I LOVE PRECUT QUILTS! BLOG HOP FINALE AND GIVEAWAY

WOW!  This has been such a fun week.  I'm sew very thankful that I've had this wonderful opportunity to share my new book with you.  Thanks for coming along! :)

Of course, I couldn't have done it without my awesome bloggers!  I want to send out a GREAT BIG THANK YOU HUG to  Bea of Beaquilter, Mark of Mark Lipinski's Blog, Julie of The Crafty Quilter, Sandy of  Upstairs Hobby Room, Camelot Fabrics, Generation Q Magazine, Joy of Am I Shouting Yet?, Cheryl of Cheryl's Tea Pots 2 Quilting, Bernie of Needle and Foot, and my publisher C&T.  Yay!   I really appreciate each of you taking the time to participate in my blog hop.

I'm a little sad that it's time to wrap up my blog hop, but what a fun time it's been -- 

kind of like a week long book party!  

 

PSST!  Don't forget to read all the way to the bottom for a GREAT GIVEAWAY!

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Since this is the last stop, 

let me tell you why I love my book,

 I Love Precut Quilts! 

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FABRIC! 

Whoever invented precuts was absolutely brilliant!

Fat quarters were my first introduction to precuts.  I loved my fat quarters so much that I infected both my nieces when they were quite young -- I can still remember taking my oldest niece, Meghan to the quilt shop and encouraging her to pick out  fat quarters from the sale suitcase. (Meg, I still can't believe that you picked out that hideous pink and blue big polka dot fabric -- what were you thinking? I guess as a 2 year old, you probably didn't have a sophisticated fabric sense yet....)  I guess if I had to have the fabric bug, then I wanted everyone else around me to have it too.

Then I discovered 5'' charm squares..........be still my beating heart. Now I could buy an ENTIRE fabric collection for a small amount of money.  Charm squares were an easy transition for me into all sorts of different precuts. It wasn't long before I started cutting my leftover fabrics into 5'' squares, 2 1/2'' strips, 10'' squares, 2 1/2'' squares -- you get the picture.

Now that I had this terrible precut addiction, what was I going to do????  Too much fabric and not enough time.

VOILA!  Time to write a new quilt book with projects featuring all my favorite precuts.  The funny thing is, I didn't originally start out to write a precut book, but strange and wonderful things can happen when you least expect them.

FAST AND FUN PROJECTS = DONE PROJECTS

  I am a quilter with a short attention span.  I like fun projects that I can get finished fast so that I can move on to a new project.  Precuts have really helped me with this whole concept.  But it's more than just precuts -- the projects have to be designed to go together fast too.  When you add precuts to fast projects then you can make more quilts in less time.  Who doesn't want that?????

Here's one of my favorite SUPER FAST projects from my book:

It's called "Big Bow Ties" and you can literally make this bed-sized quilt top in a matter of hours with matching layer cakes and charm squares,  a collection of fat quarters, or even your stash.  The blocks are HUGE and there's only 16 of them to make.  

Add a couple borders and you end up with an 88'' x 88'' square quilt.  WOW!

Here are a couple more QUICK QUILTS from my book:

It's called "Around and Round" and you don't even have to cut up your charm squares!  

Choose a coordinating fabric and get sewing -- you'll have this cute throw done before you know it!

 This one is called "Breeze" and boy is it a breeze to put together.  It's big enough for a

 twin-sized bed, but you could easily add more rows to make it larger.  Or subtract rows to 

make a baby quilt or a throw.  Whatever size you make it, the hardest part of this quilt is deciding where to place the blocks!

MORE OPTIONS

Be honest.  Who doesn't want more????  I love that we had room in my book to add a lot of USEFUL EXTRAS.  Like "Tricia's Crayon Box" where I show you two additional colorways for a quilt.  Or how about TIPS scattered throughout the book to help you get the most out of your quilting?  There are alternate sizes for the quilt "Bounce" and a discussion about color theory for "Spritely."  I even threw in an extra project for a coordinating throw pillow. 

