Hi everyone: Wouldn't you love to win a quilt kit? Of course you would and Craftsy is giving you that opportunity. You can enter to win one of two quilt kits and the choice is yours.
Which quilt would you love to win? One randomly selected quilter will get to choose their prize, whether it's the starry True Blue Quilt Kit OR the elegant Blue Garden Quilt Kit.
True Blue Quilt Kit Photo Courtesy of Craftsy
Blue Garden Quilt Kit Photo courtesy of Craftsy
The best part: the prize also comes with the coordinated backing for the quilt!
Hi everyone: It's Thanksgiving in Canada, so I hope all my Canadian readers are enjoying a wonderful week-end with their friends and family. Before I indulge in too much turkey and chocolate cake (it's my husband's birthday this week-end too!), I'm excited to announce the winner of the Fall issue of Quilter's Connection magazine.
I hope you had a chance to enter to win this latest issue of Quilter's Connection magazine, featuring my recent pattern, "Fall". Now for the winning entry ....
The winner is Shelly C., who advised that she is working on a quilt for a new granddaughter. After she finishes this quilt, she also has another one to work on for a new grandson. She's definitely going to be busy in the next few weeks!
Congratulations, Shelley, I'll be contacting you for your address so I can send you the magazine.
If you didn't win, you may still be able to find a copy of the latest issue at your local Chapters store. Next time I'll be letting you in on one of my guilty secrets - and no, it's not eating chocolate while I quilt (I guess that one is no longer a secret, is it?!). Enjoy your week-end!
Hi everyone: It's been an exciting fall so far. First, the completion of the basement renodecoration and new studio space - finally! I'm really enjoying my new space and am feeling more inspired. I was in a summer slump, probably due to all the work going on in the house. Now I feel re-energized and have lots of new pattern ideas to work on. Speaking of new patterns, have you seen the latest Quilter's Connection magazine? I hope you enjoyed the cover quilt, because it's mine! It's called "Fall" (so original, I know:) and is a combination of fusible web appliqué and hand embroidery: what I call HEAT (hand embroidery appliqué technique).
I will be publishing more patterns using HEAT as I enjoy the extra detail and texture that hand embroidery gives to my appliqué patterns.
You'll see two versions of the pattern in the magazine. While I don't usually do two samples of a quilt for magazine submission, I wasn't happy with the way the original quilt photographed, so I quickly whipped up another one and was pleased with how it looked - and it's the one they used for the front cover so I guess my decision was a good one.
First sample of Fall
Second Fall sample made with brighter fabrics
If you have a local Chapters store you should be able to find this issue there. I did when I visited my local store last week - and came away with several quilting magazines, of course. Let me know if you find it at your local store.
If you don't have a Chapters store near you, don't fret! I'm giving away a copy of the magazine to one of my readers. To be entered in the giveaway, just leave a comment below telling me what you're currently working on - or would like to be working on :) The draw is open from now until 7:00 pm MST on October 11, 2013. Sorry, this draw is only open to Canadian and U.S. residents. Good luck to everyone!
I was excited to see so many entries in my giveaway to celebrate the Quilting Gallery's fifth birthday. While I'd love to send fabric, appliqués and patterns to all of you, I had to pick only one winner. Thanks to the random number generator, the winner was #21.
Congratulations to Peg who will now be receiving the lovely winter fabrics, die-cut snowflakes and two of Chatterbox Quilts' patterns.
If you didn't win this time, don't worry - I'll be having more giveaways in 2013. You can always order these and other patterns through my store as PDF downloads and will receive them instantly - or close to it.
Now it's time to get back to work on finishing up a few projects for Christmas gifts.
I hope you've finished your shopping, making gifts and baking and are enjoying the holiday season.
