Gifting Handmade Showcase Week 2

Week 2 of my Crafting Handmade Showcase on Instagram has just wrapped up for this year but you’ll get the full recap exclusively here on my blog! In case you missed last week, every day since the beginning of December, I featured a gift idea made by one of my amazing pattern testers on a post on my instagram account @sharonhollanddesigns. Each project features various fabrics from my collections with Art Gallery Fabrics. You can read the Week 1 Recap blog post from last week if you need to catch up or keep reading for the Week 2 Recap.

Let’s review what happened this week…

GIFTING HANDMADE MAKERS

Day 8

Starting out this week is Joyce Ulm from @evamaecustomquilts with these beautiful Peek A Boo Beauty Bags! You can find the pattern for these bags from More Me Know.

Joyce used fabrics from my Shine On and Listen to Your Heart collections. She also added some amazing texture with that cork detailing on the side!

Joyce is an amazing sewer, and long arm quilter! She constantly comes up with the prettiest fabric combinations and her talent always blows me away. You can find these bags and more on her Etsy shop!

DAY 9

Day 9 of the showcase featured Victoria Newmyer from @midlife_quilter beautiful quilt! This is the Retro Garden Quilt Pattern by Rose Petal Quilt Shop, an intermediate level pattern but don’t let curves intimidate you—they’re much easier than you think. Victoria always has great tutorials and projects to share on her instagram feed and blog, be sure to check them out!

Victoria used three prints to create this stunning top, Delicate Balance Six for the background, and Flueron Six with Bright Star Six for the flowers!

Wouldn’t this make the prettiest quilt to display in your home all year long! Or possibly a pillow made with one of the blocks?! It would make the sweetest gift! 

DAY 10

Day 10 kicks off with Brittany Tunison from @brittanytunison and this incredible tote bag! This pattern is the Mod Fresh Granny Tote from Fancy That Design House. I am constantly amazed with Brittany’s eye for colors and fabric combinations which she brings into her own work as a talented pattern designer! Check out her patterns at White Plains Quilts.

Brittany used fabrics from my Willow and Bookish Collections with Delicate Balance Serenity Fusion as the background.

To attach the leather straps to the tote, Brittany used brushed brass Chicago screws for the perfect finishing touch. Wouldn’t this be the sweetest gift to receive? It would be the gift that just keeps giving all year round!

DAY 11

Are you ready to be wowed?!? Marija Vujcic from @maraquiltdesigns brings us this incredible table runner with 3D flowers for Day 11 of my Gifting Handmade Showcase! Marija is always coming up with the most unique and fun patterns and tutorials. You can find the Flower Basket Table Runner tutorial on her website here, and while you are there be sure to check out the rest of her designs!!

Marija used a mix of fabrics from my Listen to Your Heart collection, as well as some prints from my new Fanciful collection.

These flowers make a great hand sewing project for a night filled with hot chocolate and your favorite Holiday movie. You could add them to any sort of project! 

Isn’t the end result so beautiful?! It really takes the flowers from my print and amplifies them in 3D form! I couldn’t love this more!

DAY 12

Day 12 of the showcase shows off this lovely pillow made by Mary Gove of @thecurlyquilter! Mary took a block from the Lottie Quilt pattern by Penelope Handmade and made it into a pillow. Isn’t that such a good idea?! Be sure to give Mary’s Instagram a follow for some serious quilty inspo! 

Mary used prints from my Bookish, Willow, and Listen to your Heart collections, and Delicate Balance six in flannel as the backing. This palette brings such a feeling of calm and serenity, and would make the perfect addition to any room!

You could gift this pillow to someone special, or make it for yourself to add to your holiday decor. Either way, you can’t go wrong!  Mary said this about her pillow:

“My go-to gift lately has been pillows. It’s such a fun way to add texture and beauty to any space, plus anything that is a quick make and has a big impact, is a win in my book.”

I couldn’t agree more!

