100 Blocks, Vol 5 Winners!

It’s that time! I’m going to get right down to it and draw the winners of the 100 blocks by 100 designers, volume 5 from the *drum roll* 902 commenters!

NINE. HUNDRED. AND. TWO!

Holy Moly!! If that is any indication of how fabulous this issue is, you are not going to want to miss it! From what I understand it is available on news stands now ---so check for it!

Our first winner is Linda (Petey)!

She writes:

Bonnie, you have taken it TO THE TOP! Love, love, love your block and especially the full layout of Talkin'Turkey. Congratulations and thanks.

Congrats Linda!

The second winner is Cate Quilter!

she writes:

Oooh, red is my absolute favorite color!!!! I love love love this block/quilt, I would be honored to own a copy of this magazine, and thanks for the opportunity to win.

The above two ladies will have signed copies sent directly from me upon my return home from New York ----please email me your snail mail addresses so I can get these right out to you!

Our third winner will have a copy sent from the Quiltmaker Magazine offices!

Karrie S, you are the 3rd winner!

Karrie writes:

Thanks for the chance to win! I think it's so cool that you thought to sign it. You are the first that I've seen to do this (and yes, I went to EVERY site so far!) I've been following you on facebook, but I just posted your button on my blog. I figured out how to do that, and I'm putting up my favorites. I love the block, and the quilts are beautiful. Thanks again :) Karrie

Karrie, if you email me your mailing address I’ll get the info to the folks at Quiltmaker so they can get your copy out to you!

Thank you so much everyone, for participating and making this such a fun blog tour!

Tomorrow evening I’ll draw the winners of Pat Sloan’s “Focus on the Center”

And the big news for me is….I’ve got ONE MORE BLOCK to piece to have all of my Nearly Insane blocks done! I only wish I had brought the rest of the sashing fabric with me because I could put the rest of these rows together, but alas --- I didn’t think I’d get this far!

Oh well, there are paper pieced goose blocks to do, and there is always binding….ENDLESS MILES OF BINDING!

PS --- did you know that left-over moo shu pork is not half bad cold? I had left-overs in my little room fridge from last night’s dinner --- and no plates to heat it up in the microwave on. The containers have metal handles – can’t zap those….so I roughed it and ate it cold from the box. LOL! Too busy sewing to want to take time to go out!

iPhone-o-Gram! A little bit Hmong Over!

There is a vendor at the show who is displaying the most amazing Hmong appliqué, and I've gone back both days not only to oohh and ahhh over the beauty of such intricate work, but to watch them pick up a needle and actually demo how it's done.

Such precision.

Such small stitches!

Such patience!

I watched for quite a while as they explained that the fabric is folded into 1/4s and cut with scissors through all layers and everything is reverse appliquéd.

I bought this turtle pincushion as a reminder.

Isn't he great??

I can't get over how fine the detail is. I'm all Hmong Over!!

Antique Quilt Sightings!

I’ve seen some BEAUTIES this trip! And I’ll be on the look out for more – in fact, I have an appointment on Tuesday morning on my way home ---in New Paltz!

You know, it’s amazing the people you meet when you think you are just out there minding your own business and doing your own thing.

Yesterday, after the lecture, Carolynn asked if I’d like to grab a bite of lunch in the school cafeteria ----let’s just say that my healthy choice of chef’s salad was balanced out by my UN-healthy choice of the hugest Black/White cookie EVER! But I needed it ;c)

The day was really beautiful outside, and we spotted an empty bench at a table, and we joined a goup of ladies who were also lunching. Introductions and conversations led to me discovering that one of my new lunch friends was the director of Exhibits, educational and public programs for historic Huguenot Street, a national historic landmark district in New Paltz, NY!

We spent quite a bit of time talking about the fabulous antique quilts in the collection, and she invited me over for a private tour! OOOHHHHH! YOU BETCHA! So I have that to look forward to on Tuesday as I begin my drive home. I hope she will let me do a blog post with photos ----from what she was saying, I’m in for a treat!

