Week #1 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 the first day launch of the Sewcial Bee Sampler you can follow this link to my post with all the information you'll need to get started. Feel free to join us anytime--it's never too late to jump in! 

Today's featured Sewcial Bee is sponsor is Lady Belle Fabrics!

Lady Belle Fabric is run by husband and wife team, Rob and Brooke. In their shop you'll find both bundles and single cuts of hand-picked fabrics that are fresh, modern, and fun! Designer fabrics include many of our favorites -- Art Gallery Fabrics, Cotton + Steel, Free Spirit, and Moda, just to name a few! Lady Belle Fabrics goal is to offer the most gorgeous fabric as quickly as they can! 
   
Shop  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  Pinterest  
  

For this week's Sewcial Bee Sampler Giveaway Friday, Lady Belle Fabric is offering the winner an eight-piece fat quarter bundle including prints from Maureen Cracknell's Wild & Free, Nightfall, and new Garden Dreamer collections for Art Gallery Fabrics!

In addition, Lady Belle Fabric is having a wonderful Winter Clearance SALE with some amazing deals on Art Gallery Fabrics! U.S. readers can use coupon code: freeship to enjoy free shipping on orders throughout our Giveaway! We hope you enjoy visiting Lady Belle Fabric.

Note: This beautiful bundle is also available for purchase. Look for the Maureen Cracknell Mix Up Bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics in the Lady Belle shop.

 

 

{Week #1 giveaway winner is Susan Spiers!}

This giveaway is now closed. Be sure to visit Maureen Cracknell's blog on Friday February 10th, 2017 for our next SBS giveaway!

 

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!

The Start of Something Sewcial

Today I'm so excited to share some BIG news! Whether you're a first-time quilter, a beginner, or a quilter extraordinaire my friend and fellow AGF design sister Maureen Cracknell and I are thrilled to announce and welcome ALL to join our very first co-hosted community event, the Sewcial Bee Sampler Sew-Along!

Sewcial Bee Sampler

Beginning this Wednesday, February 1st and continuing through July, Maureen and I will be releasing a new PDF block pattern on our blogs every Wednesday (Block of the Week). We'll share pictures of our own finished block along with inspiration and tips and tricks to make piecing more enjoyable. The Sewcial Bee Sampler introduction PDF, available on Wednesday, includes a coloring sheet to help you plan out your fabrics plus a fabric supply list. The twenty-five fully tested PDF patterns have step-by-step illustrations for each week’s block plus detailed assembly instructions for a beautiful finish! You'll be getting the first block pattern on Wednesday!

I'm planning to use prints from my upcoming Art Gallery Fabrics fabric collection--Bountiful (available this March) together with Pure Element solids for the block framing and sashing. Maureen will be making her sampler quilt using prints from all of her Art Gallery Fabrics fabric collections and combining them with linen and denim for the frames and sashes. Feel free to use fabrics from your stash or maybe it's time for a little trip to your local fabric shop for some new inspiration! A sampler quilt is a great opportunity to use many different fabrics. Here's a virtual look at the blocks and sampler quilt so you can get started thinking about the look of your quilt.

The Sewcial Bee Sampler is made up of twenty-five 12" blocks with added sashing to create a finished quilt measuring 72" x 72". Once all of the block patterns are released at the end of July, we'll share the assembly instructions, followed by a big quilt top reveal day the first Wednesday in August!

To add to the fun, we've joined forces with wonderful sponsors to offer new, amazing giveaway prizes each Friday both on our blogs and on our Instagrams throughout the sew-along! More information about the giveaways in future posts.

Aurifil

Maureen Cracknell

Fat Quarter Shop

Sharon Holland

The Intrepid Thread

Dritz

Llama Fabrics

Lady Belle Fabric

Needle in a Fabric Stash

Color Girl Quilts

Omnigrid

Knotted Thread

 

Join Us

Half the fun of a sew-along is getting to connect with other makers. We invite you to join in as much as you are able to! Each week you're welcome to share links to our Sewcial Bee Sampler blog posts within the comments so we can visit each other.

