Fresh Quilting Across the USA :: Day 2

Check out Victoria's post here for Day 2 of the blog tour. I would also strongly recommend that while you're visiting Victoria's space you take some time to look at her truly unique and amazingly crafted fiber art.

I wanted to take a minute to thank all of y'all who've emailed to let me know how much you're enjoying the book. I'd love for those of you who have a few extra minutes to log onto Amazon.com and review the book there as well.

Fresh Quilting Across the USA::Day 1

So today's the first day of my blog tour to celebrate my new book, Fresh Quilting: Fearless Color, Design, and Inspiration. For a chance to win a copy of the book and to read Ashley's review go here.
While you're there you should definitely check out all the amazing quilts that Ashley's made. Very inspiring!

We have a winner for the copy of Fresh Quilting I was giving away last Thursday. This giveaway has been such fun for me. Along with receiving all you wonderful birthday wishes, I have learned how to say "Happy Birthday" in so many different languages including Canadian where they wish the birthday boy/girl, "Happy Birthday, eh." 
Anyway, thanks to all who participated. Our book recipient is:
Alice R. said...OOOOOOOoooooohhhhh! Happy birthday to you...and to me, I hope! Thank you for the chance to win your lovely book - it'll go great with those bundles I just ordered!

Alice, please email me at malka@stitchindye.com with your home address and I'll get your book to you super quick.


Also, I'd like to clear up a bit of confusion that I may have created in my post about the blog tour. Perhaps it was the mention of the Rolling Stones tours of the US or my promise not to trash hotel rooms, but many of you got the impression that I will actually be making my way across the country. As much as I would like to visit all the places listed on the tour and a few more, my blog tour is entirely virtual. I'll be there in spirit, but my body remains in Austin, Texas.

Fresh Quilting Across the USA

First off, I should say that I'm totally in love with the graphic that Jamie Guthals, publicist extraordinaire at Interweave Press, sent me to visually illustrate my blog tour. I mean check this out:

Each stop on my tour is denoted and I love concept of hopping across the country.
When I first saw the graphic and heard the blog tour referred to as 'Fresh Quilting Across the USA", I couldn't help but think about Keith Richards. I just finished listening to his autobiography on my ipod and he went into great detail about life on the road with the Rolling Stones. Rest assured I have no plans to trash hotel rooms, get arrested, or do pretty much anything that he did on his tours. I think I'll just talk about the projects and giveaway books.
The tour begins next week and will include the following stops:

12/6
http://www.filminthefridge.com


12/7
http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com


12/8
http://jchandmade.typepad.com


12/9
http://houseonhillroad.typepad.com


12/10
http://www.tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com


12/13
http://blairpeter.typepad.com


12/14
http://pinkchalkstudio.com/blog



For those still interested in commenting to win the book I'm giving away, have no fear, those comments are open until Sunday, December 5 at 8:00 pm CST.


Have a wonderful weekend!

Yom Huledet Sameach

Are some of you scratching your heads about today's post title? Well, that is Happy Birthday in Hebrew transliterated because Hebrew has a completely different alphabet. Why would you need to know this other than to wow your friends at parties? Because today is my birthday and that's the way my folks, my brother, and even some of my Facebook friends wished me a happy birthday.
my birthday isn't the only thing I'm celebrating today.  I said in Tuesday's post that I hoped to finish the quilt I was making and...

I did!
As I was taking these pictures, I zoomed in to take a close-up shot and noticed something on the quilt. I wonder if you see it too.

There seems to be a copy of my new book on the quilt. This must be some kind of birthday sign. I'm thinking it's saying that it would be so fun to share my birthday joy with you all by giving away a copy of the book. I'm loving that idea. So, go ahead and leave a comment. I'll take comments through Sunday at 8:00pm CST and announce the winner on Monday.
For those of you worried that this might be your only chance to win a copy of the book, don't despair. I'll be back in this space tomorrow to announce the details of my Fresh Quilting Across the USA blog tour.
Good luck and Lihitraot (that means see you later) !


 

Finish Line in Sight

Race metaphor brought to you today because I ran the local Turkey trot last Thursday. I was super excited about my time...until I learned that the course was accidentally shortened by a half mile and was actually 4 1/2 miles rather than 5.
Today's finish line though is completely under my control. No pace car or confused policemen to screw this up. Today I'm off to the quilt this:

  It's a full size bed quilt for a customer across the globe. She had seen the version that I made my daughter several years ago and asked for one of her very own.

I've mentioned this before here and wrote about it in my new book, but I have to extol the pleasures and time saving nature of renting time on a long arm quilting machine. Quilting this entire top will take me 4-5 hours including "basting", a process that's a lot different and easier on you back/butt than taping the backing to the floor, layering the batting and top, and then proceeding to scoot around pinning the layers together. I'm telling you, long arming is the only civilized way to go.

 I'm hoping to have this bound and photographed for display in this space on Thursday. If I were y'all, I might just check back here then because 1. Thursday is a special day for me and 2. How fun would it be to share some of my special day with you lovely folks. Need I say more? :)

Shop Talk

I may have caught the Black Friday fever. I didn't venture out to the malls, but I did go in search of a couple specific fabrics at Joann's. People, that place is a madhouse. I ended up buying a couple spools of thread. Big, thousand yard spools that usually cost about $10.00 a piece, but today were buy one, get the second free. Then, the checker scanned some coupon that she had at the counter and the spools got even cheaper.
Though the craziness of the place convinced me that I should come back during the week to buy muslin, I was inspired by my Joann's experience to do something new in my shop.
(Imagine me speaking in a loud voice) For the first time ever, I'm offering my blog readers, that's you wonderful people, a special discount on the items available in my store. That's 10% off any purchases between now and next Tuesday. To use the coupon code, all you need to do is type in the phrase BLOGLOVE when you check out.
I've just updated the store with some new fabric bundles

 and a scrap bundle.

 I also have an array of pillow covers, patterns, hand dyed fabrics, coasters, quilts, and at least one or two other things I've forgotten.
If you've been thinking about buying one of the quilts or pillow covers I have listed, her's your chance to get it at a discount.
Just sayin. :)

In the Interest of Brevity: OMG

Years ago, before I ever thought about dyeing fabric or making quilts, back when I was still in art school, I knew about American Craft Magazine. Periodically, I would go to the bookstore to peruse the magazines I couldn't afford to buy and along with Art in America and Art News, I would read the latest craft news via American Craft.
Fast forward twenty some years and I get an email from a local writer, Shelley Seale, telling me that she has been commissioned by American Craft to write a story about me. Me?!!
And then, like icing on the cake, American Craft sends an amazing photographer, Michael O'Brien, to photograph me and my studio. Do you think I might be jumping up and down like a contestant on The Price is Right?

Absolutely!
I've had to keep this under wraps for a couple months, but I got my copy last week and I'm ready to shout it from the rooftops. I am so thrilled to be included in the Dec/Jan issue of American Craft!