The wonderful folks at Martingale & Company, home of That Patchwork Place, is working on celebrating their 35th year. I'm proud to admit that I remember when they started publishing quilt books and have been delighted with their contributions, to the world of quilting, sewing, embroidery & more, for 35 years. Well, as they love to help others, they've come up with a fun way to celebrate their Anniversary with a "Share the Warmth" campaign. This is a charitable giving campaign, where quilters, knitters and crafters, from around the world are invited to participate. They have a goal of having 3,500 quilts, blankets, afghans, and throws made and donated to "your" local charities!
And, there are wonderful Prizes.
35 individual participants will be selected to receive a free craft book of their choice.
Quilt guilds can participate and one quilt guild will be selected to win 35 books for their guild's library!
The random drawings will be held December lst, 2011 or when the tally for charity donations reaches 3,500.
{SewCalGal predicts this goal will be reached much, much earlier than this December date, so submit your entries early to Martingale & Company. And I hope far more than 3,500 donations are made as a result of this fun "Share the Warmth" effort.}.
Your help to spread the word via your blog, Facebook, Twitter, email is certainly appreciated.
I love how modern quilting tools help me make quilts and other items, faster than traditional quilting tools and methods. While I'm not saying that I'm ready to give up my rotary cutter, rulers, or tracing pens, I will admit that I certainly find that it doesn't take me as long to make things when I use a modern tool, and it is even more fun and even faster when I use two or more modern tools on the same project.
Here is an example:
I wanted to make some "Happy Easter" banners to go into gift baskets & care baskets for family & friends. But I didn't have a lot of time to spend.
Using the AccuQuilt GO! and the GO! Triangle Isosceles die I quickly cut 5"x6" pennants, after preparing 6 1/2" wide strips of fabric with top & bottom fabrics pressed together with Steam-a-seam. This quickly created two sided ready to go pie pieces, that made perfect pennants.
Using the SLICE, by Memory Makers, I quickly cut 2 1/2" letters, using single layer fabric strips that were also prepared with Steam-a-seam. SLICE also has a good fabric adhesive product, but I've had good luck with "fresh" steam-a-seam and it happened to be what I had on hand.
note: The SLICE will cut designs in a variety of sizes, from 1" to 4" in 1/2" increments. For this banner project, I found the 2 1/2" letter size to be my preferred size.
It was very easy to iron on the letters cut with the SLICE to the pennants cut with the GO!
I used Aurifil threads on all of the banners. On some of the banners I sewed a simple straight stitch, free-motion stitch, to secure the applique letters to the pennant, and a curvy wave to secure the two sandwich pie shaped pennants together. Yet, on others, I had a blast using free-motion machine embroidery (threadplay) to embellish and secure the letters on the pennant. Aurifil's beautiful colors and quality worked great. And, I just love the free-motion machine embroidery outline that highlights each letter in the banner!
This project was so simple and the banner really looks cute up on a wall. And I had fun create banners quickly, in a variety of styles. I just wish my camera could take better pictures, but I hope you get the idea.
The possibilities of projects using an AccuQuilt GO!, GO! Baby, or Studio and a SLICE, are endless. And your projects will surely be very fast and accurate! Yes, using modern quilting tools are my preferred way to sew. And using two or more modern quilting tools together just increases the fun and possibilities.
I've been getting many behind the scenes questions on AccuQuilt products vs SLICE. As such, I'm planning on sharing more insights in the near future on each of these machines, as well as how they can work together to create a very complimentary project. SewCalGal enjoys both of these products, as well as other modern quilting tools, and hope you will too!
I frequently hear from people who are looking for ways to win an AccuQuilt and/or AccuQuilt dies. So, today's post is dedicated on sharing insights with you on various ways you could win an AccuQuilt GO!, GO! Bay, various AccuQuilt dies, or a AccuQuilt Shopping Spree.
