Shape Family Design Challenge!
I was chatting with my favourite stitching buddy over coffee several weeks ago, and I asked her, "What do you think would be the best way to help people make connections between different shapes, so that they can design their own quilts?" I had in mind listings that said, "This shapes goes with these..." or something like that...
She answered, "I would want to play with my hands! I'd want a whole collection that I could sit with and arrange."
Lightbulb!
Since opening our online English Paper Pieces Store last month, our Shape Family packs have, by far, been the most popular item, all thanks to my friend Lucy. They're basically a mixed bag of 9 different shapes that can play well with the hexagon: Equilateral triangles, jewels, 6 point diamonds, and so on. It was playing with these shapes in the way Lucy suggested that led to the Fire Cracker quilt above and the other designs below. It was that play that made me think a design challenge, where YOU stitch up a project of your own would be RAD!
Interested? Read on!
Ok first, the loot. There's two Prizes! The first prize, above, is a lucky door prize, and it's happening over on Instagram, and it's super easy to enter. You could win a fat quarter bundle of Anna Maria Horner's Skipping Stones, Four light coloured 50 wt Aurifil spools of thread (I'll let you choose from what I have in stock), and three large packets of your choice of paper pieces! Simply:
1. Buy at least one Shape Family Pack from my shop.
2. Arrange them in a fun pattern, using at least 2 of the shapes together.
3. Post a picture of your paper pattern on Instagram and tag me @talesofcloth, #talesofclothEPP and #shapefamilychallenge.
4. When the competition closes at midnight 30th September, 2016, Sydney time (AEST) a winner will be chosen at random. Easy!
An example of a tiling pattern made with 4 shapes in the Shape Family Packs.
The BIG Prize, happens here and has been very generously sponsored by Free Spirit! You could win an 85 (EIGHTY FIVE!) piece fat eighth bundle of my favourite True Colors prints by Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Joel Dewberry, and Tula Pink (how amazing is that!), four light coloured 50 wt Aurifil spools of thread (I'll let you choose from what I have in stock), and three large packets of your choice of paper pieces!
Simply:
1. Buy at least one Shape Family Pack from my shop.
2. Arrange them in a fun pattern, using at least 2 of the shapes together and stitch it up into a finished project. It can be a mini quilt, table runner, pouch, whatever you like. And it can be hand-stitched in the traditional method, or appliqued. You can reuse shapes, purchase extra, and you can also add shapes not included (like 1" diamonds, for example.) The point is to play with different ways of tiling the shapes!
3. Post a picture of your project on Instagram and tag me @talesofcloth, @freespiritfabric, #talesofclothEPP and #shapefamilychallenge. If you don't have an Instagram account, you can write a blog or submit a photo directly!
4. I'll put up a new post on September 1st with a linky plug-in, and you have until midnight 30th September, 2016, Sydney time (AEST) to link up your project.
5. I will narrow down my favourites to 5-10, and the winner will be chosen by popular vote!
Your design can be as simple or complicated, regular or random as you like. It can be the same as someone else's - I'm sure we'll get double ups! But try to make yours unique by the way you use colour and print. You can enter for BOTH prizes, first snapping a picture of your paper layout, and then stitching it up. And you can enter the lucky door prize multiple times, taking a photo and tagging it with each idea you have, or each step of your process. Basically any relevant photo in the #EPPshapefamily will be in the running for the lucky door prize! Alright!
Over the coming weeks, I'll be blogging about different ideas for playing with your shapes, techniques for newbies to stitch them together, and how colour and print can make yours unique. (think: fussy cutting!). I really hope you'll join in!
Grab your Family Shape Pack here!