happy flower quilts book tour! and a giveaway

/

Hi there! It's finally my stop on the Happy Flower Quilts book blog hop! I've been waiting patiently for my turn! (Ok, maybe not quite so patiently. The truth is that I worked right up until the last minute on my project, fueled by the limited edition Peeps Oreo cookies. They have yummy hot pink marshmallow-flavored filling.) You might have already seen a few sneak peeks of my project that I shared on Instagram (I'm @greydogwoodstudio.)

So let's talk about the book. I've known about the elusive, legendary Happy Flower Quilts book by the great Atsuko Matsuyama for several years. Some of us have referred to it as "the pink book."  I wanted that book so badly, but it was only available in Japanese print. But now everything is coming up roses because there's a brand new English version! 

The new English translation is published by Zakka Workshop. My friend Kristyne Czepuryk of Pretty By Hand is one of the English editors.  Now at last we can sew up those cute designs! So when Zakka Workshop contacted me and asked if I'd like to help promote the book, of course I was as excited as a daffodil on a March morning. (I am positive that daffodils, tulips and crocuses are excited to pop up through the ground. If only they could read this book!) 

Now that you know the history of the book, let me show you my project!

My Lovely Vines pillow is an interpretation of the Lovely Vines quilt. The quilt is by far my favorite project in the book. It features five columns of leafy vines alternated with postage stamp columns. I'd love to make the whole quilt some day. To make my pillow, I purchased a fat quarter bundle of the latest Antique Flower Pastel fabric by Lecien for the leaves. How pretty is this fabric?! I used one of my favorite light green prints for the stem - it's High Tea by Jera Brandvig for Lecien.

My leaves were made by tracing the applique shape onto freezer paper. Then I applied starch to the edges with a small paintbrush and pressed them to the paper with a hot, dry iron. It's my favorite way to prep applique shapes because I'm able to get nice clean edges with no distortion. And for my stems, I used a Clover bias tape maker, although the book illustrates an easy method that doesn't require any gizmos. I hand appliqued the shapes using Kimono silk thread in Zen Zen 375 and a number 11 straw needle (I even use these needles to stitch quilt bindings), and then hand quilted around each shape and a grid in the background. You could definitely speed this up by using iron-on fusible web and a zigzag stitch. I like the slower method, and it gave me LOTS of time to catch up on some older The Splendid Table podcasts.

The book has quite an assortment of projects that can be completed in a short amount of time. There are 30 patterns for quilts, mini quilts, pouches, pincushions, totes, satchels, placemats, wall hangings. There is piecing, applique, embroidery, 3-D applique and embellishment. And more! The book cover has an amazing sampler quilt. Plus, there are two large tear-out sheets of applique templates to be traced (some of which I might use for other projects. Those birds are too cute!). There is truly something for everybody here.

And now it is giveaway time! Zakka Workshop is generously providing a copy of Happy Flower Quilts at each stop of the book tour. Just leave me a comment letting me know which flower makes you happy and I'll chose a winner on March 1. Contest is open to readers of my blog, and it is also open to my Instagram followers.  And be sure to check out the other stops of the book tour, too - there are some really pretty projects that I've seen!

 

  

 

maggie's first dance - borders, assembly, finish!

/

It's the last month of the Maggie's First Dance quilt along! This month's free pattern from Jacquelynne Steves includes directions for the center assembly and borders. Super easy. Super quick. The grey floral border is Strawberry Biscuit by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics. For the backing, I used one of my favorite mini strawberry prints from Holly Holderman's Lakehouse, and then a pink and grey plaid binding from Pam Kitty Morning (this is proof that Pam Kitty Morning fabrics go with virtually everything!). It was quilted by Kaylene Parry with an overall design called Curly Twirly. (Kaylene is the nicest quilter with high quality edge-to-edge work, fast turnaround time and reasonable prices. See her patterns and pricing on Pinterest here.)

I hope that you've enjoyed the sew along and will soon have a finished quilt of your own. If you haven't started yet, sign up for Jacquelynne Steves' newsletter here.

This month's giveaway is a Clearly Perfect Angles pack courtesy of New Leaf Stitches. Just leave a comment below. The giveaway is open to all US and international readers, and it will close at midnight on November 14.  And as always, make sure that I'm able to reach you if you're the winner! Visit New Leaf Stitches here to check out Kari's notions, patterns and more.

