My day on the Hop

Hi, I'm Beth.  Welcome to my day on the Blog Hop!  I can't remember exactly when I started quilting - it was in the past two years - but I didn't get "addicted" to it until last summer and now I'm at my sewing machine most every day.  

Favorite Quilting Tip:  Enjoy the process AND what I hear myself telling my daughters when they are sewing - take it slow and steady.  Oh, and try new things - you never know what you are going to like until you try it!

Favorite Blogging Tip:  Blog because it is fun and don't be afraid!  I started my blog in late February and I really didn't realize what an awesome experience it would be.  I have made so many great blogging friends and am so happy to be part of such a fun and supportive community.  And just like in quilting, don't be afraid to try new things with your blog.  When I thought about organizing a blog hop for new bloggers, I was hesitant to put it out there - thinking no one would be interested - especially since I had only been blogging for about two months.  But as you can tell, the response was amazing!  Same with the advice series - my email to the guest bloggers bordered on being apologetic for even asking but as you can see, I got a very positive response to that as well.  So, my tip is just go for it!  

Book I am currently reading:  The Invisible Bridge  (I love giving and receiving good book suggestions so I try to keep my reading list up to date on goodreads.)  

Favorite children's book:  Too many to list but the first to come to mind:  The Phantom Tollbooth, From the Mixed-Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler, Harry Potter, and anything by Mo Willems and Oliver Jeffers.

Favorite music to listen to while quilting:  I usually just put on Pandora - the station I have on right now is Josh Radin (but like some other bloggers I follow, I've also been known to listen to Glee.)  And I listen to audiobooks.  

Favorite TV show to watch while hand stitching: Like so many other blog hoppers, I love the Big Bang Theory.  I also like Modern Family, Parenthood, Downton Abbey - oh, and The Walking Dead (seriously - LOVE that show!)

One more thing about me?  I'm married to a supportive man who is like an enabler to my fabric buying habits - as he often can be heard saying "Yes, honey, you should take advantage of that sale and order another 10 yards of fabric - you've only received three fabric packages in the mail so far this week!" (Um - yes, he proofread this post for me and wanted to know why I didn't mention him so I'm adding this in last minute but really, he doesn't even say that sarcastically!)  Oh, and we have three daughters - ages 9, 7, and 9 months.  And, actually, they encourage my fabric habit as well.  Hm . . .  

Okay, onto the tutorial.

Supplies:

16 5in square charms (including a few novelty prints fussy cut to 5")
20"x 20" piece of white fabric (middle fabric)
24" x 24" piece of batting (I used warm and natural)
26" x 26" piece of fabric for backing
fabric for binding (120" x 2.5")
thread in pink, blue, and neutral
stamps, fabric markers, or fabric paint

Start by laying out your charm squares and middle fabric on the batting to determine your preferred layout.  Trim your middle fabric so that it just slightly overlaps the charm squares on all sides.  I knew that I wanted to use the stamps to add some words near the typewriter so I added a plain aqua charm under the typewriters (not shown here) and I added some light fabric to make the little clock measure 5".

Piece together the following into strips:  5 charms for the top row, 5 charms for the bottom row, and 3 charms for each of the side columns.  

Take your top strip and place it on the batting right sides together, stitch using a 1/4in seam, flip, and press.  Do the same for the bottom strip.

Place your middle fabric on top of the batting and strips (baste if preferred.)  I angled mine slightly.  Note - now that I am looking at all the photos I took, I notice that the bottom fabrics really show through.  I don't think it looks so glaring offline but if you would rather not have this happen, I would suggest either using  a darker fabric for the middle (maybe a linen color), using two pieces of fabric for the middle - either both white or a darker piece underneath, or covering the batting entirely in patchwork and placing the white piece on top of that.  Or, you could just cut the top and bottom patchwork squares to allow for them to go around the middle fabric.

