Tula Pink Giveaway - and a Tula Quilt Finish!

I've been starting new projects at a ridiculous rate over the last few weeks - so I currently have six projects in various stages of completion that I'm actively working on. This is a bit ridiculous even for me, so I'm thrilled to say I have something that's actually finished to share today :oD. I'm especially excited that this quilt is finally finished. I started making it almost three years ago, when Tula Pink's Birds and Bees collection first came out. And I have a really awesome giveaway at the end for all of you Tula fans!

The pattern is the Colour Block quilt, designed by Tula Pink for her Saltwater collection. It's a really nice pattern to use larger scale prints, and it is one of those really clever and simple patterns to make. I chose kona solids for the background, in colours that would blend well with the prints. This quilt top has been sitting in my to-finish pile for a few years, wanting to be finished. The size (84" x 96") was what made me hesitate to quilt it - so when I was given a frame earlier this year I decided this would be the first quilt to go on the frame.

And the last as it happens, for a few reasons. When I set my machine up on the frame, I realised I only had about 4" of quilting space at any time, which meant my options for quilting were fairly limited. I decided to go for dense organic straight lines, and I adore the texture. The other negative while I was using the frame was the number of thread breakages I had while quilting. I'm pretty sure I was just expecting too much of my machine on the frame, and expecting it to stitch faster than it's capable of. The other thing that might have played a role is the fact that I used a high thread count flat sheet for the backing fabric. Whatever the reason, I haven't used the frame since!

I used a whole bunch of Aurifil 50wt threads to quilt it - many of them are variegated from Tula Pink's first collection for Aurifil. I love how the thread blends in some areas, but contrasts a lot in others (especially on the darker fabrics.) I'm yet to wash this one, but I'm a bit excited to see how it crinkles once it's washed.

I promised a giveaway today, and it's a pretty amazing one! The Fat Quarter Shop have offered a bundle of Tula Pink's latest collection Eden, in the Lotus colourway. I LOVE the colours in this bundle - they're a little different from Tula's usual shades of green and blue.

If you'd like a chance to win this bundle, please just leave me a comment and let me know what you'd make with it (or if you'd just stash it like I would!!) That's it, no hoops! The giveaway is open to everyone, and comments will close next Wednesday 14th October at 8pm AEST.

Please make sure you are NOT A NO REPLY BLOGGER - I have had lots and lots of no reply comments lately, so if I haven't replied to you it means I can't. If you're a no-reply blogger I have no way of contacting you and you will not be eligible to win this bundle :o)

I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

xx Jess

Cotton Couture Giveaway from Polka Dot Tea Fabrics!

I have to admit I have only recently discovered the awesomeness that is Cotton Couture, but they have very quickly become my solids of choice. I have used Cotton Couture in a few quilts lately (the most recent being my Kaleidoscope Star quilt, which I've renamed Galaxy, but also my Giant Chevron quilt I'm making for the FMQ QAL), and I can't say enough good stuff about them. They have the most amazing soft hand, and quilt up beautifully. They give quilts such a luxurious feel to them!

Rainbow Sampler Bundle

Polka Dot Tea stock a huge range of Cotton Couture (they have around 45 different colours in stock), including several to-die-for bundles. I bought their Spring Sampler bundle a few months ago and the colours are just amazing (and my son is continually harassing me to make him a rainbow quilt using them. It is on my to do list.) All the colours they stock are available as yardage, and Danielle and Jeanette are more than happy to set up a custom listing if you want something specific.

Spring Sampler Bundle

I have an amazing giveaway sponsored by Polka Dot Tea to offer you today - this gorgeous roll-up of blue Cotton Couture. Blue is one of my favorite colours - and this collection doesn't disappoint. It ranges from green/blue through blue into blue/violet hues. These photos don't do it justice. 

The roll up includes 18 5" strips of fabric. There are so many things you could do with these - a simple strip quilt, chop it into charm squares, make them into HSTs or HRTs - the possibilities are endless. Mine is destined to become a baby quilt for an upcoming nephew (possibly along the lines of the raindrop quilt I made for the Umbrella Prints challenge). If you're an Aussie, they would also be the perfect starting point for the AQC challenge for next year (which is True Blue).

The giveaway is open to everyone. To enter, just leave me a comment - maybe let me know what you think you'd make with them! For a second entry, sign up to receive the Polka Dot Tea newsletter to keep up to date with what's new in store (there are lots of gorgeous fabrics arriving over the next few weeks!) and leave a second comment letting me know you've signed up. 

This giveaway will close next Monday 15th December at 8pm AEST, and Mr Random will draw the winner. Please make sure to leave your email address if you're a no-reply commenter - if I can't contact you I will redraw. 

Good luck!

xx Jess

A Free Motion QAL and a Giveaway!

