Juicy Bits

196: winner

It may have taken me a while to draw a name, but the winner of the Modern Mix Blog Tour giveaway is:

Carolyn who said "I love the camera case! That's the scale of project I can handle, LOL. But I love your fabric collection, and I'm thinking that I would use the prize to make some quilted holiday ornaments. That is the gift I'm giving out this holiday, and I've been using holiday prints. But the purples and blues of your fabrics would be really pretty as well."

She has already been notified via email.

Thanx to everyone who played along.  All winners were notified via email by the author of the blog on which they won.  If you didn't win, fear not!  Just put it on your Amazon wish list for the holiday season. :)

JT

 

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

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

 

 

186: sew happy

I am feeling sew happy lately. Just doing a little playing around.  I've been shirking my actual work and making myself more familiar with my serger and coverstitch machine.  It's nice to step back and not be so focused on results and just play around. Seems appropriate for the start of summer.

This block is for my Busy Bee for Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Fabrics. She sent the great fabrics and asked us to sew what "sew happy" means to us.  Mine is a big stack of fabrics, my machine, and a technique I've never tried before (mini zigzag quilt).

Anyway, I finally drew winners for the two giveaways...

The winner for prize #1 on post #184 (Inspired to Sew etc.) is comment #23 - Mary Beth

The winner for prize #2 on post #184 (Cut the Scraps etc.) is comment #24 - Lori Porten

The winner for prize #1 on post #185 (Fresh Fabric Treats etc.) is comment #44 - Patti

The winner for prize #2 on post #185 (Kona color card etc) is comment #46 - Ona

I'll be emailing the winners to get their addresses.

I have to say the travel suggestions were so fun. I totally could have started a conversation with each of you if only time permitted.  Some of you shared my favorite destinations and some opened my eyes to places I never would have thought of (like Croatia and South Africa).

This block was for Lucinda.  She requested windows and was very open about the fabrics.  I decided I really wanted to do something with perspective and I love the brights on the clothesline with the neutral background.

 

I'm so not a scrappy gal, but I'm getting more of a taste for it lately.  This block was for Penny. Her only direction was go crazy with the scrappy look.  It was lots of fun, but obviously I felt the need to bring some order to it.  I love how this came out and might even tweak the idea to do a quilt for myself.

I hope you're all gearing up for a great summer.  I know I am.  Last year was a total blur of work for the book, so I plan on savoring the juicy details this year.

JT

 

185: spring 2011 quilt market recap part 3

OK so since I might be the very last person to finish posting about Quilt Market, I give you permission to skip ahead to the giveaway...

But if you're looking for more eye candy, enjoy!

Jillily Studio served actual cones of sorbet! How cute is that booth?

I couldn't get over this puppy embroidery by Penguin and Fish.

Tula Pink's new Prince Charming.

I'm loving Summersault by Erin McMorris...

Wrenly by Valorie Wells.

Michelle and Gina at Cloud 9.

Lots of Kokka fun.

Joel Dewberry chatting on the phone in his booth.  Heirloom and the new patterns by his wife might be my favorite things from market.

Moda land was like a country fair.

Sweetwater.

Fig Tree and Co.

I think this is my fav picture from market. This vignette is from the Basic Grey booth, so is the picture below.

Zen Chic had a very distinctive modern aesthetic and won a booth award.

I love this new dress pattern by Sew Serendipity.

Notice the bathrobe in the Indygo Junction booth is made in my Gingko fabric? Sweet!

Quilt Story.

Now for the giveaways:

 

1. A copy of the adorable Moda Bake Shop book, Fresh Fabric Treats, signed by several of the authors, a copy of Fabric Trends, and a mini tote from the Sweet Hot Yams party.

2. A Kona color card, signed copy of Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter, a 1001 peeps notebook and bookmark, and a pack of charm squares.

To enter simply leave a comment here by Tues June 14th. I can't think of anything to ask you except I'd love travel destination suggestions.  I've just been toying with where we might want to go in the next few years. I'm open to anywhere in the world, family vacation or just me and the hubby. I like to dream about these things for a long time in advance...

