Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Quiltmaker 100 Blocks Volume 15 - my block and second giveaway!

I'm so excited to share my very first published quilt block design (even if only a handful of people out there read this!).  I've been testing for Quiltmaker Magazine's 100 Blocks issues off and on for some time; Volume 15 was my third for which I was a tester.  About halfway through testing I received an invitation to contribute a design, and, inspired by the latest collection by one of my favorite designers - "Brighten Up!" by Me & My Sister - I worked up Paper Doll Dress.
This was inspired by the vintage paper dolls I used to play with as a kid and still strike me nostalgically when I see online.  I love that Vogue used to create paper dolls and dresses to match their season's offerings!
I originally worked this up two ways:  one was done by hand applique with freezer paper templates, and the other as fusible.  I put the two options to my family for voting and the fusible version is what was sent to Quiltmaker.  However, this is the hand applique version here:
I used 3/8" white satin ribbon for the "tabs" to the dress and found that, with the hand applique, it was easiest to machine stitch these down onto the background before sewing on the dress templates.  With the fusible version, I could just place them under when fusing, but did want to quickly blanket stitch the appliques after fusing so nothing went askew!  The rickrack trim just pulled it all together in such a cute way, and, with the ribbon tabs, helped give the block more of a three-dimensional feel.

I had the idea of morphing this into a child's play quilt by creating a cardboard or fabric doll body, and then making the appliques double sided and removable from the quilt with velcro, but I haven't gotten quite that far yet.  I'm still noodling the idea around and talking with people more artistic than me to create the doll image!

Sadly, as I mentioned earlier this week, I did not see the blog tour email from Quiltmaker in time to participate, so this blog post may have few to no views.  But if you are one of the few who already follows me or managed to come here from a link somewhere, I'm giving away this adorable apron from Quiltmaker which features images of all 100 blocks in Volume 15! 


I received two, one for being a designer and one for being a tester, so the second one could be yours.  Just comment as to whether you use Instagram (and if you care to, share your user name!  I'm tenquilt5 if you'd like to follow me.).  The giveaway will stay open until midnight on Saturday, May 6.  I'll randomly pick a winner on Sunday - assuming I have any entries at all! - and contact you by email.

6 comments:

  1. I'm on Instagram but I don't use it. Love your block even if I never, ever played with paper dolls..

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  2. I'm not on instagram :( Congratulations on your design being published. LOVE IT! I don't remember playing with paper dolls - wasn't a big fan of any doll growing up.

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  3. Love your block! Sew cute! I never played with dolls either, but my mother buying them. The only one I ever played with was the one that could sit on the toy horse. She rode that horse all over the neighborhood, because it was all about the horse. Love your designs. Keep up the good work!

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  4. Yes, I am following you on instagram. My heart just dropped when I saw the Paper Doll block it is so adorable, brings back so many happy moments playing with paper dolls. I am very new to quilting but I am going to buy your book to get this pattern... might take me some time to make but it is so cute I have to try �� Thank you for sharing

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  5. I just stopped by to tell you how much I like this block. I love both the pattern & the fabric you chose. Although I have a never-ending quilts-to-make list, I intend to dig into my Me & My Sister stash & make this block soon.

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    1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate you coming to let me know. Please post or send a pic when you do!

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