   

Here are two quilt variations that I put together to demonstrate that I Love Precut Quilts! isn't just a project book -- it's a springboard to more ideas and inspirations --YOURS!

This striking wall quilt is adapted from the "Divide and Conquer" bed runner.
Red, white, black, and grey is one of my favorite color combinations.

This cute little table topper is adapted from the wall quilt/children's quilt, "Bounce." 
Don't you love the batiks on solid black?

It never fails to amaze me how changing fabrics and adding/subtracting blocks can give
you an entirely new project. 

What project will you make first???

 

Now that you're as excited about my book as I am --

  

THE FINAL GIVEAWAY:

 

You've all been very patient, reading through my entire blog, 

so I promise that it'll be worth it!

I will be giving away the following:

1.  A copy of  I Love Precut Quilts!   (International winners please note that you will receive an ebook version)

2.  A pastel collection of hand-dyed fat quarters. 

3.  A bright collection of hand-dyed fat quarters.

4. A set of 42 hand-dyed 5'' charm squares.

Here's how it works:

You have up to 3 chances to win the prizes listed above.

1.  Leave a comment and tell me the craziest thing that ever happened to you while quilting.

2.  Become a blog follower and leave a comment telling me you that you're a blog follower.

3. Follow me on Instagram @tricia.maloney and leave a comment telling me you're an Instagram follower.

Ready!  Set!  GO!

You have from Friday, February 3rd through Saturday, February 4th to participate. 

 Winners will be selected randomly on Sunday, February 5th.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!

If you are not selected as a winner, don't be sad -- 

you can still get your own copy of my book  :)

1.  Ask your local quilt shop owner to carry my book.

2.  Order your very own signed copy on my website:  www.orphanquilter.com

3.  Visit C&T Publishing, Amazon, or your favorite online retailer.

  

Thanks for coming along on my Blog Hop!  It's been fun. 

 Let's do it again sometime.

 

 

I LOVE PRECUT QUILTS! BLOG HOP KICK OFF

Greetings!  

My name is Tricia Maloney and I'm the author of the new C&T book, I Love Precut Quilts!  I'm here today to invite you to come along with me on a super fun quilt blog hop to celebrate my new book from January 30th - February 3rd.

WHAT'S A BLOG HOP?

A blog hop is a group of bloggers who are all writing about the same topic -- in this case, my new book.  Each blogger is assigned a day during the hop and decides what he/she will write about. For example, some bloggers might decide to create projects from my book to share with you, while others might do a book review, or even an author interview.  Blog hops generally run for a specific number of days and often include fun giveaways.  This blog hop runs from January 30th - February 3rd and you will be able to register at each blogger's blog to win a copy of I Love Precut Quilts! (international winners will receive an ebook copy of the book).

HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?

Below, you will find the I Love Precut Quilts! blog hop schedule along with links to all of the bloggers who are involved with the hop.

All you have to do is click the links each day to go to the featured bloggers. Once there, read the blogger's post and follow the instructions to register for the giveaway.  It's that simple to get in on the fun!

BLOG HOP SCHEDULE

Monday, January 30th

            C&T Publishing

            Quilt With a View 

Tuesday, January 31st

             Mark Lipinski's Blog 

             The Crafty Quilter

             Beaquilter  

Wednesday, February 1st

                Upstairs Hobby Room 

                Camelot Fabrics 

                Cheryl'sTeapots2Quilting  

Thursday, February 2nd

                Am I Shouting Yet? 

                Needle and Foot  

                Generation Q Magazine   

Friday, February 3rd

                Quilt With a View

NOW THAT YOU KNOW HOW THE BLOG HOP WORKS, LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY BOOK

I Love Precut Quilts! is a fresh collection of 16+ beginner-friendly and intermediate quilts ranging from table runners and place mats all the way up to big bed quilts.  ALL of the projects feature precut fabric bundles -- fat quarters, charm squares, jelly rolls, layer cakes, and even half yards which makes fabric selection a snap!  You can even use your stash or scrap collection because each quilt project includes a detailed shopping list with the number of squares or strips needed to make the quilt.