Hi everyone: I'm glad you decided to check in with me today as I have exciting news (yes, more exciting news - it never seems to end!). Today I'm helping to celebrate the 5th birthday of the Quilting Gallery by participating in their Blog Hop Party with Giveaways. Yes, that's right, it's their birthday, but I'm hosting a giveaway, along with over a hundred other bloggers. If you don't know about the Quilting Gallery, you must check them out. Michele has a wealth of information on her site, including listings of bloggers all over the world, free tips and tutorials and block exchanges. She also has a weekly themed quilt contest which is always fun to enter - or vote on. I'm so pleased to wish the Quilting Gallery a happy birthday and excited to be a part of this blog party.
If you're new to my blog, let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm the owner and chief designer of Chatterbox Quilts. We publish quilting, hand embroidery and stuffie patterns, which you can find on our site. If I had to describe the style of our patterns, I'd probably say "whimsical and cute" and I'm addicted to fusible web appliqué. I hope you'll check out my website for free patterns and tutorials. If you'd like to see what I'm currently working on and to be advised of upcoming special events (such as this one), please subscribe to my blog.
Detail from Hoot-mon! quilt
Pattern by Chatterbox Quilts
Now, let's get down to the important part - the giveaway. Since it's the holiday season, I've put together a package containing two of my seasonal patterns, Bundle Up and Snowflakes a' Fallin', but that's not all. I'm also including 4 die-cut snowflakes already backed by HeatnBond Lite - all ready for you to create a wintry project. You'll receive 2 large snowflakes and 2 small snowflakes. But I'm not done yet! I've also included 4 fat quarters of sparkly cool fabrics in blue and silver.
Bundle Up, Snowflakes a' Fallin' patterns
with 4 die-cut snowflakes and 4 fat quarters
One lucky winner will receive all of these items. How do you enter to win? I'm glad you asked. To be eligible to win, please "like" Chatterbox Quilts on Facebook and advise me that you have done so in the comments below. If you've previously "liked" us, please just let me know in the comments. For an additional entry, please subscribe to my blog (see the button in the right sidebar). Again, just let me know in the comments below. If you are already a blog follower, just put this in your comment. So, you have two ways to enter the giveaway. Just be sure to indicate how you've entered in the comments below. Oh, and one more important thing - be sure you're not entering a comment as "anonymous". I won't be able to advise you if I don't have your email address.
This giveaway is open from December 10, 2012 until December 15, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. MST (10:00 p.m. EST). I'll be drawing a winner after this time and contacting them on December 16, 2012. This giveaway is open to Canadian and U.S. residents only. Good luck to everyone and happy birthday to the Quilting Gallery!
Welcome to stop #2 on the Book-A-Round tour for Kay Mackenzie's new book, Scrap-Appliqué Playground.To see a complete list of participating bloggers, be sure to visit Kay's website. As each of us are focussing on a different aspect of the book, you'll want to visit each stop.
I'm so excited to have an opportunity to review this latest book from Kay, her third one with Martingale. It's full of great ideas for using up your scraps and the projects are easy enough for a beginner to complete successfully. You'll be pleased to know that Martingale is generously providing a copy of Kay's new book as a giveaway. I'll tell you more about the giveaway a little later in this post.
If you're visiting my blog for the first time, let me introduce myself. I'm Kim Jamieson-Hirst, the principal designer and social director of Chatterbox Quilts in Calgary, AB, Canada. You may wonder about the choice of my company's name: well, I'm from Chatham, ON and love to chat, so Chatterbox Quilts it was!
I've been quilting for about 10 years now and have been designing patterns for the past three and a half years. While I appreciate all quilt patterns (you only have to look at my quilting library to know this!), I tend to gravitate - and design - appliqué projects. I was delighted to discover Kay's appliqué patterns several years ago and appreciated her practical and easy to understand instructions - and I still do. Kay's newest book, Scrap-Appliqué Playground, provides more fun appliqué ideas, as well as helps you use up those scrap fabrics that I know you all have in your stash.
