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Welcome to American Homestead. I'm happy you have found my blog. Make yourself comfy and see what's been happening around here. I write about the things that interest me ~ creativity, travel, food, nature and a happy life. I'd love to read your comments.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

And the Winner Is...


The time has come to pick the winner of the book,
75 Fun Fat-Quarter Quilts!

Drum roll please!
Rat-a-tat-tat
or
since Christmas is 2 days away
Pah Rum Pum Pum Pum!

And the Winner is:
Bonnie!

Congratulations!
I will be contacting you by email to get
your mailing address.  Bonnie liked Big Red
and Garden Paths.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the
giveaway and even if you didn't win on the
blog tour I hope you will consider buying 
this book.

Also, I have a lecture and trunk show for this
book, so if your quilt group, guild or shop would 
like to see the quilts in person and see how easily
 I made them, with lots of tips and hints, then 
please contact me at:
ellen.americanhomestead@gmail.com

All the best,

Ellen

Sunday, December 20, 2015

A New Book Project!

75 Fun Fat Quarter Quilts





An exciting new book has just been released.
It is called 75 Fun Fat Quarter Quilts and many
designers have written chapters and I am happy
to be one of them.  My chapter is called 
One Simple Block
because all the quilts are made from, yes, you 
guessed it, one simple block, The Contrary Wife.
The quilt shown above is called  Au Contraire.


This quilt started with this sweet fat quarter
bundle because remember, this book is about
quilts that can be made from fat quarters.  And
all the quilts in my chapter are so easy to make
because the blocks are made from 4 half square 
triangles and 5 squares and you sew them into
a simple 9-patch block.  What makes this chapter
so interesting is the eight quilts that I designed 
all look so different by changing the colors or
changing the way the block was placed in the
quilts.  And just to get you a bit more excited,
I'm going to give you a sneak peek at the quilts.


This is Falling Leaves, a great Fall themed quilt
but you could use the same idea with any fat 
quarter bundle that you may love and it would
 look beautiful.


This is Chain Link, a completely different look
using white, red and black fabric.  This color
grouping is the favorite of my daughter Katie
Rose so I have lots of these fabrics in my stash.


This is Big Red, those of you that know me know
I love stars in quilts, they are such a traditional,
iconic look.  But this quilt looks bold and modern
by using bright, bold colors.


This quilt is called Magnificent Valour, I thought 
it would be perfect for those of you that make all
of those wonderful Quilts of Valor.


This is Ups and Downs, as you can see, again, I
have lots of red, black and white in my stash.  I 
think this would also be great if you did each row
in a different color.


This is Garden Paths, it reminded me of a show
garden with lots of flower beds surrounded by
grassy paths that meet with a fountain at the 
intersections.


This is Candy Garland,  I thought of strings of
wrapped candies when I designed this one.  It 
would also be fun in Christmas fabrics.


And this is just one of many, many chapters from
all sorts of talented designers.  So there you have it, 
just a snippet of the chapter I wrote, after all, we want
 you to run out and buy the book so you can see the full 
designs for yourself.  And remember, this is all from
One Simple Block!



To win a free copy of this book* please leave a comment
on this blog post, let me know which of the quilts in my
chapter is your favorite or you can just say hi!
  Remember to include your email address with your 
comment so I can reach the lucky winner.  On Wednesday, 
December 23 I will select a winner using a random 
number generator. 

*If your address is  in the United States you will receive a 
hard copy of the book.  A winner from outside the US will 
receive a free e-book version.

So many people can get to know about this new book we
are having a blog tour.  Stop by these other sites to see
what some of the other designers have to say about their 
chapters.  There are still a few more days of the tour!

12/14 C&T Publishing blog
12/15 Jera Brandvig
12/16 Melissa Cory
12/17 Kate Colleran
12/18 Sue Pfau
12/19 Tiffany Jenkins
12/20 Ellen Murphy
12/21 Amanda Castor
12/22 Jo Kramer

All the best!   ~ Ellen

Update!  A winner has been chosen for 
this giveaway.  It was Bonnie.
Thanks to everyone who participated!