AND A BIT OF HOUSEKEEPING! I'm so sorry to be late to announce the winner of the First Blush giveaway from two weeks ago. The winner is Missy Shay. She'll receive a bundle of First Blush fabric and the coordinating Aurifil thread. Missy likes Snickers and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Good choices, right? (I actually have a hard time choosing a favorite candy. Peeps? Sno-Caps? Junior Mints? Goo Goo clusters? I'm not too picky, but I do have some odd favorites!) Anyway... congratulations to Missy!

maggie's first dance month 4, and a giveaway

/

Hi everybody! It's the first Monday of the month, and y'all know what that means, right? It's time for the next block in the Maggie's First Dance block of the month! It was designed by Jacquelynne Steves, and it's a free pattern. This was the last individual block, and then next month we'll make the five simple connecting blocks. Doesn't it seem like we just started this quilt along yesterday? Once again, this month's block is relatively simple to construct once you've finished up a bunch of half-square-triangles and flying geese. I finally had a chance to fussy cut that cute rabbit print from Elea Lutz's Strawberry Biscuit collection.  

You've probably already signed up to receive your copy of the pattern. But if you haven't, then head on over to Jacquelynne's website and sign up for her newsletter right here. And don't forget to check out this same block as interpreted by the other participating bloggers.

Finally, I have another giveaway for you! One winner will receive an assortment of patterns from Snuggles Quilts, valued at $30. For a chance to win, leave a comment here letting me know what you're working on (for more chances to win, visit Snuggles Quilts and the other participating bloggers). The giveaway will be open until Sunday, September 11 at 11:59pm Central. Make sure that I'm able to reach you if you're the winner! And for my US readers, I hope that you enjoy the Labor Day holiday!

popsicles!

/

Summer = an excess of frozen treats in my house. So a few weeks ago I started to work on this new pattern from Fig Tree Quilts called Popsicles. I like to think of it as a palette cleanser between the larger, ongoing quilt projects. Kinda like a lemon sorbet after the steak, know what I mean?!

I'm working with this luscious stack of Moda Bella Solids in sherbet colors, curated by Fig Tree. I ordered it here, along with a copy of the runner pattern. I think they'd be really cute in prints, too.

But... I don't have much use for a runner on our round farmhouse table. So I decided to keep making more popsicles for a larger quilt. (The runner needs just 11 blocks, but I've made 20 so far.) And now Joanna has designed a larger quilt just brimming with popsicles! I preordered my copy this morning, and I'll keep sewing blocks. The larger quilt pattern is available here. I might need to make that melon slice quilt on the cover, too!

I was thinking about my own personal history with popsicles. I remember going to the corner store with my parents in Florida, just to get an evening popsicle. But the wooden sticks give me tongue shivers! I loved Fudgsicles back then, and mom occasionally made popsicles with a Tupperware mold. Then came the Dove bar craze. My love of popsicles came to a crashing end in the late 1980's when I worked for a small company that couldn't afford to make the weekly payroll, so they'd pay us with... FrozeFruit. Seriously! I vividly remember the company owner cackling that "we can't pay you this week, but have a FrozeFruit." And to this day I refuse to eat FrozeFruit! But I still like those Haagen-Dazs dark chocolate ice cream bars! And I just bought a new ice cream maker last week.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE AURIFIL THREAD GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment on my last blog post (not this one) for a chance to win! (ps - I'm using Aurifil thread, color 2000 on the popsicles)

maggie's first dance block of the month and GIVEAWAY

/

Hi everybody! If you're visiting for the first time, welcome to my blog. Today, I'd like to tell you about a fun new block of the month quilt along! And I'm sure that you know I've already signed up, because I seem to be completely unable to resist a good BOM! (And if you're still with me in a few minutes, I might have a giveaway!)

Let me tell you all about it. First, it's designed by Jacquelynne Steves. I've followed Jacquelynne on Instagram for quite awhile and I've always admired her cheerful quilt designs and watercolor art. She has also designed several fabric collections and is contributing to the Splendid Sampler (I know that many of you are making those blocks!). But I didn't know that she designs a FREE block of the month every year. Do you want to see what we're making?

I love it - four different focus blocks, five setting blocks and a border to showcase a special print. You have three options for the pieced blocks - applique the center, embroider the center, or just leave them plainly pieced. I've chosen to piece my blocks and I'll use a fun retro print for the center of each block. 

The BOM will run for 6 months, and it begins in June. We'll make blocks in June, July, August and September. Then we'll make the alternate blocks in October and put it all together in November.

You can choose any fabrics that you'd like to work with. I've changed my mind about fabrics many times, but I think that I've finally settled on an assortment from three collections. I'll be using Strawberry Biscuit by Elea Lutz, The Shabby Strawberry by Emily Hayes and Calico Days by Lori Holt. Plus a few Riley Blake ginghams for that extra-retro touch. My fabric order just arrived today. And here they are!