In this book Kay shows you several techniques to use up those small fabric scraps that you've been collecting in the hopes that they can be used in a project some day. Well, now is that day! Kay explains her 3 Scrap-Appliqué methods: shrinking strips, building bits and bobs and crazy patch, which she then uses in the 8 projects included in the book. I decided to try her crazy patch method and create a version of Kay's Crazy Hearts wall hanging. Here's how the process went:
I'm really pleased at how the project turned out and had fun putting all my scraps together to create new fabric to use for my appliqués. Now I just need to add some hanging tabs and quilt it and I'll have a lovely new wall hanging.
I know that you'd like to have your own copy of Scrap-Appliqué Playground, and you'll have a chance to win one, courtesy of Martingale. Here's how you can enter to win your own copy. It's easy! Just leave a comment below with your email address before June 9 at 7:00 p.m. MST letting me know how you organize your fabric scraps. I will be announcing the winner's name in a future blog post. Sorry, but this giveaway is open to Canadian and U.S. addresses only.
Don't forget to check back with Kay at All About Appliqué so you can visit the next stop on the blog tour.
Oh, and if you don't win a copy of Scrap-Appliqué Playground, you can always find it at your local quilt shop or on-line at Amazon. Of course Martingale also sells it on their website (you also receive a FREE ebook when you purchase the "paper" book) and you can purchase an autographed copy from Kay herself.
Best of luck in the giveaway and thanks to Kay and Martingale for providing a copy of Scrap-Appliqué Playground to be won by one of my readers.
Just a quick note to let you know that the winner of the FREE My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software is Pam (comment #3).
Congratulations, Pam! I'll soon be sending this wonderful prize off to you.
For those of you who didn't win, remember that you can still use coupon code STMMMS64292 (copy and paste it to use it)to get a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite version 2 scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value! What a great deal!
Thanks so much to My Memories for providing this software to me as a giveaway to one of my blog readers.
Pam, I know you'll enjoy using this software and I'd love to see what you create with it.
I was recently approached by My Memories to try out their digital scrapbooking software. Now, as you know, I'm a quilter, not a scrapbooker, but digital scrapbooking appealed to me, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I could play with my photos, without having to purchase card stock and embellishments (as if I'd actually have anywhere to store scrapbooking items in addition to my quilting stash!). Not only did My Memories provide me with my own review software, they were generous enough to give me another one for one of my blog readers. Yes, you could win your own copy of My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software! But before we get to the "how to win" part, let's take a look to see what this software can do.
Using My Memories Suite you create digital photo albums. You choose a theme, the desired number of pages and then personalize your album by importing your own photographs. You can leave the pages as they are or change the backgrounds, add embellishments and add text before you put your selected photos in the placeholders. In addition to photos, you can create slideshows, videos and add narration to your album. You can export your finished album as a Quicktime movie, burn it to a DVD or actually print it out (how old school!).
Toil and Trouble kit by Just So Scrappy available at My Memories Photo courtesy of My Memories
I wanted to see how easy it would be to use this digital scrapbooking software, so I decided to make an album of my daughter's recent birthday. I chose a theme, deleted a few of the pages, added text, changed the background slightly and imported my photos. Bang! There was my album. Done and ready to be emailed out to the grandparents. I could've played around a little more with it - changed colours or added embellishments, but I really wanted to see how quickly I could create an album. I found My Memories Suite to be very easy and quick. Here's the album I created.
Word art, embellishments and text added to the photograph
Added embellishments, text and the photograph
A few more flowers and a photo, of course!
One more photo, some text and a couple more flowers and it's done!
Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software provides many options to allow you to personalize your album. If the embellishments and backgrounds included in the program aren't enough (and there are lots of them), you can download more FREE items from the My Memories website. Digital scrapbook pages can also be purchased to use with this software.
The I’m Falling for You Combo Pack from designer Meredith Cardall includes 15 different background papers, 61 page elements,and monogram set of 46 characters (a total of 107 digital embellishments)and,
best of all, it's FREE to download from My Memories
Tell me which one is your favourite in a comment to this post.
