My Signature Sampler Week #8

My Signature Sampler Week #8

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Block number 8 means, two rows completed! This week's block is Weathervane from the Community Sampler sew along I co-hosted with Maureen Cracknell earlier this year. Coincidentally, it was also the week 8 block for that sampler, too!

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The My Signature Sampler is based off block instructions from the Sewcial Bee Sampler (SBS), Community Sampler (CS), AGF Quilt Block Collection (AGF), and the blocks from the Quilter's Planner 2018 magazine (QP). If you have different favorite blocks and would rather include them in your quilt, please feel free to make this sampler with your own signature-style. 

If you're just joining in on the fun, take a look at my first post for this sew along and pick up the quilt layout and color book page to start planning your sampler!

If you need extra help with your patchwork or would like to learn how to control the direction of your prints in half-square triangle units and other piecing techniques, visit my Tutorials page for lots of great tutorials all in one place. Also, when making any Sewcial Bee or Community Sampler blocks you can access the original blog posts for each block and find additional tips and tutorials for piecing. If needed, just use the search bar at the top of the this page on the right and simply type in the block name.

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Here's a look at all four of my row 2 blocks before adding the setting triangles. Blocks for my sampler are pieced with fabrics from my Signature fabric collection from Art Gallery Fabrics. For stock lists of online shops that carry my Signature and other AGF collections, visit my Fabrics page or the Where to Buy page on the Art Gallery Fabrics site.

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I've already been adding my setting triangles to my finished blocks as I make them. I'm using a combination of my Perennial print from Printemps Fusions and Untamed Beauty Daybreak from Signature as the background setting of my quilt. Don't forget our blocks will be set on-point so if you have a fussy cut center, cut it on-point for best results. Note: I don't recommend cutting any other pieces of the blocks (other than a center square on-point for fussy cutting) because it will create bias edges along the outside of the block and increase chances of distortion. Keep any bias edges in the center of the block.

The setting triangles are made by cutting a 9-1/2'' square on the diagonal to make two setting triangles. Be mindful of print direction, if applicable. See Community Sampler Week #13 for block setting instructions. 

If you're interested in adding a chevron border to your sampler quilt, take a look at the week #6 blog post for this sew along and pick up the border supplement PDF. I'll review the border option closer to the end of this sew along but just in case you wanted to sew or plan ahead, you have the information now.

GIVEAWAY

Every Friday when I reveal a new block to My Signature Sampler, I'll also be posting the weekly giveaway. This sew along is being sponsored by the most amazing companies and have generously donated incredible prizes to share with you. 

OUR SPONSORS

THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY SPONSOR IS: Hobbs Batting

batting_hobbs_bonded_fibers_20160627164921.png

Hobbs Quilt Batting has manufactured high-quality batting for hobbyist, commercial, art and show quilters since 1978. They're proud to come from a family of quilters and are committed to providing the same quality Hobbs batting that provide to their own family of quilters. At Hobbs Batting, they never forget that quilts are gifts from the heart - an expression of love, commitment and caring for a specific recipient - or an expression of artistry and skill- artistry and that's submitted and judged in quilt shows and events around the word - or both! At Hobbs they're committed to doing their part to enhance our #JoyofQuilting!

Hobbsbatting.com  *  Blog  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  

Hobbs Batting is offering a lucky winner both here and on Instagram throw-size battings of six of their fabulous Tuscany brand battings. I personally love the quality of Hobbs batting, especially Hobbs line of Tuscany battings that includes Silk Blend, Wool, Premium Polyester, Cotton Wool Blend, and Bleached and Unbleached Cottons that add a soft, luxurious feel to any quilt! 

Hobbs Giveaway.jpg

Giveaway now closed. Congratulations to Diane Beavers!

Note: This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (First comment entry).

2. Follow Hobbs Batting on any of their social media platforms (see links above). Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. My followers get a third entry! If you follow me via subscribing to my posts, on Pinterest, and/or Instagram, just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-third entry).

4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Spread the word about the My Signature Sampler sew along on YOUR Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest by pinning any of my pretty images in this post, etc... (separate comment-fourth entry). 

That’s FOUR possible entries! Enter now through Monday, August 13th! The winner will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

*Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram by posting images of your sampler inspiration, sampler fabric pull, or blocks. Use the official #mysignaturesampler hashtag every time you post your My Signature Sampler makes (to a public account) and you're automatically entered into the weekly IG drawings as well! See my Instagram giveaway posts @sharonhollanddesigns for full details. 

Happy sewing!

Sharon

Endless Summer

Endless Summer

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It's such an honor to be part of Mathew Boudreaux aka Mister Domestic's blog tour! Mathew launched his first fabric collection, Loved to Pieces for Art Gallery Fabrics this spring and I couldn't be happier for him!

Mathew's a power house of positive energy and brilliant sewing ideas. He's lovable and personable and you can't help but have a smile after watching his engaging You Tube videos!

