Check Out These New Publications

Being a quilt designer is like riding a roller coaster most of the time.  All of sudden, I could have 3 or 4 or even 5 quilts that need done ASAP........then I'll hit a nothing spot for a while.  This cycle just keeps repeating over and over.  Like I said, it's like riding a roller coaster.

Anyway, in the last month or so, I've received 5 new magazines featuring my projects.  What fun!  Let me show them to you.  Most if not all of them should be available by now.  Of course, I actually made the projects months and months ago, but that's how it is in the quilt magazine world.

 

 Check out my Jelly Roll friendly throw quilt, Blue Hawaii, in this issue of Quilting Quickly!

 

You're going to love my quilt In the Spotlight in this magazines -- it features awesome fabric from the Hello Jane collection.

 

 

First time in Country Sampler -- my mom's favorite magazine!  YAY!  Check out the DIY section in the back for my Christmas ornament.

 I have several Christmas goodies featured in this one -- ornaments and even a yo yo garland.

See the cute place mat top left on the cover?  That's my design.  Woohoo!

Hope you'll be on the lookout for these publications -- they are sure to inspire you.

National Sewing Month, Precuts, a new FREE Pattern, and a GIVEAWAY

As part of National Sewing Month this month, C&T authors are writing blog entries, doing tutorials, and offering free patterns!  YAY!  To see what other authors are up to on C&T's blog, click HERE.

Today, September 20th, is my day.  So you can hop on over to C&T and read my blog post about My Obsession with Precuts.

There are a lot of reasons to love precuts, aren't there?

Here are some of mine:

12)  Less waste than yardage. 
11)  Precuts are smaller than fabric bolts -- you can store more precuts in a smaller space.
10)  They are just like candy, but better -- no calories!
9)  Whether you actually use them or just decorate with them, they're pretty.
8)  There are sew many different types of precuts available -- there's a precut for every person and every project.
7)  When you're traveling, they pack well in suitcases and carry on bags (fat quarters roll up nicely in shoes).
6)  I've never met a precut that I didn't like.
5)  Books, patterns, rulers, and other tools.  OH MY! (Have you checked out my book, I Love Precut Quilts! yet?)
4)  Precuts make it easy to make controlled "scrappy" quilts.
3)  I can have a piece of fabric from each bolt in an entire collection and it doesn't break the bank.
2)  Precuts can be cut into other precuts (for example -- you can get four 2 1/2" squares from a 5" charm square or four 5" squares from a 10" Layer Cake square).
1)  Precuts are sew addicting!!!!!

I am happy to offer you a new FREE PATTERN in honor of National Sewing Month!  It's called Around Town and it is another companion quilt project from my book, I Love Precut Quilts!  On my Tutorials and Freebies website page, you will also find a couple tutorials and 2 other free companion projects for my book.

 Around Town

 NOW FOR THE NATIONAL SEWING MONTH GIVEAWAY

I will be giving away a copy of my latest book, I Love Precut Quilts!, to one lucky winner -- maybe it will be you!

Here's how it works:

You have up to 3 chances to win.

1.  Leave a comment and tell me why you love precuts.

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 Wednesday, September 20th through Sunday, September 24th to participate.

 The winner will be selected randomly on Monday, September 25th.

You never know........I might be inspired to add more prizes along the way if I get lots of encouragement.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS 

SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN!

 

Bye Bye Gallbladder!

First, I must apologize for being AWOL for so long from my blog. 

I do have a good reason, though.  Through July and August I had some ongoing health issues which was finally diagnosed as a bad gallbladder.  UGH! 

Finally on August 29th, I had my gallbladder out.

So, now I'm gallbladder free.  I wonder if there's a special club for people sans gallbladder?  We could get matching t shirts or something, right?

I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that an organ that has been with me since the womb is now gone.  It's a weird feeling.

 I'm now three weeks post op, but still dealing with one or two minor complications. I'm thinking of making a quilt to honor my gallbladder.  What are your thoughts on this?

I'm hopeful in another week or two to finally be over all of it so I can get back to my life again.

MY FAVORITE NEW PARTY GAME

Do you like to play games?  I do.  When I was growing up, my family had game nights and we'd play games like Operation, Don't Break the Ice, Payday, The Game of Life, Trivial Pursuit, Clue, Uno, and a bunch of other games that I've forgotten the names of.

As I got older, I discovered Scattergories, Triominoes, Outburst, and later Apples to Apples.

Now I have a NEW FAVORITE GAME!

 

Bring your Own Book!

 

Have you tried this game yet????

Here is the game description from Amazon:  "Your old favorite book is now your new favorite game! Draw a category card, grab a book, and then quickly skim to satisfy the chosen prompt (and the judge!) with the most entertaining phrase. Can you find "a ridiculous tabloid headline" in that best-selling novel? How about "dating advice" in your well-worn cookbook? Since you can use any book, you can play with any group and find limitless potential on every page! Where will you discover "the title of the next hit party game?" Find out when you Bring Your Own Book!."

