What Shade Are You Blog Hop And Giveaway

Months ago, RJR Fabrics asked if I'd like some solids to play with and then blog about. Umm, yes please.

I've always loved RJR's cottons. Having worked in a quilt shop for over four years, I've had the privilege of handling a lot of different fabrics, and these just have a wonderful hand, so nice and soft. 

For my project, I chose the colours 265, 337, 221, 237, 217, 218, 169, 280, 292, 274, 283, 351 and 341.

In all honestly, I'd started something else completely scrappy... and then scrapped it. It looked very, very odd to me for some reason. I don't even remember what I did, I just remember not liking it at all.

Thankfully I hadn't gotten far, so I ended up making courthouse steps (what else is new!?) and thought the solids would do really well with bunching them in fours so it looks very graphic. I used prints for the centres so that it would give it a little interest, and I used a sketch fabric for one of the light greys. Mainly because I'd run out of colour combos and fabric. So now, it's a design element hehehe!

I think it'd make an awesome picnic quilt... if only I went on picnics or could bring myself to put the quilt on the ground and sit on it lol Maybe an indoor picnic with the hubs :) He's cute, I'll let him sit on the quilt and eat something... not drippy...

I used a sketch for binding too because I just love it for a binding nothing else seems to work. Plus I'd run out of solids, remember? Hehe!

If you'd like to have a peek at the wonderful projects my fellow quilters have made, you can go to the RJR Facebook page and have a browse :) And if you'd like to buy these yummy solids, Pink Castle Fabrics has a lovely selection! 

RJR Fabrics are very kindly giving away a FQ bundle of the solids I used so please leave a comment (with your email address!!!) if you'd like to win it! The giveaway is only open to US and Canada -- my sincere apologies, international peeps! I'll pick a winner at the end of next week! Good luck! :)

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The winner of the FQ bundle is Bethany Martini! Congratulations!!!

Modern Baby Blog Book Tour Giveaway!!!

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Shut the front door! I'm in another book!!! And I have two quilts in this book too! I know, I'm just showing off at this point... Hahaha! Modern Baby is a really fun book with beautiful quilts, and I'm just thrilled that I'm a part of it :)

Both quilts of mine are bright and cheery, which is really my favourite thing to do when making baby quilts!

The first quilt I have in the book is called Floating Pyramid because... it looks like... a pyramid that is... floating. I am terrible at naming quilts, people.

This quilt was insanely fun to cook up, yet soooo frustrating at the same time. From the sketching, to deciding how to treat each coloured triangle, and finally figuring out how the heck to make those scrappy triangles in a way that made sense to others! I just love how it came out, especially because the triangles look like they're almost shimmering away. The neutral background is not something I gravitate towards, but I thought it worked so well with this quilt instead of just a flat, stark white background.

You guys might've seen Vertigo on the blog before... it's a really fun quilt where you can play with colours, values and hues. I've made this three times now (here's the second one that now belongs to my sister's bestie's baby) haha! Super easy and the fun lies in picking your colours! When I first made this quilt, it was really just me messing around with the fabric. The thing about improv is that you're not quite sure if it's going to work out, or how it's going to look. But thankfully, I managed to make the quilt how I'd drawn it up in my mind. Phew! I'm really looking forward to seeing what people do with this quilt... the possibilities are endless!

So, giveaway time!!!!!

You'll have 14... count them, 14... chances to win an eBook copy of Modern Baby! Just leave a comment and tell me a fun story about a baby or when you became a mother... or anything! You know me and my love of randomness :) I'll pick a winner on Tuesday April 30!

