Unconventional Mini French Bull Dog Quilt and a Pug

Hi everyone - I'm excited Christopher from The Tattooed Quilter asked me to be included in his Unconventional Mini Quilt hop to celebrate his Blue Carolina fabric with Riley Blake. I designed this French Bull Dog block using the Electric Quilt EQ7 program based on his sweet Edie puppy when his fabric was releasing for market.

Although I love a great block with lots of white behind it - I loved this challenge because it makes you think outside of the box and makes you work really hard on that binding! This puppy was no exception. Who says a puppy block can't be turned into it's own mini without all the extras? I'd even say you could use it as a mug rug - but who would want to smother that face with anything other than kisses?! Then of course there's the option to make it super sized and make it a sweet area rug, or huge wall hanging. So many options!

Even though there's no details, I love the back too where you can focus on the general shape of the French Bull Dog.

Here is the original 10" x 10" block. She'd make a cute all over quilt, but also an unconventional but wickedly cute mini!

Because I had so much fun with the French Bull Dog Block, I decided to design an entire dog series with it. Next up...the Pug. I mean seriously - little Prince and Princesses? Bow ties and crowns?

Thanks so much for stopping by and thank you especially to Christopher for including me in this blog hop. It's always fun to play with new fabrics and be crazy inspired by them as I have been with your prints!. If you haven't seen the Blue Carolina fabrics Christopher designed with Riley Blake Fabrics you have got to go take a look at all of them and stock up while you can. They are all gorgeous! After you make some French Bull Dog and Pug Dog blocks of your own - I'd love to see them. Please be sure to add #kidgiddy and #dogblockseries to your post.

Disclaimer: Although I received this fabric for free, opinions are always my own. There are no affiliate links. 

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Along - Bride #17

I'm excited to share my third block (Bride # 17) for Angie (GnomeAngel) and Fat Quarter Shop's Farmer's Wife QAL. I decided to paper piece this Bride block because of all the smaller triangular pieces, and because it's just so fun and easy. If you are new to paper piecing, check out my Tracy block tutorial for some of my paper piecing tips as well as my own paper piecing tutorial I recently posted here for my own Crown and Star blocks. You can also check out Angie's Bride post in the which she has linked up many of the bloggers that shared full paper piecing tutorials.

I loved the story of the Bride that was getting married and moving from the City to the farm. Reminded me of my move from Long Island N.Y. to Maine more than 15 years ago. I picked the fabrics to represent a bridal bouquet. I think this Bride block could make a beautiful memory quilt for any wedding gift using the same colors and even prints as the bridal bouquets. Here I decided to use my new Rifle Paper Co floral prints because the flowers were just to perfect not to - right?! I always begin all of my paper piecing projects by coloring coding the pieces to keep things straight while sewing. It's even better if you color code it so the colors match the fabrics you are using, but I just grabbed a multi-colored pen, and a marker.

Once all of the sections are sewn, be sure to press them before trimming the edges. Once you have trimmed them all, this block goes together quickly and easily as 4 mini blocks. Sew the larger sections together, and then add the little corners on as directed. Sew two blocks together on both sides, then as a whole. This just might be one of the easiest in the book, with stunning results.  

If you want to check out my other Farmer's Wife block post, you can check out Malvina here. If you want to join in on the fun, you can find Angie's Bride tutorial on her website Gnome Angel, as well as grainline tips from Marti on her blog.
You can get the book and all your fabric needs from The Fat Quarter Shop and the Marti Michell templates from Marti's website! Thanks so much for stopping by. Show me your bride blocks by tagging me on Instagram @kidgiddy. I'd love to see them.

Disclaimer: Because I am a blogger in this quilt-a-long, I graciously received a copy of the Farmer's Wife book and gift card from the Fat Quarter shop (yes I picked up more Cotton and Steel fabrics for my quilt) as well as a full set of templates from Marti Michell. The links above are not affiliate links - because my state won't allow that. The opinions as always, as well as the tutorial and photos, are all my own.

