This year I have a plan! I now know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done by – and so far it is working extremely well. The best part is that I am being productive – and there are some good results to show off. But… you’re going to have to wait until May to see what it is that I’m working on!

In the meantime, on January 16 and 17 I spent 2 days at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, CA with a group of ladies in my “Embroidered Applique for Beginners” class at Road 2 CA. This was a 2 day “retreat” where we worked on one project for the entire 2 days. The project was a GO! Bloom pillow – the 15″ one with tulips on it:

I really enjoyed the 2 day class format – and some great results were created. Everyone was working on a Bernina 580 embroidery machine with a Large Oval hoop. That meant that every design you see on the pillow (4 tulips, 4 corner motifs and the center motif) had to be stitched as a single hooping. The students were getting really creative – using the 3 different tulip designs that are found on the GO! Bloom CD – and even using artistic license when it came to which way around the tulips were placed on the pillow top.

Check out the wonderful pillows in progress from some of the students in the class.

 Tamara

 Gayle

 Audrey

 Susan

  Maureen

 Linda

 June

 Roxanne

 Sally

Which one is your favorite?

http://www.flickr.com/groups/2011aurifildesignerofthemonth/

There is a winner for December!

Cheryl from Madison, WI

will be receiving a sampler pack of gorgeous AURIfil threads!

She correctly noted Lime Green as Sharon Pederson’s current favorite color. Check out Cheryl’s web site – I love the title “Will Sew for Chocolate”!

There is also a winner for the AURIfil Silk Hearts Thread Collection…

Kathleen from Columbia Falls, MT

entered a comment for at least 6 of the AURIfil Designers and so her name was put in a hat (along with 9 other names) to win this gorgeous thread collection.

Thanks to everyone for “playing” this year and congratulations to everyone who received some of this gorgeous AURIfil thread! It is still my favorite thread to use for piecing, quilting and embroidery!

Here’s wishing you a very happy and prosperous New Year – with lots of time for quilting!

Before I do that, there is a winner for November. Gill in England answered the question correctly – the color of AURIfil 50 wt thread used to embroider the designs for Jacquelynne’s new pattern, A Beautiful Day, is… 2360.

As soon as Gill sends me her snail mail address, I will be sending her a sampler pack of gorgeous AURIfil threads!

Now onto the Designer of the month for December…

Sharon Pederson

Click here to read all about Sharon, and then come back to answer the following question:

What is the color that Sharon is currently in love with?

Leave your answer in a comment at the end of this post and it might be you I am sending some gorgeous threads to in the new year!

Check out Sharon’s project here.

Remember… if you wrote a comment for 6 or more of the Designer of the Month posts here on my blog, you will be in the running to win a Silk Hearts AURIfil thread collection. You can always go back to previous months to enter a comment now!

And… if you’ve made any of the Designer of the Month projects, post a photo in the Flikr folder here, and you’ll also be in the running to win some gorgeous AURIfil thread!

Until next time!

“What were you doing there?” I hear you ask. Well, let me tell you!

Back in January, I got an email from Ricky which said “We gotta talk!” In March we finally connected on the telephone and he asked me the immortal question: Will you design the 2012 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show? Now there’s really only one possible answer to a question like this, right? “Yes, of course I will!!!”

A good part of my year has been spent working on this project, coming up with a design and making the quilt. If you were at Quilt Festival in Houston at the beginning of the month, you may have seen the quilt there, but if not, here’s a pic:

There are actually two versions of the quilt. The one on the right (the “colorful” one) is the original. The one of the left was pieced and quilted by Lisa Sipes (aka McLisa Tangerine Starfish Sipes on Facebook, and That Crazy Quilty Girl in blog land) in a more “traditional” color scheme.

The last part of the project was filming a 5 minute video for each month, showing some tips and tricks for creating each part of the quilt. That’s what I have been doing in La Veta for the last couple of days!

We did the taping in Ricky’s studio at the Tims Art Quilt Retreat Center. Ricky had been busy working on a new project and there was “stuff” all over the place. I’m very happy to know that I’m not the only person who ends up in chaos while they are working! This pic was taken after a LOT of picking stuff up off the floor.

Here’s another view of the room:

And this is what I spent the last two days looking at!

This is what you’ll get to see if you ever watch the videos. Looks nice and clean, doesn’t it!

And here’s some proof that I really was there!

I’m really hoping that I don’t have an expression like that on my face during any of the videos that we shot!

I had a ton of fun designing and making this quilt and shooting the videos. If you’d like to join in the fun next year and make your own version, make sure you’re a member of The Quilt Show (you can sign up here if you’re not!).

In the meantime, I’m wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s the full view of the quilt, 64″ diameter:

And the pillows, 30″x30″:

Jazzilicious uses my 2 new dies from AccuQuilt, Heather Feather 1 and Heather Feather 2:

Just in case you’re wondering, these two dies go with the new Jazzilicious designs and the existing Heather Feather designs!

