Grab yourself a cup of coffee (or two) and browse this week’s gorgeous Snowmen quilts for this week’s themed quilt contest. Thanks to everyone that has entered and shared their beautiful creations with us.

This week’s contest is sponsored by our good friends at the Fat Quarter Shop who have donated a $50 gift certificate to the quilter receiving the most votes this weekend.

Take advantage of great savings at the Christmas Cloth Store because most everything wintery is on sale! From penguins, to florals, to snowmen you can find them in the sale and top sellers sections

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourite!

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per IP address (NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt (from home if you send it to coworkers)
• Winner announced Monday!

How to Vote:

• Review the photos and stories below… there are several, so you’ll need to scroll down to see them all.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a circular button** beside each one. Select the button for the quilt you want to vote for.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of quilts. Then press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the circular buttons to vote, but instead see the voting results, that means someone on your IP Address already voted or that the voting period has ended. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Please Note: If you are not seeing all of the photos, check your browser settings. Go to view, and text size. Make sure it’s set at medium. If you need web sites to be larger so you can read them more easily, then use the browser’s Zoom function, not the text resize. This is a known bug and hopefully I’ll have it fixed soon.

 Loading ...

Facebook, email subscribers and RSS readers: You need to visit the Quilting Gallery blog to vote: CLICK HERE

Next week’s quilt contest is Bargello Quilts. Get your cameras out and Submit your Quilt Photo.

Have a quilt shop or quilting product you’d like advertised here? Sponsor a weekly quilt contest.

Looking for free quilting projects? Check out the huge list of free BOMs, Quilt Alongs and Challenges for 2011.

Please join me in welcoming today’s guest blogger Brenda Pinnick as she shares with us her love of colour and a few tips on design composition. She’s also giving away some pre-cut fabric shapes of her fabric using Sizzix dies – read below to fine out how to enter.

My name is Brenda Pinnick and I am an artist, a colorist and a graphic/product designer. I live in the Atlanta (Georgia) area and work in my home studio with my little dog Paisley always at my side and my two cats, nearby. I have a brand new (first) grandbaby and am over the moon in love with her! I am a graduate of Creative Circus, a portfolio and design school here in Atlanta and have worked for Hallmark Cards as a surface designer/graphic designer and for Plaid Enterprises as an Art Director/product designer. I have been working independently now for about 5 years and have licensed my art for scrap booking kits sold on QVC, in stores and on line. I also design art for Sizzix diecuts (for paper and fabric) and for fabric with Henry Glass.

One of my earliest and best memories of my Mom, is she and I spending time with her stash of fabric. While she sewed, I would sit next to her and be endlessly entertained with nothing but that glorious pile of color and pattern. I remember folding it into shapes, draping it over my body to mimic a cape or a gown, sorting it, rolling it into a ball and laying out the bits and pieces of leftover scraps to create art. I still love to do all those things! And I’m guessing that each of you do as well! I’ve often wondered what it is about fabric that so many women and some men connect to. Maybe it’s the possibilities, the way in which it can be transformed to become a personal statement. Or maybe it’s the soft and gentle – so comforting in times of stress or uncertainty. Or maybe it’s just the delicious colors and enticing pattern that gives off some type of endorphin in our brain?! Honestly, I think it’s all of that, don’t you?

My dream has always been to design fabric and I am proud to be on the cusp of my third collection with Henry Glass & Co. Here’s where I confess – I am not a quilter. At least, not a proper quilter as in measuring, planning or precise execution. Oh, one day, maybe, I will go down that road but for now, my heart is back to those early days of simple play.

For me, it all starts with color. Color dictates the mood, then the theme and finally the layout. Color is much, much more than the surface level of picking hues. Learning to use value and saturation is critical for success while the third level is quantity and placement.This is where I see many designs loose their impact. While a color palette of all one saturation level is harmonious, it can also be without interest. And learning how to use placement and quantity will create movement, hierarchy and balance to a composition.

Today, I’m showing you an artpiece I made using some of my latest collection as well as some fabrics from Kaffe Fasset (whom I admire immensely). I also used a bit of felt and some scraps and bits from my scrap basket. I choose burlap for the neutral yet textured background, knowing I wanted to use hot pinks, intense green/yellow and a deep, saturated blue.

