Rachel Griffith giveaway & Cookbook winners!

We are getting close to closing out the holidays...  kind of sad myself, but really happy to get back on a normal schedule again!  I hope everyone's Christmas went well (and maybe even got enough of the relatives till the next holiday ;-)... just kidding mom, I love my relatives...) We have a few things to announce today.. so first things first... 

Rachel Griffith of P.S. I Quilt is hosting a fun blog giveaway!  To get the main jist here's a little excerpt...

"here's the deal: 

take my ho! ho! ho! pic & write a blog post!!! 

give us the deets on what went down on Christmas eve. 

& PLEASE be creative!!! 

TWO lucky writers will win a $50 gift certificate to fat quarter shop!!!"

Click here to read the full rules.

And now.. It's time to announce the winners of the Quilter's Cookbook by Quilting Gallery from last week!!

2010 edition winners:

Kathy King

"My favorite song is Away in a Manger. But I love all christmas songs, makes the season so full of anticipation of the Blessed Day. Love the chance to win some books!!"

Rachelle

"My favorite Christmas song is a French Canadian song that I sang when I was in Grade 1 and I was able to teach it to my class of Grade Ones this year for our Christmas production-the song Il est ne le Divin Enfant. A beautiful song perfect for children of the age 6 or but also for adults."

2009 edition winners:

Annaleena

"I like the 'the little drummer boy' best. Thanks for the giveaway."

Charlotte H.

"I love the "Little Drummer Boy. Thanks for all the great ideas and helpful hints in your blog."

Congrats to all of you winners!!! To claim your prize e-mail stephanie[at]fatquartershop[dot]com with your REAL first name and which edition you won.  This needs to be done by Monday, January 3rd.

Hello to Ann Kelle

Today we have a very special guest who is also a first timer at the Jolly Jabber. Kelle Boyd of Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman is here for a lil Q&A session!  Make sure you stay tuned because there is a very generous giveaway carrying on Kelle's 8 weeks of Christmas at the end!  


How did you get into designing fabric?
I started out in the stationery industry. In the summer of 2008, I was in a boutique that carried some of my stationery. During a conversation with the boutique owner, she said she could see my designs on children's clothes. That statement sparked something inside. I then began contacting fabric companies. I received a couple of noes and a couple of yeses, in the end I decided to go with Robert Kauffman.

Tell us about your current line(s)? 
I have two new lines that are coming out. Izzy Flannel, consists of lots of florals with fun color combinations. (I have a thing for flowers). This line is different from my other lines in that it is a little bit more sophisticated, I think. My other line is Ready, Set, Go, is a super fun line on organic cotton. It's a transportation line with cars, trains, helicopters with lots and lots of bold colors.

What are you working on now? 
We're working on wrapping up my next line that comes out in the spring, and I am beginning to design for new lines for the latter part of 2011.



What inspired Urban Zoology?
I don't know? Typically I like designing stuff with flowers, but I'm entering into a new phase where I really enjoy drawing animals and character. I do know that the whale design was inspired by a sweater Natalie wore on the "Facts of Life," an 80s sitcom. As for the owls, I was seeing owls everywhere and I wanted to do my take on them.

What has inspired your color palettes? All of them seem to be very bold, do you think you will always stick with that? 
 I pull a lot from things in my childhood that made me happy. I love happy colors.


Thank you Kelle for joining us today and donating for the giveaway, you are such a sweetheart!  Now time to announce what exactly that is....!


You have a chance to win one of 3 Remix Roll Ups!  All you need to do is *Like* Ann Kelle on Facebook, then comment on this blog post telling us you did so. Contest closes Monday, January 3rd @ midnight CST so... Get ready... and GO!

** To answer some confusion, yes, her real name is Kelle Boyd and her company name is Ann Kelle Designs. **

Talkin' Tuesdays

Everyone who has thought about joining twitter, I have the perfect opportunity for you!  We have done this once already and it was so much fun!  Well, let me start from the beginning.. every Tuesday Cara Wilson (@caraquilts)- a quilting blogger from Canada has set up a chat for quilters on Twitter.  Her original idea was that "there are so many of us sewer/crafters out there and we need a break from our usual grind, a chance to share tips, advice, funny stories and learn from each other." Then she decided to also add sponsors... That’s where Fat Quarter Shop comes in – watch for donated prizes awarded each hour!

