And More! Take Four....Hey, This Time I Can Make a Rhyme!

I may be an "And More...." again, but it's always fun to be included in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks no matter what. Let's be honest....most designers are suckers for seeing their name in print, and I'm no exception, so I'll happily take it.

There it is again!

What's become even more exciting for me with these issues is that I never seem to recall what I submitted, so when I receive the notice that my block was accepted, I get to wait with bated breath to see exactly what utter creative brilliance I sent for consideration. Between being the BOM Maven for my guild for the past two years and submitting these now and then, and having brain mush syndrome from having way too much going on in my world at any given time, it's easy to forget. Thankfully, as well as seeing my name in print, I also am a sucker for a surprise, so this way I get both every six months or so. I do love me some good multi-tasking.

Now, let's admit. When you first saw this block, you did one or more of these things:

1. Said "Huh."
2. Were freaked out that there were purple eyeballs looking at you.
3. Questioned Quiltmaker's screening processes.
4. Wondered when I had entered my Aztec phase.

Having only a vague recollection of creating this block, but knowing I own a quilt top where these scraps came from so I can believe it, I did all four, so don't feel badly if you did as well. Especially if you didn't have the proof in your home that I could have created it.

Here's your proof - the Carpenter's Star I made a million years ago with Debby Maddy's (Calico Carriage) awesome pattern, and while I love it, I still haven't gotten around to quilting it.

 So, aside from the pretty scraps, why exactly should you make this block? Well, I put this one in the category of what let's call "Boring-ish Blocks with Possible Potential." In fact, when I got to playing with it in EQ, I came up with this, and I just plain love it. Doesn't it really scream "Indian Corn!!!!" now? With four exclamation points, even?

Looks like I have a new project.

If I'm not your first stop, you know the drill....two issues to give away to winners, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me how many projects you have going currently. An estimate is fine, because let's face it, we all have too many and I'm not about to spend time coming to your house to actually count, because my current 9 projects will not allow me the time.

All entrants will not only be entered to win one of the issues, but also, because I really appreciate you even coming to see this blog with such a strange block entry, as a thank you, every commenter will receive a coupon code to my web store -use it or don't, it's really just a thank you because I appreciate you being here, and it's also a way for you to double check that you are NOT a no reply blogger. MAKE SURE I have a way to e-contact you, and if you don't receive an email from me (evapaigequilts@charter.net) with your coupon code within 18 hours of your posting (I do sleep, and time zones funkify my work hours compared to your posting hours sometimes) you might want to double check your no-reply status. Because no-reply means you can't win not only my issue giveaways, but anyone else's either! Who needs that? 

Thanks for stopping by! Good luck!

Maggie's First Dance BOM - Will You Be Dancing?

Welcome all BOMers who figured they'd better check me out as a sponsor! I hope to do this lovely program justice and am also hoping to keep up with you all. So far so good, but then again I did get a head start. Which of course I waited until yesterday to make. But you know, good intentions.

So by way of introduction for those who don't know me, a few stats about me you might or might not find important:

• Years as a quilter: 21
• Age: Older than 21
• Design Style: Scrappy and imperfect
• Biggest pile in my stash: Teal
• Almost non-existent pile in my stash: Red
• How my children described me when I asked them what was interesting about me: "Loud," "Creepy," and "You talk too much."
• What I'll be doing as soon as I finish this post: Researching boarding schools
• Three random truths: I still have a baby tooth, I'm allergic to coffee, and I've traveled to all 48 contiguous states. (And I'll check off Alaska this summer!)  

If you just happened upon here and didn't know, Jacquelynne Steve's newest BOM (FREE BOM, by the way!) starts in June! It's called Maggie's First Dance and I keep thinking "I really must ask Jacquelynne who Maggie is..." but of course I think of this at really bizarro times, like when I am driving or in the shower. At some point we will get to the bottom of that mystery.

