Simple Sewing Blog Tour and Giveaway

I was thrilled when I was contacted by the wonderful Katie Lewis of The Red Kitchen asking if I would be willing to review her new book.  Of course!!!!  When I received my copy I was happy to find that the book had  so many fabulous small projects with wonderful step by step pictures and instructions.  I  realized that this would be the perfect opportunity to fulfill that promise I keep making my daughter to sew with her more :)

I let Jessi flip through the book and pick a project that appealed to her.  She picked 8 projects but eventually I got her to narrow it down to an adorable fabric basket.  And she whipped up this basket in less than an hour with very little help from her mom.  So exciting for me!!!  

I made Jessi read through the instructions and I was impressed that between the clear instructions and wonderful pictures, she really was able to figure out what she was doing on her own.  She only needed help with a few terms like "face up" and "face down", and those were great teaching moments.

Before she knew it, she had everything pinned and  she was at the machine stitching away.  I might be bias, but this girl is getting pretty good at straight stitching :)

And before you knew it, (seriously less than an hour) my little 8 year old had made this adorable fabric basket, following the instructions all on her own.   I really loved that each of the projects in this book are simple enough to not frustrate a beginner or younger sewer but big enough to really make my daughter feel like she is sewing!

And now her fabric basket accomplishment is being used as a jewelry box and she proudly shows it off to  all of her friends that come over.  I can't tell you how it makes me smile when she explains how she did it all on her own.

Thank you Katie for writting such a great book and giving me an opportunity to review it!!  This is a wonderful book for teaching your children to sew or for brand new beginning sewers.  Katie walks you through each and every step and breaks it down without any complex jargon.  It is just a perfect book  for those starting at the beginning of their sewing journey :)

Simple Sewing can be found at the following Book Stores Online :)

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books & Things

And I am super happy to be able to offer one lucky reader their own copy of Simple Sewing!!!!  To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter Giveaway link below  ;)  Oh, and U.S. entries only this time. Sorry, it's a shipping thing.  The giveaway will be open until November 20th :)

a Rafflecopter Giveaway

And for a few more opportunities to win check out the other blog tour posts today :)  

                                           Abby Smith from Sew Much Ado       and       LiEr from Ikatbag

Good Luck and Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!!

Registration Opens Soon

Just A Reminder . . . .

Registration for the Small Town Quilt Show in a big town way will open November 15th!!!  This is going to be such a great retreat!!!  If you are anywhere near the Utah area from June 26-28, 2014 come check it out!!!

You can find a detailed catalog of all classes and times here :)

I need to sit down and plan what classes I can squeeze in when I am not teaching.  So fun!!!!

Quiltmakers 100 Blocks Vol 8 and Giveaway

It's time for another Quiltmakers 100 Blocks Blog Tour!!!  I am just tickled to have another block in this wonderful publication.  My block for Vol #8 is called A Study In Quilting.  It uses HST's, Flying Geese, and squares.  My favorite building blocks :)

And when you take 4 blocks and rotate them you create not 1, but 2 star patterns.  So fun!!  I made this "A Study in Quilting" quilt for the magazine and you can find it in the Designer's Gallery on page 13.

I used a layer cake of Kate Spain's Cuzco and lots of different neutral solids for the background.  This block would also be really great for some serious scrap busting!!

Since the block design was all about my favorite types of piecing units, I decided to quilt it with some of my favorite quilting designs.  I did a mixture of swirls, paisley's, and pebbles.  It was so much fun.  The pebbles worked great for filling in some of those hard to get to spaces :)

I had so much fun designing A Study in Quilting and I hope you like it :)   Be sure to follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour every day from Nov 11-15  at The Quiltmaker Blog Quilty Pleasures  to see all of the blocks and have a chance at lots and lots of  giveaways!

And speaking of Giveaways, lets have one!!!!

For 3 lucky readers, I have a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 8 and to each copy I will be adding 3 of my patterns, you can choose your favorites :)

For a chance to win . . . Just leave me a comment telling me what you like to study :)

All followers of my blog, new and old, can have a bonus entry.  Just leave a comment telling me how you follow ie, bloglovin, facebook, email, ect :)

And that's it.  2 entries per person max and everyone is welcome to enter.  I will choose the winners Saturday evening, Nov 16 :)  Good Luck and Happy Quilting!!!

