Turn up your radio dials

For anyone other than my Mom who would like to hear me go on and on and probably on about fabric and quilts, I'll be a guest tomorrow on Pat Sloan's American Patchwork and Quilting radio show.

Tune in here at 4:25 EST and hear me and Pat live. Good stuff, people.

Giveaway Winner

I wish I could come up with a more clever title than that, but the magic ain't happening today.
Anyway, our winner is...

Molly said...

Such pretty fabrics! Love the pillow! Alright Molly, I think you know what to do. Email me your address and I'll pass that on to Tammy who will send you your layer cake faster than I can run a half-marathon.

 Well, maybe not faster, but super-close.

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.