Maggie's First Dance BOM by Jacquelynne Steves

For now, head on over to her sight and check out all the details and why not sign up? Just go here:  http://jacquelynnesteves.com/maggies-first-dance-block-of-the-month/ and enter the deets. It's free, did I mention? It's a nice size wallhanging or lap quilt, so not an overwhelming undertaking even for newbies, and it's just six months long, so definitely doable! My first block is even already done, though you'll have to wait to see how it came out!

I haven't traditionally been big into stars in my design life, but lately I'm kind of digging them. I even used them in Scintillating Stars, my 46th (!) pattern that came out last month.

I'm excited about the stars in Maggie too, because they all look a bit different in each block. I do love a pattern that switches up every block just a little...keeps things fresh for me!

To celebrate the start of the BOM, Jacquelynne is doing a giveaway, too! As a blog sponsor I've offered up several of my Mod-ified Trees kits, which she'll be offering up at another time, but right now you can enter to win two of her own patterns, Merry Go Round and Amelia!

To enter, leave a comment telling me about the best place you ever vacationed or traveled to, because now that I'm so close to my bucket list of hitting all 50 states I'm going to need some new ideas.

I also invite you to follow me on Facebook and/or IG (@evapaigequilts), where throughout the BOM you'll get all sorts of first looks at my blocks as each new one is revealed!

"And More!" Again and Loving It....QM's 100 Blocks Volume 10

Well, actually, it's here. Details.

By now you are either well aware of the fact that Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 10 is out this week, or you have been living in a cave. Granted, if said cave was in Scotland in 1745 and you were sharing it with a certain red-headed Scot, you are excused. But otherwise I am certain you landed here as part of the blog tour to celebrate, so welcome to Quilting Hottie Haven and my own little celebration of inclusion in this landmark volume of the 100 Blocks series! You'll note that as in Volume 8, I'm firmly part of the "And More!" crowd, and that is all fine with me. If you put all the And Mores from all 10 volumes together you would have a seriously awesome rave going and I'd hate to miss that.

If you've seen my video, which looks like it was shot in semi-darkness by an 11 year old because indeed it was shot in semi-darkness by an 11 year old, you've seen a little preview of my block. Maybe you also entered my "Cutting Room Floor" contest on my facebook page and threw out a guess of why I was wearing that big old button, the explanation having been left on the cutting room floor when the video was edited for length. Congratulations to Becki Morrison, who while not completely correct in her guess of "for those who need over 50 font," she was the closest to my delight in being a part of QM's 100 Blocks "because of the really delicate and subtle jewelry they send you." So size, and all things involved in it, mattered in this case.

Woo hoo!

My block, Puddle Jumper, is #975, which I love because that's a really easy number to remember forever and for always. God forbid I ever have to save the life of anyone by reciting what numbers my blocks have been in the 100 Blocks series, but I thank QM for making this one easy.

Despite my better judgement, Puddle Jumper was so named due to the fabric colors used. It's a method I really try not to employ in my quilt or block naming, but rules were made to be broken. I thought the aqua middles to these blocks looked like puddles, so there you go. Sometimes there's a good story behind a quilt name, and sometimes the story just sucks.  Unfortunately, this is one of those times. But who cares - it made the volume, so I'm happy!

A few weeks ago I wrote this blog post, which explains a little bit about why the block in the magazine looks nothing like the one I'm holding in the video. Although Kelly Eisenger at QM read and thoroughly enjoyed my post and immediately sent me a photo of my block so that I could whip up a new one, there are even more reasons I chose to go with a completely new color scheme:

• I was out of the teal batiks
• I make too many teal/purple quilts (see background of video for exhibit A)
• I rarely use red, so I thought "What the heck?"
• I believe whole-heartedly in putting a spin on any design, and this includes my own, because making something exactly the same way over and over again is boring.

Using the block in the video, I whipped this cute little baby quilt up last week, using four of the blocks and some pieced sashing.