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Here's the amazing line up of designers for his tour:

Mister Domestic’s Loved to Pieces Blog Party

Monday July 16: Amanda Woodruff of A Crafty Fox

Tuesday July 17: Sharon Holland of Sharon Holland Designs

Wednesday July 18: Angela Wolf of Angela Wolf Pattern Collection

Thursday July 19: Brittany Jones of Brittany Jones

Friday July 20: Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts

Saturday July 21: Elina Temmes of Elina Temmes

Monday July 23: Meghan Buchanan of Then Came June

Tuesday July 24: Nicole Daksiewicz of Modern Handcraft

Wednesday July 25: Cristy Stuhldreher of I Love You Sew

Thursday July 26: Kate Basti of Quilt with Kate

Friday July 27: Courtney Davis posting at Melly Sews

Sunday July 29: Mimi Goodwin of Mimi G Style

Monday July 30: Kim Niedzwiecki of Go Go Kim

Tuesday July 31: Tara Curtis of Wefty Needle

Wednesday August 1: Saija Kiiskinen of Saija Kiiskinen

Thursday August 2: Jodi Godfrey of Tales of Cloth

Sunday August 5: Brett Lewis of Natural Born Quilter

Monday August 6: Karen Tripp of The DIY Addict

Tuesday August 7: Tracy Martin of Tracy Bug Creative

Wednesday August 8: Sharon Burgess of Lilabelle Lane Creations

Thursday August 9: Maureen Cracknell of Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Friday August 10: Kylie Gersekowski of Little Moo Designs

 

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With the wind of his daughter Helena’s love at his back, Matthew created Loved To Pieces. Helena's love for flowers and Mathew's love for paper piecing fused into a world where florals and EPP geometrics play against an array of blue tones with touches of vibrant pinks and subtle greens.

To signify the eternal love that's woven into every fiber of this collection I chose to make my Endless Summer table runner that I designed and first published in July/August 2013 Quilt-it...today magazine. 

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This runner is made from half-square triangles and quarter-square triangles and the overall effect is as if it's been woven and a nod to Mathew's amazing woven fabrics sewing projects. There's a lot of pieces but once you make the units you're ready to put the runner together so it actually goes together pretty quickly. If you need extra help with HST and QST triangles, take a look at my tutorial for them HERE.

To share the love, this is now a free pattern for you to download from my Free Patterns page

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I adore using a striped print for binding, don't you? To get the maximum effect, it's best to cut a striped binding on the bias. For a tutorial on how to cut and attach regular and bias binding, see my How to Bind a Quilt tutorial.

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I really love the colors in Mathew's collection and these cool greens and aqua's are scrumptious and made me feel like I was in a Mediterranean getaway! You better believe I ate those props after the photoshoot!

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I didn't have enough left over of the striped print to cover the back so I added my Woodblock Splendid print for AGF to each end, giving this runner a second look if flipped over.

The machine quilting is kept very simple because I didn't want to take anything away from the pretty prints. I followed the overall shape of the radiating rings which was plenty of quilting to use on the Hobbs Tuscany Silk Batting that's the perfect thickness for a table runner. 

Endless Summer table 1.jpg

Be sure to follow along on the blog tour and on Mathew's blog and @MisterDomestic Instagram as he'll be having weekly drawings for Loved to Pieces fat quarter bundles and loads of sewing inspiration. 

Happy sewing,

Sharon

My Signature Sampler Week #4

My Signature Sampler Week #4

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Wow, the first four blocks of this sew along have gone together super fast! I'm seeing so many beautiful blocks being posted to Instagram I always have the desire to remake one's just like the blocks posted--they're so pretty! To see what the other MSS makers are posting, look at the #MySignatureSampler hashtag on Instagram.

Since this event is built off past sew alongs I've co-hosted with Maureen Cracknell with the addition of other published block resources you can and are encouraged to work at a pace that feels right for you. Each week when I make a Friday post, I'll provide links to the various blocks I put into my sampler along with any variations to the original block instructions. 

My Signature Sampler Rolls.jpg

Block instructions from the Sewcial Bee Sampler (SBS), Community Sampler (CS), AGF Quilt Block Collection (AGF), and the blocks from the Quilter's Planner magazine (QP) will be used in this sampler. If you have your favorite blocks and would rather sew different blocks than me, please feel free to make this sampler your own. 

If you're just joining in on the fun, take a look at my first post for this sew along and pick up the quilt layout and color book page to start planning your sampler!

Remember, you can always refer back to the Sewcial Bee Sampler and Community Sampler blog post tutorials the accompanied each past sew along block by using the search bar at the top of this blog. There you will get additional information on how to piece each block or technique. 

If you need extra help with your patchwork or would like to learn how to control the direction of your prints in half-square triangle units and other piecing techniques, visit my Tutorials page for lots of great tutorials all in one place. Don't forget our blocks will be set on-point so if you have a fussy cut center, cut it on-point for best results. Note: I don't recommend cutting any other pieces of the blocks other than a center square on-point because it will create bias edges along the outside of the block and increase chances of distortion. Keep any bias edges in the center of the block.

Signature Week 4.jpg

This week's block pattern comes from the Community Sampler sew along and is called Square-dance. Find the PDF pattern for this block on the Sew Along page of this blog. 

I've used prints from my Signature fabric collection from Art Gallery Fabrics. For stock lists of online shops that carry my Signature and other AGF collections, visit my Fabrics page or the Where to Buy page on the Art Gallery Fabrics site.

