Blogiversary + Giveaway

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It’s been two years already!! Where did time go?? This year has been a big one for my blog and myself. You may have noticed I stopped posting about topics other than quilting/sewing. This was not a conscious decision. It kind of happened organically, as such, I changed up my blog menu, to reflect more of my active quilting topics.

Some of the big things that have happened in the last year:

Won Designers Choice award for the Threadbias Critters Patch Baby Quilt Design contest.
Participated in my first online bees – Scrapbeelicious and Stash bee.
Started Book Review Tuesdays (which is still happening just a little more sporadically).
Hosting Gypsy Wife Quilt Along and it was the first time I reached out to get sponsors.
My most successful post is the tutorial for the iPad/iPhone stand.
Teaching 4 modern quilting classes at Spoonflower using my Sampler Quilt design. Part 3 of the 4 classes is currently open if you want to attend and in the Raleigh/Durham area.
Participated in Sew Down Nashville and met some of the folks in the blogosphere. Also met Ashley (finally) from Wasn’t Quilt in Day!
Joined the Quilt Design a Day group.
Michael Oakshott, sponsored my “Neighbourhood” quilt and sent me fabric!!
Won the Jungle Ave + Quilt Now Quilt Design contest.
You can check out my finishes for this year here.
Last week, I reached over 100,000 views!! and ~800 followers
Today, I have a featured tutorial on Sew Mama Sew for my new quilt, which is one of my Quilt Design a Day designs. I will be choosing a couple more designs over the next couple of months and sharing them on Sew Mama Sew (if you have a favorite let me know).

A thank you goes out to the top 5 recent commenters to my blog. This is based on a wordpress statistic which does a count of the number of comments made by a person in the last 1000 comments. I will be sending a gift card to these 5 people from Hawthorne Threads. An email has been sent.

In addition to this I want to thank all those who have supported me in my new hobby/obsession, I thought a giveaway would be in order. All you need to do is leave me a comment about a project you are proud of so far this year (include a link so I can take a look. I love seeing everybody’s work). If you are a follower leave a second comment for a second entry. The winner will be announced after 6pm EST this Friday (5th September).

The giveaway includes:

A 1/2 yard bundle of a selection (at least 3-4 yards) of my “Elements” fabric designs from Spoonflower.com.
A Robert Kaufman Kona Color Card from the FQS.
And a box of Alison Glass Aurifil thread kit (small)

Linking up with Lorna for Let’s bee Social (see button on the right).

Around the world blog hop + Winner

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Jo over at Riddle and Whimsy asked me if I would like to do the Around the World Blog hop. Of course, I jumped in. Jo and I have been doing the Gypsy Wife Quilt Pattern together, and she has some great posts for Sunday Stash. Have you seen Jo’s Possum Magic Traveling Quilt group?? It looks like so much fun and you should see the border she added onto Sharon’s center…LOVE IT!! Take a look and get to know her.

I always find it hard to talk about me but at least there are questions to answer, so here goes.

1. What am I working on?

More appropriately, would be what am I not working on ;-). I have about 9 projects on the go at the moment, which is crazy, even for me.

I have a couple of secret projects underway….one is being revealed later today/tomorrow…so stay tuned. I am also part of the Quilt Design a Day group this is one of my favorite activities I am doing (though this week I took a break).

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I would consider myself a modern quilter. I am still finding myself as a quilter though and experimenting, when I can on several different projects, big and small. I do predominantly like designing my own quilts and putting them together. A friend of mine calls me a “Topper”, as I like to finish the tops and then I lose interest.

I like the fact that I can incorporate in the design elements my background of math + science, arts and kiwi (NZ) heritage all in this hobby. I like everything from simple structural designs that play with the negative space, improv. piecing to the abstract.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I started to write and create around the same time. I was looking for folks that had common interests and also looking for a hobby in which I could do to break up the stress from work and also provide me with some me time. I found an answer through my blog and quilting to these. I really do it for myself, though much of what I make I give away.

4. How does my writing/creating process work?

Some days it can be easy, other days not. When I started, I would stress about getting a finish done or what I was going to post today, how many followers I have etc. Over the last few months, I realized that since I am doing this for myself, I am putting me first. I post when I can. I will say that I use this space to share what I am creating and also I hope to share ideas or inspire the people around me (follow me).

Instagram has been fantastic tool I have added….I love the instant feedback, so I have been sharing a lot more there (ml_wilkie) when I have questions or if I need to make decisions over the next step to take. I hate making decisions, so IG has been fantastic to also include.

Who’s up Next

My good friend Daisy @ Ants to Sugar, is up next week. Hopefully, the baby won’t come early – yes she is due this month. She has recently created her first paper piecing pattern, which is a fantastic sailing boat. I love the variety of projects she is working on this year…quilts, pouches, cushions, and aeroplane bags.

Winner of Savor each Stitch

The winner of Savor each Stitch is:
which is Delaine. Congratulations, and I will be emailing you to get your details today.

Stop by tomorrow, as I am celebrating my 2 year blogiversary and I will have another giveaway involving fabric and other goodies!!

Book Review: Savor each stitch

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I am so excited about this book review as I have taken a couple of Carolyn Friedlander’s classes and loved every minute of them. Not only is she such a wonderful person, but she truely inspires me with her projects and fabrics. I had high hopes for her book and after several months of waiting for the book to finally ship, I was not disappointed.

Review

Title: “Savor Each Stitch” – 13 quilts to make with friends
Author: Carolyn Friedlander
Publisher: Lucky Spool Media
ISBN: 978-1-94065-501-7

I found this book a fascinating read which I read cover to cover. While it contains projects, the book is a study on various topics which are covered in the 7 main sections – Line, Contrast, Scale, Color, Emphasis, Volume and Texture.

Each section talks about the idea and concept and really helps you to think about what you are doing and provides guidance that can be applied to your own projects. Each section has a little workshop/exercise that you can try out to help assist in grasping the concept that is being described. One of my favorite things is the study/analysis of the topic continues in the projects. At least 3 examples of how the project could be applied are provided.

The projects are all fabulous. I will make, at some stage, the majority of these projects as either gifts for myself or for others.

You can check out many of the projects in Carolyn’s blog post on the Spring Quilt Market.

I loved this book. It is one of the few sewing/quilting books that I have read vs. flicked through just for the projects. I would recommend it to anyone so it is a 5/5:

Project

Usually, I would attempt the project in the book, however, the project I will show is not from the book. My “Phased Circles” Quilt I had design and created thinking about the concepts in the book. This quilt allowed me to explore multiple aspects: Emphasis (Design), Contrasts, Colors, and use of circles and lines.

Project: Phased Circles (Technique – Machine Piecing and Needle Turn Applique)

Continues to the back with the use of graduating colors.

Give-away

One brand new copy of this book will be given away, all you need to do is leave a comment on “What is your favorite thing to do, to savor each stitch? Is there a project where you have stopped to think about the design or applied color theory or played with texture?”.

There is a second chance to win if you are a follower, just leave a second comment. A winner will be chosen at random this Sunday 31st August at 6pm EST.

A disclaimer, all reviews and opinions of the books reviewed will be mine, unless otherwise stated. Please note, I may not respond to all comments due to volume and bandwidth.

Factotum of Arts

Idea, Design, Create

Blogiversary + Giveaway