DAY 13

I am excited to be back again for Day 13 of the showcase! These Market Bags are incredibly fast to make and I put that to the test when I realized I didn’t have a project to fill in the day’s spot! I got to work and whipped these up in no time. I also now have a video tutorial for making the Market Bag that’ll help you better visualize the folding and sewing! I used my recently updated free PDF Market Bag pattern with improved instructions and new illustrations. You can download a copy from my Free Projects page.

For these bags I used prints from my Listen to Your Heart and Willow collections. I also used sherpa fleece for the handle of the Tiny Dancer print, and leather for the Timeless Ticking Stripe print—the mix of materials add such a festive touch!

These also make great reusable gift bags—it’d be like giving two gifts in one! The roomy bag holds a lot and then folds up small when not in use.

DAY 14

Tracey Taber-Perry from @ttabes80 also made an encore make for week 2 and wowed us all again with these incredible handmade beauty set items on Day 14. Tracey’s gift set collection is perfect for traveling or use in the home and would be an amazing gift.

Tracey used fabrics from my Kismet collection as well as a cotton canvas and flannel from my Listen to Your Heart collection.

The Flat Iron - Curling Iron Travel Case was made using this pattern from Sew 4 Home. Tracey lined it with insul-fleece so you can store your hot iron in it right away! It also has a pocket on the other side to put the cord in and keep it separated from the iron.

The free Curve Top Makeup Bag pattern is from Sew Very Crafty and Tracey said it took her less than an hour to make! They are the perfect size bags for your makeup and toiletries!

The mesh bag above is actually a lingerie bag that Tracey turned into a reusable makeup remover pad bag—clever idea! You can find the free pattern by So Sew Easy HERE. For the reuseable makeup pads, Tracey said she used 3 layers of AGF flannel and serged the edges. Talk about a quick and easy gift! The pattern for those DIY Reusable Cotton Rounds can be found at Hello Sewing—I definitely need to make all of these for myself!

DAY 15

Day 15 and the final day of my Gifting Handmade Showcase. The last inspiring project was made by Leah Bruski from @lapinsta and features my Phoenix Quilt Pattern you can find in my SHOP. Leah is a very gifted quilter and is a constant inspiration to our group!

Leah used fabrics from my Listen to Your Heart and Fanciful collections. I think they make such a great holiday palette but also a palette that works all year round!

The Phoenix quilt pattern is for an over-sized throw quilt but I also love these blocks for stand alone projects like pillows or bags!

Leah did an amazing job with this quilt, and I am so blown away by her fabric and color placement! I can’t wait to see how she decides to quilt this! 

Big Thanks to My Tester Group!

I hope you enjoyed the last two weeks of my Gifting Handmade Showcase and seeing each makers projects! I’ve loved seeing all the wonderful handmade gifts my testers came up with and anticipate all the joy these items will bring to the recipients this holiday season!

Gifting Handmade Week 2 Giveaway

With all those projects to inspire and Christmas just around the corner there needs to be a fabric bundle giveaway, right??!! I think so too! So, just like last week, one lucky winner will get a bundle of my fabrics I’ve curated.

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

Congratulations to Jeifner!

I’ve pulled together the 12 quilting cotton prints from my new AGF Fanciful blender collection and added 6 coordinating hero prints from some of your favorite Sharon Holland collections to make an 18-piece fat quarter bundle.

That’s 4-1/2 yards total of fabric to dream and create with!

The giveaway is exclusive to this blog post, so make sure to read below for how to enter by commenting on the blog post (replying to the newsletter email does not enter you into the giveaway). Also, please note this giveaway is eligible to US address only—no international shipping, sorry.

Giveaway Now Closed

Congratulations to Jeifner!

*Note: This giveaway is open to US addresses only, sorry no international shipping. 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 contact you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (Counts as entry number (1) one.)

2. Leave a comment and let me know what’s been your favorite project or projects so for in the Gifting Handmade Showcase. (This comment counts as entry number (2) two). 

3. Be following me (Sharon) on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns and/or be signed up for my blog post newsletters (counts as number (3) three entry) when you let me know in a comment.

That’s THREE possible entries and up to three chances to win! Enter now through Monday, December 19, 2022. I’ll be drawing one lucky winner from the comment pool from this post. The winning comment will be picked at random around 4 pm Eastern. I’ll post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season and happiest of New Years!

