{amylouwho} happy december!!! (and another giveaway!)

I LOVE December!  Everything about it!  Christmas, Christmas music, salted caramel hot chocolate (ahem, Starbucks I love you!),  Gingerbread houses, lights on houses, christmas trees, presents, birthdays (2 in our family!), etc.  It's just a fun, though exhausting month.

I wanted to introduce you to someone who might be able to help you with some holiday shopping for gifts, or for yourself.  My friend Leigh asked me if I wouldn't mind giving away some of her jewelry to my readers! And offer them an exclusive discount in her etsy shop. Of course I said yes!

Meet Leigh of LeedleDeedle Quilts and Designs.

she's the kind of friend that will split a fat quarter set of Fandango with you and give you all the turquoise pieces.

I met Leigh this year in my virtual quilting bee, Bee Tweet.  When I went to Utah this summer we met in person for the first time and it was so fun!  You know how you meet someone and you feel like you've known them for a long time?  Totally that kind of friend.  We were also able to hang out again this fall at the Sewing Summit.  It was awesome.  We would totally hang out all the time if I lived there.

She's made some amazing quilts,

but the project she is working on that absolutely blows me away is her hand stitched hexagon project.  WOW! It's so awesome V. wanted to steal it.

Not only does she quilt, she creates jewelry!  Which is where you come in.  She is giving one of you a pair of earrings from her shop.  I'm pretty sure I know I'd pick these,

or maybe these,

or these!

They are all so pretty!

To enter, just go to her shop and come back here and tell me which earrings you would pick! Easy!  If you want to be really fun, tell me the best present you are giving to someone this year.

Giveaway will be open until through Sunday night, 4 December, midnight-ish. I will announce the winner early next week.

In case you can't wait to see if you win, Leigh is having a sale all month long, 20% off her whole shop!  For amylouwho readers she is offering a 25% discount through next Friday, December 9.  Just enter the code AMYLOUWHO25 during notes to seller during checkout.

Good luck!! See you tomorrow for sew & tell!!

{amylouwho} dyeing to stitch blog tour and giveaway!!

I'm so pleased that my friend Candy of Candied Fabrics invited me to be a part of her blog tour for Dyeing to Stitch!  She is a master at making her own hand-dyed fabrics and along with the folks at Quilting Arts Workshop she has put together a comprehensive guide to dyeing fabrics and creating art with the finished product!

Look at cute Candy! Unfortunately we haven't had the pleasure of meeting in person but we have exchanged many many emails and facebook messages.  I can't wait to give her a hug in person when we meet in real life!

It was really fun to watch her and hear her voice!  She is a biology professor by day and has great way of connecting with her audience.

The DVD is broken up in to the following chapters.

Not only does she talk about the basics of dyeing and how she came up with her process, she discusses color theory.  

My favorite quote from the video, "I get obsessed with a particular color..."  I so hear you! (#turquoiseobsessionmuch?)  We've bonded over our love of turquoise-y blues and bright greens (and bird silhouettes)!

She even came up with her own “Candiotic Table of Elemental Color” 

She is able to recreate any color here by using the recipes she also discusses.

In the chapter, "Using Quilting as a Line + Conclusion", she shows how she makes her mini art quilts.  This was probably my favorite part of the DVD - her botanical sketches are gorgeous!  I love this pillow in particular.

She has definitely cultivated her signature look and I love it.  I love how passionate she is about creating every element of her art.  And really, when you think about the fact that she creates every part from the color of the fabric on up, it really is art.

Here are a few other examples of things that she has made (that I love!)

And probably my favorite was this quilt for babylouwho that several blogging friends made for me.  Candy contributed the fabrics.

What's a baby quilt picture without the baby?  I can't believe she's not this little anymore!

I feel a little sheepish to say that I've never watched any Quilting Arts TV.  But after this I'm excited to find more workshops that they've produced.  It was really well done!

And here's a preview of the video!





Now, for what you have all been waiting for - the GIVEAWAY! Would you like to own your own copy? Candy is offering up one copy of her DVD to one of you.

To enter:
Leave a comment telling me about a current work in progress!  Me? I'm working on a dresden plate mini quilt.  :) And leave an email in your comment so I can reach you!!