Here are a few of the projects featured in the book:

I'll share more about I Love Precut Quilts!  on Friday, February 3rd on my blog, Quilt With a View.

Until then, please use the links in the blog hop schedule, above, to participate in the I Love Precut Quilts! blog hop.  Good Luck -- hope you win!

NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY

Today you can win a copy of my new book,  I Love Precut Quilts!
Stop back here on Friday, February 3rd for more prizes.

  

Here's how it works:

You have up to 3 chances to win.

1.  Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite precut is.  

2.  Become a blog follower and leave a comment telling me you that you're a blog follower.

3. Follow me on Instagram @tricia.maloney and leave a comment telling me you're an Instagram follower.

Ready!  Set!  GO!

You have from Monday, January 30th until Saturday, February 4th to participate. 

 Winners will be selected randomly on Sunday, February 5th.
Please note that international winners will receive an ebook version of my book.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!

Let the Blog Hop Begin!

Be here on Monday, January 30th to join in the fun for my book blog hop!  

Hope to see you here!!!!

QUILT BLOG HOP JANUARY 30TH - FEB 3RD

 Are you ready for a BLOG HOP?  

I'm hosting a Blog Hop for my new quilt book, 

I Love Precut Quilts!

 January 30th - February 3rd

Here's How it Works:

 

Each day during the week of January 30th through February 3rd, there will be bloggers blogging about my new book.  They might be showing you a project they made, reviewing the book, hosting an author interview, or whatever else the bloggers can dream up!  

Mark your calendars!  

Join us for some fun and great giveaways!!!!!

Stop back soon for the Blog Hop schedule.

 

Planning a Quilt Blog Hop

Right now I'm getting a Blog Hop put together for my new book, I Love Precut Quilts!  This is the first time I've ever organized a blog hop so I thought I'd write about my process in case anyone else might be interested in doing one at some point too.  Psst!  If you do a blog hop, sned me an email -- I might like to join yours.  :)

I do have a couple slots open if anyone is interested in joining my hop.....Email me at:  littlequilts@windstream.net.

STEP 1

The first thing that you need to do is figure out what your blog hop will be about.  Mine, of course, is going to be about promoting my new book.

STEP 2

Now you need to decide when your blog hop will happen.  At least give yourself 3 or 4 weeks to get everything organized or else you're going to feel overwhelmed.

STEP 3

Decide how many people you want to participate.  For example, if your blog hop will be five days long you will want to have at least 5 bloggers (yourself included), but you could feature more than one blogger per day if you wish, it just takes a little extra planning.

STEP 4

Invite bloggers to participate.  Start with your friends and acquaintances and branch out from there.  If you can pull in some "famous" bloggers then that will only help your blog hop to be more successful.

STEP 5

Double check your bloggers and your schedule so that you have the correct number of bloggers for the number of days that you planned.  Make any last minute adjustments if needed.  Make sure that you send out information to your bloggers so that they know what's going on and what you'd like them to do.

STEP 6

If you're going to do giveaways, how will that work?  Make sure everyone's on the same page here.

STEP 7

 Now it's time to Blog Hop!  Since you're super organized and everyone is ready, this will be a breeze, right?????

STEP 8

After the Hop, make sure all giveaways have been done as stated.  THANK your bloggers and hoppers for participating.

 

And the Winners Are.......

Well, folks, the winners have been notified, and all six of the prizes have been claimed and shipped.

I want to thank everyone for joining us on the Blog Tour.  It was tons of fun, wasn't it?  Although I was on the Blog Tour, I really enjoyed reading the designer blogs every day too.  What a lot of talented people there are!