I’ve come to realize that I really DO live in a hotbed of antique quilt affordability in NC. The farther north I go, the rarer these beautiful treasures are, and they can get costly. At this point I’m just glad that photos are FREE – and let’s face it --- we certainly can NOT buy them ALL! Where would I put them?! ((That space is being occupied by machines! LOL!)

The simple blue chambray and shirting 9 patch variation in the top photo of this post was $450.00 It was a very nice quilt but not extremely early ---and the trend continued through the antique mall with prices just being….REALLY!? It’s not that I don’t think the quilts are worth that --- of course they are. They are worth far more than that if we really want to talk about time and effort, but just much more than what I am used to in my area.

Just a simple burgundy and white sugar bowl variation. This would be a cool one for setting an alternate block in that wide open space, wouldn’t it?

Double wedding rings are always classic. I loved the mix of fabrics in this one --- not just florals and pretty things, it had plaids and stripes and everythig under the sun. Fabrics are from about 1950.

Speaking of Double Wedding Ring – did you register to win the free Double Wedding Ring package from Inklingo yet? Click to THIS POST to read about it, and click the icon in the post to get you to the right spot! You’ve got a week to register, and it’s a great give-away!

1930’s Flower Garden!

I have lots of questions on how I’m going to finish the edges of my hexie quilt. Here’s one way! Do you see how she filled in the sides of the quilt with half flowers? And then the whole thing is apliqued to a solid blue border….this is one way of preserving that picot edge.

The quilting on this one was really nice ----what’s not to like about blue and white with a bit of yellow? YUMMY!

Here’s another flower garden with a BOUND edge…yes, there is separate binding that goes around each and every side of those outside hexagons! I don’t want to think about how long this took…but this maker did a super job as well. Those hexes are hand quilted 1/4” or so from every seam in every hexagon. WOW!

Can you see that texture? I thought the beige color was interesting ---

Here you can see the binding against the backing fabric --- it does give a nice finish.

As for my hexie quilt? I’ll deal with it when I get there. I have a feeling I’m going to just turn the backing in to meet the edge of the hexagons and blind stitch it closed – it won’t have binding at all….it will just END. That’s a “knife edge” finish. I’ve done it before and it works well. Not every quilt needs a formal binding.

This one was fairly shredded…..hanging on a room divider screen. LOVE the double pinks…and the positivie/negative thing going on. At first I thought it was shoo-fly blocks with sashing, but look again! It’s X blocks in positive/negative set on point! It’s how the corners of the blocks come together that clued me in --- do you see it? What a sweet traditional quilt.

Drunkard’s Path units are so versatile! I love how graphic this is in two fabrics. But you’d have to shoot me before I’d ever make one! I’ve GOT to have more fabrics going into a quilt than just TWO!

A sweet dresden plate in 30’s prints. Love the plate blade border….don’t they look like neck ties? :cD

Simple squares on point…..this is somewhere between 1920 and 1930 --- not a lot of florals, mostly solids and shirting stripes and plaids. Love the coral and purple together! This would be SUCH a great quilt in two colors as well…..SIMPLE and simply awesome!

What’s not to love about classic bow-ties! I love these whenever I see them, but early turn-of-the-century ones with their plaids and stripes and mourning prints and burgundy resists and indigos --- LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Beautiful lone star in wonderful solids!

Isn’t this pattern called something like “Old Grey Goose” or similar? I love how this looks when the blocks are turned – asymmetrical blocks are a favorite for me. But do you see how that one block looks so different from the others? The goose units are turned upside down and the center hour-glass unit is rotated --- was that intentional? Did it mean something to the maker? We will ever know! This one had REALLY GREAT fan quilting ---

What I really loved about this one was the pink plaid backing that was also folded to the front as binding. Just a bit of something unsuspected because the quilt was so black/red on the front! I love backing surprises!

