Bountiful Blog Tour Week 3 Recap

Bountiful Blog Tour Week 3 Recap

The last three weeks have been a virtual feast for the eyes, as 16 highly talented designers blogged about their Bountiful fabrics makes. I love how each Blogger was inspired by the prints in my newest fabric line and the different Art Gallery Fabrics substrates to create amazing and diverse projects for this tour. Revisit week #1 and week #2 to see all the fabulous projects. 

Learn more about my inspiration behind the Bountiful collection in this Art Gallery Fabrics video interview.

And learn more about this week's Makers:

Monday

You all know how much I adore my Sewcial Bee Sampler co-host, Maureen Cracknell! My tour would not be complete without one of Maureen's special makes. Her fearless use of prints and on-trend style is an exciting combination. I am crazy over the tote bag Maureen stitched in her signature herringbone design. Be sure to visit Maureen's blog to see all the details inside and out on this bag!

Photo by Maureen Cracknell

Photo by Maureen Cracknell

Tuesday

Most of you know Lynn Harris (Little Ren Hen) for her intricate patchwork quilts and author of Every Last Piece but did you know she can also sew garments? Lynn and her granddaughter used the Haymow Stack and Vine Umbra knits from my collection to make to most comfy and gorgeous garments. See all the pieces and read about who made which piece on Lynn's blog. I adore this photobombing chicken in the photo of her grand children in the Haymow Stack print. 

Photo by Lynn Carson Harris

Photo by Lynn Carson Harris

Wednesday

On Wednesday, Anjeanette Klinder showed us her stunning hexagon quilt design. Because of family health emergencies, Anjeanette was not able to have a finished quilt by the time of the blog tour. I highly encourage you to follow her progress on this quilt and her other makes because Anjeanette is an extremely talented designer and exceptionally skilled quilter. See more of her makes on her blog

Photo by Anjeanette Klinder

Photo by Anjeanette Klinder

Photo by Anjeanette Klinder

Photo by Anjeanette Klinder

Thursday

I knew when I asked Mathew Boudreaux of Mister Domestic to be part of my blog tour he'd make something extraordinary--even before he knew what that make would be--I knew it would be good! M.D. is always pushing the creative envelop and I love how he incorporated all the latest and greatest quilting tools and techniques to bring us something new. This guy's amazing and you need to find out what he's up to and get the tutorial for this cushion on his blog. The two cushions he made for my tour are spectacular from the Tumbling Block top to the AGF denim handle! A big thanks to his daughter Helena for letting me borrow these pillows for my Bountiful booth at Quilt Market next month. xxx

Photo by Mathew Boudreaux

Photo by Mathew Boudreaux

Friday

Friday was a special day because we had the dynamic duo of Alexis Wright of My Sweet Sunshine Studio and Sue Stone, owner of Needle in a Fabric Stash quilt shop teaming up to blog on our final day of the tour. Each Maker blogged about their project but the two joined forces in photographing their projects, bringing us beautiful in-use photos and settings. You may remember these two pairing up during my Coastline blog tour for the amazing quilt and garments shoot by the ocean. 

Alexis is a garment pattern designer and sewer extraordinaire for Violette Field Threads. She took the Evelyn dress pattern to a higher level by adding Flying Geese to the bodice. For those of you making Sewcial Bee Sampler blocks, this Flying Geese pattern she used is next week's block #13! Too bad the weeks didn't align but Alexis's points sure did! I'm blown away by the creativity of this dress and the levels of meaning it has to myself and my friend Alexis. This is truly thoughtful design at it's best! See more of this remarkable make on Alexis's blog. 

Photo by Alexis Wright

Photo by Alexis Wright

With Earth Day on April 22nd, what better way to use your fabrics and save the world at the same time with Sue Stone's Use, Stash, and Repeat pattern. Sue brought us three re-usable shopping tote bags made from an assortment of prints from my Bountiful fabrics. I want to make all of them! Roomy totes in pretty prints make shopping even more fun. Best of all they fold up small to always have on hand. See these hard working totes in use on Sue's blog and stop (or shop online) at Sue's shop for Bountiful fabrics!

Photo by Sue Stone

Photo by Sue Stone

In the past, I've always had a fabric bundle giveaway at the end of a blog tour. This Bountiful blog tour will be a little different in that the bundle giveaway will be an Instagram, one day only event, for Cat Callicoat's Autism Awareness drive. On Saturday, April 29th, for 12 hours only, you will have an opportunity to enter your name into a drawing for a fat quarter bundle of all 20 prints from the Bountiful collection. Visit Cat's instagram feed as she helps us to understand more about Autism through her family's struggles and triumphs. Daily prize drawings from your favorite shops and makers help to spread awareness on the month long event. Follow me on Instagram for next Saturday's prompt and how to enter your name into the drawing. 

