Welcome Autumn - Finishes - A Giveaway!

Here in the Northern Hemisphere it's officially Fall! 

Quoting the Farmers Almanac:  "The autumnal equinox brings the fall season to the Northern Hemisphere on September 22 at 10:29 P.M. EDT. 

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night."   The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator.

From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop and the days start to get shorter than the nights."

I know what that means to me -- more sewing!  Does it mean the same to you?

Soon the backyard trees will be showing these beautiful colors...  I can't wait!

With some fall lectures and trunk shows at a few local guilds I've been busy getting some finishing touches on a few old quilts.

Here is my "Milkbone" quilt before it was bound....  It was quilted "McTavish" style using #Aurifil Mako Cotton 50Wt thread -- gosh that thread works wonderfully for dense machine quilting!  No breaks, little lint and the backtracks are almost invisible!! 

 

And here are a couple of "after" shots...

and

 

It sure makes a beautiful table mat.   You can read more about "Milkbone" by clicking here and here.

The other piece I finished is a WAY OLD work in Progress -- Family Estate.  Family Estate is a pattern in the Laundry Basket Quilts book "Friendship Strips and Scraps".  

 

This little quilt was appliqued and pieced months before I quilted it on my domestic machine.  I used Aurifil Mako Cotton 50 Wt Thread for the needle turn applique, the piecing, AND the quilting.  I love the way it turned out!

To finish it up, I needed to complete the window curtains, the door panels and the door knob.  I used wonderful #Aurifil Mako Cotton 12Wt thread to hand stitch the curtain ruffle (french knots) and the same weight Aurifil thread to machine stitch the panels around the door!   12Wt, 28Wt, 50Wt thread -- the Aurifil never lets me down! 

You can read more about my Family Estate quilt by clicking here.  Many thanks to my friend Debbie Wick for the awesome door knob button.  Isn't it sweet ?

One more thing to celebrate and then we'll get to the giveaway. 

It's been almost a year since my first recipe was published on the Moda Bake Shop -- Can you believe it ?  In October, 2013 I created my first design and tutorial for the "Family Tree Quilted Envelope Pillow".   You'll find the free tutorial and PDF download by clicking here.

It was one of the most fun and enlightening steps I've ever taken in my Quilting career.  Design, applique, piece, quilt, write the tutorial, and publish on the Moda Bake Shop.  It was truly an honor!

So what better way to celebrate this accomplishment than a giveaway of the Family Tree scraps that have been sitting around the sewing room for nearly a year!

One lucky reader will win this pile of scraps, mostly strips, of Family Tree by Deb Strain for Moda.  If you're interested in making the pillow - perfect -- these scraps will go a long way to get you there.  They would also be beautiful for a simple strip runner for Fall (which is why I kept 'em).  Whatever the case, it would be fantastic to see someone putting them to good use!

If an international winner is chosen, instead of shipping you scraps I'll email you a PDF copy of my Spring Basket pattern.

To enter the giveaway leave me a comment letting me know if you are a follower (old or new).

If you follow me on other social media outlets -- let me know that in a comment too!

Did you know I recently started using Instagram ?  You can find me there at RedbirdQuiltCo.   I think I only have two followers... my granddaughter and my niece... lol.  If you start following me on Instagram leave me a comment and let me know.

Get another entry if you share this giveaway with your friends (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Blogger, Twitter).   Comment and let me know.

My giveaway will end this Sunday, September 28th at 9pm EST. 

One other thing... there is an awesome Quilt Giveaway going on until midnight Tuesday at my friend Angie's blog.  Click here before Tuesday at midnight to enter!

Have a fantastic week all - finishing up some more tutorials and fun projects -- will share soon!
Hugs,
Karen

Fall Is Coming, Are YOU Ready To Sew? Join Me At Quilters Corner, Ithaca, NY

Does life fly by at the speed of light for you?

It does for me!!  I've been running in circles trying to keep up with life lately -- some good things and some very sad things -- but this evening I sat down and outlined all of the things that are going on in the near future and thought: "How did I get here?" and "Why haven't I told anyone?"

Well,  now I'm sharing with you my excitement about being an instructor at Quilters Corner in Ithaca, NY, for my 2nd semester. 

In the fall semester I'm going to be teaching three fun Projects and hosting one Open Studio (where you can get help on any of my projects).  

