"Accuquilt Go! Baby" Giveaway! & Final Week of the Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop

This week our final five bloggers will be presenting their posts in the Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop.  If you missed any of the previous stops, they are well worth going back to and visiting!  We've seen so many fun, original, and beautiful ideas for using the fray-free, iron-on, washable Crafted Appliqué method and it's been a real treat!   This week's posters have some exciting things in store for you too! 

My husband Jim actually felt bereft over the Memorial Day weekend because the Hop was on holiday and he couldn't check in to see what new things people had dreamed up.  He's been having as much fun as I have.  :)  

The blog hop calendar is shown at the end of this post.  You'll have a chance to win a free copy of "Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities" at every stop!  I'm also starting a new giveaway today, but first I want to show you another one of the projects in the book, so read on!

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Catmint Cottage - Sewing Machine Cover

Catmint is an herb that can be used in a tisane to help alleviate feminine complaints. 

 Visiting your favorite quilt shop will also have this effect.

Catmint Cottage - from Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities

One of the things I wanted to try to do with the Crafted Appliqué method was to build a little three dimensional quilt shop using architecture themed fabrics and then "plant" a garden around it.  I did the garden by fussy cutting a floral fabric and layering the flower bunches into beds.  As you can see, I was able to get quite detailed with my cut outs and I didn't have any trouble with fraying. I even made trellises and railings and window grilles.  Can you find the tiny birdbath and a cardinal in the photos below?  They are actually fashioned from flower and pot bits I found in the print.

More views.  Front right corner:

Catmint Cottage - from Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities

Back left corner:

Catmint Cottage - from Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities

Left side:

Catmint Cottage - from Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities

Right Side:

Catmint Cottage - from Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities

This was the first project I made for the book and the most challenging, but it was also a lot of fun.  It is big enough to fit over my vintage Singer 301. If you wanted to make something larger or smaller, you could change the enlargement instructions for the pattern.  I have been tempted with the idea of making a cat house. Can you imagine all the possibilities?  

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Accuquilt Go! Baby Fabric Cutter Giveaway!

This week you can comment for a chance to win another great giveaway: 
an "Accuquilt Go! Baby" Starter Set. 

One of the exciting things that I learned about the Crafted Appliqué method of fabric preparation is that it works perfectly with die cutting!  It's a really fun way to get lots of fray-free, iron-on, washable appliqué cutouts made quickly and uniformly.  I love to use mine this way and thought you might like to see it in action. The photos below show a sequence of steps as I ran treated fabrics through the cutter.  

Die Cut leaves made with the Crafted Appliqué method

1.  To enter for a chance to win a Go! Baby, simply leave a comment on this post.  If you'd like a topic, you could tell me which of the book projects is your favorite so far.  (I've been showing them in posts all this month, with two more left to go.)  

 
2.  BuzzinBumble followers, both new and old, can have a second chance to win by leaving a second comment and letting me know how they follow my blog.  

Everyone is welcome to enter the giveaway contest and I'm willing to ship internationally.  Already, I've sent book giveaway wins to Sandra in Singapore and Helen in Ireland, which is pretty darn exciting!

All the giveaways here on BuzzinBumble will run right up until the end of the Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop.  Winners will be randomly drawn on June 4th and I'll be announcing all the winners during the final post of the hop on June 5th.  If you'd like to see the first four giveaway contests, there is still time to enter!

Just check here:

Week One - Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop - Giveaways Galore!

and here:
Week Two - Sew Mama Sew Free Pattern, Sun Print Bundle & Crafted Appliqué Giveaway  

and here:
Week Three - Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities - Kona Cotton Color Card Giveaway
and here:

Week Four - Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities - Moda Basic Grey Grunge Bundle 

*Please note*- If you are a no-reply blogger, remember to leave your e-mail address so that I will have a way to contact you if you win.  If in doubt, leave your email, because if I cannot contact you, you won't be able to win.  :(  

Don't forget to visit the Crafted Appliqué Blog Hop Stops for a chance to win a copy of my book and possibly other prizes too!   

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Can't Wait? 

What if you can't wait to see if you won a book and you would like your own copy of "Crafted Appliqué" ASAP?  There is no need to wait - you can purchase one now.  If you do win, but have already purchased the book, I will gladly reimburse the cost of the book instead.  In the meantime, you can purchase a signed copy here on BuzzinBumble, or buy one from the AQS shop, or through Amazon.  

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Special Announcement

On Sunday, June 5th, I'll be announcing the winners of all the giveaway prizes here on my blog.  This will be where you can first find out if you were a lucky winner in one of the BuzzinBumble giveaways.

Also in that post, as a way to say a very HUGE thanks to my blog hop participants, I'm going to turn the spotlight on them and I'll be running one last giveaway.  I'm planning something special and hope that you all will like it and will take the opportunity to follow some very wonderful quilt bloggers, if you haven't already!

Below is the Blog Hop Schedule.  All the blog titles are live links, which I will keep updating as participants post their reviews.

