Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Hop!

It's the very first day of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Blog Hop! Yippee! Read to the end of this post to see how to win a copy of your own....

Please check out Quilty Pleasures blog, by the wonderful folks at Quiltmaker Magazine, to see other features regarding this issue and blog hop.

This is the block that I designed for this issue, called Candy Stripe:

For the sample block for the magazine, I used my Fruitful Hands fabric line (shown above). But I also tried making a block using my Oh Holy Night fabric line:

I got the name for the block because it kind of reminded me of a wrapped candy for some reason

and also because, it is obviously striped.

You could arrange these blocks in a couple of different ways:

 All blocks going in same direction.

 Rotating alternating blocks 90 degrees creates a cool pattern.

Adding sashing really looks neat.

Blocks set on point.

Blocks set on point with the addition of sashing.

All of the above designs were done with the Christmas fabric. Here is one done with Fruitful Hands, which is more Spring-y/ Summer-y:

Speaking of Spring-y/ Summer-y things... what did everyone think of our latest e-magazine which went out last week? I hope you tried the cookie recipe- they were so good :)
 Haven't seen it yet?? Click here.

(What? You don't have your free subscription yet? Click here to sign up.)

OK... so I know this is the moment you've been waiting for....

Quiltmaker is giving away a copy of their magazine! You can enter up to 3 times.

• Comment on this post and answer this question-

When do you normally start working on your Christmas/holiday projects:

A) I'm an over-achiever. I start working on them on December 26 and have them finished by June.
B) Slow and steady wins the race. I work on them all year round and pretty much have them done by Christmas week.
C) I start on December 15 and fuel myself with espresso, Red Bull and dark chocolate, baby!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!

• For an extra chance to win, "like" my Facebook page and leave an extra comment here that you are a Facebook fan. 

• For one more extra chance to win, post a direct link to this post on your blog and leave the link to your post in the comments here.

You must comment by 11:59 pm EDT on Sunday, May 5. Winner will be drawn at random.
I MUST BE ABLE TO CONTACT YOU THROUGH AN EMAIL ADDRESS OR GOOGLE ACCOUNT. If I draw your name and you are a "no-reply blogger" and there is no email address in your comment, I will choose another winner.

Good luck!

Changes Are Coming....

This is a long post, so I hope you’ll stick with me! I have been talking about re-doing my website (due to be up and running around the first week in May) and some changes to my business. I wanted to share some details with you along the way. Some of the changes you've already seen- like the decision to turn our popular newsletter into an online magazine format, and the publication of our very first e-book (coming soon, very soon!)

But I will also say that the decision to make these changes wasn’t super easy. Change is scary, especially if what you’re doing is OK. Because what if your new ideas flop and you wish you had just stuck with what you were doing before??  But if you want to be more than just OK, you have to take some risks. You have to get out of the boat if you’re going to walk on water, as they say…..

There are several reasons why I am re-doing my blog and website: I want my site to be well-organized and easy to navigate. I want it to be easy for you to find all of the projects and recipes that we’ve shared here.  And I want it to be pretty. The blog & website have had the same look for five years now, and it’s really time for a change!

If you have been following my blog for a little while, you know that I have already been sharing not just sewing & quilting ideas, but also lots of recipes and craft and decorating projects, too. But in getting some objective, outside opinions, I discovered that my current blog appears to be, at first glance, a quilting blog only. Also, it also doesn't showcase my artwork at all- and that is a really large part of who I am and what I do.

So the new blog and website will feature not just the quilting and sewing projects that many of you expect to find here, but much more. I hope you will like it! My goal is to reach out to a larger audience than those looking just for quilting blogs. I believe we are all creative and I believe that we all like to express our creativity in different ways. If you have visited this blog, chances are you are interested in at least some of the “home arts,” such as cooking, sewing, crafting, entertaining, gardening, decorating….. I believe that home is the best place to express our creativity. I would like this to be a place where we can inspire each other and learn from each other in all of these creative areas.

