Check out these great GiveAways

I'm not yet ready to do a new GiveAway here on QOB, but here's some info for you on some fabulous GiveAways you'll want to enter!

The Dizzy Daisy is the new kid in town -- new to the Internet selling high quality cotton fabric perfect for quilting, crafts, clothing, as well as boutique sewing patterns, ribbons & trims. To celebrate her Grand Opening, she is giving away 3 yards of imported ribbon of your choice, a very sweet girl's dress pattern from Studio Tantrum, and 3 yards of fabric from the newly opened quilt fabric shop! Who wouldn't want to win those treasures? GiveAway winners announced on October 2, 2009, so hurry over and leave your entry.

But of course, there's more!

Dizzy Daisy has a sister site, The Flannel Queen, and she's also having a Grand Opening, and she's also offering GiveAway prizes! Prize 1 is a flannel fat quarter six pack, Prize 2 is a flannel fat quarter 3-pack plus a Sweet & Shabby rag quilt pattern, and Prize 3 is Three yards of fabric of your choice from Flannel Queen! Imagine snuggling up to a flannel quilt or a flannel backed quilt during the upcoming cold winter months!

Get yourself over to both of these great new web sites and see what'all they have to offer. Information on the giveaways is actually at the blog sites of both stores, but do check out the "new kids in town" while you're visiting.

To make it easier, here are the direct links:

Dizzy Daisy store web site
Dizzy Daisy blog site to enter giveaway
Flannel Queen store web site
Flannel Queen blog site to enter giveaway.

Good luck!

Share your thoughts and win three quilting books!

I've been doing some unexpected babysitting for my 3 yr old grandson, and have just found out my babysitting stint will go through the middle of September. I babysit from 7:30am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

Of course, the "quilt bug" hit me the Sunday before I started babysitting, and now I can't seem to find the time (or energy) to continue quilting! I have three baby quilts to make for August and September baby showers. On Sunday I chose and cut the fabric for the first quilt -- and haven't returned to my quilt room since!

I know quilters work fulltime, maintain a house and family and all the cooking, cleaning and balancing that goes with it. Some work part time or are retired, some are grandmothers who are full time custodians of grandchildren.

So I'm curious - how do you find time to quilt? Do you quilt late at night? Weekends? Only when you can grab a few hours from the family's schedule? Are you retired and able to quilt whenever you like (as I was just a few weeks ago!)? What's YOUR secret to finding time to quilt?

THE GIVE AWAY

Yes, I'm re-thinking the give away I had planned for this week. Time just hasn't been on my side to read and review two more books (though I hope to get them done soon - they are great books!). So instead....

Leave a comment to this post on how YOU find time to quilt - be as specific as you can. Do you quilt in the middle of the night? While the kids take a nap? After dinner while the family does other activities? Do you find time once a day, once a week, once in awhile? Make SURE your comment contains your email address or a direct link to a blog that contains your email address. I can't tell you how many times a name has been selected to win a giveaway but had no email address in the comment or on their blog!

Everyone who left comments on the quilt books already reviewed (see posts below) will be entered into this give away as well. But if you want an additional TWO entries, leave a comment to this post and tell me how you fit quilting into your life.

The GiveAway is open to U.S. residents only. The prize? ALL THREE OF THE QUILT BOOKS REVIEWED LAST WEEK! This giveaway will end at 12noon EST on Friday, July 31st, 2009. The winner will be drawn randomly and will have 48 hours to respond to my email with shipping information.

Want an extra entry? Twitter about this give away OR follow me on Twitter if you're don't already. Send me a Twitter Direct Message (@BudgetQuilting) and tell me you've done so.

Let's Give Away Some Family Quilting Fun!

Summertime. Kids home. Long evenings. Family time. Possibly “stay-cations”. Visiting grandchildren and family. Neighbors dropping by. What better way to have serious fun family time than playing a board game?! Personally, some of my fondest childhood memories are visiting with my grandmother in the summer, sitting out on the screened porch, and playing board games with her and my aunts and uncles,

Wouldn’t it be fun if you could combine your love of quilting with a family fun evening of playing board games? Well – you can!