Both CDs can be purchased here:

Sarah Vedeler Designs Shop

Last weekend (actually it was Friday), I went back to Houston to spend a day in The Quilt Show booth at International Quilt Festival! Earlier this year, Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson (hosts of The Quilt Show) called and asked me if I would design a quilt to be the 2012 Block of the Month Quilt offered to all Quilt Show members. This is not an offer to turn down, and this is the result:

There will be a lot more news about this quilt in the coming months, but if you’d like to join in and make your own, become a member of The Quilt Show (if you aren’t already)! You can sign up here.

Hopefully you haven’t forgotten about the AURIfil Designer of the Month! Should I confess that I did forget all about announcing the October winner and introducing the November designer? Please don’t tell Alex and Pat about that slip of memory!!!

In October you were introduced to Marianne Byrne-Goarin, AURIfil’s queen of AURIfil Lana, and asked to answer the following question:

What weight is Marianne’s favorite thread, AURIfil Lana?

The correct answer is 12 wt.

And the winner is:

Sally King!

Just goes to show, if you enter every month, you may win again and again! Sally also won in September – it really is a name drawn out of a hat!

Now for the November Designer of the Month! I’d like to introduce you to:

Jacquelynne Steves 

from The Noble Wife.

Read all about Jacquelynne here, and then answer the following question:

 What color of AURIfil 50wt thread was used to embroider the designs for Jacquelynne’s new pattern, A Beautiful Day?

Leave your answer in a comment for this post.

Check out Jacqueline’s project here.

Until next time!

So… The winner of this gorgeous sampler pack of AURIfil threads for the month of September is…

Sally King

with the correct answer: A Few of My Favorite Threads.

Just in case you’ve forgotten, the question was: What is the name of Edyta’s AURIfil thread kit?

Just as soon as Sally sends me her snail mail address, I’ll get the thread to her!

Now onto the Designer of the Month for October:

Marianne Byrne-Goarin

Marianne is AURIfil’s resident wool thread guru, doing wonderful things with AURIfil Lana, and her projects are lively and fun!

Read all about Marianne here, and then come back to answer the following question in a comment at the end of the post:

What weight is Marianne’s favorite thread, AURIfil Lana?

Can you hear Marianne’s gorgeous Irish accent as you read her interview? When I first met her, I thought (since I knew she lives in France) that she was French. It was quite a surprise to hear her perfect English spoken with her soft Irish lilt.

You can find the instructions to Marianne’s gorgeous project here. And the templates are here.

Remember… if you post a photo of any of the projects that you have made on the AURIfil Flikr group, there is thread to be won! And… if you have left a comment on 6 or more of the AURIfil Designer of the Month posts on my blog, you are in the running to win a Silk Hearts Thread Collection. There are only 2 months left! But… you can always go back and leave a comment for previous months.

I’m busy getting ready for Quilt Market, which happens the last weekend of October in Houston, TX. My new fall collection is “Jazzilicious”. Stay tuned for photos coming soon!

Edyta Sitar

of Laundry Basket Quilts.

Read all about Edyta here, and then come back and answer the following question by leaving a comment at the end of this post:

What is the name of Edyta’s AURIfil thread kit?

If your correct answer is drawn out of the hat, then you will be the recipient of a sampler pack of gorgeous AURIfil threads!

Check out the project that Edyta has created here.

Have fun learning about Edyta!

Time for a winner… someone is about to win a sampler pack of gorgeous AURIfil thread!

And the winner is…

Brenda

who left comment #28 – which I thought was curious as the correct answer was AURIfil 28 weight thread!

As soon as I hear from Brenda, I’ll be getting some thread in the mail to her. And as soon as I hear from AURIfil, I’ll be letting you know all about the September AURIfil designer of the month.

Click on the following link to watch the show:

https://www.thequiltshow.com/os/create_account_2.php/alias/904/coupon_number/180481380275

The link will be active until August 28. If you decide that you would like to become a member of The Quilt Show so that you can watch future episodes, you can use the coupon code “180481380275″ to receive a 20% discount on the cost of membership.

I’d love to hear from you with any comments and/or questions you may have! And next week I’ll have some photos to share on the subject of “something that not a lot of people know about me” that Ricky and Alex talked to me about!

Enjoy!

What do you think about Jinny’s Pepper Factory? When I was reading Jinny’s interview with Pat Sloan (you can read it here!) I wondered why Jinny would be wearing a dust mask – that is until I scrolled a bit further and saw all the peppers!

So… how can you win some thread this month? Answer the following question:

What is Jinny’s favorite weight of AURIfil thread to use for hand piecing?

Leave the answer in a comment at the bottom of this post. If you don’t see a place to leave a comment, you’re probably reading this post from the main Blog page… in which case, go back up to the heading and click on it. You’ll see the comments at the bottom of this page!

Have you made any of the AURIfil Designer of the Month projects? If so, be sure to leave a photo here - you might win even more thread!

Check out Jinny’s project:

You can find the directions on how to make the project here!