Using the pink thread, stitch a vertical line on the white fabric.  Switch to the blue fabric and stitch horizontal lines.  Since I was going for a scrappy look, I just stitched random lines but if you want more precision, you can mark them first.  Also, since I am still using my old sewing machine that does not have an auto-thread cutter, when I get to the end of a line, I lift my pressure foot and my needle and rotate the fabric around to sew the next line (not sure if this is a common or even a proper technique but it works for me.)

Lay your backing fabric wrong side up and center the batting/quilt top on it right side up - thus, making a quilt sandwich.  Take each of your side strips and place them so they overlap the middle fabric and the previously placed strips (make sure no batting is showing around the middle piece.)

 Using a zig zag and neutral thread, stitch all the seams and the edges of the middle piece.

Add in the hanging corners (Nicole from Mama Loves Quilts did a great tutorial on this for her blog hop day) and bind the quilt (I attached the binding to the back of the quilt first, pressed it to the front and then used a zig zag to attach by machine.)  And seeing this photo, I realized I missed a bit with the  zig zag on the edge under the clock - fortunately, with this type of style and quilting, I was able to go back and stitch over that line - my kind of fix - no seam ripper!

If you are making this for a gift, you can stop here and gift it with a set of fabric markers and stamps.  However, for this tutorial, I went ahead and wrote in some school rules/sayings.  I just used a fabric marker to color in stamps but you can also use stencils, fabric paint, or even handwriting with the fabric markers. Of course, if you are feeling very ambitious, I think the rules would look great embroidered!  I think another great alternative would be to use fabric for the words "school" and "rules" - either applique or pieced.  

And that's that.  Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check out what Svetlana from Sotak Handmade made today for her blog hop day.  And be sure to visit both Julie from Jolie Maxtin and Lori from Adventures in Fabric on Thursday.  And if you haven't already, stop by last Thursday's bloggers:      Suzanne from SuzClaas and Mina from Kindaquilty.  Actually, I highly recommend catching up on all the great posts and tutorials from the past 6 weeks.  Here is the list.

And, also click here to read my post yesterday that included an interview for the Advice for New Bloggers Series with Angela from Cut to Pieces and a fabric giveaway.

Linking up to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts (pretty much all my favorite recent projects are in the mosaic), Quilt Story, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Week 6 Blog Hop News and Giveaway

Weekly calendar:  be sure to visit these blogs this week to meet the bloggers and learn more about them AND see the projects they made especially for the blog hop!

June 26

    Svetlana from Sotak Handmade

    Beth from Plum and June (my turn!)
June 28

    Julie from Jolie Maxtin

    Lori from Adventures in Fabric

Click here to find links to the awesome tutorials from the last five weeks and to see some fantastic events currently being hosted by blog hoppers.  

This week's guest blogger is Angela from the wonderful Cut to Pieces.  I first found Angela's blog when I spotted this beautiful mini.  And I've enjoyed following her blog ever since and seeing all her lovely projects and her awesome tutorials.  To help us out, Angela answered some questions I sent her based on the information you all told me you were interested in hearing more about.

1.  What do you think is most important for new quilting bloggers to know?  Were you given some advice when you started blogging that you could pass on?

Well I think the first thing is to just start blogging because you WANT to.  Don't do it because "everyone" seems to be doing it or you want to become popular or other insincere reasons.  Blogging is about sharing your own journey through whatever projects you are tackling, whether that is quilting, sewing, painting, or life in general.  Not everyone will want to read your blog and not everyone needs to write a blog.  I didn't write a blog for at least a year after I was seriously involved in the online quilting community.  And when I started I did it because I realized I had a lot more to say about WHY I was making the sewing and quilting decisions I was.  And I realized that I needed to document the things that I was making because I kept giving them away and you so easily forget what you've made or what it took to make it.

There wasn't anyone that I knew well enough to ask about blogging when I started so I didn't really get any advice.  I just started writing and invited the people that I was in bees and swaps with on flickr to read along.  And eventually others followed.

2.  Is there anything you now know that you wish you would have known when you started your blog?  Anything you wish you had done differently?  Anything you now know NOT to do on a blog (not necessarily something you have done but something you now know never to do.) 