DMC, manufacturer of the world’s leading embroidery floss, needlework fabrics and accessories, introduces Quilt-opoly™ - an exciting new property trading game that lets quilters share their passion for quilting with friends and family.



Quilt-opoly™ is a fun game where players pick their favorite quilting game pieces and move around the “blocks” collecting Quilting Techniques and Block Designs to create their very own quilting empire! However, they must be careful that they don't pick the “You sewed the seams uneven and now the points don't match” game card or they will have to go to “Rip Out Seam” without passing “Start Quilting” and collecting $200. And they must not forget to attend the “National Quilt Show”, who knows, their quilt could win the grand prize. Players get chances to “Go Shopping” and look in the “Fabric Stash” pile of game cards that keeps the play fun and exciting. They can also flip the deed cards over and get inspiration from the quilt block designs to create beautiful quilts!

DMC Quilt-opoly™ is designed to be fun and entertaining, however, it also features an inspirational element through its beautiful Quilt Block Designs. The game feature twenty three Block Designs which can be used as inspirations to create charming quilts.

How surprised will your quilting friends be when you invite them over for a fun afternoon of Quilt-opoly™ and lemonade! Have everyone bring a Fat Quarter – and winner take all!

THE GIVE AWAY

DMC is graciously offering one lucky Quilting on a Budget reader the opportunity to win this Quilt-opoly™ board game! The Give Away is restricted to mailing addresses in the U.S. only, please. (International and Canadian readers – another terrific Give Away next week will be offered to you as well!) The Give Away ends at midnight (EST) on Friday, June 26, 2009.

HOW TO WIN

Leave a comment to this post describing the last board game you played, AND who you will play Quilt-opoly™ with if you are the lucky winner! All entrants must complete this requirement.

In your comment, include your email address or be sure your blog link contains your email address! Our past two Give Aways have had to be re-drawn because initial winners didn’t leave their email address or it wasn’t on their Blog profile page!

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES/SEPARATE COMMENTS:

Receive one additional entry for TWITTERING about this Give Away! Use @BudgetQuilting in your Tweet! Then come back here and leave a comment – INCLUDE YOUR TWITTER ID IN  YOUR COMMENT.

Receive TWO additional entries by BLOGGING ABOUT THIS GIVE AWAY! Leave a link to your blog post in your comment.

Once entries are verified, the winner will be randomly chosen on Saturday, June 27, and notified via email. The winner will have 48 hours to return email with your full name and mailing address.

Quilt Book and Quilt Class Give Away Winners Announced

I love starting my Monday by being able to give someone good news.

This morning I used a software program called The Hat to choose the following Give Away winners:

Winner of the FOLK ART FAVORITES quilt book - Bianca

Her comment was:

I blogged about the give-away.
http://atmyhouse-bianca.blogspot.com/

Our second Give Away - the terrific quilting class from Quilting Weekly - is Gail. Gail's comment was:

Thank you so much for your blog...I can not express how much I have enjoyed!!

Everyone who Twittered about Quilting Weekly's Give Away also received a 25% discount coupon for a class of their choice.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered both Give Aways! Check back often - there are some great new Give Aways scheduled!

Our First Reader Loyalty Give Away

It’s time to say “Thank You” to those readers of the Quilting on a Budget blog for stopping by on a regular basis. This Give Away will not be advertised on the blog give away announcement sites, it will not be twittered about, it will not be announced to the QOB Yahoo group today! It’s for those of you who just stop by to see what’s going on or perhaps to read the Steals & Deals sales of the day (which you can view in the left hand column of this blog).

Below you will find a review of the new quilting book, FOLK ART FAVORITES: QUILTS FROM JOINED AT THE HIP, published by That Patchwork Place (Martingale Company); 80 pages. Read the review. Leave a comment TO THE REVIEW POST. Read the review. Leave a comment. You’re entered for a chance to win the book. That’s it. You don’t have to blog about it, twitter about it, visit any other web site (though, of course, you’re welcome to!). Just leave a comment in that post.

This Give Away ends on 06/11/09 at 12noon (EST). The winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to respond with  mailing information. The Give Away is open to ALL readers – including International!

