Giveaway – Page 6 – Sew Bittersweet Designs

Ole Frog Eyes Review & Giveaway

28 Comments / Giveaway, Ole Frog Eyes, product review / By Melissa Dunworth

(note: Snoodles from Lily Pad Quilting gave me a one month trial so I could give her my thoughts on her software, I then offered to do a review on my blog, the thoughts and opinions presented are my own – and PS. I will be signing up for a subscription when my trial is over!)

Have you heard of Ole Frog Eyes? Ole Frog Eyes is an online quilting tool for those of us who are not lucky enough to have a design wall. There are lots of different types of design walls. You can buy a fancy portable one – but those can run you upwards of $150.00. You can make one – if you have the space – with simple flannel or quilt batting. You can use your floor – but that is rather temporary…

This has been my solution since…well forever. I have never had the space for a design wall. Well, this is not really convenient – especially when I am working on 4 or 5 quilts at a time. I can’t have all the blocks out at once; I can’t have more than one quilt out at a time. This is where Ole Frog Eyes comes in; they are a VIRTUAL design wall!

Click here to see my whole Vintage Christmas Sampler in Ole Frog Eyes.

There are several cool features that come with your virtual design wall.

You can upload any block you want, then you can choose borders, in virtually any color, and also select colors for you lattice (sashing). The lattice allows you to select up to three colors: horizontal, vertical and what I will call the center squares – where the horizontal and vertical sections meet.

Do you remember my post last week of all the blocks I had completed from SewHappyGeek’s SewHappyQuilt QAL? I had to make a collage of my blocks because I just don’t have much space to lay out my blocks. Well here they are all laid out – with potential sashing and border colors!

Here are the basics for using Ole Frog Eyes:

Your image must be a jpeg
Crop your photo to a square – just like your block
Make sure the file size is no more than 30 kb – there is an awesome video tutorial on Ole Frog Eyes on how to edit your photos and resize them
Click on Create a Quilt
Name It
Select your template – classic or on point
Enter number of columns
Enter number of rows
Check the box if you want to have a lattice (sashing)
Check the box if you want to have a border
Then start uploading your photos and select your colors for lattice (sashing) and border

Here is what it looks like when selecting your lattice (sashing) and border colors. As you can see, they offer every color under the sun.

Things I like about Ole Frog Eyes:

Virtual Design Wall! I’m not sure I need to say more about that. I have a 2 year old and limited space in my sewing room. Virtual anything is beyond welcome!
You will never have to pick your quilt blocks up again!
Lots of choices for the lattice (sashing) – up to three different colors – this allows more design options
Border – this allows me to visualize my end product and give me an idea of what colors will work well
Ease of use – after watching the video on making my image size smaller, I was off and running. I have 2 more quilts in the works that I am going to be uploading to Ole Frog Eyes
Visual progress: with each block I upload – I can see the progress I am making on my quilt. When I started uploading my Sew Happy Quilt blocks I realized that there were some prints that I had overused and some that I hadn’t used at all, this allowed me to even up my usage of the fabric line and my quilt is more balanced now.
Affordable! It is only $2.50 per month. On almost any budget that is easy to swing.
If you have any issues – you just have to pull the red cord and an email window will open to message the website administrator for help! (makes me feel so luxurious to have a cord to pull for instant help)
You can display your quilts online and have people comment on them – and who doesn’t love positive feedback!

Area’s for Improvement:

I would love to see the next version of Ole Frog Eyes to have a drag and drop feature. That way after uploading you blocks you can easily move them around into a layout you like better. Right now you have to delete your blocks and reload them. I have spoken to Snoodles about this and I do believe it is something they are working on for the next version.

Final Thoughts:

This is a great product for anyone who has the following limitations: limited space, pets (pet hair on blocks = more work cleaning later), toddlers (mine likes to play with my blocks), no sewing space (kitchen table double as your sewing area?). It is also great for figuring out fabric usage, layout, lattice (sashing) and border colors.

Now for the giveaway! Snoodles and Padsworth (the Ole Frog Eyes mascot) have decided to give two of my wonderful reader’s free one-month subscriptions to test drive this awesome software!

So how can you enter?!? Two ways to enter:

Check out the Ole Frog Eyes website and tell me why you would like to use it? Personally – I like being able to see my fabric/color distribution. (entry 1)
Blog, Tweet, or Facebook about this giveaway, come back and give me the link. (entry 2)

Please make sure you are following my blog – there are lots of ways to do it (this is mandatory to enter but does not count as an entry).

Good luck! The giveaway will be open through 9pm Friday March 9^th. I will announce the winner on Saturday March 10^th.

