Giveaway winners

Time to wrap up two of my open giveaways.

First up, I owe a lucky reader a selection Luxe in Bloom fabric by Art Gallery Fabrics.  Congratulations to Erica of Happy Fabric who said:

EricaFebruary 5, 2013 at 10:25 AMI love this palette and the quilt pattern is great! I am most looking forward to a Disneyland holiday with my husband and our son & his wife at the end of the month - woot!

Hope you had a great time at the Happiest Place on Earth, Erica!

Next, let's see who won a copy of Martingale's Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe. Congratulations to Charlotte of Quilters, Books and Bindings who said:

charlotteFebruary 11, 2013 at 7:19 PMI would love a copy of that book. I think maybe I would use the Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets in all those amazing colors.

Can't wait to see your Pearl Bracelets version, Charlotte!

Erica and Charlotte, please contact me with your mailing address and I'll be sure your prizes are sent out ASAP.

Remember, my Art Gallery Fabrics Indian Summer giveaway is still open.  Head over to the post and comment to enter!

Indian Summer Mini Quilt & Giveaway

OK, OK ... so I  keep saying that I'll be posting more and then I disappear again.  Sorry for that.  Still trying to figure out how to fit blogging back in to my schedule.  The good news is that a lot of the time I used to spend sewing and blogging has been spent instead focusing on my health!  I completed a 10-mile run this past weekend, which was fantastic.

I was also able to work on my last project for the Art Gallery Fabrics Fat Quarter Gang.  I was lucky enough to get to work with the new Indian Summer line by Sarah Watson for Art Gallery Fabrics, and I fell in love with it.  I decided to make a mini quilt to show off some of the adorable prints and also to share my no-handwork, no-hassle hexagon technique.  You can find the project on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog today.

And to celebrate the release of the project, Art Gallery Fabrics will send one lucky reader their very own bundle of Indian Summer fabrics!  Simply leave a comment on this post letting me know if you've ever sewn a project with hexagons, and what your experience was like.

As with all AGF Fat Quarter Gang giveaways, you must follow Art Gallery Fabrics on your favorite social media platform (Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter). Subscribe to the AGF blog to stay up to date on all things AGF & the Fat Quarter Gang!

If you make an Indian Summer mini quilt, I'd love to see it.  Be sure to add it both to the Quilt Dad is my Homeboy and Art Gallery Fabrics Flickr groups.

Winners of the last two giveaways will be posted later today!

Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe | A book giveaway!

I am so excited that the fantastic book Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe has finally been released!  I have of course known about this project for a while, and it's been a challenge keeping it under wraps for so long.  I was honored to be asked to be part of this book along with some of my oldest and best quilting friends, including Katy (I'm a Ginger Monkey), Monica (Happy Zombie), Jeni (In Color Order), Heather (Olive & Ollie), Lee (Freshly Pieced), Allison (Cluck Cluck Sew), and many, many others.  Seeing everyone contribute such diverse designs united by a love for modern patchwork was such an inspiration, and the bloggers' efforts yielded what I think is one of the best modern quilting books available on the market.

My quilt, A Shift in Perspective, was conceived while pulling together some of my favorite fabrics into a bundle that I knew I wanted to turn into a quilt.  Because I loved the prints and patterns so much, I designed something that would really highlight the combination and bring it to life.  The quilt is a variation of a simple strip quilt with some movement (the shift referred to in the quilt name) for visual interest.  As the quilt came together, it not only showcased the lovely fabric combination but also seemed to represent an abstract interpretation of a tree trunk -- a nice complement to the nature-inspired feel of the prints themselves.

If you haven't already, be sure to check this book out -- the number of patterns you'll surely want to make make it a great value for the price.  Already on my list: Jolene's Tree quilt, Krista's Everything's Coming Up Rainbows quilt, and Jessica's Petal Pod quilt.  Awesome, each and every one.

I'd love to hear what you think of my quilt pattern, and if you happen to make one I'd be thrilled to see it!  Be sure to add it to the Quilt Dad is my Homeboy Flickr group.  In fact, I just saw A Shift in Perspective quilt pop up this week on the Dear Stella fabrics blog, where they sewed one together to show off their new Ravena fabric line.  Pretty cool, huh?

Giveaway time!  Martingale has generously offered a copy of Modern Quilts from the Blogging Universe to a lucky Quilt Dad reader.  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what fabrics you'd use to make A Shift in Perspective.  I'll select a random winner next week.  Good luck!

Lap of Luxe Quilt | An Art Gallery Fabrics Project

I'm excited to be back over on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog today with another free project tutorial.  I had a blast working with AGF's new Luxe in Bloom line, and although I originally intended on making a small project, I couldn't stop myself from making a quilt.

This lap-sized quilt was made using fat quarters of the new Luxe in Bloom line along with some yardage of Art Gallery's Pure Elements solids.  I used two different shades of grey for a bit more of a scrappy feeling, but you could easily unify the solids for a cleaner look.  Made simply from squares and half-square triangles, my Lap of Luxe quilt pattern is perfect for showing off large prints and is easy enough to be considered beginner-friendly.

