Yours, mine, and ours

I love seeing your versions of my designs!

Donna Reed from San Tan Valley, AZ  sent me a picture of the quilt she made from my Welcome Home book published by Kansas City Star.  She says, "I've wanted for so long to make a saltbox house quilt, now it's hanging up at my house !  Yea.  Thank you so much for the designs, loved the houses.  I did change it somewhat, hope you don't mind." 

 No, Donna, I don't mind at all if you change the pattern.  

That way, it becomes your own.

And it looks gorgeous!

Lu Ann Leonard wrote, "I love your book, At Home with Country Quilts (published by Martingale) and decided to use one of the patterns to make a wedding quilt for my niece and her new husband.
I chose to make "Starry Nights in Winter", but made it one row longer. Instead of doing appliqué the whole way around the quilt, I chose the appliqué for "Scrappy Squares". This also worked well, because it had hearts in the design. Anyway, they loved the  quilt and I thought that I would enclose a few pictures (I apologize for the poor lighting). Oh, and I hand quilted it! Yikes! Finished 2 days before the wedding :)"
 

 I love how Lu Ann combined two of my patterns into one quilt.

Didn't it turn out great?

What a labour of love and a wonderful gift to the newlyweds!

Keep those pictures coming!

They inspire me to keep doing what I do.

Thank you all!

Odds and Ends

Lately I've felt like I'm in a bit of a slump.

Maybe it's the time of the year, I don't know,

but inspiration for new projects isn't striking.

What to do?

Well, I guess I could clean up some of my odds and ends

left over from other projects.

So I found some sample blocks I'd made for my first book for Martingale.

This one was from "Prairie Stars".

I made the sample block into a little pillow.

I took my sample block from "Tulip Time",

added some wool applique and embroidery 

and made a little table topper.

 This block was from the cover quilt.

I added some handquilting and binding and made a...
could be a pot holder or a candle mat.


 I had a bunch of strip sets from
(no idea where).
Made them into a double nine-patch block, stitched and bound it.



This was my finished version of "Autumn Equinox". 

My first try at the patchwork center didn't turn out quite like I hoped but
I couldn't bear to throw it away.
So I added a different border and machine quilted it. 

I think I'll keep this one for now. 

The other odds and ends will go to "Creekside Home Decor",

a local shop where I sell things on consignment.

Still waiting for inspiration

but now I've got a bit more space to work in when it (eventually) strikes!



Blog Tour and Book Giveaway Week 5

Welcome back to Week #5, the halfway mark of my blog tour, and congratulations to Mary from Florida for winning the giveaway for Week #4! 

 This week we're back in my home province of BC and are visiting my friend Wendy in New Westminster.

I met Wendy several years ago when she visited my open house and you can meet this amazing quilter on her blog, "Snippets of a Quilter".  She makes beautiful quilts and always has something inspiring on the go!

I was so happy that she found time in her busy schedule to blog about my book.

So if you're a follower of "Country Quilts", pop on over to Wendy's blog, leave a comment, and you'll be in the draw to win a copy of At Home with Country Quilts later this week.

Good luck and check back next weekend for the next location on the tour!

Blog Tour and Book Giveaway - Week 3

Whew, I think summer's finally arrived here in the Pacific Northwest!  Today it's a balmy 32 C or about 90 F.  On days like these, when I was younger I'd slather myself up with baby oil and do nothing but lie in the sun for hours.  My backyard bikini days are long gone (for which I'm sure my neighbours are all profoundly grateful) and these days I'm quite content to stay inside where it's relatively cool and keep working at my projects.

Okay, first things, first!  Congratulations to Chris from Alabama, who won the book giveaway on Week 1 and to Pauline from Texas who won last week!  Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to comment.  And now on to Week 3!

Today we're heading back across the continent to my home town of Abbotsford, BC.

It was several years ago and I was at my local quilt shop when I overheard someone ask the clerk, "Do you have any Cheryl Wall patterns?"  I turned around and said, "Do you mean me?"  I'd never met Kimberly before and she didn't know me either but she'd already made several of my patterns and was wanting to make more.

If you haven't yet been to Kimberly's blog, "My Brown Bag Studio", you're in for a treat.  She's an amazing quilter, crafter, and mom.  She sells her creations on Etsy and every year she hosts a wonderful Christmas Open House with her sister.  We've also rented booths at the same local craft shows.  Isn't it great how quilting introduces us to people we'd likely never meet, from across the world and sometimes from just across town?

Anyway, if you're one of my followers, hop over to Kimberly's blog and leave a comment there to have a chance to win a copy of my book.  She's set up the giveaway so that you can have up to 3 chances to win!