1) Facebook/AccuQuilt: If you are not already, become a fan of AccuQuilt on Facebook. They have "Friday Fun" every Friday and have great prizes. Lately, they've been giving away a GO! Baby to the lucky weekly winner.
2) Watch the page on my blog labeled "Giveaways and Contests". I update this page a couple of times each week, always striving to have current info on Mondays. And I try to keep an eye out for giveaways for AccuQuilt products and share insights on this page too. I've heard about a few more that will be announced very soon too. But be sure you don't miss out on:
3) The 2nd Annual AccuQuilt Barn Quilt design contest is currently underway. I hope you will click the button below (or button in the upper right hand column of my blog) to go to AccuQuilt's page with insights on this fun contest. You need not have an AccuQuilt to enter. You simply need to design a quilt block that you think would make a good Barn Quilt. Winning entries will be painted on AccuQuilt's Corporate Offices in Nebraska this summer. And winners will also receive various shopping sprees to buy their dream AccuQuilt products (e.g. Studio, GO!, GO! Baby, dies, etc.).
Deadline to enter the AccuQuilt Barn Quilt Design contest: April 10th
I really hope you'll click the button (above), as I also get a point in a special contest from AccuQuilt for referring people to check out this contest and/or enter by way of clicking this button from my site. And I'm sure if you click from here it will bring you good karma too!
4) The Golden Quilter Awards & Giveaway has 30 prizes, of which Stitch in the Ditch is donating a GO! Feathers die as a prize!
5) SewCalGal's Team of Bloggers with AccuQuilt products is a group of blogging quilters, that love their AccuQuilt products so much, they have a badge displayed on their blog. Those in this group that are signed up for emails (you can sign up via a link in the upper right column of my blog) have also received special notices that brought delight to many recently, and insights are also shared on related events. This group will be having a Spring event the week of April 11th with sharing items they've made with their AccuQuilt products, tutorials and even some giveaways. Stay tuned for the fun activities the week of April 11th.
6) Remember when you enter a giveaway on a blog, to win an AccuQuilt (or to win any giveaway) you need to be sure the blogger has an easy way to contact you if you win. If you have left comments on blogs and never heard from a blogger there is a good chance your settings are at a no-reply status and they don't know how to contact you. I have screen shots and tips on how you can check your settings and change them on the page of my blog labeled "giveaways and contests". But, if in doubt be sure to embed your email address in any comment you leave on any blog that has a giveaway!
Lastly, you may want to visit blogs that have AccuQuilt products to see what they create, as well as see their tutorials and/or tips. While team members with AccuQuilt products are listed on the right hand column of my blog, I'm also working on a page for "Quilters with Tools" that also provides an index of bloggers that you may want to visit too.
Happy Quilting. And I wish you Good Luck and Good Kharma when you enter any giveaway or contest, especially one where you could win an AccuQuilt product.
Welcome to my stop in the "Book-A-Round" blog hop & giveaway that is introducing a wonderful new book by Kay Mackenzie, published by Martingale & Company, home of That Patchwork Place. There are ten blogs participating in this event, each sharing their insights on Kay's new book, as well as hosting a giveaway where you could win your own copy.
I've been an admirer of Kay Mackenzie for quite some time. She is a great quilter, designer and author who specializes in beautiful applique for quilters of all skill levels. Her new book "Inspired by Tradition: 50 Applique' Blocks in 5 sizes" is a follow-up to her previous book "Easy Applique' Blocks. I think this is a wonderful book and am very happy to share my insights on it with you.
Kay has created 50 all new designs with a traditional appeal, with a bonus CD that is included with the book that allows you to easily print each design in five sizes, ranging from 6" to 12". No need to go to an office supply store and have designs enlarged! I really liked how easy it was to use the bonus CD. Every design has a color block of the design, plus a line drawing for tracing, and easy to follow steps to print in any of the five sizes. Much, much easier than trying to copy a design pattern within a book, or tracing from a physical book.
