Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Quilting Inspiration and a Giveaway

Even though I have been longarm quilting for over 10 years now, every once in a while, I feel like I am in a rut and in need of some inspiration.  I can go online and hit the usual sites but I find that is far too distracting for me - hours later I am asking myself why I got online!

So I like to have some good books filled with visual inspiration!

My good friend Sheila Sinclair Snyder (of License to Quilt fame) came by my house recently and shared with me some books she recently contributed some quilting motifs to.
Wow!  Both are filled with some beautiful ideas.






The first book is 180 Doodle Quilting Designs.  Nine different quilters contributed to the designs in this book.  For each design or motif, the designer has shown how to use a design theme in blocks, setting triangles and borders.  Perfect for the beginner or seasoned quilter!















The second book is The Quilting Manual.  There are 16 designers that contributed ideas to this book.  Half of the book addresses tips, techniques and troubleshooting your quilting.  The last half of the book is broken up by each section of a quilt, so you can easily choose inspiration for just the blocks, borders or select an allover design.






Sheila was so sweet to leave with me a copy of The Quilting Manual to give away right here on my blog!  A big thanks Sheila!

If you are in the US and would like a chance to win your own copy of this great book, just leave me a comment letting me know what inspires your quilting designs. (I wish I could afford to offer this to my international friends but postage is far more than the value of the book.)

For more chances, those of you who follow my blog and/or my Instagram account can leave an additional comment.  And if you go visit my friend Sheila and either follow her blog or come back and tell me one of the great items she sells in her shop, you can have a third entry.

Important: If you are a no-reply commenter then please include your e-mail address in the comment. If I cannot reach you, you cannot win.

This giveaway starts today and will run until Sunday February 12th at 5 p.m. PST.  Good Luck!



****Sorry - This giveaway is closed!*****
The winner has been contacted by email.




Craftsy


Another option to kickstart your quilting mojo is to take a class on Craftsy.  Once you purchase, you can go back and rewatch classes over and over.  I use this venue quite often myself!



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Sunday, February 5, 2017

Oh Scrap! : RSC17 String Blocks

Happy Scrappy Sunday!

Since the color turquoise was announced for the rainbow scrap challenge, I have been working hard to clean out my color bin. 



I do keep a bin just for the color turquoise so I could get started right away without much sorting.  I already had some 8.5" muslin foundations cut, so I used those and ended up making 21 pretty turquoise blocks.  I did weed out any print that had reds or oranges in them.  There are not enough blocks to really do anything with so I will just store them away for a later date.

I am pleased to say I can now see the bottom of the bin!


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It is now your turn to share what you are making with scraps.  Here are the details for linking up:
  • This linky party is for any scrappy project - It can be in-process or a finished piece.
  • You can link up your blog post (not your homepage please) or Instagram photo from the past week that features your use of scraps.
  • If you are linking to a blog post, I ask that you link back to my blog somewhere in your post. So if you are writing about scraps, just get into the habit of including a link as there will be a linky party available every week!
  • If you are using Instagram, please use the hashtag #ohscrap.
  • This is a party so remember to socialize and comment on the posts of others.
  • Following my blog is not necessary but it sure would be great if you do!
Quilting is more fun than Housework

So if you love scrappy projects, feel free to grab my button for your sidebar or posts and get ready to share all your wonderful projects from scraps.  And if you have a great idea for using scraps and would like to be featured, feel free to contact me!







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Friday, February 3, 2017

Improv Orphan Block Quilt Finish

Here it is...the second quilt all completed using tucked away orphan blocks!

For this one, I chose to pull my orphans from the brown colorway.  My block sizes were all over the place and there really wasn't any sort of theme I could get inspired by.




So I decided to just start with the biggest blocks I had which were these improv blocks.  From here, I just added blocks onto my design wall until it was about quilt size.  You can read more about the process here.


It has been raining here so getting photos of this quilt have been tough.  You can see the whole quilt is a mish mash of blocks.  While I did have fun sewing this one together, it is not one of my favorites.  When you see it in person, it is fun to see all the different blocks and fabrics.  But I like quilts that have a bit more pattern or unity to them.  It certainly doesn't make this a bad quilt - in fact, I already have taken it for a test run and it snuggles up nicely!









I tried again to get a good photo on my gate but I just couldn't get the colors correct.



For an orphan block quilt, it really is a good example of an improv assembly technique.










Here is an indoor photo - the colors are a little better but it is certainly hard to see the block detail.
Over 60 blocks are no longer homeless!




I was so pleased when it came to finding a back.  I had been gifted 4 yards of this floral many years ago.  I almost didn't take it at the time because I thought I would never use it. 
Well, it has found its home too!

It looks like a lot of you are getting out your orphan blocks and getting them into a quilt top too.  I think around the end of February I will set up a link so we can have a project parade. Don't stress about getting them completely finished by then but I do hope you share your progress and inspiration. 
Remember, orphans can also be used for other projects too!





Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)
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