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.

Gifting Handmade Showcase Week 1

December 1st marked the start of my Gifting Handmade Showcase where everyday, for two weeks I’m sharing a new project from one of my talented testers and featuring them on my Instagram feed @sharonhollanddesigns. Each project is made using fabrics from my various fabric collections I’ve designed for Art Gallery Fabrics. We’ve had seven days of the showcase so far, with more to come next week! See the recap of this week’s makers below with links to all the projects.

Gifting Handmade Makers

Day 1

Starting off the event was Lindsey Fuessley from @lindseymakes. Lindsey shared this beautiful quilted garland and ornaments project, which you can find on her blog Lindsey Makes—be sure to check out her quilt patterns while you’re there!

Lindsey used fabrics from several of my collections, Kismet, Bookish, Willow, Fanciful, and Listen to your Heart.

Quilted Garland & Ornament photos courtesy of Lindsey Makes

I love the addition of the dried oranges and pinecones on her garland to create a cozy, farmhouse feel. Lindsey’s tutorial is easy to follow and great for anyone wanting to add some handmade holiday decor to their home—you can even get the kids involved with this project!

Day 2

Next up was Christine Trotta from @sile.wares. Christine has such a talent for putting together curated items to create a very cohesive home. She used the newly recolored India Ink Six from my Listen to Your Heart collection for the decorative tray and Fanciful Pearl from my new Fanciful blender collection for the napkins.

Christine created two projects for the showcase, first was this no-sew fabric tray tutorial which can be found here at All Things Target. After adhering the fabric to the tray, Christine sealed the fabric so the tray can easily be wiped down for clean up - perfect for the holidays!

Fabric Covered Tray and Cloth Napkin photos courtesy of Christine Trotta

Next, Christine shared these classic cloth napkins. You can find the tutorial for Mitered-Corner Napkins right here on my blog’s Tutorial Page. Wouldn’t these make the best gifts for your favorite hostess?!

If you enjoyed Christine’s projects then be sure to watch her social feeds and blog for the launch of her new shop!

DAY 3

Day 3 of the showcase featured this free “Ho Ho Ho” mini quilt pattern from Liza Taylor of @lizataylorhandmade.

Liza used 6 fabrics from my new Fanciful collection: Shell, Peach, Amber, Mauve, Celeste, and Spruce. The star is a Pure Solid from Art Gallery Fabrics called Quartz Pink.

Liza uses non-traditional Christmas colors to create this fun and whimsical holiday wall hanging. It would also be so fun in the traditional green and red colors! You can find the free pattern from Liza’s website, when you sign up for her newsletters.

Be sure to check out Liza’s fabric shop Liza Taylor Handmade and her other quilt patterns!

Ho Ho Ho Mini Quilt photos courtesy of Liza Taylor Handmade

DAY 4

Day 4 brought THREE amazing projects from Tracey Taber-Perry @ttabes80! Tracey has the best eye for color combinations and always creates the most beautiful palettes for her projects.

Tracey used an assortment of fabrics from my Listen to Your Heart, Shine On, and Bookish collections. She also included an AGF Decostitch as the background for her runner. The finished products are just phenomenal!  

See what I mean?! These would be amazing to have on display for the holiday season as well as all year-round. The Desert Stars Table Runner is a pattern from Atkinson Design and sold at sewthankful.com.

The hot pads and apron would make the best gifts for the baker in your family. Who wouldn’t love to receive these! The free Patchwork Potholder sewing pattern can be found at sewcanshe.com

Kitchen set trio of Gifting Handmade projects courtesy of Tracey Taber-Perry

The beautiful apron is made from the Free Color Block Apron Tutorial by Suzy Quilts. Doesn’t my Picking Wildflowers print from my AGF Shine On collection look so pretty and fresh on this apron?

DAY 5

Next up was Terri Neil from @quiltingrubies. Terri made this stunning and incredibly soft plaid baby quilt (it is backed with the coziest AGF Flannel)! She used fabrics from my Listen to Your Heart collection for the quilt top which give such a fun holiday feel.