The book is well organized, with a block library that shows a color photo and a line drawing for each of the 50 blocks. All of these designs are just delightful.
Of course, I fell in love with the cute puppy dog,
The cheerful kitten,
the Distelfink.
And all of the other blocks too. So many choices to create your own unique quilt!
There is a section that provide insights on fabric selection, preparation, tools, and suggestions for fine detail sewing for such items as the whiskers on the kitten that is well written and has great visuals. Other sections are included for hand stitching your applique', Raw-Edge machine applique', Fusible-web applique', and Applique' Questions and Answers.
I also really liked the "Little Gallery of Ideas" where beautiful quilts are shared that provide inspiration for various ways you can combine these blocks to create beautiful quilts, wallhanging, table runners and more.
"Inspired by Tradition" is an excellent book, perfect for anyone that loves to do applique' quilting. I also believe this is an excellent book for someone that is wanting to learn applique. I hope you have a chance to check it out at your local quilt store, or check it out at the online store at Martingale & Company.
Did you catch that I mentioned earlier that I have a copy of this book to giveaway? This copy is being given away as courtesy of the publisher, That Patchwork Place. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and let me know that you'd like to win a copy and be sure I have a way to contact you. If you do not have a google account, I recommend that you review tips that I have listed on the page of this blog labeled "giveaways" as the odds are your comments might appear as a no-reply blogger and I won't be able to contact you if you win unless you are aware of these tips. If you are in doubt and in a hurry, consider leaving your email address embedded in your comment.
Deadline to enter this giveaway: April lst noon. I'll announce the winner that evening.
If you would like to learn more about this book and/or have more chances to win a copy, you may want to visit the other blogs that are participating in Kay's Book-A-Round blog hop. To clarify, each blog has a copy of this book to giveaway but the rules and deadlines can vary by blog. Here is a list of the participating blogs and the dates they will be posting about "Inspired by Tradition".
I also hope you will visit Kay's website and blog. During the Book-a-Round/blog hop, she'll also be directing readers to the appropriate blogs every day.
ReSew: turn thrift-store finds into fabulous designs, by Jenny Wilding Cardon, published by Martingale & Company, home of That Patchwork Place, is full of great ideas for economical projects to create clothing, accessories, quilts and more all from items you can find in a Thrift Store!
I love the introduction to this book, where Jenny shares how she is "Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink". It sets the stage for this book perfectly, especially for those, like me, that have watched the movie "Pretty in Pink" and remembers how the character takes a thrift store find and turns it into a very cute dress that she looks spectacular wearing to her High School dance.
Jenny does a great job sharing insights and inspiring tips for shopping at Thrift Stores to be able to find items that can make good projects to repurpose. She has also packed in so many inspirational ideas that it would be difficult to look at this book and not find something to inspire you.
I found all the projects in this book to be well written, with easy to follow steps to repurpose your thrift store finds (or items in your closet). There are 20 beginner friend projects, with great visuals and tips, that focus on taking 2nd hand items and turning them into first-rate fashions.
There is a project to take a long sleeve knit sweater into an amazing short sleeve knit top, along with many other projects for shirts. There is a project for taking a curtain and turning it into a very cute skirt, along with other projects to create a variety of skirts.
There are also several projects to create dresses from various items, like shirts and knit tops, and they really look so cute when repurposed! There are even projects for totes, accessories, quilts and more. It is fun to see all the inspirational ideas to take a few pieces of clothing and repurpose them to something completely different, yet looking like it was always intended to be.
I think this is a wonderful book for anyone on a budget, as well as one that likes to sew with a "living green" attitude. This book has many designs that are also going to be very popular for young kids, making this book an excellent gift idea for anyone young person you may be trying to inspire to learn to sew and/or quilt. And, even the experience quilter or sewer could have fun with projects in this book to make fun items for themself, as well as for gifts.