See, I told you it was simple!
The contest starts today and will run until September 27 at 8:00 p.m. MST. I'll be announcing the winner on September 28.
Even if you don't win the free software, you can use this code STMMMS64292 (copy and paste it to use it)to get a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite version 2 scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - a $20 value! Just go to My Memories and enter the code when you're checking out.
Good luck to everyone and don't forget to check back on September 28 to see if you're the winner!
Just what you'd like to hear about on a Monday! Talin, who blogs at Talin's Corner, is hosting a giveaway for 3 AccuQuilt GO! dies of your choice. Yes, not only could you win 3 dies, but you get to choose which ones. How could it get any better?
Well, you have three opportunities to win, that's how. So make sure you enter to win your choice of 3 AccuQuilt GO! dies by Sunday, June 19 because that's when the draw ends.
In case you're wondering which dies I would like. Here they are:
AccuQuilt GO! Rob Peter to Pay Paul die Image courtesy of www.accuquilt.com
AccuQuilt GO! Fall Medley die Image courtesy of www.accuquilt.com
AccuQuilt GO! Sleigh & Snowflakes die Image courtesy of www.accuquilt.com
A while back I blogged about my Posh Pets quilt which I completed for a guild challenge. Luckily for me, it will be perfect to enter in the upcoming Pets on Quilts Show that is being hosted by SewCalGal. This is the 2nd annual show and you will want to get started on your entry right now!
If you're worried that you won't have time to create something to enter, relax! The 2011 Pets on Quilts Show won't be starting until August 15th and runs until August 19th, 2011 (my daughter's birthday!). Plenty of time to whip up a pet-themed quilt or take hundreds of photos of your pampered pooch on your prize winning quilt so you can select just the right entry. You can even do up a quilt design in EQ7 if you only have a virtual pet.
But I've save the best part until last: there are prizes! You can check out the sponsors and complete details here.
I hope you'll consider entering this fun contest. I know my Posh Pets will definitely be in the running and who knows, I might even win something.
Hope you've got your own "posh pet" to snuggle with under a cozy quilt.
I hope you had an opportunity to enter to win 3 of my patterns. Welcome to my new followers and thanks for entering to my existing friends.
Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for... time to let the cat out of the bag and announce the winner of 3 Chatterbox Quilts patterns. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!).
The winner is #30, who is Deb. Congratulations! Deb's favourite patterns are Serenity, Hoot-mon and Hootie.
I'll be sending these out to you once I receive your address information.
Look for another blogpost later today to let you know what I've been up to.
Yesterday I told you that I had some exciting news coming up and I've been bursting at the seams to tell you. Now, I finally can! I'm in the Summer issue of Quilter's Connection Magazine, or rather, my quilt, Blossoming is. And, even better, I'm right on the front page. Actually, Blossoming is the front page!
I was so excited when I was given the opportunity to have one of my patterns featured in this great Canadian magazine and absolutely thrilled to see my little wall hanging on the front cover. Wow! Talk about make my day!
If you're a subscriber, you should be receiving your issue soon, barring a strike by Canada Post, of course. You can also pick this up in Chapters and other major booksellers in Canada in early June. If you haven't seen this publication yet, you can find out all about it here.
So...to celebrate my first pattern in a magazine, I'm holding a giveaway. I'm offering 3 of my Chatterbox Quilts patterns to one of my readers (Canadian and U.S. addresses only, please) and you get to pick the patterns that you like the most. This giveaway is open until May Tuesday, May 31, 2011 (my mother's birthday) at 6:00 p.m MST. You'll have four opportunities to enter this giveaway; five opportunities if you are a blogger, as below:
1. Visit my Etsy store (see tab at top of blog page) and let me know which 3 patterns you'd choose if you won and leave a comment below.
2. Become a follower of my blog by entering your email address on the top right side of my blog page and leave a separate comment below indicating this. If you're already a follower, please leave me a separate comment below indicating this.