Winners will be announced on Monday, December 5!

And as reminder, here’s the rest of the tour:

1. Friday, 11/11 – Victoria Gertenbach of The Silly BooDilly­
2. Monday, 11/14 – Susan Brubaker Knapp of Blue Moon River
3. Wednesday, 11/16 – Kathy Mack of Pink Chalk Studio
4. Friday, 11/18 – Melody Johnson of Fibermania
5. Monday, 11/21 – Amy Ellis of Amy’s Creative Side
6. Wednesday, 11/23 – Diane Doran of Ooh! Pretty Colors
7. Friday, 11/25 – Vicki Welsh of Field Trips in Fiber
8. Monday, 11/28 – Brenda Gael Smith of Serendipity and the Art of the Quilt
9. Wednesday, 11/30 – Amy Webb of Amy Lou Who Sews
10. Friday, 12/2 – Robin Ferrier of Simply Robin
11. Tuesday, 12/6 – Natalia Bonner of Piece N Quilt
12. Thursday, 12/8 – Beth and the gang from Sew Mama Sew

Hope you are all having a great week so far! I'm getting ready to paint my kitchen tonight. I CANNOT wait!

{amylouwho} sew & tell v3.10

Hello and welcome to black Friday sew & tell! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving day!

I wasn't will never be in the mood for crazy sale crowds the day after Thanksgiving (here in the US) and we were busy getting ready to travel all week to be with family.  I didn't get much accomplished in the sewing department, and the pillows I did finish are currently on my MILs bed, where FIL is still sleeping off the turkey and pie.  So no pictures... sorry!  But they did turn out really cute!

Was anyone else able to be more productive than me? It wouldn't be hard!  Show us what you've finished this week!

Linky Rules.  Please follow along for a fun party!

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

Please put your (blog)name instead of your project name, it helps us get to know each other better!

{amylouwho} thankful for November beach days

I'm thankful that I live 15 minutes from the beach.

I'm thankful we can go on a November Sunday afternoon, look for shells and shark teeth, and not be cold.

I'm thankful my kids get to enjoy one of my favorite things I did as a kid, on a more regular basis.

I'm thankful for it's beautiful skies,

and beautiful shells.

I'm thankful that even those these two can try my patience more than anything, I still love them just the same.

(ps - I am thankful for babylouwho, she was just at home napping with mrlouwho during this little excursion!)

{amylouwho} thankful for fabric

I've wanted to share some gratuitous fabric shots with you so I thought I would do some thankful posts this week.  I really am thankful for fabric and all the possibilities it holds!

Here's some pretties I picked up while in Utah at The Sewing Summit.

I don't get to shop much at shops that have fat quarters, so it was nice to walk through Pine Needles and pick out a stack of fabrics based solely on color! I've been really into orange with aqua lately.  Glad I'm not the only one!

I almost died when I saw Sandi Henderson's Secret Garden fabrics in person at The Material Girls Quilts too.  The fabric itself is SO soft and I couldn't pass up this navy with the bright pinks and greens.

I've finished a project with it this past week that I want to share with you. Soon.  I have enough fabric left over to make something matchy matchy for my girls. (oh and yes, that is some henna in leaf. couldn't resist.)

I got this cute stack from the SLC Modern Quilt Guild dinner, Fox Trails by Shari Butler of Doohikey Designs.

And yes, foxes are the new owls I hear, so I'm glad I'm up to speed on the trend. :) I think the racoons are pretty cute too!

And then cute Leigh from LeedleDeedle Quilts, shared her awesome stack of Fandango that she won from Nadine during the shop hop!

I've wanted some of this for a long time.  Now I just have to decide what to do with it!

What are you thankful for today?

{amylouwho} sew & tell v3.9 a baby quilt

Hello everyone!
It's been one of those weeks where we've been super busy and I haven't had a lot of quality time with my blog or my fabric!

I have so many things that I want to talk to you about but nothing quite ready to show you. So, I'm sharing another quilt a different friend made for the same baby shower I made this blanket. She doesn't know I'm featuring her here today, so I hope she doesn't mind! (Hi Brynn!)

