The beginning of November brings us to Week 8 of our Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along. I hope you are enjoying our quilt-along as much as I am. Be sure to check out the Flickr group to see the super cute blocks that have been made so far.

Block 22, Circle of Geese Wreath, has been designed by Lynette Caulkins. Our friends at the Fat Quarter Shop have a fabulous 50% off Super Deal for you to enjoy too.

Super Deal from the Fat Quarter Shop

Fat Quarter Shop is the online quilt store with the best and widest selection of yardage, fat quarter bundles, specialty cuts, quilt kits and patterns. We also offer access to many wonderful quilt clubs, block-of-the-month programs and exclusive projects.

Most of all, we pride ourselves in our top-notch customer service, with friendly, knowledgeable representatives and speedy same-day shipping. Our user-friendly web site makes it easy to find the collection, designer and even the theme you are seeking. Fat Quarter Shop has all you need for your next project, so start shopping with us today!

Today’s Super Deal:

50% OFF Meadow Friends by Deb Strain for Moda Fabrics. Enter code MFRIENDS at checkout. Expires Monday, November 7th @ midnight CST.

Get your Super Deal Savings here!

Featured Designer: Lynette Caulkins

What is your quilting style?

Hi Everybody! My quilting style is ADD. Whatever catches my eye. Ooooo, Shiny! (You get the picture, although I’m learning discipline this year.) I love just about any style of quilting out there and really enjoy working with a great variety of techniques. I favor larger quilts that will hopefully be heirlooms, so my projects take a long time to complete. This leads to boredom fairly quickly with a given project – I just get sick of looking at the same colors, doing the same tasks over and over. So, I do tend to have about 4 projects on the current WIP list at a time to rotate amongst. My favorite projects right now (which are actually not on the priority list) are "Listen with Your Eyes", which I started at a class with its designer, Jacqueline deJonge, and Quite Rebellion on the Pond.

My top priority items are "Marissa’s Moment" for my youngest, "Burning Up the Slopes" for my cousin’s new marriage. These are both original designs – the one to incorporate a charm pack that surprisingly grabbed Mari’s heart despite the very-girly colors; the other to commemorate their incredibly fun proposal moment in a tux on skis. I’m also helping two teens finish "Lori’s Irish Butterflies" for my girlfriend, their mother.

I’ve just about got entirely back on my feet after a long bout of depression from my first empty nest semester, so I should be starting in on my priority list very, very soon! In the meantime, I did manage an acceptable forward movement on the crazy BOM list (thanks to the responsibility of BOMs Away), so it hasn’t been an All-Stop on the UFO list like it appears to be.

How did you get started quilting and/or designing?

Nobody taught me to quilt, per se, but my mother sewed a lot and got me started in clothing construction. Thanks to her for teaching me how to be precise and exacting with detail when I want to be. My grandmother, though, was a prolific quilter, making a quilt for every grandchild and great-grandchild at significant stages. That example combined with a personal penchant for puzzles, and I started working on my first quilt when I was a 19yo nanny in the Philadelphia region. I remember it was in shades of pink and purple and white solids that modern gals would approve of, but I had no knowledge of rotary cutting or free-piecing, so it was all template work and scissors. Wowza. Soooo different from how I operate 25 years later! And so solitary since there was no Internet, no Blogland, and I had no knowledge of quilt guilds.

Do you have a favourite quilt?

My favorite finished quilt this year has to be "Sailing with the Flying Needles", with its fun quilting (dolphins in those borders), shell trim and seashells around the compass. This was designed around BOM swap blocks that I got at our guild’s meeting last summer.

But I also really love how "Wagon Wheels West" turned out! Not my favorite colors at all, and I almost puked and threw out the blocks while I was making them, but I’m oh-so-glad I pulled it out of the closet and finished the top because once it was sashed and the borders were going on, I was absolutely smitten. This is a reproduction-style quilt done in fabrics that are copies of textiles printed at the time that every one of my great-great grandparents were migrating west in handcarts and wagon trains. (The top design is by Charlotte O’Leary.) Wagons and handcarts are quilted in the wheel blocks, and all their surnames are quilted around the border.

Another favorite from this year is the memory quilt duo "Around the World with Mr. Hernandez". These are twins made to commemorate my daughter’s special years on her school’s NaGISA international science team, and the working trips they made to Egypt, Crete, and Crystal River, FL. The quilting is thematic and really cool, and the first significant quilting job done on my table-top machine. I used every technique there can possibly be for that – chalk pouncing, tape lines, blue/purple marking pens, walking foot, and free-motion.