You may be pondering how you might be able to help those in Japan and/or you may know of someone that might be looking for a way to help. While Japan will rebuild it will take time and like any major disaster, there are many in need of supplies and comfort now. While I am sharing insights with you on some ways that may be of interest for quilters who are passionate about wanting to help, always be sure that you take time to research what ever program you choose to support to ensure it is a legitimate way to help.
Here are a few quilty opportunities to help those in Japan:
Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, of The Quilt Show, have created a raffle to raise funds to help the American Red Cross help those in Japan. Two great prizes for two lucky winners that will be selected late April. The amount you donate is up to you, but when you donate you are entered in this raffle. Click here for more information on this raffle fundraiser.
Alex is donating her beautiful "Bridge of Life" quilt,
Ricky Tims is donating one free tuition to a "Ricky Tims Retreat" in 2012 in La Veta, Co. and TQS is providing $500 to the lucky winner to help with transportation and lodging costs.
eQuilter has partnered with Mission of love to gather quilts and coordinate shipping them to Japan for distribution to those in need. They have the promise of a command of a US Air Force base who will arrange to have supplies and quilts flown to Japan. Visit this post on eQuilter for more info. Quilts can be shipped to:
Mission of Love
2054 Hemlock Court
Youngstown, Ohio 44515
U.S.A
Elizabeth Hartmann (Oh, Fransson!) is raffling a quilt to raise funds to help those in need in Japan. This beautiful quilt is appropriately named Tokyo Subway.All proceeds will be donated to The American Red Cross. Deadline: March 23rd! Click here for more information.
Save the Children, is a program that focuses on children during disasters. They strive to come in quickly and create environments that are safe and child friendly. They have research to show that by have such areas and people that focus on the children, that there are significantly reduced mental scars on the child and family, in the years to come. This group is already in Japan and in the process of creating these areas in as many communities impacted by the Tsunami. They released a statement that the organization is "mobilizing its global resources to respond to the needs of children and families affected by the earthquake and its aftermath, and an international emergency team has been dispatched to assist staff in Japan." Those looking to donate to that effort can visit Save the Children's donation page.
Shelter Boxes focuses on providing a special green box to those in need of shelter. Each box contains a tent that can handle extreme temperatures and house a family up to ten people, a children's pack (crayon's, etc.), blankets for warmth, a stove, dishes & utensils, and more. This program is in the early stages of delivery shelter boxes in a few areas of Japan that have been impacted by the tsunami.
Direct quilting contact in Japan:
Recently the Editor of the Japanese magazine Patchwork Quilt Tsushin magazine sent out an email to various contacts around the world, seeking help from quilters to send comfort by way of sending a quilt to someone in need in Japan. The Editor, Naomi, lives in Tokyo and her mother and brother survived the tsunami in Sendai.
Naomi's letter has been forwarded to many via email and has also been published on many websites, but I still wanted to share this request with you today. This is what Naomi shared in her letter:
"It is still bad situation now in Japan.
We are still nervous about shaking and radiation,but no way to escape.
I start to announce to the quilters to send us comfort quilts for the
people who are suffered.I would like to do it to the world quilters.
We will deliver the comfort quilts to the people who are very difficult
situation.
Could you please help to announce it to the quilters?
We accept any size of quilts(baby to adult).new or unused.
The deadline would be the end of May or later.
Send the quilts to:
(until the middle of April)
Naomi Ichikawa,Editor of Patchwork Quilt tsushin Patchwork Tsushin Co.,Ltd
I need not tell you that it is currently cold in Japan, even snowing in someplaces, and many are left homeless, with a few having the good fortune of being able to sleep in a car. I think this picture is clearly embedded in our minds and we all know how much comfort quilts could bring to those in need in Japan at this time. Again, there are many ways to help. I just wanted to increase awareness of some "quilty" ways to help. If you have insights on additional ways to help, please leave a comment and share your insights for others to hear too.
