Sew Mama Sew Free Pattern, Sun Print Bundle & Crafted Appliqué Giveaway

If you are visiting from Sew Mama Sew, then "Hello there and Welcome!" I hope you enjoy your visit to BuzzinBumble and take a little extra time to look around and say 'Hi!".  If you are one of my regular blogging friends, well then you already know... "I'm always happy to see you!" 

Today I'm sharing a free pattern and tutorial that I created for my very first guest post at Sew Mama Sew!  I'm bursting with excitement!  I designed an appliqué pattern for a retro 1950's style telephone and then stitched up a half dozen of them in modern Alison Glass fabrics.  My telephones are fun on their own and have a bit of a pop art look when grouped together.
  
So, if you haven't already, hop over to Sew Mama Sew to check out my "Call Me Maybe" pattern and mug rug tutorial.  Beth also wrote a post to introduce me to SMS readers.  Then be sure to come back here and leave a comment (or two) to enter for a chance to win one of two fun giveaways!  

My telephones were sewn using my new "Crafted Appliqué" fray-free sewing method.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it and get a better look at the appliqués. Tricky shapes, like that thin phone cord and the dial are a breeze to cut and sew, because unlike when you work with other raw edge appliqué methods, they won't fray or fall apart.  

The "Call Me, Maybe" telephone appliqué pattern could be used on other projects too.  For instance, one of these telephones would be a lot of fun sewn onto a bag or a pillow.  If you make one it would be great if you shared it on social media with the hashtags #sewmamasew and #craftedapplique, because we would love to see it! 

Just in case you aren't familiar with Sew Mama Sew - It is a website run by Kristin Link and Beth Wilson.  They have curated and built the greatest collection of sewing tutorials, patterns, videos and business ideas out there!  Beth and Kristin are two of the nicest people too and if you think you might like to become a guest contributor, check out this page: Become a Sew Mama Sew Contributor.  They are also pretty famous for their annual linky party Giveaway Day, now held in November, which is a great opportunity to find new blogs and meet new friends!  

Thank you Kristin and Beth for having me on as a guest contributor today! 

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Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop

Right now we are in the midst of a month long Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop, celebrating the release of my book with the American Quilter's Society.  To meet some amazing bloggers, learn more about the book, see some wonderful projects, and enter more giveaways, I encourage you to visit the participants!  You can find the Blog Hop calendar at the end of this post.

You can also read more about the Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities Blog Hop here:
Week One Giveaways Galore!
and here:
Week Two - More Giveaways!  

All of the BuzzinBumble blog hop giveaways run until June 4th, so it's not too late to enter any of them.
   

Two New Giveaways!

Starting on Week Two of the blog hop, I am giving away two great prizes to two lucky winners! 

The first prize is a signed copy of my book Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities.

Crafted Appliqué: New Possibilities

Photo Courtesy of Llama Fabrics

And the second prize is a fat eighth bundle of all 27 Alison Glass Sun Prints 2016, which I found on Etsy at Llama Fabrics - a great fabric shop with great prices!  These are the fabrics I used for my "Call Me Maybe" pattern and mug rug tutorial, set on backgrounds from Alison Glass' Abacus collection, also from Andover Fabrics.  Aren't they gorgeous?

The winners for both giveaways will be selected on June 4th with a random prize drawing. 

1.  To enter for a chance to win one of these prizes, please leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite color combination is.   

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 me.  (If we already chat back and forth a lot and you follow me, just say "Hi Lara!" in your second comment... I don't want to make you jump through more hoops.) 

Everyone is welcome to enter the giveaway contest and I'm willing to ship internationally.  I've met some of my best blogging buddies that way. :)

Please - 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.

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Can't Wait?

What if you can't wait that long and would like your own copy of "Crafted Appliqué" now?  There is no need to wait to see if you win one of the book giveaways.  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. (Amazon has been repeatedly selling out as soon as they restock the books!)

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!

Thanks for visiting, because...

You can click on the pup to leave a comment.  
Usually she will follow you home, but during giveaways please understand if I am unable to keep up with replying to comments.

Ric-Rac Border Pattern & Tutorial, Plus Three Yum Yum Buttons Giveaways!

I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July weekend!  
(Or a Happy Canada Day!... or a Happy weekend, LOL)

Sunday, the 28th, was the one year blog anniversary for BuzzinBumble.  I can hardly believe the year flew by so quickly. Becoming a quilt blogger has been an amazing experience, but by far the best part has been the friends I've met along the way.  You all have inspired me, encouraged me, touched my heart, and made me laugh more times than I can count! 