Now….. my business name. I became “The Noble Wife” sort of by accident. I had been making wool pins to benefit charity. I thought that since the pins were made of wool, it would be cool to donate the profits to a charity that provides sheep to poor families so they can start a business. I was reading Proverbs 31 in the Bible one day and came across this verse:

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.

She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.

She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. (vs 10, 13 & 21)

I thought that was the perfect name for the pins. Then I started designing quilt patterns, and just carried over the name. However, the artwork that I do is under my name, Jacquelynne Steves. It seemed to be a little confusing that people had to remember not one, but two names for me! 

So, to simplify things, I have decided to change my business name to Jacquelynne Steves. It makes sense because I will probably always be Jacquelynne Steves, so no matter what I decide to do, the name will always fit. (Like, someday if I decide to open a car repair shop, I can just call it “Jacquelynne Steves’ Garage” and that will work! “The Noble Wife Garage” doesn’t seem to work as well, ha ha.)

My web address will be JacquelynneSteves.com. (However, TheNobleWife.com will still also work- it will be directed to my new website as well.)

Since I am going with Jacquelynne Steves for my business name, I wanted a tag line which was really descriptive of my business and what I’m about. We talked about so many! We spent days and weeks jotting down ideas (this was probably the point which drove my family the most crazy.) I went through a stack of index cards, writing down possibilities on each one and then looking at all of them and trying to decide on the best one. In the end, I decided on one that I just love and think works perfectly:

It’s perfect because the “art” refers not only to the artwork that I do, but also the art of being a home maker and being creative in your home and with your family.

So those are just some of the changes I have been working on over the last several months. (The products that I offer will change a little too, but I’ll talk about that later.) In the next weeks and months, I’ll show you more of the changes I’m making. I hope you will come along on this little adventure with me!

I’m really excited- it’s really good to shake things up once in a while and take a risk! It’s so easy to just get stuck in a rut. I firmly believe in the law of momentum- 

an object at rest tends to stay at rest, but an object in motion tends to stay in motion…..

So now…. Let me challenge you a bit. What in your life needs a little shaking up? It doesn't have to be major- it can be as simple as trying a new recipe or wearing red lipstick if you always wear pink. Or maybe it’s really big- starting a new business or having a baby or walking away from a job or relationship that is really not good for you anymore. If you feel comfortable doing so, you can share what you’d like to “shake up” in your comments below. If you’re not comfortable giving the details, then maybe just tell us that you've made the decision to start shaking things up today!

P.S. Some of my social media addresses have changed- Please click here for my new Twitter address, and click here for my new Instagram address.
Facebook would not let me change my page name.... sooooo.... find my brand new Facebook page here. (This new page will take the place of my old page.)

Scraps & Giveaway

No, I'm not giving away my scraps (although I'll bet a lot of you would like that!)

Whenever I get a quilt back from my quilter, she gives me these neatly folded bundles of leftover fabric and batting.

Usually they are about 3-4" wide, so the fabric is still useful for making quilt blocks.I hate to throw out the batting (it's so expensive)- but those pieces are too narrow for using in a quilt, and I never know what to do with them.

So here is my question: do you have a good use for the scraps, especially the batting? Or maybe you know of a charity that could use it?

The best suggestion will win a free copy of the Spring 2013 Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. (My quilt is on page 18!)

To enter, comment here with you suggestions for using up those long skinny scraps by Friday March 8 at 11:59 pm EST.


AND.... Don't forget to join me and Pat Sloan on the radio today at 4 pm EST!

Settler's Pride Wool BOM & Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks

I finally finished the main portion of the Settler's Pride wool quilt that I have been working on since 2009! (Last December I talked about "re-booting" this project- click here for that post and to see the individual blocks.)

(This is the same photo from when I had prepped the quilt- it looks exactly the same now that it's stitched, minus the pins.)