Terri pulled out all the stops for this baby quilt, including that beautiful hand stitched binding. Who wouldn’t love to receive this cuddly quilt?!

Buffalo Check baby quilt photos courtesy of Terri Neil

The free Buffalo Check Quilt pattern comes in several sizes and can be found at My Favorite Quilt Store.

If you’re looking for a longarm quilting service look no further than Terri! Her business name is Quilting Rubies and she’s an extremely talented longarm quilter—I know because I’ve sent her quilts to finish for me!

DAY 6

Day 6 of the showcase featured Elaine Satterfield from @createjoyquilt and her beautiful journal covers! How pretty are these! Elaine is so incredibly talented, and always adds the most amazing details to all of her projects.

Quilted Journal Cover photos courtesy of Elaine Satterfield

These Quilted Journal Covers use fabrics from my Bookish and Fanciful collections for Art Gallery Fabrics. The free pattern and tutorial is by Maureen Cracknell and can be found on the Janome blog.

This is a great project to use up scraps, and Elaine even used an orphan block of a Criss-cross Star for one of the journal covers. They would make the perfect gift for the reader or artist in your life!

For these and other beautifully made quilts and accessories, visit Elaine’s Create Joy Quilt Co shop on Etsy.

DAY 7

Hi, it’s me Sharon Holland and I’m excited to be the maker for Day 7 of my Gifting Handmade Showcase! I shared three different projects that can be gifted together or separately and you can always see more views of my projects on my Instagram account @sharonhollanddesigns.

True confession here, I’d promised my daughter I’d do some sewing for her to help fill out her craft market booth and since she specializes in baked goods, I thought kitchen gift items would coordinate well with her breads and goodies. So… oven mitts were a must and since I could not find a pattern I liked already available online I ended up drafting and writing my own and hence, the new pattern in my SHOP! The Oven Mitt pattern is fat quarter friendly, and the material list will make two mitts.

I used prints from my Art Gallery Fabrics Willow, Listen to Your Heart, Shine On, Kismet, and Fanciful collections plus flannels from Willow, Shine On, and Kismet

The reason I used so many prints is because of sewing for the market and I made four mix and match kitchen sets with the three different kitchen items of mitts, un-sponges, and hot pads—keep reading.

I found the tutorial for the sponges on Better Homes and Gardens. What I love about their Reusable Kitchen Sponge tutorial is that these sponges can be used over and over again and add such a beautiful element to any kitchen! I used AGF Flannel for both sides and repurposed a polyester lace curtain I was not using anymore for the scrubbing side. Another great thing is, just pop them in the washer and dryer and with the polyester fleece (sew-in) fill, AGF flannel, and polyester lace they have no shrinkage and come out looking like new!

And, for the last coordinating kitchen accessory I made a hot pad. I found the perfect Folded Fabric Hot Pad tutorial from Miss Abigail's Hope Chest. I followed the instructions almost to the letter in size and quilting cotton folded front but made one change in using coordinating AGF flannel for the back of the hot pad and an extra layer of flannel under the folded front. I also machine quilted a simple square in the center rather than a button.

Wouldn’t these make the best gifts for any chef or homemaker in your life?! They are so fun to mix and match prints and textures! I held some sets back and have already gifted them!

The photo above is kitchen sets with labels for my daughter’s craft show and a look at the mix and matching of my fabric collections and quilting cotton and flannel.

And that wraps up week 1 of the Gifting Handmade Showcase! I hope you check out all the makers and their websites and social media—they’re definitely ones to follow! Next week will be another blog post plus giveaway where I’ll be recapping Week 2 and seven more makers and their projects!

Gifting Handmade Week 1 Giveaway

Win This 16-Piece Fat Quarter Bundle

Now that you’ve seen some of my fabric collections in the first week of the Gathering Handmade projects I thought you might like to get your hands on some of the same fabrics and start making projects of your own!