I took some pictures for her and am so behind I haven't even emailed them to her yet. My friend Brynn has become the unofficial baby quilt gifter for new babies at church. She's the perfect person for this because, unlike me, she knows how to finish a project before starting a new one. Plus she's great at math so she does a wonderful job planning out her designs. AND she's precise, so everything looks pretty much amazing! You can see more of her quilts on her blog Brynn Sews.  I'm really excited to see the ones finished that she's working on now: Kate Spain + Central Park + Lattice pattern!!

This cute little quilt was a big hit at the shower!

I love plus sign quilts and these fabrics are great separated by the white. And the ballon fabric on the back?! SO CUTE!!

and I just adore this pearl bracelet fabric she used on the binding!

I want that pearl bracelet fabric in every color but I just put myself on a fabric diet! Gah!

Thank you Brynn for making awesome quilts! :) (Let's have another sewing day soon so I can finish up the rest of my projects!)

I can't wait to see what you all have been working on! Anyone working on Christmas presents yet?

Linky Rules.  Please read carefully.  The delete monster will be eating non-compliant links.

1. Please write the post for sew & tell - or add a blurb mentioning sew & tell to a post written since the last sew & tell.  If you are linking to a post with your own tutorial, please make sure it was a finish from this week and that the completed project is shown first.

2. One linky per person. (please put multiple projects in one post.)

3. Link to your specific post.  (See here for permalink instructions - or email me.)

4. Link back here with a link or a button (HTML on my sidebar).

5. Be sure to visit and leave comments on other's posts!

{amylouwho} mini quilt party winners announced!

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed hosting this mini quilt party!!  I haven't had a chance to visit all the quilts yet, but I'm working on it!  I loved reading your comments too!

Before we get to the winners, I wanted to show you the mini quilt that I received from my end of the Post Sewing Summit Swap.  I don't even remember what I said in my little survey, but my partner Jill, from Made on Mainstreet,  must have also checked out my favorites on Flickr because she nailed it!

I love my sweet little quilt and hung it up immediately in my kitchen.  Thank you so much, Jill!! I love it!

So now, onto the winners!
Oh wait, I should tell you that I used Random.org to choose 5 numbers between 1 and 201 (108 linkies + 93 comments, wow!), comment #1 being entry 109.  Okay, so now...

1)The 30$ gift card to the  Old Red Barn Co. soap shop:
#83 Diane of Random Thoughts Do or "Di"!

2) The flat rate box of swag from the Sewing Summit:
#135 Kristina at The Nerdy Sewist!

3) Kim's bundle of awesome Heather Ross scraps:
#61  The Quilted Fox

4) Candy's  set of “quilter’s 8ths” of her own hand-dyed cottons:
#104 Nona's Sews

5)The jelly roll of fabric from The Material Girls Quilts:
#105 Kwiltz by Stephanie

Look for an email from me in your inboxes!

{amylouwho} we interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post with the announcement of the winners, because, well, in truth I'm unorganized!

mrlouwho and I are attending the Marine Corps Birthday Ball tonight.  I was still nursing last year when I  made and wore this dress.  I have to figure out how to take it in today, and get my hair done, and get ready for the sitter to come. Soooooo, if I have time I will post the winners today.  Otherwise, I'm so sorry - I'll announce them tomorrow!

In the meantime, continue looking through all of the amazing entries!  You guys blew me away with your response!  I've loved every comment and linky!

Today is also the last day to enter Sew, Mama, Sew's Doll Quilt contest! Go to their site and read the easy rules!  Just add your photo to their Flickr group.

AND every Monday over at Elizabeth's Pieceful Life it's Little Quilt Monday!  That's right!  A mini quilt party EVERY week!

I promise, I'll be back soon! Wish me luck on getting my dress to fit!

{amylouwho} sew & tell v3.8 mini quilt party and giveaway!

Hello!!!  It's here! I know, I'm probably more excited than you all are! But still :)

I mailed off this mini quilt early this week for my partner in the Post Sewing Summit Swap.  I'm not going to lie.  I was a little intimidated to sew for my partner (hi, partner!).  I went through all of her favorites on Flickr searching for some inspiration. Knowing she liked bright colors and her favorite being green, I decided on doing something bright with stars.
Then I got cold feet and went in a different direction.  Then I got cold feet again (and by cold feet I mean a little birdie told me my first idea was better) and dove back in with the stars.

