I used Electric Quilt 7 in a custom quilt setting to create the designs. I struggle with this program, as I don’t find it very intuitive. However, that said, their documentation is fantastic and once I get out the book, read up on what I’m trying to do, it’s smooth sailing.

The first draft … oh my did I struggle to get this done (read the book!!).

Needed some polishing, so on to design #2. I loved this one, but realized it would result in way too many partial seams. I want this quilt-along to be for advanced beginners, and even I wouldn’t want to do so many partial seams. LOL

Ok, this version eliminated all partial seams. Someone asked on Facebook what the finished quilt size would be, and I realized that somewhere along the way, I had changed the layout size in EQ7 to a size that wasn’t quite as big as I wanted the finished size to be. Plus, I wasn’t thrilled with the black distribution as I wanted it more uniform.

Back to the drawing board .. so to speak

And finally, the completed design. Finished quilt size is 58″x82″, a very nice lap size.

I went to the printers yesterday and had them print me out one copy in colour and several in black and white. Now I need to cut it up and plan the various lessons.

I know you’re going to ask … when will the quilt-along start? Best I can tell you right now is SOON. I want to get the lessons planned out first, figure out the math, and make sure everything will fit together as designed. I’m hoping to have the planning done within the next week, then I can let you know the fabric requirements and we’ll get started a couple of weeks later.

The quilt-along will be free for all to participate in. However, the lessons/tutorials will only remain on the site for a month after the QAL finishes, then they’ll be turned into a booklet for sale.

You can sign up for my newsletter or follow on Facebook to keep in touch.

What do you think? Are you going to participate in the quilt-along?

If they meet their goal of giving away 10,000 classes, Craftsy will donate $5,000 to DonorsChoose to fund arts education in public schools across the US. Existing members are not eligible for the free course offer, but will still receive a special treat.

Start here: Craftsy Free Class Day

Each Wednesday I share a Quilters’ Coupon with you from one of our favourite online retailers. Here’s this week’s savings:

The Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly. An avid quilter, Kimberly began her shop as a side business while still working a corporate position, cutting, packing and shipping right out of her house during evenings and weekends. From the very beginning, she was committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer. As the Fat Quarter Shop’s reputation grew, Kimberly decided to make it a full-time operation. Her husband Kevin joined her not long after, and with his help, lots of hard work, and a tireless commitment, the store began to grow. Over the past few years a few more people have joined the staff!

As a team, we continue to branch out with the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, BOMs, and more. And we will always be driven by the passion that Kimberly founded the store upon, which is always giving you the best products and service.

Save 50% off Danscapes by Dan Morris for RJR Fabrics Redeem with code DANSCAPES at checkout. Offer expires on May 22, 2013.

Start shopping here!

If you’re a retailer and would like to offer a weekly coupon, please send me an email to discuss.

The Quilters’ Show & Tell will be taking a break this week, but we’ll be back the following week. However, you can still enter quilts for the next theme which is Flower Gardens. Any quilting style is acceptable and unfinished quilt tops are welcome as well. I want to see lots of flowers either in the design or in the fabrics chosen. Also, please don’t submit a quilt you’ve already entered in the past… let’s see something different!

Read the Guidelines and submit your photo before Friday, May 24th, 2013 at 8 a.m. (EDT).

Sponsors

To sponsor a weekly Quilters’ Show and Tell event, please send me an email and I’ll send you the information package. Check available dates here. Sponsors are featured on the voting post published on Friday.

Winners: Quilts for Mom

Thanks to everyone that entered and voted for last week’s Quilts for Mom event. Thanks also to everyone that left yummy smoothie recipes. I picked up some supplies last night and will see how mine turn out.

Winners

The winning quilt is Peaceful Pathways by Jenny in NZ of Jenny Quilts which received 93 community votes.

The winner from the comments is #87 Julie Fukuda:

They’ve both won two charm packs each from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Quilters’ Show & Tell Links

• Rules and Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2013 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Guest Judges

Please note: The free Beginner’s Quilt-Along tutorials will be removed from the site later this week. Be sure to download the files now. I’m putting together a booklet of all the block tutorials, tips and recommended products that will be available for sale very soon.

I’m also currently working on this year’s quilt-along using Pat Sloan’s gorgeous new fabrics Bobbins and Bits. The exact start date is yet to be determined, but it will be soon.

Here’s a sneak peek at one of the blocks:

I hear often from many of you that you’d love to learn how to paper piece. I learned from the master, Carol Doak, and highly recommend her as a fantastic teacher. I notice that her class, Mastering Foundation Paper Piecing, is on sale this weekend. You won’t be disappointed.

Weekend Stitching

I’m paper piecing this weekend. I’m making two mini quilts featuring my Quilters’ Flowers as the centre motif. One is for my Dreaming of Spring Mini Quilt swap partner and the other one for someone else who is equally as special.

Are you stitching this weekend?

It’s time to vote and enter the give-away for this week’s Quilters’ Show & Tell event. This week’s theme is Quilts for Mom.

For this week, there are no guest judges, we’ll go with community votes only. However, if I suspect foul play, I will recruit a couple of judges to help too.

Give-Away from the Fat Quarter Shop

The Fat Quarter Shop was founded in 2003 by Kimberly Jolly. An avid quilter, Kimberly began her shop as a side business while still working a corporate position, cutting, packing and shipping right out of her house during evenings and weekends. From the very beginning, she was committed to delivering top-notch service for every single order and customer. As the Fat Quarter Shop’s reputation grew, Kimberly decided to make it a full-time operation. Her husband Kevin joined her not long after, and with his help, lots of hard work, and a tireless commitment, the store began to grow. Over the past few years a few more people have joined the staff!