Be watching Art Gallery Fabrics this week for the Bountiful Lookbook release. AGF Lookbooks are virtual magazines full to the brim with gorgeous photos of sewing inspiration. I can't wait to see how the creative AGF team has put together the Lookbook for this collection. 

It fills my heart to have so many people joyfully creating with my fabrics and I want to give a huge thanks to all the talented designers that made the Bountiful Blog Tour a success.

Heidi Staples - Fabric Mutt

Emily Dennis - Quilty Love

Minki Kim - Minki Kim

Heather Andrus - Quilt Story

Sharon McConnell - Color Girl Quilts

Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View

Elina Temmes - Elina Temmes

Kim Niedzwiecki - Gogo Kim

Katie Skoog - The Simple Life Company

Cindy Wiens - Live a Colorfullife

Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade

Lynn Harris - The Little Red Hen

Anjeanette Klinder - Anjeanette K

Mathew Boudreaux - Mister Domestic

Alexis Wright - My Sweet Sunshine Studio

Sue Stone - Needle in a Fabric Stash

I'm also excited for next month when I bring you new quilts and projects for Spring Quilt Market in St. Louis. I've been busy, busy, sewing and quilting. At some point I have to stop thinking of new projects to make and finish all the one's I've started--I'm having so much fun with this collection!

 

Week #12 SBS Giveaway

Week #12 SBS Giveaway

Art Gallery Fabrics Garden Dreamer by Maureen Cracknell and Bountiful by Sharon Holland

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  &nbsp…

TODAY'S FEATURED SEWCIAL BEE SAMPLER SPONSOR is the Knotted Thread!

Our sponsor the Knotted Thread is run by Jenn, a fabric lover with a passion for sewing! In her shop you'll find both bundles and single cuts of Fat Quarters, Half Yards, Yards, and Yardage, as well as some of Jenn's very own handmade items up or sale!! Designer fabrics include many of our favorites -- Free Spirit, Cotton & Steel, and Art Gallery Fabrics just to name a few! You can visit the Knotted Thread blog to sign up for the new monthly Newsletter, HERE


Shop  *  Instagram  *  Facebook  *  Blog   We hope you enjoy visiting the Knotted Thread!

For this week's Sewcial Bee Giveaway, the Knotted Thread is offering one lucky commenter a $25 Gift Certificate to her wonderful shop!

{THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED}

CONGRATULATIONS TO Jessie Hansen FOR BEING THE WINNER OF THE SEWCIAL BEE SAMPLER $25 Knotted Thread gift certificate!

 

xxxx Sharon

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #12

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #12

We're buzzing right along and ready to start block #12 on our sampler quilts! My co-host Maureen Cracknell and I are thrilled with all the blocks being made and the awesome virtual community that's been created by this sew along. We're still seeing new SBS Makers joining us every day so please be sure to welcome the new members and help out where you can with encouragement and any tips you've learned along the way. Thank you for being such a wonderful, supportive community, I know many new friendships have been made because of the SBS.

With spring here and yard work calling us away from our sewing machines I know it will be very easy to fall behind on your blocks. Don't worry, even if you cannot pick up the PDF instructions right away they will remain on our sites long after the 26-week long SBS is completed. I want to remind you not to post the instructions from your web site (please read the copyright blurb on the instructions and on the right sidebar of this blog). Instead, link your readers back to mine or Maureen's blogs for the instructions and the tutorial supporting posts. Thanks!

If you're just joining, you may want to start at the beginning of the community sewing bee with my first post The Start of Something Sewcial and work your way up to the present. I've included tips and tutorials with each new block and they can be helpful, especially if you're new to quilting. 

Download the free Right Angle block from my Sew Along page.

Right Angle is going to be a fun block because it's composed of 2-at-a-time HST and 2-1/2" squares. You'll find this another fast one to piece. There's no tutorial today, instead I will refer you all the way back to block #2 for the 2-at-a-time HST tutorial and to the SBS Extras post if you'd like making larger HST to trim down to the 2-1/2" size for piecing. Remember to be mindful of your cutting and seam allowance accuracy for best patchwork results.

I had every intention of not only sewing a second Right Angle block for the other SBS quilt I'm stitching but to start getting ahead on my block making. I was lucky to get one block done today and photographed for this blog post. Oh well, maybe tomorrow I'll get more done!