Well, we will be sponsoring the chat again tomorrow, Tuesday, December 28th!  It starts at 9 EST, 8 CST, 7MST, or 6 PST and it is about 2 hours long.  You are always welcome to come and go as you please if you can't make the full 2 hours, but then again, you might miss the prizes! ;-)

To join the chat type "#talknt" in the twitter search bar then keep hitting refresh throughout the chat to get the updated conversations.  In each comment you write you also need to include "#talknt" somewhere in the chat-- people usually just attach it to the end. Get your fingers ready for tomorrow night, things are going to get quilt-a-licious! :)

 For more detailed information click here.

Happy Holidays from Holly Holderman!

Take some time out from your last minute holiday shopping to catch up with Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Dry Goods! She's here today to discuss her big plans for 2011 and announce an awesome fabric giveaway ... read on for details to get in on the free fabric.

This Holiday Season, I have a lot to be thankful for, and I wanted to celebrate just a little bit with Kimberly and her Fat Quarter Shop devotees…

Early next year, I’ll be taking a bit of a sabbatical from the frigid east coast winters and hot humid summers and will temporarily relocate my studio to sometimes rainy, but mostly sunny Marin County California. I need a change of scenery and a locale that will inspire me to do new, great things…

Since the first time I laid eyes on Sunset magazine my mother brought home after a trip to San Francisco, I knew that California was for me. I’ll be moving into much smaller quarters, so I have a lot of fabric that needs to find good homes, as I downsize my studio on the east coast. Please visit me at my blog by clicking here and tell me why I should send you "a little bundle of joy" for your endeavors. Entice me with your words and deeds, oh fabric friends…

I'll donate a USPS flat rate Priority Mail box of LakeHouse fabric goodies for those of you who can convince me that my fabric belongs in your stash.

Make your case gals, and make it good, really good!

:o)

Holly

Lakehouse Dry Goods

** THE DEADLINE TO MAKE YOU CASE FOR LAKEHOUSE FABRIC IS
SATURDAY, JANUARY 1ST @ MIDNIGHT EST. **

Reine des Abeilles Quilt Kit- WINNER

Christmas is approaching very soon.. I hope everyone has finished all their Christmas shopping (because I surely haven't, hehe).  Reading through everyone's comments from my last post was extremely enjoyable for me-- some of the stories really help put life in perspective.  Completely touching my heart-- some made my eyes tear up and others made me just laugh out loud.  I'm sure my coworkers were wondering why I kept cracking up haha. That being said, I sincerely hope everyone's wishes and prayers are answered, you all deserve it!

Well it's about time to announce the winner of this incredibly gorgeous Reine des Abeilles Quilt Kit by French General... and the winner is....

thelazyquilter 

"Ohmygosh-so holiday harried I don't even know if I saw this one! Santa - please replace my iPod that just broke during the most expensive month of the year, wrapped in Maison! :)"

Congratulations!! To claim your prize e-mail "Stephanie[at]fatquartershop[dot]com" by Tuesday, December 28th with your full shipping address.  I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas! :)

Quilting Gallery Cookbook giveaway!

Are you looking for a last-minute gift for your quilty friends? Check out the Quilter's Cookbooks filled with yummy recipes, quilts and heart-warming stories from quilters around the world. Michele from the Quilting Gallery  has professionally put together these fabulous books that can be downloaded instantly. The theme for the 2009 edition of the Cookbook was "Quick and easy recipes, so we can get back to quilting!". It contains 119 recipes and 76 photos of gorgeous quilts. The theme for the 2010 edition is "Holiday Traditions". It contains 135 recipes and 72 photos of gorgeous quilts.