And after you're done entering the giveaway here, you can go check out my fellow co-authors on their blogs! Here's the blog tour schedule :)

April 18, Thursday       Jenny, StitchThis! http://blog.shopmartingale.com/

April 19, Friday            Shea Henderson, http://emptybobbinsewing.com

April 22, Monday         Jake Finch, http://generationqmagazine.com/

April 23, Tuesday        Audrie Bidwell, http://blueisbleu.blogspot.com/

April 24, Wed              Carolyn Friedlander, http://carolynfriedlander.com/blog/

April 25, Thursday       Melissa Corry, http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/

April 26, Friday            Jen Eskridge, http://reannalilydesigns.com/blog/

April 29, Monday         Sarah Flynn, http://fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.com/

April 30, Tuesday        Dana Bolyard, http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/

May 1, Wednesday      Amy Smart, http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/

May 2, Thursday          Carrie Bloomston, http://suchitysuch.blogspot.com/

May 3, Fri                    Victoria Findlay Wolfe, http://www.bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/

May 6, Monday            Lindsey Rhodes, http://lrstitched.com/

May 7, Tuesday           Pippa Eccles Armbrester, http://www.pippapatchwork.com/blog/

Good luck, and have lots of fun!!!

Triple Irish Chain Progress... And A Winner!

I've spent most of the past week working on the triple irish chain quilt for the hub's cousin's wedding gift and I've come to a conclusion that I'm really not fond of sewing looooong strips of fabric together. But it does make everything easier, so I pushed through within minimal whining. Well, not really but, yeah... so anyway...

I'm really loving how it's turning out, and still very chuffed that I managed to match the colours the bride-to-be chose on my Kona colour cards almost perfectly. The deep purple / magenta (it's not showing up quite as purple because of the light, thanks to the rain) is a Moda Puzzle Pieces, the teal is a print from Aneela Hoey's Little Apples, and the limey green is a Jinny Beyer one. I have no idea what the latter is called! And the background is a Timeless Treasures sketch in Mist.

So instead of following a pattern, I once again sketched the thing up on my computer and graph paper. I had no real idea how many strip combinations to make for each block... it was a lot of figuring it out as I went along. (Thankfully I know how to calculate fabric!) So I've kept my binder open next to my sewing machine for reference hehe I really ought to figure out a more efficient way of doing things but I guess if it ain't broke, right?

I saw many triple irish chain quilts that look like this one but I decided to have all the chains close at the ends. I don't know why, but I prefer the look of it. I'm sure I've seen it done like that before, but I can't remember where. And if someone tells me that Eleanor Burns has an irish chain quilt book... I. WILL. SNAP. (I'm referring to the unnecessary and snarky comment about my last quilt in the comments -- it's been since deleted because just leave the effing snark on this blog to me, got it?? And get a damn life.)

The blocks are almost all finished, and very soon I'll put them all together and slap a small border (gasp!!) on it and I'll be done! Whee!

Oh, and the winner of the book giveaway is Tricia! (No, this isn't an April Fool's joke!) Congratulations!!! You can expect an email from me very shortly. And I totally forgot to announce a winner last week... my sis texted me over the weekend and was all "umm hey who won the giveaway on your blog?". Oops. I blame Easter? Chocolate coma?

Modern Quilts From The Blogging Universe Giveaway!!!

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Time for another giveaway!!! Here's another chance to win a copy of Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe! I'll even sign it if you'd like :)

Leave a comment and tell me something random. I enjoy random. I'll pick a winner on Friday March 29th. Good luck!!!

WINNER ANNOUNCED!

The winner of the Modern Quilts From The Blogging Universe eBook is Crissa! Congratulations!!! :)

Modern Quilts From The Blogging Universe BLOG BLITZ!!!

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I'm not sure if I'd mentioned it on here before, but I've been lucky enough to be a part of this wonderful compilation of amazing quilty bloggers! I even made it to the cover! Well sort of... I'm in the lower left corner. Raise the roof! Whoop whoop! 

I was dumbfounded when I was asked to contribute -- to be perfectly honestly, I thought someone was playing a very unfunny prank on me -- to this book because I don't really think about myself that way. 

And then as if they were trying to give me a heart attack, Martingale came back and asked me to contribute TWO quilts. What the what?!? I mean, seriously?? I didn't think they'd pick one, let alone two! 

This one is Lightning Strikes and it's further confirms my obsession with triangles.

