I’m introduced to designers in many ways—Quilt Market, other designers and also from our friends at the different fabric manufacturers that we work with. I’d like to thank Lissa Alexander, Marketing Director for Moda Fabrics for introducing me to Julie Herman. Julie is a young designer who also makes projects for the Moda Bake Shop. She’s fun and full of energy and ideas. You can find her pattern for Cornflower Fields in our March/April ‘10 issue. Read about Julie and leave us a comment for a chance to win one of the 3 prizes Moda Fabrics has provided: a Jelly Roll, Honey Bun or Charm Pack from the Nature’s Notebook collection by April Cornell, the same collection used in Cornflower Fields. I’ll randomly draw 3 names next Tuesday, February 2nd around noon.

Julie Herman

If you asked me 10 years ago what my creative “thing” would be in 10 years… quilting would have been the last thing I said!  I’ve always been artistic, but the quilting bug didn’t bite me until 8 years ago.  Prior to quilting, I painted, sculpted with clay, worked with beads, did graphic design and even a bit of needlepoint.  My mother has been sewing since well before I was born and so I naturally had no interest in doing the same thing as her!  Well eventually the quilting bug bit me and I’ve never looked back.  I always thought I was the first quilter in my family.  Recently I learned that I’m not upon the discovery of three quilts made in the 1930’s by my great great grandmother.

My style of quilting is all over the map.  I’ve made traditional to modern… detailed appliqué with hand quilting to simple and fast, no fuss.  Cornflower Fields is the largest quilt I’ve made.  At 96″x 96″ it may seem challenging but large pieces enable it to come together very quickly.  I normally start a design without color in mind but I worked backwards with this piece.  My goal was to come up with a bold design that would have a floating on-point appearance set within a standard grid.  All three borders were attached at one time using the same technique I show on my blog for mitering multiple borders. Mitering borders is much easier than most people think and gives a great finish to many quilts!

Unlike many quilters I love the math involved in quilting.  I find joy in calculating how big pieces should be cut and how much yardage will be needed for a project.  This skill comes in handy when working at a quilt shop, attending a show, or getting a phone call from quilter friends while they are in the middle of a project. Yes this has happened!  My background in design has also helped me tremendously. I attended Drexel University for design and had the pleasure of taking many great classes including one silkscreen class where I made a quilt as one of my projects out of custom fabric.

Blogging has been one of the best additions to my quilting life.  It has enabled me to share my work and meet a ton of new people.  In 2009 I was lucky to be able to design for the Moda Bake Shop, attend my first quilt market, as well as work and shop at 4 other shows.  I’ve got a lot planned for 2010 and I hope you’ll join along on my blog, where I post “WIPs”work-in-progresses, finished pieces, my weekly stash report, as well as all kinds of things!

Tune in to  Creative Talk Radio every Monday at 4pm est to listen to Pat Sloan’s new radio show. Her show will introduce you to creative people in quilting as well as knitting, crochet, paper crafts and more. Her guest today is Bonnie Hunter, and you’ll get a chance to call in and ask Bonnie questions during the second half of the show. There will be a drawing and Quiltmaker has provided one of the giveaways! Listen to the show and then leave a comment on Pat’s blog for a chance to win the 3 issues of Quiltmaker that feature Bonnie’s Christmas Lights mystery series or Bonnie’s first 2 books with the Kansas City Star.

One of the things I enjoy about Quilt Market is the opportunity to meet new designers. This past Quilt Market was no exception. I met several young designers who are just now making their mark in the quilt world. One of them was Rachel Griffith, and I asked her to be a guest blogger for us. We’ll be working more with Rachel in upcoming issues of Quiltmaker.

And, we’ll have another giveaway! Just leave a comment telling us how long you’ve been quilting and what your skill level is. You can also add the types of quilts you like to make. I’ll randomly draw one name next Tuesday, 11/24 around noon to win a fat quarter bundle from Riley Blake Designs.

Rachel Griffith

Once upon a time…there was a 16 year old girl who loved home economics class. She learned all things domestic that a young girl should including how to make pillow turn baby blankets…she was instantly addicted. She made pillow turn blankets for years and knew that she needed something more…her one true domestic love.

“I think I’ll learn to quilt!!!” she said to herself in the middle of the fabric section of Wal-Mart. And that’s where her story started.

