May 29, 2010

Winners! Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2010

Again I must say thank you to all the great shops that sponsored the festival!  Here's the massive list of prizes and winners -

460. SteffiD

622. Carissa V


71. Carin@Margaret's Hope Chest

106. Pat

497. Sew Like a Man

329. Lorna 











    236. Az álmok valóra válnak 


    404. Jamie in Louisiana

    536. Labores Gloria 


    302. Heather@TripleBlessing



    Congratulations to all of you!!  In some cases I just need your email, others I will need your mailing address as well.  Please email me with "I'm a Winner!" in the subject line at amyscreativeside@gmail.com, and tell me which shop you have been listed under.  Thanks so much, this helps me coordinate things a bit quicker :)

    All the winners were selected with Random Number Generator, and if winners do not email me by Wednesday, June 2nd, I will select alternate winners.

    I am thrilled to have had such a fantastic turn out for the festival!  Thank you all so much for participating and sharing your heart and talent with us.
    Blessings~
    Amy

    **Claimed**
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    May 28, 2010

    Last Call!


    I can hardly believe it's been a week!  The week has been so full, with the festival and all of the usual family happenings.  Today is the last day to add your link to the list.  I hope you got your quilt finished up, or figured out all the linking - again everyone is welcome :)

    The Quilt Festival post is here, it has been moving down my page.  I will announce winners over the weekend, and will need the winners to email me (too much to coordinate!) so be sure to check the list for your name right away!

    With over 600 quilters on the list, I'm going to be working my way through the festival....eventually!  Thank you all again for sharing your quilts and your stories with us all - bloggers are the BEST!

    Have a great weekend everyone ~
    Amy


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    May 26, 2010

    Update & Thanks!

    As of this morning there are 572 quilts entered in our Festival!  Amazing!  There's still time if you have been working on a finish, or working up the nerve to participate.  Everyone is welcome, no matter your style or skill level.  We would love to see your quilt - please go write a post and link up!  The linky closes Friday, midnight, then will be permanent links on my post.

    A very sweet blog friend sent me this gorgeous fabric care package -
    Thank you Terri, your gift made my day!

    I'm slowly working through the links - we've had a nasty spring cold in the house.  I keep thinking today I/the kids will feel better, but it's not happening...yet!  Time to sanitize the house again.  I checked with the pediatrician's office earlier, we just need to wait it out at the moment.  Need to get some more OJ :)

    I hope that you are well and blessed~
    Amy
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    May 25, 2010

    Spring Quilt Festival

    Like most of you, I've spent a good amount of time thinking which quilt I wanted to post for the festival.  There's a number I really wish I could share, but that will have to be at a later date :)  In the end, I decided to post my Hunky Bars quilt, it is simple, yet beautiful and well loved in this house!
     I had drawn a quick sketch of this quilt months prior to making it, and so when I was finally able to make it, just because, it was really refreshing to make.  This was one of those quilts that just needed to be made, I have a few more like that, and a few bags too!  I hope to get to more of them in the coming weeks.

    For me, this quilt reinforces the thought that I've shared here before:  "a quilt doesn't have to be complicated to be beautiful and well loved".  I hope you agree :)
    While making it I photographed the entire process so that I could make tutorials for here, lots of pictures later you can pretty much learn to quilt right here!




    It seems like everyone is enjoying the show, if you have any troubles with the Linky, let me know I'm happy to help!

    Thank you so much for posting and participating~
    Amy
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    May 24, 2010

    Featured Quilters


    Hi there!  How was your weekend?  Have you made it very far through the list?

    I have had a nice weekend celebrating my birthday with the family (thank you for the birthday wishes!) and keeping up with all of you here.  As of last night I am to #50 - not very far - yet....I've been fixing links and reading your lovely comments - thank you :).

    I mentioned this in my Festival post, but I want to remind you about it again - I need your feature nominations for after the festival - please!


    While you are blog hopping - please let me know if you see a quilter you would like to see featured on my blog.  I plan to continue the Friday features after the festival and always need more nominations!