This one's called Lanterns in the City. It's a play on the traditional courthouse steps and it's one of my most favourite quilts I've ever made. EVER.

Don't let my face on there scare you. It scares me, but that's another story for another time.

ANYWAY! All 18 bloggers who contributed to the book are each giving away an eBook of Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe! For a chance to win a copy of the eBook, tell me how you started quilting! A winner will be picked on Tuesday January 29th.

And for a complete list of all the bloggers who contributed to the book and their blog links, please visit Martingale's blog here. And you stand another chance to win the eBook there too! There you'll see an embarrassing picture of me at Sewing Summit with Katy and Amy. Truly horrifying. (All pictures of myself tend to horrify me.)

Good luck!!!

Skip The Borders Blog Tour

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Hurrah! It's my turn on Julie's blog tour and I'm thrilled! Julie's book, Skip the Borders is a gorgeous collection of fifteen quilts that... skip the borders. Am I the only one tickled by the title? Because I am :)

I've been flicking through the book and I've decided that I cannot pick a favourite. It's like picking your favourite child. (Well I have no children so it's like asking me which of my cats is my favourite. That's just wrong.) I've managed to only narrow them down to the following few...

Square City

Box of Chocolates

Checkerboard Dots 

Raspberry Dessert

Stars and Stripes

Love. Love them all. Julie's got a beautiful way of designing with clean lines and the quilts turn out to graphic and lovely.

Julie's also sent along a few questions for me to answer, so here goes...

Q1: All of the quilts in Skip the Borders are... borderless! Do you skip borders on most of your quilts?
- I think my brain doesn't automatically add a border when designing a quilt, so I'm going to say that most of the time, I do skip borders. Occasionally, there'll be a quilt that just screams for a border, and I have to oblige.

Q2: In the intro to my book I give you Permission to Break the Rules. Do you break some quilting rules? What is the number one rule you break and why?
- I taught myself to quilt through trial and error, and from lots of reading, so I never actually learned the rules. Which I'm actually thankful for, because then I've never limited myself to doing things a certain way. I have taken the time to learn proper sewing techniques though, but when it comes to design and colours, there are no rules in my book!

Q3: It's no secret that I love binding! In Skip the Borders I included an entire chapter on binding. So the million dollar question, is do you use bias or straight of grain most of the time?
- Straight of grain 100% of the time. I have yet to do a quilt with curved edges, so until then, I probably will never feel the need to go the bias route.


And now to the good stuff! Julie and Martingale are offering one lucky winner a free eBook copy of Skip the Borders! All you have to do enter is answer any one of the above questions :) One entry per person. I'll pick a winner next Tuesday October 16th. Good luck!

Giveaway Winners!!!

The winners of the Single Girl patterns are... *drum roll*

Mama Masek and Jenni!!!

Congratulations you guys! I'll be sending out emails to get your addresses so I can send you your new patterns :)

A huge thank-you to everyone who participated!!!

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Day!

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Happy Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway Daaaaay!!! I'm offering up not one, but TWO copies of Denyse Schmidt's Single Girl pattern! It's possibly my favourite pattern of hers, and I'm happy to help spread the love! 

I've started working on my own queen-sized Single Girl but it's been put aside so I can finish some other things first. Hopefully by year's end, I'll have a finished quilt on my bed!

All you need to do for a chance to win is leave a comment. Maybe tell me what you did on the weekend? Or what you're currently working on? Or something completely random. Goodness knows how much I enjoy randomness :)

[Edited to add: Please make sure you include your email address, especially if you're a no-reply blogger!!!]

Make sure you check out the other giveaways at Sew, Mama, Sew! 

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And The AccuQuilt GO! Baby Cutter Goes To...

*Drum roll*

The winner of the AccuQuilt GO! Baby cutter is BaileyGirl5!!! Congratulations! You'll be getting an email from me shortly :)

AccuQuilt GO! Baby Cutter Giveaway!

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AccuQuilt is offering my lovely readers a chance to win their very own AccuQuilt GO! Baby Cutter!