Sponsor Highlight & Giveaway – Fat Quarter Shop

311 Comments / Fat Quarter Shop, Giveaway, Uncategorized / By Melissa Dunworth

One of the things I have really come to love about blogging is the conversation. One of the things that I love about Fat Quarter Shop is that they are a HUGE part of the conversation. One of the most generous supporters of this wonderful community, Fat Quarter Shop, is not only a great place to shop but it is also a wonderful place to learn and be inspired.

Fat Quarter Shop is on of my favorite places to go and fantasize – my budget only goes so far…so a lot of fantasizing goes on! I mean seriously they have 29 pages on their coming soon section with fabrics that can tickle just about ANYONE’s fancy. Hello reproduction prints, children’s prints, modern, Christmas, and the list goes on!

Here are a few of my favorites that are coming out in the near future:

I grew up reading Peanuts in the Sunday comics – this is so adorable! I see an Advent Calendar in my future!

Doesn’t this just look adorable? I am seeing a baby blanket – now will one of my friends please get pregnant – so I have an excuse to buy this when it comes out!

How much do you love this print – perfect for a boy or girl – so much fun!

Fat Quarter Shop recently sent me a new little notion to try out – the Tri-Recs Tools – tomorrow I will be showing you a fun block using it and doing a full review on Wednesday, so be sure to stop back to see both these posts!

As a testament to their continued generosity Fat Quarter Shop has a little giveaway for you today and there will be FOUR, count them 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, winners! How would you like to win a little Hello Luscious?

That’s right, Fat Quarter Shop is giving away 4 Charm Pack to 4 different winners. Do you want to win? There will be 3 chances!

1. Follow Fat Quarter Shop on Twitter or Pinterest (not on Pinterest yet, email me – melissa (at) sewbittersweetdesigns (dot) com, and I will send you an invite!) – leave a comment telling me how you are following them! (Don’t twitter or Pinterest? Go sign up for the Fat Quarter Shop Newsletter and let me know you did!)

2. Go like my Facebook Page – Google Friend Connect is going away and this is a great way to keep in touch! Leave me a comment telling me you are a current or new Facebook friend.

3. Follow me on Twitter – leave me a comment with your twitter name.

This giveaway runs through March 2nd at 9:00 pm pacific time. I will announce the winner March 3rd before I head off to Sew Expo! I am using the And The Winner Is Widget. Good luck!

And the winner is…

11 Comments / Fat Quarter Shop, Giveaway, Valentine's Day Showcase / By Melissa Dunworth

Everyone loves a good giveaway – gives you the chance to sit around and dream about what you would make/do if you are the big winner. What makes me sad about giveaways is that there is usually only one winner. What makes me happy about hosting giveaways is bringing a little bit of joy to the winner’s day.

Today’s winner is courtesy of Fat Quarter Shop – Kimberly and her team are so supportive and generous. Please take a few moments to head over to their site and look around if you have never done so before – you will be blown away by their selection!

Author: Mary
Website: http://mary.emmens.co.uk/
I can’t wait to get my hands on Curious Nature, so excited to see some masculine prints that are not ‘novelty’! Roll on February, thanks for the giveaway

Thank you for entering Mary and Congratulations on your big win!

I would like to remind everyone about the upcoming Valentine’s Day Showcase – which will start on Wednesday, February 1st with a project from Sharon who blogs at Craizee Corners.

There will be some fabulous prizes, including a $75 gift certificate from my premier sponsor – Fat Quarter Shop. You don’t want to miss out on the chance to win, so grab a button from my sidebar and start creating, the linky party will open for entries on February 15th!

NOTE: Don’t forget, I am one of the bloggers who is going to lose Google Friend Connect in March 2012, please take a moment and follow me via Bloglovin’, Facebook, RSS or networked blogs. You are important to me and I want to be able to stay in contact with you! Check my side bar for all the best ways to stay in touch after GFC goes bye bye!

Lazy Angle Ruler Review & Tutorial

12 Comments / Fat Quarter Shop, Giveaway, product review, table runner / By Melissa Dunworth

Have you been intrigued by the Lazy Angle Ruler? I was and when the opportunity to do a giveaway and review came up with Fat Quarter Shop, I jumped at the chance and here’s why…I created the 4 blocks for this table runner and 1 additional during Anne’s nap time – all of TWO hours!

The first thing I did was head over to the Lazy Girl Designs website and download the “Getting Started” chapter from the Lazy & Lovin’ It book. If you are going to invest in the ruler – I highly recommend printing out these 12 pages. After taking the time to read it and get a real understanding I was able to create these blocks by just cutting, sewing and playing.