If you were to find yourself standing in line at Starbucks with a nominee for the Oscars what would you say? I'd like to think I'd congratulate them on their accomplishment and thank them for creating such a work of art. It is this sort of recognition that I hope the Golden Quilter Awards will invoke in all of us, but for far more than the Golden Quilter Awards. The GQA is a great way for us to virtually recognize those that make a difference in our wonderful world of quilting. But, when given the opportunity, I'm sure those that make such a difference would love to hear positive feedback from all of us.
As such, I want to share how delighted I am when I hear someone share with me that they had the opportunity to meet so-and-so, who is a nominee for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards, or even a winner of the 2010 Golden Quilter Awards, and they congratulated them. I get just as excited when I see a fellow blogger recognize others on their blogs, or when quilters approach such award winning quilters at a quilt show to say thank you for what they've done.
So, I hope you can understand if I am a bit busy over the next few weeks. You see, I'm currently working to send out congratulations notes to all the nominees! And, of course, I'm working on tallying all the votes.
To clarify, votes are accepted thru March 31st. I just need to spend time tallying them so that I can officially announce the winners of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards early April. Click here to submit your vote, if you have not yet voted for your favorite nominees.
Thank you for your patience and your support. I have quite a bit to share, but I also need to keep up with the administrative part of these awards. But, I should have more insights to share later this week.
SewCalGal
ps - The page labeled "giveaways" is still being updated a couple of times a week. There are some great giveaways & contests out there too.
Voting for your favorite Nominees for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards is accepted here thru March 31st. I hope you will take time to vote, as this is your opportunity to help recognize those that have made our world of quilting so wonderful. Please be sure to follow all the rules, that are listed at the bottom of this post, for your vote to count.
The sponsors for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards and giveaway are:
These sponsors have generously donated 30 wonderful prizes for a giveaway where those that help with PR, nominate, vote, as well as enter the giveaway for this event, have a chance to win prizes. You are also automatically entered to win a prize in the when you submit a valid vote at the bottom of this post.
If you have not yet entered this giveaway, you may wish to click here to enter.
Thank you to everyone that took time to submit your nominations. You also received an entry to the giveaway for this event by nominating candidates!
Congratulations to all of the nominees for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards. You were recognized by fellow quilters, from throughout the world, for your contributions in making our world of quilting so wonderful. We hope you understand how much you are all truly appreciated.
Rules for submitting approved votes:
1) Only one vote can be submitted per person.
2) Votes for only one of the nominees, for any/all of the ten categories.
3) Votes are accepted by leaving a comment on this post, by the end of day of March 31st.
4) For those that do not have a blog, google account, etc. that would allow you to easily leave vote (comment) you can use the "Anonymous" feature of the comments, but your vote (comment) must have a valid email address embedded in the comment.
5) No reply bloggers, that do not leave their email address will not be eligible for the giveaway. I need an easy way to contact winners of the giveaway. To clarify, if you do not have a google account, or you have a fairly new google account, there is a good chance your comment will appear as a no reply comment and your vote will not be counted.If you are in doubt check the page on my blog labeled "giveaways" for more insights on your settings or leave your email address embedded in your comment to be sure you can be contacted and validate your vote. Thank you!
SewCalGal reserves the right to screen out votes that may be suspect of not following the intentions of the rules.
If you want to increase awareness of this activity with others by way of blogging, email, twitter, Facebook, etc., please feel free to do so. Everyone is welcome to vote, but they do need to follow the rules to submit votes for them to count.
As SewCalGal is hosting this event, she is unable to nominate or vote!
Votes will be counted early April. After counting is complete, the ultimate winners of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards will be announced on SewCalGal.
SewCalGal will not be able to reply to all vote comments, due to the behind the scenes work that is required to coordinate this activity. But if you have a valid question, that you do not find answered on the main page for this event, please email me.
