Sarah Vedeler Designs

I love giving thread away!

I just picked a winner for the July Designer of the Month giveaway. I’ll be sending a sampler pack of gorgeous AURIfil threads to:

Linda Baldwin

just as soon as I receive her snail mail address!

Last week I was in San Antonio at Bernina University. It’s the first time I’ve had a booth all to myself at a trade show. Fortunately for me, AURIfil had a booth next to mine, and Alex didn’t mind me spreading out to cover half of his back wall as well as my own!

This was a show with long days – 7:30am until 6:00pm. Dinner in the evening was a welcome relief! I even got to do a little sight seeing, taking in the Alamo for a few minuntes even though it was after hours.

Here I am with Alex Veronelli (AURIfil), Linda Pumphrey (AccuQuilt) and Noel Couch (Store Manager and technician extraordinaire at Sew from the Heart in Scottsdale).

August is going to be pretty exciting, so keep a watchout here on my blog! It’s my birthday, so I have a gift for you to celebrate that. My episode of the Quilt Show will also be airing – make sure you’re on my email list so that you can watch this even if you’re not a member (you can sign up here). And to celebrate that, I have another big giveaway planned – remember GO! Bloom? It’s along those lines!

That’s all for now! Hope you’re having a wonderful summer.

It’s that time again – time for a new AURIfil Designer of the Month!

July’s designer is actually two designers! Barb Persing and Mary Hoover of 4 and 6 Designs.

Click here to read their interview.

Then answer this question to put yourself in the running to win some gorgeous AURIfil thread:

What are the colors that Barbara and Mary have always loved?

Leave your answer at the end of this post! If you don’t see a place to leave a comment, you’re probabaly reading the blog from the main page. If you go back up to the top and click on the heading for this post, you’ll see where you can now leave a comment at the bottom.

 Check out the fun project that Barbara and Mary have created:

You can find the instructions here.

Have you checked out the quilts that have been submitted to the Flikr folder recently? Remember… if you post a photo of a project that you have made then that puts you in the running to win some gorgeous AURIfil thread! And… if you leave a comment for 6 or more Designer of the Month posts on this blog, you’ll be in the running to win an AURIfil Silk Hearts Collection!

Next week I’m off to Bernina University in San Antonio, TX. I’ve been working on a couple of small projects to show off there, so I’ll be posting instructions for them soon!

Hope you’re keeping cool and taking some time to quilt!

So much for picking a winner on the fourth Friday of the month! This summer is disappearing so fast – so much sewing to do, and two small girls home for the vacation. I’m very happy to say they do a fantastic job of keeping themselves occupied, knowing that they get to go play in the pool later in the day. I’m also very happy to say that Jasmine (the little one) figured out how to float and all of a sudden she can now swim a whole length of the pool.

So… How many spools of 50 weight Cotton Mako standing on the table? Here’s how you know what weight of thread is on a spool:

• An orange spool contains 50 weight thread
• A green spool contains 40 weight thread
• A grey spool contains 28 weight thread
• A red spool contains 12 weight thread.

There are 14 spools standing on the table. 11 of them are grey spools, so 28 weight thread (which is fantastic for doing machine applique) and 3 of them are orange spools, so 50 weight thread (which is great for piecing, quilting and machine embroidery).

The lucky winner of a sampler pack of gorgeous AURIfil thread is:

Maryanne!

As soon as I hear from Maryanne with her snail mail address, I’ll be sending some thread off to her.

You may notice that there are 2 red spools in the sampler pack. The one of the right (yellow thread) is 12 weight Lana – AURIfil’s Wool blend thread.

Have you registered to be on my email list? If not, now would be a good time to do it! 

Click here to register!

There is going to be a lot of fun stuff going on, especially in August (remember the GO! Bloom giveaway? Think along those lines!). Some of it is only going to be announced to people on my email list.

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer!

Can you believe it’s June already? This is the third week of summer vacation for my 2 girls. Heather (age 9) is enjoying Kids Sewing Camp at Sew from the Heart, my local Bernina dealer here in Scottsdale. She makes a fun new project everyday and is enjoying every second!

