Veranda Interview at Fat Quarter Shop

Hi everyone,
In the interest of totally shameless self-promotion, I wanted to let you know that I'll be talking about Veranda on Fat Quarter Shop's great blog, The Jolly Jabber, tomorrow.  Fat Quarter Shop was one of the first places to pick up my entire pattern line when it came out and they have such a great blog.  (Also lots of sales through their twitter feed so it is definitely worth following!)  They also kitted Jewels of My Garden, which appeared in Quiltmaker this summer and will be added to my pattern line in the not-so-distant future.

For visitors from The Jolly Jabber, please comment on yesterday's post to enter my Garden Paths and Verand Roll-Up Giveaway.  (I am so enjoying reading all your big fat lies about yourselves incidentally, and that is NO lie!)  Welcome!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Sewing Back-To-School at Sew Sweetness and Garden Paths Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed...
Tomorrow I am guest-blogging at Sew Sweetness, which is hosted by Sara in Chicago.  She has lined up 30 days of fun sewing articles this month.  I'll be talking about buttons and buttonholes - specifically how to use them on the back of pillows.

I "met" Sara this spring.  After noticing that she faithfully commented on many of my blog posts I emailed her asking if she might want to test a pattern for my line.  (Yes, be careful faithful commenters!)  That pattern was Garden Paths, my best seller, so I thought that it was only fitting that I host a Garden Paths giveaway with this post. Not only am I giving away the pattern but I have one Veranda roll-up that I've saved for just this purpose. 

To enter you must be a follower of this blog and leave a comment on this post telling me a big lie about yourself.  (I must give credit to this giveaway idea to the very funny ladies of at Me and My Sister Designs.  They did this a few months ago and I thought it was absolutely brilliant.)  Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you should you win.

I'll start:
At a statuesque 5'10", I am a very relaxed person with absolutely no tendency towards obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Winner will be chosen using the Random Number Generator on Saturday

Make sure to hop on over to Sew Sweetness and say "hi" to Sara because she is having a giveaway on my entire pattern line - one more chance to win something fun!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Under the Veranda

Hi everyone,

I've gotten lots of emails inquiring about my Block of the Month program, Under the Veranda.  It is a set of patterns developed exclusively for shops stocking one or both color stories of Veranda.  I love this sampler becuase it reallly has a modern feel, but uses many traditional techniques.

Because I wanted to do something really special to support local shops, you won't be able to find this set of patterns on my website.  If you are a shop that has ordered Veranda please contact Robert Kaufman to get these patterns in downloadable form.  Online shops can also participate, but we do request that, because these patterns were developed at no charge to the customer, you only distribute them to customers buying Under the Veranda kits. 

Quilters Emporium, a great shop in Houston, Texas, will be offering this as a mail order block of the month program and I'm sure there will be more opportunities popping up all over to participate.  (If you are an shop owner and would like your shop listed on the sidebar of my blog as offering this program please email me and I'd be happy to add you in.) 

I hope you enjoy Under the Veranda!

Amanda

Sew Much Fun! has Veranda in...

One of my absolute favorite local shops, Sew Much Fun!, just got their shipment of Veranda in and they also have my full line of patterns.  So for all you local Charlotte, North Carolina people - you can hop on over and visit Drusilla in Gastonia!  She has a fabulous shop with so much fabric, notions, trims, plus some machines that I have been drooling over for years.  While you are there, our children highly recommend visiting Jen's Sugarliscious Bakery for cupcakes.  We are particular fans of the Coconut Cream and Red Velvet variety.  They are so good that a 10 year old boy will spend and hour in a quilt shop in order to get one.

As an aside, if you any of you out there are sewing my patterns to sew up your fabulous creations would you please post picts on my Flickr site?  The patterns don't have to be made out of just my fabric - I love ALLLLLLLLLLL fabric!  I established this site before the patterns were in distributors hands and keep forgetting to blog about it. 

I'm currently making "Blossoms" out of Christmas fabrics for a friend and will have more to show you soon!