Thank you to our wonderful sponsors, to the PR Angels that have taken time to help with PR for this event, and to all of you that took time to nominate those that you view are deserving to be nominated for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards! Ultimately, this is all about the quilters that deserve recognition for all they have done to make our world of quilting so wonderful. And, SewCalGal couldn't host the Golden Quilter Awards without your help!
Maybe you are practicing your free-motion quilting today.
Or perhaps you are creating something with green fabric.
Or gardening?
What ever you do, I hope you find time to enjoy and create.
I'm working to verify I have all of the nominations for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards consolidated and create a spreadsheet for tracking all the votes. Yes, tomorrow, March 18th voting for the ultimate winners of the 2011 Golden Quilters will being (and go thru March 31st).
While I can no longer accept new nominations, if you feel you have submitted a nomination and it is not yet visible, please email me ASAP. The current list is located here.
And, if you haven't yet entered to win a prize in the giveaway for the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards, I encourage you to take time to enter too. You never know, the luck of the Irish may be shining down on you in this giveaway. Good luck!
I recently had the pleasure of attending a quilt retreat, hosted by Two Wacky Women. They hold a variety of quilt retreats, primarily in Southern California, throughout the year. Some of these retreats have teachers, whereas some are structured for everyone to work on their own projects. Their retreats sell out quickly, as they also have a number of participants who have been a regular for many years, and everyone that comes ha such a great time.
Marilyn Pond and Robin Gallagher are the masterminds for Two Wacky Women. They are two talented woman who love to quilt, and are excellent hosts. They are also willing to travel and help guilds, quilt stores and others host retreats in their area.
The retreat I attended focused on free-motion quilting, which I will share insights about in the near future. Today I want to focus on the retreats hosted Two Wacky Women. Before I share specifics, I want to clarify that I look at a quilt retreat based on how well organized it is, the space provided to each participant for their work area, general room setup, food & beverages, fun, and overall value. Two Wacky Woman deserves a five star, in all areas I evaluate a quilt retreat on!
The retreat I attended was held at the Ayres Hotel & Suites in Laguna Woods, which provided a bright and spacious room for us to sew. Table space was adequate, with plenty of power cords & extension cords, all setup and ready for us to sew when we arrived. There were plenty of stations provided for ironing and cutting fabrics, with never a waiting line. Hotel rooms and service was also excellent!
Every person was given a very nice canvas tote bag, that was embellished with the logo of the retreat and full of goodies. So full of goodies that I can't list everything, but highlights are: fabric kit with pattern to make a cute notebook cover (included notbook), very cute handmade mini-tissue holder that has a surprise pocket, lint roller, sewers aid, charm and charm pin, ruler, pencil & notebook, etc.
Marilyn and Robin also had several prize drawings of some wonderful prizes (e.g. OttLite, etc.).
We were also treated to some yummy homemade baked goods, as well as an endless supply of chocolate quilting pills. Meals and snacks were yummy. It was also fun to have a wine & snacks beverage time in the evening, to be able to socialize with everyone.
Many of the participants were from Southern California, but several had come from out of state. As this retreat is near the Los Angeles airport, as well as Orange County airport, it is also an excellent retreat for those that want to have a fun quilting retreat, but also come have fun in Southern California! And if you are not able to bring your sewing machine, I'm sure Robin & Marilyn will be able to get you one to rent at a reasonable price too.
There was quite a bit of sharing and I enjoyed seeing quilt tops that Marilyn and Robin made using the jelly Roll Race techique.
Vicki and Marci, two sisters attending this retreat, would periodically take a break from quilting and practice playing the ukulele. While they are new to learning these instruments, and quite shy about playing in front of a group, we were able to talk them into entertaining us in the evening (little did they know that they'd soon have their debut here on SewCalGal). They sang and played a varety of songs from Elvis (one of my personal favorites, to Israel (famous entertainer from Hawaii who is now an Angel up above), and many others. And, they even wrote a cute song just for this retreat:
I can certainly understand why Two Wacky Women were nominated to the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards.
