Signature Baby Room Part 2

Signature Baby Room Part 2

Sometimes my life gets moving so fast, I'm onto the next project like a machine, forgetting to slow down, enjoy, and post about all my accomplishments. My new Signature fabric collection has been such a joy and with each project comes little surprises and great photo ops that I've taken lots of beautiful photos. I thought I'd spend more time with each of these makes and post some additional stories about what I sewed in June for the Art Gallery Fabrics Signature Look Book. I hope you'll enjoy these between the projects posts.

It was so much fun to put together a baby room of Signature fabric projects! Signature is my newest fabric collection for Art Gallery Fabrics and came out this May. Ask your local shop for this line or shop the many online stores that carry it. See my Fabrics page for online stock lists. 

Last week in Part 1, I showed you behind the Look Book projects in a bit more depth and links to the tutorials for the pretty projects. I'll wrap up this week with Part 2 plus a fun stuffed turtle make I stitched up last week as a gift for my granddaughter. 

Possibly to two easiest projects stitched for my Signature Baby Room were the crib sheet and the knit blanket. Find a tutorial for my Ruching Rose pillow HERE.

I wish I'd known how easy it was to make crib sheets when my kids were little! Dana Willard, friend and also an Art Gallery Fabrics designer sister has a fun You Tube video for how to make a fitted crib sheet. AGF fabric is so soft and the perfect designer prints to customize the look for baby's room.

The knit blanket not only is cuddly soft with AGF knits but is another easy make. You wouldn't even have to finish the edges if you didn't want too because knit doesn't fray but to dress it up a bit I added some pre-made bias tape with a crochet edge for a sweet little touch. A nice tutorial for making a knit blanket can be found at Kitchen Table Quilting.

Earlier, in June, I blogged about my free Star Light baby quilt pattern. The inspiration for this quilt came when I was making the Cactus block for the Community Sampler. This shows how you can take a block you love and run with it to make a completely new quilt. Find the free pattern HERE.

Even though my Signature Baby Room was intended as a gender neutral room I still couldn't help seeing it through my granddaughter's eyes. Because she loves butterflies and this fabric collection is about nature and includes butterflies in some of the prints I made several fabric butterflies and used them in various decor projects. Read more about how I created these HERE and learn how to make them. 

There are so many Signature makes I'm obsessed about but maybe the one that brings on the biggest smile is the turtle footstool I wrote about in my Part 1 post. Since this guy is staying at my house for the grandchildren to visit I thought I'd make my granddaughter a turtle of her own. 

I found the cutest free softie pattern on the Make it and Love it blog and of course had to make a version in Signature fabrics!

To add just a little extra to my turtle I stitched some Dritz Make Your Own Chenille to the shell before adding the feet and added a fabric heart outlined with chenille to it's tummy before assembling the body. 

Turtle, as he's called, now has an honorary spot in her bed and she love's her new friend!

Because every turtle needs a home, I painted an old basket up to give it a fresh new look (that coordinates, of course with my fabrics) and made the turtle his own blanket. I had as much fun making this as she's having playing with him!

And, way too much fun photographing this turtle. 

Don't forget to check out the Art Gallery Fabrics Look Books that come out with every new fabric line and all the oodles of free quilting and sewing patterns like the Sunflower quilt I designed for this collection and the AGF Studio Butterfly pillow pattern. 

Have a wonderful summer!

Love,

Sharon

My Signature Sampler Week #2

My Signature Sampler Week #2

I'm so excited by how many of you will be sewing along with me on the My Signature Sampler quilting sew along!

I've been anxious to make a sampler quilt with my new Signature fabric for Art Gallery Fabrics so I came up with an idea for a sampler sew along that will be as fun for me as it is for you! The bright idea is to utilize all the block instructions from the Sewcial Bee Sampler (SBS), Community Sampler (CS), AGF Quilt Block Collection (AGF), and the blocks from the Quilter's Planner magazine (QP) and let you be the designer! 

Using the previously written PDFs from my past sew alongs, the AGF block tutorials, and the beautifully written and illustrated Quilter's Planner block of the month instructions allows me more free time for other sewing and designing matters. Each week I will provide links to the various blocks I put into my sampler and if I've made any variations to the original block instructions I will give you that information in the blog post.

Remember, you can always refer back to the Sewcial Bee Sampler and Community Sampler blog post tutorials the accompanied each past sew along block by using the search bar at the top of this blog. There you will get additional information on how to piece each block or technique. 