Our thoughts are with all the people on the east coast this weekend.  May you stay safe and may your homes be spared form this terrible storm. 

Thinking of you all,
Amanda

Beautiful Beaufort and beautiful silk...

Last week I spoke with a wonderful bunch of ladies at the Beaufort, South Carolina quilt guild.  While there, the kids, my mom, and I took a walking tour of the picturesque town and, I have to say, I don't think there could have been a more appropriate place to talk about Veranda, because we were surrounded by them.

Beautiful!

While I was gone Robert Kaufman sent me some of their Radiance silk to play with.  It is gorgeous and ironable!  I tried a bunsh of different things with it: Drunkard's Path, fusible applique, needle-turned applique (not so easy!), flying geese, bias tape making, until I finally tried paper-piecing. 

Radiance has a lovely sheen, but it is slippery.  Sewing on top of the paper stabilizes the silk, prevents the seams from being pulled into the machine, and gives a much cleaner result.  (The paper-pieced portion is the long triangles in the lower left.  You can see how much crisper that area is.)

Now I just need to get some more colors (a light aqua would be lovely!) and design a new project!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Giveaway at Sew We Quilt!

I'm sure some of you have heard about the fantastic giveaway going on every day at Sew We Quilt.  Madame Samm has graciously hosted a giveaway every day of the week for THREE WHOLE MONTHS for both Want To Be Quilters (on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and Quilters (on Tuesday and Thursday). 

Today I am guest blogging over at Sew We Quilt showing how to make this...

A lampshade covered with fabric!  No sewing this time, but we all love to accessorize.

The folks at Robert Kaufman have donated 1/2 yard cuts of Veranda for the giveaway so make sure you hop on over today and enter!  There are 2 bundles of 6 yard totals to win!  And Madame Samm has thrown a Colonial basket full of different goodies AND Famore Applique scissors too!  I know...  Just become a follower and leave a comment here and also at Madame Samm's fabulous blog and you will be set to enter.  (If you beat me to it and left a comment on the previous post that is okay - I'm internet-challenged this week and apologize for my lateness.)  And don't forget to check in at Sew We Quilt each day for the next 3 months for more giveaways!

Note:  If you have trouble seeing my follower button on my sidebar try refreshing the screen a couple of times.
Thanks Madame Samm!
Amanda

Topiary Tiles

I'm so excited to report that Veranda is now starting to ship!  For each collection, I design a complimentary pattern.

Introducing Topiary Tiles!  It uses one 10-square, 1 roll-up, plus sashing and border fabric.

It is so fun to explore the ways the different fabrics can work together in each block...

Thanks to my friend Pat Hopkins who sewed the sample.

I hope you enjoy Topiary Tiles.  And if any of you are going to be in the vicinity of Beaufort, SC, I'm excited about speaking about the development of this collection and my pattern line at the Sea Island Quilt Guild this Thursday.

Happy sewing!
Amanda

And can you believe the winner of the Accuquilt Giveaway was...

Number 13?

That is right.  So much for 13 being unlucky.  Congratulations to Kelsey, who wished for two sizes of half-square triangles and hexagons.

I really wish I had one of these machines to give away to everyone. 

Thanks so much for participating!
Amanda

Accuquilt Giveaway!

It is time for the Accuquilt giveaway!  The prize is an Accuquilt GO Baby Fabric Cutter, with three dies of your choice!  To participate, become a follower of my blog, if you aren't already.  Then leave a comment on this post (just one) telling me which three dies you would choose to go with your machine should you be lucky enough to win.  The deadline to enter is this Sunday, August 7th, at midnight.  I'll choose a winner using the random number generator on Monday.

Remember to leave me a way to contact you should you win!

Good luck and happy sewing!

Amanda

Another giveaway!

Good morning everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that there is another giveaway going on this week - this time at Love Affair With My Brother (and my Janome, and my Bernina, and my Singer).  Make sure to visit for a chance to win!  Hope you have a great week!

Make sure to stop back later in the week.  I feel an Accuquilt giveaway coming on!

Amanda