Yorkshire Park Blog Tour

Note: The Quilters Newsletter magazine and fat quarter bundle winner is Audrey and the winner of my patterns is Karen of Karen-Quilts etc. Both liked Mini-Garden Paths!  Thanks to everyone who commented!

Hi everyone!  Today is the first day of the Quilters Newsletter's Best Fat Quarter Quilts 2014 blog tour.  Don't you love fat quarter quilts?  They are so fun and easy to choose fabric for!  Quilters Newletter has giveaways scheduled for the entire week (and mine is at the end of this post) so keep your eyes peeled!

My quilt for this issue is Yorkshire Park.  The original was made in Topiary.

But I've been playing around with it tonight and I like it in Modern Lace, my new collection for Blend Fabrics, as well (plus a little green from Topiary for the leaves).  What do you think?

Or maybe with a navy background, but with light blue leaves?

We'll have two winners for the giveaway, ok?  The first will win a copy of the magazine and a fat quarter bundle of Silvia’s Sonnet by Silvia Vassileva from P&B Textiles, courtesy of Quilters Newsletter.  The second will win a copy of three of my newest patterns: Mini Blossoms, Mini Garden Paths, and Chantilly.  To, enter, let me know which one is your favorite of these patterns )(shown below) by commenting on this post sometime today (Monday, November 9th).  You can enter until midnight Mountain Time.

Make sure to visit Quilters Newsletter throughout the week for fun prizes!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

My new Craftsy class goes live on the 17th! (And they are doing a giveaway!)

Hi there,
I'm SOOOO excited because my new Craftsy class is going live this Tuesday, the 17th!

This time I'll be teaching fusible machine appliqué and we'll cover lot of different techniques!  I'll show you more Tuesday, but in the meantime Craftsy is offering a giveaway of the class to celebrate the launch.    To enter, all you have to do is visit this link and either create a Craftsy account or just login to your existing Craftsy account.  They will choose a winner on Tuesday.

Have a wonderful weekend and happy sewing!
Amanda

Garden Spot - in Quiltmaker! (plus 2 giveaways)

Note:  This giveaway is now closed.  Carrie P. is the winner.  Congratulations, Carrie!

Today I'll be talking over on Quiltmaker's blog, Quilty Pleasures, about a quilt I designed for their July/August 2014 issue using my Topiary line for Blend Fabrics called "Garden Spot".

It is really fun to make and a great way to try a couple of different appliqué techniques!

To celebrate, we are doing a joint giveaway on my blog and theirs of a fat quarter bundle of Topiary, plus two of my recent patterns from that line - Love Birds and Forever.

To enter, leave a comment here telling me something you are looking forward to doing this summer.  For a second chance to win, be sure to visit Quilty Pleasures.  Deadline to enter in both places is end of day Saturday, June 14th.

Happy quilting!
Amanda

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 9

Announcement:  The winner of the fat quarter bundle and magazine over here is Amy DeCesare and the winner over on my instagram account is crazyquiltlena.  Congratulations, ladies!  Send me your snail mail addresses and I'll get them out to you.  Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments - you've given me so many ideas!

It is Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks time again and today is my day blog about my block and have a giveaway!

Can you guess the inspiration for my block?  It kind of knocks you over the head, doesn't it? It is my fabric line, "Topiary" for Blend Fabrics, which, in turn, is inspired by the gardens of the South. (I'd show you a picture of my garden, but I have whatever is opposite of a green thumb, so that's no fun...)

I wanted to do a  simple-to-sew appliqué block so I chose one of the trees I drew for this line and enlarged it quite a bit, then added borders and corners so that it would create a diamond pattern when joined with its neighbors.

So... onto the giveaway.  Quiltmaker is giving a copy of the magazine to one of you and I'm throwing in a fat quarter bundle of Topiary!  To enter, leave me a comment letting me know what colors you'd most like to see in a quilt collection for a boy.  (I know this is off-topic considering the style of the fabric in this block... but I'm curious.)  And I'll also be picking an additional winner from my instagram followers so if you don't follow me there already please consider it.  (My user name over there is amandamurphydesign.)  The deadline to enter is this Friday, May 2nd, at midnight.

They have lots of other great prizes over on the Quiltmaker blog so make sure to stop by!  (Including a grand prize at the end of the week that has both my books, as well as all sorts of other goodies!)

