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.

Sweet Home & Faux Chenille

Sweet Home & Faux Chenille

Sweet Home quilt by Sharon Holland

Last week I released my newest quilt pattern called Sweet Home and shared images of one of the two Sweet Home quilts I’ve made from this pattern.

This week I’ll be showing the second quilt in a completely different fabric pull and color palette plus I’ve an awesome Chenille-It Blooming Bias giveaway to tell you about at the end of this post.

I love these quilts so much that I knew my two grandkids would love them too and have fun snuggling and playing on them. The first quilt with the Boho-Chic vibe of pinks, blush, and aqua was made for my granddaughter and her baby brother needed an All-American boy version. At two years old, he’s already showing preferences and one of them is his love for stripes!

Art Gallery Fabrics Sweet Home quilt fabric pull

Since this pattern is made for digging into your stash and using lots of prints that’s exactly what I did! I pulled a mix of Art Gallery Fabrics from lines I’ve designed and added in AGF prints from other lines and designers to come up with this American Summer palette.

With all the fabric shortages right now I’m not sure all these prints will be easy to find but, if you’d like to duplicate the American Summer version I’ve made the pattern supplement into a PDF download. Simply click on the graphic above and print it out for your reference when using the Sweet Home pattern.

The print used as the backing on both my Sweet Homes quilt is Lillium from my very first Art Gallery Fabrics collection. I used each of the color ways and in the fabric pull photo, I’ve listed the sku info for the color way used in this American Summer version.

The geometric quilting design on this quilt was long arm quilted by Brooke Becker of Lady Belle Fabric. Brooke did the quilting on both of my Sweet Home quilts and has a large selection of quilting designs and styles to choose from. I highly recommend her long arm services and as a fabric shop. Brooke’s quilting is perfection and the service incredible!

Sweet Home quilt kits available at Lady Belle Fabric

Find Sweet Home quilt kits at Lady Belle Fabric in a beautiful Art Gallery Fabrics fabrics curated by Brooke. Don’t delay, she sold out of kits last week but has reordered and restocked—they’re sure to go fast!

How to Apply Faux Chenille

The number one comment or question I’ve had about this quilt is about the chenille binding. So, this week it’s all about adding faux chenille to a quilt! I’ve put together a You Tube video to show you just how easy it is to attach Chenille-It Blooming Bias to a quilt to get this amazing faux chenille finish to the edges. Click video below to watch!

Easy-peasy, right!??! I’ve already ordered more Chenille-It 5/8’’-wide binding for my next new quilt pattern! Visit the Chenille-It Faux Chenille website and check out all the beautiful colors and project ideas! Keep reading till the end for a chance to win Blooming Bias tape for you and a friend!

I no longer have the Sweet Home quilts here and as soon as I took as many photos as I thought I’d need, I shipped both quilts out to my grandkids. This little guy set right to work servicing the town!

The quilts couldn’t have been made at a better time because my daughter and her family just this week closed on their new house and can get out of the rental they’ve been in since the beginning of the year. The kids have been sharing this room in a janky little turn-of-the-century house. My daughter painted the room and although it’s not got one straight wall, it was still a fun room to get these “in use” photos of the quilts. They’ll all be happier once settled into a house they can call their own.

Enter for a chance to win some Chenille-It Blooming Bias!

This week’s giveaway will be held over on Instagram. Visit my Instagram feed @sharonhollanddesigns for a chance for you and a tagged friend to win faux chenille Blooming Bias from Chenille-It. Follow the easy entry steps given in my Friday, May 22, 2020 Instagram post. Thanks to my sponsor, Chenille-It there’ll be 3 winning comments chosen! The randomly selected comments (with a tagged friend) will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern on Monday, May 25th. Winners IG handles will be posted on the IG giveaway post.

Hold Tight Sew Along Week #2

Hold Tight Sew Along Week #2

Welcome to Week #2 of the Hold Tight Sew Along! For this blog post, and the following two posts, I'll be share tips and tutorials to bring your quilting skills to a new level. No longer will curved piecing hold you back from stitching a quilt with curves! 

