4th of July - Giveaway and discount!

4th of July

wow

where has the time gone?

Spring Market

has come and gone

and the new patterns are on their way to your lqs!

thanks to dearStella Design

we have some

4th of July

fabric

L U D L O W

to give away to two lucky people

that leave a comment on the blog 

in your comment

please leave a tale about your favorite

favorite

4th of July memory

one of my favorite memories was fireworks at the end of the street

everyone would bring whatever they had

and the "men" would be in charge

of figuring out how to make them sparkle and shine

when you're only in 2nd grade

this is a pretty spectacular thing

HappiestDays

and let's remember

to celebrate

Independence

Natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

and for those of you that like to read to the end

each day, at the end of our 4th of July weekend series of posts

we will be adding a 'discount code'

for the shop site

there are some already fabulous sale items in the shop

but we're giving you one code per post

today's code:

20percentoff

Countdown to Christmas!

Yep.

Countdown to Christmas.

December 25

Santa. the tree. the chimney. the.whole.thing.

it truly is a time of giving and quilters give a tremendous amount

of themselves

so who wouldn't want a little something in return?

who wouldn't want to see bolts of Marcia Derse under the tree

or a little dearStella white with grey dot

or some Anna Maria Horner Lou Lou Thi giant print for backing?

who wouldn't want a beyond the reef pattern for kahakai or tiki temple?

so as a way to say thank you all for your support

the whole year long

we are having a giveaway

"Countdown to Christmas"

leave us a comment

tell us a story about someone giving during the holidays

or

spread the cheer

let someone ahead of you in line at the grocery store

or

post your favorite cookie recipe

on our facebook or instagram or pinterest pages

become a beyond the reef

blog or facebook page follower

or

just stop by to say hello

we'll post again tomorrow morning

and select a recipient

for our first gift

and we'll keep posting until

Santa's special event

on

Christmas Eve!

thank you

we appreciate each and every one of you

be.do.create

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

ps - there is still time to do some online shopping

at

www.beyondthereef.bigcartel.com

Giveaway Winner!

congratulations

it was so much fun

to hear about all of the happy times

that you all have been enjoying

thank you for sharing so much of yourselves

with me

and with each other

congratulations again

number 28!

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

Fabric Giveaway + Field Trip + Fun Friends

fun friends

are those people that are always game

and always willing

 they're up for a last minute dinner, and bring a friend for the dog to play with

and bring the wine

they're willing to walk on the bay in the dark and throw the wet car in the back of the car when they go

 they're willing to help you sew when you're on a deadline

and more than happy to pick you up and drive all over LA for a day of fabric

 this week, one of these such friends decided we should go to

M O M E N +

this shop has more Kokka bolts that I have ever seen in one place

there are tons of unusual trims and bindings

and interesting garment and bag patterns that you may or may not have ever seen

the cottons are very fun also

and they have a classroom in the back

we also made a stop at Robert Kaufman Fabrics to pick up a little something I am sewing on

that I can show you in the next post

but while we were there

I ran across an interesting Jennifer Sampou fabric or two that I thought you'd want to have

if you shop at beyond the reef

all in all, it was another fun filled day with one of 

those

kind of friends

I also wanted to let you know I have been working with Julie's book

Skipping the Borders

and she has invited me to be a part of a blog tour

so be sure to look for that, too

 it came together beautifully - good fabric, good book instructions - good donation quilt!

so this weekend, even if it is Sunday, we are going to have a quick giveaway of a large lovely bundle

a

dearSTELLA bundle

please, leave a comment sharing with all of us

the last impromptu outing you had with a

fun friend 

and we will throw your name in the hat

for this big cute bundle of fabrics

and if you should be in southern california some time and you want to visit

M O M E N+

let me just warn you

that it's only a few doors down from

Torrance Bakery

natalie.

www.beyondthereefpatterns.com

to receive the fabric bundle, you must be a follower of the blog (and hopefully fb)

and leave a comment

drawing will occur Tuesday morning

after the holiday

"I got Monday off - but I do remember why, and am thankful for it"

moment

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

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