Hold Tight Sew Along

Hold Tight Sew Along

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Since adding the Hold Tight baby quilt pattern to my Shop last week there’s been such an amazing response to this pattern and so many sales that I thought it would be a great pattern for a sew along.

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Hold Tight is a throw-size baby quilt made with 20 different Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids colors and curved patchwork pieces. Those two features make this quilt a tiny bit more challenging than typical straight-piece patchwork. But, don’t let this intermediate level pattern stop you from trying it—neither of these these aspects are as hard as you may think! Read more about this quilt from the original blog post—Hold Tight Quilt.

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For the very reason that this quilt pattern has skill challenges makes it the perfect quilt to build tutorials around! In fact, for this sew along I’m even going the extra mile and creating accompanying You Tube videos to go with the different steps for piecing the quilt.

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Every Wednesday from March 20th until April 10th I’ll post a tutorial here on the blog covering tips and tricks for taking your patchwork to the next level. There’s no special sign up for this sew along. The only thing you’ll need for sewing along (other that materials for the quilt) is to purchase the pattern from my Shop page.

Week #1

I’ll share with you how I work with colors. This basic color theory knowledge is something that transcends beyond working with fabrics in patchwork and can be helpful if you’re an artist/hobbiest, decorating your home, putting together your wardrobe, or anything that has to do with color. Balloons and the transparency effect of balloons overlapping is the graphic hallmark of this quilt design and the possibilities for color combinations are endless. The Hold Tight quilt pattern calls for 20 different solids which can feel a bit overwhelming so I’ll be giving you some tools for knowing where to start and how to select your colors. I’ll be using Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids material in my quilts and fabric pull examples.

The You Tube videos for this sew along will all be available on the first week for those of you that would like to work ahead (as this quilt will not take four weeks to complete). Just be sure to snap pictures of your progress as you sew so you can share your progress on Instagram. I’ll be using the official #HoldTightSewAlong hashtag on Instagram to grow a hashtag pool for sew along giveaways. Read more about the giveaways below.

Week #2

Templates have been included in the PDF pattern for the three different shapes used to create blocks as well as a Block Trimming templates. Transferring your templates to template plastic and cutting out the fabric shapes will be covered in week #2. I’ll have tricks for making your cutting easier.

Week #3

For those that have shied away from curved piecing because it looks too hard will find out just how easy curved piecing can be with week #3 pinning, stitching, and pressing tutorials. Create absolutely square blocks and perfect seam allowances.

Week #4

The finish line! Put all the blocks together, baste, quilt, and bind your Hold Tight quilt. Week #4 and beyond is the big reveal weeks. Show off your make and don’t forget to use the #HoldTightSewAlong hashtag and tag me @sharonhollanddesigns when posting to social media.

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A sew along is a lot more fun with sponsors and giveaways, right!? Our friends at Dritz Sewing, the Fat Quarter Shop, Hobbs Batting, and Omnigrid have generously provided the Hold Tight Sew Along with products I know you’ll love!

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GIVEAWAY

Every Friday, beginning on March 22nd, 2019 I’ll be posting the weekly giveaway on Instagram. By using the hashtag #HoldTightSewAlong on Instagram every time you post sew along photos to a public account (private account posts don’t show up in hashtag pools) your IG account is automatically entered into the weekly sew along drawings! Ideas for what to share include your sew along progress, the I’m a maker sew along badge, your fabric pull, blocks, and finished quilt.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns so you never miss a thing!

HOLD TIGHT PATTERN GIVEAWAY Now Closed. Congratulations to: Rita Long, Laurie Reissler, and Teri!

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 me @sharonhollanddesigns on Instagram (see link above). Just let me know that you do/did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. 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 being a Hold Tight Sew Along Maker on YOUR instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest by pinning any of my pretty images in this post (separate comment-third entry). 

That’s THREE possible entries! Enter now through Monday, March 18th! I’ll randomly pick THREE winners from the comments on this post around 4 pm Eastern time on Monday. I’ll post the names of the winners on this post once they've been notified and responded to my emails.

Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram! Look for my PDF pattern giveaway post where you simply leave a comment on that post and tag a friend. I’ll be giving away a total of 10 PDF patterns through Instagram—that’s one for the commenter and one for the tagged friend—so five randomly drawn comments.

Use the official #HoldTightSewAlong hashtag every time you post your Hold Tight makes (to a public IG account) and you're automatically entered into the weekly IG hashtag pool drawings that start on March 22nd! See my Instagram giveaway posts @sharonhollanddesigns for more chances to win this week’s PDF pattern giveaways. 

Happy sewing!