They do a fantastic job hosting wonderful quilt retreats, at an excellent value.
Two Wacky Women have several fun quilt retreats scheduled for 2011. I hope you will have a chance to attend one of their retreats in 2011, or further down the road. I do think you'll enjoy it. Definitely one of my favorite retreats ever! And I'm already looking forward to my next retreat with Two Wacky Women. I just hope you will be able to join me.
The Golden Quilter Awards were created to allow quilters to recognize their favorites that have helped to make our world of quilting so wonderful. Today is the last day you can submit your nomination. If you have not yet submitted your nomination, I hope you will take time to do so today. You can also earn an extra entry in the giveaway that sponsors of this event have donated some wonderful prizes for.
As SewCalGal is the host for this event, I'm unable to nominate or vote. I can certainly think of some teachers, designers, stores, products and quilt retreats that are wonderful and have not yet been recognized by way of receiving a nomination to the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards. Be sure to check the current list of nominees to see if your favorites have been nominated yet.
click here to view the current list of nominees and submit your nominations
How good are you at recognizing designer patterns, styles, fabrics, works by famous people, etc? If you have been a follower of my blog, you should know I've been trying to build my skills in being able to recognize designers by their work (and ultimately the work of their students).
Are you interested in building your skills in this area too? Do you think you recognize who created this quilt? Or is this going to be a challenge that stumps you?
This is part one of this post. It is a challenge to see if you can guess the creator of this quilt. The first person to correctly guess the designer of this quilt will be recognized in part two of this post, as well as be recognized on http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/p/designer-challenge.html
I will also update this post to reflect who was the first to accurately guess the designer, and share a bit more insight on this designer, as well. If no one can accurately guess the designer by 5pm PST today, I will add more clues. If no one is able to guess within 24 hours, I will update to reflect who the designer is and that this challenge stumped everyone. So, I hope you'll play along and have fun in the process.
note: If there is a discrepancy on designers, that may have similar styles, SewCalGal will be the ultimate judge to determine the winner. And, in most cases, the photo of the quilt shown in this post will also be posted on the designers site.
PART II
Who Guessed it: Creative Busy Hands (aka Luiza).
Who is this designer: Sandra Leichner About this designer:
Sandra designed and made this beautiful quilt called "Afternoon Tea With Miss D". It won the viewers choice award at Road to California 2011. And it took a 2nd place award from the judges in the Category of Traditional Wall Mixed.
The theme of this quilt is "Celebrating a friendhip and our common love of girly tea time things".
The design and detailed workmanship on this quilt is spectacular.
Sandra will also be teaching at Asilomar in 2011 and Road to California in 2012. She currently likes to teach workshops, over several days. She is also an author of "Hand Applique with Embroidery" and has also designed many patterns. She is from Albany, Oregon.
TCL Stitches has an excellent tutorial for Faux Piped Binding. As I was adding this to my list of favorites, I wanted to encourage you to check it out.
Great binding looks spectacular with her Faux Piped Binding tips.
Word Play Quilts, by Tonya Ricucci, published by published by Martingale & Company, Home of That Patchwork Place, is a book that can help you make quilts with a voice!
Tonya leads into this book sharing insights on her phrase "Liberated quiltmaking". I think her insights on liberated quiltmaking definitely describe her style of quilting. It also does a great job to kick-start readers of this quilt book to get inspired as they learn Tonya's tips to improvise, use free-piecing, and follow intuitive quilting. I think after you read this book, you'll agree with Tonya that librated quilting is never boring. Word Play Quilts are definitely fun!
Wonky letters is a great way to describe Tonya's approach to word play. She shares guidelines on how to make them her way, but also encourages you to break the rules and make them differently, accepting the fact that it is ok to break the rules and not be afraid of making mistakes.
Tonya shares insights on choosing fabric, looking for contrast, fabrics that work well for letters and creating appropriate quilts that emphasize words. Insights are shared on cutting strips to help make the letters, basics for making unruly letters, how to turn those letters into words and create a block with a word.