The first class is "Redbird and Berries", created for the Moda Bake Shop.  I know I've talked about this Mini Quilt 1000 times before, but I'm really excited to be teaching it locally and had to share the image "one more time".  

Since this recipe was posted on the Moda Bake Shop, (Jan 24th, 2014), there have been nearly 30,000 views on their blog.  WOW -- that just blows my mind!  Will someone pinch me?

I wish I could tell you how many times the PDF has been downloaded from the Bake Shop, but I don't know.

What I do know is that since the tutorial in PDF format has been available in my Craftsy Pattern Store (April, 2014), it has been downloaded almost 3,000 times!   On average about 18 downloads per day!

For some that may seem like nothing -- but for this country girl on a dirt road to paradise -- it's really awesome!!

So....  the point of the story is:

If you live within driving distance to Quilters Corner in Ithaca, NY -- I would LOVE to have you join me for the Redbird and Berries class on Wednesday, September 10th and September 24th from 6pm to 9pm each night.

We will be covering some basic needle turn applique (for the Redbird -- unless you want to do him in WOOL - I can share a quick lesson in that too) and we'll also cover bias stems, perfect circle berries, and quilting options for your beautiful new wall hanging. 

Quilters Corners is a full service quilt shop that offers more than 75 classes per semester!  That is a fantastic lineup of classes.  You can peruse the list on their website, or by viewing their latest Newsletter here.

You can see the latest Redbird Quilt Co. Facebook post about the Class here.

You can jump over to Quilters Corner Website and enroll here.

Before you enroll, think about doing so with a friend.  If you enroll with a friend, you'll save 20% on Class Fees -- that is a great deal.

I'll share more upcoming class info in another post, but if you can't wait for that post you can see all of my Fall Semester classes at Quilters Corner by clicking here.

Have a blessed day everyone and thanks so much for your continued support!

Hugs,
Karen

Building Houses - With Needle and Thread

Last week we met for the monthly "Quilting the Garden" applique along hosted by our sweet friend Debbie Wick, and with two other special ladies -- my sister Janet and friend Bonnie.

We meet monthly to drool over Debbie's completed Quilting the Garden Quilt (a design and book by Blackbird Designs) and plan out the fabric and stitching for our own blocks. 

Our versions of Quilting the Garden are being completed with various methods of Needle Turn Applique.    Bonnie uses a back basting method, Janet uses freezer paper templates attached while stitching, and I use a freezer paper marking method. 

If you're interested in learning my method of Needle Turn Applique check out "Teardrops of Love - a needle turn applique tutorial" on my blog by clicking here.

Back to Quilting the Garden -- Janet, Bonnie and I have nearly completed our house blocks so I wanted to share them.

First is Debbie's House block from her completed quilt.  Isn't it beautiful?  Debbie always adorns her blocks with the sweetest embroidery.  Check out the flower box flowers and the sign on the door -- sweet! 

Debbie's quilt recently won 2nd place in the Large Bed Quilts Category at the Sauder Village Quilt Show in Archbold, OH!  Congratulations Debbie!!

Debbie's Completed House Block

Next up is my block -- it's almost done.  I need to finish up the upper flower box and the special window on the front door.   That beautiful pin-stripe background was gifted to me from Debbie - it was her last piece of fabric of this type - really pretty!  Thank you Debbie...

Karen's House Block

Next up is Janet's House Block -- I just LOVE the pink flowers and the paisley eaves on the roof!  Janet has yet to finish up her flower boxes and embroidery but the block is beautiful!  I love how the blue door and blue leaves draw out the blue paisley....

Janet's House Block

Finally there is Bonnie's House Block - I love the background fabric on Bonnie's block - isn't it beautiful?  Combine it with the delicate pinks and blues she used and it all comes together perfectly!!  It's just really pretty isn't it ?

Bonnie's House Block

Check out the embroidery on Bonnie's flower boxes -- SWEET!!   We won't mention who stitched these flowers boxes but I can say it wasn't me (or Bonnie or Janet)!!

If you're interested, you can see the house block being constructed (with some tutorials and other block progress) by clicking here and here.

*

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Karen

PS - Linking up to some great WIP/Fabric linky parties -- check them out on my sidebar to see tons of beautiful and inspirational work!