On Instagram you can find me at Sharon Holland Designs and Maureen at Maureen Cracknell where we'll be using the hashtag #SewcialBeeSampler to create a community, stay connected, entry giveaways, and share our progress. Of course Maureen and I love it when you tag us so we don't miss a single thing!

So what do you say, will you join us in making a Sewcial Bee Sampler? We hope you will! You don't need to do anything official to join, just let us know in the comments that you plan to! We also created this cute badge for you to share on Instagram, if you'd like!

And here's a button if you'd like to add one to your blog. Simply click to download the badge and button.

We hope you join in the fun and I can’t wait to spend the next several months creating with you!

New Patterns Released

A new year holds great promise. It's like having a clean slate and in my case a clean sewing room because I needed to tidy it up for holiday company :) Before I got too deep into sewing and designing I thought it would be a good idea to publish some beautiful quilt projects I made for magazines. These quilts are now out of the magazine contract period ready for me to publish as stand-alone PDF patterns you can purchase. You can view all my patterns on Craftsy.

Four New Patterns Added

Kilim is one of my all-time favorite quilt designs. I patterned this quilt after an image of a kilim rug. The rug inspiration was taken further by how I placed the cream background prints and let them flow from one type of print into another like how yarn is woven on a loom making subtle changes in color. Another way I pushed the concept of a rug was to use a mitered facing binding on this quilt--much like how a rug is finished on the back. This optional way to finish this project gives the quilt a clean front and uninterrupted quilt design.

Kilim by Sharon Holland featuring Sketchbook fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics

I love how you can use a ton of different fabrics with this quilt. Most of the prints are from my Sketchbook fabrics collection with the addition of Gossamer fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics. 

Here's a look at the finished quilt back with a mitered facing binding. The instructions for this quilt are written so you can do this facing binding technique or regular double-fold binding from the same 2-1/4'' cut strips. 

My Sketchbook fabric collection is a playful explosion of flowers and drawings. The Bloomescent quilt is a celebration of blooms created with large Drunkard's Path blocks. Even though this is labeled as an intermediate pattern, don't be intimidated by the curved piecing. The 6'' Drunkard's Path square is a gentle curve to piece and easy to learn how to stitch.

Bloomescent by Sharon Holland featuring Sketchbook fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics

My third new pattern release is a foundation paper-pieced table runner called Sea Breeze. This project was my last make for my Coastline fabrics fall 2015 Quilt Market booth. I had only a handful of scraps to work with and this Palm Leaf block couldn't have been more perfect for the theme of the collection and my materials available. 

Sea Breeze by Sharon Holland featuring Coastline fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics

The Sea Breeze table runner pattern is rated as an advanced pattern and utilizes foundation paper-piecing techniques to achieve the perfect points on the Palm Leaf blocks. Step-by-step instructions for how to paper-piece are included in the PDF pattern. A small project like this is a great time to try paper-piecing since you only need to make 12 blocks!

Last but not least is Beach Glass, a modern quilt design made from a repeating geometric pattern. I've rated this as an intermediate only because of the placement of the squares and half-square triangles. The making of blocks is straightforward and definitely a beginner level--just follow the quilt diagram closely for placement and orientation to achieve the repeat pattern effect. 

Beach Glass by Sharon Holland featuring Gossamer fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics

Stitched in cool blues, seafoam green, and sandy brown this calming color palette was made using my Gossamer fabrics and Pure Elements from Art Gallery Fabrics. Simple half-square triangles and squares are used to create the repeating design of this quilt. Randomly spaced, straight line quilting gives the feeling of rippling water. 

Visit my Craftsy pattern page to purchase these or any of my other PDF patterns. Be sure to tag me #sharonhollanddesigns when you post pictures of your completed makes so I can see your lovely projects! Happy sewing xxxx