My Right Angle block (seen here on top of a quilt I've made for my Quilt Market booth) is made using Bountiful fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics. I used Vine Braid for the background and Tartan Field Midnight and Haymow Early for the angles. I played around with the placement of the sections of this block and even though I made it exactly as the instructions say, I flipped two of the sections to split the "V" for a different look. I bet we'll see a lot of interesting interpretations of this block on Instagram.

Aurifil      Circa 15      The Intrepid Thread      Fat Quarter Shop      Omnigrid      Llama Fabrics      Color Girl  &nbsp…

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 Knotted Thread

Note: Normally, Maureen and I trade off each week but we had some schedule conflicts so I will do another week in a row and then Maureen will take two weeks in a row--don't worry, we'll let you know where to go to enter!

Bountiful Blog Tour Week 2 Recap

Bountiful Blog Tour Week 2 Recap

Strangers are just friends waiting to happen.      
--unknown

All the talented designers featured on my Bountiful Blog Tour were once complete strangers to me. Through Instagram and networking I've connected with sewist that share my love of fabric and creating to become friends. I feel a deep connection to each and everyone of them and my heart is bursting from the time, effort, and love they've given to their projects made from my fabric designs. This is the second week of my blog tour. To see the first week recap, visit the Bountiful Blog Tour Week 1 Recap page for more amazing makes.

Bountiful is my newest fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics that celebrates the beauty and natural resources of the vast countryside in America's Midwest. You can find a full resource list of shops carrying my fabrics on the Shop Fabrics page on this blog. 

Monday

Silvia Sutters of A Stranger View started off our second week with adorable dresses for her daughters from Haymow Early and Abundant Galvanize knits. The Bountiful collection has five knit prints and AGF knits are soft and thick, making them perfect for children's (or adult) clothing. Silvia's girls look summer ready and so cute! Thank you Silvia for being part of my tour! To read all about what pattern she used and learn more about this fabulous modern quilter, visit Silvia's blog.

Photo by Silvia Sutters

Photo by Silvia Sutters

Tuesday

Elina Temmes is the perfect example of meeting someone through social media. Elina lives in Finland and I swear we are soul mates--at least in how we love low-volume fabrics and in our love of quilt making. Her stunning Tartan Field quilt (just one of the many makes for this tour) was inspired by the Tartan Field print in the Bountiful collection. I'm a huge fan of her intricate work, thank you so much for being part of my tour (and life) Elina! Take a look at all the pieces Elina's made for the tour, by visiting her Instagram feed @ElinaTemmes

Photo by Elina Temmes

Photo by Elina Temmes

Photo by Elina Temmes

Photo by Elina Temmes

Wednesday

Kim Niedzwiecki is a friend I actually met in person before becoming fast IG friends. I met the vivacious Go Go Kim at Quilt Market when she worked for Aurifil Threads and have had another occasion last summer to meet up and share many laughs and stories. Kim made this fast and fun quilt for her granddaughter using all 20 prints from the Bountiful collection. Read more about her quilt and the free bib pattern she made from scraps on her blog--I know you'll just love her as much as I do!

Photo by Kim Niedzwiecki

Photo by Kim Niedzwiecki

Thursday

Another blog tour maker I've had the pleasure of meeting in person is extremely talented Katie Skoog of The Simple Life Company. Katie's not only the owner of a children's clothing fabric company but designs the patterns and sews many of the samples herself! I don't know where she gets the energy and also raise her beautiful little girls. Katie has made these darling dresses from Vine Umbra knit (left) on her Isla dress and quilting cottons Perennial Renewal Prairie Crimson for the popular Molly dress (right). If you have little girls in your life that would love a handmade wardrobe, check out all the patterns on Katie's site!

Photo by Katie Skoog

Photo by Katie Skoog

Friday

On day 10/15 for our three week tour, Cindy Wiens of Live a Colorfullife wowed everyone with her Bountiful Breeze quilt. Cindy's an exceptional quilt designer and her make for this tour is a print version of her Delta Breeze quilt pattern originally made in solids. Visit Cindy's blog to find out more about this stunning quilt, the machine quilter who stitched the beautiful Baptist Fan variation quilting, and see a side-by-side of this versatile quilt design next to the solid version. 

I cannot thank these designers enough for making this blog tour so successful. xxxx

The Art Gallery Fabrics team has been busy this week photographing and preparing the Bountiful Fabrics Lookbook. As we all anxiously await it's release, here's a quick project to celebrate spring courtesy of AGF. Learn how to make these sweet Fabric Flowers with this fun video tutorial. 

Fabric Flowers photo by Art Gallery Fabrics

Fabric Flowers photo by Art Gallery Fabrics

Follow along as next week we wrap up the Bountiful Blog Tour with six more talented designers.