Sometimes I can’t believe how much stuff a quilter-woman stores in her head and accomplishes all at once, especially at Christmastime! Here at Quiltmaker, we’ve just sent our March/April ‘10 issue out the door, which was a big enough feat all by itself. But just like you, we’ve been doing all the holiday preparations in our personal and professional lives as well. Here’s a quick rundown of things I think an average quilter-woman has probably done in the past few days:

Shopped for groceries

Purchased last-minute gifts

Finished up a handmade gift

Wrapped gifts

Delivered gifts

Acted thoughtfully toward a co-worker

Thought about an original quilt idea

Made a meal

Wished for time at the local quilt shop

Cleaned up the kitchen

Cleaned the house for company’s arrival

Worried about the wintry weather

Picked up someone at the airport

Phoned someone who is alone or lonely

Chatted with a friend about holiday plans

Sent a card to someone far away

Thought about family members’ favorite holiday foods

Cooked ahead for the weekend

Picked up or dropped off kids/pets/relatives

Packed/unpacked the car

Lit a pretty candle

Enjoyed a soft snowfall

Listened to familiar Christmas music

Missed someone who is gone

Hugged someone who is home

Wished for peace on earth

Gave thanks for blessings big and small

From all of us at Quiltmaker to all of you, a very Merry Christmas!

Wow! We were all thrilled with the design work that was submitted to the Quiltmaker/Electric Quilt Design Contest. There was a full range of designs from easy to complex; simple piecing to intricate piecing; foundation piecing and applique.

First, contestant identities were concealed for judging. Quiltmaker staff gathered to select the Grand Prize winner. We had the designers’ EQ files so we could get a detailed look at the submissions. We considered the overall originality of the quilt design, then took a more in-depth look at the quilting plans presented.

I’m pleased to announce that Jo Moury of Haymarket, VA is the Grand Prize winner with her design Bull Run Nine Patch.

Grand Prize: Bull Run Nine Patch by Jo Moury

We will be making Jo’s design into a quilt that she will get to keep. The pattern for her design will be presented in an upcoming issue of Quiltmaker. She also wins a gift certificate from Electric Quilt.

After Jo’s quilt was selected, the remaining designs were sent to EQ for their staff choice. Barb Vlack of Saint Charles, IL is the winner of the EQ Staff Choice with her submission, Geese in a Gordian Knot.

EQ Staff Choice: Geese in a Gordian Knot by Barb Vlack

Barb wins gift certificates from both Quiltmaker and Electric Quilt.

You can see larger images of both Jo’s and Barb’s winning designs, plus their quilting plans,  in the Quiltmaker/Electric Quilt Contest Gallery.

Congratulations to both Jo and Barb for their excellent work!

Now, the fun continues with the Viewer’s Choice portion of our contest. Both Jo and Barb submitted more than one design, but each person can only win one prize. Their remaining designs have been removed from the voting gallery and all qualified entries are now eligible for the Viewer’s Choice. You must register in order to vote and there is only one vote per person. The voting will remain open until Tuesday, January 5 at 11:59 pm MST. Good luck to all!

Follow this link to VOTE.

One-Yard Wonders is a new release that just arrived in our office for review. Storey Publishing has packed it full of great sewing projects—101 projects, to be exact. Focused on general sewing more than quilting, it would make a great gift for any young sewer you know.

One of my favorite sections is their novel idea of a “sewing pantry”explained like this:

Here’s a list of the 40 essentials we think you’ll want to have on hand, not just to complete your projects, but to ensure a frustration-free sewing experience every time! Just as you wouldn’t attempt to cook a fabulous recipe without your essential cooking utensils, and…basic ingredients, so you must keep your sewing pantry stocked with some fundamental sewing necessities.

Lists of “25 Equipment Must-Haves” and “15 Necessary Notions” follow. Comparing sewing supplies to a pantry, I think, is a really helpful idea.

The authors are Rebecca Yaker, owner of Hazel and Melvin’s Room (an online boutique) and Patricia Hoskins, co-founder of Crafty Planet. Together they organize the No Coast Craft-a-Rama, an independent craft fair.

