Welcome to Day 2 of the blog hop tour for Marie Bostwick’s latest book Ties that Bind. I hope you enjoyed visting yesterday’s guests. Be sure to visit all the guests and leave comments on each site. We all have books to give away to our readers. I’m giving away two copies, so visit the Day 1 post and leave a comment there.

Here’s the complete schedule:

Tuesday, April 24

• Michele – Quilting Gallery – you’re here!
• Jackie – Canton Village Quilt Works
• Wendy – Ivory Spring

Wednesday, April 25

• Jennifer – SewHooked
• Erin – One Piece at a Time

Thursday, April 26

• Victoria – Bumble Beans Inc.
• Sandi – A Legacy of Stitches

Friday, April 27

• Michele – With Heart and Hands
• Melissa - Lilac Lane

Saturday, April 28

• Melissa – Sew Bitter Sweet Designs
• Kim – Crafty Apple

Marie is also sponsoring this week’s Wall Hangings quilt contest. Submit your quilt by Thursday at midnight EDT to enter.

Baby Quilts from Today’s Guests

In Ties that Bind Philippa decides she’d like to learn how to quilt and signs up for a baby quilt class. I asked our guest bloggers to share a baby quilt they’ve made with us.

Jennifer – SewHooked

Because I learned to quilt by volunteering for a blanket making-charity, The Linus Connection, I started with baby quilts and have made many over the years, so thinking about a special baby quilt took an extra bit of thinking! When I think back to the baby quilt that stands out in my memory the most, it is the quilt that my group of sewing friends made for our friend Catherine.

My friends and I live in the Austin, Texas area. Catherine is from Australia. I met her online many years ago through a Harry Potter craft group. She and I became fast friends and online quilting buddies, and eventually, she flew to Austin to visit. My sewing circle adopted her immediately and now she’s friends to us all. When her first child was born, we all worked together to make a quilt for her.

Catherine is an Engineer and used to work on construction sites. With that in mind, we created a construction-themed quilt using a pattern from a book one of our sewing circle had. Each of us made blocks, and we finished the quilt top at our group’s annual quilt retreat. We each took on jobs of quilting, stitching the binding and making the label. It was a real group effort and meant a lot to us to be able to do this special thing for our friend on the other side of the world!

Erin – One Piece at a Time

When I first started quilting I had several friends and family members who were having babies. I found this pattern in Quiltmaker and I pretty much made it 4 or 5 times. By the time my son came along it just seemed unfair for him not to have one too so I made this one. I guess you can see that my obsession with applique started pretty early. Can you believe that quilt is HAND QUILTED!

Patterns for the Book

Deb Tucker from Studio 180 Designs created this adorable Hide and Seek Baby Quilt to go with the Ties that Bind book. The pattern will be available soon as a free download to those who are registered reading friends at Marie’s web site. You can register now, as there are three other patterns already available for you to download.

Also, Deb created a second pattern to go with the book. This one is Garden Dance and will be available soon. If you are interested in purchasing this one, subscribe to Deb’s newsletter to receive notification when it’s available. I have two copies of this pattern to give-away to my readers see below.

Give-Away

Here are today’s give-aways, you can enter all of them, just follow the instructions on each post:

I have two copies of Marie’s Ties that Bind novel to give-away to my blog readers. To enter, visit the Day 1 post from yesterday and leave a comment there.

I’m also giving away two copies of the Garden Dance pattern from Studio 180 Designs. To enter this give-away, leave a comment below answering What’s your favourite method of appliqué? Winners will be chosen randomly on May 2nd.

Plus, visit today’s two guests, read the answers to the FUN questions, and enter the give-aways on their blogs too:

• Jennifer – SewHooked
• Erin – One Piece at a Time

Winners

Congratulations to the two winners of the Garden Dance pattern: #34 Julie Barrett and #6 Maria Kievit

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".

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Save 40% OFF all Get Together by Free Spirit! No special code is required. The discount applies to all Get Together yardage! SALE runs through May 1st at midnight, CST.

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I’m thrilled to be hosting this blog hop tour for Marie Bostwick’s latest book Ties that Bind. I am a huge fan of Marie’s Cobbled Court series of novels and was honoured when she asked me to organize this tour for her.

Here’s how it works…

I have invited 10 guests to join me on the tour. They were all sent an advanced copy of Marie’s book and will be answering a few fun questions on their own blogs and sharing photos and stories of a baby quilt they’ve made here on the Quilting Gallery.

Each blogger will also be giving away a copy of the book. Visit each one on their special day to enter their give-away. Winners will be chosen randomly on May 2nd. I’ll also have a couple of patterns to give-away later this week too.

Here’s the schedule:

Tuesday, April 24

• Michele – Quilting Gallery – you’re here!
• Jackie – Canton Village Quilt Works
• Wendy – Ivory Spring

Wednesday, April 25

• Jennifer – SewHooked
• Erin – One Piece at a Time

Thursday, April 26

• Victoria – Bumble Beans Inc.
• Sandi – A Legacy of Stitches

Friday, April 27

• Michele – With Heart and Hands
• Melissa - Lilac Lane

Saturday, April 28

• Melissa – Sew Bitter Sweet Designs
• Kim – Crafty Apple

Marie is also sponsoring this week’s Wall Hangings quilt contest.

Book Synopsis: Ties that Bind

Christmas is fast approaching, and New Bern, Connecticut, is about to receive the gift of a new pastor, hired sight unseen to fill in while Reverend Tucker is on sabbatical. Meanwhile, Margot Matthews’ friend, Abigail, is trying to match-make even though Margot has all but given up on romance. She loves her job at the Cobbled Court Quilt Shop and the life and friendships she’s made in New Bern; she just never thought she’d still be single on her fortieth birthday.

It’s a shock to the entire town when Phillip A. Clarkson turns out to be Philippa. Truth be told, not everyone is happy about having a female pastor. Yet despite a rocky start, Philippa begins to settle in—finding ways to ease the townspeople’s burdens, joining the quilting circle, and forging a fast friendship with Margot. When tragedy threatens to tear Margot’s family apart, that bond—and the help of her quilting sisterhood—will prove a saving grace. And as she untangles her feelings for another new arrival in town, Margot begins to realize that it is the surprising detours woven into life’s fabric that provide its richest hues and deepest meaning…

Baby Quilts from Today’s Guests

Jackie – Canton Village Quilt Works

Here is a photo of a baby quilt that I made for my daughter.

I wanted to make this quilt for her when she was about two. It was just too cute! The quilt was a Pam Bono design and totally pieced. No paper piecing here. There was literally a gazillion little pieces. Each bunny was a challenge as I tend to be a super perfectionist when it comes to piecing. I seem to remember that there was a lot of unsewing going on. But in the end I was very pleased with the result. The fabrics, as you can tell are older calicoes and have faded somewhat. But my daughter still has it in her room all nicely put away.

Wendy – Ivory Spring

I made my first quilt after much encouragement from my quilting mentor and friend Barbara. I had the perfect excuse to venture into something new — a newborn in the family! I had the most fun picking and choosing the different fabrics for the quilt. The applique was really fun too. My favorite part of the quilt is the “bunny-go-around”.

Give-Away

I have two copies of Marie’s Ties that Bind novel to give-away to my blog readers. To enter, leave a comment below answering: What’s your favourite springtime flower? Winners will be chosen randomly on May 2nd.

Plus, visit today’s two guests, read their answers to the FUN questions, and enter the give-aways on their blogs too:

• Jackie – Canton Village Quilt Works
• Wendy – Ivory Spring

Congratulations to the winners: #21 Judith Reynolds and #118 Margie W. Check your inbox for a message from me.