And you know, there is always one thing that does NOT come home with me. I wish this one could have --- but the wiring was SO brittle ---

It says BAMBERGER’S on it!

I was curious enough to do a search on Bambergers --- it was a huge department store in Newark NJ ---eventually bought by Macy’s. This is a “badged” machine --- meaning it was made by another company, but sports the name of Bambergers on it as its “brand”. It’s likely a japanese singer knock-off. It was only $25, but I knew it would take a fortune to rewire it and I"m still waiting for "Joe Cool" to be rewired. ((Yes, I hear my treadle-on friends saying – JUST TREADLE IT and no wiring would be needed!!)) But doesn’t that badge look SO 1950s?!

Am I going to regret not picking this one up for $25? I checked..under that dust and grime she is beautiful and shiny --- oh --- sigh ----

I’m about to head off to the Somer’s Show for my lecture this morning ----a bit more vendors mall shopping ---and tomorrow is a “Jared Takes A Wife” workshop --- and in between it all, I’m getting closer to having those Nearly Insane blocks knocked out!

Happy Sunday, Everyone! I’ve got some drawing to do this evening!

There is still time to register for the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks vol 5 as well by clicking HERE!

I think this is a record --- there are 859 comments as I type this post! WOW!

Tomorrow Eve I’ll be drawing for the winners of Pat Sloan’s “Focus On The Center” book ---if you haven’t registered yet, go leave a comment on that post!

IPhone-o-Gram! Three Little Insanities :-)

Just an update from my little room in Danbury, CT!

The Somers show was wonderful today and there is one more day to go!

But for now I'm relaxing away my evening sewing on Nearly Insane blocks and watching chick flicks on my kindle fire via Netflix!!

Have you had a good Saturday today?? I hope you've found time to stitch, ponder, plan, and be inspired!!

Double Wedding Ring, Inklingo Style!

I got a little email from my friends Linda Franz and Monkey this morning ----I just love how her mind works!

Since we are in Give-Away mode this week with copies of Pat Sloan’s “Focus On The Center” and with Quiltmaker’s “100 blocks, vol 5” why not spice up the excitement even farther with an Inklingo giveaway?

Linda writes:

Hi Bonnie,
There is a giveaway for the Double Wedding Ring Shape Collection and the Double Wedding Ring Design Book on the All About Inklingo blog this week.

Quilters who want to be in the draw must leave a comment by next Saturday.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, including time to sew.

Linda & Monkey

Well goodness! Who wouldn’t want to enter into this drawing as well? Click the image below to be taken to Linda’s site to enter!

If you haven’t entered for either Focus on the Center, or the 100 blocks vol 5 give-away, click the links above…..there is still time!

Good Luck, Everyone!

Yard Sale Saturday!

***NOTE*** All of my books listed below have SOLD OUT! The other bloggers in the linky may still have items for sale so be sure to check them out!

Happy Cinco De Mayo! And welcome to Yard Sale Saturday.

My life has been very much “on-the-go” the past few weeks ((or more)) and I did not find time to pull as much stuff to list as I had hoped.

However, if you are looking for some great quilting books, check below! My shelves are breathing easier since I have adopted well love books out to other people who will use them rather than just store them as I have.

If you are new linking up with us for Yard Sale Saturday, there are a few rules.

These items need to be QUILT RELATED. Patterns, Books, Fabric, Notions, Partial UFOs…whatever you want. This is for gently used –white elephant type items, not new-sell-at-retail-stuff or new crafts you have made to sell.. Understood? Think YARD SALE.

And you MUST have a blog to list items for sale. You can not just link to an etsy store...we want it more personal than that. Etsy is great as a shopping cart, but please link to the blog below. Your own post can direct to Etsy from there.

You must link your blog post back to THIS YARD SALE SATURDAY POST, not just my whole blog --

You write the post on your blog, you come back here and link it up. It is up to you to decide how you are going to interact with your buyers. I’m going to use etsy and paypal. This has worked well for me in the past because I don’t have to answer 50 million emails –and then figure who ordered what first.