I'm thinking of calling this "Rampant Viral Illness" as it looks a bit like measles and my youngest daughter was sick with a horrid flu the entire week I was making it. There. That's a way better quilt naming story for you.

Virus-like or not, I think the quilt is pretty cute, and shows a new variation on some setting ideas for my block. My older two daughters think it is the ugliest quilt I have ever made. I'm no longer feeding them until they take it back. PS, they are wrong, and clearly have not seen my trunk show featuring some of my early creations.

Pretty quick and simple

I played with the block in EQ7 a bit and came up with a few more design ideas for you.

Throw five blocks set on point with some setting triangles and you have a long table runner. Extra points to the first person to get one done by Thanksgiving next week.

Or eliminate the sashing or setting triangles and just play with the background fabrics a little for a cool secondary thing going on.

The block in the above mock-up was done all scrappy, and you can see the difference in movement between it and a the blocks shown previously. Both are great (if I do say), and it just depends on whether you are going for a more planned or a more scrappy look.

A little more planned

A little more scrappy

If you do use this block in any of your upcoming projects, I'd love to see!


My fabulous blog sponsor, Fat Quarter Shop, has graciously agreed to augment my giveaway prize of a copy of 100 Blocks Volume 10 with a $35 gift certificate to their online shop. Aren't they just the best?

To enter, all you have to do is comment below telling me what you are currently working on, and how long you've been working on it. Is it a table runner kit you bought yesterday and plan to complete this weekend? Or is it a Baltimore album you started before Baltimore was even a city? Let's inspire each other with our stick-to-it-iveness for the epic projects, and share ideas for quickie projects for when we just can't take one more second of the epic ones.

For a second entry, become a member of my EQPD facebook community, and comment that you did so in the pinned post at the top of that page. It's not mandatory for entry, but it's a fun little community of daily quilty snark and sharing and I'd love to have you be a part of it!

Enjoy the rest of the blog tour and good luck with my giveaway!






 

Celebrating QM's 100 Blocks new issue and videos with a "Cutting Room Floor" Giveaway

Yeah, that's me - grainy, fuzzy, and with questionable shadowing effects, but hey, my 11 year old videographer was the best I could do. Plus she kept laughing at me.

You may have heard by now there's a blog tour going on next week to celebrate Quiltmaker Magazine's 100 Blocks Volume 10 hitting the stands. If you haven't heard, it means you haven't seen all of the videos on you tube. When you are done entering this giveaway, go right ahead a watch a few.

When we were asked to film a short video to advertise the blog tour, we were also asked to use our creativity and personality, and that big old button left over from when I was included in Volume 8 became part of my schtick. However, as I am wont to do, my schtick went on too long, and the part where it became clear why I had it on ended up on the cutting room floor. To be honest, I was a bit sad about that for a few minutes. Then I had a brilliant idea - why not make an extra giveaway out of it?

I knew you'd like that idea. Here's hoping QM does too! More marketing is always a good thing, right?

So, here's the thing. Watch the video. Make a guess, either in a comment here, or on the pinned post at the top of my EPQD facebook page, stating why you think I am wearing that button, which is explained in the edited portion of the video (The Cutting Room Floor part). (Hint - try to think like me. I know, that's a scary place you just went to. But in other words, a little out of the box.)

Contest is open until November 16 at noon. Sometime in the afternoon, I will announce the winner, which will be the person who gets closest to why I decided to wear the button in the video, and she/he will receive a copy of QM's 100 Blocks Volume 10 and the scraps from the baby sized quilt (off the cutting room floor, see what I did there?) I am making for the blog tour highlighting my block. They are actually pretty cool fabrics and will be great in a small project.

Like I said, they are cool.

 Perhaps more exciting, I will at that time post the original video in its entirety and we can see how close the winner actually came. If they use my actual words I am going to be actually dumbfounded.

Don't think too hard. Just think like me. Be creative. Say whatever you want, because you know I of all people could never be horrified by any idea you might have.