If you don't have the pattern already, you'll want to purchase the Hold Tight PDF pattern from my Shop page or from our friends at Fat Quarter Shop who now carries this pattern as well as Hold Tight quilt kits. These blog posts serve to supplement the instructions but don't provide the detailed pattern information that you'll find in the PDF available for purchase. The Hold Tight pattern will have your material list, cutting requirements, full-size templates, and be fully illustrated. My supplementary blog posts are just that, supplementary and meant to guide you along as you sew and give general patchwork sewing information for anyone sewing curves.

From March 20 until April 10, 2019 I'll be breaking down the key components of the Hold Tight baby quilt pattern into four manageable tutorial blog posts. These tutorials will be useful to anyone working with fabric and patchwork regardless what quilt is being made. In addition to my written posts, I’ve adding skill-building demonstration videos to further your learning experience. The videos support Weeks #1 through #3 and you’ll find these helpful videos on my Sew Along page. All the videos will be available on Week #1 of the sew along for those wanting to work ahead and will stay a permanent feature to resource in the future.

If you’ve just discovered this blog or only just heard about this sew along, there’s still plenty of time to join in on the fun and take part in the sponsored giveaway prizes for each week of the event. To get up to speed, take a look at the Week #1 posting dedicated to color selection and working with colors like a designer.

I’ve just finished a top for my third Hold Tight quilt! To give myself a color palette challenge I decided to find a color palette inspiration from Pinterest and let that determine the look of this quilt.

Colour Crush from Love Print Studio Blog

I fell in love with this terra cotta, coral, clay, forest green, and golden palette and knew that Art Gallery Fabrics carried so many Pure Solids in these ranges that coming up with a palette based on this Love Print Studio mood board would be a snap!

The morning of my fabric pull I was walking the dog and marveling at the blue sky when it dawned on me that an ombré background would be an awesome addition to this already earthy, southwestern-looking color palette—was I right???!!! My top is all pieced and am waiting for some Hobbs Poly-Down batting to arrive so I can quilt it. I’ve decide to use my Art Gallery Fabrics Destination Aerial print from my Tapestry collection as the backing and it could be any more perfect!

As promised, I want to share the fabric selection information with you. Now, be warned that doing an ombré background you’ll need to double the amount of background fabric for this quilt because of the size and odd shapes of the pieces create a lot of waste and left over fabrics. I used six gradient fabrics for horizontal rows of color with the two middle blues being used in two horizontal rows. Altogether you’ll need 25 colors (or 27 if each background row is a different gradient) to make a Hold Tight quilt with an ombré background. The rest of the yardage is unchanged.

Cutting Templates and Fabrics

The Hold Tight PDF pattern comes with the full-size templates which already include the seam allowances. Be sure when printing out your PDF pattern that you set you printer to 100%, no scale. Select a US letter paper size and deselect any borderless option (no borderless). Each template page has a 1” square reference square to check for printing scale accuracy. It’s extremely important you print the templates to true size.

With a permanent marking tool, trace the shapes onto heavy template plastic. I highly recommend Dritz Heavy Duty Template Plastic. Transfer shape letter information, grain line arrow. When tracing the Block Trimming Template, include the seam allowance and curves onto your template. Cut templates out with household scissors. Learn more about creating templates from the Hold Tight Sew Along Week #2 video found on my Sew Along page.

Refer to the PDF pattern for strip cutting information and number of pieces to cut. Let template straight edges and grain line marks help you to align the templates onto the fabrics for cutting. A 28 mm rotary cutter is highly suggested for cutting around curves. Use the extra guides of rotary cutter rulers when working on straight edges.

Tip: To help hold the template in place while cutting, roll Washi tape onto itself to make double-sided tape. Adhere the rolled tape onto the back of a template shape in 2-4 places. Fabric can be rotated for cutting ease without disturbing the template position and the taped template can be reused several times before the tape looses it stickiness.

When cutting the B shape pieces, utilize the straight edge of the strip to cut the first shape then rotate the template to make the second cut which leaves an oval shaped scrap. For more demonstrations on cutting see Week #2 video.

Unfortunately, curved patchwork comes with waste pieces. If you plan to do additional curved sewing like trying your had at my free Orange Peel Table Runner these waste pieces can be cut down into smaller sizes and used. Start a bin of castoff curves for that next project.

