Our Kit Designer Makes it Easy to Fall in Love Again contest has come to a close, and we have a winner!

 

Congratulations, Amy from Paso Robles. It's time for you to go design a queen-sized quilt of your choice! We can't wait to see what you put together.

Thank you all for entering, and keep playing with the Kit Designer!

Girl Scout Troop 72687 stopped by yesterday for a tour and sewing lesson. I really love it when these groups come in, because I get to introduce my love of stitching to a wide range of kiddos. Some have sewn before, and some haven't. Some think they can't do, then are quite surprised when they do quite well. Some think they won't like it, then love it. Some come in thinking they know everything about stitching, but still learn something new. It's really fun to work with these troops.

This troop is donating their squares to the Concord Piecemakers Guild to be made into a quilt for someone in need. The girls loved this idea, and I was proud of them for sticking with this plan when they inevitably fell in love with their blocks. Didn't they do beautiful work?

If you are interested in having your Girl Scout Troop come in for a tour and stitching class, give the shop a call. We'd love to have them!

Time is running out to enter our "The Kit Designer Makes it Easy to Fall in Love Again" contest. It's easy, fun, and no purchase is required. But the best part? You could win a queen-sized quilt kit that you designed yourself!

All you need to do is go play with the Quilter's Way Kit Designer, make a few clicks to design your own quilt, then share it with someone--through Facebook, Twitter, email, or by embedding it in your blog or website. Each time you share a quilt design, you have the option of entering the contest. The more times you enter, the more chances you have to win! So, go play!

Entries close at midnight on February 13th, and the winner will be drawn on Valentine's Day. So, go start designing and sharing, and you could be spending Valentine's Day plotting a new queen-sized quilt on us (up to $200 value)!

Because quilting is not enough of an addiction, we at Quilter's Way have become big fans of Pinterest. We're finding, though, that many of our customers don't know what Pinterest is, so I'm going to take a few minutes and tell you all about the wonders that are Pinterest.

Pinterest is a virtual cork board where people from all over the world can share pictures of things they found on the Internet that interest them. As a Pinterest member, you have different Boards, which are essentially categories where you can post "pins," or the pictures of what you have pinned. You can download a widget on your toolbar that allows you to pin from any website. So, as you surf the web, you can collect inspiration in one place for later viewing.

You can also go to Pinterest, though, and follow other members--your friends or people who seem to have similar interests. You can also just check out any category to see what people are pinning related to that. It really is a giant inspiration board. Be careful, though, once you get started, you can't stop!

Quilter's Way has a Pinterest board. We're collecting pins on boards of topics that probably wouldn't surprise you much--color and design, quilts, quilt blocks, quilting, sewing, and crafting. We also, though, have a fun board right now that we think you might really enjoy checking out. There has been a wave of Ryan Gosling "Hey, Girl" photographs popping up all over the web for a few months now. They take many different forms, but they always have Ryan Gosling offering to do something surprising to please the female reader. Our Ryan Gosling board has a collection of some of our favorite sewing and quilting-related "Hey, Girls." In honor of the debut of our new Kit Designer, I created two Quilter's Way Kit Designer-Specific "Hey, Girls." Enjoy!

To introduce the Quilter's Way Kit Designer, we are running a contest through Valentine's Day. Each time someone shares a quilt kit they designed in the Kit Designer between now and February 13, 2012, they can also submit an entry into the contest. On Valentine's Day 2012, one of these entries will be randomly selected and awarded a free queen-sized quilt kit (of their own custom design) valued at up to $200.

In order to enter, go to the Kit Designer, create a kit, and then share it with a friend or family member through Facebook, Twitter, or email. You can also embed the Kit Designer on your blog or website. When you choose your method of sharing, you will be given the option to submit an entry into the contest. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest, and the more times you share a design, the more entries you receive for the drawing.

Go! Design! Play! Have fun! And good luck!

...to go comment on our blog tour wrap-up post for the chance to win a fat quarter pack!

 

Last Thursday, we had a Girl Scout troop from Stow in to take a tour and get a stitching lesson to earn their sewing badge. Jane showed them around the shop, and I worked with them--teaching them a running stitch on wool felt. Look at their beautiful work! Thanks for coming in, girls!

 

If you would like to bring your Girl Scout troop in for a badge tour and stitching lesson, contact the shop.

On Tuesday, Jen at A Quilting Jewel designed two quilts--a Twisting Again (shown below) and a Framed Square. She also included a nice tutorial about working with the Kit Designer, with screen shots. For her Twisting Again quilt, Jen used primarily the Modernology collection, but also pulled fabrics from Terrain, Oval Elements, and Magnolia Lane.

The Snow Stacks pattern proved to be popular among the bloggers in our tour, as two of them chose it as their focus quilt. On Wednesday, Aimee at Salt Marsh Designs played with the Modernology and Echo collections, then added some solids to "give the eye a place to rest."

Laurie at Dodging the Butterfly also worked with Snow Stacks, but look at how differently her quilt turned out, even though she used some Modernology, as well.

Pippa at Pippa Patchwork designed a bold Framed Square, using Supreme Solids. Each of these quilts are quite different, showing the versatility of the Kit Designer to assist with just about any taste.

Now, for the fun part! The giveaway! Choose one of the quilts above. Each of the quilts is actually an embeded link to the Kit Designer, so if you click on the quilt, it will take you to the design table for that quilt. Play around a little, then come back and comment with the ONE change you would make to make it YOUR quilt kit. Go! Play! Have fun! Then comment. Comments close at midnight on Thursday, January 26. We will draw a winner at random on Friday. Be sure to leave an email address so we can contact you. Prize is a four-pack of fat quarters from the Echo collection.

 

Today closes our blog tour, introducing the Kit Designer. Our last stop was with Laurie at Dodging the Butterfly. She also loved the Snow Stacks and mixed a few collections, resulting in the design below.

It's day four of our Blog Tour, introducing the Kit Designer. If you are just tuning in, this week five local bloggers agreed to work with our new tool and tell everyone how they like it. On Monday, Alice of alidiza designed a king-size quilt with Lotta Jansdotter's Echo fabric. Tuesday Jen at A Quilting Jewel treated us to "Modernology" take on our best selling pattern, Twisting Again. Yesterday, we loved what Aimee at Salt Marsh Designs did with the Snow Stacks pattern.Tomorrow the tour finishes up with Laurie at Dodging the Butterfly so make a note to stay tuned.