Free-Motion Quilting For Beginners and Those Who Think They Can't - Insights on #Giveaways too!

At Fall Quilt Market, Martingale released many new quilting books.  One of which, is absolutely perfect for those interested in learning  free-motion quilting.  "Free-Motion Quilting For Beginners and Those Who Think They Can't, by Molly Hanson is a great book for quilters that want to learn free-motion quilting (FMQ).  It can also be a fun book for those that are still learning and want to practice FMQ and create some cute projects at the same time.

Molly does an excellent job teaching beginners how to do free-motion quilting, while also creating fun projects.  

She goes over all the basics, from tools, setting up your space, prepping for your project, threads and tension, sketching and more.  I was also pleased to see that she talks about "sitting pretty", with tips for good posture while doing FMQ.  She also shares many tips and tricks for FMQ throughout the book.

A variety of FMQ designs are covered in this book, each with easy to follow instructions and great visuals which cover FMQ designs for : loop de loops and handwriting, stippling, pebbles and chain of pearls, square meander, nesting boxes, paisley, wood grain, print tracking, swirls, custom quilting and combining designs.

There are 15 fun projects in this book, which are great projects to turn your FMQ practice into a variety of fun items for you, your home, as well as gifts.  Projects range in size from pot holders, placemats, totes, table runners, ironing board covers, laptop sleeves, to wall quilts and more.

SewCalGal hopes you can check out this book at your local quilt shop, but if you don't see it, let them know you'd like to have them carry it.  Of course, you can also find it online at Martingale and Amazon.com.

There is also a blog hop going on where you can learn more about this book, as well as find more #giveaways where you'll find ways to win a copy.

November 11th - Martingale/Stitch This
November 13th - Amanda Jean/Crazy Mom Quilts
November 14th - Amy Friend/During Quiet Time
November 15th - Angela Walters/Quilting Is My Therapy
November 17th - Juliet van derHeijden/The Tartankiwi
November 19th - Lori Kennedy/The Inbox Jaunt
November 20th - Cindy Weins/Live A Colorful Life
November 21st - Thermoweb

You can find Molly at:

http://sewwrongsewright.blogspot.com/

You can find Martingale at:

http://www.shopmartingale.com/

http://blog.shopmartingale.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shopmartingale

https://twitter.com/ShopMartingale

https://www.youtube.com/user/martingaleandcompany 

It's All About The Kids Craft Blogging Event - Day 5

Welcome to Day 4 of the It's All About The Kids Craft Blogging Event.  Today, I want to talk about how much fun doodling can be and what a perfect crafty activity it can be for family craft time.  And doodling is more fun when you have a large selection of fun colors and great pens.  Thus, I'm delighted that BIC Mark It! is one of the sponsors for this blogging event and is giving away an amazing bundle of spectacular pens that can bring out the doodler in every kid!



BIC Mark It has a fun page on Facebook where they frequently share inspirational doodling and more.  They kindly agreed to allow me to share with you some of my favorite drawings on their page, which I find quite inspirational.

Doodle ideas for clothing.

Doodle ideas for nature.

Doodle sweet notes to stick in lunch boxes, or to give to friends and family.

Doodle inspiration pictures and words.

Doodle your imagination.

Just Doodle to have fun and create smiles.

The BIC Mark It comes in a Ultra Fine, Fine, Bold, Chisel and Retractable Fine points which you can find in collections of 5, 12, 36 or individual permanent marking pencil purchase on Amazon, Target, WalMart and various craft stores.  These pens can certainly be fun for kid friendly projects, but as they are permanent markers they are not appropriate for young kids.  Consider using with family craft times, where you have good parental supervision and judgement, if you have young children.



I love to doodle with these markers. They are fun to play with using a sketchbook and various papercrafts.  As the BIC Mark It is a permanent marker, it is also excellent to use on fabrics.  But, for a kid friendly project this week I used some plain greeting cards from Michaels and ran them thru my eBosser using embossing folders.



Then it was great fun to use the BIC Mark It pens to color these greeting cards and they also make for fun kid friendly projects!

It has also been fun to doodle with these markers on plain cardstock, as well as fabric.  Later, I'll share with you some fun projects with fabric and these permanent markets, to make gifts.

Did I mention a Giveaway ?

BIC Mark It is a sponsor for the  "It's All About The Kids" blogging event, this week,  and they have donated a set of 36 Colorpermanent markers and a set of 8 Metallic markers.

If you are interested in winning these beautiful BIC Mark It pens, please enter by using the Rafflecopter form below, after you have read the rules underneath.   And, for those that are on Facebook you an get an extra entry if you like BIC Market It's page, which I highly recommend. As mentioned it is a super fun page full of inspiration and tips.  And, for those of you that take time to visit all the blogs participating in this blogging event and leave a thoughtful comment on the respective blog posts, you can also claim an extra entry for each blog you've visited in the hop this week!.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Rules for this giveaway:
1) This giveaway is open to followers of SewCalGal that reside in the US.  The sponsor will ship a copy of this prize directly to the lucky winner.
2) Followers are asked to complete the rafflecopter form, which will be used to randomly select a winner on Sunday, November 2nd.  SewCalGal will notify the lucky winner via email and this post will also be updated to announce the winner, once they are notified.