JT

184: spring 2011 quilt market recap part 2

Now for the rest of the quilt market recap, I'm going to try to make it brief. I have a ton of pictures but most have been posted everywhere already.  I'm just going to go in the order I took them and let the pix speak for themselves. I'm mostly just showing the booths since I think you guys care more about that than the people. (maybe I'm wrong?)

But as for my actual experience, what a blast!  It is a crazy experience in general with highs and lows and all that, but really this time around I wasn't too stressed.  I didn't have a booth and had some awesomely talented people helped make samples, so mostly I just hung out with fun people who share my passions.  I talked so much I completely lost my voice on saturday night.  It was only my 3rd time there and I did get to meet tons of twitter friends (do you follow me? You should.) etc. that I hadn't the chance to meet in person before.

So without further ado, Spring Quilt Market 2011, Salt Lake City, Utah:

**HINT: Keep scrolling down if you want in on the giveaways...

 

This was Julie's booth that I got to help set up.

  Julie and I in front of her quilt she made out of my new line Kingdom.

Lizzy House in her posh booth.

I loved meeting Sarah Jane and could get over how adorable that family tree panel is. It has blank spots for you to embroider in the names. So sweet.

Violet Craft and her first line, Peacock Lane.

Sandi's Secret Garden is my favorite of her lines so far, and that's saying lots...

Me and Patty.

Only a couple of picture's of Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous booth.

I only took this one photo of Amy Butler's Organic Soul.

Kona solids on display with amazing quilting by Angela.

Riley Blake land won a ribbon.

It had adorable little alcoves for all the lines.

And Lila Tueller brought in a real tree!

This is terrible picture of Monica and Bari J's quilts. Can you believe I didn't get any pix of Bari's beautiful booth? How can that be? Look elsewhere cause it was great.

Izzy and Ivy with ruffles everywhere!

And for a giveaway I've got two prizes of fun stuff I snagged at market:

1. Where Women Create magazine, signed copy of Inspired to Sew by Bari J, and Bari J and Sis Boom buttons.

2. Quilter's Home magazine, sign copy of Cut the Scraps by Joan Ford, cute embroidery kit from the Sweet Hot Yams, and a charm pack of 30s repros.

To enter leave a comment here and tell me if there is a particular trend in quilting fabrics that you enjoy (i.e. solids, certain colors, large scale prints, different substrates, or whatever you think of).  I will draw a winner in one week on Fri June 10th.

Come back soon for one more giveaway.

JT

183: spring 2011 quilt market recap part 1

First up, we do have a winner from the Kingdom giveaway: Janine Mahan. She works with a program called Dress a Girl Around the World that, as the name implies, sews dresses for girls around the world.  Check it out.

I also decided to pick two more names.  I'm sending each one fat quarter from their favorite and a bag of scraps.  Those winners are: Jo of Sparkly Green Knickers (from my Busy Bees online quilting bee!) and HannahJ of Angel Babies, Paint and Cookies.

Congrats ladies!

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So the start of my quilt market recap will just focus on my little section of the Windham booth.  I want to share it and some of the projects that were made for it.  

Isn't it pretty?

This Sweet Pleat bag is by my good friend Becky Cobb.  It's a smallish tote with a wide adjustable strap, magneic closure, and interior pocket.  You might be seeing a pattern for this popping up soon, but for now, check out her etsy shop, Thread and Wire.  She does lovely custom bags, pillows, bibs, aprons and more.

This quilt,titled Kingdom Courtyards, is by John Adams, aka Quilt Dad.  He's also one of the founders of Fat Quarterly.  I believe you will be seeing this in a magazine later this year?

This is the quilt I designed as the the free pattern to go with the line (available this summer). It's titled Prairie Glass Squared.  

Can I tell you how thrilled I am with how this came out? I just totally dig the Mission-style stained glass feel.  And the colors really pop. The gorgeous quilting, by the talented Angela Walters, echoes the fabric and just blows me away.  

You can see it best here on the back. Speaking of which I think I like the back nearly as much as the front. But if you look at the picture closely you'll notice it's a lesson in making sure you use solids from the same bolt. Ugh. But it was last minute and I had no choice...

This is me and Angela in front of the quilt at market. She's as fun as she is talented and I'm thrilled to have met her in person. She did all the quilts for my book, Modern Mix, and just wait til you see them. And keep your eye out because she'll have her own book out on modern machine quilting with Stash next spring!