I first heard about this book in a Facebook post by a quilter friend of mine.  I thought it sounded like fun so I ordered one.  Then I took the game to the library where I work.  OH MY!  What a crazy time we had and we just grabbed a random book off the shelf, mind you.  In fact, several times when I've played at the library, people have ended up checking the book out that they were playing with -- definitely a boon for libraries!  I have played this game with teenagers in my teen summer reading group and they LOVE it.  I have played this game with my book club and they LOVED it.  

So, you're probably wondering what this has to do with quilting, aren't you?

Well, I even played this game with my Saturday Quilt Group using quilt books off the rack in the quilt shop where we meet AND IT WORKED!  Who knew that quilting books could be so racy when the words and phrases were taken out of context.  LOL!!!!  You've got to try this with your quilt books!

You can use just about any book that words.  I have even tried a local phone book, although children's picture books don't work quite as well and the nonfiction book about some clinical medical topic didn't work out very well either. 

So, if you're looking for something fun to do with a group of people this summer or anytime, get this game.  You won't regret it and you'll end up as the best host ever.

Bring Your Own Book on Amazon

P.S.  Today my teen group decided we were having a BYOB game rematch next Saturday!!!

It's SUMMERTIME! Tutorials and FREE Quilt Patterns Just for You

Summer Greetings to One and All!

Time has just been flying by and suddenly it's July.  How did that happen?  It's been so crazy around here since I returned from Quilt Market in St. Louis back in May.  I haven't even had much time to quilt or work on any new projects -- it's just been a challenge to get through each day, mostly.

I do have a lovely little surprise or two for everyone, though --

Tutorials for blocks featured in my quilt book, I Love Precut Quilts! as well as free patterns for you to try out the blocks.  F -U -N! 

Who isn't looking for a fun little project to play with during those busy summer months?

You can find the tutorials and free patterns on my website.  Here's the link:

Tutorials and Free Patterns

I hope you enjoy the blocks -- Half and Half Block and Turned Snowball Block and the small quilt projects that go along with the tutorials -- Checkmate and Moonlight.

 Checkmate

 Moonlight

If you make the projects, email  me a photo of your finished piece -- I'd love to show them off on my blog.

Here's hoping that we all find a little time this summer for quilting and sewing!

Spring Market -- Day Number 4 -- what I saw and what I did

Saturday is here!  Hooray!  This afternoon is my book signing at the C&T Booth so that gave me the morning to explore once again.  This time, I decided to take special note of the things that I saw.  I also wanted to take pictures of the things that inspired me.

Here are the things that I noticed:

1)  Bags are back -- totes, purses, and more.
2)  Kids' stuff is still strong -- clothing, toys, etc.
3)  Home Dec is here -- lots and lots of pillows.
4)  Mini quilts -- sometimes just a single quilt block finished as a mini wall quilt.
5)  Taupe is coming back (darn....I've really loved grey as a neutral and accent)
6)  Rainbow everyting is hot, hot, hot
7)  Although modern and contemporary are in, traditional and folk art are still strong in the market.
8)  Apparel is where it's at -- dresses, tops, scarves, accessories...
9) Foxes and woodland creatures are still hot and everyone's wild for llamas.

Well, that sums up what I saw trending at Market.

Here are some of the inspirational  photos I took on the show floor:

My book signing was scheduled for 1:30 PM in the C&T Booth.  Here I am, happily signing away!

Saturday night, I tried toasted raviolis -- a St. Louis speciality!  YUM YUM YUMMY!

On Sunday, it was time to say good bye to St. Louis and Spring Quilt Market as I headed to the airport to fly back to good ol' Pennsylvania.

Of course, my flight was delayed for 4 hours, but I did finally get home.

Now it's time to put all of these new inspirations and ideas to work!  Stay tuned......

Spring Market Friday -- Day 3

After surviving my Schoolhouse presentation yesterday, I was sew sew ready to take on the world today!  Or at least the Quilt Market show floor.

Here are a couple photos of the floor.  You'll have to use your imagination to see how big it really was.  Close your eyes and picture this gigantic room, bigger than a football field.  Can you see the aisles numbered from 200 (row 1) all the way to 3200 (row 32)? Okay, now try to imagine over 900 vendors all under the same roof!

THAT'S QUILT MARKET!

I did not have anything planned for Friday so it was a good day to just walk and look around.  Of course, I checked in with my publisher, C&T, and was delighted to see my book quilt, Breeze -- the blue and white quilt on the left, on display in the booth.  Yay!

I stopped to visit with other friends I've made along the way and somehow, I actually made it through the entire show floor!  Boy, were my feet killing me later.  LOL!


Friday night was the much-anticipated Moda Party and I was lucky enough to get to go the the event.  It was a lot of fun with food, friends, and even some dancing.  I was in for the dancing when they played "Cha Cha Slide" -- really, I know all the moves for this song.  (wink, wink...)