Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living Blog Tour!

I am happy today to be part of the Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living blog tour! Utility-Style Quilts is Sharon Holland's new book with Landauer Publishing.

I've known Sharon for about 5 years and met her in person for the first time this past May at Quilt Market. I worked with her for two years, so I felt like I knew her well, and neither of us could believe that we hadn't actually met before! 

Let me tell you a little bit about how Sharon made this book truly special. A great quilting book requires drool-worthy quilts, obviously. But there are two other equally important components for success--fresh, appealing photography and high quality patterns. 



Guess what Sharon did before designing fabric for Art Gallery Fabrics and writing Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living
She worked for a pair of quilting magazines--Quilt-It Today and Sew-It Today. She was a jack of all trades: photographing the projects, writing instructions, illustrating the patterns, and laying out the magazine pages. Most magazines use at least 5-6 people for those tasks. Sharon did it all. Which means that this book is the complete package! If you'd like to read more about her magazine days, check out her post here. I worked with her as a tech editor and eventually creating the diagrams for projects, and her post offers a realistic glimpse of what life was like. 

Photo by Sharon Holland
Here's another of my other favorite quilts from Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living, called Sunday Paper:
Photo by Sharon Holland
Learn more about Sharon's book from this talented lady herself and see more photos of the quilts here.
For stop on this tour, I chose to make a version of Sharon's Midsommar quilt, shown here:
Photo by Sharon Holland

I reduced the measurements by 50% and sewed a perfect-sized baby quilt. I had so much fun with fabric selection in making this quilt! 

When I was digging through my scrap bins for palette inspiration, I grabbed my gray box. I thought I could create a similar look to the cream/low volume prints Sharon used in her version. Adding aquas to the mix was an easy decision--it's my favorite color, and I have plenty of fabric choices! 
Here's what I started with:

The most intriguing part of making this quilt? 
Playing around with fabric placement. I cut a variety of gray and aqua strips and started arranging and rearranging. With such simple piecing, value and pattern size was key. But it was a little...boring. It needed a pop. As you already know from seeing the main photo above, I went with a salmon/light red color. Great contrast with both the aqua and the gray, and a fun pop of color. 

Here's a quick snapshot from my phone as I was auditioning fabrics:

And the finished quilt, with a snowy backdrop. Paging through Sharon's book, I feel like she truly gives quilters permission--through words and her quilts--to mix and match fabrics, and to make do. If you don't have enough of one fabric, join pieces to make it work! Gray can be a tricky color to work with--it ranges from yellow-gray to blue-gray to purple gray. I usually try to choose match-y grays, but after seeing Sharon's quilts, I gave myself permission to mix it up and I love the result!

I chose straight line quilting that mimicked the strips and used a light gray thread. Yesterday's snowy weather was perfect for photographing this icy palette quilt!

If you'd like to take a test-drive, Landauer is offering a free pattern from Sharon's book: the Roman Stripe. Download the pattern here.

Find the book on Landauer's site here. You can also purchase a copy from Sharon and get it signed! Sharon and Landauer are graciously offering readers a chance to win a free copy of Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living! For a chance to win, leave a comment below letting me know if you made a scrap quilt in 2017. Make sure I have a way to contact you! Giveaway is open through Sunday, December 17 at 11:59 pm EST. US mailing addresses only, please.

Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure you visit all the stops on the blog tour--each day I've thought that I found a new favorite until I click on the next day's post! I hope you visited Jessica yesterday and plan to visit Cindy tomorrow to see what they've made! Make sure to check out Sarah's post as well--she also made a version of Midsommar which I really like.


Monday 12/4  Heidi Staples - Fabric Mutt
Tuesday 12/5  Amy Friend - During Quiet Time
Wednesday 12/6  Maureen Cracknell - Maureen Cracknell Handmade
Thursday 12/7  Amber Johnson - Gigi's Thimble
Friday 12/8  Karen O'Connor - Lady K Quilts Designs
Saturday 12/9  Kori Turner-Goodhart - Olive Grace Studios
Sunday 12/10  Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View
Monday 12/11  Sarah Maxwell - Designs by Sarah J
Tuesday 12/12  Jessica Swift - Jessica Swift
Wednesday 12/13  Lisa Ruble - Love to Color My World
Thursday 12/14  Cindy Wiens - Live a Colorfullife
Friday 12/15  Eleri Kerian - Sew and Tell Project
Saturday 12/16  Anjeanette Klinder - Anjeanette K
Sunday 12/17  Stephanie Kendron - Modern Sewciety
Monday 12/18  Christopher Thompson - The Tattooed Quilter
Tuesday 12/19  Susan Playsted - Hopewood Home

34 comments:

  1. is it good luck to be first?! LOL! i haven't yet made a scrappy quilt, though i have one or two books which include scrappy quilts i'd LOVE to make!!!! my next quilt definitely isn't scrappy, though, either, aha!! groseL20@hotmail.com

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  2. Oh yes, I make scrap quilts all the time for charity. They are my favorite.