Stitching, pressing, and squaring up of a finished block will be covered next week and also in Week #3 Sew Along video Part 1 and 2 but I put this image here to show the importance that the template markings play in creating the Block Trimming Template.

A sew along’s 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! Every Friday I’ll be posting weekly a 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 found HERE, your fabric pull, blocks, and finished quilt. Be sure to follow me on Instagram @sharonhollanddesigns so you never miss a thing!

THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY SPONSOR IS from DRITZ Sewing and Omnigrid

This Friday, March 29, 2019 the giveaway prize will be these wonderful Dritz and Omnigrid products:

Omnigrid 28 mm Rotary Cutter

2 Sheets of Dritz Heavy Duty Template Plastic

Dritz Shower Curtain Rings

Dritz Slip ‘N Grips

Glow Head Pins

Fabric Marking Pencils

If you’re wondering why I selected Dritz Shower Curtain Rings to be part of this giveaway package it’s because I love using everyday object in new ways and find this size shower ring to be so handy for keeping template pieces together, organizing swatch cards, note cards, bobbins, keys, etc. Anytime you can organize your work area is a good day, right?

Please note that this giveaway package is for US residence only (sorry, international friends, due to overseas shipping costs I’m asked by our sponsor to keep this giveaway US only.)

Don't forget the giveaways for this sew along are held on Instagram (not on the blog) and winning names are randomly drawn from the posts in the hashtag pool. By posting images of your Hold Tight color inspiration, fabric pull, blocks, or quilt. Use the official #holdtightsewalong hashtag every time you post your makes (to a public account) and you're automatically entered into the weekly IG drawings! See my Instagram Friday giveaway posts @sharonhollanddesigns for full details. 

My Signature Sampler Week #17

My Signature Sampler Week #17

Here we are, week #17 and reveal finale of the My Signature Sampler sew along! I feel like I have a documentation of this years spring and summer flowers all stitched into a beautiful sampler quilt.

It’s been a joy sewing with my Signature fabrics for Art Gallery Fabrics (AGF) and a treat for me to see so many of you also sewing with my Signature collection or with other fabric collections I’ve designed for AGF. I’ve seen so many amazing new fabric pairings that I’m seriously thinking the next sampler sew along I host will be to make a quilt in prints from across my collections. But, that wouldn’t be until early next year—which will be here before we know it.

Assembly

For this week’s blog post it’s all about assembling the blocks and finishing your quilt. Luckily for me in writing this post, I’ve already covered the tips and tricks for quilt finishing in other sew along post so, if you need extra help with assembling your top, be watching for links to previous tutorials throughout the text in this post.

I've been adding the setting triangles to my finished blocks as I constructed them but many of you may have been waiting to finish all your blocks before deciding on fabric choices and block arrangements, which I completely understand so this post is dedicated to assembly and finishing.

I used a combination of my Perennial print from Printemps Fusions and Untamed Beauty Daybreak from Signature as the background setting of my quilt and stuck to original layout found in the first week handouts.

Working with directional prints in half-square triangle units

The setting triangles are made by cutting a 9-1/2'' square on the diagonal to make two setting triangles. Be mindful of print direction, if applicable. See Community Sampler Week #13 for block setting instructions. 

Here’s a look at my sampler top after stitching all the setting triangles and blocks together. This is the original option without the added Chevron borders added.

If you're interested in adding a Chevron border to your sampler quilt, take a look at the My Signature Sampler week #6 blog post and pick up the border supplement PDF. In the suppliment PDF I also talk about working with directional prints in the borders so please read instructions through thoroughly before beginning.

For my finished sampler I decided to use the top and bottom Chevron border option. This make the quilt a rectangle rather than a square and gives the effect of fringe on the two short ends of the quilt. I love the coral Extempore Celebration floral print addition on the Chevron borders and it plays beautifully to pop the Flamingo Pure Elements solid used in the frames of some of the blocks.

I was height-challenged when clipping my quilt to this fence at the local arboretum but I got the job done and this quilt just begged to be photographed outdoors. I only wish there were more flowers in bloom this time of year in Ohio. Oh well, the quilt makes up for what nature could not provide!