Sharon






Hold Tight Quilt

Hold Tight Quilt

Hold Tight Baby Quilt by Sharon Holland Designs

Hold Tight Baby Quilt by Sharon Holland Designs

I’m so excited to bring you this new PDF quilt pattern! I swear this is has been the most fun I’ve ever had designing and making of a quilt.

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My niece is having their first baby and is decorating the nursery in an Up theme from the movie by that name. Balloons are an important part of the movie and I certainly had a challenge on my hands to create a special quilt that carried (pardon the pun) that fun and colorful aspect of the storyline.

I knew right away this would be an all solids quilt and since I sew with nothing else but Art Gallery Fabrics I got out all my Pure Solids and made some fabric choices. The image above was an early fabric pull and you’ll notice some colors changed in the final quilt design.

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This baby quilt is purposely over-sized as it will be a great design for baby to grow into. I envision blanket forts, snuggles at story time, and naps out on the sofa well past toddler years.

Gender-neutral, colorful balloons are given an extra layer of fun with playful transparency overlapping colors. This quilt uses 20 different Art Gallery Fabrics Pure Solids (that number includes the background) and the possibilities are endless for creating looks and nursery color matching. Playing with color is the so much fun that I’ve included a coloring page in the PDF pattern so you can test out different options.

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Since this quilt will surely be laundered a lot and I wanted it snuggly warm I used Hobbs Tuscany Collection 100% Premium Polyester batting for extra loft, durability, and warmth.

As if this quilt wasn’t fun enough I added some chunky hand stitching in Aurifloss 6-strand thread to make “strings” for the balloons after it was machine quilted and before binding.

This pattern is available to purchase as a PDF download on my SHOP page. Because of the curved piecing I am labeling this an Intermediate level quilt pattern but I feel a confident beginner will also achieve great results.

Included in the that PDF pattern is a block squaring template for perfect results every time. I highly suggest using Dritz brand Heavy Duty Template Plastic for making your templates from the PDF templates and a 28 mm rotary cutter for cutting curved pieces. See full materials list on the listing for the pattern and affiliate links at the end of this post for my Amazon picks.

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I can’t wait to see your Hold Tight quilt make for your special little someone. Be sure to tag me @sharonhollanddesigns and use the hashtag #HoldTightQuilt and #SharonHollandQuilts when posting to social media and if you’re using Art Gallery Fabric Pure Solids don’t forget to tag @ArtGalleryFabrics and use the hashtags #AGFPureSolids and #PureSolids so they can also see your beautiful sewing!

Happy New Year - 2019

Happy New Year - 2019

My last post was the end of November 2018 so I need to fill you in on what’s happened between then and now. December went by so fast I didn’t even get a chance to make an appearance on this space-my apologies.

Holly Spring by Sharon Holland

Holly Spring by Sharon Holland

My December revolved around friends and family and I just didn’t bother with keeping up my social spaces during that family time. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving through Christmas and I hope you did as well.

If you follow me on Instagram you saw that I had painted similar sprigs of holly art for sale and then painted larger pieces as gifts. I was very pleased with the response to my art and am very encouraged to continue painting and eventually selling prints and originals in the future. Thanks to everyone who purchased my art!

Holly by Sharon Holland

Holly by Sharon Holland

Right after Christmas and up until writing this post I’ve managed to find extra time to paint. I’ve been exploring acrylics and revisiting watercolors when painting these following pieces.

October Bouquet by Sharon Holland

October Bouquet by Sharon Holland

Daisies by Sharon Holland

Daisies by Sharon Holland

 
Floral Wreath - yellows - Sharon Holland

Floral Wreath - yellows - Sharon Holland

 
Floral Wreath - reds - Sharon Holland

Floral Wreath - reds - Sharon Holland

Exploring with different mediums and styles is a good way for me to reacquaint myself with painting. The more I create, the more my style as an artist will emerge. I feel I need to make a larger body of work before I decide which paintings to turn into prints and what sort of products to offer (note cards, posters, fabric, original art, etc).

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In the world of design there’s a lot of hurry up and waiting going on behind the scenes. It’s not always easy to have things to share because release dates are set way into the future. Very soon spring fabric collections will be revealed and this week I’m putting the finishing touches on a short intro video for my next Art Gallery Fabrics line. The photo above shows my office workspace littered with ideas for a fall collection that I’m currently working on and the photo below is a still shot from my promo video.

Sharon Holland - Designer

Sharon Holland - Designer

Case in point is my quilt featured in Quilts & More magazine. I made this quilt last spring and sent it off to my friends at All People quilt as soon as it was finished. Because a magazine need to work so far in advance, it was not going to show up in print until the Spring 2019 issue—that’s a long time to wait to be able to show you my quilt! Good thing I had plenty to keep me busy with until now because I really hate wating!