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Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop
May 1^st to June 5^th 2016

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1 Lara Buccella BuzzinBumble   Introduce Tour	2 Valerie Smith Pumpkin Patch Quilter	3 Dana Gaffney Stormy Days	4 Lorna McMahon Sew Fresh Quilts	5 Mary Schuberg Needled Mom	6 Heidi Kuntz Red Letter Quilts	7 Alycia Carmin Alycia Quilts
8 Amy DeCesare Amy Made That	9 Sherri McConnell A Quilting Life	10 Lara Buccella Sew Mama Sew Guest Post	11 Christina Cameli A Few Scraps	12 Melissa Corry Happy Quilting	13 Sarah Craig Confessions of a Fabric Addict	14 Soma Acharya Whims & Fancies
15 Valerie Reynolds Val’s Quilting Studio	16 Angela Pingel Cut to Pieces	17 Sandra Walker Musings of a Menopausal Melon	18 Cheryl Brickey Meadow Mist Designs	19 Judy Murphy Quilt Paradigm	20 Yvonne Fuchs Quilting Jetgirl	21 Cindy Pieters Stitchin’ at Home
22 Susie Zlogar Susie’s Sunroom	23 Connie Campbell Freemotion by the River	24 Ruth Bourke Charly & Ben’s Crafty Corner	25 Kaja Zieslar Sew Slowly	26 Ann Brooks Fret Not Yourself	27 Cynthia Brunz Quilting is More Fun Than Housework	28 Holiday
29 Holiday	30 Holiday	31 Jenn Trott-Zisserson Quarter Inch from the Edge	1 Paulette Horn The Way I Sew It	2 Sandra Jansen Studio Sew of Course	3 Christine Sherman Triangles & Squares	4 Quilt Shop Gal
5 Lara Buccella BuzzinBumble Giveaway Winners Announced!

Usually, I make it a goal to reply to and reciprocate all comments.  I really love it when you take the time to stop and chat.  This month, with the Blog Hop and multiple giveaways in progress, I hope you will understand if I don't manage to keep up.  

You can click on the pup to leave a comment.  Best of luck!

Hands2Help 2016 & Vera's Darth Vader Mini Quilt

More often than not, when we think of giving a quilt to someone, we see it as a tangible representation of caring for that person.  Whether it be for a loved one or a stranger, a quilt is meant to provide comfort and a sense of being loved.  Quilts given in times of hardship not only fulfill practical needs, but spiritual ones as well.  

For six years now, Sarah (Confessions of a Fabric Addict) has organized the Hands2Help Charity Quilt Challenge.  Hands2Help is a chance to take part in making and gifting quilts to people who are going through very hard times. It is also a chance to help build community, both within Quilting Blogland and through the charities chosen.  H2H attracted more than 100 quilters this year, many of whom made more than one quilt! 

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Sarah for all she does.  She puts together a few solid months of fun for H2H participants, with tutorials, patterns, and prizes too.  This is on top of her own very busy charity quilting activities.  You just have to check out Sarah's Big Project this year!  She is so inspiring!
  
This year I'm sending my H2H quilt to Em's Happy Chemo charity.  I had to do a little disappearing act (aka stay off the computer) in order to just barely squeak in with a finish in time!  I'm linking up with the final Hands2Help Linky Party and also with Heidi's One Monthly Goal party.  

I've been calling this quilt "Sedimentary Lifestyle", but of course did not label it as such.  It reminds me of looking at layers of rock on canyon walls.

"Sedimentary Lifestyle"

It started when I bought a pack of 2.5" strips, because I loved the colors and I had always wanted to try making a jelly roll race quilt.  I originally planned to add a brown outer border, but ended up preferring the quilt without a border.  

Marcus Fabrics Strip It Pack - Earth

I used Superior Threads King Tut variegated thread #911 Flower Pot to quilt wavy lines across the width of the quilt with a dual feed foot.  I've been getting a bit better at it.  I'm hoping to someday achieve Lorna's style of organic wavy line quilting.   Practice makes perfect!  I have also been learning to freemotion quilt, but found out that too much FMQ makes me motion sick, so will save that for smaller projects.  

King Tut #911 - variegated thread

Just before I popped the quilt into the wash so it will be all poofy and clean for Happy Chemo, I tried a photo of it all rolled up.  You can see the Kim Diehl fabric backing and get a better idea of what the quilting looked like.

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I won a giveaway!

As many of you know, all this month I've been holding the Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop, in celebration of my new book's publication.  If you haven't checked out the blog hop posts, I hope you will! (Just click on the above link for the schedule.)  The hop has been so much fun and you will be amazed by all the creativity!  Plus there are lots of chances to win copies of the book and other fun prizes too! 

So... what did I win?  Well 2 months ago, before this blog hop began, I had the happy surprise of finding a package of goodies in the mail.  I was the lucky winner of a giveaway from Vera, on her blog, Negligent Style!  She made a wonderful mini quilt featuring Darth Vader.  She very cleverly placed him at the center of a brilliant three-circle color wheel. (You can click on the photo and it will enlarge.) I've always loved Vera's style; especially how she uses bright colors against grey!  She also sent me a sweet child's colored card and a fat quarter of a really cute sewing themed fabric.  Thank you so much Vera!  
  

Vera's Giveaway - Darth Vader Mini Quilt

Have a Happy Memorial Day weekend if you are here in the U.S.!
Thanks for visiting, because...

  

Click on the pup to leave a comment...

Usually, I make it a goal to reply to and reciprocate all comments.  I really love it when you take the time to stop and chat.  This month, with the Blog Hop and multiple giveaways in progress, I hope you will understand if I don't manage to keep up.