Week #9 SBS Giveaway

SEWCIAL BEE SAMPLER GIVEAWAY FRIDAY

Each Friday, throughout the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew-along community event that Maureen Cracknell and I co-host, we've lined up a special giveaway with one of our amazing participating sponsors! If you happened to miss the launch of our Sewcial Bee Sampler you can follow this link for all the info to start sewing and catch up in chronological order - it's never too late to jump in!

Aurifil      Circa 15      The Intrepid Thread      Fat Quarter Shop      Omnigrid      Llama Fabrics      Color Girl     Lady Belle Fabric      Needle in a Fabric Stash      Dritz      Knotted Thread    NeedleandFoot      Stash Builder Box

 

Today's featured Sewcial Bee sponsor is Aurifil Threads!

Aurifil is a wonderful thread company dedicated to developing amazing, new products based on quality and solutions. Established in 1983, Aurifil is an accomplished Italian company based near Milano, with a full- grown experience in producing superior quality threads for professional and domestic quilters. The company headquarters is the ground where new ideas generate original items, always more refined and advanced, to provide assistance to all the quilting needs through a wide range of threads in several weights & accessories. Aurifil's success is based on developing projects carefully, always looking for high quality and great style, with a commitment to create contemporary products that will appeal to everyone!

Aurifil.com  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  We hope you enjoy visiting Aurifil!

For this week's Sewcial Bee Giveaway, Aurifil is offering the lucky winner my Sharon Holland Color Story Aurifil Thread Collection! This hand-selected set of threads includes TEN colorful spools of Aurifil thread. Five spools of 50-wt sewing thread and five spools of Aurifloss in colors chosen to coordinate with my Art Gallery Fabric collections!

You can find the large spool Color Story thread collection available at Amazon, Fat Quarter Shop, Checker Distributers, and Red Rock Threads!

{THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED}

CONGRATULATIONS TO Renee Castro FOR BEING THE WINNER OF THE SEWCIAL BEE SAMPLER AURIFIL GIVEAWAY!

A BIG thanks to all joining the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew-along and to those who enter our Giveaway!  ♡ Sharon 

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #9

Hello SBS makers, it's Wednesday!

My co-host Maureen Cracknell and I are having so much fun with this 26-week sampler quilt event. For those just joining, you'll want to start the sew along in chronological order because we build off past techniques and with each new block release I've added helpful, in-blog tips and tutorials. Start with the first SBS post and work your way to the present. 

Did you like last week's post about sewing half-square triangles and controlling the direction of the fabrics? I saw some pretty amazing blocks being posted to Instagram and love seeing your progress. I apologize for not commenting on everyone's blocks but had a very good excuse--I was on vacation in New York! 

While in the Big Apple, I had the experience of visiting Mood! Here I am with a very tired Swatch (the store mascot). 

Time to start sewing block #9--Wedding Ring. Download the free PDF pattern from my Sew Along page.

Wedding Ring uses the 8-at-a-time half-square triangle (HST) technique we've used in several of our blocks so far. If you need a review, follow the step-by-step tutorial, here. Block #9 is another 12-1/2'' (unfinished) block that doesn't require any frames to get it up to size. Be mindful of your seam allowances to keep this block true to size. 

The only tip I have for you this week is number of fabric options. The PDF instruction is written for a 2-fabric block. If you're looking to add more fabrics to your block, here's information for a 3-fabric and a 4-fabric option. 

Remember, if you like to have all your prints running the same direction in your block, visit block #8 blog post here.

3-Fabric Option:

CUT:

• (2) 5-3/4'' squares, (1) 4-1/2'' square, and (4) 2-1/2'' x 4-1/2'' rectangles fabric A
• (1) 5-3/4'' square and (4) 2-1/2'' x 4-1/2'' rectangles fabric B
• (1) 5-3/4'' square fabric C

Sew block per PDF instructions.

Don't ask me why, but with a block name like Wedding Ring, I thought there should be a little bling in the photos so I included some fun vintage jewelry bugs and flower pins. I have two sampler quilts going. This 3-fabric option is made using Haymow prints from my new Bountiful fabrics collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and Pure Element solid Snow for the background. I'm using the same fabric for the background as I would normally use in my frames. 

4-Fabric Option:

The 4-fabric option is a perfect place to showcase I fussy cut center square. 

CUT:

• (2) 5-3/4'' squares and (4) 2-1/2'' x 4-1/2'' rectangles fabric A
• (1) 5-3/4'' square and (4) 2-1/2'' x 4-1/2'' rectangles fabric B
• (1) 5-3/4'' square fabric C
• (1) 4-1/2'' square fabric D

Sew block per PDF instructions.

My second sampler quilt is made from a curated collection of prints from my first four fabric lines for Art Gallery Fabrics and two newly recolored Fusion prints from my Gossamer fabrics. Here I've used prints from Sketchbook and Coastline. 

Aurifil      Circa 15      The Intrepid Thread      Fat Quarter Shop      Omnigrid      Llama Fabrics      Color Girl     Lady Belle Fabric      Needle in a Fabric Stash      Dritz      Knotted Thread    NeedleandFoot      Stash Builder Box

Also, don't forget that Friday is Giveaway Friday and this week I will be hosting the giveaway from this blog. We've got a great giveaway planned from Aurifil I know you'll not want to miss! 