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I'm directing you to the blog post for Finishing that was originally posted during the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew along. You'll find all the tutorial information for spray basting, quilting, and binding your quilt. The sizes have changed but the concept for basting, quilting, and binding your quilt are the same. As stated in that post, there are many ways to finish a quilt and I am blogging about how I finish my quilts. If you have a preferred method, please do it the way you're comfortable with. If you intend to send your top off to be professionally quilted, discuss with your long-arm quilter how they'd like you to prepare your quilt top and backing for being quilted. 

QUILTING

I'm not a professional quilter by any means. I get by and call my quilting style "organic" because it's not perfect and lines are not straight. I love the human touch that non-perfect quilting adds to my quilts.

I used my favorite Hobb’s Tuscany Silk batting inside my quilt and love how light and drapey a quilt this size can be with silk batting inside. Especially for handling and maneuvering a large quilt when quilting on a mid-arm machine.

For a floral quilt like this, I wanted to go floral all the way and chose to do an all-over, organic stylized flower motif. This gives a dense quilting effect of timeless look and feel. I’ve not washed my quilt yet so it’s not even gotten any of that crinkly goodness laundering would add.

The backing on my quilt is from my Signature fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and is called Venture Forward seen here with the last few blooms of summer. I like the addition of this geometric print amongst all the florals and it reminds me of a trellis. For the binding I went with the Lateral Bud Profusion print from this same collection and it frames up the quilt nicely with that incredible teal color.

GIVEAWAY

This week’s our final Friday Giveaway for the My Signature Sampler sew along. This sew along was sponsored by the most amazing companies that generously donated incredible prizes to share with you. I want to give a big thank you to all my sponsors for their part in making this sew along so much fun!

OUR SPONSORS

Art Gallery Fabrics | Hobbs Batting | The Quilter's Planner | Quilters Candy Box | Bloc_Loc | Dritz | Omnigrid | Fat Quarter Shop

THIS WEEK'S GIVEAWAY SPONSOR IS: Quilter’s Candy Box

The Quilter’s Candy Box began in 2016 by Elizabeth Chappell with a wish to surprise and delight quilters with an exciting quilting experience of novelty and boutique notions, patterns, the latest fabrics, and of course, yummy treats all contained in a monthly subscription box. With a motto of, “Satisfy your quilters craving” Quilter’s Candy Box was born.

Quilter’s Candy Box is a curated monthly subscription of quilting treats and a dessert, delivered right to your door. Every box has 5 to 8 items. In each box you’ll be surprised with beautiful fabric, an exciting pattern, and a delicious treat plus quality and unique quilting notions you’re sure to love!

Blog  *  Facebook *  Instagram  * Pinterest

Elizabeth Chappell of Quilter’s Candy Box

When one project ends another one begins! So, for the My Signature Sampler finale giveaway prize, one lucky winner here on the blog will receive the October Quilter’s Candy Box.

Note: This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents, sorry international friends. See giveaway rules for details.

Who doesn’t love a surprise?

The Quilter’s Candy Box contents are kept a secret until subscription boxes land in hundreds of waiting mail boxes (around the middle of each month). Even now I cannot show you what the October box will contain but I can give you a little hint! The October box will include fabrics from Amy Sinibaldi’s beautiful new Sonata collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and sure to be amazing!

Giveaway now closed. Congratulations to Barbara Matzat!

Note: This giveaway is open to US address only for this prize. 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 Quilter’s Candy Box on any of their social media platforms (see links above). Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. My followers get a third entry! If you follow me via subscribing to my posts, on Pinterest, and/or Instagram, just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-third entry).

4. 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 the My Signature Sampler sew along on YOUR instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest by pinning any of my pretty images in this post, etc... (separate comment-fourth entry). 

That’s FOUR possible entries—maximum! Enter now through Monday, October 15th! The winner will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram by posting images of your sampler inspiration, sampler fabric pull, or blocks. Use the official #mysignaturesampler hashtag every time you post your My Signature Sampler makes (to a public account) and you're automatically entered into the weekly IG drawings as well! See my Instagram giveaway posts @sharonhollanddesigns for full details. 

Happy sewing!

Sharon