Don't forget several blogging friends are joining me this week, to help share insights on kid friendly projects.  Here is the schedule and links to all the participating blogs.  You'll also find some great giveaways in this hop, but most importantly we all hope to inspire others to help provide opportunities and encouragement to help kids find their creative side and the joy of being crafty.

Monday, October 27th 

SewCalGal - Event kick off

Tuesday, October 28th 

SewCalGal  

Sarah Vedeler Designs 

Wednesday, October 29th

SewCalGal  

Happy Cottage Quilter

Thursday, October 30th

SewCalGal
I Have A Notion

Freemotion by the River

Blue Feather Studio/Marjorie's Quilting Bee

Friday, October 31st

SewCalGal

Jacquelynne Steves, The Art of Home  

Hoffman California Fabrics  

Jean's Quilting Page  

Wendy Sheppard/Ivory Spring 

If you are a blogger or non-blogger and would like to join the fun and share insights on projects suitable for kids, tips, or tutorials, as appropriate, you are also welcome to join the fun and add a link to the linky below.  Non-bloggers can upload photos in a Flickr group called "It's All About The Kids". An InLinkz Link-up 


You can find Bic Mark It at:

http://www.bicmarkit.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BICMarkit?ref=br_tf

It's All About The Kids Craft Blogging Event - Day 2 - Graduating from Sticky University

Welcome to Day 2 of the It's All About The Kids Craft Blogging Event.  Today, I want to share a fun papercrafting project, which also works well with some baked goods (e.g. cookies), but also many other treats and handmade items.  And, I also want to share insights with you about Sticky University, as well as encourage you to visit blogs that are sharing a variety of kid friendly crafty projects this week.  After all, it really is all about the kids.....





Tombow is all about crafty goodness with many kid friendly products to help kids of all ages create and have fun.  SewCalGal has been a fan of Tombow for many years and sincerely recommends their products.  You may also recall SewCalGal was a participant in the 100 days of Tombow Campaign, where Tombow celebrated 100 years in the crafting business, by raising money for the Council of Art Education.

Recently SewCalGal was asked to participate in Sticky University, where Tombow was seeking crafty bloggers to create using their new "Xtreme Adhesive".  Participants receive a  "Sticky U Starter Kit", which contains a free sample of Xtreme Adhesive, a Sticky U certificate and a Sticky U t-shirt and mentions on the 
 Tombow USA Blog, the Sticky U Pinterest Board, Tombow’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.  And, for this blogging event, Tombow will giveaway 3 opportunities for bloggers in the US/Canada to join Sticky University and receive a Sticky U Starter Kit for you to create with too!  

While working on my certificate from Sticky University, SewCalGal put Xtreme Permanent Adhesive thru many tests with variety of crafty projects where I used paper,embossed metals, plastic, yarn, ribbons,buttons and fabric.  

 I found Xtreme Permanent Adhesive to be the strongest adhesive in a  dispenser that I've ever used, making it one of my new favorite crafty products.  

. 

As this adhesive comes in an easy to use dispenser, is non-toxic, acid-free and comes in a refillable dispenser, I'm confident it is also a kid friendly product.  SewCalGal recommends this product for 10+ ages, but it would also make an excellent product for family craft nights with parental supervision.

Of all the projects I created, my favorite kid friendly project was to use my Silhouette Cameo

to cut a bag from cardstock with an acorn motif, using Silhouette's design #48175.

My "kid" volunteer helped to make these bags, as well as the Snickerdoodle cookies that we placed inside to give to neighbors.

We had fun baking Snickerdoodles, while the Silhouette cut out the acorn boxes.

It cut two boxes per 12"x12" sheet of Fall colored card stock paper.

We lightly folded the box into shape.

And we rolled the Xtreme Adhesive dispenser on the tabs, to apply the adhesive.

And we lightly pressed the tabs with adhesive to the appropriate sides of the box.

And quite quickly, we had a very cute box ready to fill with treats!

And here is a photo showing a 3D box where I used Xtreme Adhesive to stick some beautiful handmade clay buttons from South Africa, from  Button Mad (Incomparable Buttons).  The buttons stuck easily, without me worrying about them falling off, yet the recipient of such a box could easily remove them from the paper box, to use these sweet buttons on clothing or other craft projects, in the future.  

While I've made 3D boxes many times before I found that when I filled them with odd shapes, or heavy items, the seams of the box would sometimes open up as the adhesive wasn't strong enough.  With Xtreme Adhesive we didn't have a single box to open up, even when we moved the filled boxes around and delivering them to neighbors!  

Tombow also created a short Youtube video that provides a great overview of this new adhesive:

If you are using a MAC or having problems watching this embedded video, here is a link where you can watch it directly in youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0pvqHUQYi0

Also, Tombow has created a glue guide pdf that provides a great comparison of Xtreme Adhesive to other sticky products (glue tape, liquid glues, glue sticks, and tabs) which is a very handy reference tool when considering which product you may want to use to sticking various materials together.