Well one of the things that I have learned is that having a blog is A LOT of work.  If you write a post even three times a week that means you need to generate enough content to warrant that.  You need to be taking photographs of your work and then editing them and uploading them and then finally writing a blog post.  I don't think most people realize the time commitment that is involved with that.  So perhaps decide how much time you have to give to something like this.  Because when you are blogging, you are not sewing.  It's really hard to keep that all in balance.

Another thing that I learned is that you need to BE YOURSELF.  People come to a blog because they like the pretty pictures or ideas, but they also come because they enjoy reading how the particular blogger writes.  So speak with your own voice.

I try not to have a lot of regrets in the blogging world.  One thing I've seen and learned is to "save the drama for your mama".  People do NOT want to hear your grievances against someone else unless there is really no other resort or you would be protecting people.  But in general, be kind.  Don't be fake.  But seriously...if you don't have something nice to say then don't say it.  Figure out how to air your grievances in a way that does not attack.

                   image from Cut to Pieces

3.  What would your advice be for growing readership?  Any advice on using social media to do so?

If you really want to grow your readership then you need to be involved...involved in swaps and bees and be a presence somewhere.  

Also, I personally don't like doing this, but I know it works...throwing around pictures of popular fabric draws people in.  We're suckers for a pretty picture of fabric we like.  

Giveaways work as well...but be prepared for people who complain...because they're always out there.  I started with giveaways of things that I had made and went from there.  It was quite a while before I had a "sponsored" giveaway.  Giving away a precious item that you has made shows your readers that you are serious about respecting their time and appreciate that they read your blog.  I also gave away my own fabric that I purchased.   I'm not sure how many people are doing sponsored giveaways these days...it may be easier to find someone than when I first started.

4.  Do you blog surf?  If so, can you pinpoint a few aspects of a new blog that would make you want to become a follower?  And is there anything that would make you want to never visit that blog again? 

Occasionally...but I typically go outside of the quilting world when I do.  For me to follow a quilting blog, the writer has to have a style that appeals to me...that doesn't necessarily mean that they appeal to everyone.  More often, for the blogs that I don't follow, I will read an occasional post when I see an item that I like on flickr and want to know more about it.  HOWEVER this can only happen if the person has put a link under their picture on flickr directing me toward their blog.  You can't make it hard for people to find you!

As mentioned before, drama tuns me off...gripey whiney drama in particular.  I want to see "real" people but I don't want to surround myself in negativity.  So it's not that a person needs to be spurting out sunshine and rainbows all the time (that can be equally annoying), but I don't follow regular "complainers".  

                                             image from Cut to Pieces

5.  What types of posts are most popular on your blog and what about those posts is it that make them such?

Boy if you get the answer to this question then let me know!  I've always been surprised by what topic will strike a chord with my readers and what doesn't get a lot of response.  I do think that it is key to engage your readers in order to get responses.  So I always reply to everyone that I can who comments on my blog...some people don't give you email access, so there isn't much you can do unless you want to comment publicly on your own blog in response.

Still, to be fair, I would say that my most popular posts have been about my mini quilts and the stories that go with them.  That and really great giveaways.;)  But the minis are often made for someone who's identity I have not revealed and the story is not given until the end...so there is some anticipation I think to learn about the piece.

6.  As part of the advice series, we will be putting together a checklist for new quilting bloggers including items to help us look at our blogs objectively in terms of the look of our blogs, the photos, the content, the writing, etc. - any tips for what you think we should include on the checklist?

A clean, crisp look is most appealing to me...but that is very subjective.  There are lots of different blog styles out there.  Just make sure that your blog is easy to navigate.  

You may have noticed (even with this) that I tend to be a little long winded...some bloggers will give you five sentences and call it a day.  And it works.  That rarely works for me.  It's just not how I communicate online.  So again, the writing style is pretty subjective too.  I'm not a ton of help here!  Sorry!