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This block makes me think of a sunflower and I just had to include it in my flowery garden sampler quilt because every year my husband grows sunflowers. This year the plants came up as volunteers from last year's flower heads. This was the best I could do to photograph the flowers because they are at least 9 feet tall! The bees and butterflies have sure been enjoying them and later the seeds will be eaten by the birds and probably chipmunks and squirrels, too.

My Signature Sampler Week 4.jpg

To help me to remember to remind you that these blocks will be set on-point AND to get ahead on things I've decided to start adding my setting triangles to my finished blocks. I'm using a combination of my Perennial print from Printemps Fusions and Untamed Beauty Daybreak from Signature as the background setting of my quilt. 

The setting triangles are made by cutting a 9-1/2'' square on the diagonal to make two setting triangles. Be mindful of print direction, if applicable. See Community Sampler Week #13 for block setting instructions. 

SPONSORS

GIVEAWAY

Every Friday when I reveal a new block to My Signature Sampler, I'll also be posting the weekly giveaway. This sew along is being sponsored by the most amazing companies and have generously donated incredible prizes to share with you. 

THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY SPONSOR IS: Hobbs Batting

batting_hobbs_bonded_fibers_20160627164921.png

Hobbs Quilt Batting has manufactured high-quality batting for hobbyist, commercial, art and show quilters since 1978. They're proud to come from a family of quilters and are committed to providing the same quality Hobbs batting that provide to their own family of quilters. At Hobbs Batting, they never forget that quilts are gifts from the heart - an expression of love, commitment and caring for a specific recipient - or an expression of artistry and skill- artistry and that's submitted and judged in quilt shows and events around the word - or both! At Hobbs they're committed to doing their part to enhance our #JoyofQuilting!

Hobbsbatting.com  *  Blog  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  

Hobbs Batting is offering a lucky winner both here and on Instagram throw-size battings of six of their fabulous Tuscany brand battings. I personally love the quality of Hobbs batting, especially Hobbs line of Tuscany battings that includes Silk Blend, Wool, Premium Polyester, Cotton Wool Blend, and Bleached and Unbleached Cottons that add a soft, luxurious feel to any quilt! 

Hobbs Giveaway.jpg

Giveaway Now Closed. Congratulations to Laura M!

Note: This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (First comment entry).

2. Follow Hobbs Batting on any of their social media platforms (see links above). Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. My followers get a third entry! If you follow me via subscribing to my posts, on Pinterest, and/or Instagram, just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-third entry).

4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Spread the word about the My Signature Sampler sew along on YOUR instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest by pinning any of my pretty images in this post, etc... (separate comment-fourth entry). 

That’s FOUR possible entries! Enter now through Monday, July 16th! The winner will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

*Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram by posting images of your sampler inspiration, sampler fabric pull, or blocks. Use the official #mysignaturesampler hashtag every time you post your My Signature Sampler makes (to a public account) and you're automatically entered into the weekly IG drawings as well! See my Instagram giveaway posts @sharonhollanddesigns for full details. 

Happy sewing!

Sharon

Star Light Quilt

Star Light Quilt

Star Light quilt on crib.jpg

The very first time I made this star block was for the Community Sampler Cactus block and knew then and there I wanted to eventually make a quilt using just this block.

When sewing for my new Art Gallery Fabrics collection called Signature I designed projects around themed rooms and one of the rooms was to be a baby room which would be the perfect look for the Star Light quilt born from the Cactus block!

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This gender-neutral design is perfect for any baby and is a generous 50'' square finished size. I consider this an intermediate project but with my tutorial on piecing the star block and other tutorials of Quarter-Square Triangle Units and working with directional prints, I feel even a beginner could make this quilt with a little extra attention paid to accurate seam allowances and cutting and a care with the trickier aspects of this design.

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For my nature-loving baby I selected Signature prints and Pure Elements solids in a green, teal, and golden yellow palette that made me think of being outdoors on a summer's evening, chasing fireflies and looking at the stars. 

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This week Art Gallery Fabrics will be virtually publishing the Signature fabrics Look Book and it will be packed full of beautiful projects made with my Signature collection. To celebrate the Look Book and collection I've added this Star Light baby quilt pattern to my Free Patterns page

Download the free PDF pattern for full instructions and illustrations for piecing this large baby quilt. I've also included a Quilting Diagram for how I machine quilting my quilt. This is a nice size for quilting on a domestic machine. 

I used Hobb's Tuscany Silk Batting to fill my quilt and I love the lightweight, sumptuous drape it gives a quilt. Silk batting handles and launders just like cotton with very little shrinkage. 

Tip for machine quilting like I've done is to stitch all the stitch-in-the-ditch diagonal, vertical, and horizontal lines first then go back in and stitch the oval leaf shapes last.

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Be watching later this week for the Art Gallery Fabrics release of the Signature Look Book! If you're sewing with Signature and posting to Instagram, be sure to tag me @sharonhollanddesigns and use the hashtags #artgalleryfabrics #Signaturefabrics and #agfsignature so I don't miss any of your makes!