These guys are fun little pin cushions made from candle holders.

There are a couple of other projects there, like the banners for a babies' rooms, but I hope they'll be appearing in magazines, so I'll leave them be for now.

I'll be back soon with more giveaways and picture from all the other booths at market.

JT

 

182: a Kingdom giveaway

Well, I'm back from quilt market.  What a blast!  I met so many more amazing people in the industry and reconnected with old friends.  I promise to share all the details and lots of photos soon, but I need a few days to catch my breath.

I'm in drastic need of some catch-up time.  I hate apologizing on here, but I feel terrible that I haven't even replied to all the well wishes I got on the book.  I promise I'll get to it soon...

But, meanwhile, I talked so much while I was gone that I lost my voice and when I got home I promptly got sick.  ugh.  If only I could sleep 24 hours straight.

Anyway, Kingdom was well-received at market.  I know it doesn't hit stores until August, but I'm dying to see what you all make with it. 

But, while I get my act together to show you all about market, I'm giving away one of the first fat quarter packs of the whole collection.  Be among the first to own some!

What I'd like you to do is leave a comment here with your favorite print.  You can refer to this post to see them all. I do realize it's annoying to some people to have to jump through hoops for a giveaway, so if you don't want to, fine.  Just leave any old comment. But I am curious about what your favs are...

Contest closes next Wednesday the 25th.

And check back soon. I have a bunch of other stuff from market to giveway, including books etc, so you don't want to miss out.

JT

 

171: not to be remiss...

...but I freaking love Christmas!  I literally haven't touched my computer in three days.  Only happens this time of year.

I do need to post the winner of the Little Girls, Big Style giveaway though.

The winner is Sara B, and she has been contacted.

I did get my own copy and now I just need to get motivated to start sewing.

But for now, back to my blissful Christmas cocoon.  I do have some goodies I made to share with you, so I promise some pictures next time!

JT

170: Little Girls, Big Style blog tour

Hi all.

You're in for a real treat today.  I'm lucky enough to be able to giveaway a copy of Mary Abreu's new book, Little Girls, Big Style.  

 

So, if you haven't heard of it, the premise is this: it has 4 basic patterns (basic bodice, peasant top/dress, skirts, pants) that are all full size pull-outs and you can use them to make endless different designs for your little girl.

Now, while I've read the book (great detailed instructions), I don't actually have my own copy yet.  It's on order.  So I can't show you anything fabulous I've made from it yet.  But I'm sure I will.  For now you can feast your eyes on Mary's lovely photography.

Anyway, I asked Mary a few question that I thought might be of interest to like-minded folks like you.

I love that your book allows the sewist to be their own designer.  When you started sewing for your daughter, I assume you used commercial patterns.  How did you make the transition to developing your own patterns?  

I grew up sewing the same Big Three patterns I think most people use and never really knew there were any other options. When I returned to sewing a few years ago, some online friends who also sewed were incredibly supportive and generous with their advice. They introduced me to European patterns, the Sewing Mamas forum and helped get me on the path to developing my own patterns. Once I had those basic pieces to sew with, I sort of challenged myself to see how many ways I could alter those patterns and change them up, which was infinitely easier than drafting a completely new pattern and going through the process of testing it. The results are what you see in Little Girls, Big Style. And I’m still going back to those patterns and making new hacks!

The photography in the book is just beautiful.  Will you tell us bloggers what kind of camera/lens you use and any secrets you have?

My current camera is a Canon 30D and I go back and forth between using a Canon 50mm/1.4 and a Tamron 28-75mm/2.0 lens. I probably have the Tamron on my camera 90 percent of the time just because it’s so versatile and I get such great shots with it. My biggest secret? Copious amounts of begging and bribery. LOL! Honestly, I’m really fortunate to have some great photographer friends who’ve given me lots of constructive criticism through the years. I try to shoot with natural light whenever I can, keep my shoots short and fun, and use an assistant if at all possible so I can focus on the technical and composition aspects while someone else engages the model (a suggestion made to me by the awesome photographers at C&T) I’m really a hands-on learner, so just picking up my camera and practicing as often as I can really has helped me grow, too.

Finally, lots of crafters (especially bloggers) dream about writing their own book.  How did the whole process go for you?  How did you find a publisher?  Was it difficult to fit the work of writing a book into your life with several children?