7.  Thinking ahead:  (a) how and when should new bloggers solicit sponsors and (2) how and when should new bloggers seek out ways to be published.

a)Well gathering sponsors for a blog is a very personal decision and frankly a fair amount of pressure.  I don't find that it pays me enough for the pressure and have considered chucking it all...but I still end up blogging, so I guess we're all good.

I did ask a couple of people to sponsor my blog and was asked by another to be a sponsor all around the same time.  Some people turned me down.  It WILL happen.  One thing I learned is that a lot of companies budget their advertising for the year...so you can ask them now, but expect them to not be free to do that until the new year.  In fact, you might even suggest that yourself.  You may get someone who is willing to branch out later but doesn't have the time to think about that right now.  

                  image from Cut to Pieces

Also, you may find that asking someone to do a sponsored giveaway is a good alternative for both of you.  They might decide that they get a lot of traffic through your blog and you may get new readers through having a sponsored giveaway.  Plus it is a one time deal...you can find if you are a good fit for each other.

b) If you want to get published then contact publishers!  They are always looking for new work and ideas...but beware...it's not uncommon in this current industry to not be paid for certain publications.  But it gets you out there and gives you some credibility.  Most magazines will pay you for your work but it's a wait to see if you've been accepted.  Books are a little rarer to be published in because unless you are doing your own, then it is a compilation.  And that means that it takes many hands to make one book.  Which means it takes more time.  It's typically a year and a half to two years for book publications to come out from the initial invitation...that's a long time to wait if you are doing this to tell people about it.  Because you can never talk about publications that early. ;)

Good luck everyone!  And thank you for having me!

May we all accomplish even one dream of ours.

Angela

Thanks Angela for all the great insights and advice!

Giveaway:
  
This week's giveaway is sponsored by the very cool Contemporary Cloth.  They have a wonderful selection of fresh, modern fabric and they are currently having an awesome sale.  The giveaway includes two Jennifer Paganelli charm packs (Dance with Me and St. Croix) plus one yard of Kona in a color of your choosing.


To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post.  Leave any comment you want to enter but since it is fun to have a topic, if  you'd like you can tell us what is it about the blogs you follow that caused you to click the follow button?  One comment per person for an entry (replies to other comments don't count so reply all you want!)  The giveaway will be open until Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 8pm EDT and a winner will be chosen at random.  And, PLEASE, leave an email address unless you are sure that you are not a no-reply blogger.  The winner will be announced in the Week 7 Blog Hop News on Monday, July 2nd. 


The winner of last week's giveaway from Fabricworm is #44 - bhafer.  Congrats!  

Anyone participating in or following along with the blog hop can add a link.  Please either post the button or a text link somewhere in your post or on your blog and please visit (at the very least) the person who links up right before you and leave a comment!  For fun (actually, an experiment), when the link tool asks for your name - write down your favorite color instead.  

Blog Hop News, Advice for New Bloggers Guest Post, and a Giveaway

As part of The Let's Get Acquainted! Blog Hop, I thought it might be fun and helpful to ask some experienced bloggers to share their thoughts on blogging with us.  I was so excited when Deborah from Whipstitch agreed to be our first guest.  I have been a fan of her wonderful blog for a while - I love her blog's design, her writing style, her great projects - well, basically everything about her site.  Here is what she had to say:


Thanks so much to Beth for inviting me to be part of this! I really and truly love
blogging and all the connections and friends I have made through the course of it,
so it's super fun for me to have the chance to talk about the process of writing and
maintaining a blog with other crafters and folks who quilt and sew. When I first
started my first blog in 2004, I really had no idea what I was doing or what was the
best way to approach the process; I really saw blogging as a simple way to write
about the things that I cared about, and didn't even dream that anyone else would
ever care! Blogging was still new then, and the idea of using what was essentially
a group email to keep our friends and family updated on our lives to connect to
strangers from all across the world was beyond my comprehension. These days,
a lot of folks start their blogs for the express purpose of connecting with others
who love what they love, and it's so exciting to see how that grows and works and
evolves.