If you need extra help with your patchwork or would like to learn how to control the direction of your prints in half-square triangle units and other piecing techniques, visit my Tutorials page for lots of great tutorials all in one place. 

For a listing of online shops that carry my Signature and other AGF collections, visit my Fabrics page.

If you're just joining, let me tell you a bit about this sew along: You can create your own sampler quilt or sew along with me as I make my sampler. I've made a handy-dandy fabric and coloring book page for you if you want to make a quilt with the same blocks as mine. Both the colored (fabric) version and blank version have a block list that contains the block's sources and week order in four columns below the illustration. I've even included fabric information for the materials I'll be sewing with on the colored (fabric) version. Find the coloring pages on the My Signature Sampler Begins post.

For this week's block I've made the Friendship Star from the Sewcial Bee Sampler. Download the instructions from the Sew Along page. To get this block up to a 12-1/2" square I followed the instructions and added a frame around the pieced block in the new AGF Pure Elements Flamingo solid.

SPONSORS

Art Gallery Fabrics | Hobbs Batting | The Quilter's Planner | Quilters Candy Box | Bloc_Loc | Dritz |  Omnigrid | Fat Quarter Shop 

GIVEAWAY

Every Friday when I reveal a new block to My Signature Sampler, I'll also be posting the weekly giveaway. 

This week's giveaway comes from me. I'll be sending a lucky winner a Castle Garden quilt patterns and a signed copy of my book, Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living.

Starting July 1st, 2018 I'll be listing a limited number of hard copy patterns of the Castle Garden quilt to my STORE page. This quilt pattern was written and made by me exclusively for the May Quilter's Candy Box collaboration with Maureen Cracknell's AGF Flower Child fabrics. 

Castle Garden by Sharon Holland

My quilt design couldn't have been anymore perfect for Maureen's magical fabric collection of a world filled with lush meadows, wild bouquets & the spirit of the flower child painted with fuchsia, blush pink & teal. The name for this quilt came to me once I placed the crowned girls in the center of the castles, complete with peach bunting flags!

The second part to this giveaway is a signed copy of my book, Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living. 

Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living by (moi) Sharon Holland (Landauer Publishing 2017) is as much a lifestyle book as it is an 80-page, beginner-friendly guide to patchwork. Find easy-to-follow instructions, beautiful photos, fully illustrated step-by-step essential techniques and information to stitch 12 different quilt projects from beginning to end.

Each project is fast-pieced and encourages creative changes with skill-building design tips throughout. The lovely patterns are a reason for you to dig into your stash to make quilts you love. 

Tracery Rose by Sharon Holland

I had the great please to remake the Tracery quilt from my book in my new Signature fabric collection. It was so much fun and by flipping the lights and darks from the original quilt I've come up with a completely different look and vibe to this vibrant variation. I want to find time to remake all the quilts from my book because--there's so much yet to explore!

Giveaway Now Closed. Congratulations to Marianne!

Note: This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (First comment entry).

2. Follow me on Instagram or Pinterest. Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. My blog followers get a third entry! If you follow via subscribing to my posts, just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-third entry).

4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Spread the word about the My Signature Sampler sew along on YOUR instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest by pinning any of my pretty images in this post, etc... (separate comment-fourth entry). 

That’s FOUR possible entries! Enter now through Monday, July 2nd! The winner will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

*Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram by posting images of your sampler inspiration, sampler fabric pull, blocks, or posting the My Signature Sampler badge (below). Use the official #mysignaturesampler hashtag every time you post about this sew along on IG to better your chances of winning. See my Instagram giveaway post @sharonhollanddesigns for full details. 

P.S. To Maxime Suchoski, I need you to contact me (use the contact from to email me) about being last week's fat quarter bundle winner. Your fabrics are waiting to be shipped!

Behind the Signature Look Book Projects Part 1 - Baby Room

Behind the Signature Look Book Projects Part 1 - Baby Room

There's so much yet to share about my new Signature fabric for Art Gallery Fabrics. It's such a fun collection I want to take extra time and a more intimate look at my projects that went into the AGF Signature Look Book (plus the ones that never got their time to shine on the virtual pages). 

First, the Hexie Turtle, come on, how adorable is this!!!! 

I picked up this homemade footstool at a garage sale. This footstool was really pretty ugly when I first saw it and actually left the garage sale without it only to think about it more and return later to still find it there. Once I thought about making a hexagon patchwork cover for the stool THEN I could see it's value! 