Please note that you must put the specific URL from the title of your post in the linky below ---any post that just goes to your whole blog (myblog.blogspot.com) instead of the direct post (myblog.blogspot.com/5/4/2012/myyardsale.html for example) will be removed because I can’t fix it for you. The easiest way to KNOW if you are RIGHT is to check the end of the address you are using.

If it ends in .com you are most likely WRONG. Individual urls end in .html not .com ((I know it is a lot to remember, but once you have it down -- it's easier for everyone after that!))

So lets go!

Log Cabins for Everyone House of White Birches

Hard Cover 166 Pages

Included in this volume are patterns for easy quilts, along with fun-to-stitch but challenging variations for the more experience quilter. From minature wall quilts to larger projects for the home and gift-giving, this comprehensive book has Log Cabin patterns for everyone who loves this classic American design.

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Classic American Patchwork Patterns by Maggie Malone

Hardcover 192 pages 1977

This is a classic book on time loved block designs ---in the old school way of presenting patterns ---- no rotary cutting directions included – just the shapes, ADD SEAM ALLOWANCE! This is still a great book for any traditional quilt lover’s library.

Just the quilt on the cover is such a favorite!

The binding is coming unglued –it’s a 35 year old book, but all the pages are present.

Sale Price: $3.00 Click HERE to purchase.

Little Quilts All Through The House by the Little Quilts girls!

Choose from 18 Little Quilt projects inspired by traditional quilt designs, then construct them in a snap using full-size templates and quick-piecing techniques.

Sale Price $3.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Terry’s Shortcut Quilt Collection by Terry Atkinson

40 pages of quilting in the Terry Atkinson Style!

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Scrap Quilts Using Fast Patch by Anita Hallock 1991

Anita Hallock has devised a system for machine quilting that is efficient enough to satisfy almost any schedule. Her directions are thorough and thoughtful and amply illustrated. There are even instructions for using the book at beginner, journeyman, and mistress levels to avoid wasting time on inappropriate text. The chapter on organizing fabric alone is worth the price of the book. A terrific acquisition for would-be heirloom crafters.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

((I thought this description was a hoot!))

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to order!

Amish Quilt Patterns by Rachel T. Pellman

This reliable favorite is newly revised for greater usefulness! With 100,000 copies already in print, this new edition offers increased clarity of 30 popular and often-requested patterns.

Here are the full-sized patterns themselves, as well as step-by-step instructions, color suggestions, and exact yardage measurements for creating the traditional charm of the Amish masterpieces.

This manual also offers a selection of quilting templates in the actual sizes needed to make a full-size quilt. Detailed drawings and diagrams throughout the book lend accuracy to the whole satisfying process.

Amish Quilt Patterns is a companion to the gallery book, The World of Amish Quilts, which pictures more than 200 quilts, all in the rich color of the original masterpieces.
The patterns and quilting templates offered in Amish Quilt Patterns have been selected from the quilts shown in The World of Amish Quilts. Quiltmakers will find color and piecing inspiration in that volume by seeing what early Amish quiltmakers created with the same patterns.

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Color from the Heart by Gai Perry

Many books on color theory and color in quilts fail to capture the interest of quilters by dwelling on technical explanations of color theory and ignoring the intuitive choice of color.

In contrast, Perry admits gladly that despite her training as a painter and her strong technical background in color theory, she normally chooses colors with the heart, not the intellect. She emphasizes a hands-on approach to working with color by employing a series of lessons to illustrate seven effective and pleasing methods for choosing colors and fabrics for quiltmaking.

In the process of working through each lesson, the reader learns color theory in small doses while making a small, illustrative wall hanging-size quilt. Seven quilts later, the reader knows how to incorporate myriad fabrics into one small quilt; how to pick a quilt color scheme based on decorative objects, photos, or paintings; and how best to use several tints, tones, and shades of each color in a single quilt. A good choice for all quilting collections.