Happy sewing.

Window Boxes

This winner of this giveaway, according to the random number generator, is PK Sews!  Congratulations!

Window Boxes is a fun, modern design that I pieced this summer for Quilters Newsletter Best Modern Quilts Issue.  I'm so excited to be able to share it with you here today as part of the last day their blog tour, for which they have generously sponsored a giveaway of both a magazine and a Jolie fat quarter bundle by Anna Griffin!

Some of the larger wonky windows sport just a bit of appliqué!

Window Boxes is sewn in a combination of my "Bella" and "Bonjour, Mon Ami" lines for Blend Fabrics.  I used Aurifil thread for the piecing and appliqué and Warm and White batting.  My good friend Cherry Guidry of Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio, quilted the fun floral pattern.

"Jolie" fat quarter bundle by Anna Griffin

To enter the giveaway of a copy of the magazine and the Jolie fat quarter bundle simply leave a comment telling me about a quilting project you are currently enjoying or are excited about starting.  Deadline is tonight (Friday the 17th of January) at midnight.  One entry per person please.

And be sure to stop by Quilters Newsletter and another designer on the tour, Janet Jo Smith (a little bird told me it was her birthday today so be sure to wish her "happy birthday"), for more chances to win prizes!


Happy quilting and have a great weekend!
Amanda

P.S.  Please join me on Instagram at "amandamurphydesign"!

Craftsy giveaways: two winners and one more try!

The winners (according to the Random Number Generator) of my Elegant Embroidered Quilts class on my blog is Gene Black and on Instagram is By Anjeanette.  Congratulations!  Please send me your snail mail addresses and I will send you a bit of Jessica Swift's Sardinia for Blend Fabrics and Anna Griffin's Chinoiserie.

Anna Griffin's Chinoiserie

Jessica Swift's Sardinia for Blend Fabrics

I cut all the extra yardage into three pieces so I still have one more set to give away.  This is the perfect time to announce another giveaway - this time for my second Craftsy class that will launch Wednesday of next week.  I can't say what it is quite yet, but I'll be back then to share more.  Since Craftsy is letting me do a pre-promotion giveaway here is what you do to enter...

Head on over to Craftsy using this link and either sign in to your account or create an account.  You have to use the link in order to enter because, when you do, you will be entered to win a free class when it launches next week.  Craftsy will choose the winner using the random number generator and will send them a link to the class when it launches.  If the winner is in the U.S. I will send out some Chinoiserie and Sardinia to them too!  Sound good?  That is all you need to do to enter.  There are some excellent classes over on Craftsy - I've really enjoyed The Couture Dress,  and Homestyle Pan Sauces, and Clean and Simple Cake Design recently.  (I'm a better quilter than cake decorator or cook - but I love watching EVERYTHING over there and, after all, one does have to eat to have energy to sew!)  And for those looking for free motion quilting tips, I've really enjoyed the machine quilting classes taught by Angela Walters, Leah Day, and Ann Petersen.

Deadline is this Sunday night (the 10th) at midnight.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend and happy sewing!
Amanda

Elegant Embroidered Quilts launching soon and a giveaway!

I'm SO excited because the class that I filmed for Craftsy this summer is launching in just a few days!  (Ironically it is launching the same day I start filming another Craftsy class but more on that later...)  I can finally share some sneak peeks of what I worked on this summer...

Elegant Embroidered Quilts (link coming Wednesday) was designed for intermediate sewers who want to learn to incorporate machine embroidery into their quilting and create projects that are completely unique to them.  The patterns for 3 quilts, 3 smaller projects, and 5 original embroidery motifs are all included in the class.

Sneak Peek #1 (in Anna Griffin's Chinoiserie line on white Kona cotton!)

Sneak Peek #2

Sneak Peek #3 (Just ignore the lady in this picture and look at the quilt... in Jessica Swift's Sardinia line for Blend Fabrics and Kona cotton!)

Sneak Peek #4 (in my Bonjour, Mon Ami line for Blend Fabrics... I wish you could see the undulating border on this one!)

Which "sneak peek" do you like best?  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner randomly on Wednesday and they will get a free class!  I can't wait to show you more.

Happy sewing AND embroidering!