There a couple of things I want you to notice about this piece. While I’ve used both warm and cool hues and they are similar in quantity, I’ve isolated a large, warm area on the lower right to support the cool blues and magentas found in the rest of the elements. By allowing it to be a somewhat restful zone for the eye, the saturation level is in line with the other pieces. Notice also the neutral background shown is almost a perfect 50/50 proportion to the design elements. This area is the most restful, with saturation at a low level and the texture of the weave offering a nice counterbalance to the patterned pieces. Now look at the placement – I’ve stair-stepped each hue to create repetition and movement. Start with blue, lower left and moving upwards and to the right. Next look at the magentas and then the greens. Each has repetition and variety in shape and quantity, creating a nice interest but still harmonious.

Next time you’re looking for a quick and easy project to use up some of your stash, try a little color play like this. It’s fun and will get you thinking more about using the design tools mentioned above. The nice thing about color is that it costs no more to use! It’s like having a free tool in your tool box, an endless supply of possibilities and above all else, is just fun to use!

If you would like to learn more about my workshop offerings, please visit my website. Also, please check out my Sizzix dies for sewing.

If you leave a comment on this post here AND one on my blog, you could win a set of pre-cut shapes using my fabric and my Sizzix dies! I will announce the winner on January 30th on my blog!

Happy quilting, friends!
Brenda Pinnick

The beginning of the new year is always very exciting in quilting blog land with new block of the months, quilt alongs and challenges getting under way. I am tempted by so many of these, but will limit myself to just a few. Some have started already or will be in the next week or two.

Please, if you are hosting a BOM or other similar project on your blog, use a consistent tag or label for your posts so that those arriving later to your site can follow along too. I guarantee this will increase participation in your project while reducing the number of email requests you get to find older pieces.

This list is massive, but I’m sure I’ve missed some. Please include links to other free projects in the comments section below.

Erin’s My Tweets BOM. I’m planning to do this one!

A sneak peak at the patterns for My Tweets .. oh my they are gorgeous!

Fiesta BOM from Fat Cat Patterns. Available in queen or full size.

Shannon’s Pieceful Kwilter’s 2011 BOM

Dawn’s Out of the Box BOM – look at the top left sidebar for the links.

Jennifer’s Harry Potter Paper Piecing – Project of Doom

Kim’s Season 2 of Project QUILTING began on Sunday, January 9th, 2011. Every other week, for 12 weeks, a new challenge will be posted and participants will have a week to complete them. Prizes for the public vote winner, the judges choice winner, and random drawings include credit to different online fabric shops, postcards, quilting books, hand-dyed fabric, and more!

Some Season 1 Project Quilting Participants

Denise’s Granny’s Hankie BOM

Thread Head Quilt Along – This one is calling my name, I’m trying not to listen!

Reeze’s Jewels in the Crown BOM

Sulky’s Redwood Kitchen

Rainbow Scrap Challenge

Konda’s Layer Cake Quilt Along

Jenny’s Give Thanks BOM

Little Miss Shabby’s Birdie Stitches BOM

Beth’s 52 Weeks of Quilt Block Patterns

Fabrics N Quilts’ Scrap Quilt Challenge – I’m trying to meet the deadline (February 28th) for this challenge with my queen-sized scrappy quilt. There’s a Facebook group too to help keep us all motivated.

Henrietta Whiskers from Bunny Hill Designs

Two challenges from 3 Creative Studios:

Sandi’s 2011 Mini BOM

Black & White Delight from Florida Cabin Fever Quilter’s Guild

Rachel’s postage stamp quilt along

Angie’s Home Sweet Home BOM

Fans of Barbara Brackman will be excited by her new blog, Civil War Quilts. Each week there will be a new 8″ block to make and a true story. I’m not sure I can fit this project into my plans this year, but I’ll definitely be reading the stories and checking out the blocks being made. Even though I’m not an American, I’ve always been fascinated by quilts from the Civil War era and the stories that go with them.

Inspired by Barbara’s new site, Terrie Sandelin author of Miniatures in Minutes created a four-part tutorial of the Civil War Crossing block in miniature format.

Bloggers’ Block-a-palooza – A quilt-along that will jump from blog to blog, featuring two original blocks per week. Starts Jan. 24th.

Jovita’s Got Dots Quilt-Along.

Sheryl’s Garden Party BOM.

SewHappy’s Mystery Quilt Along – starts February 1st.

Are you tempted by any? Has your heart rate quickened just a little by all the possibilities? I’d love to hear what you’ll be working on.