Don't forget several blogging friends are joining me this week, to help share insights on kid friendly projects.  Here is the schedule and links to all the participating blogs.  Some will also be hosting giveaways on their blogs too!

Monday, October 27th

SewCalGal - Event kick off

Tuesday, October 28th

SewCalGal  

Sarah Vedeler Designs  

Wednesday, October 29th

SewCalGal  

Happy Cottage Quilter

Thursday, October 30th

SewCalGal

I Have A Notion  

Freemotion by the River

Blue Feather Studio/Marjorie's Quilting Bee

Friday, October 31st

SewCalGal

Jacquelynne Steves, The Art of Home  

Hoffman California Fabrics  

Jean's Quilting Page  

Wendy Sheppard/Ivory Spring 

If you are a blogger or non-blogger and would like to join the fun and share insights on projects suitable for kids, tips, or tutorials, as appropriate, you are also welcome to join the fun and add a link to the linky below.  Non-bloggers can upload photos in a Flickr group called "It's All About The Kids".

An InLinkz Link-up

Did I Mention A Giveaway?

This is a giveaway for bloggers that want to join Sticky University, where Tombow wants crafty bloggers to create using their new "Xtreme Adhesive".  Three lucky winners will  receive a  "Sticky U Starter Kit", which contains a free sample of Xtreme Adhesive, a Sticky U certificate and a Sticky U t-shirt and mentions on the 
 Tombow USA Blog, the Sticky U Pinterest Board, Tombow’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules for this giveaway:

1) You must be a blogger that enjoys crafty goodness and want to participate in the Tombow Sticky University program, whereby you will later blog what you create and provide your honest feedback about Xtreme Adhesive.
2) You must reside in the US or Canada.
3)  Winners will be randomly selected, using the random number generator within the Rafflecopter tool and announced on this post Sunday, November 2nd

You can find Tombow at:

https://tombowusa.com/
http://blog.tombowusa.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tombowusa
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Wy8IHLe1UQdliti2SfydA
https://twitter.com/tombowusa
http://instagram.com/tombowusa

2014 Highlights on Gail Pan Designs and a Giveaway

Gail Pan (Gail Pan Designs) is a talented quilter, designer, teacher and author who lives in the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia (at the foot of the beautiful Dandenong Ranges).  I'm excited today to share insights with you on one of Gail's books released in 2014 "Simply Christmas 2014", but first I want to mention some other very exciting things that Gail has done this year:



Gail created a new BOM program called "'A Merry Christmas BOM", which is a six month BOM program for retail stores.  You can find a list of shops that have hosted this BOM program on Gail's blog but also feel free to share her flyer for this BOM with your favorite quilt shop, to let them know you'd like them to host such a BOM program.  

Gail published her first book with Martingale, Patchwork Loves Embroidery: Hand Stitches, Pretty Projects

She designed a sweet line of fabric  for Red Rooster Fabrics called "Baskets in Bloom", and designed a free downloadable pattern for this collection.  This fabric line was released in September 2014.

Gail Pan will also be at Quilt Market/Houston.  For those attending, be sure to pop by Gail's booth #2117 to see all of her new books and patterns and meet her in person.

Lastly, her fun book called "Simply Christmas 2014" was released earlier this year.  It has 8 beautiful projects to make for your home or as a gift!

Projects  all come with excellent instructions and visuals.  The designs include several small wall hangings, a cushion, a table doily, pincushion, and table mat.  Of course the stitchery designs that are provided could also be used to make an endless possibilities of projects, including pillows or full size quilts.

You should be able to find this book in your favorite quilt store, but if not don't forget to let them know you'd like them to carry it.  They can place wholesale orders for this book directly thru Gail Pan Designs.



And, don't forget you can find Gail Pan Designs at:

http://gailpandesigns.typepad.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gail-Pan-Designs/137677826277003

Wholesale orders can also be made directly to Gail Pan Designs.

Did I mention a Giveaway?

Gail Pan has kindle sent a couple of copies of this book to sponsor a giveaway for followers of this blog.  SewCalGal will gladly ship to lucky winners anywhere in the world.  Winners will be randomly selected using the rafflecopter form below and announced here on Sunday, October 26th.  An email will also be sent to the lucky winners to notify them and they'll have 3 days to claim their prize, before another name is randomly selected.

For those participating in any of the monthly Make It A Handmade Christmas Challenge, you can also claim an extra entry for EACH month that you have participated this year.  Don't forget a new linky part for this challenge will be released tomorrow and is open for entries between the 15th and 25th of the month.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Update:  Usually Rafflecopter widget will show the winners, but I haven't figured out why this time it isn't.  But I did use the rafflecopter random number tool to pick two lucky winners and I have sent them an email to notify them:
Julie Hall F.
Pauline P.

I hope you are having fun making handmade items to decorate your home for the holidays and/or to use as gifts.  We have less than ten weeks till Christmas, which is still plenty of time to make handmade gifts, although those that started earlier this year are way ahead at being ready.