So here I am…that young girl, all grown up and I’m still in love with all things domestic. {except laundry of course…ewww.}
I guess yall could classify me as a multi-talented domestic diva. *kidding*
I’m pretty much your average stay at home momma, except I get to play with fabric in between changing diapers and picking up toys. And yes, I SO love my job. I began to make baby quilts, table runners & lap quilts for our house. Then I started making items for people when they needed them or when I needed a few extra bucks. Lately it seems as if the quilty part of my job has been branching out and I’ve added a few more things to my job requirement list.

I have been designing for the Moda Bake Shop, which in itself, is such a great gig. {It’s no big surprise that I am addicted to Moda Fabrics.} I think that it’s pretty safe to say that designing patterns & doing tutorials for the moda bake shop opened the flood gates for the designer within me.

I had the pleasure of attending International Quilt Market this past October and boy let me tell you…it was amazing. I met some of the most amazing quilty stars in the business and was inspired beyond belief. It definitely made me want to come home and design, design, design.

Basically, the quilty beast can’t be tamed, and my story will continue to write itself as I continue to branch out in the quilting world. I hope that yall will follow along with me as I share my quilty {& sometimes not so quilty} adventures over at my blog, p.s. i quilt.

All week we’ve been teasing you in regard to the Big Bundle Giveaway. Many of the contributors to 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers sent prizes to be included. SO many sent prizes that we’ve created two giveaways for U.S. and Canadian folks. (For those of you in other places, see this post.) If you live in the U.S. or Canada, just leave a comment on this post by 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16 (MST) to be entered. Tell us how you first heard about this blog tour. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

This giveaway includes fabric, books, patterns and more, and each prize has a retail value of about $500. A big thank you to all the donors (we’re going to blog about them next week).

It’s been great to have you along for this wonderful ride! We hope you discovered lots of great new blogs and quilting resources, and we hope you’ll come back often.

Update 11/17/09: The U.S./Canada winners are:

• Debbi Price from Des Moines, WA
• Valorie Kortus from Loveland, CO

Subscribe to Quiltmaker: special offers here.

Find the entry form to win one of the actual blocks here.

Buy QM Kits and other products: special offers here.

Post 100 Blocks projects on a flickr group here.

Sign up for the free Quilter’s Village email newsletter here.

Send us feedback anytime to editor at quiltmaker.com.

If you live someplace other than the U.S. and Canada, this is the Big Bundle Giveaway for you. (If you live in the U.S. or Canada,  see this post to enter. ) We’ve created a pint-sized package of quilty fun just right to ship anywhere in the world. The giveaway includes fabric, books and patterns. To enter, just leave a comment here before 3 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16 (MST). Tell us how you first heard about this blog tour. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 17.

It’s been great to have you along for this wonderful ride! We hope you discovered lots of great new blogs and quilting resources, and we hope you’ll come back often.

Update 11/19: It took a little longer because the first name drawn was from the U.S and ineligible, but then emma #46 from Australia was randomly selected as our international winner–congratulations emma and thanks to all for participating!

Subscribe to Quiltmaker: special offers here.

Find the entry form to win one of the actual blocks here.

Buy QM Kits and other products: special offers here.

Post 100 Blocks projects on a flickr group here.

Sign up for the free Quilter’s Village email newsletter here.

Send us feedback anytime to editor at quiltmaker.com.

Our business involves deadlines, and I was way past my deadline to design something for 100 Blocks. Feeling the crunch, I doodled at my desk one day and came up with Bar None.

Bar None by Diane Harris

I love working with a 12″ format when I’m designing, because it’s divisible by so many numbers: 2, 3, 4, and 6. The possibilities are endless.

Bar None is a very simple block, so I used interesting fabrics to spice it up. Here are a few hints for choosing fabrics in a scrappy project:

1. All the colors should not “match”. If you use blacks, for instance, choose blacks that are different from one another. Sameness = boring.
2. Choose a variety of motifs in the fabrics. Bar None has stripes, polka dots, very graphic letters and a little ditzy print just in the black/white areas.
3. Mix up the values a bit. The blues in Bar None are very light, medium, medium dark and dark-with-lots-of-other-colors.
4. If something sticks out like a sore thumb, add more of it. I learned this in a class with Roberta Horton and it’s been an invaluable lesson.