I spent last weekend prepping the top and bottom borders (cut out all the pieces and pinned them to the background). I really dislike the prepping part, but now that is ALL done! All that is left is stitching the borders (the fun part). I told my husband that after working on this quilt for over 3 years, I am limping toward the finish line! (One of the borders has the date on it- and I couldn't decide if I should use the year I started- 2009- or the year that I finished it. I ended up using 2013- so I definitely have to get it done this year ha ha. I'm committed!)

What keeps you from finishing a project? Do you lose interest? Do you have so many things going on at the same time that you forget about them? Do you have a certain part of the process where you get "stuck" and have a hard time moving forward? And what do you do to get yourself to finish up those UFO's (UnFinished Objects)??


Moving on.... Look what I got in the mail the other day- the Spring 2013 issue of Quilts from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. 

I have a quilt featured in this issue, called Tutti-Frutti. It was adapted from my Neapolitan block, which appeared in Volume 4 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks. For the Neapolitan block, I used pinks, browns, and creams.

For the Tutti-Frutti quilt, I used "juicy" fabrics from my Fruitful Hands fabric line (available at Fat Quarter shop.)

Look for this issue on newsstands in the beginning of March! It's a really great issue- lots of pretty, colorful, cheerful springtime quilt ideas! The nice folks at Quiltmaker magazine sent me a couple of extra copies, so stop back soon for a giveaway :)


Daughter & I are starting to talk about the next issue of the newsletter. It will have a spring theme. I have a cute idea for a cookie recipe- do you have any ideas for craft or decorating projects? What would you like to see in the next issue?? Let us know!

Glorious Autumn Quilter's Block Party

Welcome! Today it is my turn for the Glorious Autumn Quilter's Block Party, sponsored by Quilting Gallery! In case you are new, here is what's going on: Michele at Quilter's Gallery is sponsoring a block party for 15 weeks. Every week there are 3 FREE block patterns/tutorials by 3 different designers.
That's 45 FREE BLOCK PATTERNS!!! Yippeeee!!!!!!  There are also many manufacturers providing "Super Deals for Quilters," i.e., special offers and sales.

I have answered some fun questions as part of my designer profile:  How many UFO's do I currently have? What was my first quilt? How did I transition from quilter to designer? You will have to go to the Quilting Gallery page to find out!

There's a Flickr page, too, so you can see what other folks have been up to with these free block patterns.

And there's a giveaway.... 2 prizes, folks!

My block is called Autumn Jewel Box, and it features my Fruitful Hands Fabric line:

With this block, you can make quilts like these:

You can click here for a PDF of this tutorial.

Here is how to make this block:

White- cut 4 squares each 3 7/8"
Red Floral- cut 4 squares each 3 7/8"

Cut these squares in half diagonally to create 8 triangles each:

Cut a strip, 2" x about 15", from each of the following fabrics: Orange Dot, Green Floral, Red Texture, Green Texture:

(Don't worry about trimming the selvedges off now.)

Sew the strips together along long edges:

 (Why is it that the cat is most interested in me when I am trying to get something done??)

Trim off the selvedges and cut this unit into 4 units, each 3 1/2" wide:

Sew the red and white triangles together into 8 squares (sorry I forgot to photo this step!!)

Sew 4 of the squares into pairs like this, and then sew the pairs into a square:

Sew the remaining 4 squares to the ends of 2 of the strip units (note that the red triangle is adjacent to the green rectangle, and the white triangle is adjacent to the orange rectangle):

Sew the remaining 2 strip units to the large square:

Sew the block together as shown above. This yields a 12 1/2" (12" finished) block.

That's it! Hope you enjoy making this block!

As mentioned, there's a giveaway- with 2 prizes. Each prize will contain fabric from the Fruitful Hands fabric line, plus a pattern assortment OR an autographed copy of my book, Fruitful Hands. The retail value for each of these prizes is $40-$50.

For the giveaway, you can get up to 3 chances to win:

• Comment here on this post and tell me your favorite thing about the Autumn season. 
• Like my Facebook page, and then comment here that you have done so.
• Subscribe to my newsletter (see the box in the upper right bar of this blog). Comment here to let me know you have done so.