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Lessons From Mama by Terry Atkinson

12 easy to follow lessons will improve and expand your range of quilting techniques. Once you've mastered these new techniques, you'll move on to some fun additional projects

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Borders by Design by Paulette Peters

Learn how to select the perfect border to beautifully frame a quilt and avoid the common pitfalls of border construction with Borders by Design. With an understanding of these basic, easy-to-follow design principles, you will be stitching unique borders in no time!

• Instructions for more than 30 borders are included as a starting point to designing many more

• Learn to apply the three principles of border design: Divide the Side, Use the Unit, and Connect the Corner

• No complicated math involved--plus, learn to quickly adjust the size of any quilt by adding an attractive border or two

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

A Perfect Match by Donna Lynn Thomas

64 pages. Thomas, who has published extensively on quilting, here revises a 1994 edition. Her revision pays close attention to sewing-machine instruction and technique, incorporating diagrams and illustrations. The bulk of the book is detailed instruction, with six project quilts; a few templates and color photos of these quilts are provided. A very good, very basic book; recommended for public libraries.

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Strip, Trip & Shadow Quilts by Marti Michell

Great charts and instructions for easy beginner quilts that look fabulous!

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Borders By The Square by Jodi Barrows

If you are a fan of Jodi Barrows and her Square in a Square rulers and techniques, this book is a must for your library! Sewing a pieced border isn't only for master quilters. Jodi Barrows will show you in Borders By The Square how quilts with intricate and difficult borders are effectively and efficiently completed with this new system.

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Everyday Dresses by Cindy Taylor Oates

Cute easy-to-follow shirt dress pattern in size S to XXL!

I really wanted to make some of these, but you know how best intentions get way-laid!

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Homecoming by Farmyard Creations

Adorable primitive quilt with a block for every season! Would be great in wool or cottons.

Sale price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Even More by Trudie Hughes

Book 3 of Trudie’s Template Free series --- when rotary cutters REALLY made it big!

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Magic Stack N Whack Quilts by Bethany Reynolds

Working with medium- to large-scale prints, quilters can create dynamic pieced blocks without hours of planning and precision cutting. The kaleidoscope effects occur spontaneously, thanks to the ingeniously simple 'Stack-n-Whack'® cutting technique.

By stacking identical repeats of fabric, quilters can efficiently cut the pieces needed for all the blocks. Each block will be unique and unexpected, keeping the quilting experience fresh and exciting! With over 200 how-to illustrations and dozens of color plates. Designs include the classic LeMoyne Star, Hybrid Lilies, Kaleidoscope Pinwheel, Hexagon Star, Diamond Ring, Morning Star, and others, all pieced with construction methods that eliminate set-in seams and ensure quick, successful results.

Sale Price: $5.00 Click HERE to purchase!

Log Cabin with a Twist by Barbara T Kaempfer

Explore new ways to approach the twisted Log Cabin technique through detailed instruction and color illustrations. Design and coloring worksheets are provided for color placement to create beautiful and creative variations on the traditional Log Cabin design.

Sale Price: $10.00 Click HERE to purchase!

I wish you all good luck in your purchasing and selling! I will be in New York for a few more days, my journey home begins on May 8th --- so shipping will occur later in the week.

Clean it out. Clear it out – make room for something NEW!

Late Night Edition --- Free QUILT Kindle book!

It’s one of those evenings. I checked into my hotel here in Danbury CT for the Somers, NY show that starts tomorrow ((YAY! I can hardly wait to see this show, I’ve been waiting at least 2 years!)) and laid down on my bed for “just a few minutes” to “rest my eyes” ----

3 hours later I’m waking up after 8 pm just a bit disoriented and just a whole lot HUNGRY!

What I love about this area of the country is the abundance of really good NY style pizza places! I found one just down the street….right next to….TADA!!!! Trader Joes!

Since I’m here for 4 nights --- can you say HAPPY QUILTER?!

