Hello all you closet designers! We’re still collecting entries for McCall’s Quilting Quilt Design Star™ for one more day.

If you would like to enter, just go to McCallsQuilting.com and click on the Quilt Design Star™ logo. Be sure to read the official rules and take a look at the entries from other contestants.

For all of you who do not wish to enter, check back here! Voting to select the finalists (those quilters who will participate in our 3 challenges), starts July 1.

Happy Quilting!

My new toys, ready to install

This week the McCall’s Quilting staff was treated to two half-days of training on Electric Quilt 7, just released! Our teacher, Mary Ellen Kranz, was perfect for our little group, composed of a mixture of the tech-savvy and the tech-wary. We started the training a bunch of EQ novices, and by the time Mary Ellen left, we were all completely enthused about the software, and excitedly brainstorming about ways to use it in our working days (we already know how we’ll use it at home…sorry, husbands, kids, and other significant others, you’ll have to make your own dinners for awhile…)

Do you EQ? If you do, do you plan to purchase or upgrade to version 7? Leave a comment and let us know…we’d love to hear from you!

Kathy

Hello all,

Last Friday, I shared with you the start of quilting my daughter, Sarah’s quilt using the embroidery hoop for my Pfaff Creative 2.0. I think those early blocks turned out well, but I got more creative as I progressed. Here are more of the custom-quilted blocks:

Quilted Corn & Beans Block

In the Corn & Beans block, I used a corner motif paired with a center design.

Quilted Farmer's Fields

The Farmer’s Fields Block was actually pretty skewed when I pieced it. The flower and stem design covers it in a way that it doesn’t show at all.

Quilted Memories

For the Memories Block (my favorite:)), I used a corner motif, an edge motif, and I free-motion quilted around the flower in the middle.

Quilted Peace and Plenty

I love how the motif for the Peace and Plenty Block accented the pinwheel.

So, I hope you are enjoying your trip through my first sampler quilt! I’ll put up some more of these block pictures next week.

Have a great weekend!

Kathy

Hello all,

Well, last Friday, I shared with you my eventful basting experience with Sarah’s quilt. It was big enough that we had to move the dining room furniture around!

After basting the quilt, I decided that I would attempt “quilting in the hoop”. In this case, that means using an embroidery machine to stitch quilting motifs. I have a Pfaff Creative 2.0 and it worked pretty well! First, I stitched in the ditch around all the blocks. This helps keep the quilt sandwich stable when it is in the hoop. Then, I had to decide which motif(s) to use. I ended up purchasing Anita Goodesign’s Quilter’s Paradise and Quilter’s Feathers CDs and using a number of the motifs. I wanted the quilting to be as much a sampler as the piecing had been, so I chose different motifs for each large block. I ended up settling on standard motifs for 2″ and 4″ squares and 2″ x 12″ strips.Here is the 2″ square.

Here is the 4″ square.

Then, I dove into the deep end and completed my first custom motif in the Grandma’s Fan block. I used a machine motif for the center and then free-motion quilted in the fans.

I quickly learned how to align the motifs (after a couple of false starts!). It is a very cool process, and I can’t wait to show you more. I’ll come back next week and show you more of the blocks.

Until then,

Kathy

That’s right, our newest McCall’s Quilting contest, Quilt Design Star™ is off and running. We want to encourage you to participate! Just click on the Quilt Design Star™ link at right, under “Contests”.

There are 2 parts to this contest.

The first part is the finalist selection. We invite anybody who has ever designed an original quilt project, including pieceing, appliqué, folk art, or art quilting to enter a project that they’ve designed. The entry period is now through June 24, 2010. Starting July 1, 2010, the public will vote on the entries to decide who might be selected as a finalist.

The second part of the contest is the challenge portion. Each of the finalists will be asked to perform up to 3 challenges. After each challenge, the public will vote and finalists may be eliminated.

The winner of the 3rd (Grand Finale) challenge will receive a BERNINA aurora 440QE sewing machine!