3. Become a follower of Chatterbox Quilts on Facebook (see blog page sidebar) and leave me a separate comment below indicating this. If you're already a Facebook fan, please leave me a separate comment below indicating this.
4. Become a follower of CB Quilts on Twitter (see blog page sidebar) and leave me a separate comment below indicating this. If you already follow me on Twitter, please leave me a separate comment below indicating this.
5. If you are a blogger and blog about this giveaway, leave me a separate comment below with the link to the blog post to be entered for an additional chance.
You have five opportunities to win, so be sure that you leave a separate comment for each entry so they will all be eligible.
Good luck to everyone and hope you're enjoying a blooming week!
Thanks to everyone who entered in the giveaway for the Quilter's Cookbooks, generously donated by Michele Foster of Quilting Gallery. Thanks, Michele!
If you remember, to enter the giveaway I asked you to leave a comment advising what new project, if any, you had started in 2011. I've included the winners' responses below.
So, without further ado... or waiting... or drawing this out, the 4 giveaway winners are:
Winner of the 2009 Quilter's Cookbook
Teslaca, who said:
"These cookbooks look very nice. I started a new quilting project last week. It's an appliqued quilt - my first! I've done only machine pieced and quilted quilts up to now and want to improve my stitching by hand. It'll probably take me all year!"
Glad to hear that you're trying appliqué - this is my favourite technique. I'll bet that you'll have that project finished quicker than you think!
Winner of the 2009 Quilter's Cookbook
BillieBee, who said:
"I have several BOMs for 2011 I'm trying not to make.....grin. They may get the better of me yet. I have way too many UFOs."
I hear you, BillieBee! I have way too many WIPs, fabric, kits, .... but there's always something around for me to work on.
Winner of the 2010 Quilter's Cookbook
Free indeed, who commented:
"I just finished an eye spy bag and 9 block lotto blocks. I'd like to begin an hex quilt for myself to work on over the year, and I need at least 2 baby boy quilts for March. Lots of stuff in my head, but nothing in my hands yet!"
Sounds like you have lots of projects to keep you busy. Congrats, Shelley, for winning another Chatterbox Quilts' draw!
Winner of the 2010 Quilter's Cookbook
Mary on Lake Pulaski, who advised:
"I just started a new quilt today - using some Glace and the Mon Ami Schnibbles pattern!"
I love the Glace fabric from Moda, well, really all Moda fabrics, but have yet to try one of the Schnibbles patterns, so you'll have to let me know how it goes.
After reading all the comments, I realize that I need to get going on some projects, although probably not new ones. I have enough WIPs to last me through 2011 and beyond! Maybe my goal should be to just try to finish a few :)
Check out the Quilter's Cookbooks, both filled with yummy recipes, quilts and heart-warming stories from quilters around the world. Michele from the Quilting Gallery has professionally compiled these fabulous cookbooks that you can download and have available instantly. Don't you just love instant gratification?
The theme of the 2009 edition of the Cookbook is "Quick and easy recipes, so we can get back to quilting!". It contains 119 recipes and 76 photos of gorgeous quilts. The theme of the 2010 edition is "Holiday Traditions" and you'll find 135 great recipes in addition to 72 beautiful quilt photos.
I loved the recipes and reading the stories behind the quilt photos that were submitted. Interesting reading, photos of quilts and great recipes - it just doesn't get any better than this!
To help celebrate the recent release of the 2010 edition of the Quilter's Cookbook, Michele has generously donated 2 sets of these downloadable books for my blog readers. That's 4 Cookbooks in total (2 of the 2009 edition and 2 of the 2010 edition)! I'm sure you'd love to win one of these great Cookbooks and this is how you can enter to do just that.
Since it's still early in 2011, I won't make this too difficult for you. Just leave a comment at the bottom of this post letting me know if you have started a new 2011 quilt project, and if so, a few details about it (I'm nosey!). The contest is open from now until 8:00 p.m. MST on January 14, 2011.
