June News I think that most everyone knows by now that I'm a little obsessive about how I use my time. I worry more about wasting time than about was

       
nerwsletter header Thrive

June News

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I think that most everyone knows by now that I'm a little obsessive about how I use my time. I worry more about wasting time than about wasting money. There are just too many things that I want to do and never enough time so I try to manage my time to get as much done as possible....and I'm not talking about chores!

A few months ago I started setting aside an hour (almost) every day to do some longarm quilting. It was brilliant because it recently got me through a particularly dreaded project. I was able to get through it an hour at a time. It also makes for a good brake in the day if I do it just before dinner.

Last week I made the decision to try to stay off the internet on Sundays except for checking email a couple of times. It's only been one week but last Sunday I had about 6 great hours playing with glass and quilting. Friday I am going to write a post on the blog about time management and I hope you will stop by and share your techniques for managing time.

I am still working through the Google Reader dilemma. I've narrowed it down to Feedly and InoReader. At the time of my last post I was leaning toward InoReader. Since then, InoReader started acting up on the tablet and I'm leaning toward Feedly again.

There's lots going on this month so let's get right to it. Starting with a new giveaway opportunity! This one is for 2 gradient fabrics. Enter at LuAnn Kessi' blog. LuAnn used the Sugar maple gradient as the border on a quilt made with her sun prints. Even if you don't enter the drawing you must check out her blog. She is constantly creating and has lots of great tutorials on her Pinterest page. The drawing closes Sunday.

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Abundance Gradient

 
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Blue Sky Gradient

 
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Thrive Gradient

Shop News - Thrive Fabric Palette

The Thrive palette continues as the featured palette for this month.

You can read all of the details on the blog. It has 3 gradients, a 10-piece Stash Pack set and 5 Shade packs. Shade Packs are 5 value steps in a single color. Every Thursday I share some projects on my blog I share some Electric Quilt projects created with the fabrics from this palette.

Thrive Hand Dyed Fabric Pack

Each of the palette fabrics are available for a special price of $15/yard (below the normal $18/yard price for my hand dyed fabrics). You can purchase any mix of colors and any amount of fabric in 1/4 yard increments. The minimum total order is 1 yard but that can be in 4 fat quarters. 1/4 yard orders will be made as fat quarters unless otherwise specified. These fabrics are custom dyed for you so please allow 2 weeks for shipping. You can find them in my Etsy shop

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Kits on Sale!

I am very fortunate to have two great designers that have created patterns for my fabrics. Terri Stegmiller and Deb Levy have designed some very popular kits. This is the first time that they have been on sale so if you've been considering any of the kits now is the time to buy then for 15% off! The kits will be on sale through Sunday, June 9.

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Veteran's/QOV Mystery Quilt

Last month I told you about a mystery quilt that I designed for my quilt club, Country School Quilters. We are making them for our veteran's project but you are welcome to join in and make one for anyone you want. The first clue was published May 20th and makes the blocks shown at right. The tan, red and blue one is for a veteran's quilt and the other is for a QOV.

We donate these quilts to our local veteran's hospital on Christmas Eve. The quilts are approximately 48 x 60 and we accept quilts from anyone. The veteran's are so grateful for the quilts and we have received some very heart warming thank you notes.

If you would like to make one to donate to our veteran's project or to Alycia for a QOV, read about our offer to quilt them for you and a chance to win some free fabric!

June

Back to Square One

The May clue for the mystery quilt is out. On the same post at Judy Laquidara's blog you can enter a link for your May clue. Be sure to enter each month because we will be giving away some free hand dyed fabric to one of the entrants. Even if you aren't participating it's fun to see all of the different fabric palettes that are being used to make the quilt.

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Metal Quilt Giveaway!

Have you seen the great metal quilts made by Classic Metal Quilt? They are primarily made for outdoor use but I framed mine to hang inside. I shared the idea with the owner of the company and he liked it so much that he's offering a large metal quilt to one of my readers. Read all about it on the blog and enter to win. The drawing will be Monday, June 10.

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From the Blog

I am mostly working on writing and testing the mystery quilt clues. But here are a few things that might be of interest:
* I got my summer wardrobe wrapped up with some dyed shirts.
* I finally got a few glass projects done that I'm not embarrassed to share.
* Book reviews are back this month with reviews of Truman and You're Next.
* I have finished with the Grandmother's Choice project and revealed my EQ drawings for my quilts.
* Don't forget about Thankful Thursday giveaways, this week it's a bag of hand dyed scrap bits that's attracting more attention than I expected! There will be a new giveaway announced tomorrow.

Customer Gallery

Have you made anything from fabrics that you have purchased from me? If so, you have an opportunity to win your own personal 25% discount code on non-sale items for shopping in my shop! I have a Flickr group for customers to share photos of projects made with my fabrics. Each month I draw a winner from the entries for that month. The winner receives a personal 90-day 25% discount for shop purchases.The winner will be announced here in the newsletter each month. You can see all of the customer projects in the Flickr Group. All other entries for the month will receive a 30-day 15% discount!

I have 3 great entries for you this month.

Manke-Manarola,Italy-Full>

The winner of the 25% discount is the Manorolo, Italy wall hanging from Sally Manke of Westpoint, IN. She used the fabrics from the Pink Stash pack in some of her buildings.

Patricia Caldwell birch

Patricia Caldwell shared this Birch Trees wallhanging. She used the Black gradient as her background.

Thearica Burroughs

Thearica Burroughs shared her Sultry Moon kit. She added her own great fabrics to the gradient background.

Be sure to check out the other great projects submitted by customers and add yours for a chance to win the discount next month.

Fat Quarter Drawing

Each month I draw the email names of 5 current newsletter subscribers and post them here. As a subscriber you are automatically entered. If your email name is listed below Email me with your name and address and I will send you a free fat quarter of hand dyed fabric. I will not be sending any notification beyond this so if you miss it you miss the free fabric. You also must contact me from the listed email address.

The winners of this month's free fat quarters are:

deniadaffen@_______.com

maryvandijk@_____.com

bklquilts@_____.com

theolus@_____.com

peach101@_______.net

Inspiration

Sometimes our creativity flows like a river and at other times we are totally stifled. It's during those low creativity that we need help. We turn to our books, sketchbooks and various internet sites for ideas. I want to add another site to your inspiration arsenal. The Textile Blog is an incredible resource for design inspiration. John Hopper, the blog owner, covers historical and contemporary textile design showcasing artists work in textiles. There's lot of history covered and he has several design eBooks for sale. There's an image library and video library. The next time you get stuck ina design rut check out The Textile Blog.

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Products I Love

mistyfuse30668-011000-07608-01644-05651-03791-012836-0

My favorite fusible

 
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Metal Wall Quilts

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