Introducing Jacquelynne Steves . . . Designer, Author, and Sponsor!

Update: This giveaway is now closed, but thank you for your interest!

(And if you behave, there's a giveaway!)

Hello there, all of you Lilypadquilters! Put your hands together for our new sponsor, Jacquelynne Steves!

Her logo says "Refreshing. Modern. Country." and her fabrics and patterns are all of those and more!  I'd add the word "cute" but that's just me... (Grin)

Jacquelynne shares her talents with all of us in the fabrics that she designs (they are manufactured by Henry Glass), the blog where she lets us see glimpses of her creative process, and the newsletter that pops into inboxes monthly, with news, recipes, and free patterns, too! 

I first "met" Jacquelynne at her blog, The Noble Wife, and I was smitten by her fabric lines and her stitchery patterns. Her style really is refreshing and whimsical, and the colors are wonderful for modern projects and traditional ones, too.

Here is a button of one of her fabric lines, "A Beautiful Day."

Another is called "Sewing Room Social."

She created an adorable fabric line for Christmas, called "Joy. Love. Peace. Noel." 

 Isn't the mousie sweet?

Jacquelynne has been featured in loads of quilting, sewing and crafting magazines, and she has authored a book called "Fruitful Hands" that is filled with sewing projects, recipes and her lovely artwork.

I was thrilled when she agreed to be a sponsor here at the Lilypad, and she sent me a great, big box of goodies to share with all of you!

Remember when I showed you this sneak peek at some fabrics that I was working with? Luscious!

Jacquelynne sent me the fabrics and one of her wonderful patterns --- Apple Basket! It features another of her lovely lines, called Apple Blossom Acres, and oh, the apples and coordinating prints are beautiful!

I know that she probably thought that I'd fallen off the edge of the earth, er, grabbed the sample fabrics and left for parts unknown, er, forgotten all about making the quilt, but I hadn't forgotten --- life just got in my way! Between my job and two people in the house having colds, my quilting got pushed aside momentarily . . . but they've been told that behavior is completely unacceptable, and that it had better not happen again. Yeah. And don't give your germs to me, either. (Wink.) (I didn't really say that, ya know. I'm a good mommy, and I know that germs just come with the territory!)

Once I was able to resume the important things in life, I hunkered down at my machine and started making progress on my Apple Basket quilt. 

I hope that you can make out that little line across the blue yo-yo square above . . . this little guy is going to be sewn to the large square behind it, like so:

Now, the pattern directions did not call for me to do this, but I was a sneaky sneak and sewed again, just a little over a quarter of an inch away from that marked line --- you know the drill, don't you! Each time I trimmed the seam allowance, I got a free block for an upcoming project!! Check this out:

Not only did I complete the large square for the apple applique, but I got four little squares for later! MUUUWWWAAAHAAAHAAA!! It's a powerful feeling. 

Now I utilized the template with the pattern to make the cute apple and stem, and fasten those down to the newly-created block. This is what that looked like when I was done with sticking it onto the block with that special sticky stuff:

Here are two closeups of the stitching for you -- I love to use my machine's blanket stitch!

Now it was time to lay those four blocks aside, and move on the the next step -- pinwheels! Nine of 'em!

I know that I showed you this before, but I just think 

the apples are so cute! (And they make me hungry.)

When the pinwheels were done, it was time to add some triangles to make them into blocks --- first on these two corners . . . 

And then on these two . . .

Now they could be trimmed up to 9.5 inches, just like the applique blocks. The pattern then told me how to construct some corner triangles and some setting triangles. Gotta have those if you are setting blocks on point. That's just the way it is. 

(I like to lay them out and make sure I know what I'm doing. OK, maybe I don't really know exactly what I'm doing, but I increase the probability!)

Here is the completed triangle:

This was all going together so quickly --- Jacquelynne's pattern had all of my questions answered! Here is what the top looked like, after I assembled the middle of it . . . I've put lines on there, so that you can see how it went together:

Isn't it cute? At this point I was so excited that I started slicing and adding the borders that she instructed.  I'm happy to say that the top is now finished, and I'm ready to sandwich it with batting, and the brown mosaic fabric you see in this picture:

Did I already mention that I am in love with her fabrics? Sigh.

Here are two photos of the finished top . . . I was having trouble with shadows in one location, and the wind was being uncooperative when I tried another spot. But you can get an idea of how it looks:

The wrinkles in the second picture are because our pup attacked the flimsy and I had to rescue it before it got muddy (or worse) and then try to get a picture!

Now for the fun part! The giveaway! There will be multiple winners --- Yay!! Hoppy Froggies! Jacquelynne was extremely generous, and sent lots of goodies for you special Lilypad quilters!

First of all, she makes her artwork into adorable note cards, and three of you will win a pack of her cards. Here they are:

In addition to all that cuteness, we have four of her patterns to giveaway! Apple Basket (which, by the way, also includes a pattern for a tote, which I will show on here when I complete it!) is one of them. Little French Hen is another, and features a quilt and a wallhanging.  Amelia is a darling quilt and pillow pattern, and Noelle is a quilted wallhanging with applique and button embellishments!

Our grand prize winner will receive a panel from the Apple Blossom Acres line, and six (count 'em, six!) cuts of the coordinating fabrics!! Feast your peepers on these lovelies:

Here is a close up of the animal fabric --- you'll get a piece of this in two different color ways:

Aren't they adorable?  That's a rhetorical question. You don't have to answer out loud. I can see your head nodding. (Grin)

Here is the panel, and some close ups of the cute sections:

Now, how do you enter to win? Easy peasy -- if you just want one chance to win, just leave me a comment that tells me what you think you would make, if you won the grand prize - the panel and the fabrics.

If you want to really crank up those giveaway-winning vibes, you can enter several more times:

Are you a follower here at the Lilypad? We love our peeps, so leave a comment telling me you follow! (By the way, that's not the royal "we" --- that's Padsworth and me!)

For another chance to win, go and check out Jacquelynne's blog, The Noble Wife. Come back and tell me if you click to follow her blog.

Comment again if you sign up for her newsletter. The form is on the top right, on her blog!

Want another chance to win? Click to go to her store, and check out the wool flowers. Which color way do you like the best?

Last, but not least, if you blog, tweet, or alert your Facebook crew, leave a link in a comment, for another chance to win.

We'll leave the giveaway open for a week, and announce the winners on Monday, March 19th!

I hope you enjoy getting to know Jacquelynne Steves -- I think the world of her and her talent, and I think you'll love what she offers to the quilting community! Thank you, Jacquelynne, for being a Lilypadquilting sponsor!!

Love,