The Luxe in Bloom collection is great in that it is clearly cohesive and looks great together.  Yet, without a single unifying theme, the prints still seem eclectic enough to look like a more diverse fabric pull.  While the florals and patterns are sophisticated, I still think the size of this quilt would make it perfect for a little girl or baby gift.

Art Gallery Fabrics is generous enough to let one lucky Quilt Dad reader win a bundle of fabrics to make this project.  Interested in getting your hands on some Luxe?  Simply leave a comment on this post and let me know what you're most looking forward to this February.

As with all AGF Fat Quarter Gang giveaways, you must follow Art Gallery Fabrics on your favorite social media platform (Pinterest, Facebook, or Twitter). Subscribe to the AGF blog to stay up to date on all things AGF & the Fat Quarter Gang!

If you make a Lap of Luxe quilt, I'd love to see it.  Be sure to add it both to the Quilt Dad is my Homeboy and Art Gallery Fabrics Flickr groups.

Rock & Romance fabric winner

Thank you all so much for your comments and kind words on my last post.  Y'all really know how to make a guy feel loved!  The warm welcome back was exactly what I needed to start feeling comfortable in this space again.

Thanks also for your patience with this giveaway.  I am so happy to report that the amazing team at Art Gallery Fabrics is still willing to fulfill the prize, despite my delay in selecting  winner.  So, without further ado, the winner of the Rock & Romance fat quarter bundle is Cori from Let's Eat Grandpa (great blog name!) who said:

CoriNovember 2, 2012 at 3:58 PM

I hit both ends of the spectrum -- I spent a lot of time sewing and I did a Tough Mudder. :)

Congrats, Cori ... and congrats also on finishing a Tough Mudder!  Those things are hardcore.  Send me your mailing info and we'll be sure to get your AGF fabrics out to you ASAP.

Re-entry

Our 2012 Christmas card

Hello, friends & readers.  Happy 2013.  It's been a while.

The more observant of you may have noticed that I haven't posted since October 29th.  (Note: and I even left a giveaway open.  What terrible blogging etiquette!)  And the truth is, the longer I've gone without posting, the more intimidated I've become to post again.  So I'm just going to dive right in with a quick update and hopefully make it easier to start posting more regularly again.

The #1 question I've always received on my blog is "how do you do it all?"  Sewing, quilting, blogging, swapping and Fat Quarterly, all on top of a full-time corporate job and raising 3 small children.  In short, it all caught up to me in 2012.

Professionally, the summer and fall brought a whirlwind of activity resulting in a major promotion at work.  Now leading a global team, I've been on the road a lot more than I had been in the past.  If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you've probably followed me along on my trip to Argentina as well as countless trips to Boston, New York, and Atlanta.  In fact, I finished up this post in the Munich airport and am posting it while on the Heathrow Express on my way into London.  You can imagine how all of this travel has impacted my sewing time!

Personally, my family went through a major transition in 2012.  Without going into too much detail, my Christmas card above shows that the face of my family changed over the year.  Everyone's healthy -- don't worry -- but I've spent a lot of time working through this transition and I'm currently adjusting to a new pace, a new schedule, and a new lifestyle.  To be frank, I went for several months without the desire to even walk into my sewing room.  There was just too much on my plate.

So, yeah -- a lot has been going on.  But I've missed this space.  I've missed being creative and making things.  I've missed the community and camaraderie of blogs, Flickr, Twitter, sewing events, and my local quilt guild.  Most of all, I've missed you.  The past few months helped me to realize how many true friends and kindred spirits I've met and been blessed with through this very blog, and it's too much of a valuable treasure to give up.

And now we're all caught up.  I promise my next post will name the winner of the Art Gallery Fabrics giveaway -- quite possibly the longest giveaway ever open in the history of blogging!  I also have some fun new stuff coming up both with Art Gallery and Liberty of London fabrics.  I have about 8 draft posts in my blogger account of things I've made and meant to blog about in 2012, so I'll try my best to catch up on those.  And Portland Quilt Market and the 2013 Fat Quarterly retreat are both on the horizon.

There's much to blog about, but I can't promise that I'll be able to get to all of it as quickly as I might have in the past.  I'm hoping to ease back into things.  If I can post once a week or even 3 times a month for a little bit, I'll consider that a success.  In the meantime, I'll continue to be more active over on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram -- let's face it, they're MUCH easier to handle on a phone!

Thank you all for your patience and support.

xoxo
John

Rock Garden Lounge Pillow | An Art Gallery Fabrics Project

I haven't been making too much lately, but I did take some time to sew together this fantastic lounge pillow recently and I absolutely adore it! It's made from the gorgeous new Rock 'n Romance line by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics, and I made the free project pattern available over on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog today.

I'd love to be able to share some of this amazing new fabric with a lucky reader!  Want to win a fat quarter bundle of Rock 'n Romance?  Simply leave a comment on this post and I'll randomly select a winner later this week.  Since I haven't been around much this summer, I'd love to hear what y'all have been up to.  What's your best memory of this past summer?

Good luck, and keep rockin'!