As far as the process...it was long and sometimes discouraging. I’m not a “name.” I don’t have a fabric line or patterns, just a small blog, so it wasn’t like publishers were knocking down my door. I had the idea that would become Little Girls, Big Style about 2-1/2 years ago, ran it by a dear friend (Lisa Carroccio) to get her opinion, then started researching publishers and working on submitting my proposal. And was rejected. Twice. In hindsight, I can see that I wasn’t presenting to the right people but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s a little harder to separate that from being turned down. I tend to believe that things happen for a reason, though, and I’m so glad they did because Stash/C&T have been just amazing to work with and I’m so glad to be a part of their roster of authors! 
I’m incredibly fortunate that I come from a journalism background. I started out as a reporter at my hometown paper 20 years ago and working in a deadline-oriented environment really is sort of second nature for me, so the actual writing just...happens. It’s hard to explain. I once described myself as “a writer who sews;” I think that’s pretty apropos. Still, my first job is “mom” and I struggled to balance those obligations with my book deadlines. I was working on the first draft of the book with about two months of summer vacation left and three kids at home. I’d grab an hour here or there when I really would have loved dedicating a solid four hours to writing. My husband and older kids were just a huge help, pitching in with laundry and housework, and I really couldn’t have done it without them. Once school started, I was happy to have those daily three hours of preschool to use towards sewing and writing (or sometimes laundry)! 

If you'd like to win a copy of this book, just leave a comment here by Monday Dec 13 and I will pick a winner randomly that night.  Only one entry per person please!

If you want more chances to win, stop by the other sites on the blog tour.

12/6 Lisa http://thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com
12/7 Susan http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com
12/8 Jessica http://juicy-bits.typepad.com
12/9 Penny http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com
12/10 Daria http://boutiquecafe.com
12/11 Rashida http://iheartlinen.typepad.com
12/12 Kristin http://sewmamasew.com/blog2
12/13 Jona http://jonag.typepad.com
12/14 Kim http://trueup.net 
12/15 Bari http://barij.typepad.com

JT

 

 

157: city quilts blog tour and giveaway

If you didn't notice, the last post was "coming soon" preview.  This is the real deal.

I promise I have some more personal posts coming up to show you what I've been doing this summer, but for now I want to talk about this book, City Quilts by Cherri House.

Truth be told, I rarely actually read quilt books.  They're usually just eye candy for me.  Most often inspiration, and occasionally a pattern I follow.  But I did read City Quilts cover-to-cover and I absolutely enjoyed it.  Cherri has some amazing discussion of color theory and even how she gathered the inspiration for the quilts themselves.

Anyway, you can read the book for yourself, but I was able to ask Cherri a few more questions to get to know her better:

First congratulations on a stunning book.  The quilts and inspirational photos are gorgeous. 

Thank you so much!

I love the use of all solids and I particularly enjoyed your discussions of color theory as it applies to quilts.  So my first question has to do with just that.  You talked about creating a glow within your quilts through value and contrast.  I love how many of your quilts have an unexpected spark of color.  My question is how do you get the balance right so that spark isn't out of place?

Good question, a little challenging to answer though.  Generally, in order to achieve a spark of color that is in balance with the rest of the composition; the colors have to relate to one another in some manner.  Either in the same color family, adjacent on the color wheel, opposites on the color wheel, something that will allow everyone to play together well, but still provide enough interest, and variance to not be flat, but also not overtake the whole piece.  It is a matter of fine tuning.  I have found that you can get away with a lot in terms of color, as long as you have a bridge from color to color. 

 

Next, how long do you typically work on a quilt?  Not when you have a book deadline, but just generally.  Not number of hours, per se, but how long you keep at a project and how much other stuff do you have going in the mean time.

So much depends on the quilt, the fabric, and my passion for a project.  Sometimes I will knock out a quilt in a few days, and others will take well over a year.  Not necessarily working on the quilt, but living with the fabric, before deciding it's fate.  Some fabrics I get, and I know exactly what the end result will be, and off I go without any hesitation.  Other times it is a matter of studying the fabric, and trying to find the perfect pattern, perfect solution, perfect everything.  My quilt queue is quite long though, there are always new projects vying for attention.