 Enter in a comment here on this blog post, or on my facebook page where the post with comments is pinned to the top. Have fun! Be creative! Win a copy of 100 Blocks and my floor dregs! What could be better?

Hop Til You Drop

 

Michelle at Quilting Gallery loves a good party, so it's that time again. I'd suggest that she wants to save money on party favors by making us bloggers provide the prizes, but I'd hate to sound like I think that isn't brilliant.

Welcome, Quilting Hotties, one and all! As the tagline reads, it's not a look, it's an attitude, and therefore no one is disqualified due to leg length, hair length, or even stitch length. I embrace my hottie side by keeping it light, keeping it fresh (both in projects and attitude) and keeping it real, and I hope you'll consider stopping in again and again to recharge your own hottieness.

Depending upon what time you read this on November 21, I may well be sewing my head off at my guild's Open Sew, where I will be running a dumbed-down version of my "Round Robin in a Day" workshop with a few friends. After a day of epic block fails yesterday, I actually just finished my center block they'll be starting with, and I just love it.

Isn't it fun how the design wall is just like a gigantic used lint roller?

This class is great fun to facilitate, and even more fun to participate in, and I am so pumped to not only be creating and designing all day tomorrow as I add to three other participants' quilts, but also to be the one screaming "WE HAVE 10 MINUTES LEFT IN THIS ROUND! NO MORE TIME! GET IT DONE! NOW!" like a lunatic. Time will tell how much the other ladies appreciate my candor and inflexibility in relation to clock management.

Half the fun of this class is the prep, not only in making a cool center block, but also in rolling around naked in your stash to find all sorts of yardage to bring along for everyone to work with during the day. I found this baby and really hope it gets used!

I only wish I had more. And that trees really could be polka dotted.

I always suggest quilters bring only about 4 yards total of fabrics they would like to see in their finished round robin because we don't have room for everyone to bring their entire stashes, but you know no one listens. I kid you not, the last time I taught this class, this was Judi's work area.

There's a show-off in every crowd.

In truth, I WAS jealous of the cart.

We'll see how well my victims fellow participants follow the guidelines tomorrow. Knowing a couple of them as I do, I have little faith that we won't have at least one overpacker.

Even if you read this early, I am excited that I can come back and update with a photo of the finished round robin after the class. It will be "summerweight," as the class only guarantees leaving with a top, not a finished quilt, but I promise the transformation will be amazing. If it isn't, you'll pretend it is.

Update: We didn't quite finish. I blame the facts that I couldn't be an effective whip cracker while sewing myself, and I was working with some of the most perfectionist, most amazing quilters I know, who would not be rushed. But who cares? The results are gorgeous!

The bottom two will be completed by our guild meeting in a couple of weeks. But they've started strong.

Besides workshops and my rather hilarious and awesome but I really shouldn't say that as it sounds kinda boastful trunk show lectures for guilds and other groups, I am a quilt designer for myself and various publications, creator of "Drop and Give Me Twenty", organizer of one or two group quilt projects through this blog every year, and a mom of three girls way too young to drive themselves anywhere and who never all want to be in the same place at the same time. I'm also currently developing a new attraction coming to QHH in 2014: "Hottie Hotseat" - A monthly post highlighting an industry professional in five hard-hitting questions or less, several of them guaranteed snarky. You'll hear about it all here at QHH, and I hope you'll pop in and participate in some or all of it! 

And now we come to the goodie bag goods. To celebrate the blog hop, I'm giving away the items pictured in this oh-so-professional-looking photo. I live in the northeast. We have like 4 hours of daylight this time of year. Forgive me.

Items pictured are way more awesome than they appear.