    Thanks for your help - I hope you are enjoying the show!
    Amy


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    May 22, 2010

    Weekend Spotlight



     


    These folks are so great, with BQF in full swing - the spotlight shifts to ALL of these Excellent Shops!  These are the places I look first when there's something I need :)    

    FabricWorm always has a brilliant collection of fabrics for your next quilt.

    Fat Quarter Shop always has something new, and they offer fabrics for every quilter.

    Piece N Quilt is making room for new fabrics with 35% off your entire order, with code "May35"!

    Cindy at Sewing on the Edge sent me a pincushion - It's perfect, weighted with crushed walnut shells - so it won't move around as I put my pins back.  And the colors are so me!  I love it :)


    Burgundy Buttons has a special code "BQF" just for you!  10% off your order while the festival is running!

    Pink Chalk Fabrics always beautiful and exciting fabric and pattern choices!

    PatchworkFolio did the graphics for the Festival for me - if you are thinking of revamping your blog, chat with Amy and let her take care of your coding!

    Canton Village Quilt Works has a beautiful collection of prints and offers die cut kits, sew without cutting!

    I hope you are enjoying the show!
    Amy

    Happy Birthday to Me & You

    Each time we come together for a Festival I am overwhelmed by the response!  You all are so amazing - thank you for sharing your quilts and more importantly your stories that go with them.  I've had comments from some of you that started quilting or blogging (or both!) due to the inspiration found in past Festivals - they mean so much to me!  Thank you for telling me - I love knowing that my vision for this blog is coming to pass. :)

    Today is my birthday!  I'm 33 years young this year and looking forward to another great year, full of blessings!  To celebrate with you, I am offering 25% off the two patterns I have listed on my patterns page.  One day only :)
    Available for instant download!
    Blessings,
    Amy
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    May 21, 2010

    Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2010





    Welcome to the third Blogger's Quilt Festival!  I'm so glad that you are here - and I hope that you plan to enter a quilt in the Festival!  Everyone is welcome to participate, this is a relaxed festival with no judging, no gloves, and beverages are allowed, encouraged even!  :)

    Many "Thank You's" go out to our sponsors!  They have been fun and gracious to work with in the weeks leading up to today.  And the prizes they are offering are so generous!  Be sure to visit each of the shops as you enjoy the show.  They each have a button to the right, and I have a list of prizes below the entries.

    I have been so thankful to have my laptop while getting the details together this time around and I cannot wait to sit on the couch and take in all the inspiration!  I hope you have a comfy seat too - this may take a while.  


    While you are blog hopping - let me know if you see a quilter you would like to see featured on my blog.  I plan to continue the Friday features after the festival and always need more nominations!


    Are you ready!?  

    To Participate : : 
    1 - Write a new post (old posts will be deleted).  Share one quilt, and it's story.  Why you made it, why it is special to you, what you learned about quilting/yourself while making it.  The quilt doesn't have to be brand new, never seen before on you blog - show what you like!

    2 - In your post link back to the festival (posts without a link will also be deleted).  You can do this with a button, just copy and paste the code into your post, if all else fails.

    3 - Share a link to your post, in the mr linky - be sure to post to that specific post please.  Right click on your post title, to copy link address, then paste it in the linky.  

    4 - Leave me a comment to be entered into giveaways.  Maybe you can tell me approximately how many quilts you have made so far.  Or if you finished a quilt just for the Festival.  Or how many quilts you have on your to do list.  It's fun to learn something about you as I read all the comments :)

    5 - Visit all the other quilters sharing their quilts and be inspired!



    6 - If you are on flickr, consider adding your entry to the Group Pool, it's great to see all the quilts in the gallery.





    Please do not link up if you are not posting a specific quilt, also linking to etsy/ebay shops is not allowed. I reserve the right to delete links that are not within the guidelines above. Thanks!

    If you happen to add an incorrect or dead link, please look for the smiley face next to your name/link and click on it, follow the instructions to delete the link and then post the correct link.  If all else fails - email me :)


    The Fabulous Sponsors --

    **But wait -- there's more!**

    Thank you all for making this event a huge success!
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    New button code -











    this links back to this post instead of the info page.  Use it where ever you like!