Sister's Choice from Fat Quarter Shop

I am so excited to share 2 quilts that I have been keeping secret until today :)  Here's the secret . . .

Fat Quarter Shop is starting a new You Tube series of Classic and Vintage Quilts!!!  Each episode in the series will take a classic quilt block and make it fresh for today.  Sister's Choice is the first quilt in the series and I was tickled pink to be asked to be the pattern tester and quilt maker for this project :)

Yup, that's my quilt hanging in the back of the video, squeal!!!  Each Quilt in the series, will have a free downloadable pattern that can be found at Fat Quarter Shop and a video tutorial with the fabulous Kimberly, walking you through step by step of how to make the block :)

The fabrics Fat Quarter Shop sent me for this quilt were the solids from Bonnie and Camille's Scrumptious line.  I just love how they really make the Sister's Choice block pop!!!

I quilted this with an all over Echoed Paisley.  I really felt like it added to the vintage feel of this quilt.   This is becoming one of my favorite quilting designs.  It just flows.  You can see a video tutorial here of how I do this quilting design on a home machine ;)

And here she is lying in the beautiful afternoon sunshine.  Isn't it just so fun to see a classic block look so today!!!

And now, another version :)

As a thank you for making this quilt, the wonderful ladies at Fat Quarter Shop let me choose some fabrics for a second version.  I knew right away that I wanted to make a new bedspread for Jocelyn now that she is in her big girl bed.  Yup, this is what all those sneak peeks were from :)  And here it is, Jocelyn's Sisters's Choice :)

I choose fabrics from Sweet Things by Holly Holderman because I just love pink and green together and these prints were just so cute and adorable!  And of course, I had to use the polka-dots for the background, you know me and my love of polka-dots :)

I changed up this version just a bit from the pattern.  I made a slightly larger block so that I wouldn't have to make as many for a twin size :)  I then did a double sashing so that the different colored polka-dots would play nice and added some cute little 1" 4 patches for corner blocks.  So cute!!!

I quilted this version with a combination of some of my favorite flowing designs.  There are echoed paisleys, swirls, and what I like to call tendrils.  I just love seeing how much movement this creates, the three designs all flow so nicely together.

Just look at all of that yummy texture.  Oh, I just want to keep petting this quilt.  I am so happy with how it turned out!!!  I just love everything about it!!!

And one last shot.  Here is the little lady waking up from her first nap on her new bedspread.  I think I can safely say, She Likes It ;)

So, pop on over to Fat Quarter Shop and Download the free pattern and then watch the video tutorial so that you can whip together your own Sister's Choice quilt!!   They come out so cute!!!  Oh, and if you want one made from the Solids, the Fat Quarter Shop has made kits ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Day!!!

Back To Basics Finished!!!

I am so excited to share my newest finish, Back to Basics.  This quilt was made for the Modern Quilt Guild Riley Blake Challenge.  This is the first time I have been able to participate in a MQG fabric challenge as they opened membership up to individual members this year.  And oh, I am so glad I got to participate.  What a fun project this has been to put together :)

When I first heard that we would be using Riley Blake basics for the challenge I set out to design something that used only my favorite basic piecing blocks aka squares, HST's and Flying Geese.  I just love the way this design came alive with the scrappy look.  To what we were sent for the challenge, I added some Riley Blake basics in black.  I had a wonderful little bundle I got at market last spring.  It worked just perfect!

I ended up quilting it with the large spiraling circle.  Ever since I saw this quilt from Kati,  I have wanted to try this quilting design.  That was 2 years ago and I was just waiting for the right quilt to come along and this was it.   I just love how the curves softens all of those lovely points.

And while I love it, I don't need to do it again anytime soon.  Oh man, that is a lot of spinning the quilt and my shoulder is feeling it this morning.  8 bobbins and several hours of quilting.  Good times!!  But oh, totally worth it!!  Don't you just love that crinkly look a quilt gets coming out of the dryer for the first time.  It just says cuddle with me :)

The quilt measures 48" x 48", just perfect to snuggle a wee one in.  And oh the polka-dot biniding.  I just can't get enough of polka-dots!!!  

So that's it.  Back to Basics, my first Modern Quilt Guild challenge quilt.  I look forward to many more to come :)

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend!!!

Oh, and be sure to stop in next week, I have 3 new quilt shares that I can finally show, 2 blog hops, and 2 giveaways.  Should be a fun filled week for sure :)

Linking up to Sarah's and Amanda's :)