Quick Christmas Giveaway

Thanks to all for commenting on my 100 Blocks Giveaway. My winner has been contacted by email. I'll let you know once I hear back:)

I did get the chance to finish adding some more holly and joining my la-la's together.

Just in the nick of time too! My husband's dad is coming for a quick family Christmas - today!

What's a quilter to do with an unfinished quilt top?

 Make it do, of course! I used some red bias binding from Granny's stash {probably intended for placemats decades ago} and some clips.  I weaved the bias through the clips and over and under a curtain rod and it's up!

It's a little wavy, but I tried to put lots of clips so it wouldn't stress my seams too much. This is where I intend to hang the quilt when it's done, too. I am adding a bit more border, but it fits great!

This is the nook of space in my house I think about when I plan wall hangings - I love this spot:)

Quick Giveaway to Get you Ready for Christmas

Leave me a comment to win one of my patterns.

Click the link to see them.

Just tell me which one would help

you get ready for Christmas

and I'll send you the pdf copy of it.

If downloading patterns isn't in your comfort zone,

tell me that in your comment too. 

I am thinking about offering hard copies {real paper mailed to you!} soon.

You have this weekend to enter. 

Comments close when my in-laws leave 

Sunday at NOON EST.

Pumpkin Pie - baked.

Chocolate Zucchini cake - baked.

Quilts hung - check!

I'm ready - my husband can figure out dinner:)

Let Christmas and the Giveaway begin:)

EDITED TO ADD: My company has left and Sharon is my winner! I've emailed her. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

With JOY,

Sarah Vee

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100 Blocks Guest Post - Kay Mackenzie

Greetings friends of Sarah Vee! I'm Kay Mackenzie, a quilter and designer in Santa Cruz, California. Sarah and I both have blocks in Volume 4 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. Not only that, we've discovered that they're right next to each other on the cover! How fun is that?

Sarah told me that she's doing a series on sashing options for joining blocks together, and asked me if I would like to do one on appliqué blocks. I thought I would show two simple ideas that lend a little bit more interest than just setting blocks together plain.

Lots of classic appliqué quilts have no sashing and are simply stunning. If you'd like to add just a little touch to the setting, here are a couple of things I've done.

In the sampler quilt "Shall I Pour?" from my book, Teapots to Appliqué, I used floating squares.

The sashing strips are the same fabric as the background squares, and the cornerstones are squares of the print fabrics used for the teapots. This design puts little touches of harmonious color in and amongst the blocks without overwhelming them.

In "A Little More Tea" from Teapots 2 to Appliqué, I used the "sew and flip" method, also called "snowball corners," to add scrappy triangles to the corners of each block.

When the blocks are sewn together, the triangles form quarter-square diamonds of unmatched prints, creating a mosaic or picassiette effect. Again, a way to add interest without taking away from the appliqué in the blocks themselves.

I hope these simple ideas help spark your thoughts about settings!

Cheers,
Kay

By Kay Mackenzie
http://www.kaymackenzie.com  Books, patterns, & etc. for the quilter
http://www.allaboutapplique.net  Appliqué blog
Author • Inspired by Tradition: 50 Appliqué Blocks in 5 Sizes • That Patchwork Place
Author • Scrap-Appliqué Playground • coming April 2012 from That Patchwork Place

Sarah here - Thanks so much, Kay, for your great applique setting ideas. Make sure you check out Kay's blog today as she is featuring her 100 Quiltmaker block today - which means another chance to win a copy of the magazine!



This is the last day of the tour so you might also want to check the Quilty Pleasures blog to make sure you hit all the designers' blogs before the end of the giveaways.

And you still have time for my 100 Block giveaway if you leave a comment here before midnight tonight.


With Joy,
Sarah Vee

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100 Blocks Giveaway Day - Jolly Holly Fun!

Welcome to Giveaway Day! I am really happy to be included in this issue of 100 Blocks. I may have even squealed when I saw that my block made it to the cover!

Jolly Holly - block 362

I wanted to do an applique block with a pieced backing.  I thought the buttons were a fun way to add berries without having to applique too many circles! Of course, I had to add the buttons to my submission, but you wouldn't add the buttons until after your quilt was done. Right?!

I also wanted my block to be fun for the quilter who is still shy about doing applique. 

I finally found a happy home for this City Girl Holiday fabric by Kitty Yoshida. I fussy cut the middle to feature the beautiful poinsettias and framed them in gold. I'm planning to make a few of the Christmas blocks in this issue with more of this fabric to create a little sampler for me.

When I was designing this block in April there was no snow or mistletoe around to inspire me. When it came time to put something together for this blog tour, the Fall weather made it a little easier for me to find inspiration. 

Do you enjoy hearing the familiar Christmas carols when you're out shopping? Maybe you would like a visual reminder of a favourite. . .

 It's not quite finished yet, but you get the idea! I think it's a really fun idea to Deck my Hall with this wallhanging:)

And - you can get the letter templates NOW!

You can purchase the templates for my letters and make your own Jolly Holly quilt:)
You will need the magazine for the block pattern and the holly template.
You can sign up for my newsletter in the sidebar where I'll let you know when my pattern is done.

Giveaway Time!

Leave me a comment telling me your favourite type of quilt block to make - pieced, applique, mixed? to win a copy of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Vol. 4.

My giveaway will be open until midnight EST Fri. Nov. 11th.
I use the Random Generator to pick a winner.

Please make sure you leave an email address in your comment if you are a *no reply blogger*.

Good luck to all!
I hope you are enjoying the blog tour. Be sure to check in at Quilty Pleasures for tour stops each day and extra giveaways.

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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Tomorrow is My Quiltmaker Giveaway Day

Tomorrow is my day on the Quiltmaker's 100 block blog tour.

Be sure to come back for a chance to win a copy of the magazine. 

I also found out while perusing the Quilty Pleasures Blog that they are giving away mugs!

You know the mugs.

THE MUGS!

{This is mine from last time around.}

Only on the giveaways on their blog.

Go ahead. You will feel like a designer too:)

And while you're in  designing mode, I'm going to keep chatting about sashing next week.

This week has gotten away from me! 

And I really want to show you something new tomorrow:)

With Joy,

Sarah Vee

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My New Orange Joy

 This weekend we went for a speedy quick visit to my folks.

My dad had these treasures for me!

 I love reading old patterns almost as much as making quilts.

 Notice the sashing advice in this one - Color Could Be Use Here!

 Speaking of Colour - check out my fabulous new ORANGE Desk!
It's pretty tricky to take photos of an orange desk:)

 The orange is not quite as 70's orange as this project in one of the little booklets though. That's definitely 1978 orange.

 We found this lovely in the Value Village second hand store.

I actually had to convince myself to go back and get it. Yes. I did.

$12 orange desk = SEW JOY!

The silly grin is still around a day later!

I think it will make writing posts and patterns a little more joyful:)

With Orange Joy,

Sarah Vee

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