Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Postcard From Sweden Parade of Quilts Link Up

It is HERE and it is as good as Christmas IMHO! Oh the eye candy on Instagram! The teaser posts, the artful shots, the sheer joyous colour out there! Much needed on these recent grey, gloomy, rainy, and in a lot of cases, snowy, days. We even had snow flurries from time to time here this morning and about 1/4" (yep, I know that measurement well) on the patio table and deck rails, like what??

The linkup is below, but first let's visit my most generous sponsors. (note that I am not affiliated with any of the sponsors, but I am an affiliate of Craftsy).  Sponsors! I never dreamed when Helen and I started talking about making this quilt together, and I said,
me: Maybe we could put it out there if any others want to join us?
Helen: Oh, that's a good idea!
me: We could host a QAL!
Helen: You're a good organizer; you can put out the word...


...so I did, much like when Tish and I decided to make the Swoon mini together. However. This one kind of 'went viral'. I owe much of that to Tanya of Tanya Quilts in Colorado. She bought a kit from
Stitch Stash Diva, and she wrote on her blog that she was going to join Helen and me (that's correct English, don't worry. Here's a wee English lesson: 'she's going to join... me or I?  me!  So use me, but always put yourself second. It's polite, right?)

Where was I?! Tanya. She said she was going to join Helen and me in this PfS QAL. Her readers went, wait, what? My followers on IG and my blog went, wow, yeah! and then I suddenly had an email from Tayva, lovely owner of Stitch Stash Diva wanting to sponsor my QAL because kits had been flying out of her shop....

Helen suddenly got an email from the over-the-top lovely and talented Kelly of Jeli Quilts,
saying she'd like to offer a prize, as she'd seen the excitement and participation building up on IG. (sidenote: I see Kelly has just released a new fabulous rainbow pattern...you'll find it through that link to her shop, which is an affiliate link, but I don't get anything if you buy patterns from Kelly; however, if you buy supplies to make one of her patterns, then I'd get a small commission, and thank you, so much!)

And then! I got another email from
Mad About Patchwork, asking if they could sponsor my QAL because one of the ladies who works there follows my blog (who knew?😄) and they'd noticed a spike in kit sales...

So I knew that there were several planning to quilt along with us who lived, as Helen does, in the UK, and I saw a post on Instagram where Kelly said kits were available through...
The Tartan Reel, so I asked Janey if she would like to offer kits and a prize for those participating, and got a resounding yes!

Boom! Four sponsors just like that!

What are they offering as prizes once again? The original list and details about each of their shops can be found here, but in a nutshell,

Jeli Quilts: $30 worth of patterns

Stitch Stash Diva: Winner's choice of either a quilt backing and binding set OR a $75 gift card; includes free shipping

Mad About Patchwork: a $50 gift certificate, shipping not included

The Tartan Reel: one Elizabeth Hartman pattern, a Kona bundle and a Kona colour chart

Super-exciting prizes, right? Now, if you missed it a few posts back, on April 24 I'm starting my actual second annual QAL--this Postcard from Sweden was just totally unforeseen, but what a fun ride it's been! My annual QAL is for Plus Playtime, my quilt that was featured in Benartex's ezine, Modern by the Yard. It's a free pattern still, available for download by clicking on the ezine cover on the sidebar of their blog. You can check out more photos and info about it here. It's going to be a fairly quick make, but I've spread it out a bit so you can 'suh---lide' it on in with your regularly scheduled projects. 😎  I'm doing the one for the hop in a more adult modern vibe.
Yup, there are going to be lots of prizes...and, breaking news! Tayva of Stitch Stash Diva is going to make up kits available for purchase! Pinch me! More details next week.

Grab a java, a tea, a glass of vino or du vin, and visit these wonderful, colourful pieces of our quilty rainbow-loving hearts, thanks to Kelly's ingenuity in creating and offering for free a lovely pattern.
One more thing! Did anyone see the crocheted (check it out Judy!) version of Postcard from Sweden created by Alice @thebuttonship and offered for free on Ravelry? Kelly posted it on Instagram today. Wow!



Update: Winners!
Ms Random Number Generator picked the following numbers:

#11 Heidi @ sewnheidi wins the prize from Jeli Quilts
#8 Roseanne @ Home Sewn by Us wins the prize from Stitch Stash Diva
#3 Lisa of Sunlight in Winter Quilts wins the prize from Mad About Patchwork
#12 Rochelle of Rochelle S on Flickr wins the prize from The Tartan Reel

Thank you all so very much! Winners have been notified by email.

17 comments:

  1. It's fun to read how it all came together. I'm looking forward to seeing all the different versions. How you keep up with stitching, quilt alongs and blog hops is pretty amazing!

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  2. I can't wait to see all the great versions of postcard. Someday I'll get around to making one of my own.

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  3. Thank you for hosting this quilt along!

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  4. Guess who forgot to take a decent photo of her flimsy. Hmm. I love seeing all that color in those links!

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  5. So many generous prize donors! I love seeing how the quilting community plays so nicely together :) Thanks again for all your hard work putting this together, Sandra!

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  6. Hi Sandra,
    Oooh, I can hardly wait to check out all of the PfS finishes! Thanks for hosting this QAL. I appreciate it so much as I am 100% sure I would NOT have a flimsy out for quilting right now without it. Thank you to all the sponsors as well - fabulous gifts! ~smile~ Roseanne

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  7. Such an awesome QAL. I am still cutting out my triangles, but hopefully I will move on to the fun part soon!

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  8. You are such a busy woman right now, Sandra!! It's fun to see all the linkups, quilt alongs and efforts you are doing in blogland.

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  10. Sandra, I'm struggling to link up with my Instagram feed as there's no button on the "add your link" page! I've loaded a picture (number 10) but it's linked itself to your feed (Doh!)
    Anyway, anyone wanting to have a look I'm @harrysmum2 :-)
    Thanks for hosting a great QAL and giving me the kick up the bum to get this quilt made!!

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  11. Beautiful versions, all of them!

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  12. I'm laughing at your musings over Me and I. Had this conversation with my son on Monday and had to go through the same reasoning about when to use "me" versus "I". He was not happy with the logic.

    Thank you for a wonderful quilt along. I will be getting my top quilted soon. I have procrastinated making this quilt for 3 years and now it is done and I LOVE IT. And your sponsors are fantastic. Thank you.

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  13. Well done with the QAL. Awesome sponsors and prizes. Looking forward to Plus Playtime.

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  14. Our language is such a mystery to some. I, too, cringe when I hear that "I" when it should be me. "Me" is a word that needs to be used sometimes. You would say 'she's going to join...me? So why would you change it to "I" just because there is another name there. There is also a great misuse of "myself".
    But besides that, thanks for your patterns, QAL and inspiration.

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    1. Oh lots of things irk me, in the misuse of our language, Katie! And yes, strange language and spelling indeed! I used to tell my French students who complained about French, uh, what about English? What does this spell? 'ghoti' they'd say go-tee. Nope, it's fish. ??? 'gh' from enough, 'o' from a bunch of women, 'ti' from commotion, nation, etc. Go figure. thanks for the comment, and so that I can respond privately next time, in case you happen to come back here, spell out your email if you like, your choice! ephdra at gmail dot com would be mine. :-)

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  15. I am so happy for your successful event Sandra. How fun!! Also, the quilts - oh my gosh - they are all stunning. Great job!

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  16. Hi Sandra: Thank you so much for holding the quilt along, for me it pushed me to make a quilt I've wanted to make for a while and it was fun to have a tribe to do it with. I'm so happy to have this beautiful quilt.

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