The beginning of the month means it’s time for a new AURIfil Designer of the Month. For June, I am happy to introduce

Annie Smith of Simple Arts.

Click here to read all about Annie. Then come back and answer this question by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post:

How many spools of 50wt Cotton Mako are standing on the table in the photo above question #9 in Annie’s interview?

Do you know how to tell what weight of thread is on a spool of AURIfil thread? If not – you can find out here!

Leaving a comment will put you in the running to win a sample pack of gorgeous AURIfil threads!

Remember to check out Annie’s project:

You can download the pattern here and the shapes here. Remember… if you make your own version of the project (or any of the other Designer of the Month projects for that matter!) and post a photo here, you could win a special AURIfil thread prize! And… if you leave a comment for 6 or more of the Designer of the Month posts on my blog, your name will be put in a hat to win a Silk Hearts AURIfil thread kit!

I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

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It’s that time again - I get to choose a winner for this month’s AURIfil Designer of the Month competiton!

The Designer of the Month for May was Kaye England. The question:

What is the name of Kaye’s AURIfil thread collection?

I was quite surprised this month, as not everyone got the correct answer. Here’s the photo from Kaye’s interview that gives the correct answer:

The correct answer is:

Freshly Baked

And the winner is…

Patty “The Quilt Lady” from Ohio

Just as soon as I hear from Patty, I’ll be sending her a sampler pack of AURIfil thread to enjoy!

I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to find out who the June designer of the month is. We’ll be finding out in the next few days!

WOW! What an amazing response to my new GO! Bloom collection, and the opportunity to win everything you need to make it. Thank you to EVERYONE who left a comment.

Today is the day… the day to pick a winner.

The prize… everything needed to make the GO! Bloom Quilt!

That includes:

• The GO! Bloom CD
• An AccuQuilt GO! Baby
• The three dies used for the quilt: GO! Daisy, GO! Tulip and GO! Fun Flower
• GO! Bloom Hand Dyed Fabric Collection by Ricky Tims
• AURIfil Silk Hearts Thread Collection

When I was about to pick a winner, 715 comments had been left. So… out came 3 bowls and 3 pads of Post-it Notes!

In the first bowl, 8 pink Post-It Notes with the numbers 0-7.

In the second bowl, 10 orange Post-It Notes with the numbers 0-9.

In the third bowl, 10 green Post-It Notes with the numbers 0-9.

Heather (my 9 year old daughter) picked out the first number from the pink bowl:

0

Jasmine (my 5 year old daughter) picked out the second number form the orange bowl:

3

Lauryn (my new assistant) picked out the third number from the green bowl:

0

So the winner is the person who left comment number 030

And that person is…

Leona from Menlo Park, CA!!!

Many congratulations to Leona. All the goodies will be on their way to you very soon!

Thanks again to everyone who left a comment. And thanks to those of you who pre-ordered the GO! Bloom CD. Free shipping for all pre-orders is still in effect until the end of May, so click here if you want to take advantage of that now!

Are you ready to GO! Bloom?

This week is pretty exciting for me – I am in Salt Lake City attending International Spring Quilt Market.

(By the way… make sure you read all the way to the end. I’m celebrating big time, and have LOTS of stuff to give away!)

Quilt Market happens twice a year – in the Spring, always in a different location; and in the Fall, always in Houston. It’s where people with things to sell show off all their new stuff, and store owners (and their staff and teachers) come to find out what is new in the world of quilting.

For me, Quilt Market is usually a pretty momentous occasion as I usually have a new design collection to show off. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel, usually after several weeks of hard work and a fair amount of chaos. This Quilt Market is no exception!

So… What’s new? I hear you ask!

The answer is…

GO! Bloom

GO! Bloom – 14 individual designs using 3 AccuQuilt GO! Baby dies. In addition, illustrated instructions to make the quilt shown on the cover, and the four pillow tops also shown on the cover. Let’s take a closer look!