After taking off all the UGLY upholstery and heavy fringe, I spray painted the brown painted wood copper for a little bling. I used Red Pepper Quilts Hexagon Tutorial for how to sew hexagons together and made a large enough patchwork to cover my turtle.

A little bit of vintage fringe in a more appropriate scale for the stool and the results are nothing less than magical!

Another footstool makeover happened to a piece I already had around the house. It too is a vintage, homemade stool I picked up at a yard sale years ago. It's now looking fresh and new with it's Signature Extempore Gala canvas top and vintage pompom fringe.

Cute, huh?!!! For a tutorial on how to make the Hoop Art hanging above the chair, see my Signature Butterflies post.

You may have noticed the fun floor lamp with the Flora and Fauna Hidden fabric lamp shade? Yup, I recovered a vintage lampshade for the most adorable coordinate for this baby room. 

This is my second time recovering this shade and it's even more special this time being finished in my own print. For an idea of how I made a new cover for this shade, visit the Craft Stylish tutorial.

What a great way to customize the look of a room!

This adorable tote bag made in Small World Sprightly print from Signature is a free pattern from Dritz Sewing. My bag is based on one of 20 different ways Dritz has used a basic tote bag and jazzed it up with their incredible assortment of bag hardware and Dritz sewing accessories. 

Discover oodles of amazing projects on the Dritz blog. I'm so honored they have featured my free Bucket Bag pattern on their Make Something Dritz blog: Favorite Finds: Bucket Bag Sewing with Signature Fabrics from Sharon Holland.

I'm so pleased that Dritz and Omnigrid will both be sponsors of the My Signature Sampler sew along!

Instead of using the canvas from my collection I sewed my tote with quilt-weight cotton. To give the bag more body I made two exterior bag shapes per the Dritz tutorial and used one for a lining which I added a big pocket before assembling into a lined bag. I simply slipped the lining, wrong sides together into the exterior, added a ribbon loop with Dritz D-ring to the upper edge and sewed the seam allowance turned-under edges to close. 

The fun coordinating Pencil Pouch is a free pattern on my Free Patterns page. It's the perfect size for supplies and fits into a 3-ring binder with the Extra-Large Eyelets from Dritz Sewing. I love their antique brass finish! For even more fun, add a tassel with the easy-to-use Tassel Cap, also from Dritz. 

There's more Signature Baby's Room to share by I'll save that for next week's Part 2. 

If you're wanting to sew with Signature fabrics ask for them at your local quilt shop or shop online. Hawthorne Threads just restocked their supply and has the full collection plus bundles available. Other favorites like Fat Quarter Shop and Needle in a Fabric Stash also carry the full line. Find these fine shops and more listings on my Fabrics page.

See you Friday when I post my next block in the My Signature Sampler and announce the next great giveaway!

My Signature Sampler Begins

My Signature Sampler Begins

You've nearly finished or better yet, you've finished both your Sewcial Bee Sampler and Community Sampler, now what? During those sew alongs, did you find yourself saying "This is my favorite block, yet!" or "I could make a whole quilt from this block!" Well, now's your chance to explore those blocks further and even try out some new blocks.

I've been anxious to make a sampler quilt with my new Signature fabric for Art Gallery Fabrics so I came up with an idea for a sampler sew along that will be as fun for me as it is for you! The bright idea is to utilize all the block instructions from the Sewcial Bee Sampler (SBS), Community Sampler (CS), AGF Quilt Block Collection (AGF), and the blocks from the Quilter's Planner magazine (QP) and let you be the designer! 

You can create your own sampler quilt or sew along with me as I make my sampler. I've made a handy-dandy fabric and coloring book page for you if you want to make a quilt with the same blocks as mine. Both the colored (fabric) version and blank version have a block list that contains the block's sources and week order in four columns below the illustration. I've even included fabric information for the materials I'll be sewing with on the colored (fabric) version.

Click image to download fabrics page

Since this is not a structured sew along like in the past two events I cannot possibly know everyones fabric requirements as quilt block selection and sizes will vary. The following is a close proximity of material required for a sampler like the one I will be making. I've figured fat quarters for easy reference but this is a generous figure. All blocks are 12-1/2'' unfinished, that includes the frames on some of the blocks.