And finally, I'll go back to color and ask you a tough one: do you have a favorite color?  Why is it your favorite?

I'm asked this question all the time, and I'm always stumped for an answer. But I know now, I have the definitive answer.  Barbie pink from this 1971 Barbie.  I had this Barbie, and I loved it so much!  Whenever I see this color pink, it fills me with happiness!  This is breaking news, you know; never been revealed kind of stuff...for all those inquiring minds!

Don't forget to stop by the other blogs on the tour for more insight about the book and Cherri.  And for more chances to win.

July 12th - Cheryl Arkison http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/
July 13th - Amy Lobsiger http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/
July 14th - Stefanie Roman http://littleladypatchwork.blogspot.com/
July 15th - Pat Sloan http://patsloan.typepad.com/
July 16th - Spool http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/
July 17th - Allie/Robert Kaufman http://www.swatchandstitch.com/
July 18th - John/Fat Quarterly http://blog.fatquarterly.com/
July 19th - Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/
July 20th - Sarah/Josh Sewer Sewist http://www.sewer-sewist.com/
July 21st - Julie / Jaybird http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/
July 22nd - Vickie Eapen http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/
July 23rd - Jessica Levitt http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/

July 24th - Kim Kight http://www.trueup.net/

The giveaway is for a copy of the book provided by C&T Publishing and also a fat quarter pack of Kona Solids provided by Robert Kauffman.

 

All you have to do is leave a comment here before Thurs July 29th and one of the prizes could be yours.  Maybe you can tell me a quilt or other project that you've used solids in?

JT

156: city quilts

Hi all.

If you've been reading for a while, you know that Juicy Bits is all about me.  I don't often showcase products or even other people's work and I don't have any advertising.  Mostly because there are tons of fantastic round-up-type blogs out there that do it much better than I can, and I just want to stick to my own little corner to the web.

BUT, if I get the chance to share something I love in a personal way AND I get to give you a giveaway, well, I'm in! 

So, I'm lucky enough to be participating in the blog tour for an awesome new book:

 
  
 City Quilts by Cherri House.

I've admired Cherry House Quilts for some time and though I've yet to meet Cherri in person...I know we'll get to it sometime soon.

The schedule for the blog tour is as follows:

July 12th - Cheryl Arkison http://naptimequilter.blogspot.com/
July 13th - Amy Lobsiger http://mrsschmenkmanquilts.wordpress.com/
July 14th - Stefanie Roman http://littleladypatchwork.blogspot.com/
July 15th - Pat Sloan http://patsloan.typepad.com/
July 16th - Spool http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/
July 17th - Allie/Robert Kaufman http://www.swatchandstitch.com/
July 18th - John/Fat Quarterly http://blog.fatquarterly.com/
July 19th - Emily Cier http://carolinapatchworks.com/blog/
July 20th - Sarah/Josh Sewer Sewist http://www.sewer-sewist.com/
July 21st - Julie / Jaybird http://www.jaybirdquilts.com/
July 22nd - Vickie Eapen http://www.spunsugarquilt.com/
July 23rd - Jessica Levitt http://juicy-bits.typepad.com/

July 24th - Kim Kight http://www.trueup.net/

And did I say giveaway?  I did indeed.

One lucky winner at each stop will get a copy of the book and one winner will get a FQ set of Kona Cottons.

So do stop by the blogs and learn more about Cherri and her beautiful book.

JT

149: perched in the soul

Just popping in to mention the promised giveaway.  It's over at True Up.  Mary Beth did an interview with me on the process behind Timber which you can enjoy, or you can skip to the end and enter the giveaway.

Sadly I was away for a few days so you only have till tomorrow to enter, unless I can get her to extend it a bit.

I'm supplying 3 sets of fat quarters, one in each colorway.

And so this post isn't pictureless, here's my favorite quilt from the NJ Quilt Fest I went to a few weeks ago. 

 By Cindy Cooksey.

This is totally one I would buy if I knew how.

JT

143: odds and ends

I almost forgot to have drawing for my little party giveaway.

So without further ado, the winner is:

Kim M. who said:

My son is turning 3 in a couple of weeks and the theme is going to be a contruction party. Thank to you I have some great ideas!