Amanda

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7

Today it is time to share my block on the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Tour!  (Check out their blog too because there are more giveaways there, in addition to the one below.)

Here is a sneak peek of  my block, "Lollipop, Lollipop!"  I pieced it in Bella right after receiving yardage this past fall from Blend Fabrics.

Lollipop, Lollipop in Bella

But now I think it might be fun to sew up a block in Holiday Bouquet...

Lollipop, Lollipop in Holiday Bouquet

Or maybe Bonjour, Mon Ami?

Lollipop, Lollipop in Bonjour, Mon Ami

Quiltmaker's 100 blocks Volume 7 will be on newsstands on May 7th, and Quiltmaker is allowing me to giveaway an issue!  I'm also going to throw in a beautiful fat quarter bundle of Michael Miller Red and Aqua fabrics. I used these fabrics in a quilt in Modern Holiday called Crossroads that recently put in an appearance at Quilt Con with C&T Publishing.  I've been cutting up and assembling bundles for giveaways at my two Schoolhouses at market and I have an extra!

(If you are at Market I'll be doing an 11:35 Schoolhouse on Thursday with C&T Publishing to talk about Modern Holiday and another at 3:10 for Brewer Sewing to talk about Modern Quilting.  Please come visit!)

To enter leave a comment telling me which of the above versions of  "Lollipop, Lollipop" you like best.  One entry per person please and make sure to leave me a way to contact you should you win.  The deadline will be this Sunday the 5th at midnight.  Note: This giveaway is now closed.

Happy sewing!
Amanda

Head on over the Quilter's Newsletter for a fun giveaway

Remember this?

Quilter's Newsletter is doing a fun giveaway to promote their fat quarter issue.  Every day this week they are doing a different giveaway so make sure to visit!

Happy sewing!
Amanda

The Bernina 780 - Improvisational Photo Album Cover

Note:  The winner of the previous post is Heather K.  There is another giveaway at the bottom of this post.  

Next up in the 780 countdown?  A photo album using improvisational piecing, free motion quilting with the aid of Bernina's Stitch Regulator, couching, and CutWork flower embellishment, this time on a smaller scale.  I used motifs from Bernina's Stitch 'N Bloom collection for the embroidery.  This is a great way to try out new collections!  Keep a stack of designs ready and you will be ready for your next improvisational project...

I'm not a great quilter, but I find I do much better on a smaller scale.   It is less intimidating for me to experiment in small areas.  The Stitch Regulator makes it much easier!

When I was piecing the center I also added some couching using Bernina foot #21 and decorative thread.

These CutWork flowers were so fun to make!  It was really easy to draw them out (either by hand or in a graphics application) and convert them to CutWork in DesignWorks.

Quilting - it is fun to divide up areas and do a different pattern in each.
It is easy to see this from the back.

Want to learn more about the process?  Watch the video.

I had a few CutWork flowers leftover, so let's do another giveaway.  How might you use CutWork to embellish something you are working on?  Please leave a comment.  Deadline is this Sunday the 23rd at midnight.

Happy sewing!
Amanda

The Bernina 780 - Fizz Pillow

Note:  The winner of the previous giveaway was Carol Ann, who said, I made Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag for my niece out of The Lorax fabric, it was so darn cute! I love your table runner!

Next up in my Bernina 780 projects is my Fizz pillow with CrystalWork accents.  It is a modification of my Fizz quilt pattern and features my "Seaglass" color story from my Bella collection for Blend Fabrics.

I had SO much fun with this project!  The crystals really brought the finished piece to a whole new level!  And they were so fun and simple to apply.  I just made a few templates using the DesignWorks software and CrystalWork tool and reused them again and again to add sparkle to the bubbles!

Like on all Berninas, the buttonhole feature is so easy to use and sews beautiful buttonholes every time!

Want to see more?  Hop on over to Youtube and check out the Fizz video!

And I think we should have a giveaway for this too, don't you?  This time I'll give away a copy of my Fizz pattern this time, along with three fat quarters of Bella.  To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling me about a project in which you might use CrystalWorks for added bling!  Again, one entry per person and I'd love for you to become a follower if you aren't one already, but it isn't a requirement.  Deadline to enter will be this Thursday (the 20th) at midnight.

I have some other big news tonight.  I'll be back soon!

Happy sewing!
Amanda