Here’s Block 21 of our Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along. All a Flurry has been designed by Heather Jones. Our friends at Shabby Fabrics have 30% off three Christmas fabric collections for this week’s Super Deal for you to enjoy too.

Super Deals from Shabby Fabrics

Shabby Fabrics is an online quilt shop specializing in beautiful fabrics, quilt kits, patterns, and Block of the Month programs. They are also a pattern design company and currently have over 40 designs in print.

Today’s Super Deal:

The Super Deal this week is 30% Off Christmas collections: Holly-Days Greetings, Makower Christmas, and Holiday Heritage. Use the coupon code SUPERXMAS30 by entering it on the View Cart page. Coupon expires November 4, 2011.

Featured Designer: Heather Jones

What is your quilting style?

I consider myself a modern quilter, and I really like working with solid color cottons. I have a great respect for traditional quilting, and I’m often inspired by vintage quilts, but I love to create things with a more modern, streamlined aesthetic.

How did you get started quilting and/or designing?

I’ve always been crafty and I’ve sewn off and on for over 20 years. I began designing and sewing children’s accessories after the birth of my first child and then opened a shop on etsy to offer my handmade goods there. Then, in February 2010, I founded the Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild, and really started to focus on quilting more. Since then, quilting is all I want to do! I’m currently working on my first line of patterns and I hope to have them available very soon.

Do you have a favourite quilt?

Yes, my favorite one to date is my Yield quilt. I made it in November 2010, and it was the first quilt that I created entirely out of solid fabrics. The design was inspired by, of all things, a painted grid in the parking lot of my local Wal-Mart. I entered it in the Modern Quilt Guild’s Project Modern Challenge, and it was chosen as a winner by Valori Wells.

Quick and fun questions:

• Favourite colour: hard to pick just one, but probably aqua blue
• What part of the quilting process do you like the most? Finishing the top and seeing your design come to life for the first time
• What part of the quilting process do you dislike the most? Quilting!
• Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or: strawberry, for sure!
• Favourite super hero or comic book character: Wonder Woman
• Most exciting place you’ve travelled: Greece
• Favourite quote or mantra: Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. —Albert Einstein

Block 21 – Heather’s All a Flurry Block

Here’s Heather’s All a Flurry block. I love it’s simple design yet bold impact. Head over to Heather’s blog for the excellent photo tutorial she created on putting together her block.

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 Heather’s All a Flurry block to be eligible to win.

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!

Block 20 of our Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along is Jingle Bell Flower designed by Thearica Burroughs. Our friends at Fort Worth Fabric Studio have a fabulous 40% off Super Deal for you to enjoy too.

Super Deal from Fort Worth Fabric Studio

Fort Worth Fabric Studio is an online quilt store full of fabulous fabrics, bundles, kits, and patterns! You can expect great customer service with special attention to your order. Nearly always, next day shipping and many times, same day shipping! We promise you "online service with a smile."

We are home of the Friday Bundle Batch, an assortment of fabrics that are hand-selected to perfectly complement each other! Check for a new Bundle each Friday!

Today’s Super Deal:

40% OFF all Believe Batiks, by Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda. No special code is required. The discount applies to all Believe Batiks yardage, bundles, and patterns! SALE runs until November 1 at midnight, CST.

Get your Super Deal Savings here!

Featured Designer: Thearica Burroughs

What is your quilting style?

Although I have been a traditional quilter since I began quilting, I have began to explore the world of contemporary to modern quilts and one type of art quilts known as crazy quilts. I also enjoy taking clothing and making memory quilts from them.

How did you get started quilting and/or designing?

I tell everyone that I grew up playing under a quilting frame because my Granny Ida lived with us and always had a quilt on the frame! There were 3 of us girls and I am the one who took to quilting. My Granny Ella lived next door and she taught me to sew 9-patch blocks together by hand at the age of 8. For 11 years those blocks sat in a drawer and when I turned 19 she helped me sash them together and then she and I, along with my granddaddy, aunt, uncle and sister, quilted the quilt. I have not looked back!

Do you have a favourite quilt?

My first quilt is my favorite quilt because it tells the story of how I got into quilting. Although every stitch in that quilt is special, my granddaddy’s stitches are the most special to me! My dad was killed when I was 9 and my granddaddy became both granddaddy and daddy to me for the rest of his life. It was like losing double the day he passed away. I cherish all of my memories about that man! When we spent the summers on granddaddy’s farm, he would come in to our bedroom early in the morning and reach under the covers at the foot of the bed and grab our toes and say “Wee, wee, wee..get up little piggies”. Hence, my business name is Cover Your Little Piggies Quilting Studio.

Quick and fun questions:

• Favourite colour: Cranberry Red and Ryegrass
• What part of the quilting process do you like the most? As far as my quilting business goes, I love taking the time to decide on the quilting design. And with my crazy quilting the one thing I love the most is the freeness I feel as the design spills out of my head on to cloth.
  And one more favorite part of the quilting process — RIBBONS!
  
