And the winners are...

Beth at Seasons of Home, who said:
I love polka dots and can rarely pass up using them in any quilt. Thanks!

Yes, Beth, from the photo below, you can see that I agree, one can NEVER have too many dots.

Dresdens in progress

AND Jenny, who said:
I really like simple prints...modern whimsy circles are fabulous and mono pezzy prints are top on my list right now.


This giveaway will be perfect for you, Jenny!

Thanks to everyone who entered.  You all have such great taste - wonderful dream fabrics!  Have a lovely weekend!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

A Modern Whimsy (and Bejeweled) giveaway

When I began Bejeweled I wanted to use a bright, playful collection that would stand out nicely against the white background.  I was lucky enough to get my hands on some advance yardage of Modern Whimsy, by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman.  And guess what?  Robert Kaufman cut ten-squares of Modern Whimsy for both Laurie and me so we are hosting giveaways together!  And we are both also including Bejeweled patterns.  These ten-squares include one piece of each print, so they won't be enough to complete the larger version of the quilt, but you will be well on your way.  (I also going to split up my remaining yardage that I used to make the quilt among the winners here.)  Should be fun!

To enter here, tell me something about your "dream fabric".  It can be something that is currently on the market, or that you have seen in the past, or something you just imagine.  Maybe it sports a particular motif, maybe it is a certain color or scale.  (For instance, I'm always on the lookout for good greens.  One can never have enough.  I'm also always looking for good light modern prints.)  Please become a follower to enter if you aren't already.  Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you should you win.  That's it!

Then hop on over to Laurie's blog, the Scarlet Fig, to enter there too.  (There will be two winners here and two there.)  Her post should be up tomorrow.  The deadline for both giveaways is the 26th.

Good luck and happy sewing!
Amanda

Bejeweled...

Have you ever searched for that perfect project for car trips?  Or carpools lines or waits at doctors' offices?  And wouldn't be great if it was also a project that made great use of scraps?

This is Bejeweled and, at 72" x 102", she is all those things.  (Fabrics are from Modern Whimsy, by Laurie Wishburn for Robert Kaufman.)  I really designed her to be a great-looking bed quilt, but you can easily change her size by adding more columns. 

As you can see, she features lots and lots and lots of yo-yos.  I highly recommend a Clover Yo-yo Maker to make these yo-yos, but you more coordinated souls out there can also just cut out circles of fabric and make them traditionally.  The yo-yos can be made from yardage, charm packs, or scraps.  And you attach them to the columns before the quilt is assembled, so even that step is easy to pack up and take on the go.  (Here is my secret, this step takes less than 4 minutes per yo-yo and is faster than the actual yo-yo making that my-dear-daughter-who-I-love-and -appreciate-very-much accomplished.) 

The pieced columns of this quilt are made from either a 10" square (layer cake) or 2-1/2" roll-up, so it is a really versatile pattern.  Ohhhh - if you had collections of coordinating scraps from your favorite designer's collections this would be great.

My mouth waters when I look at Deborah Norris' quilting.  I could not accomplish it, but don't need to because I know someone who can. 

Since you are quilters I will show you the back...

Even better, directions are included for a lap-sized quilt using pieced strips cut from a charm pack.  Here is one made from a Kona Brights charm pack with yo-yos and borders in Kona Ash.

Bejeweled will start shipping to shops and distributors late next week, but in the meantime here is what you need for the bed-sized version of this quilt:

• Striped Columns - 29 (10”) squares or 29 (2-1/2” x WOF) strips
• Background - 4 yards (Kona® 1387 White)
• Yo-yos - 3 yards total from an assortment of fabrics (Kona® 1188 Kiwi, 1089 Corn Yellow, 1009 Azure)
• Border - 1-1/4 yard
• Binding - 3/4 yard for straight grain binding or 1-1/8 yard for bias binding
• Backing - 6-1/2 yards
• Clover Quick Large Yo-yo Maker (#8701) optional

 And for the lap-sized version you'll need:

• Striped Columns - 42 (5”) squares (Kona® Bright charm pack)
• Background - 1-1/2 yards (Kona® Ultra White)
• Yo-yos - 1-1/2 yards (Kona® 1007 Ash)
• Border - 3/4 yard (Kona® 1007 Ash)
• Binding - 3/4 yard (Kona® 1007 Ash)
• Backing - 4 yards (Kona® 1007 Ash)
• Clover Quick Large Yo-yo Maker (#8701)

Happy sewing (and yo-yoing)!
Amanda