UTILITY-STYLE QUILTS FOR EVERYDAY LIVING BLOG TOUR

Hello sweet old and new friends,

Been a minute since I have blogged, Wow time flies when you are busy. I’m so honored to be a part of this blog tour, for the very sweet and talented Sharon Holland's, new book Utility-Style Quilts for Everyday Living (Landauer 2017).  I have a feeling that I may need to introduce myself, I will be quick, I’m Kori and I’m a pattern designer and quilt shop owner here in northeast Ohio in the rural town of Fowler. My eccentric little studio is in a one-room schoolhouse that sits in between a cornfield and the gingerbread house where I grew up! My passion is design and curating unique products to make awesome quilts and sewn goods! Well, enough about me because I am really excited to show you what I have made out of Sharon’s awesome book Utility Style!

Oh wait, let me back up one second. Sharon and I met at Quilt Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio while she was assistant editor of Sew-it and Quilt-it. I had a booth there and she came and asked me to submit something to the magazine. At that point though I didn’t think I was worthy of something like that but I guess Sharon saw something in me at the time that I didn’t in myself. Fast forward a couple of years and with some new courage and cheerleading from my loved ones, I was on my way to my first market to sell my patterns to quilt shops and hopefully make some great connections. One of my hopes was so to see Sharon and I thought to myself, if I see that sweet lady, I’m going to give her a submission to the magazine. Well I was surprised to find out that Sharon was at market on her own and finding her way to making her big start. (What’s weird is she just blogged about all this just the other day) I believe though our stars collided again and since that spring market Sharon and I have kept in touch. Funny thing is this October we ran into each other at the bus stop in Houston and she asked me to be part of this tour!!! So here we are...

{I planned on doing a big stitch to quilt with the Sue Spargo Dala thread but I think I will have mom add that later!}

this beautiful picture is Sharon's... 

I have chosen Viewpoint, the super fun modern table runner on page 31! Instead of the solid contemporary look she did with her runner, I did what she suggests in the introductions by using a large floral “to demand attention”.  The perks of having a retail store are keeping the ends of bolts and I just happened to have Sharon’s first line from Art Gallery Fabric “Gossamer”. As you can see I used many of her fabrics from this line and then added a few other goodies to make this table runner. My color version is very cottage and feminine. Speaking of color one of my favorite sections of Sharon’s book is her awesome explanation of the color theory on page 10. I felt like I was in color theory class all over again in college, plus I can here Sharon’s voice while I read it. For beginner quilters out there and for new sewists who feel intimidated by picking fabric and playing with color I highly recommend this book just for this reason on its own. I am super impressed! 

Viewpoint cuts out quick and goes together with ease, I tell you that if you need a gift for someone special this is a great project. I was planning on giving it as a Christmas gift but have decided that I’m keeping it for myself!

Anyway, this table runner could be cut in the morning, pieced in the afternoon and the next day quilted! I am a visual pattern maker so Sharon’s diagrams were great and her directions are awesome to follow!!! Like the book’s runner, I did simple line quilting.  Machine quilting on my Bernina is not my favorite because I’m a perfectionist and somehow it doesn’t always come out exactly how I want. However I’m thinking that I may pass this off to my mom in the near future and have her put some big stitches in to add a little extra texture and pizazz! Have you tired the utility quilt stitch yet?  If not look on page 33 again Sharon had great instructions. Side Note: Im lucky to have a mom who does an amazing big stitch and she has found that adding the big stitch after do the quilting is awesome because your project essentially is already basted.  My biggest challenge was making sure that my binding didn’t slip so my half square triangle border would look great and the points would be perfect just like Sharon’s!

I want you to go visit two websites:

The first is Sharon’s blog and website.  Get ready to be inspired…

https://www.sharonhollanddesigns.com/blog/utility-style-quilts-for-everyday-living-blog-tour

The second is Sharon’s Publisher if you want to buy yourself this great book! 

http://landauerpub.com/utility-style-quilts-for-everyday-living.html

I will be ordering Sharon’s book for my shop so if you local in the coming weeks pop on by to see Viewpoint and check out this awesome new book!  I hope to make a big announcment about Sharon coming to the shop this summer.  Sharon and I have some logistics to work out so please stay tuned. 

Next up on the #UtlilityStyleQuiltsFELTour tommorow  is Silvia Sutters - A Stranger View

Please though visit the other blogs and past blogs from the tour.  Here is the whole list:

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  ME 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 - Homewood Home

Congrats Sharon on such a beautiful book and thank you for asking me to be part of the blog tour.  What an awesome heirloom to pass onto to your loved ones. When they read it they will hear your voice and flip threw the pages see your amazing talent!  

Until next Time friends...always be Creative!

Kori