If you read yesterday’s Web Favs then you saw the post about Quilting Gallery. I have finally gotten up the gumption to submit one of my original designs to a quilting contest! Let me be the first to tell you there are some seriously talented quilters in this contest and their Jelly Roll quilts are AMAZING! Head on over to the voting page and cast a vote for your favorite – if it happens to be Cobblestone Roads I would love that!!!
In my Vintage Christmas Sampler I wanted to make sure I had some very traditional blocks and also some new blocks that I designed. One of the most basic blocks for any quilter is a nine patch block – so much can be done with a 9 patch block. In the Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns there are 3 chapters with over 550 different types of 9 patch blocks! Mine is the most absolute basic.
As I said, this block is super easy and made with large (ish) scraps.
You will need nine 4.5 inch squares – remember this block is versatile and can be done with vintage or with updated modern prints!
Lay out your squares in lots of different arrangements until you find one you like.
Using a 1/4 inch seam – sew your rows together. Press your top row seams to the right, middle row to the left and bottom row to the right again – this will assist you in matching up your squares when finishing the block.
For more vintage block tutorials – check out my Vintage Christmas Sampler Tutorial page.
There is so much going on this week. For some reason it has felt really stressful for me and I don’t even have school age children who have started already or are getting ready to start school!
Sewing Contests
I love sewing and quilting. Sometimes though it feels like I am sewing without purpose – just to see if I can make this or that, or create something new. If you are anything like me then you are in luck! There are several sewing “contests” going on right now.
Do you follow Stitched In Color? She is having a fun contest on her blog called “Celebrate Color”. It is a celebration of the colors of fall. She will be having tutorials, contests and prizes on her blog in the coming months. You should really check it out – even if you don’t win her contests are always so fun – I participated in her Blogger’s Pillow Party at the beginning of the year and just loved seeing what everyone else had created!
For all you quilters out there: have you heard of the Quilting Gallery? It is a great resource for quilters – including a blog, a list of quilting bloggers, a quilt shop locator, a search feature to find quilt guilds in your area, a quilter’s market – where you will find new products for quilters, a quilter’s fun page, and even a quilter’s cookbook full of recipes. Not only are there a ton of great resources for quilters of all levels on this site AND a weekly quilting competition! This week is Jelly Roll Quilts – I entered my Cobblestone Roads. Here is a link to the list of upcoming themes – check them out and enter – there are some great prizes to be won!
Have you heard of the Hoffman Challenge? This is the 24th Anniversary of the Challenge – it is based on one piece of fabric that you have to use and you can incorporate other fabrics into your design. There are three quilting categories: pieced, applique and mixed techniques. This year they have added new categories this year including sewing and wearable art, accessories and dolls (Challenge History Page). Here is a link to the FAQ and Entry Form page – you will also find the challenge fabric there. You should give it a try there are some FABULOUS prizes to be won!
Start sewing and enter one or all of these great contests!
Feature: Heidi From Craft Monkey
Have you seen Heidi’s blog Craft Monkey? I love her blog – she does some fabulous home dec projects. The kind of home dec projects I say that I want to do or I will do one day but never get up the gumption to actually do them! She just finished re-doing three tables – they turned out gorgeously – I wish had that kind of bravery! She also does some great tutorials with easy to follow pictures. If you haven’t been to her blog you should really go check it out!
Have you heard of Me & My Sister Designs? I bet you have and you may not even realize it! They are the designers behind fun lines like Amelia, Ready Set Snow, Dilly Dally, and so many more.
I had the opportunity to interview Barb and Mary recently and here is what we chatted about:
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| Barb & Mary |
Barb & Mary: We find inspiration for our fabrics everywhere … sometimes it’s a small flower on an old scrap of fabric or a greeting card. Most of the time it just comes from doodles. Mary used to use graph paper to sketch out our patterns. Now she does most of it on the computer.
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| Barb’s Favorite Fabric Design |
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| Mary’s Favorite Fabric Design |
Barb & Mary: Thank You! I think the playfulness comes from the original doodles. The flowers start out very primitive with simple shapes and that helps to keep them whimsical and playful.
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| A bundle of their first group – Pedal Pushers |
Most everything is a joint effort. We usually get together 3 or 4 times a week and either sit in front of the computer, test sew, or tweak fabric ideas. But after the initial pattern pages are written … Mary does all the computer graphics by herself.
Our designs are simple so lots of time the process is too. Sometimes we actually cut up fabric, but most of the time we just start with a square on the computer screen, chop it up and put it back together. We have been doing this for so many years now it comes naturally.
Barb & Mary: Orange Slices is one of Mary’s all time favorites! Pinwheels are my favorite block … so I like Spin Cycle! I love making half square triangles! We got in a faze where we were naming all our patterns after food. Had to stop that! I think we were naming them before lunch!
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| Orange Slices – Courtesy of Me & My Sister Designs |
Barb & Mary: To be honest … no we do not miss owning the shop. We do miss the people! But not the hard work of being a shop owner! Owning the shop taught us a lot about the quilting business and provided us with contacts. Even after selling the shop we kept in contact with our Moda sales rep Ron Wiggins, who mentored us with the shop and with branching out into fabric and patterns.
Melissa: As sisters, do you find that working together has made you closer? From your website it seems like the whole family is, in some form or another, involved in your business – does everyone also sew and create with you?
Barb & Mary: I can’t say that it has made us closer. We have always been good friends, except for a period of time when we were in high school! Hated each other for several years. Mom used to threaten to lock us in a room together to see who came out alive! But after college and when the families started to grow all that luckily disappeared. Four of the five sisters quilt. My son and daughter in law stuff patterns and Mary’s daughters both help with the computer work and graphic design. They help teach us new things on the computer everyday! Both our husbands build the props for our market booths. It really is a family run business!!!!
You may be wondering…what are Barb and Mary giving away?!? One charm pack of Amelia and one charm pack of Dilly Dally! There will be 2 lucky winners for this giveaway!
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| Image Courtesy of Fat Quarter Shop – also available for purchase there! |
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| Dilly Dally – Image Courtesy of Old Country Store Fabrics – also available for purchase there |
How can you enter?
1. Head over to Me & My Sister Designs and tell me what your favorite pattern is – one entry!
2. Head over to Me & My Sister Designs blog – say Hi & Tell them that we sent you! – come back here and tell me that you did. – one entry!
3. Go like us on Facebook – come back here and tell me that you did – one entry!
That is 3 possible entries! Woot! We like to give these great prizes to our faithful Brother Lovers so make sure you are a follower!
For an additional entry – blog, facebook, or tweet about this giveaway.
This giveaway will run from August 29th to September 4th – a winner will be announced on September 5th – Labor Day.
Good Luck!
