This Past Week + the Giveaway Winner!

Hello all! Well, what a week! First off I'd like to take a minute to welcome my newest sponsor Southern Fabric (you can see their button over there on the right)! Even if you're not in the market to buy any fabric right now, you should definitely check out their site - they carry some excellent fabric, the site is well planned out, and I think the design is very pretty and fun!

So this week has been quite interesting - first, there was being in Stitch Craft Create (which I talked about in my last post) and then I got my sewing machine back! Hurray!

Welcome home Genevieve - I missed you! Some of you may know Genevieve's story, but if not and if you're interested, you can read about it here. Yep, this is the little girlie that I do all my sewing and quilting on; she's not very big or fancy but she gets the job done. I would love to have a sewing machine with a bigger throat space and maybe some more bells and whistles, but I do love my Genevieve. Is it weird that I named my sewing machine? Have any of you done the same?

In honour of Genevieve's return and as a means of testing her out to make sure she was good to go, I made this little Patchwork Pencil Case from Rashida's book Zakka Style. This particular project was designed by Shannon Dreval of Petits Details. I changed the dimensions slightly to make it longer so that it could hold some DPNs - the original finished measurement is 6 3/4" long, but these DPNs are about 7 1/2" long so I elongated both the lining and longer linen piece by one inch. Aside from the natural linen, all of the fabrics are bits and pieces from Tula Pink's Parisville line - these little scraps are leftovers from a quilt I finished almost a year ago and still haven't show. Procrastinate much?

I also made Alex some cuff links using a blue gingham fabric that is one of his favourites (the same I used to make him this tie) - I believe this particular gingham is by Cranston. The tops are 1/2" wide and are the perfect size for french cuffs. I was thinking about making some of these for my shop (maybe in Liberty, more gingham, etc); what do you guys think?

So I guess you want to know who won the giveaway, right? Well, without further ado, the winner is...

Jenelle of Echinops & Aster

Congratulations Jenelle! Please send me an email with your address and FQS will get your bundle sent out. And seriously guys, you should totally go and check out Jenelle's blog - so pretty and she makes beautiful things!

Also, one last thing before I gotta go, this is the last week for Fat Quarter Idol over at Sew Mama Sew! This round will end tomorrow and the theme is My Style: Fabric - go on over and enter if you haven`t had the chance yet!

Fat Quarter Idol + a Giveaway!!

Hey everyone! What's up? So I have two very fun things for you guys today - one is a great  "contest" that you can participate in and have the chance to win something that is really you (emphasis on the "you" - I'll expand on that in a moment) and the other is a giveaway right here on this little ole blog.

First up: Do you think you have what it takes to be the next (er, first) Fat Quarter Idol?!

Oh, this is going to be tons of fun guys!! Here's the gist of it: each week for the next four weeks you will be given a theme, you then select 12 fabrics that evoke that theme for you from Sew, Mama, Sew's shop, pin them to a special board on Pinterest, and you'll have the chance to win that bundle chosen specifically by YOU (remember emphasis on the you)! Now doesn't that sound fun?

Here's the short version of the rules and what you need to do; the full details as well as the place where you sub,it the link to your special board can be found over here on the Sew, Mama, Sew blog.

So why, you might ask, am I so excited about this? Well, because the super-fabulous Heather and I are the judges! Here's how it will go down: each week Heather, the Sew Mama Sew team, and I will narrow the field down to 10 semi-finalists, the winner will then be chosen by public vote. So what will I be looking for when I judge the boards? Well, I'll be looking for interesting colour combinations, selections that aren't all from the same collection (or designer, or company), boards that evoke the theme in interesting ways, and above all I'll just be looking for that unique quality (I know, not overly specific but it's hard to put it into words)! I really can't wait to see your boards guys!

And now onto the giveaway!!!

Basic Grey has just released their first five patterns... and I have all five for one lucky winner! Here they are in all their glory:

Hello Zig Zag

Happy Churn Dash

Sunday Basket Brunch

Sweet Starlet

Promenade

Ohhhh, pretty! These five patterns (as well as a free download for the pillow featured on the Promenade cover) are all available in the Basic Grey shop, as well as several online retailers, and I'm sure you can also find them in local quilt shops near you... but you'd rather win them right?!

You have two chances to enter but please be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Here's what you've got to do:

1. Leave a comment letting my know which of these five patterns is your favourite.

2. Leave another comment if you are a follower of my blog.

That's it! Two easy-peasy ways to enter! I will close the comments in a week (on April 23rd) and announce the winner here on the blog. International entries are, as always, welcome! Also, please remember that I have comment moderation enabled so if you don't see your comment right away it just means that I haven't had the chance to approve it yet (duplicate comments will be deleted).

*the giveaway is now closed*