After writing my post on FMQ tips yesterday, I started thinking that perhaps it would be fun to run a QAL, with a big focus on the quilting part of making a quilt. And thinking further, my Giant Chevron quilt pattern is a really good candidate - the lap size is perfect for learning how to handle a quilt in your machine, without contending with something too massive. It is a really simple quilt to put together, so we can spend lots of time learning how to quilt a few of my favorite motifs. There is a bit of negative space to play with, but nothing too massive, so it will be a good quilt to try some fun stuff like continuing the chevron design, or creating some ghost shapes, without having so much negative space that it's overwhelming.

I will be lining up some sponsors along the way (stay tuned for more information on that, but there will be a large box of Aurifil up for grabs), and my pattern will be half price from now until the QAL begins, in the middle of July. It will be a fairly relaxed QAL, so you'll have plenty of time to practice your FMQ and quilt each of the stripes in the quilt. I'm planning on doing some video tutorials for the quilting part of the QAL (which is why we won't start for a while.)

Choosing colours for this quilt is fun. A great option would be having a look through Design Seeds, choosing a palette that you like, and then heading over to Playcraft's Palette builder.

I'll be making mine using this Design Seeds palette, with cotton couture fabric from PolkaDotTea fabrics.

If you're going to be doing lots of FMQ, solids are a brilliant way to show off your quilting, and it is much easier to see what you're doing than quilting on print fabric. This pattern is designed for a layer cake, that's a great option too. Keep reading, there is a layer cake giveaway from the Fat Quarter Shop at the end of the post :o)

SCHEDULE:

Tuesday 1st July - Fabric options
Tuesday 15th July - Cutting and Construction
Tuesday 29th July - Basting
Tuesday 5th August - 2nd September, weekly FMQ tutorials
Tuesday 9th September - Quilting the negative space
Tuesday 23rd September - Binding
Tuesday 30th September - Final Linky Party

I'd like to do a linky party as part of each post, so everyone can share their progress.

So what do you think? Will you play along with me?

To whet your appetite, the Fat Quarter Shop is offering up three layer cakes to three winners (winner's choice of layer cake) and I'll add a copy of my pattern for each of the winners as well - so you'll just have to organise the background fabric and you'll be set!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post, maybe letting me know what layer cake you'd choose if you win. For an extra entry, help me spread the word about the QAL - and leave an extra comment letting me know how you shared it (blog, IG, Facebook etc). I'll choose the winners using Mr Random at the end of next week. The giveaway is open to everyone.

xx Jess

Architextures Giveaway from Sew Fresh Fabrics

You might have noticed I'm a wee bit obsessed with Architextures at the moment? It's such an awesome collection - little bits are creeping into pretty much all the projects I'm working on at the moment. So I'm really excited that one of you will have the chance to win this gorgeous bundle, courtesy of Peg at Sew Fresh Fabrics! If you haven't had a chance to check out Peg's new website, please pop over and have a look - loads of great fabric and it's really easy to navigate.

Eight fat quarters of textural goodness - two yards in total!

I'm running this giveaway using Rafflecopter - for some reason (which is far beyond my shockingly bad tech skills) I've lost the numbering on my comments, and I'm way too lazy to count through entries to find the winner ;o).

Please enter using the Rafflecopter widget - which will ask you to leave a comment on this blog post. There are a few optional bonus entries as well :o)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! It is open until next Tuesday 16th April. I will contact the winner by email, and announce the winner on this post.

Goodluck!

xx Jess

Market Maze Quilt Top and a Giveaway!

Just after Christmas last year I started testing a quilt pattern for Alyce (of Blossom Heart Quilts) and she has just released the pattern, so I can finally show you my top and tell you a bit about the pattern. Thankfully I've only had to wait a week or so (I'm not good at waiting, or secrets) ;o)

I honestly loved making this quilt - putting it together is kind of like doing a puzzle. So. Much. Fun. The way Alyce has designed the blocks is seriously brilliant - there aren't many seams to match up and the piecing is really easy as long as you use an accurate 1/4" seam. And pins. Lots of pins.

I used my Denyse Schmidt stash for this one (mostly Flea Market Fancy) - I ended up adding in a few different prints from the ones I originally picked out, just to add a few more warm tones to it. I'm calling mine Market Maze (thanks to Mr 5's immediate reaction of 'Mum, it's like a maze quilt!', quickly followed by 'is it for me? It has my letter all over it!').

There are four size options in the pattern - I made the lap sized version and it finished up at about 62" x 66" so a great size for snuggling under once the weather cools down (or anytime if you're addicted to quilts like my kids!) Even better, it is made using 2.5" strips, so it's the perfect Jelly Roll quilt :o) You could even use a JR for the background!

The pattern is now available in Alyce's Craftsy Store. 