While you’re here, of course, please also enter our OTHER GIVE AWAY sponsored by the Quilting Weekly web site! No time to take a quilting class this summer? Take a look at this Give Away and enter to win an online downloadable quilting class in whatever subject YOU choose! Machine Quilting 101 is by far the favorite of those leaving comments, but maybe you’re new to quilting and would prefer to take the “Block Beginning” class, or maybe you’d rather learn a new technique with the “Photo Magic with Fabric” class. You choose the class you want to win! Read about the Give Away and enter here.

 

So, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for stopping by today! I hope to see you often! We have many fun and unique Give Aways coming up, so consider subscribing to our newsletter, following us on Twitter, subscribing to the site with your own reader, following us through Blogger, bookmarking us – or whatever else you need to come back often! Will there be more Reader Loyalty Give Aways in the future? Of course! If it weren’t for YOU, there would be no Quilting on a Budget!

This Give Away is now CLOSED. Thanks to everyone who participated! The winner will be announced shortly.

Summer time – and the learning is easy for every quilter with our newest Give Away!

Summer temperatures seem to rise in direct proportion to the number of summer family activities planned – sports programs for the kids, vacations planned for the family, grandchildren or friends visiting from out of town, etc. Sewing and quilting often fall off our To Do List as Quilt Guild meetings adjourn during the summer months and our minds turn to gardening, vacations, or, if we’re lucky, sipping cold iced tea on the deck while reading a good book – replacing our previous creative hours in the quilt room.

Scheduled quilt classes at the local quilt guild, quilt shop, or adult education facility are all but non-existent during the summer months. And if they happen to be available to you, can you really pin down one night a week for several weeks that you can be available to take a class during the summer?

The perfect summer solution? A quilt class in a subject which you’re interested, scheduled at a time you are free, in a comfortable environment where you don’t have to tote your heavy sewing machine, and at a place you can show up in your flip flops and bathing suit! And, since this IS “Quilting on a Budget” after all, we need this quilt class to be budget-friendly, too!

And yes, such classes DO exist! And YOU have a chance to win one in our newest GiveAway!

Quilting Weekly offers online classes for every quilter, no matter what your experience. Classes are complete. For example, the class titled Machine Quilting 101 is described by Quilting Weekly’s teacher, Chris Dahl, as follows:

• Watch my video on making the perfect quilt sandwich to avoid mistakes. - Learning how to put together the perfect quilt sandwich is extremely important. I'll show you this through another great video and give you detailed written instructions too.  So you can watch and read my tips at the same time if you want and never miss a thing!
• Find out what  "stitch in the ditch" and background fillers have in common. - You will learn this and many more useful tips for machine quilting in this class. Tips you wish you knew for the last quilt you quilted.
• Learn the secrets to "free motion quilting". - Mastering this skill is something quilters around the world struggle with.  If you want to learn the tricks to mastering quilting to create simple or complex designs, then you need to start with this quilting class. I share more tips and tricks in my videos including ways to help you eliminate tangled threads on the top or bottom of your quilts.
• Get perfect stitches with your free motion quilting. - Find out what the perfect size stitch is, and learn what not to do. You will love quilting by machine once you see how much fun it is and understand how to avoid common mistakes!
• With so many basting methods and marking tools on the market today how do you know what's best? After this class you will not only know what's best, but you will know when and how to use all of the marking tools available.

This is the perfect beginners class loaded with video help and plenty of step by step instructions.  The simple to do exercises in this class will have you quilting like a pro in no time at all.  Practice is the key, but knowing what to practice is even more important.

THIS WEEK’S GIVE AWAY – WIN A CLASS OF YOUR CHOICE FROM QUILTING WEEKLY!

Head to Quilting Weekly web site and read through the classes. Choose one you are interested in taking, come back here and leave a comment giving the name of the class you would like to win. THIS IS THE CLASS YOU WILL WIN if chosen, so choose carefully! Everyone must complete this step to be eligible to win.

Leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

For a SECOND ENTRY, blog about this Give Away. Be sure to leave your blog address in your comment.