I’ve pulled together the 12 quilting cotton prints from my AGF Listen to Your Heart collection and added 4 new coordinating Fanciful blenders to make a 16-piece fat quarter bundle. That’s 4 yards total of fabric to dream and create with!

The giveaway is exclusive to this blog post, so make sure to read below for how to enter. I’m really sorry that I’ll be limiting this giveaway to US address only—shipping is a nightmare as it is with out adding international in the mix.

Giveaway now closed

Congratulations to Tracey Roberts!

*Note: This giveaway is open to US addresses only, sorry no international shipping. 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 contact you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (Counts as entry number (1) one.)

2. Leave a comment and let me know what’s been your favorite project or projects so for in the Gifting Handmade Showcase. (This comment counts as entry number (2) two). 

3. Be following me (Sharon) on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns or be signed up for my blog post newsletters (counts as number (3) three entry) when you let me know in a comment.

That’s THREE possible entries and up to three chances to win! Enter now through Monday, December 12, 2022. I’ll be drawing one lucky winner from the comment pool from this post. The winning comment will be picked at random around 4 pm Eastern. I’ll post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.

Sweet Home Quilt + Fabric Giveaway

Sweet Home Quilt + Fabric Giveaway

Photo courtesy of Fabric Stork

Hello friends. I’m back with more Sweet Home quilt news as well as a brief review of my personal growth since my last post.

National events such as COVID-19, George Floyd’s wrongful death, the Black Lives Matter movement, and educating myself on the injustices to Black rights in this country have been upper most on my mind these last few weeks. You can follow my day-to-day journey of discovery and learning on these issues along with my regular quilt, fabric, and artwork posts in my Instagram feed @sharonhollanddesigns so I won’t get into any of that here and reserve this space for what you signed up for—quilting and sewing.

This week I added over 100 new fabric masks to my Fabric Masks shop page and will be adding additional masks over the next couple weeks because I’ll be donating 50% off all my masks sales sold from June 7 through July 7, 2020 to the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. Because equity and justice is part of the mission of UWGC I’ve chosen this organization close to home to contribute to on a local level.

Along with 50% of mask sales durning this one month period, I’m donating 100% of my PDF pattern sales as well to the United Way of Greater Cincinnati as well. If you’ve been eye-balling some patterns, this is a great time to make a purchase!

“COVID-19 is a long-term problem that requires our long-term commitment. We will help our Greater Cincinnati community respond, recover and revitalize over the next two years. But there is another “pandemic” we have been fighting for years, and this requires more from us, a greater, longer-term response. That pandemic is related to racial equality and justice.”  —UWGC

Fabric Stork Sweet Home Quilt Kit

I’m so excited to announce a collaboration with Nuria Elkins of Fabric Stork in bringing you this colorful and playful Sweet Home quilt kit. Nuria has curated a beautiful bundle of Art Gallery Fabrics prints and Pure Solids for this kit. Find the kit in her Etsy shop HERE and the pattern in my SHOP here. Order early because these are sure to go fast!

Photo courtesy of Fabric Stork

Prints in this quilt are designed by many of your favorite Art Gallery Fabrics designers including myself (Sharon Holland), Maureen Cracknell, Amy Sinibaldi, Bonnie Christine, and AGF Studio.

Photo courtesy of Fabric Stork

How perfect is that binding!!??? It’s so good! The print used for the binding is a diagonal stripe by Amy Sinibaldi so it gives a bias look from regular WOF (width of fabric) binding strip cuts—brilliant!

Photo courtesy of Fabric Stork

Nuria has already made a sample quilt from her kit and here’s the full view of this adorable neighborhood—I love it and it makes me smile just looking at this photo! This quilt design inspires new meaning for me with every quilt I see made!

Photo courtesy of Fabric Stork

The fun quilting design of clouds and storks (upper left corner) is spot on for this quilt and expertly stitched by Tawny Oland. Find Tawny on Instagram at @tawnyoland and consider her for your next long arm quilting needs!

Fat Quarter Bundle Giveaway!