I decided to make 8 inch finished blocks – mainly because I have recently been intrigued with that size block. An 8 inch block requires 4 blocks measuring 4.5″ x 4.5″.

Start with two different fabrics measuring 4.5” by width of fabric.

(It is important to remember when piecing to use a ¼” seam)

Start by cutting your A sections – for the 1^st pinwheel block you will need 4 section A’s and 4 Section B’s.

Lay out your block

Next you will need to sew your sections together – make sure you slightly offset your pieces – the Lazy Girl Designs website describes this as making a bowtie at the bottom of your piece. Here is how my sections look:

Press your seams open, trim dog ears and you have made your first section! Make 3 more and sew your block together.

Things I like about the ruler:

Concise – Aside from trimming dog ears – I didn’t have to trim my blocks to size – they were consistently 4.5” each time (meaning – make sure your ¼” seams are ACCURATE! – if they aren’t you will cause yourself a lot more work!)
Once you master this first block the options are ENDLESS – after I had the proportions worked out I designed 10 or more blocks in EQ7 for this ruler
The 12 page free downloadable chapter is a wonderful font of information – READ IT!
You can create finished blocks measuring from 4” to 12”

Area’s for Improvement:

Learning curve – the pamphlet that comes with it was not enough for me to figure out how to use the ruler – however, the Lazy Girl Designs website had a great deal amount of information to help me figure it all out
If the pieces are not offset just right, then your square will not line up properly – it took me 3 or 4 tries and lots of quality time with Jack (a.k.a. The Ripper) to figure out the exact right alignment
There is quite a bit of waste when you are creating blocks with 3 or more sections – be prepared for a scrap pile

Final Thoughts:

I love this tool – I see myself using it quite a lot in future quilt designs. While there is a learning curve, DO NOT let it intimidate you. Take the time to download the free chapter and read it. If you are still struggling feel free to send me a message – I would be more than happy to walk you through using this ruler.

Come by tomorrow (internet access willing – we are still having trouble in our neck of the woods) – and I will have up step-by-step picture tutorials for the other 3 blocks in the table runner and cutting instructions for the sashing and border. The day after that I will put up a tutorial on how to do a machine binding on this quilt.

Do you have this ruler? Do you want one? Head over to my Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway for your chance to win one!

Fat Quarter Shop Giveaway

276 Comments / Fat Quarter Shop, Giveaway, Lazy Angle Ruler / By Melissa Dunworth

Hi Everyone! I have been MIA for the last several days – 5 to be exact! First we lost power due to the snow and when we got that back after 2 fun days in darkness we went an additional 3 days without phone/internet/cable. Can’t complain too much, we are all healthy, we didn’t lose any food, and things could always have been much worse. So let’s celebrate having power and being connected to the modern world again with a highlight post and giveaway from Fat Quarter Shop!

I can’t think of a single thing about Fat Quarter Shop that I don’t love. They have some of the fastest shipping around – same day if you order before 3pm central time. The service is unparalleled, Kimberly and Stephanie have both helped me match solids to prints – I have a hard time doing that on the computer. They are always willing to take the time to make sure you have exactly what you need.

One of the things I really love about Fat Quarter Shop is being able to surf through their Coming Soon section and plan out future projects. Here are a few of my favorite new lines coming out soon:

I can’t wait to get my hands on 10 Rubber Ducks designed by Eric Carle – I swear Anne has almost every book of his and we love them all!

I love Thomas Knauer – how cute would Flock be as a pillow and bedding set for Anne?!? Love it!

Oh My LORD! Don’t you just love this line! I am envisioning so many fun projects – I see a Fat Quarter Bundle in my future!

This month Fat Quarter Shop has generously donated a Lazy Angle Ruler – come back Wednesday for a full review and a 3 day tutorial on how to make this table runner!

Not only will the winner receive a Lazy Angle Ruler they will also win layer cake of Prairie Paisley II!

Are you interested? Do you want to win? I do – too bad I’m not eligible! Please make sure you are a follower of my blog – there are lots of ways to do it!

Three Possible Entries:

First (this one is required): Head over to the Fat Quarter Shop website and tell me what you are looking forward to most from the coming soon section

Second: Head over to Facebook and like my page – come back here and tell me you did so!

Third: Spread the word – Blog, Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway – come back here and give me the link.

This giveaway will be open through Saturday January 28th, I will announce the winner on Sunday January 29th. Good luck! I will be using the WordPress plugin “And the Winner Is” to select the winner.