A Midsummer Night's Giveaway

It's the end of July, and to celebrate the exciting conclusion of my very least favorite month (it's hot, it's sultry, it's hot, there is no chance anyone will ever have a day of school, it's hot, the electric bill is criminal, and it's hot), I hereby announce the first annual "QHH Midsummer Night's Giveaway." Pass the gin and tonics - it's almost August! (Tomatoes including honorary Dan Quayle e, blueberries, zucchini out the wazoo, cooler evenings, that subtle shift of light from constant glaring horror to softer angles and clearer blue skies, and the ultimate possibility that school might start by the end of the month.)  

I don't heart August like I heart October, but I do enjoy it more than July for sure. So much more so that I am compelled to share my joy along with you in the form of a giveaway of my friend Jen Eskridge's new book, "Learn to Sew Easy Curves", which just came out this month from Leisure Arts.

Looks like Rice Krispies are a staple at Jen's house too.

Back cover. Greta is of course dying for the duck bathmat. Thanks, Jen, for giving me project #56 in line.

 
Now, before you all get all groany and grumpy over the word "curves", even when tempered with the words "easy" and "learn," I am here to tell you that this is not a book about piecing curves in any traditional way, shape, or form. Every project in this book, and there are nine and I want to make all of them, uses a technique Jen calls "faced applique," which I can tell you is an unbelievably fun and freeing and almost foolproof way of making a quilt with curves.

Why can I tell you this? Because I just happened to make a quilt that just happens to be on page 17 of the book. Just saying.

This is Jen's version of the same project, which appears on page 15:

The colors are very October. Therefore I love it.

Mine just came back to me in the mail, and when you win or buy this book you will see it on page 17, but for now here it is lying on my lawn with one of my three favorite models.

Nothing like risking a torso-full of mosquito bites just to get in a photo. That's my girl.

Those who are frequent flyers here in Hottieville know that when I love something, I will love it profusely to the point of annoyance. Such is the case with this book. The projects are totally cool, very appealing, pretty quick, and just plain different. Plus, Jen is a classically trained seamstress (ie she has an Apparel Design degree), so not only are her techniques amazing, but in the process of making this quilt and working with the first draft of the text I was able to learn such dressmaker terms as "favoring" and "grading," things that I had really never exactly known how to do properly and made an enormous difference in the quality of my final product. When I was done with this quilt I really just wanted to make more things using this technique, and now I can. And so can you!

I had a lot of fun using some novelty fabric, of which I am not normally a fan, to give my quilt a little I Spy action, also something of which I am not normally a fan. Yay me for stepping out of the box.

Inserts were pieced. The bubbles fabric was from a different line entirely, but hey, it goes pretty well.

This one just needs a Tootsie Pop.

Stupid iphone.

So now the girls are all fighting over it - thank you, trendy owls - but Paige definitely was in rare form last night competing for the prize.

It's a cape!

It's a secret hiding place!

It's a Virgin Mary costume!

It's a jaunty skirt!

It's mine! MINEMINEMINE!

Her BFF is big into owls, so she tried to tell me "I just want to give it to Ella!" but we all know that was the other kind of BFF - a big fat fib. She wants it herself and she knows it, as do we.

So back to the giveaway....now that I hope you are all dying to try this technique. I'm giving away a copy of "Learn to Sew Easy Curves" along with a set of five yummy summer colors of Mettler thread.

So, how do you enter? Easily enough, I promise:

1. If you aren't a follower of Quilting Hottie Haven, please consider becoming one for one entry. That way you won't miss future giveaways, events, projects, and the every time I feel like writing a post fun.

2. In a comment, tell me if you are a follower for that extra entry, then answer the question set forth by my daughters: "What is your favorite summer activity?" The idea that anyone could dislike summer is foreign to them, which I love for them, and even I, deplorer of most things summer, can come up with several answers to this question, including eating steamers by the seashore, watching my girls enjoy simple pleasures of childhood like lazy afternoons on the tire swing, and floating on an inner tube at the lake. See? So easy. You can do it too.



The winner will be chosen on Friday, August 2, at 11:00am EST. Good luck and happy midsummer moments!