Should you be my big winner, you will receive:

• One copy of "Diamond Dazzle," an original booklet-style pattern by moi. Five sizes, cool border options, great fun.
• Six fat-quarter-ish orange and teal modern prints. I received these from Lemon Tree Fabrics, and they are ends of bolts. They are awesome, although slightly oddly sized. You will undoubtedly deal because they are so pretty.
• Five spools of Mettler thread in various shades of pink

To enter, please leave a comment telling me your favorite appetizer or pie. Recipes not needed, but I'd never turn it down. You'll be helping me greatly as I prepare to contribute both next week to the day of merriment, thankfulness, and sheer joyous gluttony we call Thanksgiving.

For an extra entry let me know if you follow Quilting Hottie Haven. And if you don't follow, I'll need a two page single-spaced essay explaining why not.

Kidding.

Good luck, and happy hopping!

 

Midsummer Night's Giveaway Winner

Three days ago I was my July sad self, today I am bursting with joy that it is August AND I have a winner in the Giveaway!

Let's review, here is the prize:

Awesome cool book and yummy summery threads

Becky Stawecki, who listed her favorite summertime activity as "going out crabbing, with a mess of chicken necks a net and a cooler filled with beer and soda..and a sack lunch!! nothing more fun!!" is. my winner.

If her number had not been chosen, "mess of chicken necks" would have put her over the edge for sure. Congratulations, Becky! I can only hope that someday I might be invited to participate in such an outing, although I am not sure I am up to actually touching a chicken neck for fun.

If you are not Becky and were not lucky enough to win this copy, it is also available on Amazon and well worth a look. I really do love this book! Becky - I hope you will make something from it soon, and be sure to share some photos with Jen and I!

Thank you to all who participated and gave me such lovely answers to your favorite things about summer. I share many of them and you renewed my faith in my abilities to find joy in the everyday summer things. Berries, swim noodles, hammocks, summer evenings, beaches, and time to watch the kids grow for everyone!

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!

Our newest Christmas tree farmer is......

Amy Lindsay! Woo hoo, Amy! Get out the shovel and hoe, plant some trees, and I'll be along with Mr. QH and the axe in about 15 years.

Amy has won the lovely funky tree kit and pattern, so an easier way for her to plant the trees would be with fabric, and I am sure she'll do a lovely job.

I must thank those of you who entered the giveaway, and a special shout out to those who gave me some suggestions about my way blue log cabin and how to deblueify it a bit. I do like Kirsty's suggestion of a red border. I had not been thinking of leaning toward patriotic, but what the heck, maybe that is what it needs. Kyle is thinking kind of how I was - adding some dimension or something inside of the white part might work for me. Kelli does indeed get negative entries for suggesting a new layout when it is already put together. She can expect it mailed to her along with a seam ripper if we go that route, which is unlikely. Barbara and Angie bucked the "K-train" with their first names and had opposite ideas of what I could do, one telling me to add white, one telling me to splash it up with color. I love all the suggestions and I can't wait to see what I decide to do with it.

After it sits in the UFO pile for the requisite 16 months.

And why I care so much I don't really know. Eventually it is going to my cottage, where it will be pooped on by mice all summer long.

So Amy, come see me in Manchester - booth #29. I'll stick your prize into your hot little hands!

A Funky Little Giveaway

It's crazy prep time for the biggest show NEQDC has ever done, A Quilters Gathering, this year to be held for the first time in Manchester NH rather than 8 miles from my home in Nashua NH. I'm trying very hard to get over my bitterness about the move, but I won't lie, there is still work to be done on that front.

The Gathering is the first show I ever attended way back in the fall of 1995 when it was still in Westford MA (also only 8 miles or so from home, just saying) and I was knee deep in red and green triangles having just discovered quilting and using my skillz to create my iconic "Christmas Tree Standing on a Picnic Table". Those of you who have seen my PIO lecture know the joy and beauty of that little piece of quilted wonderment. Those of you who haven't can consider yourselves lucky that you have not had the need to avert your eyes in horror.

