Two Weeks, Two Giveaways

I wasn't planning on doing a giveaway so soon after the one last week, but the opportunity presented itself. And then it inspired a project...sort of. So, another giveaway it is.
Before I get to that though, I want to tell you a little about the project and how you might apply it to the giveaway item should you be the winner.

Brief digression: I took these shots at a local thrift store that I've mentioned here before, Pieces of the Past. It's on Burnet road, just a bit south of Koenig lane. The place is jam packed with treasures, but don't bump into anything because it's also a house of cards.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the pillow. The top is made from some charm squares of a stitch in color and a grey cotton. I modified my windows sewing machine cover block from my book to accommodate the larger charm squares.

 I then quilted the top using squiggly(technical term) lines along the diagonal. I didn't plan this out, but as luck would have it, the diagonal squigglies look remarkably like a miniature version of the windows pattern. Kismet.

I crafted a zippered opening using a Denyse Schmidt cotton that she apparently sells at Joann's. Who knew? Then I bound the edges as I would a quilt and, voila, fabulous pillow for my sofa.
So, are you all assuming that the giveaway item, which, by the way, is being donated by the super-lovely Tammy at Marmalade Fabric, is a charm pack of my a stitch in color collection? Well, if you've made that assumption you're...wrong. The giveaway prize is even better because the fabric pieces are bigger and bigger is always better when you're talking fabric.
Tammy is giving away this:

This, my dear readers, is a layer cake. That means the squares are 10" x 10".  If you used the same concept I used on the pillow with these squares, adjusting the size of the solid strips accordingly, you could easily make a large quilt lickety split. You don't have to, of course, but I'm planning to.
You want it don't you? Well, then you know what to do.

Also, if you're local, please come by Sew Much More on Anderson Lane this Friday from 6-8pm for my reception/book signing celebrating my fabric line as well as my book. I will be there signing and schmoozing and will return the following morning to give a seminar on utilizing color and pattern.

AND, I'm not done, if you are on the Austin Marathon/ Half Marathon route this Sunday morning, please come out and cheer for the runners. Believe it or not, we really appreciate it.

Random.org has spoken...

...and told me the comment #120 is the winner of the puzzle and to post a totally random, yet crafty picture to illustrate the announcement of the puzzle winner. Don't ask me what the reasoning is behind this dictate, I'm just a conduit.
Anyway, our winner is:

Steph said...

Neat surprise for you in the mail and a neat surprise for me as a reader of your blog. Great to see your patterns in a new place! So, Steph, please email me at malka@stitchindye.com and I'll get your puzzle and jelly beans to you quicker than you can clear space on your dining room table and find the puzzle glue.

How do you spell success? P.U.Z.Z.L.E.

If a marker of penultimate success is having one of your designs made into a puzzle then I'm inviting you all to my retirement party because, folks, that day has come.
In all honesty, I knew it was coming, but my publisher, Interweave Press, mentioned the puzzle thing last November, so I kind of forgot. So much so that when the UPS guy delivered the box of 10 (yes 10) puzzles that are mine as the designer, I thought the rattle in the box was coming from jelly beans. Why I thought the good folks of Interweave Press would have nothing better to do than send me jelly beans is a mystery, but that's what came to my mind.
My youngest daughter is super excited about the prospect of putting together this 759 piece puzzle and I too am a little excited to see how my quilt looks as a puzzle. I'm also thinking that the next 8 friends with birthdays should be expecting a puzzle.
What to do with the other two? Well, as I just said, one is set to be put together by my girl and the other? Well, I think I'll give that away to one of you. So, leave a comment and I'll draw a winner. Maybe I'll even include a few jelly beans in my package.
For those of you who want the puzzle NOW without having to play my little game here's the link to the item in the Interweave store.

30-Day Challenge:: Hinting

New palette chosen. Selected designs weeded out from rejects. New collection just about ready to be sent off. I used my macro lens to give y'all a hint without hopefully revealing too much.

30-Day Challenge:: Le Dejeuner en Blanc

Yes, I know. I've got chutzpah making this post part of my 30-day challenge when I haven't posted for a week. Well I do have chutzpah, no doubt about that.

These are images from an event I attended this past weekend called Le Dejeuner en Blanc. It was described as a flash mob lunch in white and was masterminded by one very clever gal who I'd never met before. I was invited as someone's guest, but the locale of the lunch was a secret to everyone but the coordinator until the very last minute.
What we were told was that we were to dress in all white, bring tables, chairs, food, wine, and flowers, meet at a specific address and await further instructions. Once gathered at that address, our table head received a text letting him know where we were to proceed to set up our table and begin the lunch.
It was fabulously orchestrated, unique, and just so much fun.
It turns out the woman who masterminded it was celebrating her birthday, wanted to do something unusual, but didn't want to make the event exclusively about her birthday. It was brilliant!

30-Day Challenge:: In Praise of Stock Photos

...stock in the sense that I've had this photo for a while and just didn't post it. Along comes this morning when I realize that I have now missed 2 days in my 30-day challenge and, voila, stock photo becomes today's topic. I'm not berating myself though for lagging behind in my challenge. I do yoga and we are repeatedly told to have compassion on ourselves and I am a firm believer in self-directed compassion.
Anyway, this scarf, crafted out of bias cut strips is inspired by knitted scarves like this one. I think I've mentioned this before, but just in case, I'm often inspired by other textiles, but especially knits. This scarf was created as a magazine design, but, alas, did not make it in. No matter. I'll probably write up the pattern and sell it myself or add it to the classes I teach at Stitch Lab or both. For today, it definitely served its purpose: something to post about here in my little corner of the internet.

30-Day Challenge:: Why I wasn't meant for dental school

My buddy, Jeff, took some pictures of me the other day and, other than the typical profile shots there were some opportunities to be silly. So, first off, I'm just pretending to be angry in this picture. Secondly, and perhaps a little sadly, this is the face I made when Jeff told me to show him my fangs. I'm not sure why I stuck out my bottom teeth in response to that prompt, but I obviously was not meant for dental school.