We are very excited to see your entries. To thank you for participating in the first (finalist selection) portion of the contest, every entrant will be sent a link to download McCall’s Quilting Quilt Designers’ Easy Patterning Guide. This one-page cheat sheet is a must have for quilters. It includes information on Mattresses & Batting  and common pre-cut shapes, among others!

So, enter to become a finalist and participate in our challenges!

Good Luck!

Kathy

Hello all,

Many of you have written to ask what became of my daughter, Sarah’s quilt. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I showed you how it was coming along almost daily, but then it got pushed to the back burner.

However, I’m happy to report that I’m ready to pick up the story! These are pictures I took while I was basting the quilt. I had to spread it out on our dining room floor (that’s the biggest space we have in our house).

Here is the front:

I used a red texture for the inner border, and a navy with red stars for the outer border. I’m very happy with how the borders turned out.

I sewed a pieced back for this quilt because I wanted it to have some Air Force material in it somewhere. The print was a little busy, however, so I just made a stripe and surrounded it with red, yellow, and lots of blue!

And of course, I couldn’t have completed it without my trusty sidekick, Race .

I hope you enjoy this peek at Sarah’s quilt. I’m quilting it in the hoop, so I’ll be sure and share some pictures from that process!

Happy Quilting!

Kathy

If the answer is yes, make sure that you enter McCall’s Quilting Quilt Design Star™ contest. Whether you piece or appliqué your quilts, or if your style is folk art or art quilting, we want to see your projects!

Here’s how it works:

- First, you go to McCall’s Quilting Design Star™ page and read about the contest and official rules.

- Second, starting May 24, 2010 through June 24, 2010, you go to the same page, fill out our design questionnaire, and upload a photo of a project that you feel represents your quilt design “style”.

- Then, on July 1, 2010, the voting begins to select the finalists for our Quilt Design Star™ contest.

Don’t be shy! I know how hard it is to show your work to others, so I’m going to start the ball rolling. Below is a picture of my first original project. I call it Wildflower Walk. It’s a very simple design, but I wanted to showcase the large prints.

It’s not quilted yet, and it’s a very simple pattern, but I love it.

Now it’s your turn!

Don’t forget to participate in the McCall’s Quilting Quilt Design Star™ contest. You might just win a new BERNINA aurora 440QE sewing machine!

Happy Quilting,

Kathy

It’s not too late! You can still enter to win at 6 inspiring stores across the US. We’ve had 30 lucky quilters win prizes already, and there are still 18 more of you out there.

Just click on the following link to go to our Hometown Favorites Online Shop Hop page. You can then go to each of the shops’ websites and enter to win!

Happy Hopping!

Kathy

Hello all,

We’ve just chosen the quilt kit and other quilting prize winners from the first 4 shops on our Online Shop Hop! Don’t worry, if you didn’t participate in Monday’s contests, you still have 12 chances to win. All winners are notified by e-mail the next business day after the shop’s assigned day.

Just click on the Hometown Favorites Online Shop Hop link, go to each of the shop’s websites on their assigned day, and enter to win!

Good Luck!

Kathy

How would you like to win a stack of Moda fat quarters – just like this?

Just participate in our Hometown Favorites Shop Hop starting Monday, May 10 (in 3 days) and running through Friday, May 14, 2010. Each day, we feature 3 – 4 shops from our America Quilts Hometown Favorites Special Issue. If you visit each of the 16 shops’ websites on their identified day (see Hometown Favorites Online Shop Hop link, right), you can enter to win a FREE QUILT KIT from that shop as well as other fun quilting prizes. If you enter in all 16 drawings, you are automatically entered in the drawing for a grand prize (Moda Fat Quarter Pack, above)!

So, mark your calenders, and don’t forget to enter. Of course, it will be painful to have to go shopping on 16 fabulous quilting websites – NOT! Make sure you have your credit card at hand, and we’ll see you next week!

Kathy