Here's the comment she posted:
Thank you to Quiltmaker for including us in such a fun and well-organized tour, and thank you to everyone who participated!
Even though the blog tour is over, you still have more chances to win prizes and see fabulous blocks on the Quilty Pleasures blog, so be sure to head over there when you have a chance!
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We are very excited to participate in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour! Today, we will be giving you a little sneak peek at some of the quilty goodness you will find in Vol. 7, which goes on sale May 7th. Get your hands on a copy to see these lovely blocks (plus many many more!):
Rainbow Brick Road by Pippa Armbrester, featuring Kona Cotton Solids
Apron Strings by Celine Perkins, featuring assorted fabrics from Darlene Zimmerman
Fizzy Pop by Kay Gentry, featuring Mixmasters: Fizz by Patrick Lose
Briar Rose by Tiffany Hayes; Tiffany Hayes used light setting triangles and block backgrounds making the block elements float on this diagonal set. Fabric: Assorted Artisan Batiks by Lunn Studios. Blocks: Basket of Blooms (block #642), designed by Erin Russek; Double Crossed (block #654), designed by AnneMarie Chany; Diamond Crossing (block #613), designed by Lisa Bassett.
THE GIVEAWAY
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a free copy of 100 Blocks Vol. 7! A lucky winner will be chosen at random on Monday, May 6th.
Quiltmaker is posting daily blog tour updates and giveaways on the Quilty Pleasures blog (including a Great Big Bundle giveaway at the end) so be sure to check there often for more chances to win some goodies!
Thank you for stopping by, and good luck!
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Congratulations to Tammie Schaffer, the lucky winner of our 10,000+ Fan Appreciation Giveaway on Facebook! She will receive the Ultimate Kona Prize Pack, which includes a Bounty of Basics box, a full set of pre-cut hexies, a Kona color card, and a We Love Color book!
Tammie blogs over at craftytammie.com, so you should definitely stop by and say hello if you have a moment. Thank you to all of our fans who helped us get to such a big milestone! And if you did not win this time, not to worry! There will definitely be more giveaways in the future!
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We recently traveled to Austin, Texas for the first ever QuiltCon, a four-day conference presented by the Modern Quilt Guild. As you can probably already tell from all of the coverage that has been circulating the internet for the past few days, it was an absolute blast! A great mix of wonderful, talented people with a genuine passion for the art of quilting. There were exhibitor booths, vendors, lectures, and workshops...not to mention a breathtaking modern quilt show with some truly inspiring quilts!
We had our own booth at the show, filled with quilts from some of our favorites, including:
We also had a Creation Station where people could sit back, relax, and talk fabric while decorating a tote bag with all kinds of mini-charms, pre-cut hexies, fabric paint, etc. It was so much fun, and people got so creative!
People also decorated and personalized hexies to be included in our QuiltCon Memory Quilt, which will soon be assembled and put on display in the Robert Kaufman office - a great way to remember the QuiltCon experience and all of the new people we got to meet!
And of course there were some fab giveaways!
And some fun little tattoos to really get people into the QuiltCon spirit!
Top left: Texas sales rep David, Laurie Wisbrun, and RK marketing manager Allie Heath. Bottom: Darlene Zimmerman and the EZ Quilting ladies.
Throughout the weekend, there were all kinds of really interesting lectures, workshops, and demos from some of the most knowledgeable, talented people in the industry. (You can watch a lot of the lectures for free on Craftsy!)
Jill and Amy of American Patchwork and Quilting gave a great demo all about triangles.
Our own RK design director, Evie Ashworth, along with designer Laurie Wisbrun were on the "All About Fabric Design" panel moderated by Kim Kight of TrueUp.
A huge part of the QuiltCon experience was seeing all of the brilliant modern quilts on display. Here are just a few of our favorites:
1. QuiltCon Block Challenge quilt pieced and quilted by Elizabeth Hartman 2. Don't Blink by Caro Sheridan 3. Oodalolly by Rachel Hauser 4. Impracticality by Angela Walters 5. Over the Rainbow by Janice Ryan 6. Pods by Heather Grant 7. Local quilt by Carolyn Friedlander 8. EssbeeCon by Jim Smith & Andy Brunhammer 9. RonQuilt: The Ron Swanson Quilt by Monico Solorio-Snow
Now can you see why we enjoyed QuiltCon so much? There was so much to do, so much to see, and all in such a great city with amazing people and amazing food (to quote Austin-native Laurie Wisbrun, the cuisine is "Slap-yo-mama good").