My Signature Sampler Material List:

• Fourteen assorted fat quarters for blocks
• 1-1/2 yards for center setting triangles
• 1-1/4 yards for outer edge setting triangles
• 1/2 yard for binding
• 4-1/4 yards for backing
• 74'' square batting

Click image to download coloring book page

By having this multitude of blocks available to you at the beginning of the sew along, you're able to work at your own pace. Maybe you want to make all the blocks in one week--that would be amazing! Or, maybe you prefer a one-block-a-week approach and spend more time outdoors with the kids--totally cool!

Whatever your schedule or goal for your quilt design it's up to you--the designer. By me organizing and hosting a sew along for this freeform-style sampler, it keeps you motivated and sharing your progress on Instagram (which keeps you in the running for the weekly IG giveaway prizes!)*

Photo by Sharon Holland

My Signature fabrics are all about the natural world and gardens. I want my quilt to capture the abundance of flowers now blooming in my yard so I can celebrate this same joy all year round and this flat lay photo of cuttings from my yard is my inspiration for my fabric selections.

Sunflower block featuring Signature fabrics from the AGF Quilt Block Collection

This entire sew along concept came after I made my own version of the above Sunflower block from the AGF Quilt Block Collection. If you'd like to add this block to your sampler, use the provided link to watch a You Tube tutorial for how it's pieced as well as detailed cutting instructions on the drop down More feature in the text. 

Block #1 - My Signature Sampler

Using the previously written PDFs for past samplers, AGF block tutorials, and the beautifully written and illustrated Quilter's Planner block of the month instructions that frees me up from writing and let's me have more fun this time around. Each week I will provide links to the various blocks I put into my sampler and if I've made any variations to the original block instructions I will give you that information in the blog post.

Remember, you can always refer back to the Sewcial Bee Sampler and Community Sampler blog post tutorials the accompanied each past sew along block by using the search bar at the top of this blog. There you will get additional information on how to piece each block or technique. 

If you need extra help with your patchwork or would like to learn how to control the direction of your prints in half-square triangle units and other piecing techniques, visit my Tutorials page for lots of great tutorials all in one place. 

For a listing of online shops that carry my Signature collection, visit my Fabrics page.

Sponsors

Due to putting this sew along together so quickly, I'm still waiting to hear back from some sponsors. Expect this already impressive list of generous sponsors to fill out over the next couple of weeks.

Art Gallery Fabrics | Hobbs Batting | The Quilter's Planner | Quilters Candy Box | Bloc_Loc |

Giveaway

Every Friday when I reveal a new block to My Signature Sampler, I'll also be posting the weekly giveaway. 

To get you sewing on the right foot and entice you to sew your sampler with Signature fabrics (wink, wink) I'm giving away a 20-piece fat quarter bundle of my Signature fabrics for Art Gallery Fabric plus an additional fat quarter of Perennial Printemps (not shown in image above) for a total of 21 fat quarters!

This lucsious Signature collection comes in two color ways. On the left is the Foliar color way of coral, yellow, and forest greens. The stack on the right is called the Atmospheric color way and is cooler tones of turquoise, teal, fuchsia, and pink.

I've mixed a bit from both color ways into my sampler and added the recolored Printemps Fusions version of my Bountiful Perennial print (shown above on the bolt) to bring in more yellow to go with the Signature Lacey Cosmos print (top right).  

This Giveaway is now CLOSED. Congratulations to Maxime Suchoski!

Note: This giveaway is open to EVERYONE! If you're a "no reply" or anonymous commenter, please remember to include your email address in your comment--you can't win if I can't get a hold of you!

1. Simply leave a comment here under this post! (First comment entry).

2. Follow me on Instagram or Pinterest. Just let me know that you did by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-second entry). 

3. My blog followers get a third entry! If you follow via subscribing to my posts, just let me know by making a separate comment here to record that entry. (Separate comment-third entry).

4. Help spread the word!! I know that many of you already do, so I thought it would be nice to add that as another way to enter! Spread the word about the My Signature Sampler sew along on YOUR instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blog post, etc... (separate comment-fourth entry). 

That’s FOUR possible entries! Enter now through Monday, June 25th! The winner will be picked at random around 4pm Eastern. I will post the name of the winner on this post once they've been notified and responded to my email.

*Don't forget to enter into this same giveaway on Instagram by posting images of your sampler inspiration, sampler fabric pull, blocks, or posting the My Signature Sampler badge (below). Use the official #mysignaturesampler hashtag every time you post about this sew along on IG to better your chances of winning. See my Instagram giveaway post @sharonhollanddesigns for full details. 

Thanks for sewing along with me!

xxxx Sharon