For an ADDITIONAL ENTRY, follow me on Twitter and RETWEET any of my announcements of the Give Away (they are tweeted every other day) OR just copy and paste the following into your Twitter account:

RT: @BudgetQuilting Enter our newest GiveAway and learn something new! http://quiltingonabudget.blogspot.com

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA – GET A 25% DISCOUNT COUPON FOR A QUILTING WEEKLY CLASS!

EVERYONE who Tweets about this GiveAway and includes @sewonline in the Tweet will receive a coupon for 25% off any class at Quilting Weekly! If you’re not sure how to do this, just cut and paste the following and post it on Twitter:

@BudgetQuilting @sewonline Enter the latest Give Away and win your choice of quilting classes! http://quiltingonabudget.blogspot.com

The Fine Print

This GiveAway is open until midnight (EST), June 12. All entries must either direct me to your email address or contain your email address. Winner will be chosen on Saturday, June 13, 2009, and contacted via email. Winner will have 48 hours to return an email with confirmation of receipt. GiveAway is open to everyone.

THIS GIVE AWAY IS CLOSED - WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED AND CONTACTED VIA EMAIL. Thanks to all who participated!

New Quilt Book Review = New Give Away!

FRENCH BRAID OBSESSION: New Ideas for the Imaginative Quilter by Jane Hardy Miller; 64 pages; C&T Publishing; 2009.

The French Braid technique in quilts has been around for years, but designer Jane Hardy Miller takes the technique to a more modern level by clearly demonstrating to the reader how this tried-and-true French braid pattern can be used in new and unique ways – in a border, in combination with appliqué blocks, in variable-width patterns, and, most impressively, in star-shapes reminiscent of the far more involved traditional Texas Star pattern. In the introduction Miller states, “There’s quite a bit of design flexibility with the braids and their various permutations, and the construction is deceptively simple.” That “design flexibility” is clearly seen and demonstrated in Miller’s book.

This is Miller’s second book to delve into the world of French Braids – her first title was the more basic French Braid Quilts: 14 Quick Quilts with Dramatic Results, published in 2006 by C&T Publishing. Obviously some instructions for the basic French Braid method have to be repeated in French Braid Obsession: New Ideas for the Imaginative Quilter, but the new title offers new quilt patterns “that use the fabric or the braids in a nontraditional way or that alter the braids in some way…” and, of course, there are the projects that use the French braid technique in the border or multiple borders of the quilt. Stunningly beautiful and original.

The results of the French Braid technique are dramatic, especially when combined with Miller’s fabric selection tips; however, the technique itself is suitable for Beginners with a bit of experience. If you feel confident enough to try a Log Cabin quilt block, for example, you should feel totally comfortable following Miller’s instructions to create a French Braid quilt.

THE GIVE AWAY

Whether you are a beginning, intermediate or advanced quilter, FRENCH BRAID OBSESSION will hold your interest and offer you some new ways to look at this easy construction method. And now – you can win a copy of this book!

General Rules:

The Give Away is for residents of U.S. and Canada only. Comments must include an email address, or point to your blog that contains your email address. The Give Away ends at midnight (EST) May 22, 2009. Winner will be selected at random using Random.Org on May 23rd and contacted by email. Winner will have 72 hours to return email with mailing address.

How to Enter:

Head over to the C&T Publishing web site, click on the COMING SOON section (in left hand column) and come back and leave a comment on what upcoming quilting or sewing title(s) you would like to see reviewed in a future give away here on QOB. THIS IS REQUIRED BY ALL ENTRANTS. IF YOU SKIP THIS REQUIREMENT, NONE OF YOUR ENTRIES WILL COUNT.

How to receive additional entries!

1. Follow the QOB blog on Twitter – Leave a comment here with your Twitter name.
2. Twitter about this Give Away! Leave a comment with your Twitter name and date you tweeted.
3. Follow the QOB blog – Leave a comment telling me what method/reader you used to subscribe.
4. Blog about this Give Away. Leave a comment with a link to your blog and the date of the post.
5. Add QOB to your BlogRoll – Leave a comment with the address of your blog.

Good Luck!