In any case, no matter where it may be held (she said begrudgingly), the Gathering is always a special show for me, and this year for the first time New England Quilt Designers Cooperative made the cut and we get to vend, which will be a four day odyssey of crazy fun. There is always such an energy to the Gathering, and the quilts and vendors are always amazing. We'll be offering our many fabulous kits, patterns, books, and notions, and today I put together a whole bunch of these cute little funky tree kits:

to sell either separately as cute folded fabric trees or along with my "Funky Tree Farm" pattern. I've tried them in the past and always had trouble keeping them in one piece, but I think I finally got that problem solved today and I am very excited about this new product!

I'll be taking some tonight to my lecture with Burlington Quilters Guild and use them as a test market, but I also figure why not give one away here? It's been a while since a giveaway and, in Greta's favorite words, What the Heck? You'll win a funky tree of my choosing and the pattern just in time to whip it up for Christmas.

Enter by becoming a follower either of this blog, on my facebook page, or both, or commenting on this post. The more you do, the more entries you get, just be sure to outline for me everything you did to enter in your comment!

In other news, the camera was hijacked by the children and I got about 35 photos of Antebellum paper dolls.

Apparently the South is preparing to rise again.

Also I finally got the latest group log cabin quilt put together.

Excuse the odd angle and the leaves on the thing. It is wicked windy here and you wouldn't believe how hard this was to photograph even in this half-assed manner today. I was not about to stop the presses over a leaf or two.

I love the setting, I love the blocks, for which if you read this post you may recall I gave very little direction other than "use blue" to those making them, and now I am finding that something is not turning me on about this quilt as much as I had hoped. I think it might be too.......blue. It needs something (beyond the obvious need for a border), but I have yet to determine what that might be. Ideas? Ooooo! Anyone giving me some ideas gets an extra entry to the funky giveaway!

It's Giveaway Day!

Wowsa.

I am so completely overwhelmed by the number of visitors to this site over the last 24 hours, since Quilter's World linked our prodigal quilt story to their FB page. I can only say that when I checked the stats last night for the day I quite literally shrieked and fell out of my chair, and not only because Greta had just snuck up on me out of nowhere and said "Mom!" in my ear, although yes that was part of it.

So WELCOME to all new followers and visitors. I am so excited to have you find me and I hope you will return now and then to see what we're up to here in EPQDland.

I thank you all for not pointing out that 9:07 has come and gone and I didn't post this in time. There were a few technical difficulties in my random giveaway of a copy of the April Quilter's World.

1. Cars cannot run on fumes forever, and I had to finally stop and get some gas this morning.
2. I have no idea how to post a random number generator and finally gave up.
3. However, said random number generator didn't help me in the least because it kept choosing people who were "no-reply" bloggers, so I couldn't contact them to tell them they had won.

I mention this not to shame anyone, because I only JUST within the last 5 weeks or so found out that I too was a no-reply blogger and had to do some such thing to fix it, so trust me you are not alone in your blogging bliss of thinking you have done everything properly! I can't recall exactly what it was I did to fix it, but I'm pretty sure I must have googled how to fix it because google solves all. Anyway, if you are a no-reply blogger, your email is hidden and therefore I have no way of contacting you. So I had to move on to someone else.To see if you fall in that category, click on your name in your comment, and if your profile shows up without a link to an email, yes, you are a no-replier. Just a little techie tip for the day, which coming from me is always hilarious.

So after several stops and starts, my winner is...........Julie! From her profile, I learned she's a fairly new quilter who embraces the Friends, Fabric, and Fun of quilting and what more could I ask for in a winner? Oh, but there's more. She also loves soft rock from the 80s. Okay then. Sold.

Congratulations, Julie! I'll be sending you an email, because I can :), to let you know you won!

Thank you all for participating and I'll hope to see you back soon. If you haven't done so, check out my FB page....now and then I get a hankering for just giving something away randomly on there and I think I may feel a hankering coming on soon.

