Sew Kind of Wonderful Blog Hop: Under the Big Top (and a giveaway!)

Welcome to today's stop on the Sew Kind of Wonderful Blog Hop.

I'm so happy to be a part of sharing my experience with the great items available from the fabulous ladies from Sew Kind of Wonderful.

In case you are not familiar with the Quick Curve Ruler (QCR), and have been wondering if you too could conquer curved piecing, I can wholeheartedly say a definite yes!

Jenny was generous enough to send me the QCR and a copy of their sampler quilt pattern, Curve It Up.

I had a fat quarter stack of Kona Dimensions (you can find them here), a version of my favorite Kona solids with a wonderful honeycomb/hexie texture. The texture is especially beautiful on the lighter colors.

And I knew the colors would just pop against black.

I worked my way through the whole pattern, block by block. By the end, I had cut and successfully sewn many different curves, from very gentle ones to a few that were a little less gentle. The ruler makes everything easy to cut. And each part of the block construction gives you plenty of wiggle room, so you can easily trim and match all the components. There are plenty of illustrations to guide you through each block, step by step.

I also love that there is very little fabric waste. Cutting the curved pieces for my grandson's animal quilt with this ruler would have saved a LOT of fabric.

This was the first block I made. I thought it would be my favorite.

And then I made this one. I would love a whole quilt made with this block.

The pattern calls for 15 fat quarters, but I only had 14 to work with, so I had to make some creative "design decisions" along the way in order to have enough fabric. This accounts for several blocks with a lot more colors than I had planned. When I made the "dresden" and "fan" blocks, the name for the quilt popped into my mind: "Under the Big Top." 

Although there are some really great curved border options in the pattern, there was  LOT going on with all the strong colors and graphic design. So I opted for simple 2" sashing between each block to give the eye a place to rest and let each block shine on its own.

 

 

 

 Please go and check out Jenny’s blog and shop. You can also join the Sew Kind of Wonderful mailing list to get news of any new patterns or promotions. There is going to be a linky party on the Sew Kind of Wonderful blog on Friday 29 through 31 August – you can link up any quilt or block made using the Quick Curve Ruler. If you haven’t tried a QCR project yet, never fear, there’s a chance to win a ruler during the bloghop and have a go. You can find plenty of inspiration on the bloghop so please go and check out the other participants!

Monday 18 August	http://quokkaquilts.com
Tuesday 19 August	www.cluckclucksew.com
Wednesday 20 August	www.fromthebluechair.com
Thursday 21 August	liveacolorfullife.net
Friday 22 August	www.happyquiltingmelissa.com
Monday 25 August	www.greenfairyquiltsblog.com
Tuesday 26 August	http://blog.sewbittersweetdesigns.com
Wednesday 27 August	www.pleasant-home.com
Thursday 28 August	http://www.lucymade.wordpress.com AND http://msmidge.blogspot.com.au
Friday 29 August	www.dontcallmebetsy.com

The bloghop is going to be followed by a 'Curve it up' Challenge Quilt-a-long on the Sew Kind of Wonderful blog starting in September, so join in the bloghop, get inspired and get ready to Curve Up!

 GIVEAWAY!
The wonderful ladies are generously giving away a copy of one of their patterns. Just go to their website and check out all the patterns they have to offer, then come back and comment on your favorite. Since I seem to be in a "solids" phase right now, I would also love to know if you enjoy sewing with solids. A winner will be randomly chosen on Tuesday, August 26th.

The giveaway is over and the winner is #6, Janet, who said,

Janet MAugust 21, 2014 at 5:07 AM

My favorite pattern from Sew Kind of Wonderful (at the moment) is Metro Lattice. I don't know if this is doable for a first curved piecing project but I'd like to give it a try!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Sew Kind of Wonderful. I received a free ruler and a copy of the Curve It Sampler pattern in exchange for my participation in this blog hop. My opinions are based on my hands-on experience with the products. 

I'm linking up here today too!