The Newest Give Away – Quilt and Craft Room Inspiration!

In the QOB Yahoo group, we’ve been having a “Messiest Quilt Room” contest. I haven’t posted MY photos yet, but I’m sure they will contend with the “best of the mess” when I do! I know there are other messy quilt room/sewing areas out there! If yours is one of them, you need to enter our newest giveaway and get inspired!

From The InterWeave Store comes a magazine that will not only inspire you, but give you a peek into the studios of some very fine quilters and fabric artists.

 Studios: Spring/Summer 2009

This is a 98 page magazine from InterWeave Press (publishers of the great Cloth Paper Scissors magazine) that is packed with ideas. It includes articles titled “Our Best 15 Spring Cleaning Tips”, “25 Inspiring Studios” and “Clutter Out – Creativity In”. There are also several do-able projects, such as making a memo holder out of an old metal dustpan or how to use a clothesline to hang your favorite creative inspiration pieces.

What I’ve enjoyed most in this magazine is looking at the many photos of studios of creative artists. Whether the studio is a separate wing to a house or a tiny cubby in the corner of the dining room, they will give you many storage and organizational ideas. Not every “big name” crafter and quilter has custom made cabinets! See for yourself! They store their pencils in coffee cans just like you do!

HOW TO ENTER

1. Leave a comment to this post and describe biggest hurdle in keeping your quilt room/sewing area organized – OR – what storage solution do you need to come up with? Be sure your email address is available in your comment! You must complete this requirement to enter the GiveAway.

2. For a second entry in this contest, post about this giveaway on your blog with a link to this post. Leave a separate comment with your blog address.

3. For a third entry into this giveaway, go to the InterWeave Store web site and view the Quilting books. Which book(s) would you most like to own?

THE RULES

1. All entries must be submitted by midnight, April 24, 2009.
2. All Entries must include a way to contact you via email.
3. The winner will be selected by random on April 25, 2009, and notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their mailing address.
4. This GiveAway is for U.S. residents only. (I’m SO sorry – but shipping internationally is just too expensive!)

WHEN IS THE NEXT GIVE AWAY?

That’s right – I said it. There’s another give away in the works. And you are going to want to come back often and check for this one. It will be announced sometime in the last week of April. The best way to remember this is join our Subscriber Club – errrr, I mean Subscriber List or become a follower. What? Did I just give away a clue??

GiveAway #4 - Try A New Technique!

You've patchworked, you've appliquéd, you've paper pieced, you've embroidered, you've stacked and you've wacked. Now it’s time to put something new in your bag of quilting tricks for creating unique and beautiful quilt blocks. Sign up for our newest giveaway, and you might just find yourself creating unique and beautiful quilt blocks quickly and easily with paint, paintbrush and sleek metal stencils!

Sponsored by Country Stencils, this giveaway is for everyone who loves to create – the scrapbook artist, the multi-media artist, the general crafter – and yes, of course, the quilter!

I first saw quilts made with Country Stencils on display at a regional quilt show, and I was immediately taken with the truly unique look the stenciled quilt blocks added to wall hangings, baby quilts, and candle mats. Small in size but very big on visual impact! (You can see more here.)

Even more impressive was the number of quilt block stencils that were on display – Irish Chain, School House, Log Cabin, Goose Tracks, very sweet little Sunbonnet Sue stencils (that I simply could not resist) and many, many more! Of course, there are also garden-themed stencils, holiday-themed stencils, kid-themed stencils and more!

Country Stencils is offering QOB blog readers a chance to win this complete kit ($26.00 value) you can use to create fabulous quilt blocks, or perhaps to make your own stationary and cards to send to a quilting friend! Imagine the beautiful quilt labels you can make with this kit! (The VersaCraft Ink is permanent on fabric.)

You can win this kit, which includes six Stationery/ Envelopes, six Note Cards, Bag, Stylus, two VersaCraft Inks (Permanent on fabric, paper, wood and plastic, 2 Brushes, (3" x  2 3/8"), and the Patchwork Stencil & Instructions.