Sense of Direction by Sharon Holland. Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Sense of Direction by Sharon Holland. Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

This fun quilt is made using fabrics from my Signature collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and AGF Pure Elements solids. Great for even a beginner, this full-size quilt is a quick to piece and with it’s simple, diagonal quilting it’s also quick to finish.

Sense of Direction by Sharon Holland. Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Sense of Direction by Sharon Holland. Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

 
Sense of Direction by Sharon Holland

Sense of Direction by Sharon Holland

Look for the Spring Quilts & More magazine on newsstands beginning January 11th.

Quilts & More Spring 2019. Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

Quilts & More Spring 2019. Used with permission from Quilts & More™ magazine. ©2019 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

What a bright and beautiful way to start out the first post of the new year with all these flowers and colorful quilts and projects!

Looking ahead, I know many of you are wondering if Maureen Cracknell and I are planning a new sew along for this year…well, remember that hurry up and wait aspect of designing? After much deliberation we both decided we’ll be skipping this year. Preparing a sew along takes months of advance work which both Maureen and I don’t have at our disposal right now. Speaking for myself I have personal and artistic growth reasons why I need to step away from a sew along this year.

Over the last two years and three sew alongs we’ve prepared you for patchwork success and pushed you to push yourself as an artist. When we start our next sampler (hopefully in early 2020) you’ll be ready to take on bigger challenges right along side us.

You can expect to see new fabric lines from both Maureen and myself, blog tour appearances, and with various “irons in the fire” you won’t be without new inspiration, new sewing projects, and fabrics to add to your stash throughout the year. We hope you’ll continue to stop by our blogs and other social platforms to say “hi” and see what we’re up to.

Cheers to a new year and all it has to offer!


Castle Garden Quilt

Castle Garden Quilt

Castle Garden quilt pattern by Sharon Holland

Castle Garden quilt pattern by Sharon Holland

Hi everyone, I’ve got a new PDF pattern release in my SHOP! The beautiful Castle Garden quilt pattern is now available as a PDF download and in addition you can now purchase and download this pattern directly from my website in a secure shopping cart.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be adding my other for purchase PDF patterns to my SHOP page so it’s more convenient for you to make purchases—rather than sending you off-site to a second-party like in the past. My patterns will still remain up on Crafty but now you can shop right from this blog as well.

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My Castle Garden quilt pattern was originally designed for the May 2018 Quilter’s Candy Box as a collaborative project using Maureen Cracknell’s Flower Child fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and was originally available only as a printed pattern.

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Hidden amongst mother earth’s beauty lives the Flower Child. A world filled with lush meadows, wild bouquets & the spirit of the flower child painted with fuchsia, blush pink & teal.

Maureen always creates magical collections and when she asked me to design a quilt for her Flower Child prints I wanted it to be special and showcase the beautiful Sisterhood print of crowned flower girls.

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The extra-large Castle Garden blocks are perfect for showing off all the prints and framing the Sisterhood print in what I like to think of as an aerial view of a four tower castle complete with Pure Element solid peach flags.

I’m very pleased with how this quilt looks and from a piecing-geek perspective, how I devised and new no-waste method of piecing a tricky patchwork unit used in this design. I do label this quilt as intermediate because there’s a lot of moving parts to the blocks and several different types of units to make before block assembly. But, with that said, the instructions are fully illustrated with step-by-step instructions and I feel confident great results can be achieved even from a confident beginner level maker.

This full-size bed quilt was quilted with Hobb’s Tuscany Silk batting inside and you know by now how much I love that batting. It’s lightweight, drapes beautifully, and handles like a dream. I chose to do a clam-shell type of freeform quilt design with an extra curly flourish in the center. I like how the quilting feels wispy and cloud-like around the castles.

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This pattern is now available in print or PDF format. See SHOP for details and select desired format type when ordering.


Giveaway now closed. Congratulations to: Kathryn Laposata, Anna Brown, and Amy Loar!

To say “Thank you” to my wonderful followers and celebrate me finally getting around to implementing the digital download feature on my commerce page I want to give away PDF versions of my Castle Garden quilt pattern.

I will randomly draw three lucky winners from the comments left on this post. Winners will be sent a Castle Garden PDF pattern via an email address. Please remember to leave some way to get ahold of you—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to redraw a name because of no contact information.

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(s)--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post telling me what you’re thankful for.

Enter now through Tuesday, November 13th! The winners will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winners on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

Thank you!

Sharon