Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour stops here today! Ideas a plenty for your quilting pleasure!

With all the digitalness of our world today, there are times when flipping through a good magazine goes a long way to inspire your creativity. Page after page fills you with ideas for your dream file, for using your stash or to convince you to buy new fabric (not that you need a reason!).  Volume 5 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks allows you this "Quilty Pleasure" with, well, 100 fun-to-make, quilt blocks just itching to become something grander . . . like a quilt.

Perennial Posies Featuring FreeSpirit Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey



For instance, six different blocks, with repeats of two, were used by Joanna Simpson in her Perennial Posies sampler which was quilted by Tamra Rene'. FreeSpirit Fresh Cut by Heather Bailey comes together nicely in block #463 Split Chain, designed by Cindy Erickson; block #467 Scrappy Summer by Allison Harris, cathedral square block #468 by Lee Heinrich, block #414 Bittersweet Basket by Martha Walker and Starfire #465 designed by Kay Gentry.

Material Girl featuring Rowan's Lark by Amy Butler



You might like the Broderie Perse, appliquéd words and flower blocks surround Cheryl Willis’ Material Girl. Our sister brand, Rowan Lark by Amy Butler, helps these designers say it all, "for me, design is like choosing what I want to wear for the day . . ." Truer words were never spoken, or appliqued in this case.  This features block #436 My Summer Sandal by Barbara Jones and block #401 Abloom designed by Barbara Cherniwchan. 

FreeSpirit Good Folks Anna Maria Horner
#457 Beautiful Math by Elizabeth Dackson



FreeSpirit Hope Valley by Denyse Schmidt
#480 On The Path by Konda Luckau



Here's the best part.  All of these blocks and more (like another 90 plus) can all be found in Volume 5 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks.  Comment below by midnight Tuesday, May 1 for a chance to win a FREE copy of Quiltmaker 100 Blocks, Volume 5,  the perfect way to touch, feel and flip through all those pages of block inspiration! And, visit the Quiltmaker 100 Blocks site to join the blog tour and find more chances to win.

FreeSpirit  Taza by Dena Designs
#469 Cathedral Square by Lee Heinrich

Valori Wells trilogy continues; It's giveaway time!

Now, it's time for everyone's favorite part of our monthly "portrait of a designer" series.  Val told us all about how her two, adorable young daughter's inspired her latest fabric collection Cocoon (26 cotton, 7 linen and 7 voile SKUs, delivering in April).  Then our blog tutorial diva, Melissa Peda, gave us some awesome inspriation with her Easy Peasy Pillows.  Valori also offered a handy shopping tote project, perfect for doing your part to save the planet. 

 

Now, the moment you all love so much.  It's time to share the beauty and vibrancy of Valori's Cocoon collection.  According to her, "For myself as an artist I feel like I am coming out of a cocoon. Finding my path and my balance with my work, my family and myself." 

How do you find balance in your life? Does your quilting and sewing give you the needed relief from reality and send you into a creative, stress-free world?  Tell us about how your sewing helps you tranform your life or the lives of other, much like a butterfly emerging from its Cocoon.  Two commenators will be chosen at random to win six, one yard cuts from each substrate -- 2 for Cotton, 2 for Linen and 2 for Voile (that's six total if my math is correct)! Winner's will be announced here on Monday, April 30. 

Guest Blogger: Bianca about Anna's Patchwork Prism QAL!!

Hi FreeSpirit fans! My name is Bianca and I am a blogger; Sweet Diesel Designs. Westminster Lifestyle Fabrics has been so kind to let me take over their blog for the day {thank you ladies!} to tell you about something that I am hosting...and i'm using all FreeSpirit and Rowan fabrics! I mean so many fabulous designers in one place -- eeeekkk! To name a few that i'm using -- Tanya Whelan, Dena Designs, Joel Dewberry, Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink, Amy Butler, Valori Wells, Erin McMorris and of course Anna Maria Horner. Are you ready for another quilt-along (qal) with fantastic prizes?! Have you heard about or seen Anna Maria Horner’s new Patchwork Prism Quilt pattern that she designed for Janome? It’s B-E-A-utiful!

