Please join me in welcoming today’s guest blogger Linda Ezuka from Quilting Under The Influence. She’s sharing the gorgeous photos and results from a recent holiday exchange that she organized. Isn’t it amazing what can be accomplished with just a few 5″ charms?

Aloha from Hawaii! This is Linda Ezuka from Quilting Under The Influence. I am just a random modern day mom quilting under the influence (cocktails, chocolate, children) as I run thru the journey of life… I quilt for fun, my sanity and to build a community of quilters in Hawaii and beyond! And yes, it is another beautiful “winter” day in Hawaii, a beautiful blue sky day with the palm trees swaying through the 85 degree weather… I apologize in advance for those who are surrounded in snow right now!

Well, I decided to organize QUTI’s (“Cutee”) first exchange this past holiday season and I am still beaming ear to ear! Not only did we get great participation, everyone sent their fabric packs (you longtime exchangers know how rare this really is!), and I have new quilty BFFs. Woohoo!

We started with a simple mission, to exchange 5 pieces of 5 inch squares of Christmas fabric with no other guidance or expectations! That’s right, the mini-charm packs were sent in November and you are not going to believe the creativity that resulted! These women rock! Each quilter was instructed to go forth and be as creative as they wanted and the best part… they got to keep their lovely creations!

There must have been some serious convergent and divergent production going on in these ladies processes, because I am and will remain in awe of their talents, spirit and art! We all sent such different fabrics, some blue, some pink, certainly a challenge to bring it all together! But have no fear, the QUTI Club delivers!

Our Fearless Participants: Kelly G. of QUTI, Deanna, Stephanie, Dawn, Lizzie Marie, Jan, Marta P., and Dorthy G.

See their amazing work:

Jan

Stephanie

Killerella

Kelly

Jan

For my project, I chose to expand my horizons to be wild and crazy with a new technique – English paper piercing! What was I thinking, I thought once I got one piece pierced!?! No joke, patience isn’t quite my virtue, so this project took all I had to complete it! I have absolutely no shame in admitting that at times I had a cocktail or two, just to keep me paper piercing! But in the end, I love my new skill, new-found patience, and a lovely new technique. Oh, before I forget, I love, love, love, http://www.paperpieces.com/! They have awesome tools, ideas and they ship super fast!

I also attempted my first ruche, aka ruching. First of all, I had no prior knowledge of this word and it is still so fun to say… “I ruched today” or “Got Ruche?” or Ruche it baby! Hmmm, maybe I should make up a cocktail to go with that Ruche? See, I got a little distracted! Back to topic, I used a ruffler… ok… this is another funny one… this tool is a little intimidating and looks like something from the doctors office at first and then you should see it whirl! Woohoo! Too much fun! The lovely little models are holding up the finished product!

Want more fun? Join the QUTI blog, friend us or tweet with us!

Cheers, Linda Lewis Ezuka

Blogging Under The Influence
Tweeting Under The Influence
Facebooking Under The Influence

The theme for this week’s quilt contest is Winter Landscapes. I’m pleased to introduce you to a new sponsor this week, Vicki Welsh who creates gorgeous hand dyed fabrics. It was Vicki who first introduced me to hand dyed fabrics; they are my all-time favourite!

Vicki has donated a Stash Pack of hand dyed fabrics containing 10 fat eighths and a Goddess Sheet Teflon pressing sheet from Mistyfuse for this week’s winner. Plus everyone can save using the coupon code below too.

Vicki Welsh – Hand Dyed Fabrics

Hi Everyone!

I’ve been a Quilting Gallery follower for a long time and love all the exciting things that Michele does for us. I am thrilled to be sponsoring some of the weekly quilt contests this year. Since I am new here, I’ll tell you a little about myself.

I retired from corporate America in 2010 after spending almost 30 years as a project manager in the financial services industry. It was a great life but I am lucky to now be able to devote myself to my passions: dyeing fabric and quilting! I’ve been sewing all my life and started concentrating on quilts about 12 years ago. I started dyeing fabric in 2007 and have been hooked ever since.

The most unique thing about hand dyed fabrics is that they are one-of-a-kind creations. That said, I have hundreds of dye recipes and can create (and recreate) custom colors. I am most known for my fabric gradients (5 popular ones are shown above). These fabrics blend colors from selvedge to selvedge. I also have fat quarter packs and one-of-a-kind pieces.

Additionally, on my blog, I have a Featured Fabric Palette of coordinated "solids" and gradient that is offered at a special discounted price for a limited time.

My goal is to introduce (or reintroduce) quilters and fiber artists to the world of hand dyed fabrics. Hand dyed fabrics have a reputation for not being colorfast and, therefore, many quilters avoid them. My fabrics are processed to remove all of the excess dye and you can use them in your quilts as confidently as you do commercially printed fabrics. You can read about my process for removing excess dye and the process is also effective with commercial prints that bleed. Recently, one quilter used this process on a finished quilt that bled and it got out all of the excess dye that had bled onto her white fabrics.

For up to date information on my new palettes, new products and special sales, sign up for my monthly newsletter.

You can find me in all these places on the web:

• Web store
• Blog (with lots of tutorials)
• Facebook
• Google+
• Pinterest

Let’s get to the prize!

I will give away a hand dyed fabric Stash Pack from my shop and a Goddess Sheet Teflon pressing sheet from Mistyfuse. The winner will get to select the Stash Pack of their choice.

Bonus savings for everyone: I am also offering a special 15% discount through to January 29. Use coupon code WINTER15.

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 (EST). Voting will start on Friday and last until Sunday night.

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest – Check available dates – Need a sponsor next week

Last Week’s Quilt Contest

Thanks to everyone who entered last week’s Black and White Quilts contest. Contemporary Cloth donated three $15 gift certificates for last week’s winners. Congratulations to the winners:

Angie

Ina van Engen

P Scoville

It’s voting time!! The theme for this week’s contest is Black and White quilts. On Thursday, I opened the contest up to include those quilts with a punch of additional colour too. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and a pencil to make note of your faves. You can vote for THREE quilts this weekend.

This week’s sponsor, Contemporary Cloth, have generously donated three $15 gift certificates. Plus everyone can save 20% off! Use code QG when you check out.

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

Weekly Quilt Contest Links

• Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2012 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Sponsor a contest – Opportunities for 2012 now available

New Beginnings Mini Quilt Swap

Registration is now open for the New Beginnings Mini Quilt Swap. Join the fun today.