But luckily for you, Alyce is giving away two copies of the pattern to my readers :o) If you'd like to win a copy please leave a comment on this blog post - I'd love to know what fabric you'd use to make it. And because I love you, my followers get a second entry (just leave me a second comment letting me know how you follow me). If you're a no-reply commenter please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win.

I'll pick two random winners next Monday 21st January.

Aurifil Thread Giveaway {Quilting Gallery Blog Hop Party}

To celebrate their 5th Birthday, the Quilting Gallery is hosting a fabulous Blog Hop Party, with a heap of awesome giveaways to enter! If you're visiting for the first time, welcome! I'd love you to have a look around my blog :o)

I am totally thrilled to have a give away sponsored by Aurifil - I have a stack of Aurifil Thread to give away to TEN lucky people!

My regular readers will probably have noticed I love Aurifil thread - and I use it for pretty much all my quilting and piecing - so I'm extremely excited to be able to share the love today. Aurifil Cotton Mako is long-staple Egyptian cotton - strong but fine and I find it leaves virtually no lint in my machine. It comes in a number of thread weights so it's ideal for a huge range of projects.

Although I've not used it, Aurifil also produce Lana Wool thread, a 12wt thread ideal for cross stitch and embroidery, hand and machine applique, even in quilting.

 Some of my recent projects using Aurifil are:

Groove: 

And Emma's Quilt:

So I know you really want to know - what are the prizes? Read on!!

The Grand Prize! 

One Prize Winner will recieve:

1. An Aurifil Cotton Mako Thread Colour Chart

2. An Aurifil Lana Wool Thread Colour Chart

3. A 1000 metre spool of 40wt grey thread, and a sample pack of various colours and thread types.

Second Prize!

FOUR Winners will receive:

1. One of these large thread spools (either Lana Wool or Cotton Mako - randomly selected)

2. An Aurifil Sample pack.

Third Prize

FIVE Winners will receive an Aurifil Sample Pack. 

To enter to win one of these fabulous prizes, please use the Rafflecopter Widget below. The Give away will remain open until 12am 17th December (Australian Eastern Standard time), and winners will be announced on this blog post. Winners will be contacted by email. I am happy to post anywhere in the world.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure you check out the other give aways happening over at the Quilting Gallery - there are sure to be loads of goodies!

Full disclosure - Aurifil sent me this thread to give away on my blog, but the words and thoughts on Aurifil are completely my own. I have been using this thread for the last 12 months or so and I haven't looked back.

I apologise, but due to the massive number of comments I'm not able to respond to each one. I'm enjoying reading them all though!

Sponsored Giveaway: Feather and Stitch!!!

I have been watching my followers slowly (like really, really slowly - you know how they say a watched pot never boils?) creep up towards the magical century so I could announce this... And now it has! Yay!

So, to help me celebrate my (small-but-exciting-for-me) milestone of reaching 100 followers, the lovely ladies at Sew Fresh Fabrics have sponsored a giveaway. On my blog. How cool is that? When I approached them with this idea, they said 'sure, we'd love to for one of our best customers!'. For obvious reasons I have decided not to mention this statement to Mr Elven Garden ;o)

You can find Sew Fresh Fabrics, run by Peg and Becca on etsy. They stock heaps of my favorite designers (think Lizzy House, Thomas Knauer , Lotta Jansdotter, Jenean Morrison and heaps, heaps more). Plus one of the really great things they offer are bundles of Kona solids inspired by different collections. This is so much easier than trying to match colours on a computer monitor (which if you're me ususally ends in total disaster...) Plus they are just really nice, post your fabric really fast and are generally legendary people.

And the giveaway? Hurry up you say? Peg and Becca have most generously offered a Fat Quarter Bundle of Feather and Stitch by Sarah Watts.

Image from Sew Fresh Fabrics on etsy.

Giveaway Rules:

* This giveaway is open internationally.
* One comment per person please! Any extra comments will be deleted by me.
* To enter you must be a follower of my blog (since its a follower milestone celebration giveaway :o) )
* Leave a comment on this blog post, and tell me what you'd make if you win!
Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you if you win. If you're a no-reply blogger and don't leave an email address you will not have a valid entry. Update: I am getting lots of no-reply comments where no email address has been left. Please leave me a way to contact you or you won't have a valid entry!!!
* The winner will be selected my random.com on Tuesday 20th March, 8pm Australian EST (so Monday sometime for most of you!)

UPDATE: Winner announced (comment #15 Jessica)

Finally, thanks so much for following my blog! It's the comments you leave that really keep me doing this, and I am loving making some other quilty friends across the world :)

I'm linking up to Fabric Tuesday (link on sidebar).

Giveaway Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. The random number generated was 32, so the lucky winner is Tina, who said:

I'm a huge fan of 1950s-mid 1960s... the silhouette is so flattering on "asset gifted" ladies!


Congratulations Tina, I will be contacting you by email so you can get on with choosing your patterns!