If you've left comments on the two previous posts, don't feel you have to come up with something new to say each time, unless you want to!  You can repeat yourself if that's easier.  This blog tour will run for several more weeks so just keep checking back for the next location and leave another comment and hopefully one of these times, it will be your turn to win.

Good luck!

Book Blog Tour and Giveaway-Week One

Welcome to the first stop on my first ever Book Blog Tour!  I'm so excited to have you join me for this fun event!  Each week you'll meet some of my wonderful friends who'll talk a little bit about my latest book, At Home with Country Quilts.

 And each week you'll have a chance to win a copy!  You just need to be a follower of my blog and make a comment on the guest host's blog during the week for a chance to win.  At the end of the week the winner's name will be drawn, the mailing info sent to me, and a book will be sent to the lucky person.  So here we go!

Our first stop on the tour is in Bothell, Washington in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, about 2 hours south of where I live in Abbotsford, BC, Canada.  You can see my hometown right on the Canada/USA border.

This is the home of Martingale, the publishers of my book.  They are the best people to work with!  If you're ever in the area, make sure to stop in at their offices and say hi.  If you call ahead of time, you may be able to arrange a tour!

If you can't make it to their offices, the next best thing is to follow their blog, http://blog.shopmartingale.com/ for the latest news in quilting, knitting, and other creative endeavors.  This week I'm privileged to be the guest blogger on their site!  So if you're one of my followers, go to their blog, leave a comment, and you'll be in the running to win a copy of my latest book!  And make sure to check back here next Sunday where I'll reveal the next location on the blog tour, with another chance to win.  Good luck to all!

To Market, to Market

Hi from Kansas City!

I'm at Quilt Market this weekend, promoting my upcoming book in Martingale's booth.

I

If this quilting thing doesn't work out, maybe I could be another Vanna?

Karen and Mary from Martingale--they're just the best to work with!

There it is!  My book, my book!

Who is this person with my name and why are all these people lined up to see her?

After the book signing it was time to wander the aisles...

Who knew these guys were quilters?

Some of my favourite designers... JoAnn Mulally,

Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings,

and Jan Patek.

I AM NOT WORTHY!

To give you an idea of the size of this place,

here I am looking one direction from the center point,

And looking in the other direction.

32 aisles with about 34 booths on both sides!

No wonder my feet hurt.

I loved the quilts in this booth.

Look at the size of these blocks--and all hand stitched!

Karen Styles of Somerset Designs in Australia, made this stunning quilt.

It took my breath away.

It's been a long day... more to come!

New Book Preview

After the cold and snow of the past few days, I needed something to lift my spirits.  When I opened my email this morning there was a message from Mary Flynn, an amazingly talented woman who quilted most of the projects in my upcoming book, At Home with Country Quilts.  She told me she'd found the book posted at Martingale's website and now you can see it too!  I'm so excited!  Please check it out and tell me what you think!

An Early Christmas Gift

Hey, look what just arrived on my front porch!

My page proofs from my second book with Martingale--

now titled, At Home with Country Quilts.

Guess what I'll be doing over the holidays!

Can't wait!

Martingale Photo Shoot

My second book with Martingale is due out next June!

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from them saying they'd like to start photographing the quilts in their offices in Bothell, WA, (about 2 hours south of where I live), and they wondered whether I'd be interested in having some of my primitives used as props in the photos.  Well, yeah!

So I sent them photos of some of the stuff around my house, like this:

They emailed me back with their choices.
I  loaded them into my car, drove down this week, and brought them into the studio.

Lights,

camera,

action!

My quilts were waiting in line...

for Brent, the photographer, (aka "the quilt whisperer") to work his magic.

Sometimes other equipment was used to give the desired effect.

A tripod was used to adjust a quilt, just so.

And sometimes a quilt needed a quick pressing.

After seeing all the work involved in getting the photos just right, I'll never look at pictures in quilt magazines and books the same way again!

(No wonder my recipes never look like the photographs!)

So when my book comes out next summer, check out the props, as well as the quilts!

The quilts were photographed in a day (which I'm told is pretty fast)

and the next morning Regina (the production manager) and Brent worked on some cover shots.

In between, I had time to wander the offices.
Even the lunch room has quilt designs on the floor!

Halloween pumpkins were parked in the aisles.

Who wouldn't love an office with beautiful quilts around every corner?

Look at the machine quilting on this one!

It was so much fun to visit there again!
Thanks, Martingale, for being such a wonderful company to work with.