Our Quilt With a View lucky winners were from all over the United States:

Marie from Texas

Vivian from North Carolina

Wanda from Iowa

Sue from Ohio

Brenda from Wisconsin

Nicole from Washinton


I have submitted blocks to volumes 15 and 16, so keep your fingers crossed that my blocks will be selected and we'll get to Blog Hop again in the spring.

In the meantime, keep on quiltin'!

WINNERS

AND WE HAVE WINNERS! 

6 OF THEM, ACTUALLY.

I DID ADD A COUPLE OF MORE PRIZES SINCE I HAD SUCH AN AMAZING RESPONSE!

THANKS EVERYONE WHO RESPONDED, IT WAS SEW FUN!

I WILL POST THE WINNERS AS SOON AS THEY'VE RESPONDED WITH THEIR SHIPPING ADDRESSES AND THEIR PRIZES ARE ON THE WAY.

Quiltmaker's 100 Quilt Block Volume 14 BLOG TOUR

Hello and Welcome to my Blog!

YAY!  I'm sew excited to be participating in the Volume 14 Blog Tour -- it's like a quilt party with all my friends -- both old AND new.

My block is called SLIDER and is #1383 in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 14.

A lot of people ask me how I come up with my designs.  Let me tell you that it definitely isn't rocket science.  LOL!  I like to start with something familiar like a favorite block, an inspiration piece of fabric, or maybe even an idea.  Then I usually sit down in front of my computer to use my Electric Quilt 7 software.  Do you EQ?  If not, then I really suggest that you try it out because it can take your quilting and designing to new levels. 

When I started playing around with ideas for the 100 Block project, I first decided that I wanted to use red, black, grey, and white fabrics in the block.  That made me determine that my block had to have enough pieces so that I could use 4 fabrics.

 

This was my first block attempt.  Ugh.  Pretty ugly, isn't it? 

 I was trying out some asymmetrical qualities here.

Oh well.  Back to the drawing board.

This was my second try.  Hmm.  Much better, I think.  But too busy.
Maybe I should reduce the number of pieces in the block.

This thinking led me to the actual Slider block that I submitted.

Voila!  There you have it!  A peek inside my design process.

Now let's play with the Slider block a little bit.

 Five blocks and a border makes a fun table runner, doesn't it?

Maybe we should add some printed fabrics instead of just solids?

Here it is in Moda's For You fabrics.

 

 

Now let's try it in Riley Blake's new Crayola fabrics.  Fun and cute!

Here we have fabric from Benartex's Kitchen Love line.  Yum yum yummy!

That was fun, wasn't it? 

Auditioning blocks, layouts, and fabrics is all part of the quilt design process. 

 Thanks for coming along for the ride.

BUT WAIT....................DON'T GO.....................THERE'S STILL MORE!  

KEEP READING......YOU'LL GET TO THE GIVEAWAYS SOON, I PROMISE!!!

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LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY NEW BOOK --

IT'S LITERALLY JUST HOT OFF THE PRESS!!!

I'm really really hyped about my third and newest quilt book. 

 I mean, who doesn't love precuts, right?

If you're anything like me, you buy them but never seem to use them.  Yes, I am guilty of precut hoarding and I keep adding more to my sagging shelves.
What about you?

That's where my new book, I Love Precut Quilts! , comes in.  My book has 16 go-to projects ranging from place mats and table runners to wall quilts, throws, and YES! even big bed quilts.

The projects are easy enough for beginners but interesting enough for more advanced quilters, too.   It  has a fun fresh contemporary feel that is light and airy and all of the projects feature traditionally-pieced blocks.  

Time to get your own copy, isn't it?????

Sew.....where can you find my new book?  

Well, read to the bottom to the Giveaway section and you just might win
your very own SIGNED copy.  

You can also find my book (ebooks are also available!) at these locations online:

C&T Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Noble 

AND it's coming to your local quilt shop soon 

(Psst!  Don't forget to ask your favorite quilt shop owner to order it). 

I will also have copies available soon on my website:

orphanquilter.com

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NOW FOR THE GIVEAWAY

 You've all been very patient, reading through my entire blog, so I promise that it'll be worth it!