I must be able to contact you if you win! If your email doesn't show up automatically through your Google or Blogger account, please include it in your comment. If you don't want to leave your email address in your comment, you can email me to give me your address and let me know that you have commented. You must comment by midnight EST on Monday November 12, 2012. Two winners will be chosen at random. Good Luck!

Don't forget to also visit the other two featured designers this week and get the directions for their blocks:

Jo's Country Junction and The Caffeinated Quilter (love that name!)

Giveaway! And other fun stuff....

My friend Sandi at A Legacy of Stitches is giving away fabric from my Fruitful Hands collection! I love Sandi because she is so kind and really, really generous with her time and talents. She is always sharing photos of her enviable quilt collection, organizing quilt retreats, and just generally being a really nice person. Take a bow, Sandi!

I want you all to you run (OK, click) right over to her blog and enter her giveaway, Pronto! It ends on Friday.

Go on, enter the giveaway. I'll wait......

OK Welcome back! Does the change of seasons put you in the mood for certain kinds of projects? For me, autumn is the unofficial start of baking season (my own personal equivalent of Football Season...) In addition, it seems as soon as the temperatures drop below 70 degrees, I am ready to dig into my wool pile........

A few days ago, I got a hankerin' for a cozy project, so I pulled out the pile of wool and started on a really simple project. I think I will share the finished project and pattern in my next newsletter. It shouldn't take me long to finish- as I said it is simple as can be, and I have enjoyed working on it while watching TV in the evenings. I am using yummy Valdani thread for my stitching.

And there are those ubiquitous magnifying glasses again. Yes, it seems I need them more and more! Today I was trying to read something, and realized that I really need to start carrying a pair in my purse. But I resist. I am being dragged kicking and screaming into middle age!

Finally, I have a cute story to tell you. Last week I was upstairs cleaning up one of the bedrooms. I heard a thud on the window (as I often do- our birds aren't particularly intelligent it seems- because my windows are dirty and they really should be able to see them!) Usually when I hear a thud, I look out the window and the victim has flown away. But this time, I saw this pretty little yellow bird lying on the porch roof, feet up in the air and twitching. I held my breath and walked away, hoping that he'd hop up and fly away. When I returned to the window a few minutes later, he was still lying on the roof, feet up, but the twitching had stopped- bad sign! I walked away again and continued my work. I checked back on him every few minutes. After about 10 minutes of no movement, I figured I'd be climbing out the window to retrieve the body for proper burial. But then, I found him like this:

Isn't he cute? The yellow finch happens to be our State Bird. He remained like this for another 10 minutes- I was even able to open the window, and hang halfway out to take his photo. The fact that I got so close to him proves how stunned he was! I'm sure he had a terrible headache! I continued my cleaning, checking on him from time to time. Finally, I approached the window and he was gone. Poor little dear! I guess he flew away to find some Excedrin....

Visit Me at The Jolly Jabber!

Have you stopped by The Jolly Jabber lately? It's the blog for Fat Quarter Shop- I always find it fun and inspirational to visit The Jolly Jabber to read and learn about my favorite designers. Today I am featured in their Designer Tidbits! So exciting!

Today I am talking with them about my Fruitful Hands fabric line. They did a really nice write up about me and my fabric line. Make sure you click over and leave a comment! Thanks to everyone at Fat Quarter Shop and The Jolly Jabber :)

In other news, last night I spent the evening with the Penn Oaks Quilt Guild in Frazer, PA. What a fun group of ladies (and one gent- don't want to leave him out!) I did a talk and everyone was so interested and asked tons of questions- which is always good because then you know that people are actually awake and listening to what you have to say, ha ha!

I also did a trunk show- and being a typical girl- I totally over-packed! 'Cause you just never know what you are going to need and so it's best to bring everything, right?? Thank goodness my hubby came along to help with the heavy lifting and to help with check out so that I could be free to chat with the lovely guild members.

Thanks to everyone at the Penn Oaks Quilt Guild- you were all so friendly and welcoming!