Beth asked me to share any advice I've gotten or would give to new quilting
bloggers, so I really sat and thought about what has worked for me over the years,
and where I have learned the most that has made my blog something I can be proud
and excited to share with others. I hope it's helpful for you, and that you'll all fall in
love with blogging!

                                                                      image from Whipstitchfabrics.com

My nuggets of blogging advice, in no particular order, and somewhat stream-of-
consciousness, with a dose of cheerful encouragement:

• Work to be YOU in your blog. It's so easy to read another blog and emulate what you see there, specially when that blog is successful or bringing in revenue or widely read. But the reasons that blog is all those things is because it is unique to that writer; your blog can only ever be a reflection of you, because if it's anything else, readers will sense that and you won't find the connection you crave. Some of my most popular or widely-read posts were ones where I felt I was saying something obvious and that wouldn't interest anyone, or putting together a tutorial that no one would care to read but that served a purpose for me, or was maybe over-sharing a bit and getting too touchy-feely. What I learned is that the times when I am most myself are when I get the biggest response from my readers--so be real.

                                                                         image from Whipstitchfabrics.com

• Read other blogs, and leave comments. You don't
  want to work to become another blogger, but it's unwise to pretend they're not out
  there. Read other blogs, particularly the ones that inspire you to push your own
  creative envelope. You never know what will spark your next great idea! When you
  visit someone else's site, take the time to leave a comment, even if it's just a little
  note--we all know how nice it is to have a comment on a post, and it doesn't take
  much time. Some of my closest friends in the online world have come from just
  leaving comments and replying to the ones left for me! Those friendships are the
  ones that inspire me to come up with new ideas or to invite someone to visit (in
  person or online) and are the folks who push me to be more ME in my own blog.
• Use great photos. Most of us realize this now because we've become fairly blog-sophisticated, but when I was new to blogging, I didn't realize that the thing I loved most about the blogs I loved most was their images. You don't have to have a fancy camera, but you really can't get away with importing photos and using them raw. Edit your photos using iPhoto or any other simple (and often free) photo editing software--make it lighter and brighter, adjust the exposure,and crop out the "noise" that doesn't tell the story of your photo. Take the time to take pictures in good locations--outside, in natural light, and in front of a backdrop that enhances your quilt whenever possible. Vary the focal point of your images, giving readers both a full shot of an entire quilt as well as close-ups of the seams, the fabrics, the quilting stitches, your binding, and any element that sets your quilt apart--see this recent quilt post for an idea of what I mean here. Photos that show the quilt in motion or some kind of dynamic pose--on a person, being used, wrapped around a tree, being tossed in the air. Quilts are dynamic, and readers love seeing them in various "poses," just like a person.

                                                                        image from Whipstitchfabrics.com

• Write great content that will last. Your blog is like a
  good friend--you want to nurture and care for it. You're not doing your blog any
  favors by adding posts that don't add content. It's easy to think of the blog like an
  email, with each post waiting for a response, but it's wiser to think of it like a
  magazine, with each post lasting perpetually. Rather than feeling pressured to write
  a new post about a partial project because you haven't finished anything worth
  writing about, make that project part of a series of posts and link them to one
  another--that way, readers can find the beginning of the project and work through
  from beginning to end even if they locate your blog years later (Pins & Needles does a great job of this with her wearable art garment posts). Rather than writing the dreaded "Sorry I've been neglecting the blog" post when you've failed to add new content in a while, simply pick up where you left off--hardly anyone reads the dates on posts anyway, and unless you had a major car accident/death in the family/cataclysmic event, chances are your absence is probably not worth calling attention to. Rather than making your posts "time-specific" by referring to the day of the week/date, work to make them timeless so that in the future when readers find your blog for the first time, they will feel they've uncovered a treasure trove of information instead of a time capsule (the obvious exception to this is if you're posting about a particular holiday or doing a time-sensitive giveaway or event).
• Respond to every comment you possibly can. This one took me a long time to learn, and it really has called me to grow as a human being. For years, literally, I would love and crave comments, but wouldn't respond to them. Partly that was because I didn't really think anyone would care if I did, but partly it was because GETTING the comment was what mattered most to me. Those two things reflected my own insecurity and self-absorption, respectively, and learning to see that in myself wasn't totally fun. BUT! Once I realized that I was actually being disrespectful and unkind to readers who had taken the time to interact with me, I began to really get the meat out of blogging where before I had been subsisting on the fluff. By responding to comments, you build interaction with your readers, which grows their loyalty and your readership, and makes a community on your blog as the same folks come back time and again--but it also grows YOU, which makes your real life better, which makes your blog richer, and that benefits your readers. See how it all comes around? At some point, God willing, your blog might be so huge you cannot possibly reply to every person who leaves a comment--we should all have such problems. When that happens, pick and choose which comments you answer, but still take the time to interact with your readers. Anna Maria Horner once replied to a comment I left on her blog four years ago--I still have the email, tucked away and saved.