• What part of the quilting process do you dislike the most? I really hate to bind!! I charge an extortion fee for binding just to dissuade my customers from asking me to do it.
• Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or: Chocolate of course!
• Favourite super hero or comic book character: Comic Book – Scooby Doo!!
• Most exciting place you’ve travelled: Although I would not call it exciting because of the poverty in a lot of places, the most eye opening trip I have ever taken was driving 14 hours down in to Mexico to Nayarit! YES! We drove in our truck! It only takes one trip like this to make you aware of just how blessed the USA truly is!
• Favourite quote or mantra: It isn’t mine but it is the one I live by and it comes from my Granny Ida – “If it ain’t worth doing right, then it ain’t worth doing a’tal!”

Block 20 – Jingle Bell Flower

Here’s Thearica’s Jingle Bell Flower block. Head over to Thearica’s blog to download the pattern and view the excellent tutorial she put together. She’s also hosting a give-away too.

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 Thearica’s Jingle Bell Flower block to be eligible to win.

Quilt-Along Links

• General Info
• Featured Designers
• Super Deal Advertisers
• Upload your blocks – Flickr Group

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

It’s Week 7 of our Celebrate Christmas Quilt-Along. I hope you are enjoying our quilt-along as much as I am.

Block 19, Paper Snowflake, has been designed by Susan Cook. 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 Lil’ Rascals by Chloe’s Closet for Moda Fabrics. Enter code LILRASCALS at checkout. This deal expires Monday, October 31st at midnight CST.

Get your Super Deal Savings here!

Featured Designer: Susan Cook

What is your quilting style?

I would say my style is whimsical. I don’t consider myself an art quilter but I do hope that others who make my designs display their quilts with pride of accomplishment whether it be on a wall, table or even a bed.

How did you get started quilting and/or designing?

I took a class in paper piecing and realized it was the perfect technique for me. As soon as I finished the class, I wondered if I could draw a picture in fabric using this technique so I bought a tablet of graph paper and started drawing using the grid as a guide. My first design was a snowman quilt I called And In The Meadow. When I took the quilt with me to the quilt shop to find a fabric for the scarf and the binding I was told by the employees I should turn it into a pattern and Larkspur Lane Designs was born.

Do you have a favourite quilt?

My favourite quilt is usually the one I am working on at the time the question is asked. I am always excited to see how a quilt turns out and I learn something even from the ones I don’t always love when they are finished.

Quick and fun questions:

• Favourite colour: I don’t have a favourite color! I love all colors!
• What part of the quilting process do you like the most? I love to design but I have had to stop myself and start sewing out some of my designs. I have dozens of designs in my computer using nothing but original blocks. Some people think quilts are only made with squares, rectangles and half square triangles so I purposely don’t use them in my designs.
• What part of the quilting process do you dislike the most? The actual quilting process is very stressful to me and so I choose to leave that part to a professional most of the time. I know the work I put into designing and making the quilt top and worry about ruining it at the end.
• Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or: What a silly question! CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE
• Favourite super hero or comic book character: I don’t have one. My heroes are real people in my life. My husband who is my best friend and the most amazing dad ever, my other best friends who love me no matter what, my children who drive me crazy most of the time but really shine when I need them to.
• Most exciting place you’ve travelled: I would have to say going to Cuerna Vaca in Mexico twice when I was in my twenties. One of my best friends had gone there alone when she was 18 and lived with a Mexican family while she went to school to learn Spanish. She asked if I would like to go with her and we had so much fun the first time we went again 2 years later with a couple more friends. We only got to spend about 10 days each time but we learned so much and met so many wonderful people that it is something I hope my children have the chance to do someday. This is REAL Mexico and it was nearly impossible to find someone who spoke English. The experience made me more aware and empathetic of how difficult it can be for someone to come to the US and not be able to communicate.
• Favourite quote or mantra: Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. – Dr. Seuss

  This saying really hit home when I lost one of my best friends to MS recently. She was an amazing person who never once said "Why me?" She was my second cousin by blood, my aunt by adoption, my sister, my friend. She taught me to never feel sorry for myself and to never give up. She was only here for 45 years but she touched a lot of lives in those years and inspired us to do our best, always.

Block 19 – Sue’s Paper Snowflake

Here’s Sue’s Paper Snowflake block. It is a foundation pieced block. Sue’s created a foundation piecing tutorial on her site for how to create it. Download the foundation block here.

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 Sue’s Paper Snowflake block to be eligible to win.

Congratulations to the Week 4 button winners:

• Block 10 – Happy Little Trees – Mona’s Creativity
• Block 11 – Sweet Sue Tops the Tree – Liljabs
• Block 12 – Christmas Angel – Cherry’s Material Obsession

Quilt-Along Links

• General Info
• Featured Designers
• Super Deal Advertisers
• Upload your blocks – Flickr Group

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