Week #2 SBS Giveaway

Sewcial Bee Sampler Giveaway Friday

Each Friday, throughout the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew-along, which Maureen Cracknell and I are co-hosting, will be henceforth known as Giveaway Friday. We've coordinated special giveaway prizes with our amazing participating sponsors for each and every week! If you've happened to miss any of the Sewcial Bee Sampler posts, take a look back on this blog starting from January 30th, 2017 to get up to speed. Feel free to start sewing with us at anytime--it's never too late to join in, and it's free! 

Today's featured Sewcial Bee Sampler sponsor in The Intrepid Thread!

With over 15 years of experience in e-commerce, The Intrepid Thread is a family owned business employing five amazingly creative quilters and sewists. Julie, the owner, is dedicated to offering quality quilting fabrics at competitive prices and takes special pride in knowing her customer receive unparalleled service!

SHOP  *  BLOG  *  FACEBOOK * We hope you enjoy visiting The Intrepid Thread! 

For this week's Sewcial Bee Sampler giveaway, Julie at The Intrepid Thread is offerning a $20 gift certificate to spend however you'd like at her shop!

Enter to Win!

Here's how: Since Maureen and I are taking turns hosting the Sewcial Bee Sampler Giveaway Fridays, this week I'm sending you to Maureen Cracknell's blog to enter!

A BIG thanks to all of you who are joining the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew-along and to those who enter our Giveaway!  ♡ Sharon

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #1

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #1

Hello, I'm so happy to welcome you to the first week of the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew along! My dear friend and sister Art Gallery Fabrics designer Maureen Cracknell and I have teamed up to co-host this event. Every Wednesday, for the next 25 weeks, we will be releasing a new block PDF, share piecing techniques and tips for making the block, and provide inspirational photos as both Maureen and I stitch using the different fabric lines we've created. So, after you've read this blog post, head over to Maureen's blog to see what she's posted!

To make it easier and not miss a single thing, be sure to sign up for my email notifications and add my blog to your Bloglovin' feed (use the handy link at the top of my right sidebar).

Check back here on Friday as I am this week's host for our first Sewcial Bee Sampler giveaway. There will be several way to enter across two social media platforms—so lots of opportunities for everyone. More details on Friday.

Let's Get Started!

Today I have two PDF downloads you'll want to pick up from my Sewcial Bee Sampler page. The first is the Introduction handout. Please note: Print out the Introduction and all block PDFs in landscape (horizontal) printing orientation and select Fit to Page, if applicable.

In the Introduction PDF you'll find what's needed for selecting your fabrics. Here’s a tip for gathering your material: Since we have no idea how many different fabrics you will want to use in your quilt, the yardage for this project will be broken down into total amounts, rather than specifics fabrics and amounts. We want this to be a personal experience for you to make your sampler with your own unique aesthetics. So, if you want to make this quilt entirely from scraps, just work block to block with the exact cutting requirements for each block. If you want to limit your palette to just a few fabrics, then divide the total yardage by that number. Remember, a scrap quilt can be a great way to use scraps and stash fabrics, substitute any material you run out of with similar-hued fabric and it will be wonderful! Included in the Introduction PDF is a handy coloring sheet so you can start planning your quilt.

I plan to make my quilt from strike-off prints of my new Bountiful fabrics for Art Gallery Fabrics. Strike-offs are small samples of the prints from the mill and what we use to until the actual yardage is available. Sadly I have about a fat quarter or less of each print so until my advance yardage comes in, I may be adding some prints from some of my other collections. Many Gossamer, Sketchbook, and Tapestry prints go beautifully with Bountiful so it may end up being a blessing in disguise to run out and have to make substitutions. The more (prints) the merrier!

The second PDF you will be able to download today is our first block—Patience Corners. The block instructions come complete with cutting information and step-by-step illustrations. If you've not had a chance to try the eight-at-a-time half-square triangle (HST) technique, now's your chance. You will be able to make the necessary 16 HST units for this block from just four squares of fabric in no-time flat.

Eight-at-a-Time HST Units Tutorial

1. Draw a diagonal line on the wrong side of the lightest fabric square. Draw another diagonal from the remaining corners. 

2. Place the marked square right sides together with another same-size square. Sew a ¼” seam on each side of the drawn line. In the same manner, stitch on each side of the remaining diagonal line. Press.

Tip: Tape the corners of the stitched squares to a rotary cutting mat to hold in place while cutting.

3. Align the short end of a ruler with the straight edge of the squares and the long side centered at the intersection of the diagonal lines. Cut the square in half, but leave the cut pieces in place. Without disturbing the shape of the original square, cut the square in half again in the same manner, dividing it into quarters.

4. Cut the square quarter-sections apart on the drawn line. Open and press. Makes 8 half-square triangle (HST) units. Trim dog ears on the individual HST units.

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #1 Patience Corners

We can’t wait to see what your first block looks like so when posting your block to social media and especially on Instagram, don’t forget to use the hashtag #sewcialbeesampler and tag @maureencracknell and myself @sharonhollanddesigns so we can follow your work. Using the official hashtag will also automatically included your name in the weekly IG giveaway drawings! Please note: Your Instagram account needs to be a public account for your hashtags to show up in an Instagram hashtag pool. Hashtags are also wonderful for our purposes of following each other's work. But don't worry, we respect your desire to have a private account, that's why we will also hold the same giveaway prize, alternately between our blogs, and on Instagram so you can choose how and where to enter. Again, more about giveaways this Friday.

Happy sewing!