Eleven chapters cover everything from home items to storage, toting, pets and fun stuff for kids. Full-size patterns and a list of more than 70 contributors (with blog addresses!) will keep you busy, online and off, for weeks.

Several Quilt Markets ago, I was introduced to Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts by Lissa Alexander, Marketing Director for Moda Fabrics. Edyta’s quilts are amazing. She has a unique knack for combining batiks with traditional fabrics to create her designs. Her applique is beautiful, her piecing exact and her designs are fun. We have worked with her designs in several of our issues, including her latest, Michigan Crossroads, in Jan/Feb ‘10.

“Hi! I’m Edyta Sitar, but you can call me doll, honey or sweetheart which is what my husband calls me since he can’t pronounce my name correctly. You may think you’ve seen me on Dancing with the Stars….I may have the same name, but I assure you I don’t have any moves. One thing I can do is quilt!

Seriously, you may know me as the designer for Moda’s Laundry Basket Quilts collections. I have designed several collections and corresponding patterns which you can view on my website . My most recent collection, which is available in shops now, is the Close to My Heart collection which I have dedicated to my friends and fellow quilters. On one piece in the collection, you will find sentimental notes about friendships. My new book, Friendship Triangles, published by Landauer Publishing, is a book on fun fabric exchanges using half square triangles. So, now you know three things about me; I’m funny, I love quilting with my friends and I’m inspired by my friendships. Quilting is my true passion and I’m thankful everyday that it’s my profession too!

My most recent projects for Quiltmaker were a block in the 100 Blocks special issue and Michigan Crossroads in the Jan/Feb. 2010 issue. I love sharing my favorite quilting projects through magazines to help inspire others to reach for a needle and thread and start stitching.”

I got some great news today from Cindy Brick, author of Hanky Panky Crazy Quilts and a well-known appraiser and quilt restoration expert. You may recognize her name as the idea source behind A Little Hanky Panky, an article about how to make quilts from vintage hankies in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Quiltmaker, being shipped now.

This little gem of a book has been out of print for a long while, but now it’s back in limited quantities. You can read all about it and how to get it at cindybrick.com. The price is right and the shipping is free!

A Valentine-themed Hanky Panky quilt featured in QM Jan/Feb 2010

What’s even better, if that is possible, is that Cindy’s next book will be Hanky Panky with a Flourish, due out this spring. This new collection of handkerchief quilt patterns includes the traditional Hanky Panky method, plus many hanky-related patterns that don’t require cutting the handkerchiefs.

So check out Cindy’s first and soon-to-come second book, and take a peek at QM’s Jan/Feb issue to get started on your own Hanky Panky quilts.

I recently discovered the coolest free online color tool at colorschemedesigner.com. The possibilities of quilters using this tool are limitless! Here are a few things I have learned.

1. Under “About & Help” in the top right corner, turn on “show tooltips” so that when you hover your cursor over anything on the page, a box pops up to tell you how it works.

2. Near the top left, under “Color Scheme Designer” are six circles that look like clock faces. Each circle represents a type of color scheme. Hover over a circle for a definition of that scheme. Click on it to give that color scheme a whirl. Then click on different places in the bigger colored circle to see some of the possibilities. ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET???

3. At the bottom left are three tabs. “Hues” gives you the colored circle. But click on “Adjust Scheme” and you can tone down or liven up the hues by moving the little circle around on the grid.

From there you can explore on your own. A word of caution: you can spend hours playing with this and thinking of the quilt possibilities! Here’s the best part: if you’re not technically savvy, you can still use this tool in amazing ways. And if you do happen to know a lot about computers, you can do even more.

I have a few tools I turn to again and again on the topic of color.

Often-used color tools

One is the 3-in-1 Color Tool by Joen Wolfrom for C&T. I use this tool constantly. I also use a color wheel called the Rainbow Color Selector and a book called ColorWorks, The Crafter’s Guide to Color by Deb Menz. It’s a good idea to consider making use of these tools to plan the colors in your quilts.

Now I’m off to pull fabrics based on a color scheme I created in Color Scheme Designer! With any luck, I’ll show them to you in a post to come soon.