So I’m tucked in --- no sewing going on…..instead I’m trying to dig myself out of over 800 emails in my inbox that have piled up over the past few days ---THANK YOU so much for the comments on “Talkin’ Tiurkey!” I too love that quilt had a great time making it – and it just reinforces my belief that a great quilt for me is one that is NOT all about “The latest greatest newest fabric line” but about the color, the contrast, the variety and the geometric design. It’s where my heart is. I LOVE time honored traditional well known blocks. And I love kicking them up a notch, plain and simple!

While digging through the emails, I came across this one by Nik, informing me of a great book about historic quilts:

From the Author:

From May 3 - 5, 2012, the Kindle eBook of "This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces" will be available for ... FREE. You can read the eBook on a Kindle or Kindle app.
For the UK: http://amzn.to/KqwzMg
For the US: http://amzn.to/IvGRjL
For France:
http://www.amazon.fr/This-Accomplish-Harriet-Powers-ebook/dp/B003BVJFLK
For Germany:
http://www.amazon.de/This-Accomplish-Harriet-Powers-ebook/dp/B003BVJFLK
Feel free to share the appropriate link(s) with your quilting friends. I'm happy more will learn about Mrs. Powers!
Sincerely, Kyra

Product Description

The powerful quilts of Harriet Powers (1837-1910), a former Athens, Georgia slave, continue to capture our imagination today. Her two-known creations, the Bible Quilt and the Pictorial Quilt, have independently survived since stitched more than a century ago. Over the years, thousands of museum visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston have stood transfixed viewing her artwork.

Powers' two quilts are arguably the most well-known and cited coverings in American quilt history. But, until today, no one has told the entire, dramatic story of how these two quilts, one of which initially sold for $5, were coveted, cared for, and cherished for decades in private homes before emerging as priceless, national treasures.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces brings to light new, exciting facts - many never before published: complete exhibition history for both known quilts; proof Harriet Powers was a literate, award-winning quilter, who stitched at least five quilts and promoted her own artwork; profiles of the two nineteenth century women who sought to purchase the Bible Quilt; profiles of the three men who once owned the Pictorial Quilt; unveiling of a young artist who embellished the Pictorial Quilt; and the name of the person who first made the connection in the twentieth century that Harriet Powers stitched both quilts.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces is the most comprehensive resource guide on this influential African American quilter. The book includes nearly 200 bibliographic references, most annotative, including books, exhibition catalogs, newspapers, plays, poetry, interactive map and more. For the first time ever, readers are provided with clues and encouraged to search for Harriet Powers' lost 1882 Lord's Supper Quilt.
This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces is written by Kyra E. Hicks, a quilter whose story quilts have appeared in over forty group exhibitions in places such as the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY, the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the American Folk Art Museum in NY. Hicks is the author of Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook and Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

About the Author

Kyra E. Hicks is a marketing professional and quilter. She was so mesmerized after seeing Eva Ungar Grudin's 1990 exhibition, "Stitching Memories: African-American Story Quilts," that she began to teach herself to create her own quilts. "I found my voice that afternoon in the museum," she remembers. Today, Kyra's quilts have been included in more than forty exhibitions in venues such as the American Craft Museum in New York, the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum in Hartford. She hosts the African American quilting news blog, Black Threads.

It looks to be an amazing book, and I wish I had sent this on sooner but didn’t find it til now, and that is why it is a LATE NIGHT EDITION! It’s my hopes that it is still free for you when you go to click it….it was for me!

Much love from the NY/CT state line!

iPhone-o-Gram!! Heavy Gifts!

I was setting up for my workshop today in Kingston, NY when my phone rang.

The caller, Gae, was saying that she was sorry she couldn't make the class, but did I find the gift her hubby had left at the office??

I hadn't been down there yet---and told her I would check it out. My first thought being---"Millenium fabric????"

Second thought: bigger than a bread box!

Third thought: heavy as a boat anchor!

Holy cow! It IS a boat anchor!!!

Thank you, Gae! I can't wait to get her home and try her out!!