The Prodigal Quilt Returneth and a Giveaway in its Honor

Oh happy day! The Boys in Brown stopped by just before the school bus did yesterday and delivered a box that I knew was going to send Eva over the moon. The poor child has been separated from her cover girl quilt for close to a year and yes, this is indeed the biggest tragedy to befall her, ever. Just ask.

The reunion was celebrated by a scream, a ripping open of the box, a fight between her sisters over who got to pop the bubble wrap, a demand that everyone stop what they were doing and come watch her put it on her bed, and a sharp reprimand from me as she ran across the kitchen, dragging it on the not so clean floor.

And we wonder why she wasn't allowed to touch it before we sent it off.



After the bubble wrap was sufficiently mutilated, Paige joined her upstairs to finally put her own version of "Quite Contrary" on her bed. Her quilt had been finished for almost the same amount of time as Eva's, but in order to maintain a world in which I do not have to listen to "It isn't fair!" 900 times a day, I didn't let her put it on her bed until Eva's came home.

In good news, they seem to work well for lounging.


Pei Pei the panda is also thrilled to have a new quilt. Isn't it pretty in pink, too?


Here's hoping neither of those photos made any realtors who might be reading run from their computers screaming due to the rather wild paint scheme in their room.

So just like in the Bible, we feel we should celebrate the return of our progeny with a party. As there is no fatted calf in my yard to kill and offer you as a prize, I am instead going to give away a copy of the magazine featuring "Quite Contrary" to one lucky winner. Here's how to enter:

1. Become a follower of this blog. One entry.

2. Become a follower on Facebook (www.facebook.com/EvaPaigeQuiltDesigns). One entry.

3. Already a follower on one or both? Share this blog post on FB! Easy to do from the EPQD page. One entry.

Comment on how you have shared, follower-ed up, or whatever to make your entry (ies) official. Winner will be drawn on Monday, March 12!***

***UPDATE: Carolyn and Amy from Quilters World saw this post last week and decided to promote it on the Quilter's World Facebook page on 3/15. So I'm extending the giveaway drawing until 9:07am on Friday, 3/16. This will give me time to get back from dropping Greta at school and time for all who may wish to enter to do so. WELCOME to all those who are reading and I hope to see you back soon!***

Here's hoping the Boys in Brown bring you something fun this week.

Winner annoucements - Blog Hop Party and Giveaway Day

Or in other words, the Blizzard Buddies pattern and What's for Dinner placemat have new owners. Woo hoo!

I won't make you wait today:

Blizzard Buddies pattern and iron-on braid (which is fabulous): Kess
What's For Dinner tablemat: (And how apropos is this?) The Hungry Crafter

Congrats, ladies! Check out your inboxes and get back to me with your addresses!

I do wish you all could win as you all seem like lovely people and many of you wrote heartfelt essays about your love of my designs and wish to own one. Thank you for your lovely words; they truly remind me why I am doing this! Several of you asked about kits, patterns, or sets of the tablemat. I do have an etsy site where the mats can be custom ordered - lots of different oilcloth patterns to choose from, and if you enter IDIDNTWIN3 I'll waive domestic shipping for you. I also sell the kits there. http://www.etsy.com/listing/86836573/kid-friendly-tablemats-tablesetting. As for my patterns, please do ask at your local shop for them as I always want to support LQSs. If they can't help you, I am always more than happy to provide what you might like via email, so don't be afraid to ask.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the two giveaway blog hops last week. I feel blessed to have seen a lot of new faces at my blog and hope you will come back often. Several fun things are already in the works for next year, and you don't want to miss out!

Stop me, I'm giving something else away

www.sewmamasew.com/blog is having a giveaway week, and somehow I just can't resist.
Clearly I didn't listen to the sage advice of Maria Peagler during a webinar earlier this year - "Free is not a business plan." Or we could look at it this way - I've had a good year and I need some more tax writeoffs. Let's go with that.



