You Inspire Me To Quilt Giveaway

The holiday season is upon us. We are surrounded by so many of the people we love, the people who inspire us to quilt. Share a photo of the person or people in your life who bring you to the sewing table to create. Tell us why too. It  may be your partner, your kid, your grandmother. It might also be someone famous who inspired you or another quilter. Share it all. Tell us, who inspires you to quilt?

Post your photo on Instagram or Twitter, using the hashtag #youinspiremetoquilt. All posts will be entered to win one of these amazing prizes.

Prize 1
A 1-2 hour Skype session with me to discuss quilting. We can workshop an idea you have, take a mini class, or simply just chat. Let me help you make your quilt design dreams a reality.

Prize 2

A copy of You Inspire Me to Quilt, Eco-Pouch set, and Micro-fiber wipes (Donated by C&T Publishing). *US residents only

Prize 3

Good Neighbours fabric Bundle and a Zephyr (Cotton andSteel) bundle (Donated by Connecting Threads)

All posts shared between December 15 and  January 15 will be eligible for prizes. Post and share often! Every post is a chance to win.

If you aren't on Instagram or Twitter, now is the time to sign up! Here is a quick tutorial on Instagram. It is probably the perfect social media for quilters as it is so visual and responsive. Follow me there too! I am @cheryl_arkison.

I can't wait to see all the inspiring people in your lives!

Introducing the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club

Have you seen the news about the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club? The Mighty Lucky Quilting Club is the first monthly subscription club of its kind that focuses on challenging quilters with different aspects of the quilting process. 

Each month a new challenge is delivered to your inbox via PDF. The challenges are put together by twelve different quilters so you get twelve unique design skills. From piecing to quilting, from physical design to colour work... and everything in-between, you will learn something new each time. 

To take part in the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club you need to subscribe. You can sign up monthly or take on the whole year. Subscriptions are $5 per month or $50 for the year (that is US$). Think of it like a gym membership for your quilting skills.

Check out the trainers!

January - Krista Fleckenstein

February - Season Evans

March - Rossie Hutchinson

April - Alison Glass

May - Amy Gibson

July - Cheryl Arkison (That's me!)

August - Sarah Fielke

September - Jacquie Gering

October - Nicole Vogelsinger

November - Amanda Jean Nyberg

December - Carolyn Friedlander

Each designer/trainer will also be featured on a Crafty Planner podcast during their month. During the podcast they'll discuss the challenge and talk in depth about their design process with hot and producer, Sandi Hazelwood.

As quilters work through each month's challenge in the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club you'll be supported by the designer/trainers - who will provide tips and encouragement with a mid-month email. You'll be able to share your work and watch fellow quilters using the #mightylucky hashtag on Instagram. Also, there will be randomly selected giveaways in the form of fabric, books, patterns, and more!

Quilters will learn and share a new and exciting design concept each month through the MightyLucky Quilting Club, and by the end of the year, you’ll be amazed with where your new quilting skills have taken you! 

Oh, and there is a guild option too, don't forget to check that out.

Smooch - Using Half Circles in Quilt Design

Smooch

74'' x 53''

Depending on how you look at, it is hearts or lips. I choose to see lips. Big, juicy lips heading towards a kiss. Whether that is the first kiss of a married couple, the slobbery attempts of a toddler attempting to kiss Mama, tentative lip locks of teenagers, a son kissing his mother goodbye.

This entire quilt started as a plan to show quilters that you can use half circles just as easily as two quarter circles. Just that, in a fun design. But now I have grand plans for this quilt. But first, the details.

I used only 5 fabrics in total. Absolutely shocking for me! The lips are Cloud 9 Cirrus Solids, the background is a print from Cotton and Steel. The backing fabric is a gorgeous voile designed by Bari J. for Art Gallery. Finally, the binding is an older one I found in my stash, I think it is from Birch Organics.

Quilting was done on my Bernina 820. My Stitch Regulator is not working properly so I turned it off and just free motioned the hearts inside the lips. I used a variegated pink, then a red from Wonderful for the lips. The background is quilted with straight lines using Aurifil. There was a lot of stopping and starting on those lines, but it was totally worth it for the finished impact and texture.



It is fairly densely quilted, but with the voile backing and Quilters' Dream Cotton batting it is quite soft. Gloriously soft.

Perfect for snuggles. Because if there ever was a quilt that invited snuggles...

Small Wonders by Mary Fons - New Quilt in the Works

It isn't often that I get asked to make something with a designer's fabric. And it is less often that I say yes to the request. But when Mary Fons asked I was more than happy to respond in the positive. Mary has been tremendously supportive of my career through our relationship at Quilty and I'm happy to return the favour.

Small Wonders is her new fabric line with Springs Creative. She dove through their archives and worked with them to produce a dramatic and graphic line. The colours are out of my personal norm, but so rich. Sure to be a hit with many different audiences.

I have a plan worked out for the fabric and look forward to cutting into it this weekend. I see some playtime in my future.

Keep up with my work on this project on Periscope. Haven't heard of Periscope yet? It is the latest social media app - allowing for live broadcasts to be streamed from my phone to your phone or computer. I am enjoying it for sharing snippets from my sewing room and process posts about quilt projects. If you don't have the app you can still watch my broadcasts on Katch. My first post on this series is up there now.