As a team, we continue to branch out with the best fabrics, exclusive kits, quilt clubs, BOMs, and more. And we will always be driven by the passion that Kimberly founded the store upon, which is always giving you the best products and service!

Be sure to check out our extensive sale section, our up-to-date What’s New page and lust over future collections on our Coming Soon page!

Give-Away

The Fat Quarter Shop will be donating a set of two charm packs, Bake Sale by Lori Holt and Madhuri to each winner.

The quilter with the most votes will win one set and the other will be randomly awarded to someone leaving a comment below.

To enter the give-away, leave a comment below answering: Do you make smoothies (fruit or vegetable)? Do you have a favourite recipe to share? (Ok, so this week’s question is not quilting-related at all, but I need smoothie recipes to try, low fat with an energy boost!)

You have until Monday, May 13, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. (EDT) to enter the give-away.

BONUS! Treat Mom (or Yourself) this Weekend to a Gift Certificate

Use coupon code ilovemom and get a $25 gift certificate for $20, a $50 gift certificate for $40, a $100 gift certificate for $80, etc. Mom gets the full dollar amount on her gift certificate, you get the savings!

This Week’s Quilts

Here are this week’s quilts with Quilts for Mom:

Please note: if you are viewing this post via email or your RSS reader, you’ll need to click through to the blog post to see the quilts and vote.

Vote Now

Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourites!

• Voting is open Friday to Monday, May 13, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. (EDT)
• One vote per person (based on IP address NOT email address), so have your family and friends cast a ballot for their favourite quilt
• Winner announced Monday evening

How to Vote:

• Review the photos above and make a note of your favourites. You can select up to TWO favourites this week.
• Below, you’ll see the names of all the quilts with a square button beside each one. Select the buttons for the quilts you want to vote for. Then scroll down, all the way, until you get to the bottom of the list of quilt names. Press the vote button.

Next Week’s Show & Tell

The Quilters’ Show & Tell will be taking a break next week, but we’ll be back the following week. However, you can still enter quilts for the next theme which is Flower Gardens. Any quilting style is acceptable and unfinished quilt tops are welcome as well. I want to see lots of flowers either in the design or in the fabrics chosen. Also, please don’t submit a quilt you’ve already entered in the past… let’s see something different!

Read the Guidelines and submit your photo before Friday, May 24th, 2013 at 8 a.m. (EDT). Voting will start the same day for this event not next Friday (17th).

Sponsors

To sponsor a weekly Quilters’ Show and Tell event, please send me an email and I’ll send you the information package. Check available dates here.

Contest Links

• Rules and Guidelines
• Submit your photo
• 2013 Themes, Winners & Sponsors
• Guest Judges

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the give-away below!

Today is the final stop on the Between Heaven and Texas Blog Hop tour and we are visiting with Jackie from Canton Village Quilt Works.

Here’s Jackie’s gorgeous block, Top of the Rainbow. I adore the fabrics she’s used, especially how the black and white background print really adds pizzazz and interest to the block.

Visit Canton Village Quilt Works to download the Top of the Rainbow tutorial. Be sure to enter Jackie’s give-away for Marie’s book too!

We have a Flickr group set up for you to share your completed blocks and you can follow along on Facebook too.

Join us for our wrap-up post on Saturday!

Today’s stop on the Between Heaven and Texas Blog Hop tour has us visiting with Jennifer from Sew Hooked.

Before I get to Jennifer’s block, I want to thank her for agreeing to accept, and put together, blocks from this tour into quilts for The Linus Connection. If you can make an extra star block or two and send it to Jennifer, that would be most appreciated. All of the star blocks are here.

While I have been talking to Marie on the phone and via email for several years now, our schedules have never meshed for us to actually meet. However, Jennifer got to meet her the other day as Marie has been touring throughout Texas this month. They took such lovely photos of the event that Jennifer is sharing on her site. Plus, she snagged an extra copy of the book, autographed, and other goodies too.

Here’s Jennifer’s gorgeous block, Banded Star. It’s a paper pieced block, and if you’ve never done paper piecing before, check out Jennifer’s Paper Piecing Tutorial before you get started. Jennifer has also included the pattern to make a 6″ finished version of her block, in addition to the 12″ one for the blog tour.

Visit SewHooked to download the Banded Star tutorials. Be sure to enter the give-aways too!

We have a Flickr group set up for you to share your completed blocks and you can follow along on Facebook too.

Tomorrow is our last day of our tour and we’ll be visiting with Jackie from Canton Village Quilt Works

Quilts for Mom Show & Tell

WANTED: Your quilts for this week’s Quilters’ Show & Tell event. The theme is Quilts for Mom. Any quilting style is acceptable and unfinished quilt tops are welcome as well. Please don’t submit a quilt you’ve already entered in the past… let’s see something new! Also, it does NOT have to be a quilt you made for this year’s Mother’s Day.

Read the guidelines and submit your photo before Friday, May, 10th, 2013 at 8 a.m. (EDT).

Today’s stop on the Between Heaven and Texas Blog Hop tour has us visiting Melissa and Jake from Generation Q Magazine.

I love their Wonkified Star, based on their logo. What a great way to use up scraps and create a totally unique block each time.

Visit the Generation Q blog to download their Wonkified Star tutorial. Be sure to enter their give-away too to win a copy of Between Heaven and Texas too.

Also, I do hope you’ll make an extra block or two to send to Jennifer of Sew Hooked, as she’ll be putting together the blocks into quilts for The Linus Connection. More info here on this charity initiative.

We have a Flickr group set up for you to share your completed blocks and you can follow along on Facebook too.

Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting with Jennifer from Sew Hooked. Rumour has it she has something even more special than her gorgeous block planned. Her and Marie are being very secretive about it, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.