10" Mini Quilt with a Ric-Rac Border around a Redwork Coffee Pot

As a way to say "Thank you!" and to celebrate, I'm sharing one of my paper piecing patterns for a Ric-Rac border.  You will find free PDF files for the patterns, templates and the "how to" tutorial at the bottom of this section.

The idea for this pattern came to me when I saw all the great projects that Amy, from (Amy Made That) creates using ric-rac. (That post is only one example, so check her out!)  I thought it would be fun to paper piece a ric-rac border and frame a mini quilt.  So, I purchased a redwork coffee pot flour sack towel on Etsy.  The maker, Nycole, aka Dana’s Big Sister does beautiful work and creates all hand embroidered items.

A cup of tea and thee... 

The patterns below are meant to be printed double sided, on both the front and back of the paper.  Print them out on very thin printer paper or paper meant for paper piecing.  I find that printing on both sides makes paper piecing a whole lot easier, because you can always see the lines. 

     

To print a pattern, make sure you are set up for portrait setting at actual size.  Print side one.  Then turn your paper so that the same edge goes into the printer first, but so the next printing will be on the other side of the paper.  Print side two, which is simply a mirror image of side one.  All the markings will then be aligned when you hold the pattern up to light and look through the paper. The pattern page for the corners also includes fabric precutting templates.

Here are the PDF files for the patterns and the tutorial.  I hope you like them!

Mini Ric-Rac Border Paper Piecing Tutorial

Mini Ric-Rac Border Strips - Side one  

Mini Ric-Rac Border Strips - Side two 

Mini Ric-Rac Border Corners & Templates - Side one  

Mini Ric-Rac Border Corners & Templates - Side two

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And now for something else really fun!...

YumYum Buttons Needle Keeper Giveaways for Three Lucky Winners! 

If you didn't know before, you'll get the idea now:  I love shopping on Etsy!  

YumYum Buttons' Black Cat Buttons or Push Pins

Sweet Little Hedgehog Needle Keepers 

  

Bear & Bee Needle Keepers

Aren't these just the most adorable Needle Keepers and buttons?  They are made by Buffy of YumYum Buttons, a crafter I had the very good fortune to meet on Etsy.  When I received my order, I loved them so much that I wrote and asked Buffy if I could purchase another set, but hold off on placing the final order.  I wanted to have a giveaway with them and let the winner choose her or his own design.   Buffy liked that idea and jumped right in, generously offering to giveaway THREE sets of her wonderful needle keepers to three lucky BuzzinBumble readers! 

Would you like to see some more of Buffy's wonderful creations?  Check out her YumYum Buttons Etsy shop!  (You can click on the photos for links too.)  There you will find a treasure trove of utterly delightful covered buttons, craft buttons, push pins, magnets and needle keeper sets.  Buffy has a talent for searching out the greatest fabrics.  She does meticulous cutting in her work, featuring the designs front and center.  The quality and care evident in her craftsmanship show in her attention to detail and the sheer perfection of her final products!  I was so impressed, but on top of that: Buffy is a lot of fun to work with!

Not sure what a needle keeper is?  I'll explain.  It is a set of two fabric covered magnets that hold your needle in a convenient place when you set it aside while hand stitching.  One magnet goes on the front of your work and the other on the back.  They keep you from losing the needle down the cushions or your husband from finding it later with his sock.  They work like this: 

 

Needle Keeper or Needle Minder

To enter the YumYum Buttons Needle Keeper Set giveaway contest, leave a comment sharing a funny joke.  Please keep it clean, so that way everyone can join in the fun.  (Don't worry if you don't have a joke, just leave a regular comment then.)  Also, if you don't hear from me, check back before the giveaway ends, because I will let you know here if I am unable to reach you. (That is something that happens with no-reply commenters or people with yahoo email addresses.) 

The giveaway will close on Sunday, July 12th, at noon UTC.  I'll let the random number generator choose the THREE YumYum Button Needle Keeper winners and announce them shortly thereafter.

I've been having more difficulty than usual with vertigo from the Meniere's disease.  That would be why you haven't seen me blog hopping recently, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things this week.  I've dearly missed seeing what everyone is up to.

Thanks for visiting, because...

Click on the pup to leave a comment...

If you are also a blogger, she is highly likely to follow you home!

I'll be joining some fun Linky Parties this week, which you can see

on the BuzzinBumble sidebar.