Juicy Bits

194: last stop

If you read the crafty/sewing blogs and you hadn't heard of my book before, you probably have by now.  A wonderful group of bloggers have helped me host a blog tour for Modern Mix and it has been all over the web.  It's been a whole lot of fun.  There are plenty of thoughtful and amusing interview questions about me out there, so if you're interested, have a look at the schedule. (Also a few of the giveaways are still open so check it out...)

Today is the last stop and obviously it's here.  I won't toot my own horn, but let you go back and read all the reviews and interviews to learn more about the book.

But I do get to give away a final copy of the book and the winner at this stop will also receive a bundle of fat quarters from my latest collection of fabric called Kingdom. (Shown here in some shops...yay!)

To win all you have to do is leave a comment here and tell me either your favorite project in the book that you've seen so far, or the one you would make first.  (And really folks, I'm dying to see what you make so PLEASE share pictures when you do sew something...)  I will keep the contest open until Oct 26th.

JT

193: design wall debacle

I suppose the design wall episode wasn't so much a debacle as pretty fruitless.

What I decided to do on my birthday was to make myself a design wall.  Truth be told, I've never really seen the need for them.  I've always just used my floor and it works fine.  But lately I had been envying some sewists with their works in progress sticking up there for a long time while they mull over the design.  Sounded like a cool idea.

So, following the directions here I set out to make a movable design wall.  I wanted it big, but to be 3 separate panels that would fit perfectly into the corner of my studio I had picked out for it.  So I bought the foam insulation but only had one choice of type at my local Home Depot.  It was pink but I didn't see the problem in that.

It was a problem.  I had to add an extra layer of white fabric underneath so the whole thing looked close to white.   Between that and cutting the panels down to size, it ended up taking more than my birthday to complete and wasn't particularly inexpensive.  

Then I brought them upstairs and realized I was totally kidding myself.  I was never going to put these away in their intended corner. Right now they're still set up in the hall area outside my studio and this is 3 months later.  They're not going anywhere...at least not very often.

They are pretty cool and the blocks I have on there now are from my first ever online Bee - The Busy Bees.  It's fun to play around with them and nice to really be able to step back.  But let's be honest, the same effect could have been achieved  by tacking a big piece of batting to the wall whenever I need it.  And it would have saved me a lot of headache.  Live and learn.

Two other notices:

The Modern Mix blog tour is still going strong.  See the list on the last post and don't miss your chance to win a copy and learn some funny stuff about me...

We're finally going to have a New Jersey chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild.  Hoo-ray!  See the fancy new button on my sidebar?? If you're in the area stop by our new blog and find out about how to join in the fun.

192: it starts tomorrow

The blog tour for Modern Mix starts tomorrow!  Hoo-ray!

Now, I know at this point you've probably been to a ton of blog tours, but I promise it will be fun.  You'll find out some interesting stuff about lil' ol' me and have 16 chances to win a copy of the book.  There will also be a free pattern from the book available and at the last stop I'll give some of my Kingdom fabric away. Plus if you don't already read all these blogs, you'll be in for a treat.

So here's the schedule:

10/6/11 - Sew Mama Sew

10/7/11 - Jaybird Quilts

10/8/11 - Blue Nickel Studios

10/9/11 - Handmade by Alissa

10/10/11- Stop Staring and... Start Sewing

10/11/11 - Quilting is My Therapy

10/12/11 - Stitch Magazine Blog

10/13/11 - Oh Fransson

10/14/11 - Gen Q Magazine

10/15/11 - Quilt Dad

10/16/11 - Confessions of a Craft Addict

10/17/11 - Amy's Creative Side

10/18/11 - Pink Chalk Studio

10/19/11 - Connecting Threads Blog

10/20/11 - Keepsake Quilting Blog

10/21/11 - Juicy Bits

And we're off....

JT