Hopefully it's not too late for your son's party!  I'll pass your email along...

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I did start a flickr group for Timber.  So get sewing folks!  And I want to see...

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Finally I did guest post over at Made by Rae.  Many of you know her for her infamous Buttercup Bag pattern (seen in my Timber fabrics in this post).  She's doing a whole month of "Celebrate the Boy" and I posted some tips on throwing parties for boys.  Stop by and see all the great posts on all things boys.

That's all for today, Folks!

JT

140: I won and so can you

I entered a little party planning contest and won third prize.

Over at Creative Hostess they had a Most Adorable Kids Party of 2009 contest and someone suggested I enter.  Why not?

 

And Theo's birthday came in third place.  

Anywho, The prize I won was an adorable printable birthday set from Parties by Hardie.  Aren't they cute?

  

And, I'm passing it on to you!  All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me what theme you're planning for your next kids' birthday.

I'll pick a winner on Feb 10th at midnight, so enter before then.

And I promise my next two post will be of Aurora's birthday which was way back in September.

JT

108: thirteenth try's a charm

Yup, that's how many times I had to try my little giveaway winner choosing scheme before I got an actual winner.  I wasn't anticipating quite so much work...

A couple of observations:

1.  There seem to be a lot of Jessicas who read my blog.  I know there are a ton of us out there, but at least 3 times a Jessica was chosen but they hadn't entered the giveaway.  I had to double check all the Jessicas who DID enter the giveaway to make sure they weren't the same person.

2.  I think I scared a lot of would-be enterers away with my fancy scheme.  More people de-lurked and said hello in post #103 than entered the giveaway.  And several times a name came up of a regular commenter that I recognized, but they hadn't entered.  :(  I won't mention who it was so you don't feel bad.  And next time, I guess I'll do the giveaway the regular way....

OK so without any further ado...dum dah dah dum....

The grand prize winner is Doris at Threads of Conversation.  Doris has be a loyal reader and commenter for quite some time, so while I wish I could send a quilt to all you nice people, at least I know this one will have a good home.  Doris said: " love it...esp. with the frayed edges!  I would have liked to see you buying the extra big jeans...it paints a great picture!"

The two runners up are:

Tiffany from the giveaway post #107.  Tiffany said: " Great idea for a quilt - I'm gonna look at my goodwill for huge jeans too!  They already think I'm crazy so I'll just add to the mystery :)  How fun!"

and

Karen from the gearing up for giveaway post #103.  Karen said: " found your blog last December when looking for a pattern for felt crowns and found your tutorial.  I made a whole 5th birthday party full of them--8 in all.  I have enjoyed reading your posts ever since!

Thanks!"

So congrats to you three winners.  I'll be emailing you for your snail mail addresses.

Sorry for the picture-less post.  I didn't want to wait to post this and I need to get my act together with more pictures I haven't processed yet.

JT

107: here come the goodies

That's right....finally the giveaway post.

And here's the quilt in all it's glory.

Several people guessed what the pattern would be.  I saw it at this tutorial.  I didn't particularly follow the directions, but used the general idea.  It has no batting and is made from circles of recycled jeans with fabric inset.

Not MY jeans mind you...but someone's.  I didn't want to do very small squares because of time limitations, so I had to go to the thrift store and buy the biggest jeans I could find.  The sales people though I was crazy as I could literally fit in one leg of some of them.  But I didn't want to pull off pockets and such and have them have changes in color.

The instructions recommended zig-zagging the edges but I really wanted the frayed denim edges.  That means this quilt is by no means a study in perfect sewing.  I washed it again after I was finished sewing and had to go back and re-sew the edges that frayed a little too much.  I suspect the new owner may have to do that as well during it's lifetime.  

But I like the rough-around-the-edges look.  It feels like a great picnic blanket.  And I think it will get better with age.  Sorry I can't get it to your for possible 4th of July picnics.  :(

So, "how do I win such a beauty?", you ask.  Well, if you've never before commented on my site, you can't.  Sorry to new readers!  I'm not doing it that way to be elitist, but since it's a whole quilt I wanted it to be somebody who's not just passing through for a giveaway.  Hopefully whoever gets it will really love it and use it.

