Hey, everyone – I’m back! Most of you know I wasn’t feeling the best yesterday, which unfortunately caused me to have to postpone my LIVE show until this afternoon. I apologize again for that – I really HATE being sick, and hate it even more when it gets in the way of keeping my nose to the grindstone. I just want to say thanks to all of you who sent me messages and well wishes while I was under the weather. You and my staff are some of the best kinds of people! You really know how to make a girl feel genuinely cared for, and I really appreciate that. As much as I don’t prefer to waste a day laying around, sometimes ya just gotta do it. I guess it’s the proof everyone needs that I am indeed human. Who knew!?
I hope you had a chance to catch me LIVE this afternoon. If you did, thanks for tuning in! I was super excited to announce the winners for the Meet Me in the Garden Stitch-Along prize drawing, and apologize again for making you all wait an extra day to find out who won. If you’re not familiar with this particular contest, this was a drawing for a $250 gift certificate amongst those of you who completed the Meet Me in the Garden Stitch-Along, and submitted a photo of your finished work. Winners were chosen completely randomly (we did the ol’ fish bowl method). In case you missed it, the winners are Pat Batulis, Jeanne Berry, and Patti Koch. Congratulations to all of you, and great work! You should all be super proud of yourselves. That quilt was not an easy task to say the least!
Since we’re on the topic of great work, we also need to talk about this week’s Sewcialites 2 block release. This time around we have Barbara Groves of Me and My Sister Designs to thank for her contribution to the Sew-Along. Me and My Sister Designs is a quilt pattern company started years ago by sisters Barb and Mary. Like many of us, their quilting journey started almost by accident after taking their first quilting class and falling in love with it. They noticed that the shop they took classes from was up for sale, which then got them thinking about the idea of starting their own business. Though they didn’t purchase that particular store, they eventually did decide to open a quilt shop. After years in business, Barb and Mary decided to sell their brick-and-mortar store to focus more on quilt pattern design, which is how Me and My Sister Designs came to be! After a lot of hard work and establishing a big name for themselves in the quilting world, their rising success continued when Moda invited the sisters to join them as fabric designers. The rest is history!
Barbara’s block, “Captivate“ is a simple and traditional block that is fun to sew. As you can see it’s made up of two nine-patch units along with eight half-square triangles divided into two units. The block is simple enough, but considering it contains everyone’s favorite half-square triangles, I’m willing to be that’s the reason it gets the “Intermediate” ranking on the skills level scale. Take a look…
Easy-peasy, right? My first hot tip on this block is that I recommend using strip piecing for the nine-patch units to save a little time. The half-square triangles will be a little more challenging but I’m sure you can handle it. Now, I know what you’re thinking – ewe! Half-square triangles! But if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times – half-square triangles really aren’t that bad! Especially if you take advantage of the slick little quilting hack called triangle paper. It really helps to prevent the “wonky” results we all fear! Don’t have any on hand and need to stock up? I highly recommend my custom designed Primitive Gatherings Triangle Paper, which you can find in most sizes on our website by clicking HERE! And trust me, anyone who uses it will tell you that my custom Triangle Paper is the BOMB! In fact, if you’ve used it in the past let me know in the comments! Tell me why you love it… or like it… or even if you hate it. I want to know! I love hearing your thoughts, both positive and negative, on pretty much anything. 
To get the full pattern and instructions for “Captivate“ , click the link below!
Fabric wise, if you’ve been following along with my progress so far you know that I’ve decided to use my Garden Gatherings fabric line for this quilt-along, leaving out the five tans. For the background I’m using a selection from the Garden Gathering Shirtings Collection, #49176 15 – a cream fabric with an adorable tiny mustard/orange floral print. Want to do yours just like mine? Click the button below to shop Garden Gatherings fabric while it’s still in stock!
Can you believe we’re already at the half-way mark with this sew-along? Crazy! In case you are still trying to decide whether or not to participate in Sewcialites 2, don’t worry about being behind. One of the best parts of this quilt-along is that you can do it on your time, however your schedule allows – you can join us at any time! Previously released blocks are posted on the Sewcialites 2 Landing Page along with my blog in the Sewcialites 2 Block Archive, which is listed in the main menu of links at the top of the page.
Newly released blocks can always be found on Kim’s blog The Jolly Jabber, along with a video tutorial on her YouTube Livestream the same day. Each designer will also post their own block to either their blog or their website on that day as well. I will also be posting each block release here on MY blog every Friday for your convenience. Fabric requirements and all block patterns will be posted on the Sewcialites 2 Landing Page, which you can access by clicking the link below. If you’d like to get automatic updates on Sewcialites 2 you can subscribe to the blog by signing up in the Email subscription box by visiting the Landing Page, or by subscribing to the YouTube channel by clicking HERE.
I hate to say it, but now that the end of the day is approaching any burst of energy I might have had motivating me throughout the day has long been spent. As much as I’d like to hang around for the rest of the evening with all the lucky ducks who are at The Gathering for the Cabin Fever retreat this weekend, I really think I need to get home and rest so that I can make a legit day of it tomorrow. You know how it is… I don’t have time to be sick! But if I don’t slow down a little for the next couple of days so my body can recoup, I’m just going to make it worse. So, with that being said, I’m outta here for the night! Before I go however, I do need to say congratulations to Colleen F. and Diane P. – You both win a prize for your comments here on the blog last week! Please remember that I do not post last names or email addresses for your privacy, so if you think you’re one of the lucky winners this week please be sure to check your email. You can also contact Heidi at heidin@primitivegatherings.us if you have not already received a prize confirmation letter from her. She will use your email address to confirm that you are in fact the winner (if you think you are a winner but have not received a prize confirmation email, please be sure to check your spam folder – it’s not often but our emails occasionally will end up there)!
Alright, I’m off! Time to go take a nap. I will miss you all but I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, if you didn’t get a chance to catch me LIVE today I really think you should watch the replay… I covered some of the exciting and highly anticipated new projects that are now available to order here at PG. You can check it out by hitting the link below! Have a great weekend and I will see you all next week. Take care! ~Lisa