The Banner Adventure Swap

I am so excited to be hosting a really awesome Banner Adventure swap with Christopher from The Tattooed Quilter. To give you a little background...I fell in love with April Rhodes fabric a long time ago (didn't we all?) when her Arizona line came out. When she sent me some of her new BOUND fabric from Art Gallery Fabrics to play with, I was so excited and knew exactly what I was going to make. I've had tons of paper piecing pattern ideas kept under wraps since I haven't have any time to work on them. The day that I knew April's fabric was coming, I sketched and drafted the first block. This weekend, I finished sewing up all the pieces for this guy...the Eagle.

After getting her beautiful fabric, one idea led to another. I started emailing April to get this idea off the ground. I knew I would need some help from someone awesome - because swaps are really fun, but lots of work, enter Christopher. YAY! I'm so glad he joined in on the fun. Have you seen his work? It's awesome and tremendously inspiring. I hope I get his banner! lol.

Soon Christoper and I began emailing back and forth, (lots of emailing going on here)! I threw a couple of ideas his way because I didn't want to do another "mini quilt swap". Everyone's been doing mini quilt swaps and a big one is going on right now - so in talking with Christopher, we decided a small wall hanging - banner style - would be best. But that's not all...we decided to add a challenge! (You know - to mix it up a bit, and because anyone that knows me, knows I don't do simple very often.) 

So now that you know the back story...you want in? Want to know what you are getting yourself into? Here's all the official details about the swap....read them carefully before signing up. Then read the sign up form again - before you fill out the form. We want you to be super clear on what this is - and super committed to delivering a banner in the end.

The Official Details for the Bound Banner Adventure Swap  

1) You MUST use April Rhodes fabrics from Art Gallery Fabrics. It can be fabric from any of her lines, but only her lines, and must be pieced or appliqued, and quilted where applicable.
2) Size requirements: This is for a banner - not a mini quilt. It must be a rectangle no larger than 8" x 16". It can be vertical or horizontal.
3) You MUST incorporate one of the following: feathers, yarn, leather, etc. (think April Rhodes).
4) Because it is a banner - it must be able to hang, so it MUST contain a way to hang it. Think driftwood, rod or other cool factor.
5) We have decided to not allow extras. No candy, supplies, etc. with your banner. We feel this will require all participants to focus on the banner itself and really put in their best effort. Not to mention cost of shipping (overseas) can be crazy. Please respect this.

By participating you agree to the following:

1) You MUST post 2 progress photos on IG during the swap. (There will be 2 mandatory times - but extra pics are ok.)
2) You MUST post 1 final photo on IG. PRIOR to shipping. (Make it your best photo - there's a reason for this!)
3) You MUST ship swap packages by November 30th for International, and Dec 7th within the US.
4) We will be using the following hashtags:
#BannerAdventureSwap
#BoundFabricsAdventure
#AprilRhodes
#BoundFabrics
If you'd like your projects seen and shared - please be sure to use these hashtags.
5) Tag @kidgiddy, @the_tattooed_quilter and @aprilrhodes in the comment sections so we can see them. If you don't - we may not see them and only those that follow you will. We want everyone to get to know each other - so please share likes and comments through these hashtags.

This is a three way secret swap - because fun secrets are always the best secrets. You will get a swap partner, and someone else will get you.

If you sign up for this swap, please keep your commitment to deliver as you say you would. No one wants to feel like their partner didn't care enough to send their package. I know life can get busy and hectic, so please keep in touch with us (or your moderator) so we can make sure your partner is not shafted in the end. If you do not communicate appropriately AND do not fulfill your end of the swap, you will be banned from all future swaps (and added to the black list). Communication is key!

Sign ups will be open from September 8th - September 12th (or until we have reached 150 participants) and hope to have partners assigned by the week of September 18th. Swap packages must go out by November 30th for International, and Dec 7th within the US. Please use your best judgement when shipping packages and please consider insurance and tracking!

If you are ready - if you are truly interested (read: committed to honoring your swap, so you are not added to the black list) click on the Google Doc link to fill out the form.... HERE IS THE FORM!

By the way....Don't wait too long to sign up - we are only accepting 150 participants. Swaps can be very time consuming on the hosting side - so we were going to make it 100 - but decided to max it out at 150. We'd love for you to share the word, please feel free to share the top banner or button so everyone can find us for sign ups.

I can't wait to see what everyone makes, and for those of you signing up - keep your eyes and emails open for more fun stuff to come. The really good stuff!

Thanks so much!