To enter, please visit AccuQuilt and leave me a comment with your choice of three dies. (Please make sure you include your email address.)

A winner will be announced on Friday August 5th. Best of luck! :)

Look What I Won!

A few weeks ago Whip Up Mini Quilts was having a virtual book tour and I entered a couple of the giveaways (read: When I remembered to.), thinking probably not, but what’s the harm.

And I got picked as the winner of the draw on My Love For You! (Thanks Meghan!)

I’d wanted this book from when I first saw it appear on bookshelves and to win it is just absolutely brilliant. The quilts in here are so darling and there’s a couple I definitely want to make for friends and family.

Thanks again to Meghan, and Chronicle Books!!

Giveaway Winner!

A big thanks to everyone who entered the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway! All 538 of you! I'm blown away... completely blown away :)

And without further ado, I'm happy to announce the winner of the Krakow fat quarters is Carrie! Congrats, and you'll be receiving an email from me shortly! :)

Giveaway Day!

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I'm joining in the Sew, Mama, Sew! May Giveaway Day! (How could I not?)

Up for grabs are five fat quarters from the Krakow collection by Mark Lipinski!

The fat quarters are from the reds and black colourway, my favourite of the two Krakow colourways :)

All you have to do is leave a comment to win! (Do make sure I have some way of contacting you.) I'm happy to ship internationally, so everyone is welcome to enter!! A winner will be picked at random sometime on Friday, May 21.

Good luck! And make sure you check out the other giveaways! :)

And We Have A Winner!

I'm happy to announce a winner of giveaway...

*Drum roll*

Congratulations Katie B.! You have just won yourself four fat quarters :)

And a very big thank you to everyone who participated, and all the very, very kind words.

Quilty Anniversary

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It's been about a year since I've started quilting! A year! It almost seems impossible that it's only been a year... It's consumed my life entirely and I can't remember what life was like before. I mean I now sell quilts and work at a quilt store for crying out loud.

Last April, I had this bright idea to make my MIL a quilted table runner for her birthday. It took me forever and ever to finish, and at one point, I'm pretty sure I tried to strangle myself with it lol! Sometimes I do strange things without much forethought that lead to really good things. Like me visiting the States on a whim and meeting my husband :)

Anyway, my point is, I'm hosting a giveaway!!!

Four Lizzy Dish fat quarters up for grabs!

Two chances to win...

1. Leave a comment!

2. Subscribe to the blog and leave another comment!

I'll announce a winner on Thursday April 22 :) Good luck!!

(I apologise for the many exclamation marks littered throughout this post.)

Sweetwater Is At It Again

Once again, Sweetwater has new collection coming out that's uber cute. Damn you, Sweetwater. Damn you.

It's called PURE and will be available later this year. Oh boy.

In the meantime, they're having a little giveaway at their blog so go visit!

Dear Santa

I'm kidnapping your reindeer unless you bring me goodies from The Fat Quarter Shop. I'll be nice and even give you choices.

1. Swell Nicey Jane Fat Quarter Bundle by Heather Bailey

2. Ginger Blossom Fat Quarter Bundle by Sandi Henderson

3. Peach Meadowsweet Fat Quarter Bundle by Sandi Henderson

So you just bring me any of these bundles and no reindeer have to get hurt*. Capice? I just vacuumed and reindeer blood's a bitch to get out. Plus I bet you can't get too far without Rudolph's shiny nose, huh?

Hey, you kissed my mum under the damn mistletoe. I think you're getting off pretty lightly here, bud.

Yours sincerely,

Audrie

*No reindeer were hurt in the making of this blog post.

Giveaway At Flea Market Fancy Freaks!

Flea Market Fancy Freaks is hosting an amazing giveaway... go now!

And my fingers remain crossed that we'll actually manage to bring FMF back :)

Giveaway!

An adorable giveaway hosted by Julie of Jaybird Quilts :)

Go check it out and enter... or not... I kinda really want this prize :P