The generosity of small business owners like Nuria is astounding and as part of our collaboration, Fabric Stork is giving away a 10-piece fat quarter bundle to match the 10 fat quarters used in this quilt kit. That’s a great addition to your stash or puts you well on your way to having most of the fabrics needed to make a Sweet Home quilt the the one made by Nuria—either way, you’ve got to love a fabric giveaway!

The giveaway for this pretty bundle of prints will be held on my Instagram account @sharonhollanddesigns. Just look for the June 12th post with the beautiful Sweet Home quilt made by Fabric Stork and qualify for chances to win by leaving a comment and following both my feed and @fabricstork feed on Instagram.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Don’t forget to head over to my Instagram feed @sharonhollanddesigns for a chance to win a 10-piece fat quarter bundle from Fabric Stork. Follow the easy entry steps given in my Friday, June 12, 2020 Instagram post. International entries welcome. Enter often to up your chances of winning!

The winning comment will be randomly selected around 4pm Eastern on Monday, June 15th. Winning entrant’s IG handle will be posted on the IG giveaway post once the giveaway closes.

I am an Amazon Associate site and earn from qualifying purchases on the products I’ve linked below. The helpful products selected are the same or similar to materials used to make the project(s) in this blog post or related items I think you may enjoy.

Hold Tight Petite Sew Along - Cutting and Piecing

Hold Tight Petite Sew Along - Cutting and Piecing

Welcome back to Week #2 of the Hold Tight Petite sew along. As part of Blair Stocker’s Wise Craft Ruby Ruler™ Ambassador series and being August’s Ruby Ambassador (Read my interview by Blair—here), I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Blair and I to collaborate on a project and explore the world of color through fabrics.

August Ruby Ambassador - Sharon Holland

Blair’s ruby-hued artist’s viewfinder tools the Ruby Ruler™ and Ruby Minder™ where invaluable tools in last week’s study on Color and Value. I blogged about how, as a designer, I go about selecting colors for my fabric collections or a color story for a quilt and how I used the Ruby Minder™ to check my selections. If you missed the first week, read more here. Plus you’ll find additional color theory materials covered on Week #1 and Week #2 of the original Hold Tight sew along as well as in the skill-building demonstration videos. Find these helpful videos on my Sew Along page which are available for viewing any time.

Ruby Minder™ by Blair Stocker of Wise Craft Handmade

For more Color and Value study, Blair has a wonderful online class, Make Modern Scrap Quilts Using Color Value which is an evergreen class—you buy its and it’s yours forever, there are no "sessions". Read more about this class on Wise Craft Handmade.

Plus, for this Hold Tight Petite sew along, Blair Stocker will be following up my Wednesday morning blog posts with a Facebook Live session at 11 am Pacific on Wednesday, August 14 cutting pieces with templates and curved rulers as well as sewing curves. This workshop-like experience with Blair on Facebook is a huge bonus along with connecting with more than 1,500 other quilter’s via Blairs private Facebook group! Blair will host live sessions to support my sew along blog posts and share with you her expertise. Note: Blair’s FB group is free to join by answering three questions when requesting to be added to the group. If you can’t join in the live sessions—no problem—the videos are available for replay and ready to view when you are!

This sew along is free to join—no sign up forms—just follow along and have fun. You’ll will need, however, the Hold Tight quit pattern. If you don't have my Hold Tight quilt pattern already, you'll want to purchase the Hold Tight PDF pattern from my Shop page. The Hold Tight pattern now includes two sizes—the original over-sized throw and the new petite crib-size quilt. The material lists, cutting requirements, coloring sheet, and full-size templates are part of the fully illustrated PDF pattern. These sew along blog posts serve to supplement the PDF but don't provide the detailed pattern information that you'll find in the PDF available for purchase. If you’ve purchased the original PDF prior to August 5, 2019 and didn’t receive a special newsletter email from this blog sharing the link to the Petite Add-On download, see my SEW ALONG page to get your copy of the bonus size. You’ll find the Add-On download that contains the crib-size material list, cutting guide, and coloring sheet. Note: You’ll still need the original Hold Tight pattern for quilt details. The current PDF in my shop has been updated with both quilt sizes so patterns purchased after August 5, 2019 include both quilt sizes—no add-on necessary.