There are three projects with well written instructions and visuals to make cute word quilts. But, overall, I view this book as a technique book, that will give you encourgement and skills to help you make quilts with a voice!
If you haven't ever made a quilt that speaks, challenge yourself. This book will certainly help you make quilts that will have a voice.
This is a great book for an experienced quilter that wants to create fun quilts that speak!
I hope you have a chance to check out this fun book at your local quilt store, or online at the Martingale & Company store. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing more quilts made, using Tonya's techniques, as I do love a quilt that speak!
The Golden Quilter Awards are all about recognizing those that help make our world of quilting so wonderful. But just like the Oscars, Golden Globes, and other famous awards, it is more fun if there are giveaways. Thus, the Golden Quilter Awards also has some excellent prizes for giveways!
Thank you to the wonderful sponsors of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards who have also donated fantastic prizes for this years' Golden Quilter Awards' Giveway. that Here is a list of amazing prizes from these generous sponsors, along with insights on how you could win in this giveaway:
Prize #20 - a "Cowboy Blessing mini-kit". This little stitchery kit contains everything you need to make the little 15" x 14" mini-quilt as shown, including all the fabrics, backing, batting, binding, and embroidery floss. With a full-size embroidery pattern and complete instructions, it comes packaged in a little reusable muslin drawstring bag.
Stitch in the Ditch is donating two copies of the book "Heartfelt Giving", one for a US resident and one for a Canadian resident for two winners who will also receive a cool pen that is also a measuring tape. They are also donating a GO! Feathers die with pattern selected by Stitch in the Ditch, that will be given to one lucky winner in the US or Canada.
Prize #21 - copy of the book Heartfelt Giving, by Marie Osmond, for a Canadian resident
Prize #22 - " " " " " " " " " , for a US resident
Prize #23 - GO! Feathers die with pattern selected by Stitch in the ditch, for a Canadian or US resident
How you can enter and win a prize: ***closed as of noon April 9th***
1) Leave a comment on this post. Be sure that you are not a no-reply blogger, as if you are selected as a winner I need an easy way to notify you via email. Also, feel free to include a reference as to which prize(s) you might want to win and I'll do my best to try to match winners up with the prizes they are interested in winning (e.g. include in your comment #6, #18, #23 if you want to win prize #6, 18 or 23).
It really only takes one entry to win a prize, but you can also get extra entries by:
2) PR Angels that helped with previous PR are automatically entered in this giveaway. Those that wish to help increase awareness of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards and giveaway with a blog post that includes a link to this post, can leave a comment on this post to get an extra entry if you include a link to your post before March 31st.
As this event is all about recognizing those that have made a difference in our world of quilting, I'd like to help recognize the ultimate winners of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards. I'll be announcing these winners on April 2nd. If you would like to be a PR Angel and help recognize these winners, with a post where you recognize all the winner of the 2011 Golden Quilter Awards, between April 2nd and April 8th, you can come back here for another entry by leaving a comment with a link to such a post.
3) Nominate candidates by March 15th and you will get an entry when you submit your nomination by way of a comment on that post only (do not post anything here for this entry).
4) Vote for approved nominees, between March 18th -31st and you will get an entry. A post on the 18th will be where you will submit your vote (do not post anything here for this entry).
5) If you are a follower of SewCalGal, you can leave a comment showing you are a follower for an extra entry.
Sorry for the various links to get entries, but this helps for me to randomly draw winners to match how prizes will be divided up. E.G. a percentage of the 30 prizes will be awarded to those that nominate vs vote vs help with PR vs follow, etc.
Deadline for this giveaway will be noon, April 9th. Winners will be announced on the 10th.
Lastly, thank you to all of our wonderful sponsors, PR Angeles, those that take time to nominate and vote, as well as all my followers. I couldn't hold this event without your encouragement, help and support!