                                      image from Whipstitchfabrics.com

• Social media isn't just about promoting yourself (but it can be). Personally, I despise Facebook and adore Twitter; you might be the other way around. It
  doesn't make a difference--what matters is that not everyone can keep up with their
  Google Reader all the time, and your recent brilliant blog post might go under their
  radar if they don't have another way of interacting with you. I love, love, love
  Twitter because the interface makes it so easy for me to catch up on bits and pieces
  of what my friends and fave bloggers are doing, and for them to do the same with
  me. I can tweet a post that I've just published to guide readers for faster feedback,
  and I can highlight events I'm planning or ask for advice or find a comrade with
  whom to make some mischief. Facebook acts very much the same way, and can help
  your posts get passed on to someone who might not find your blog any other way.
  The key is always to be genuine, and avoid using either as a means to self-promote
  all the time. Nothing makes me unfollow a blog faster than when they are constantly
  working to build their readership by giving things away, soliciting sponsors, or
  tweeting advertisements. Use social media to share your blog, yes, but also to share
  ideas and the joy of quilting with others from a real place.
• You are under zero obligation to write a tutorial.
  When your blog is new, it seems as if you are expected to do a tutorial at some point. This is a MYTH. For one thing, not everyone is gifted as a teacher or technical writer. For another, not every tutorial needs to be written. Going to all the effort of putting together a tutorial and getting little or no feedback is discouraging, to say the least. If your readers see a project you've done and ask for a tutorial, then go for it--two of my most popular tutorials ever (one with over 36,000 Stumbles and  nearly 200,000 views) were the result of specific requests from regular readers of my blog that I was happy to fulfill. I had absolutely NO expectation that they'd get the kind of readership or reaction that they did; I made them for folks who already read and liked my blog, and that made it fun to do. Most tutorials get nothing like that reaction, and that can be a real bummer if you thought it would be the Next Big Thing. If you don't want to write a tutorial but would rather show off finished projects, then by all means, do what you're best at and avoid what you don't enjoy! Your blog should be your happy place, not a land of drudgery.

                                                                    image from Whipstitchfabrics.com

• There should be no music on your blog. If I land on a blog with music in the background, I click away and never, ever, ever go back. Having music on your blog is way 1998, and is the death of any increased readership. For reals.
• Make it easy to find content on your blog, now and in the
  future. This one is the real back-end work of blogging, and I am always
  tweaking mine--in fact, I'm in the middle of a redesign right now, working to get
  more content archived in ways that make it simple to find and utilize. Blogger and
  WordPress and TypePad all make great widgets for your sidebars; you don't have to
  use them all. Instead, find ways to organize your blog to make it simpler for a new
  reader to get involved. Think of it as if you're part of a TV series, and any new
  reader is coming in part way through the season; if they can't catch up on the story
  and characters, they won't stick around. Make sure you have an "about" section that
  introduces you, a "back posts" section where they can find older posts in a
  particular category or on a certain subject, and don't be too proud to highlight older
  projects or posts in your sidebar. If your blog is about YOU, make it possible for a
  new reader to learn what it is that makes your blog different and enjoyable so that
  they'll be encouraged to come back over and over again.