The GO! Bloom Quilt is 40″x40″. Click on the image above (and also the images below) to see a larger photo.

The quilt is created using some very delicious hand dyed fabrics from Ricky Tims – 2 yards of Spanish Moss for the background; 1 fat quarter each of Red Hot Mama, Dragons Breath and Cotton Candy for the applique shapes; 1 fat quarter each of Carribean Queen and Coconut Snowcone for the borders. And this gorgeous fabric will be available in a kit!

Then of course there is the thread. It turned out that the AURIfil Silk Hearts Collection (12 large spools of 50 weight Cotton Mako) contained the perfect colors for the chosen fabrics. So… if you purchased the AURIfil Silk Hearts Collection to make the Silk Hearts Quilt, if you have any left over, it can be used again for this quilt!

GO! Bloom Pillow 1 is 17″ x 17″ (to fit an 18″x18″ pillow form).

GO! Bloom Pillow 2 is 17″x17″ (to fit an 18″x18″ pillow form)

GO! Bloom Pillow 3 is 15″x15″ (to fit a 16″x16″ pillow form)

GO! Bloom Pillow 4 is 15″x15″ (to fit a 16″x16″ pillow form)

The 4 pillow tops can also be created using the GO! Bloom Hand Dyed Fabric Collection from Ricky Tims. (You will need to purchase extra fabric for the backs of the pillows).

You can let your imagination have a field day when finishing the pillows. The 2 red ones in the photo above were finished with a ruffle created using my ruffle attachment!

I’m super excited about this new collection and so I’m celebrating it’s “birth”! That means I’m going to give something away!!!

How would you like to be the recipient of everything needed to make the GO! Bloom Quilt?

What exactly do you need?

• the GO! Bloom design collection of course
• the 3 AccuQuilt GO! dies used in the collection
• a GO! Baby (since they are GO! Baby dies)
• a GO! Bloom Hand Dyed Fabric Collection from Ricky Tims
• an AURIfil Silk Hearts Thread Collection.

One very lucky person will win all of these goodies. All you have to do is answer one simple question:

What are the 3 AccuQuilt GO! dies used in the GO! Bloom Collection?

It’s been really hard to not give you all the answer while writing this post! However, the answer can be found in my online store. So… go check it out, then come back and leave a comment at the bottom of this post with your answer. The winner will be chosen on Wednesday March 25 at 10am Arizona time (that’s Pacific time during the summer months). It could be you!

There’s also a little surprise in store for anyone who pre-orders the GO! Bloom CD during the month of May 2011. You’ll also find out what that is by visiting my store! (Just so you know… if you pre-order the GO! Bloom CD and then discover you are the winner of the whole kit and caboodle – I’ll refund your purchase!)

Many thanks to all of my partners for donating their products for me to give away. And many thanks also to my super faithful quilting buddies at home for helping me to get everything done in time for me to be here at International Quilt Market. Quilters really are wonderful people!

It’s time to give you all another opportunity to win some gorgeous AURIfil thread!

The Designer of the Month for May is…

Kaye England

Check out Kaye’s interview with Pat Sloan (Designer of the Month coordinator) here.

To give yourself an opportunity to win an AURIfil thread sampler, write a comment for this post giving the answer to this question:

What is the name of Kaye’s AURIfil thread collection?
Hint: You’ll find the answer in one of the photos in Kaye’s interview!

Remember: if you leave a comment for 6 or more Designer of the Month posts, your name will be put in a hat to win a Silk Hearts AURIfil Thread Collection – 12 large spools of 50wt Cotton Mako in mouthwatering colors. You can always go back and leave comments for past months!

Another way to win: Make your own version of one of the Designer of the Month projects and post a photo of it in the AURIfil Flikr group here.

Here is Kaye’s project:

And the directions can be downloaded here. If making the full project seems like it would be way to overwhelming, try a 4 block version of it to make a pillow cover or 5 blocks to make a table runner.