HOW TO ENTER

First, visit Country Stencils and look around at all her beautiful stencils. Return here and leave a comment on what stencil or kit is your favorite. Be sure your post links to or contains your email address! (Everyone must complete this step to be eligible for the giveaway.)

For a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog, and return here and leave a comment with the direct link to your post.

This GiveAway begins on  April 8, 2009, and will end at midnight on Friday, April 17th. The winner will be randomly chosen on April 18th and notified by email. The winner will have 72 hours to reply to the notification email.

Sorry, only residents of the U.S. and Canada are eligible to win.

A big thank you to Country Stencils for sponsoring this GiveAway!

Good Luck!

It's Time for GiveAway #3 - Small Storage Solutions for the Quilt Room

Proper storage and organization in any quilt/sewing room can make the difference between being able to walk in and be creative, and having to walk in and search for the tools you need.

So today's Giveaway is all about small storage solutions for your quilt room! And the giveaway is made of up three small storage items I thought would be useful to anyone who quilts and/or sews.


First is this adorable (and useful) durable tabletop organizer by Mackinac Moon. It's perfect to place on your sewing table to hold your thread snips, seam ripper, wooden iron, small ruler, pencil, etc. It has 3 exterior pockets on each side and stands 9.5 x 9.5 overall. The best news - it folds flat when not in use -- so it's perfect to take to your next quilt class so you don't lose your personal notions.

Next is a Bobbin box by Dritz. It holds 32 machine bobbins. The clear lid allows you to see what color bobbins you have inside. No more bobbin-tangles!

And last is a Storage Gift Bag from QuiltCare. This 100% cotton bag is the perfect way to store and protect your quilts - or to use as a gift bag for a special quilt present. The size of the bag is 18 x 22, and will hold your lap quilt, crib quilts and up to twin size quilts. The outside of the bag has a label area for you to either describe the quilt inside or use as a gift tag to the gift's recipient.

HOW TO ENTER:

Please leave a separate comment for each entry, and make sure your email is available!

First (and this is required), leave a comment to this post telling when and why you first started to quilt and/or sew.

Second, post about this giveaway on your blog, and leave a comment saying you've done so. Make sure your blog address is available!

THE RULES:

The Giveaway will close at 12:00Noon EST on April 10, 2009. The winner will be selected by a random-name selector program called "The Hat" on April 11, 2009, and notified by email. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the notification email with their mailing address. The GiveAway IS open to everyone, including international readers.

Good Luck!

Two new quilting books you don’t want to miss and a Giveaway!

Just like fabric stash, a quilter can never have too many books on their bookshelves. They add to our repertoire of patterns, show us techniques we’ve not tried before, teach us new things and reinforce the basics. Here are two new titles worth adding to your reference library.

If you like quilt patterns that are traditional “with a twist” you will love Link to the 30's: Making the Quilts We Didn't Inheritby Kay Connors and Karen Earlywine; 96 pages; That Patchwork Place (Martingale). Based on the earliest quilter’s use of scraps and “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without” this book is a scrap quilter’s dream. According to the authors, “…we try and make [quilts] the way we know the women of the time made them, with lots of muslin background, a wild display of colored prints and bright solids, and loads of hand quilting.”

Although created with today’s reproductions 1930’s fabrics, the beautiful and unique quilt patterns found in this book are true “scrap quilts” and would be just as beautiful and timeless in more modern fabrics as they are in the repro fabrics. Definitely a book you will turn to when you need that quilt for someone special or when you simply want to use up some of your stash.

Quilters often balk at the thought of learning to machine quilt on a home sewing machine. Actually taking the plunge and being brave enough to take the initial step seems to be the hardest hurdle, but next comes moving past “stitch in the ditch” and “meandering” and moving on to actual quilting designs. As more quilters face today’s economic crunch, it becomes too expensive to send out all but our most spectacular creations to a long arm quilter, and often too time-consuming to quilt by hand. The answer? Become competent in quilting on your home sewing machine.