To help celebrate the release of the 2010 edition, Michele has generously donated two sets of Cookbooks for my blog friends. We will have 4 total winners- 2 will receive the 2009 edition, and 2 others will receive the 2010 edition. To enter leave a comment on this blog post telling me your favorite Christmas song. The contest will close Monday, December 27th @ midnight CST.

 There's more!! The Quilting Gallery is also celebrating their 3rd birthday/anniversary, and there are lots and lots of prizes to be won. But hurry you only have until Tuesday night to enter. Click here for the Party post!

French General: the new pattern designers

French General has designed two quilt patterns for their new Fall fabric line, Maison de Garance. Inspired by old shades of color found in a rural chateau, the line is filled with bright reds, deep chocolate browns, naturals and tea stains. The Maison de Garance Quilt is a small 46 x 46 applique quilt with a beautiful old house on the front. This is one of those quilts that you not only want to make, but want to keep.


Reine des Abeilles is a larger quilt, 75 x 82, with a charming hexagon pattern and a wide border print.  I think this quilt would look perfect on an old farm bed or hung on the wall - it's got a great balance of light and dark and lots of red, of course. Each kit is complete with the fabric and pattern. The Maison quilt comes with a full size template for the house applique and the Reine quilt comes with a plastic hexagon template. Both kits are packaged in a fabric carry-all with two custom labels. Patterns for each quilt are also available at the Fat Quarter Shop.

Now, just in time for Christmas it's giveaway time!  The Reine des Abeilles Quilt Kit is on the line this time-- provided by French General Fabrics!  To enter comment below telling me a present you want most during this  holiday season.  Contest closes Monday, December 20th @ midnight CST.

Happy Holidays from the Fat Quarter Shop!

On the first day of Christmas...

Our Countdown to Christmas began yesterday with 50% OFF Hoffman 1895 Bali Batik Hand-Dyed Watercolors.  And oh boy, did those bundles just FLY off our shelves!

Today, the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me.. 40% OFF Me & My Sister Favorites yardage, and Spring Fever's yardage, a kit and patterns. Everyday until Christmas, your "true love" will have a new fabulous deal like these.  And just a hint... I might try and hop on Fat Quarter Shop as early as you can each day to find the most items still in stock! ;-)

To get to our daily deal just go to our home page and click on the big "Countdown to Christmas Daily Deals" image.  Or maybe just save the link in your favorites ;-)

Another note, we have almost 1,000 items on sale for the holidays!  Happy Holidays to all!!

Today I got to work to find this scrumptious cake in our kitchen... thought I would share how amazing it looks and pass on the message!! :-D 

Swoon by Melissa Averinos + giveaway!

Melissa Averinos' Swoon collection by Andover Fabrics has arrived at the Fat Quarter Shop and she's here to talk about her design process! Check the end of the blog post for a fat quarter bundle giveaway.


When I start designing a fabric, I start right in an empty file because I like to work intuitively and loosely. I mess around with shapes until something makes me say "oh!" and then I follow that thought and add more to it. It’s similar to the way I paint---I just slap something down and mess with it until it makes me happy! I will sometimes grab parts of a few designs and stir them up into a whole new one.

With Swoon, I started all the prints in pink, orange and brown, because I am naturally drawn to those colors.

I then developed the green colorway to have a summery/ seventies-sheets-inspired vibe.

Then the blue colorway to be clean, fresh and pretty-- yet still appropriate for boys!

These guys are my Owlie McP-- but I'm looking forward to making a Swoon-y Owlie McPillowpants from my Small Stash Sewing:

I also can't wait to make some more quilts and dresses out of it!

Currently (aka this week), I am approving the repeats for my next collection with Andover! It will debut at Quilt Market in the Spring. I am also considering what I would like to cover in my next book with Wiley. I am torn between a book about visual journaling/creativity and a book on nontraditional sewing (ex. being ok with imperfect sewing-- perfection is overrated!).



Now, celebrating Swoon's arrival, we are having a giveaway with Ryan Walsh Quilts. Leave a comment on his blog by Tuesday, December 7, 2010! For your chance to win one of three bundles! There will be three winners. Make sure to enter today.