What are your tips for choosing scrappy fabrics? Leave a comment here by noon Monday, Nov. 16 and you could win a free copy of 100 Blocks.

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of 100 Blocks!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The winner is Chris, #26. Congratulations!

It’s been a great week leading up to the newsstand debut of 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers! Here is one last list of great places to visit. Click on the links in the list to find ways to win a free copy of this fresh, fun, jam-packed issue.

You’ll find this issue at your local quilt shop, bookstore or ShopQuiltersVillage.com.

The blocks by today’s featured designers are really fun!

Spring Blossom by Peg Spradlin.

If you like foundations, 100 Blocks has them!

Stars Upon Stars by Joen Wolfrom.

If you like applique, 100 Blocks has it!

Spring Snowflake by Kathy K. Wylie.

Southern Blooms by Pat Wys.

And of course there are pieced blocks galore, too. You’ll find blocks to fit any style from country to funky to feminine and more. As a recap, here’s a list of all that’s going on:

Everyone is invited to post pictures of 100 Blocks projects at the flickr group.

We’re giving away all 100 blocks—to 100 winners. You can find the entry form here.

We’re giving away several prizes in our Big Bundle Giveaway. Scroll down and leave a comment in that post to be entered.

These Bali Pops from Hoffman California Fabrics could be yours in our Big Bundle Giveaway!

Today’s Featured Designers

1. Pat Sloan: patsloan.typepad.com
2. Wendy Slotboom: wendyslotboom.com/blog
3. Peg Spradlin: handicraftsbypeg.com
4. Jacquelynne Steves: thenoblewife.blogspot.com
5. Joen Wolfrom: blog.jwdpublishing.com
6. Kathy K. Wylie: kathykwylie.com/blog
7. Pat Wys: silverthimbletalk.blogspot.com
8. Kay Mackenzie: allaboutapplique.net
9. Monica Solorio-Snow: thehappyzombie.com/blog
10. Evonne Cook: clotheslinequilts.com
11. Janet Bate: chocolateismyfavoritecolor.blogspot.com
12. Susan Cook: larkspurlanedesigns.blogspot.com

Also participating today are our friends and generous donors Maywood Studio and Windham Fabrics.

Be sure to scroll down for the Big Bundle Giveaway! Thanks for blog touring with Quiltmaker. We hope you’ll come back often. Watch for a final wrap-up post early next week.

Get the latest news and special offers from Quiltmaker by subscribing to our free email newsletter. Sign up at quiltmaker.com/newsletters to get the Quilters Village newsletter twice a month.

Sign up by 3 pm MST on Monday, November 16–leave a comment here that you’ve signed up (or that you already get it)–and I’ll pick 2 random winners to receive a copy of 100 Blocks.

Congratulations to #9 Sandra and #13 Nancy.

The name for my block, Snow Shoo, was inspired by two things. The fabrics have a ’snow’ theme, and the basic grid is  similar to the traditional shoofly block.

If you’ve been following our blog for a while, this block might look a little familiar. I designed it to show off fabrics I designed and had printed on Spoonflower, and blogged about it back in July. It’s a fun and quick block to piece, so when it came time to make my block for this special issue, I decided to use the same design.

Several of the blocks in this issue use fabrics from a single line by one manufacturer. Snow Shoo uses the Snow Days line by Mary Jo Tuttle for Connecting Threads. When you pick fabrics for a quilt, do you try to choose fabrics that you know will ‘go together’ because they were designed in the same line, or do you like to mix colors and styles from a variety of manufacturers? I’ll pick someone at random from the comments after 10 am MST on Friday morning 11/13 to win a 100 blocks issue.

And the winner is: #23, Wendy. Congratulations! Wendy will receive a copy of our 100 Blocks issue.

Recently our Facebook Fan page disappeared from Facebook. We don’t know what happened to it. We have a new Facebook Fan page set up, and we want all of our fans back. Become a fan of Quiltmaker this week, and I’ll randomly draw 5 fans on Monday 11/16 to win a copy of our new 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers.

update: become a fan by 12 noon MST on Monday for a chance to win.

The five winners are: Susan Brooks, Connie Makl, Janet Kopecky, Robert Taylor and Della Cornell. Congratulations to all of you.