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  3. Oh for sure!! Have made several scrappy quilts this year! :) LOOOOVE your baby quilt!! Awesome!!

    Thanks too..for chance to win your Give-a-way! :D

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  4. I made a baby quilt using some leftover scraps from another project. Love Sharon’s fabric collections. Thanks for the chance to win her book. grinnie1961 at gmail.com

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  5. I used a block pattern provided by Chris Dodsley on her website 'Made by ChrissieD'. I pulled fabrics from my blue scrap box and sewed them up with various white and cream pieces. It was a fun quilt to make and I donated it to my guild's charity committee.

    anndunn24(at)gmail.com

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  6. Scrap quilts - love them. I'm working on one now.

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  7. I didn't make a scrape quilt this year but I am pulling fabric for one to start in 2018

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  8. I did make a spider web scrap quilt and love it. It was a lot of work though. Love your quilt and this book.
    crazeematz@gmail.com

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  9. I have made a couple of scraps quilts in 2017. I am currently working on the BH mystery and I have two scrappy trips quilts I cut fabric for. I hope to have these two finished by year end.

    tushay3 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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  10. Hi Lisa!
    I have made several scrap quilts this year and have many more planned Trying to out a dent in my stash to make room for more purchases in 2018. Love this book!
    jpennala@charter.net

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  11. I didn't get as much quilting done this past year as I have in the previous years. I did make a scrappy table runner in 2017 and it's one of my favorites! Utility Style Quilts would be a great book for inspiration for me!

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  12. I enjoy making scrappy quilts, ty for your input on this book... happyness04431@yahoo.com

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  13. Yes, I have made two scrap quilts this year. Scrap quilts are my favorite.

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  14. Yes, I made a scrappy log cabin in 2017. I haven't quilted it yet, but I love it already.

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  15. Yes, I have made a scrap quilt in 2017. I love to use scraps of cherished fabrics and make a lovely quilt of the pieces.

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  16. Scrap quilts are my favorites. I admit they don't always work but generally they do. Jmikebalou (at) aol (dot) com

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  17. I make mostly scrap quilts, although they generally include some "scraps" cut from my stash! I just love the look of all the different fabrics all mixed together. Despite sewing with them regularly though, I seem to finish with more scraps than I started with. Love your baby quilt, such a soothing color scheme!

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  18. Your quilt is gorgeous. No I did not make a scrap quilt this year, after reading through your post maybe I will give it a try in 2018. Would love to have the book.

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  19. Very cute idea! Love the pop of color. Looks like a quick and simple quilt...although choosing the fabric always takes the longest for me! 😂 eg1409(at)gmail

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  20. I love how your quilt turned out. No I have not made a scrappy quilt this year. I have plenty of scraps waiting. rita_l_39212@yahoo.com

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  21. HELLO,yes I made two baby charity scrap quilts of blues-mix and another in grays+aquas! Thank for sharing!
    msstitcher1214@gmail.com

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  22. Yes!! My Aurifil DOM quilt is scrappy, the color wheel theme!!
    Thank you!
    kcummings71@gmail.com

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  23. I love making scrap quilts so yes, I have started several this year...one is finished!

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  24. I love scrap quilts--I am in the process of making a mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter and it has LOTS of little bitty pieces!
    barbkaup(at)(yahoo)(dot)(com)

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  25. I always have a scrap quilt in the works. I love doing string quilts as my leader/ender project while I'm working on my many projects in process.
    yoyopattycakes@hotmail dot com

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  26. Yes, I made several scrap quilts this year. It's my favorite kind of quilt to make. Thanks for the giveaway.
    gigiv13@gmail.com

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  27. Pretty quilt. I added to my scrap pile, but haven't made a quilt just yet. Happy holidays! angielovesgary2 atgmail dotcom

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  28. Yes! A favorite since I love designing my own! eg1409(at)gmail

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  29. I did! I just made a mini wall quilt with wording made from the scraps that I have. Now I just need to get around to actually getting it up on the wall. :)

    modernlymorgan @ gmail .com

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  30. Looking forward to chance to win Sharon's book. Love the colors you chose. Michele sewwhatsmoo@gmail.com

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  32. I really like the quilt you made, especially the color scheme! I also like how you alternated the width of the strips of fabric, giving the quilt more visual interest! I started a scrappy quilt this year - a double wedding ring quilt for my parents - but I haven't finished it yet. I hope to have it completely finished by April 2018. Thanks for the opportunity to enter this giveaway! Merry Christmas!
    rlkoltun@telus.net

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  33. I love your quilt and color choices!! Yes, I made a scrappy back this year - so fun and freeing, I went impov and sewed even the smallest of scraps together. Loved it. Thanks for a chance to win!

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  34. Really cute quilt that you made, love the colors, looks great. As far as a scrappy quilt, yup, made several, one of my favorites.

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