I'm a little late to the party, but I honestly thought it was next week so yay me for finding it better late than Monday. And I'm giving away a lime green stripe version of my "What's For Dinner?" tablemat, a great tool for teaching messy kids to set the table, read what is for dinner because you've written it on the chalkboard part, and avoid utter ruination of your quilting fabrics for all eternity because it is totally wipeable rather than stainable. Kits and patterns for this design also available for those do-it-yourselfers, but hey, sometimes it's fun to win something premade.

A second chance to win can be had by becoming fan of EvaPaige Quilt Designs on Facebook, www.facebook.com/EvaPaigeQuiltDesigns.

Now go make the spaghetti.

Good luck, and enjoy the giveaways!

Party it up, Hotties!

It's Quilting Gallery's 4th birthday (http://quiltinggallery.com/quilters-fun/quilters-blog-hop-party/), and we all get presents! Fantastic! By now you probably know what's going on, but if not, here's the scoop:

To celebrate, Michele Foster of Quilting Gallery is hosting a Blog Hop Party, with something like 300 quilting bloggers participating! And not only will you find some cool new blogs, but you'll have a chance to win something AT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. Feeling lucky? Just comment on the individual blogs for a chance to win their giveaway.

For those coming to hang at the haven for the first time, welcome! I started this blog a little over a year ago as an outlet for my incessant need to overshare of myself with the quilt world, and I've had so much fun with it. I do try to keep it quilting related for the most part, but now and then it's also been cheaper than therapy for me. I consider myself a quilter who likes to let loose my goofball side and that's what you'll find here. I've been very lucky to have been chosen AQS Blog of the Week back in August, and was also Michele's guest blogger back in May.

I've often said, here and in real life, that my favorite part of my design career is sharing my designs in person through my trunk show lectures. I'm currently hard at work to finalize the details of my second trunk show "Plays Well With Others", which will be available to guilds at the beginning in April. The show focuses on group quiltmaking of all sorts beyond your basic round robin, because over the years I've discovered that I am no longer that control freak third grader who never wanted to work in a group in school because no one was quite as good as she was. I now leave that role to my daughter Paige. I've found a lot of joy in working on projects along with other quilters and quilt designers, and I want others to discover how fun it can be to give over a project to someone else and see what they might add to it.

To that end, I now and then will call for participants in a group project here on my blog because I always want new fodder for my lecture, and I am currently planning a new group quilt project for January. The basic block we will be creating is shown here, and I promise that in real life it is totally square so I have no idea why it looks so wonky here, and can be made from scraps you already have - in fact, that is what I am going to WANT you to do. More details will follow, so you'll want to come back in January, won't you?

Another way to keep apprised of the goings on of my random thoughts is to become part of my facebook EPQD community. I try to update it daily with just a Twitter-like statement or link to my newest blog post, and I've really tried to make it a fun place to be to exchange ideas and inspire each other. I also give away a gift (often patterns, kits, fun notions I love, once even a table runner) at the end of every month from a drawing of my new members for the month. To get to my FB page, click here. I'd love to see you there and have you join the fun, and joining this month will give you yet another entry in my giveaway!

So, you've sat through my intro/sales pitch and by now you are surely wondering if I will ever tell you what I am giving away. After all, you have 299 more blogs to visit, and I have taken up plenty of your time. To celebrate winter and all it's splendor, I am giving away a copy of my "Blizzard Buddies" pattern, along with a spool of light blue iron-on braid for embellishing your snowmen. In the snowman close up (also the profile photo for my FB page this month), the hair was made from this stuff. It's way easy to use and totally addictive. You'll be ironing braid to everything and we'll have to call you fancy.
To enter, all you have to do is leave me a comment below. In it all I ask is that after you tell me how this is your favorite new blog site (totally kidding), you let me know what your favorite and least favorite colors to use in your quilts is.

Have fun at the Blog Party and good luck! I hope to see you back soon at QHH.