I will be giving away the following:

1.  A copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 14

2.  A copy of my new book, I Love Precut Quilts! (Yippee!)

3.  A  Riley Blake Crayola 2 1/2'' strip roll

4.  A Mystery Prize donated by my local quilt shop owner, Gail, who owns Homespun Treasures.

Who knows?

 I might just add some more prizes along the way if I get
lots and lots of encouragement.

(Wink!  Wink!)

Here's how it works:

You have up to 3 chances to win the prizes listed above.

1.  Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite precut is.  

2.  Become a blog follower and leave a comment telling me you that you're a blog follower.

3. Follow me on Instagram @tricia.maloney and leave a comment telling me you're an Instagram follower.

Ready!  Set!  GO!

You have from Tuesday, November 15th until Saturday, November 19th to participate. 

 Winners will be selected randomly on Saturday, November 19th.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!

 

Some of My Favorite Things Part 2

Okay, here are some more of my favorite finds at Quilt Market (in no particular order):

Camelot Fabrics

I made four quilt samples featuring fabrics from some of their new collections.  It was sew fun to see my quilts displayed so beautifully at their booth!  Here are three of them.

 Cloud 9 Fabrics

I stopped by Cloud 9 to see the quilts my friend, Linda, made to showcase their new fabrics.  Here are a few of Linda's awesome quilts!  Some of them she designs and makes and others she only makes the tops.

 Riley Blake Fabrics

What can I say?  I just love Riley Blake fabrics.  Their vibe is sew sew me.

Angela Walters and Christa Watson

I had the opportunity to see both Angela and Christa in action -- what fun!  I loved how they played off of each other -- Angela on the long arm and Christa on the sit down machine.  Their book will be a great resource for my own free motion quilting.   Methinks also great find for quilt shops -- perfect for FMQ classes!

 

 

 

Little House of Quilts

When I was a child, I wanted to be Laura Ingalls.  Here's a sweet sweet book just right for all of your "prairie" fabrics!  Would be a great book for a quilt shop to feature all of those dainty calicoes that people love but don't know what to do with.

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I hope you're ready for.................

Because it starts today!!!!!

Stop by my blog tomorrow (November 15th) and you just might win some cool prizes!

Some of My Favorite Things Part 1

While at Quilt Market, I had the opportunity to check out all of the latest and greatest.

Here are some of my favorite finds (in no particular order):

 I Love Precut Quilts!

By Moi!   What can I say?  Of course, this would make my list of favorite Quilt Market finds!  There were lots and lots of precuts out and about at Market too, which would compliment my book beautifully.  You know, I even saw circle-shaped precuts.  Hmm.....new precut, new quilts.........

  Addicted to Scraps

By fellow C&T author, Bonnie Hunter. If you've never checked out Bonnie's scrappy style, you definietly should!  Her books and patterns are guarateed to empty your scrap stash!!!

   

Iris Ultra Quilting Thread

I know I've talked about this thread before, but you really should try it out.  They've just added more than 20 new colors AND added a giant 2500 yard spool called King!  I'm really glad we're finally making headway finding the spool of thread that never runs out!

 The Make Series by C&T 

This is a fantastik series of books!  Each book has a nice mix of projects great for beginners but also fun for more advanced quilters, too.  The price is very modest too.  Terrific books for quilt shops -- low price, great projects, and would make super projects for classes.

Retro Clean

Have you tried this product yet?  I have and it's awesome!  I have this ginormaous collection of antique and vontage quilt blocks, fabrics, quilt tops, and quilts.  Retro Clean worked really well for cleaning this fragile stuff.

Rose Cards

I have loved the Rose Cards since I first discovered them in 2010.  Each year, Villa Rosa introduces a new card collection to add to the existing cards.  This  ensures that the designs and even the fabrics used in the samples are up-to-date and fresh.

Stay tuned for more favorite finds in my next blog entry.
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DON'T FORGET...............................