So with that, we'd like to thank the Modern Quilt Guild for putting together such an inspiring, well-organized event! We can't wait to come back and do it all again next time!
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QuiltCon is getting closer and closer (only a week away!) and we can barely hold in our excitement! We know it's going to be an awesome few days in Austin, seeing all of our quilty friends and hopefully getting to make some new ones, too! Plus there are going to be some seriously amazing quilts EVERYWHERE, which is pretty much heaven for us.
We'll have our own booth at the show, so if you are going to be attending QuiltCon come February 21st, be sure to stop by Booth #117 to take part in some fun contests and maybe play with a pre-cut hexie or two! And of course, our display will be filled with some of our newest fabric collections:
1. Architexures 2. Remix 3. Fancy Flight 4. Kona Cotton Solids 5. Modern Bliss 6. Radiance 7. Don't Be Crabby 8. Quilter's Linen 9. Suzy's Dollhouse 10. Quilter's Linen Dots 11. Roughing It 12. Quilter's Tussah
If you're not attending QuiltCon this year, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram because we will definitely be posting pictures throughout the show. But if you are...then get ready for an AMAZING, quilt-filled weekend in Austin!!!
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In 2011, we asked for your help to expand our range of Kona® Cotton Solids, and with your input, we added 28 new colors to bring us to a total of 243!
Well we have some great news for all of you fabric lovers...this year we're adding even more colors!!!
Because all of your feedback was so valuable last time, we'd like to ask for your help once again. Are there any colors you think we're missing that could complete our range? This is your chance to let us know!
Your suggestion might just persuade us to add that one color you've been searching and searching for, but could never find!
If you'd like to reference our current range of colors, you can find them all in the Kona® Cotton Solids section of our website.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!
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Earlier this year, Jeffrey and Ravit Feldman (close friends of the Kaufman family) received the news that their 2 and 1/2 year old daughter Zoe was suffering from a rare form of cancer.
After hearing of Zoe's condition, a group of quilters from Agoura Hills, CA got together and made dozens of quilts, pillowcases, and other items for Zoe and the other patients at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (a big thanks to Cheryl Cohen for sharing these pictures with us!).
Zoe and the other children loved their gifts, and the quilters plan to continue making projects for kids in need.
Currently, Zoe is still undergoing treatment, but if you'd like to see how she is doing or show your support, Jeffrey regularly updates a Facebook page he created called Zoe Feldman - "I Got This!" That title kind of says it all about how Zoe has handled all of this, and whether you have been personally touched by cancer or not, we can all learn a thing or two from the strength and positive attitude the Feldmans have shown through everything.
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So what do you think about Pantone's choice? Are you smitten with Emerald? If it was up to you, what would be your color(s) of the year? Leave us a comment below if you'd like a chance to win the bundle.
The winner will be announced on Tuesday, December 11th.
]]>The responses to the video have all been so positive, and we're thrilled to see such a high level of interest in this process! We've also gotten a number of really good questions, so Ken has kindly offered to address them here:
It’s really fulfilling reading all of the positive responses to my little video. I have also read several comments concerning the question of why more printing isn’t done in the U.S.A. Let me try to explain. It takes three things to produce a quality quilt fabric: 1) the highest quality printing capability, 2) low production minimums, and 3) a cost structure that works at retail. Unfortunately these three basic needs have been for the most part unavailable in the U.S. and may have never quite existed. With that being said, there still is a printing industry in the U.S. It primarily focuses on the mass market, military, industrial, and home furnishing market (which garners such high price points that local printing is still viable). Unfortunately, if a quilt fabric manufacturer were to rely on domestic printing, the likely result would be price points too high for retail. It is, however, heartening to know that the quilt industry in the U.S. is a 3.5+ billion dollar industry, and that industry stands on the shoulders of thousands of retail fabric stores, designers, computer CAD artists, textile manufacturers, and distributors providing thousands of jobs across the country. The imported fabric price points, on the whole, make this all achievable. There are however, some instances where domestic printing can meet our expectations and we are exploring these opportunities - in fact, we have a collection coming out this spring that will be printed in the U.S. - Whisper Prints, released April 2013. I hope my explanation is helpful and hope my video inspires appreciation for the hard work that involves so many in the making of quilting fabrics.
- Ken Kaufman, CEO
So if you're reading this and your name is Peggy H, please contact SEI at seiblog[at]shopsei.com to receive your prizes!
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