For pure sentimental value, though, I’d have to choose "Hugs and Kisses from Above for Jaycee". I designed this concept quilt at a guild challenge workshop to make a quilt for my cousin’s first grandchild, whom she eagerly longed for but never got to meet (unless they partied together in heaven before she was born). It’s supposed to represent Kelly’s love raining down on Jaycee.

Quick and fun questions:

• Favourite colour:Give me Caribbean colors – clear blues, greens, aquas in medium to heavy saturation.
• What part of the quilting process do you like the most? I probably like the “dream-of-making-THAT!” stage of quilting the most. And I least enjoy trimming tons of HSTs, however, it’s a great opportunity for guilt-free time in front of a good show. ;D
• Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or: CHOCOLATE. smooth, creamy, dark, unadulterated, and not overly sugary
• Most exciting place you’ve travelled: How’s living in Tehran, Iran for 2 ½ years for exciting? (when I was elementary-aged). My all-time favorite vacation as an adult: northern Wales, hands down.
• Favourite super hero or comic book character: Captain America!! (Because he called me "Sweetheart")

Block 22 – Lynette’s Circle of Geese Wreath

Here’s Lynette’s Circle of Geese Wreath block. It is a foundation pieced block and the bow is appliqué. Head over to Lynette’s blog to view her tutorial and download the patterns.

Share Your Photos

Upload your completed blocks to our Flickr group for a chance to win some adorable buttons from Button Mad – Incomparable Buttons. One winner for each of our quilt-along blocks will be randomly chosen. You have two weeks to complete Lynette’s Circle of Geese Wreath block to be eligible to win.

Congratulations to the Week 5 button winners:

• Block 13: O’ Christmas Tree – Maria Spiller
• Block 14: Christmas Tree Lot – CBNova1
• Block 15: Mare-y Christmas – FunThreads

Quilt-Along Links

• General Info
• Featured Designers
• Super Deals for Quilters
• Upload your blocks – Flickr Group

Please share the Quilt-Along graphic on your own blog. The more participants, the more FUN!

The theme for this week’s quilt contest is Travel-Inspired Quilts. I’m looking forward to seeing the wonderful places you have visited.

The quilter with the most votes received over the weekend, will win an Organic Cotton Fat Quarter Bundle of 10 solid colors (retail value of $35) from this week’s sponsor, Good Earth Quilting.

Good Earth Quilting

Good Earth Quilting is busy as a snowman at a school! We are thrilled to promote alternative quilting with eco-friendly cotton options for quilters. Most collections are priced at as little as $5.95 a ½ metre of organic cotton.

We’ve been busy creating a whole new slant on quilt patterns focusing on eco-friendly designs for the future. We blend our fabric and love it and so do our customers! Our test pattern version of Snow Town Folk uses grey linen, blue and red organic solid cotton and snowflake print along with pre-washed wool. Our original pattern uses more traditional Christmas Prints and is featured in the upcoming Winter Issue of Quilters Connections Magazine.

Enter the Contest

Get your cameras out! To enter the weekly contest, read the rules and guidelines, then submit your quilt photo by Thursday evening (EDT). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

• Rules and Guidelines
• Submit your Quilt
• Upcoming Themes

New: The 2012 Themes are now available. Find out how you can be a Contest Sponsor.

Last Week’s Quilt Contest

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s Halloween Quilts contest. I enjoyed seeing all of the spooky quilts. Thanks also to everyone that took the time to vote. Our sponsor, Jojo’s Quilt Shoppe, donated a Paradise Batik Fat Quarter Bundle for the quilter with the most votes.

Susan Entwistle

Please note, Facebook, email subscribers and RSS readers: You need to visit the Quilting Gallery blog to vote and view the quilt photos: CLICK HERE

Our sponsor this week, Jojo’s Quilt Shoppe have donated a Paradise Batik Fat Quarter Bundle (40 pieces) by Moda Fabrics for this week’s winner.

BONUS SAVINGS: Jojo’s Quilt Shoppe has a 40% OFF Store-wide Sale now underway.

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

• Voting is open Friday – Sunday @ 11:59 p.m.
• One vote per person (based on 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. You can also click the link to the slider version to review the quilts in the large format and then return to this page to vote.
• Underneath the photos, scroll down, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button** beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. You can select up to FOUR quilts this week.
• Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the names of the quilts. Press the vote button.

** Note: If you don’t see the square 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, or that you need to refresh the page to see the voting options. Shared IP Addresses are very common in home or work networks.

Slider version: To view the large photos to display all the quilts and descriptions, CLICK HERE. You’ll need to return to this page to cast your votes.

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. You can also use the scroll bar above, beside the photos, to scroll and see the hidden ones.

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Next Week’s Contest

The theme for next week’s quilt contest is Travel-Inspired Quilts. Get your cameras out!

• Rules and Guidelines
• Submit your Photo
• Upcoming Themes