Who Won the Giveaways for WEEK #9?

Week9-CoinPursePrizeThanks to everyone for your enthusiastic response to our entire Sew Along, and Week 9 in particular  ; )  Without further delay, the winners of my personally curated Marcus fabric bundle and Vintage Coin Purse Kit are:

  • Laurie Smith
  • Grace Thorne
  • Kim Lange

Congrats to all – we’ll be in touch about your prizes.  And remember, everyone, you still have a chance to win the Grand Prize basket when you comment on the Big Reveal Blog post (October 3).   –   lisa

Marcus Sew-Along, WEEK #9

SAL-LisaBlockOnMatCROPPEDHi, I’m Lisa Shepard Stewart, marketing manager at Marcus.  If you’re a regular reader of our website, blog posts, press releases and newsletters, chances are I’ve written it.  In addition to working part-time for Marcus, I own a company called Cultured Expressions, specializing in the creative use of authentic African textiles for decorating, quilting, sewing and crafts.

Well, if you’ve followed us this far in the sew-along, you’re likely already a big fan of Repro prints.  But even if you’re like me, and the Repros aren’t necessarily your go-to category when you quilt, I’d encourage you to try mixing them in with your favorites and see what happens.  (The many deep, saturated colors and earthy tones of some repros would look great pieced in with bogolan / mudcloth from Mali or even Indian raw silks for a different take, but I digress…)

By now I know you can’t wait for the big reveal of the “Friends & Companions” quilt next week, so let’s get on with the instructions for the final block!  For this block, you’ll need the following from Paula Barnes Companions:     1035-0112 Black, 1034-0111 Burgundy, 1702-0116 Sage, 1038-0188 Beige, 1033-0128 Cheddar

Cutting Instructions:

— from Burgundy, Sage, and Cheddar:  Cut (1) strip 1½” x 15″ long
— from Black, Sage: Cut (4) squares 1½”
— from Beige:  Cut (4) strips 1½” x 2½” and (4) strips 1½” x 3½”

                        (OR Cut one strip 1½” wide x at least 28″ long (for Alternate piecing method)

Block Instructions (Read thru all steps before you begin)SALHowTo1

1. Sew burgundy strip to sage strip. Sew cheddar strip to the other side of the sage. Press. From this pieced strip, cut (4) 3½” sections.

2.  Sew one sage square to each of the four 2½” beige strips. Sew one black square to each of the four 3½” beige strips.*

SAL-Howto2

Note: In the first photo, the beige strip under the machine needle is about to be trimmed down to 2.5″ as the first two were. Next, the units are simply cut apart, then pressed.

(*As an alternate piecing method, stitch the first square to the beige strip. Without removing the piece from the sewing machine, trim the beige strip to 2½” long, Stitch the next sage square to the remaining length of beige strip, and again trim the beige strip to 2½” long. Repeat until you have the four green-tipped strips, and four black-tipped strips. Cut strips apart; press.

3. Stitch the green-tipped strips to the four Rail Fence sections, lining up the sage square and cheddar strip as shown.

4. Stitch the black-tipped strips to the units, lining up the black square to the burgundy side as shown.SAL-Howto3

5. Join the four units as shown; square up for an unfinished block size of 8.5″.

(Download the PDF version)

Week9-CoinPursePrizeRemember to leave a comment below for your chance at this week’s goodies – a bundle of Marcus fabrics in dark reds, one of my favorite palettes, and a Vintage Coin Purse Kit, a gift from Cultured Expressions, so you can create your own.  Good Luck, everyone!  

With your nine blocks now complete, we all THANK YOU for participating, and we hope you’ve enjoyed the process so far! Congratulations — your efforts will soon be well rewarded  ; )  See you next week for the Big Reveal!!  Late to the party?  Start from the beginning!

Our Designer SEW-ALONG Starts Today!

SALButtonHORZ14

Are you ready?  Today we launch “Friends & Companions” our first designer Sew-Along, featuring quilt blocks created by MB Friends & Companions Kit Fabrics 2some of your favorite Marcus designers, using Paula Barnes Companions prints!  Get the details here.   Not quite ready yet?  Just follow the blog posts and catch up as soon as you can.  By visiting each designer’s blog on her designated week, you’ll get the instructions for that designer’s block.  Leave a comment, and you’ll also be entered into weekly prize drawings during the 10-week sew-along!  We begin today with Pam Buda…here’s the full schedule:

8/1 Pam Buda ~ Heartspun Quilts
8/8 Paula Barnes ~ Red Crinoline Quilts
8/15 Sarah Maxwell ~ Homestead Hearth
8/22 Pati Violick ~ Marcus Fabrics
8/29 Gloria Parsons ~ Olde Green Cupboard
9/5 Nancy Rink ~ Nancy Rink Designs
9/12 Mary Ellen Robison~Red Crinoline Quilts
9/19 Dolores Smith ~ Homestead Hearth
9/26 Lisa Shepard Stewart~ Marcus Fabrics
10/3 Red Crinoline Quilts ~ Quilt Revealed! SAL-Prizes

At the end, we reveal the gorgeous quilt (trust us, you’ll love it!) and we’ll also choose one winner will receive our Grand Prize goodie basket.  Here’s a sneak pic of just a few of the basket contents…thanks to our friends at MistyFuse and Martingale, and to all of our designers.  Sew along with us each week!

My Love & Glory Project…

LoveGloryFinishedLisaRecently I met someone who heads up an organization called the Foundation for Military Families, based in South Jersey. Long story short, I offered to see if we had a patriotic quilt available to send to him as a door prize for an upcoming event.  We didn’t, so I decided to whip one up, using Faye Burgos’ beautiful (and convenient) LOVE & GLORY panel and some coordinates.  Just a few hours later, this is the result, along with a few SxS pix.  The fabric really does all of the work, all you have to do is decide on a few borders.  Here I used an ivory ground print and Faye’s Strip-It design.LoveGloryInProgress  I pieced the back from three sections, arranging them from light to dark blue. After some light quilting and trimming, I turned the backing to create a faux binding, secured with zigzag stitching along the edge of the quilt.

The wall hanging will be shown at two of the group’s upcoming events, then finally it will be presented as a gift to a military family.

Patriotic prints aren’t my usual first choice of quilt fabrics, but as it turns out, this was the ultimate quilt project — simple, fun and greatly appreciated by the recipient organization!  The LOVE & GLORY collection is perfect for Flag Day and July 4th celebrations…       —  lisa s