The monthly patterns are FREE. All you need to do is visit Jacquelynne at the link here and sign up for her newsletter. She will email the pattern directly to you each month of the quilt along. She even put together a line drawing of the quilt so that you can color it in with your favorite fabrics. How cool is that?! I'm sewing along with other quilt bloggers, and I hope that you'll visit them, too.

It will be fun to see everybody's blocks as we sew together. And there will be monthly giveaways from the quilt along sponsors. Read more about Jacquelynne's quilt design inspiration and her sponsors here. I'll be showing my blocks every month right here on my blog and also on my Instagram page.

And we are kicking this off with a GIVEAWAY! Jacquelynne will be providing two digital quilt patterns shown below to one lucky commenter on my blog. Super cute, right?

All you need to do is leave a comment here. Let me know what crafty project you're working on now or are hoping to start soon. (I'm not picky, so you can tell me anything!) The contest is open to US and international readers and will close at midnight Central time on May 4. I'll chose a winner at random, maybe with the assistance of a cat paw. Just make sure that your email is included in your contact information so I can notify the winner (I'll chose another winner if I can't reach you).

Ok, so don't forget... go here to register for the free BOM patterns, and follow my progress on Instagram here!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!

/

I have a winner for the Greg Jones Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle giveaway, sponsored by Fat Quarter Shop!

The winner is Kaylene Parry. Kaylene wrote:

“I would use Gigi Thimble’s Fresh Cut pattern. I think the tulips would look amazing with this fabulous bundle. I think the colors are screaming Spring to me.”

And I completely agree! I looked up the pattern and it's fabulous. Congratulations, Kaylene. Please email your address to me so that Fat Quarter Shop can ship out your bundle!

Thanks to all of you for playing along. I enjoyed reading your comments and can imagine all your happy projects. A special thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for generously providing the prize. And please be sure to let me know if you make something with this bundle.

I've been busy sewing my butterflies onto their sashing. I'll be back tomorrow with an update for you all!

blogger bundle GIVEAWAY!

/

UPDATE - GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Yes, yes, yes! It's my first GIVEAWAY ever! I'm so proud to introduce you to the Greg Jones Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle for Fat Quarter Shop!

I was excited when Fat Quarter Shop asked me if I'd like to curate a collection of fabric. Actually, that's a huge understatement. I was completely over-the-moon excited! It's the closest that I've gotten to my "gee wouldn't it be fabulous to be a quilt fabric designer" dream. So here it is, my first group of fabrics just for you! 

My goal was to put together a collection that would give you the full Grey Dogwood Studio fabric experience. I try to incorporate dots, plaids, florals, and an occasional novelty print into every quilt project. And in the past year I've been experimenting with white-on-white and colored backgrounds. They really do add a whole new layer of interest to quilts. So of course, we needed some of those fabrics for you.

Here we have three of my favorite Moda Bella Solids in Fuchsia, 30's Yellow and Amelia Green, atop a classic white-on-white dot by Sunrise Studio / Lakehouse. Pure vintage color, just like the quilt that I WISH I would find at the flea market or antique shop.

I added in 11 brand new fabrics from Just Dreamy 2 by Zoe Pearn for Riley Blake, Pam Kitty Morning for Lakehouse Dry Goods and Wildflower Meadow by Melly & Me for Riley Blake.

Ok, so here's my little insider secret that won't be a secret anymore. I chose these fabrics by scouring/stalking the designer's websites, because the fabrics hadn't even been printed yet. And I had to just hope that they'd all work together. When the first blogger bundle arrived from Fat Quarter Shop last week I just couldn't believe how beautiful they are and how well they all play together. I've already started to cut mine up and very soon I'll show you a butterfly quilt that I'm working on.

I hope that you like it as much as I do. I hope that you hop over to Fat Quarter Shop to pick up your Greg Jones Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle. (And don't forget that it's ok to buy yourself a Valentine's Day gift!)

And those lovely people over at Fat Quarter Shop have given me an extra blogger bundle to give away! All you need to do is leave me a comment here (not an email) and let me know what you would make with this bundle. No need to do anything tricky, although, of course, I'd love it if you choose to follow me via Bloglovin' or subscription (links on top right column) or even over on Instagram (I'm greydogwoodstudio). Easy, right? And make sure that your email address is included when you comment so that I can notify the winner. I'll leave the giveaway open until Saturday, January 31 midnight EST. (UPDATE - GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.)