But don't fret if you are a lurker.  I have consolation prizes.  There are two sets that come with: handmade zippered pouch, three fun, bright fat quarters, six 8 1/2" squares of recycled denim, and a little flower I crocheted (I didn't attach them to the pouches but that certainly might be cute).  I will be givng one of these prizes randomly to someone who leaves a comment on this post and one to someone who has already left a comment on this previous post where I drew out all the lurkers.

My method for the grand prize selection is this: 

1. Randomly pick a number between 1 and 106 (the number of posts before this)

2. Randomly pick a number between 1 and the number of comments on that post (comments left after now won't count)

3. Check to see if that commenter also entered by leaving a comment on THIS post

4. Repeat as necessary to find a winner

So, you have to leave a comment here to win.  I won't be overly picky about what you say.  If you want to be fun, you can send me your favorite cookie recipe.  I'm particularly interested in finding a good shortbread-like sugar cookie recipe for big, thick cutouts.  I bought the most amazing ones for Easter with a slightly lemon frosting that I'm hoping to re-create.  I'll leave the contest open until Tuesday at midnight, just in case some of you are too occupied with the holiday.

AND....if you can be the first to tell me where I can buy PEACH colored raffia, I will make a special prize just for you.  It has to be peach, not coral, or orange, or terra cotta, which I already have.

**** UPDATE: I should have mentioned I'm looking for synthetic raffia!

So good luck to you all.

You should know I appreciate all my readers so much.  When I started this all a year ago I never knew how much fulfillment I would get from sharing with you and getting to know you too.  A whole year....wow.

JT

103: gearing up for a giveaway

This is a just a little peek at what's coming for my 1 year blogiversay in a few weeks.

Well, that's IF I get it done in time.  But I'm trying.  I never really thought I'd giveaway a whole quilt...but, yup, I am.

And I mentioned it before, but if you lurk and you think you're gonna want in, you'd better start leaving me love notes now.  I've devised a little plan on how to pick the winner, and only those who've previously commented on my blog have a shot.

Well, I'm sure I'll make some runner up prizes for those that just find me that post.  I think part of giveaways is supposed to be about getting new readers, but I really want to give the quilt to someone who actually reads my blog...not just someone passing through.  However, it will still be somewhat random, so I won't be playing favorites...

These colors make me all happy and sunshiny, even on a rainy day!

JT

100: distraction addiction

Help.  I can't stop.  Since I got back from Quilt Market, I've taught myself to crochet.  Are there other much more productive things I should be doing?  Absolutely.  But I saw these pillows.  I mean, come on.  The gorgeousness is overwhelming. 

So I felt I simply HAD to learn.  And I love it.  For some reason I really jibe with it, more than knitting.  I think those poor gloves have been abandoned forever.

It's clear that I did start it as an escape.  I need to be doing something, but wasn't ready to face all the "real" work I should be doing.  But, now since it's so darned portable, I may be losing a good chunk of time to this new-to-me craft.  Ah well.

The first pix are just little test patches I practiced.  I was so impressed with the circle.  And then I made a scarf.  It's a very simple pattern from The Happy Hooker book.  I'm disappointed that it's not a little wider and much longer.  I think I may be doing everything a little too tight.  But Aurora already told me she wants it, so I'll make a matching one fore me... And I'm working on getting the flower thing down, so I know you'll see some of those soon.

In other news, did you note that this is 100 posts for me?  Yay!  I know a giveaway is in order, but my blogiversary is only a month away, so I may be waiting for that.  This way I'll be able to make it something really good.  But here's the catch, if you're a regular lurker, you may want to leave a comment soon, because I think I'm going to do some kind of kooky giveaway that rewards those who have left comments in the past.  

Ciao.

JT

24: all is revealed

Ok maybe not ALL, like the secrets of the universe, but the winners anyway.

I drew the names for my giveaway and the lucky winner is:

Jessica at Turkey Cookies

I also decided to do a few runner up gifts...I decided on 3 more winners who will each get 3 fat quarters and 3 "little bits".  3 is a lucky number right?  Those winners are:

Dawn at dhbuscher.com

Heather at The Clarks

Michelle a Love Lives Here

I have to say this was much more fun than I anticipated.  I really enjoyed reading all the entries, and did want to just keep picking more and more names.  You've all been so supportive and in my mind you're all winners!

JT