It’s a Moda Bake Shop Day!! Giveaway too…

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GIVEAWAY HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR THIS PROJECT.  YOU CAN FIND THIS PATTERN ON MODA BAKE SHOP HERE.

If you are new to the blog, welcome.  We typically put up new blog post twice daily so there is always something new and fresh here.  We host lots of giveaways too.  Click HERE and see what’s new today…

Hello…and if you’re new, welcome.   I love Moda Bake Shop days because I always get to meet new people.  Feel free to visit and look around but make sure to keep reading to learn more about the ruler giveaway by Soft Expressions.

I’m Jo:  the wife, mom, quilter, gardener, manager, website owner and blogger here at Jo’s Country Junction.  Here on the blog, I tell about quilting, family and farm news plus I host lots of giveaways (including one today).  It’s a big hat to wear but it’s a hat I love to wear.  In between feeding my farmer husband, feeding chickens, gardening, hosting a trunk show, sewing charity quilts, and like, I managed to get a quilt sewn.  Here it is, Peaks and Valleys…

If you are looking for the free pattern to make the quilt, head over to Moda Bake Shop and if you’re looking for the giveaway, read on.

The quilt all started while I was sitting at a boring meeting one evening and started doodling.  I am a known doodler.  I had just gotten a tri-recs ruler (keep reading I’ll tell you about the giveaway so you can win one soon) and was playing with the notion of triangles in a squares.  After a few minutes of doodling I figured out that I could make a deep zig zag pattern.  After looking at the quilt I decided it might be an organization nightmare for me as I am notorious for turning blocks the wrong way.  There was no way I could manage a quilt that wasn’t made from blocks!  After looking a bit closer, I figure out that the quilt could actually be made from blocks.

That got me excited about wanting to give the quilt a try.  After doing a little math, I figured out that a fat quarter bundle would be perfect for making the quilt.

I hadn’t used a tri-recs ruler before so at first it took a bit of twisting and twirling to figure out what directions to put the ruler before cutting but within a couple minutes, it was not problem.   (yes, the Tri-recs giveaway from Soft Expressions is coming soon..keep reading)

Once the quilt top was finished, my project was at a stand still.  I knew my decision on how to machine quilt this project just might make or break the quilt.  I have my own mid arm machine and do my quilting myself, but stippling is more my style.  I contacted Dawn, The Pajama Quilter, to ask for some advice.  Dawn sent me her DVD and told me to check out the flowers and ribbons section.  I watched it and my confidence grew…yep, I thought I could do it.  I loaded the quilt into the machine.  The first couple sections were just ok…then as I got going, my quilting improved.  Before long, I was liking it.

It’s not perfect but for my first try out on free handing the design, I am happy with it.  I will definitely be trying again.

Since this quilt, I decided to try another one of the quilt designs on the Pajama Quilters DVD, Wonky Feathers.  I loved that too.  I never thought I would be able to free hand any of these designs, but I did it!!  Both of the designs are on her Reloaded DVD.  I had a couple people ask if I used the workbook too…YES I did.  I watched the DVD then took the workbook to me quilting room to remind me of the design.  I am very visual so it helped a lot.

So are you wanting to make the quilt but don’t have the Tri-Recs ruler?  Soft Expressions is the perfect on-line place to shop.  Here is their link to the Tri-Recs ruler.   I bought some goodies from them a couple months ago and found their service to be fast and offered reasonable shipping.

Lucky you…they have offered to give away a ruler to TWO of my blog readers.  Just leave a comment here telling what ruler is your favorite.  After you’ve done that, you can hop over to “Make is Sew Modern” quilt book giveaway here.

Thanks for stopping by!!