Free-motion Quilting Made Easy: 186 Designs from 8 Simple Shapesby Eva A. Larkin, 95 pages, That Patchwork Place (Martingale). A well-written, detailed, step-by-step instruction book on how to learn machine quilt on your home sewing machine. Good basic instructions on mastering thread tension, controlling stitch length and quilting in smaller sections. Larkin moves the reader slowly through the process of learning, recommending exercises on both paper and fabric “sandwiches”. “My favorite designs are those that are easy to quilt, add texture to the quilt top, and require little marking.” She relies on eight basic, easy to master shapes for all her designs – the oval, loop, lopsided figure eight, tulip, heart, triangle, diamond and flower.

If you’re ready to take the plunge into machine quilting or ready to move past stitch-in-the-ditch and stippling, Free-Motion Quilting Made Easy is a great tool to step you through the process.

WIN “LINK TO THE 30’S: MAKING THE QUILTS WE DIDN’T INHERIT” – GiveAway #2

Leave a comment on this post before 9pm (EST) April 3, 2009, for your chance to win a copy of this “hot off the press” book. Winner will be selected randomly on April 4 and notified by email, so be sure your comment includes a way to contact you. Winner will have 48 hours to respond.

For a second entry, put the QOB blog button on your blog or web site, and leave a second comment telling me the address of same.

For a third chance to win this great book, write a post on your blog about this giveaway! Be sure your blog address is available in your comment.

Good luck!

Welcome back to Quilting on a Budget!

Welcome back to the newly redesigned Quilting on a Budget blog. The blog has a new look compliments of Acornglue.com. (See below to find out how you can win a BLOG MAKEOVER from Acornglue.com!) But we also have a new mission – to bring quilters more ways of making what can be an expensive hobby more affordable, especially in light of today’s increasingly difficult economic times.

What’s in the future?

More free pattern links – For an example, see the column to the left, where you’ll find a new and more complete list of free patterns available from the fabric manufacturers.

Return of the “Steals and Deals” Feature – How can you find the best deals on fabric, books and notions? You could subscribe to more than 500 quilt shop email newsletters like we do, or you can simply come back to the QOB blog and check the Steals and Deals postings. We keep track of clearance bins, monitor email sales announcements, and subscribe to web sites to find the best fabric sales for you!

Interviews with Frugal Quilters – During tough economic times, some quilters return to the old ways of true scrap quilting, using fabric from many resources or simply trying to use up the stash they currently have. We’ll be on the lookout for these quilters and find their best tips to share with you.

More Quilt Room Organizing – Challenges, tips, techniques, and items on sale around the ‘Net – all to help you keep your quilt room/ sewing area neat and organized!

Book Reviews – Quilt books are one of the least expensive ways to learn new techniques, try new patterns, and add to your quilting repertoire. We’ll be reviewing new “hot off the presses” quilt books for you so you can not only stay up with the current trends, but not waste your quilting budget funds as well!

Our First Giveaway!

Giveaway Sponsor: Acornglue.com

What better way to celebrate the new design of the Quilting on a Budget blog than by offering you a new design for your blog! Acornglue.com has generously offered to give one QOB blog reader a choice of their own beautiful blog template.

Rules of the Giveaway:

1. Visit Acornglue.com and view the large variety of blog templates. Return here and leave a comment and tell which template is your favorite. Make sure your email address is in your comment. Everyone must do this step to be eligible to win.

2. Become a follower or subscriber of this blog, and leave a separate comment telling me you’ve done so.

3. Grab the QOB blog button and post it on your blog, and leave a separate comment telling me you’ve done so – be sure your blog address is included in your profile or in your comment.

You have until 12 Noon (EST) of Saturday, March 28, 2009 to leave a comment for entry into this giveaway. The winner will be announced on Sunday, March 29, and will be contacted by email. The winner will have 72 hours to verify receipt of the email.

The Winner may choose one $10 - $15US .xml blog template from acornglue.com. The giveaway does not include any template modifications (except modifying the header image to reflect your blog title/description) and all other details as per the FAQs: http://www.acornglue.com/2007/12/faqs.html. The template is compatible with Blogger/Blogspot blogs only!

And that’s not all!

THERE ARE MORE GIVEAWAYS COMING! Prizes? Oh, I’m not telling yet… but they do include fabric, hot off the presses quilting books, tools for a quilting technique you may never have tried before… and more!