Posted on

Quilt Blocks Shop Challenge Winner #2

The next winner for the Quilt Blocks Shop Challenge is Michelle from City House Studio. She made this amazing Love quilt and also an adorable library tote bag, which you can find in her shop. You can visit Michelle’s blog here. And below is a bit about how Michelle got started sewing and opened her Etsy shop. Plus, see some more things she’s made in the images below.

I learned to quilt the summer I graduated from college. I had moved home for the summer, and before starting graduate school, I told my mom that I wanted to make a quilt. Of course I chose a queen sized pattern! So my mom and I spent many hours together trying to figure out how to “quilt.” We bought a good reference book and a rotary cutter, but we actually used a wooden cutting board on the kitchen counter to cut out all of the pieces! We pieced it on my mom’s old Singer, which hadn’t been used since my 4H project in 8th grade. We didn’t quite finish it before my classes started in the fall, so she quilted and bound it herself (this was quite a job for a brand new quilter!), and delivered it to my apartment when she visited me at Thanksgiving. What an amazing mom, huh? My parents bought me a sewing machine for my birthday after I got married, and I’ve been quilting ever since.

Life was crazy busy after my twins were born, but I’m a much happier person if I can spend a little time each day with my sewing machine–so I’ve always managed to find time for quilting. My nephew was born 4 weeks after my twins, and to finish his quilt I figured out how to sew with a baby on my chest in a Baby Bjorn! Two of my favorite projects include a birthday table runner that I made for my twins’ 1st Birthday, and the Farmer’s Wife quilt I made as a present for my Grandma on her 90th birthday.

I recently opened an Etsy store, in an effort to keep my house from becoming completely overwhelmed with the quilts and other projects I’ve made! I wrote my first pattern this spring, a Library Tote bag, after receiving many wonderful comments about the Library Totes that I’ve made for my girls’ teachers.

Posted on

Quilt Blocks Shop Challenge Winner #1

Last month, I posted a challenge for handmade shop owners using my Quilt Blocks fabric. Today, I’m featuring one of the three winners (in no particular order). Cheryl from Will Sew for Chocolate made the pillow and quilt that you see above. I love how bright and cheerful this looks. Here’s a bit from Cheryl about how she started her shop, along with some photos of her work:

Lucky me! Creativity has surrounded me all of my life. Mom gave me the talent for working with fabric and thread. Dad was a professional draftsman who gave me a talent for sketching and painting. My sister Kay shares my love of sewing and quilting. My four other sibs (all sisters) sewed once upon a time, but now focus their creativity into creating beautiful homes and gardens. My daughter Nicole doesn’t currently share my love of a sewing machine; she prefers to decorate her apartment, paint, and create adorable greeting cards. I’m confident she has the sewing and quilting gene somewhere inside her just waiting to get out!

I currently sew colorful quilts, pillows and whatever suits my fancy, for my new etsy shop “WillSewForChocolate”. I can hardly believe that only 1 year ago a friend told me I should sell my creations on etsy… and my response was “What’s etsy?”! After some research, I opened my etsy shop in December 2011 and now have quilts that have gone to live in Florida, Connecticut and Guam. How cool is that!

In my free time, I have fun creating girly, glam dresses for my little niece Lily in my “Chocolate Factory” (a.k.a. my sewing room). When I’m not working with fabric, I’m building flower and vegie gardens in my yard and unintentionally sharing them with the rabbits and chipmunks that live here in sunny Madison, Wisconsin.


Posted on

Quilt Blocks Shop Challenge

I had almost forgotten about the Quilt Blocks Shop Challenge! This is a challenge that I proposed using my Quilt Blocks fabric to make something for your handmade online shop, local craft fair, or to sell at a fundraiser. The three winners will receive a blog feature along with three months of free advertising in the sidebar. There are a few amazing entries in the flickr pool, including this  great pillow by Jenny of Stumbles and Stitches.

But since I nearly forgot about it, I’m going to extend the deadline 10 days for anyone else who wanted to enter! Thanks to those of you who scrambled to get your entries in on time — all of your entries are great and I’ll mention each of your shops in a post regardless of whether you win or not. So, those of you who haven’t gotten an entry in yet will have until Monday, June 11 at midnight to enter. That will give you time to order fabric if you need it. Links to online stockists are in the sidebar to your right.

Here are the rules:

1) Make something with my Quilt Blocks fabric for your shop. It can incorporate any of the prints, alone or combined with solids.

2) Post a photo to the Quilt Blocks Flickr group here and add the tag “QuiltBlocksShopChallenge”.

I will pick my three favorites and each handmade artist will be featured on The Long Thread with a dedicated post profiling the shop owner and the shop. You will also receive three months of free advertising over there in the sidebar. PLUS five yards of Quilt Blocks fabric! So get started making stuff!

Can’t wait to see what you make! And those of you who make things for fun and don’t have a shop, I want to see your creations too. Be sure to add your photos to the Flickr photo pool as well. Thanks!