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.

 

 

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.