Week #2 - Cutting and Piecing

Even though I’ve labeled this pattern an intermediate skill level quilt pattern, I firmly believe that even a confident beginner can tackle curved patchwork with ease because you’ve completed the following:

1. You’ve printed out the PDF instructions and templates to 100% scale (with borders) onto US letter size paper and because you’ve cut your fabrics true to size (see Hold Tight Sew Along Week #2 post).

2. You’re sewing with an accurate seam allowance. As with any patchwork sewing its imperative to stitch with an accurate 1/4” seam allowance. Take a moment to read the Seam Allowance section on my Perfect Patchwork tutorial.

I’ve prepared bonus video tutorials and you’ll find the Hold Tight Sew Along Week #3 parts 1 and 2 are extremely helpful for pinning, sewing, press, and squaring up your blocks. Find all the Hold Tight Sew Along videos on my Sew Along page.

This week’s blog post is going to be an easy one for me to compose compared to last week’s epic Color and Value post because the information about Cutting and Piecing hasn’t changed from my first sew along. Instead of copying and pasting all that information to this post, I’ll refer you to Week #2 and Week #3 of the first sew along. So, go ahead, take a look at that information and then come back to this post for some additional tips, pretty photos, and information about this week’s giveaway!

Learning Live

The beauty of an event like this being co-hosted is you get to experience different perspectives, sewing tricks, and in the case of Blair’s Live Facebook sessions, a new way of viewing information. This week, Blair will be cutting and piecing her blocks and carrying on what I started in my video demonstrations. This is your chance to ask Blair questions and maybe gain a few new tricks to sewing with curved patchwork.

Sew On

As I briefly talked about last week when looking ahead, I’ll be covering Quilt-As-You-Go (QAYG) as a quilt assembly option in the next post for Week #3. If you’re interested in trying the QAYG finishing method, regardless of what quilt size you’re stitching, resist the urge to start sewing all the blocks together to form the balloon shapes and quilt top. A background square and the A/B block, and B/B/C blocks like you see in the above photo are ALL considered blocks. For this week, concentrate on sewing the blocks and only go so far as to sew the blocks together into horizontal rows. Alternate seam pressing directions on your rows so the rows will nest together when assembling. Example: Even rows press all the seams to the right and odd rows, press all the seams to the left.

Next week on the third and final sew along post I’ll blog about QAYG assembly, hand quilting, and finishing your quilt. If you’re wanting to finish your quilt as a traditional top with batting and backing sandwich to be quilted, you can work ahead. Find tutorials and tips on the Finishing post and videos created during the first sew along. It’s always nice to have options and work at your own pace!

I’m excited to see what colors Blair selected for her quilt and would love to see your inspiration for your color story, fabric pull, and progress as you sew along. If you’re on Instagram, tag me @sharonhollanddesigns and Blair @blairs use the #holdtightquilt hashtag so we can follow your progress. If you’re sewing with Art Gallery Fabrics be sure to tag #artgalleryfabrics too!

There’s also a wonderful resource of inspiration and a look at all the Hold Tight quilt posted to Instagram if you search the #holdtightquilt and #holdtightsewalong hashtags! If you’re on Pinterest, I have a Hold Tight Sew Along board—you can find and follow me at ShareDesigns (Sharon Holland Designs).

WEEK #2 GIVEAWAY

Our Art Gallery Fabrics sponsor will be giving away an amazing prize of a quilt kit! The kit will include: The Hold Tight PDF pattern (which can be substituted with a different pattern in my SHOP if you already have purchased), fabric to make a Hold Tight Petite quilt top just like the one I created for this sew along, binding, and your choice of any AGF print for the backing!

Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids

This giveaway and the giveaway rules and details will be announced on Instagram Thursday morning around 9 am eastern. The giveaway will be held on my Instagram account @sharonhollanddesigns and you’ll be prompted for how to enter on that post. Be sure you’re following myself and Blair @blairs and Art Gallery Fabrics @artgalleryfabrics so you don’t miss a thing!

Happy sewing,

Sharon