I hope these suggestions are useful! Most of this is pretty foundational, but these
are things I didn't think about or know when I started blogging that would have
been so helpful in thinking through WHY I had a blog and WHAT I wanted my
blog to be about. Your blog will be different from anyone else's, and the more it's a
reflection of you, the more you'll enjoy the process, whether you have readers or
not. And the enjoyment you get from blogging comes through in your posts, which
is what draws in readers. It's a paradox, I know, but there it is.

Happy blogging!

Thanks Deborah for all your valuable insights and advice!  This is such helpful information for new bloggers (such as myself) and on behalf of the new bloggers who will be reading this, I want to say how much we all appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. 


Giveaway:

                                            image from Whipstitchfabrics.com

***Deborah is teaching a four-week e-course starting June 4th called Essential Quilting.  I've read through the description and it sounds amazing!  The course is aimed at beginning and intermediate-level quilters and will teach you the steps to make 10 different quilt blocks that can be combined into an awesome sampler quilt as well as four mini projects!   There will be daily lessons consisting of videos, audio, images, and downloads plus guest interviews with some of our favorite modern quilters.  There will also be two live chats so you can receive direct feedback on your quilting and you'll receive a PDF e-book of the course to download at the end of the class.  Be sure to check it out!


And Deborah is offering a spot in the class to one lucky reader!  To enter, just leave a comment (1 per person) on this post.  The giveaway will remain open until Thursday, May 31 at 8pm EDT and a winner will be chosen at random that evening.  You can leave any comment you want to enter the giveaway but if you want a topic, please write about your favorite quilting tip.  If you are a no-reply blogger, be sure to leave an email address.


***Edited to add:  I am getting lots of comments from no-reply bloggers on this post so I can't reply to you - if you are unsure whether you are a no-reply blogger, please put your email in your message and I'll let you know - this includes bloggers/readers using their Google id - you might still be a no-reply blogger.  


Giveaway now closed.  And the winner is:

Brooke CrookMay 28, 2012 11:42 AM

That was great advice for a newbie blogger like myself! Thanks for sharing. As far a quilting tips go, one thing I have learned is to measure several times before cutting or piecing blocks together. I struggle in the math department and have been forced to do lots of tweaking when my calculations are off base:).

Congratulations Brooke!  Enjoy the great e-course.  






And for those of you are visiting my blog for the first time today - Welcome! - if you would like more information on the Blog Hop, click here.

Blog Hop News - May 28, 2012

Weekly Calendar

May 29
    Heidi from Fabric Mutt

    Amy from Amy's Crafty Shenanigans

    
May 31
    Jodi from Tickle and Hide
    Libby from Miss Beau Jangles

  

If you missed last week, you missed four awesome tutorials - find them here:

 May 22
    Kelsey from Kelsey Sews

    Erin from Billy Button Designs

May 24

    Nik from Bold Goods

    Alyssa from Pile O Fabric

Events and Highlights:  I'll write another post with these later this week (email me if you have something you would included.)

Other ways to keep up and participate in the Blog Hop:

   1.  Follow me on Twitter. 

   2.  Join and post on the Let's Get Acquainted! Flickr Group

   3.  Follow and post on my Let's Get Acquainted! Pinterest Boards here and here.

Weekly Link Up:

This is a weekly link up for Blog Hop Participants and anyone who is following along.  If you have made any projects inspired from the tutorials on Hop, link them here.  If not, just link up your recent post so that we can all get to know you better.  Be sure to visit some of the other bloggers who link here as well.  Please link to this post somewhere in your post or on your blog so others can find it as well.

The First Blog Hop News and a Simple Patchwork Quilt

Wow - it is finally here - the first week of the summer long Let's Get Acquainted! Blog Hop.  Over 60 new bloggers have signed up for the hop!  All the information for the hop can be found here including the buttons.  Skip to the bottom of this post for the Blog Hop News and the Link Up.