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    The Festival will be accepting links through next Friday, the 28th.  After that the linky will be closed and the links made permanent on this post.  Giveaway winners will be announced the following day.

    I think that's everything!  I hope you enjoy the show :)

    Amy

    PS -  Leaving comments is the best way to make friends in blog land!
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    May 20, 2010

    Giveaway Day Winner!

    1243 comments later - I am amazed and inspired!  I'm so glad I asked what you would make, now I want to make all of it too :)

    The random number generator selected #59!  I laughed out loud when it popped up :)

    Tricia is the lucky winner.  Congratulations and I can't wait to see that disappearing nine patch, or whatever you end up making :)

    I hope you all come back tomorrow for Blogger's Quilt Festival~
    Amy

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    AccuQuilt - Go! Cutter Review

    I was recently contacted by the nice people at accuquilt.  They wanted to see if I would like to use and review their Go! Cutter!  My immediate response was YES!  I've seen Jackie talk about her Studio Cutter the last year or so, and admired from afar, knowing that I would probably not be owning anything like it....Now I do!  :)

    I've never used anything like this, at first I was a bit incredulous.  Really?  That will cut my fabric?  It's just gray foam...
    I went through my scraps, and pulled a bunch to cut. (I only got sidetracked for 30 minutes - organizing!)
     It's SUPER simple to use, the gray foam goes up, then your fabric on top.
     The cutting mat goes on top, to sandwich everything together - then crank it through the roller.
    On the other side you get your shapes - 

     These are half-square triangles with the dog ears cut off for you already.
    and full width of fabric 2 1/2" strips - just like a Jelly Roll, and perfect for bindings!
     After getting warmed up, I decided I wanted to really cut a quilt out!  I've really like the look of tumbler quilts, but never wanted to take the time to cut all those shapes.  With the go-cutter I can cut up to 6 layers of quilting fabrics - and they come out perfect, every time!  I pressed and folded my fabric, added the mat and ta-da--
     Less than a hour later a huge stack of tumblers, ready to go into a quilt top!  Did you read that?  Less than an hour!
     Aren't they pretty!?  I had so much fun, and I was cutting fabric! - no worrying about the ruler slipping, or where my kids are in relation to the rotary cutter.
    Really good experience with accuquilt so far!  I can't wait to add to my collection of dies :)


    Have you ever used a Go! Cutter?  Do you have a favorite die shape/size?  I'd love to hear your experience.

    Thanks again to AccuQuilt for the opportunity to review your product!
    Amy




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    May 19, 2010

    Home Machine Quilt Show

    I feel like I've had so much to write about here!  A week and a half ago, I went down to the HMQS event in Salt Lake, and now I'm finally getting to share some pictures with you.

    by Diane Johnston Quilted by Cory Allender
     Upon first impression this quilt looked like machine embroidery.  It's all reverse appliqué!

    by Cynthia England
     I love how some can take a beautiful photograph and make it even better with fabric.
    by Debra Combs
     This quilt looks like plain pinwheels, but at closer look they are all mini log cabin blocks.  Such tiny pieces - I hope it was paper pieced!

    by Judi Madsen - of Green Fairy Quilts
     Love the color combo in this one, and the quilting is beautiful!

    by Amber Robertson
     I loved these flowers!  Couldn't help myself :)

    by Rhonda Montgomery
     this is such a fun quilt, all the details added were so cute and fun!
    by Kathi Carter
     This one was so pretty, and looking closer the flowers are all folded fabric.  The texture was amazing!





    by Pam Hadfield
     I love how happy this quilt is - when I decide to do "real" appliqué the Aunt Millie books are where I will go.  :)
     Finally an antique quilt I couldn't resist photographing -
     You can enlarge the picture to read more, but it was made around 1875 - 135 years old!
    I think it's pretty amazing to see some designs last the test of time.  Makes you wonder about the quilts you are making today....hmmm.  Always add a label!

    Hope you are inspired to make a quilt ~
    Amy
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