It’s that time … time for a new swap. This one incorporates an embroidered stitchery, piecing of the borders and some quilting. A perfect combination.

Lenna, our expert columnist for the past few months, created this gorgeous pattern specifically for this swap. I hope you love it as much as I do. Of course, if you would prefer not to do it in redwork (like the sample), go ahead and use whatever colours suit your fancy. I’ll be doing mine in various colours.

Confession time! I have not done any embroidery before, but with Lenna’s fabulous videos, I’m super excited to give it a try. I have my hoop, my embroidery floss, a crewel needle and I’m ready to transfer my pattern. I hope you’ll join me in the swap and try a new technique. Who knows, maybe you’ll just fall in love with embroidery!

Swap links:

• swap guidelines
• participants
• registration
• Flickr group
• stitchery tutorial | download stitchery pattern
• Lenna’s how to embroider tutorials

Registration closes April 21st. Partner information will be sent by April 24th. The deadline to mail your mini quilt is May 24th for overseas shipments and June 1st for domestic shipments (and Canada/USA).

Earlier this year, I told you about the “New from Old” quilt contest in support of the Alliance for American Quilts.

Quiltmakers are encouraged to think broadly and creatively about this opportunity to celebrate the past in the frame of the present. The rich array of prizes this year includes a Handi Quilter HQ Sixteen Quilting Machine for Sit-Down Use valued at $5,000.

The rules are simple: quilts must be 16″ x 16″ (including a 4″ sleeve and a label) and consist of three layers. Contest quilts must be sent to the AAQ by May 31, 2010. Entries will tour national venues and be displayed on the AAQ website, and later entered in the Quilt Index. The contest is also a fundraiser; all quilts become a donation to the organization and will be auctioned on eBay in November to benefit the AAQ and its mission to document, preserve and share the history of quilts and quiltmakers.

Special Prize for Quilting Gallery Fans

The AAQ would like to offer a special incentive to Quilting Gallery readers and bloggers. All Quilting Gallery fans who enter a quilt in the contest will have a chance to win a prize package that includes an assortment of Simplicity specialty scissors, EZ Quilting acrylic templates and an Alliance Collection for a Cause quilt kit by Moda (total retail value over $250).

Just be sure to write Quilting Gallery fan on your entry form under How did you find out about the New from Old contest?. A small panel of AAQ board and staff will jury this special prize and you’ll still qualify for all the other great prizes.

And remember only AAQ members are eligible to vote for the overall winners of the contest, so if you believe in the work of the AAQ, become a member when you enter the contest. Annual membership is as low as $25 and members enter the contest for only $5 per quilt.

Complete information and a downloadable entry form are available on the AAQ website. Questions about the contest should be sent to the AAQ directly.

See some of the first New from Old entries:

P.S. If you’ve already submitted your quilt for this contest, send an email to the AAQ indicating that you are a Quilting Gallery fan so you’ll be entered for the special prize too.

Did you watch the opening ceremonies on Friday? I thought they were fabulous, even if Ontario wasn’t represented in the cultural segment. Gretzky is all ours! :)

Olympic savings now on for the Quilter’s Cookbook. Save 15%, which brings the cost to just $11.90.

What you’ll get: 119 quick and easy recipes most with heart-warming family stories, as well as, 76 photos of gorgeous quilts and the real life stories behind them. View the list of recipes [PDF].

You’ll receive the cookbook immediately, as a downloadable PDF document. Order today!

Quilt Shop Locator Savings

Have you been waiting for the perfect opportunity to join the Quilt Shop Locator?

How about 6  months of advertising here at the Quilting Gallery for just $40.00? That’s right, our best sale of the year is on now.

What you get:

• a full-page shop profile ad with your info and photos (no special graphic skills needed to complete your ad)
• complete control to customize your ad at any time, as often as you’d like, in a user-friendly environment
• integration with Google maps for physical shops and retreat facilities
• searchable by category for quilting professionals such as those with a physical shop, online-only retailers, retreat facilities, long-arm quilters, teachers, or pattern, fabric and tool designers
• guaranteed exposure within a well-established community of quilters

Learn more about the Quilt Shop Locator or join today.

Hurry, both specials end when the Olympics are over.

I’m so excited to announce the new Quilter’s Forum here at the Quilting Gallery. This was, by far, the most requested addition to the site in last year’s suggestions blog post.

Of course, there’s quilter’s help, quilter’s chat, and a place to post your finished quilts too. I’ve also created forums specifically for promoting quilter’s give-aways, free quilting projects and tutorials and quilting shows and events.

I hope you’ll join in the conversation, make new friends, help each other and be inspired. Register as a member to join in the discussions.

Registration is now available for the Winter Time Mini Quilt Swap. Some of the rules have changed, so please read the guidelines page carefully before you register.

Registration closes January 31st. Partner information will be sent by February 2nd. The deadline to mail your mini quilt is March 1st for overseas shipments and March 8th for domestic shipments (and Canada/USA).

Looking for some inspiration? Check out these fabulous mini quilts made for the fall swap. Such fabulous work and amazing creativity.

Don’t forget to enter this week’s contest. The theme is Winter Fun.

It is with excitement I sit here in my sunny design studio writing my first post for Quilting gallery. Let me introduce myself. I’m Lenna Green designer of Little Green Cottage patterns and founder of Stitching Cow.com

Sewing and quilt making have been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember.
As a child I was always making things and was often found at the side of my talented Grandmother learning craft related skills. We lived just around the corner so I regularly found my way to her house where she was always busy with a new project.

After school I graduated with a degree in education majoring in design and technology and taught in high schools for a few years before marrying and beginning a family. It was during this time that my interest inquilt making took hold and I was approached to teach quilting and hand embroidery classes at the local Patchwork and Quilting shop. My youngest daughter was only 3 months old at the time and I can remember teaching in between breast feeds which was a bit of a juggle.

Before long I was prompted to start designing my own projects and since we lived in a one hundred year old cottage with a green roof, I settled on the name Little Green Cottage as a brand name.

Six years lapsed in a blink of an eye and it was at this time that hubby and I decided to have a sea change and move from inland NSW Australia to Tasmania, an island off the South coast of Australia that captured our hearts many years ago. This lifestyle change prompted me to start my own online business and Stitching Cow was conceived. Since working on my designing and business full time I have enjoyed being published in many leading craft magazines including, Homespun, Creating Country Crafts, Patchwork and Stitching, Australian Patchwork and Quilting and just recently Sew It All, a new sewing magazine just released in the United States. You can see samples of these publications here.

I am thrilled that my business has opened up many doors and has allowed me to teach and help other sewing enthusiasts on a much bigger scale. And it is with this aim that I look forward to being a regular contributor here along side Michele at Quilting Gallery. I hope to share with you some of my best quilt making, quilting and hand embroidery tips.

With this in mind I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to write in and ask questions that you would like me to answer. Maybe you have a project that you need some advice about, or perhaps you would like to try your hand at a new sewing related craft but are not sure where to start.

Whatever your sewing related question or concern feel free to leave a comment here and I will endeavor to post about each of your questions in my forth coming posts.

Let the fun begin!
Warmly Lenna

I am so thrilled to have Lenna join me here at the Quilting Gallery. In last month’s anniversary blog post, one of the most requested additions for the site is new tutorials, tips and tricks, learning new techniques, etc.

There were comments about stitchery, embroidery and redwork, all of which I love, but have no experience with. Lenna is an expert in these techniques and I’m super excited she’s willing to share her vast knowledge here.

Welcome Lenna!! I look forward to learning from you.