Archive - May, 2010
Handmade Beginnings
I was so pleased to be asked to be a part of the blog tour for Anna Marie Horner’s new book, Handmade Beginnings.
At first I thought “hmm… I’m not pregnant and I don’t have any babies (yet!)… will this book be of any use to me?” The answer? Yes – absolutely!
First of all, we’re all swamped with baby showers and sometimes there just isn’t time to get a whole quilt made, but you want to bring a personal handmade gift. There are many wonderful options in the book that are certain to be big hits at the next baby shower you head to!
How about some adorable bebe shooooes??
Or a cozy cozy sleeping sack??
And OMG I can’t handle how cute this photo is. Makes me wanna make loads of little pants for babies this instant!!
And then there are patterns in the book that can be made for anyone – not just babies. Check out both of these bags. They would work for any number of things non-baby related!
Overall a great book with loads of modern, interesting and varied choices. Oh and did I mention the photography? It’s so so good. Really – it gives the book a wonderful warm and personal feeling that makes you want to sit down to your sewing machine and dive into one of the many included projects!
Maggie agrees completely.
Do you want a copy? Wiley Publishing were generous to get me an extra for you! Leave a comment here and I’ll pick a winner tomorrow morning.
Also, click on over here if you want to enter to win a sewing machine!
The blog tour is coming to a close soon, but you still have a couple places to check out. Here’s the details of the whole tour:
May 3 : Craft
May 4: Indie Fixx
May 5: Sew Mama Sew
May 6: Pink Chalk Studio
May 10: Wise Craft
May 14: House on Hill Road
May 16: The Purl Bee
May 18: All Buttoned Up
May 19: Alabama Chanin Journal
May 20: Homemade by Jill
May 21: True Up
May 22: Oh, Fransson!
May 23: Prudent Baby
May 24: Sew Liberated
May 25: Handmade by Alissa
May 26: Hazelnuts
May 27: Petite Purls
Quilter’s Home winner
Amber! Hurray! You won the magazine.
Thanks so much to the rest of you for your kind words about it. You’re all so nice!
Guess what’s exciting?
This is!
One of my quilts on the cover of a magazine! Eeek! Needless to say, I’m thrilled.
Quilters Home contacted Latifah and me a while ago about the MQG because they were writing an article on the modern quilting movement.
The article is great – you should grab an issue if you can… and meanwhile, I bought a umm… few copies. Who wants one? Drop me a comment and I’ll send one of you a copy! I’ll pick a winner on Monday.
It’s giveaway central over here on the ol’ blog ( in June I’ll be back to blogging about sewing!! My job will be over AND the book will be turned in) so check back here Tuesday as I’m part of the Handmade Beginnings – Anna Marie Horner’s new book – blog tour.
It’s Sew, Mama, Sew’s Giveaway Day!
And of course I’m joining in!
Who wants a fun fat quarter pack??
Just drop me a little comment and I’ll have the ol’ random number generator pick a winner on Thursday the 20th! I’m happy to ship internationally. Good luck!
And be sure to check out all of the other giveaways here. There are loads of chances to win great stuff!
Happy Monday!
African Fabrics
My older sister lives in Gabon with her husband and three kids. They live a life in which every weekend they are here:
Yeah, rough, right?? My twin sister, Cate, recently went for a three week visit. The country is amazingly beautiful. A good portion of it is a natural reserve and so she saw things like this:
Not to mention the jungle goes right up to the ocean so you see animals enjoying the surf.
But on to what we all really care about… fabric! My sisters were kind enough to gather a number of yards for their fabric addicted sister. It’s all so beautiful and inspirational!
Some that I think will have to be whole cloth quilts. I can’t cut into the amazing large scale designs.
Some home dec. weight:
Some great repeats:
And check out the selvedges:
I have done a bit of reading on how to lock inks in fabric but if any of you have any tips I’m all ears! Definitely going to be going against my usual no prewashing laziness with these. I want them to last and the colors to hold so please do comment if you’ve got suggestions!
Travels…
Been out of town for my job. First to Seattle and then to New York City. I took advantage and met some bloggy friends! It’s so great to put a face and a person’s energy with the emails you’ve exchanged!
First, in Seattle I met Katie. Along with her friend Noelle, we had a lovely dinner and drinks. Such a great time. Here we are at Pikes Place Market late at night when no one was around.
Then in NYC I met Amy and Victoria for some delicious Indian food and great conversation.
And lastly, I finally met Kristen! You might think since we’re writing Block Party together we’d have met before, but nope! I attempted a couple of photos on my phone but discovered that the combination of nighttime light, wine and my camera phone were too much to overcome. The pictures are too lousy to post!
It was great fun all around. Everyone in this online quilting community is just so nice!
I sew on a Janome Horizon Memory Craft 7700 QCP.
MY BOOKS:
