Happy June! Giveaway for Quilters
Is there a better month than June? It’s not too hot, there aren’t too many mosquitoes and the whole summer stretches before you.
I live at the northern edge of wheat country and the wheat is gorgeous this time of year. I snapped the shot above on my morning walk yesterday. This is hard red winter wheat, and it will be harvested probably in July. Everything is late this year because it’s been cool and wet.
This is on my design wall right now. I’ve made progress since this shot but right now I’m in the crisis stage. This seems to happen with every quilt. Crisis comes around #5, below.
- I have a great idea for a quilt! This will be wonderful!
- This is going well! I’m going to love this.
- This doesn’t look as I expected it to.
- I’m disappointed with this project.
- I hate this. It’s horrible. Everyone will hate it.
- I might have an idea for fixing it.
- This will work! I’m going to salvage it!
- I love this! This will be wonderful! This was a great idea!
- I’m so sick of this quilt. I hate it. Put it in the closet because I never want to see it again.
I wonder if I’m the only one. I hardly ever like a quilt by the time I finish it. And sometimes it actually does go into a closet for a while because I seriously just need to not look at it any longer. I may or may not like it again when it comes out. Anyway…
Time for a giveaway!
One online quilt business I really like is Fat Quarter Shop. Not only do they sell fabric, they write great instructions for their books and patterns. And now they’re marketing pretty gift-type items, too. Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet is often featured, and one new product from Lori is The Bee’s Knees Book Stand.
This free-standing metal stand is about 11.5″ x 15″ x 1.5″ and would be great for holding your quilting book or pattern, a tablet or smartphone, a cookbook in your kitchen, framed art or design boards—anything you want to stand up and see. The powder coat of aqua is so pretty, and the stand folds flat for storage.
Along with The Bee’s Knees Book Stand, another new product from Fat Quarter Shop and author Carrie Nelson is the Summer Moon Block of the Month book. This is a great concept from the beloved designer known as the originator of Miss Rosie’s Quilt Company (Rosie was her dog, may she RIP).
You make the blocks in several sizes, and there are different framing options for them so you can completely personalize the quilt if you want to! And in case you don’t care for the original color scheme (what’s wrong with you?) they also show a more modern version.
This would be fun to make with friends, or you can join in the current quilt-along on Facebook and Instagram. Fat Quarter Shop’s instructions are always top notch and the diagrams are clear and helpful. You won’t have any trouble making this quilt.
Summer Moon is especially fitting as I’m starting to make the quilts for one of my new programs, “Not Your Grandma’s Samplers.” I’ll have about 20 sampler quilts to knock your socks off starting in March of 2021. Some are my own original designs and some are designed by others. They’re all inspiring! I’m very excited about it.
Cream & Sugar is another new Block of the Month from the Fat Quarter Shop. I’m going to make this one in reds! I think this is a fabulous design. I’ll be posting the blocks regularly on social media. Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the sewing. You could even sew along if you want to.
Now for the giveaway! Have you made a sampler quilt? Answer and tell me more in the comments. I’ll pick a winner randomly and announce it next Sunday. Leave your comments before midnight on Friday, June 14. The winner gets the book stand and the Summer Moon BOM book. Good luck! The winner of the giveaway is Joye Cox. Thanks so much to everyone who visited and left a comment!
If your comment doesn’t show up right away, please don’t worry. I am tied up this week and I will approve comments as soon as possible but it may take a day. Never fear, all is well. 🙂
~Diane~
Tags: BOM, fat quarter shop, giveaways, sampler quilts, trunk shows
Cathy Richardson
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One of the first quilts made was a hand pieced sampler. I took the class to learn different techniques. I dislike the colors I chose. Great class.
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Ann Tvrdik
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I am finishing one now which is the mystery quilt for the Kearney guild. Forty-eight blocks ranging in size from 6″ to 36″. Getting better at making little blocks and have come to understand how valuable starch is when piecing small biased pieces. Using a rainbow of solid fabrics with a white background. Three blocks left to do and on to sewing sections together.
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Rachel Kurtz
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I have never made a sampler quilt! I have been seeing them and getting the urge to jump in! Thank you!
Bonnie Williams
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Love sampler quilts, especially scrappy ones.
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Pam Snow
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We made a sampler quilt last year in our quilt guild. We had a demo each month that featured a technique used in that month’s block. I coordinated the BOM and it was very successful.
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Diane
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I made 10 samplers from the first 10 100 blocks from Quiltmaker but you know that already.
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Marty
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I haven been it’s been years, since I first started quilting in 1987! It’s a great way for a beginner to learn different block patterns piecing and ironing accurately, using half-sq triangles, qtr sq triangles, etc. I still have mine, and love it because it is one of my first pieces ever finished even tho my fabric choices would be very different today. But hasn’t fabric changed in the past 32 years!
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Jeanne Glick
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I recently finished a sampler which was a block of the week prsented by Barbara Brackman to commemorate womens’ right to vote, called Grandmother’s Choice. I’d made the blocks during the presentation in 2012 but had never made the, into a quilt. My granddaughter saw them and asked me to finish it for her 18th birthday, when she’d gain the right to vote. I loved the quilt when I gave it to her and so did she. I’d like to make anither sampler – the variety of blocks and the opportunity to improve skills is very satisfying.
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Shirley Langford
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Yes some of my first quilts were samplers, but I have not made one in quite awhile. I would love to win this book and make this sampler quilt. Thank you for all the inspiration you give me and other quilters. I follow you on Facebook and love all the quilts you show.
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Kaye
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I have made several sampler quilts over the years. It’s a great way to learn new techniques and it makes me try blocks that I might bypass otherwise.
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Jody
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Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt..I think is my most recent “sampler” quilt.
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Kathy Z
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I took an online class 2 years ago offered by Rachel Hauser called “The Penny Sampler”. I learned alot of new techniques and I was amazed with all the different sized blocks, the quilt came together wonderfully.
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Tammy Howell
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I am teaching a block of the month sampler quilt right now. Everyone is having a lot of fun. Maybe Summer Moon would make a good BOM for next year? Hmm
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Marsha
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One of my first quilt projects was a block of the month sponsored through the fat quarter shop. The blocks were designed by various designers and the fabric was from Joanna Figura – Strawberry Fields. I think she has just re-released some of the fabrics from that line. I still love it today! Doing those blocks really helped increase my skills of piecing.
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Becka
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I have never made a sampler quilt. I do enjoy looking at them though. 🙂 I’m sure making one is a great way of learning many new techniques.
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Michelle F.
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The first quilt class I ever took was a sampler wallhanging. I still have it although it isn’t hanging as the color choices are a little dated. Thanks for the giveaway!!
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Shasta
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Yes and no. I’ve started 2 sampler quilts. One is a 169 block quilt like Jane Stickle’s and another is a block of the month with 12 blocks and an applique center. Neither is finished but I’ve made good progress on both of them.
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Edwina Smith
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I have made a few sampler quilts. They were all Block of the Month programs at my local quilt shops. I enjoy learning the different techniques each block uses.
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Seren Belle
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Yes. Last year I made a Sampler Quilt courtesy of Sharon Holland and Maureen Cracknell. It was a wonderful and challenging experience. I was very new to piecing with intention and following block patterns. I loved every minute of it and came out of the experience with skills and confidence. I’m very grateful
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Jackie Stevens
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I have nine blocks hand pieced and life moved in and the others are waiting to be finished.
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LeeAnn
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I made a sample which put the different block inside of courthouse steps. It is bed sized and I rotate it onto bed. It was so much fun doing each of the different blocks!
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Teri
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I started a sampler quilt as a bom at my local quilt shop years ago but was not able to complete it. I like the idea of doing one still.
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Crissy Ladd
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I also love Fat Quarter Shop and have had that book stand on my wishlist! I have never done a complete sampler quilt but have had my eye on the Summer Moon book & am seriously considering it! It would be so awesome to win them both! I also live in Nebraska & the weather has been fabulous lately!
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Deanna Klintworth
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I enjoy samplers because you can learn something new every time
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Lisa Garrett
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I have made one sampler quilt of classic quilt blocks.
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Verna
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I made 100 modern quilt blocks two summers ago, and I hope to put them together this summer.
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Cindy Petersen
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I learned how to quilt by doing a block-of-the-month; it’s still one of my faves. I did Berries and Blooms (in reds and cream) last year. I have the blocks finished for the 2018 MysteryBOM front Fat Quarter Shop, but I haven’t put it together yet. I’m enrolled in the Cream and Sugar bom. I love sampler quilts!
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Sarah Bruce
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I have made Barbara Brackmans’ Threads of Memory sampler quilt. It took me several years to get around to finishing and hand quilting it, but I was pleased that it got 3rd place in our guild show!
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Candi
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I started a sampler quilt many years ago. Beer did finish it. Since then I’ve completed a ton of quilts nary a sampler in the batch. Funny I was eyeing both the Cream and Sugar and the Summer Moon.
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Deonn Stott
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A sampler was one of the first quilts I made when I began quilting. I had joined a guild, and joined a friendship block exchange group. We each made a block for everyone in the group, one month at a time. I would make a “tester” block using the patterns provided, then make the others’ blocks in the colors they wanted. By the end of the exchange, I had enough blocks to make a large quilt of my own, and had learned a bunch of techniques to boot. It’s still one of my faves.
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jan f
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my first quilt was a sampler quilt done in a learn to quilt class. every step was hand sewn. I have just finished all the blocks for Sew in Love by Edyta Sitar . all machine sewn!
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Marilyn Logan
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My first quilt was a simple four patch hand-pieced and hand-quilted for my doll at age 5. Made it sitting at my grandmother’s feet while she told stories about the hills in southern Missouri as she quilted with me. I made it 65 years ago and it is long gone but have made hundreds of quilts since then.
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Carol DeGraaf
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One of the first quilts I made was a completely hand pieced sampler done in Christmas colors in 1981. One of my most recent quilts was the 1876 sampler done in a class during 2017-18. I love them both, and they are both queen size.
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Julie Huffman
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I have many MANY sampler quilts. My first one was in the mid 90’s. I had a lot of 12″ block patterns so I sized them down to 6″ and made a full size quilt. It was scrappy and I hand quilted it. I entered it in the fair and it got a white ribbon because the judge didn’t like sampler quilts! Since then I was in a lot of block swaps, and I have made Farm Girl Vintage and many other projects.
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Rita W
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I have made one sampler. I, like you, didn’t want to see the quilt for a while after I finished it. Now I like it. I would love to win this book and make another sampler.
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Darla Marion Hunt
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Like some of the other commenters, I did a sampler as a block of the month with my local quilt group.
I liked it so well I have made 3 more…2 crib quilts and a donation quilt. The samplers keep my interest through out the process…each block is like starting something new!
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Julie Mirdoch
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I have! I made Lori Holt’s Farmgirl Vintage. I CANNOT wait until Farmgirl Vintage II comes out!
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Jan Turner
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I have made several sampler quilts, can’t say how many. Each is so different and fun to make . No two blocks the same. Thanks, Diane, for your interesting blot.
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Mary Crowther
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My 1st Quilt class was a Sampler in the 1990’s. I love them Sew Much!
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Elizabeth Clark
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I responded to a plea from a group of Alaska quilters to participate in a sampler quilt/exchange called a Puzzler. We each made 9 batik 6″ blocks monthly and
exchanged them. My quilt finished up nice and big and it gets used daily by my
daughter’s family.
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Julie Kaye
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One of my first quilts was a queen size, blue on blue sampler. I printed all the block patterns off of the Quilters Cache website. Then I quilted it myself on my sewing machine. I don’t remember feeling intimidated by the quilting at that time. Now I don’t finish quilts because I’m afraid I’ll ruin them with my poor quilting skills. Even though I know they are better in the finished pile then in the to do pile.
I can’t wait to see some of the quilts you come up with. Thanks for the opportunity.
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Luciana
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I haven’t but plans are to make one by the end of the year (:
Love your blog, thanks for the chance!
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Kelley
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My first sampler was a BOM that was also my sister’s first effort at teaching. Great quilt, and ten years later, she’s still teaching and I’ve always got a sampler of some sort in the works! ❤️
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Connie Luers
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A group is meeting at the Saunders County Museum once a month to learn new quilting skills and enjoy the company. Currently we are each piecing a Thimbleberries Block of the Month, using colors and fabric of our choice. These will be displayed at Christmas on the Prairie in Wahoo in December.
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Amy Brandt
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I made the Women of the Bible quilt sampler last year. It was fun because my mom and I did it together and we each made half the blocks for a third quilt to give to my sister. I absolutely hated assembling it though.
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Monica Gerhart
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I have made several sampler quilts. I learn something new each time.
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Lindi
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I do lots of samplers – some with 12″ blocks, some with 6″ blocks, but my most recent favorite had 4″ blocks. They are a great way to use up fabric scraps.
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Kelly Wilbur
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I’ve done several sampler quilts, some with planned blocks and some using bits and bobs from my “parts department”.
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Marilyn
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Yes, I have made several Sampler Quilts. One year I belonged to a swap group, and my month to receive Blocks was December. I still love to look at the different blocks and designs in my favorite red and green Christmas colors.
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Joye Cox
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I am ashamed to say that my oldest UFO (20 plus years) is a RWB sampler. I fell out of love with it long ago. I was hand quilting it and it probably is about 3/4 finished.
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Leslie
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I’ve made the Farmer’s Wife sampler quilt, started the Bible sampler this year, might be awhile before I finish it. 😬
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Julie
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I have made a few. Some are finished and in use, some are not. My favorite was Farmers wife. I made two of every block and put together a king size quilt. I love it but really had to push myself to finish it…it brewed for about 10 years. It is a great way to get a mixture of blocks and fabrics!
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Chris Mies
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I love sampler quilts, get to learn something with each new block. This book looks great!
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Gretchen Barclay
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Samplers are perfect for quilters that get bored making the same block over and over. Any style, any fabric — I ❤ Quilt Samplers.
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Carol Baker
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In my first quilting classes were sampler quilts-a patriotic and a hand appliqué/hand stitched quilt-neither are finished!! Another 2 projects to add to my to my UFO lists😘😂😒!!!!
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Diane Harris
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It’s so nice to see you here, Carol Jo! Big hugs to you!