has so constituted things that prayer on the basis of Redemption alters the way in which a man looks at things. Prayer is not a question of altering things externally, but of working wonders in a man’s disposition. 
– Oswald Chambers