I'm not going to lie to you - I love the way it turned out!

And the quilting on this was really fun to do!  I got to practice some of my skills that Allison taught me in her free motion quilting class.

I chose my favorite Amy Butler polka dots in Lime for the back.  (and said birdie told me this is one of my partner's all time favorite prints! Yea!)  Binding it in the turquoise really helps it pop! (birdie suggested this too - which was a better choice than the green I was going to go with.  Thanks birdie!!)

This quilt was so fun to finish.  It didn't take that long, and I learned how to  piece them in a "random" way so they weren't just all in rows.

It was a little tricky at first, but I just layed them out and figured out where I needed to add more white. I love learning new things!  It was nice to practice on a small project too.

So many of us were inspired by the mini quilt class at The Sewing Summit!  Holly (who designed my new banner and button) started a new Flickr group!  You can head over there to add your quilts, or just look at some eye candy!

So now onto the details of the party + prizes!

Instead of making this a super long post and relisting all the prizes I'll summarize them. But you can go here to read the prize post.
1) Lovely Dana from Old Red Barn Co. is offering a 30$ gift card to her soap shop!
2) Erin, is offering up a flat rate box of swag from the Sewing Summit! 
3) Kim is offering up a bundle of awesome Heather Ross scraps!
4) Candy from Candied Fabrics is offering up a set of “quilter’s 8ths” of her own hand-dyed cottons. (check out the birthday sale in her shop!)
5) Nadine from The Material Girls Quilts, is giving away a jelly roll of fabric!

Now, for the fine print.
To enter:
1) Link up a new blog post about your mini quilt.  You can have blogged about the quilt before, I just ask you write a new post for our party, linking back to the fun!  Use a link or button in your post. (And by new post I mean written in the last 2 weeks, for you swappers who may have already blogged ~ just edit to add the button and/or link)
2) Leave a comment on this post.  Tell me one thing on your Christmas list.
**I really want a walking foot and a food processor.  :)**

3) If you don't have a quilt to enter, write up a blog post about sew & tell (button on sidebar) or the mini quilt party (also on sidebar) and let me know in the comments.  Leave a link to your blog post.

That's it! I hope you all have had fun getting ready for today!  I have!  Let's get the party started!
Linky will be open until Sunday night.  Winners announced Monday.  :)

I would love it if you put your name/blog name in the linky so we know who you are! :)

{amylouwho} the mini that can be made in a day

Do you want to participate in the mini quilt party tomorrow?  There's a mini you can make today or tomorrow if you have just a little bit of time!  Mug Rugs!! Snack mats, coasters, whatever you want to call them! They're sweet, cute, small and quick!

Here's some inspiration for you!

image courtesy The Joy Cottage via Flickr

image courtesy Frecklemama via Flickr

image courtesy Pin.Sew.Press via Flickr

image courtesy Pin.Sew.Press. via Flickr

image courtesy Gock's Frocks via Flickr

And now I want to go make mug rugs. I should probably clean my house first... or not. See you tomorrow for the PARTY!!!

{amylouwho} mini quilt inspiration

I have always been obsessed with things that are cute when tiny.  You know, things like, baby toes, baby shoes, mini tea sets, little boxes of altoids, mini reese's peanut butter cups, stuff like that.  Tiny quilts are no exception!

Now that I am obssessed with mini quilts I started to remember that my mom has actually been making them for a long time!  She was nice enough to take a few pictures of some of my favorites to share with you.

She made several of these for Christmas gifts one year.  I love an irish chain! I remember begging her to make one for me, but after making about 6 of these, I think her eyes hurt.  These are strip pieced from 1.5 inch strips!

This log cabin is TINY.  1.5" strips. Also strip pieced.

And this one has always been a favorite.  I remember when she made this one (over 10 years ago I think).  I remember thinking she was a bit nuts for cutting out all of those teeny tiny pieces and sewing them together.  THEN I remember being amazed at how perfect it was when she finished.

Each square of fabric in the pieced portion is different! I appreciate the work in this so much more now.

So, do you have a mini ready to share for Friday?


Check out the prizes!  And really, you could make a mug rug before then!  Do it!  It's so fun and a fast rewarding finish!