As I am writing this post, I realize I should have made a project from novelty fabrics in honor of the hop  - um, well, too late now but here is the quilt I finished this weekend.  I love the look of simple patchwork squares so I decided to cut 5" squares from most of the fabrics in my current stash including my precious fabric again.

I tried to spread out the colors and the mix of dark and light - does it have that vintage-y quality to it despite some of the modern fabrics included?  I quilted it with double diagonal lines going both directions and used Kona coal for the binding  I used a neutral grayish blue for the quilting lines but I used a pink thread to zig zag lines when I machine stitched the binding.

For the backing, I just cut large pieces from some of the pinks and reds used on the quilt top.  And the finished quilt is about 40x40 inches.

As soon as my daughters saw the quilt, they asked if they could use it as picnic blanket.  I said they could but that I would be out shortly to take pics of it for my blog post.  Well, I guess I should have taken the photos first - lesson learned - letting your kids eat chocolate on your quilt before taking pictures is not the best idea.  But a quick trip through the wash and it came out good as new (well, actually better since I like the crinkly look!)

My 7 year old was out helping me take the pics of the newly washed quilt (probably staking her claim again) and we tried to recreate the "flying in the air" look like some of the quilts in the festival - um, here was our best try (we'll have to work on it):

Blog Hop News
So as for the Blog Hop News:  every Monday, I'll be posting the week's calendar, any blog hop updates, and highlights and events from the participating bloggers.  So, be sure to check back here every Monday.  My Monday posts will also include an opportunity for all the participating bloggers as well as our readers to link up their projects made from or inspired by the presented tutorials.  See below for the special link up for this week.

And I'm very excited to let you all know that my Monday posts will also sometimes include interviews with or guest posts by some of my favorite quilting bloggers and some Monday posts will also include fun giveaways.

Here are the great bloggers we'll all be visiting this week.  And I want to say a special thank you to these bloggers for being the first!  Please be sure to visit their blogs on their hop day and please remember how much we all LOVE and appreciate comments.

Weekly Calendar

Tuesday, May 22
    Kelsey from Kelsey Sews

    Erin from Billy Button Designs

Thursday, May 24

    Nik from Bold Goods

    Alyssa from Pile O Fabric

Highlights
I'll start picking some blog posts from the participating bloggers to highlight next week (sorry, I've spent the weekend looking at all of your posts for the Blogger's Quilt Festival and I couldn't narrow it down from all the amazing quilts.)

Events
1.  Catherine from Knotted Cotton has come up with a cool idea for trading fabric - a great blog-based way to find the hard-to-find fabric you've been looking for as well as a way to destash.  Find more details on her blog post here.

2.  Em from Sewing by Moonlight is starting a Summer Road Trip Quilt Along on May 31st.  She has sketches of the blocks and they look fantastic.   The details are here.

*If you have an event on your blog that you want me to add to a Monday post, send me an email or leave a note in the comments.

Twitter
Also, because of the Blog Hop, I am going to make a point of becoming active on twitter (this week!) so follow me there if you are interested (and let me know if you have a twitter account and I'll follow you back.)  I have had the twitter link active since I started blogging but I haven't actually tweeted anything yet so . . .

Flickr
Anyone following along or participating in the hop can join in here.

Link Up
As for the link up, since this is the first week and we haven't seen any tutorials yet, I wanted to think of a way for us to start getting to know each other (um, in other words, "let's get acquainted") so for this week just add your favorite post from your blog using the link tool below.  I'm just using a text link up (for now) so where it asks for your name, put the name of your post (or a shortened version.)  And even if you are not participating in the hop as one of our stops, we still consider you to be participating just by following along and want to get to know you as well - which is just my way of saying that the link up is open for anyone with a quilting blog.






See you all at Erin's, Kelsey's, Nik's and Alyssa's this week!

Please visit my Links page to see where I like to link my posts.