Source: annamariahorner.blogspot.com via Bianca on Pinterest

Well...Anna Maria and Janome have been so kind to allow me to host a qal and wouldn’t you know we have some fan-tabulous prizes to keep you motivated until the end! The pattern... Anna Maria designed this pattern for Janome and they have been so kind as to make it available to you free of charge. You can find the download for the pattern here. It’s going to go a little something like this... the posts...{where i will be sharing with you how I approached this pattern...}

• April 24: choosing your fabric
• May 8: making templates and cutting your fabric
• May 22: laying out your quilt and sewing
• June 5: quilting
• June 12: wrapping it all up and then the party begins...linky party that is...
• June 26: submissions are due for the grand prizes!

The prizes... Oh my goodness the prizes...are sooooo good! throughout the course of the qal, participants will have the chance to win the following prizes from Westminster Lifestyle Fabrics:

• One FreeSpirit Valori Wells fat quarter bundle of her newest line, “Cocoon,” that’s 30 fat quarters!
• One FreeSpirit Designer Essentials charm pack
• One Rowan Amy Butler charm pack of “Gypsy Caravan
• One Anchor Tapestry Kit and Embroidery Floss by Anna Maria Horner

Plus sew many more prizes including a GRAND PRIZE of a  Janome SEWING MACHINE!!! Check out my post to see the full list of prizes!

HUGE shout-out and thank you to these generous sponsors for providing these fabulous prizes for you! Also, a BIG thank you to Anna Maria for designing such a stunning quilt! Flickr group... I hope that you will join the flickr group, which can be found here. This will be a great place for us to come together and share photos of our progress and get to know each other. :) Patchwork Prism Button... I’ve designed a button to help promote the qal...if you’d like to let people know what fun you are up to or invite your friends to join...grab the button from my sidebar.

Promotional Partners... I feel super fortunate that some bloggy friends have agreed to help me promote this qal before it launches on April 24th...the fun starts next week.

• april 17: kati at from the blue chair
• april 18: FreeSpirit
• april 19: angela at cut to pieces
• april 21: susan at crafterhours
• april 22: sukie

Who's ready to get this party started? And don't forget to tell your friends to come and join in the fun...

Cocoon Tutorial

Here is a great tutorial that is 'Easy Peasy' for your quick project liking. These pillows will surely put some color in your home for the summer months ahead. Cocoon is offered in three great substrates that can all translate to pillows very well. Voile, for a VERY soft look and feel, linen which is a light weight that would compliment your porch and then our standard cotton weight which is great for any area of the house.

Thanks to Melissa P for bringing us this great pillow tutorial. Enjoy!

Cocoon by Valori Wells, for your pleasure!

Editor's Note: It's April! Welcome FreeSpirit Artist Valori Wells and her newest collection Cocoon!

 

Hello……Happy Spring!!! I am excited to be a guest blogger for FreeSpirit Fabrics and really excited to tell you about my newest collection Cocoon (26 Cotton SKUs, 7 Voile SKUs, 7 Linen Cotton SKUs).



My Butterfly Vi



My Butterfly Olivia

Cocoon…..it has so many meanings for me. I have spent numerous summers trying to capture the unique beauty of the butterfly with my camera. My love of flowers and butterflies has passed down to my girls! Since my oldest was two she has asked for her summer birthday to be “butterflies”….she is six now and still loves to run through our wild flowers looking for them. As her younger sister follows her every move she has taken a liking to the beauties also. We spend so much time in our garden, loving the flowers, eating the vegetables and watching the friendly flyers visit. It was a given at some point that I would create a fabric with butterflies. For myself as an artist I feel like I am coming out of a cocoon. Finding my path and my balance with my work, my family and myself. This collection is part of my growth as an artist. 

Cocoon Cotton

At Spring Quilt Market (trade show), I am going to be introducing Simply Made Summer, a weekly blog (stitchinpostinsisters.typepad.com) with free patterns, project ideas and other yummy things for the summer. Simply Made Summer will begin the first week of June and last for 12 weeks. I love summer, it is so short here in Central Oregon. Plus, with the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and Quilters Affair Classes my time is even more limited so we take full advantage of the long sunny days. I thought it would be fun to have something new every week to entice your creativity and show you a bit of my life and love.

Make April Little Tote by Valori Wells

 

My studio is a buzz with Cocoon projects…..I thought I would share a few with you. I hope to hear from you this summer!!!!

 

Cocoon Linen Cotton

Cocoon Voile