Keep your eyes open for a post later this week announcing my new Spring Design Collection. There’s going to be a giveaway that everybody is going to want to win!

First of all, I got some exciting news from Paducah this week! Back at the beginning of the year, I decided to enter GO! Be Dazzled into the American Quilters Society Quilt Show and Contest in Paducah. In March, I heard that the quilt had been accepted into the contest. On Tueday I heard (from my Spy on the Spot, Linda Pumphrey from AccuQuilt) that GO! Be Dazzled won an honorable mention!!! I’m pretty excited about this news – it’s the first time I have entered a quilt into an AQS contest, and there wasn’t a category specifically for quilts showcasing machine embroidery (or in my case, Embroidered Applique) as there was in the IQA contest, so it was up against all Large Wall Quilts quilted on a home sewing machine.

Many congratulations to the winners in that category:

Mary Buvia won 1st place with “The Loading Dock”

Susan Cleveland won 2nd place with “Psychedelic Big Bang”

Molly Hamilton-McNally and Cindy Seitz-Krug won 3rd place with “Floral Fantasy”

To see photos of the winning quilts, check out: http://www.americanquilter.com/shows_contests/paducah/2011/quilt_contest/quilt_winners.php

Now for the winner of some thread in the AURIfil Designer of the Month program!

Thanks to EVERYONE who left a comment! The winner this month is…

Annie Toy!!!

There is a reason to be excited about the winner whoever wins. This month I am VERY excited because Annie is a good friend of mine who lives in Utah, and I will be staying in her beautiful home in a couple of weeks when I go to Dave’s Bernina in Provo, UT to teach on May 10 and May 11!!! So Annie – I’ll bring the thread with me!

Remember… there are lots more opportunities this year to win some thread! Here are the different ways…

• leave a comment on my post each month that introduces the AURIfil Designer of the Month for that month. The May designer will be introduced in a few days! This puts you in the running to win an AURIfil thread sampler pack.
• leave a comment for 6 or more months. Everyone who does this is in the running to win a Silk Hearts Collection AURIfil thread kit.
• make your own version of one of the projects in the Designer of the Month program and post a photo of it in AURIfil’s Flikr folder here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/2011aurifildesignerofthemonth/

As a reminder, here are the projects so far:

January – Susan Brubaker Knapp – Leaves of Green

February - Linda Lum DeBono – Love

March – Sarah Vedeler – Eclipse

April – Susan Guzman – Favorite Things Pillow

Keep a good lookout for the question about the May Designer of the Month, which will be coming soon!

Welcome to April and some more opportunities to win some gorgeous AURIfil thread!

The AURIfil Designer of the Month for April is Susan Guzman, of SuzGuzDesigns.com.

Click on over to the AURIfil blog to read Susan’s interview and download her free project she designed to showcase your vintage fabrics. Then come back here and leave a comment which answers the following question, so that you can be in the running to win a sampler pack of AURIfil thread:

Which AURIfil thread weight does Susan use most often?

As a quick reminder, here are the different ways you can win some AURIfil thread:

• leave a comment at the end of this post with the answer to the question (see above!)
• make your own version of any one of the Designer of the Month projects and post a picture of it on AURIfil’s Flickr page at
  http://www.flickr.com/groups/2011aurifildesignerofthemonth/.
  By the way… I’m delighted to see a couple of interpretations of my Eclipse project there!!!

Because I’m having so much fun giving thread away, I came up with another way for you to win some thread… this time a Silk Hearts Collection Kit! What do you have to do? Leave a comment each month when I post about the AURIfil Designer of the Month! Everyone who leaves a comment for 6 or more months in 2011 will be entered into a drawing – and the name picked out of the hat will win the thread kit, 12 gorgeous colors of 50wt AURIfil Cotton Mako. Does this sound good to you?

As an aside, if you’ve been wanting to purchase a GO! Be Dazzled CD, but haven’t done so yet, remember you can get it for 20% off through the month of April by entering coupon code “GBD-20″ when you purchase the CD here.