Monday, September 24, 2012

Skip the Borders Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Welcome!  This is the 7th stop on the Skip the Borders Blog Tour.   
Julie Herman is a quilter, teacher, pattern designer, blogger,
and "one girl on a mission to make life better with fabric".  
Yes, I can identify with that!

Just like the title of the book, Skip the Borders showcases 15 quilt designs all without borders.  The book is divided into three distinct section ~ One Block Quilts, Two Block Quilts and Outside the Block Quilts ~ and includes a comprehensive how-to section on piecing, making backings, and how to sew on labels. A whole chapter is dedicated to everything binding.  

Skip the Borders is Julie's first book and I imagine there will be more to come from this young designer.  Julie's eye for simple design and use of bold colors to support her designs is innovative.  This collection of border-less quilts showcases a modern aesthetic and is suitable for beginner as well as advanced quilters.

Checkerboard Dots by Julie Herman
: :  Now for some Questions as set by Julie : :

Question 1: Do you skip borders on your quilts?
I have had to go back into my archives to answer this question, but it seems like I do generally skip the borders.  There are a few designs that do have borders - like Labyrinth Quilt  and A Quilter's Palette Quilt, both have white sashing around a block design and a border was needed to complete to look of the quilt.

Question 2: Do you break some quilting rules? What’s the number one rule you break and why?
I am blissfully ignorant as to what most of the "rules" are, and advocate doing whatever work best for you.  I am largely self-taught and march to the beat of my own drum:  I am heavy handed with my steam iron, I don't pre-wash all of my fabrics, and probably my biggest ruler-breaker:  I don't pin.  Gasp!  I only use pins when machine stitching the binding, or when sewing the seam of a large quilt back.

Question 3: Do you use bias or straight of grain binding?
I use straight of grain binding.  My current phase of using stripey binding doesn't lend itself to bias binding either as I like my stripes to run perpendicular to the quilt edge.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
One lucky reader will win a copy of the Skip the Borders ebook by Julie Herman.


To be in the draw all you have to  do   is leave a comment on this post  (please ensure that an email address is available on your profile or is included in your comment -  NO EMAIL ADDRESS = NO VALID ENTRY).  International visitors are very welcome to enter!  Only one comment per person/email address will be eligible to enter the draw.

The draw will take place at 11am (AEST) on Wednesday 26 September 2012, at which time comments to this  post will be closed. The winner will be announced here on my blog the same day, and will also be contacted by email.

Good luck!
Rita
ENTRY HAS NOW CLOSED
A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY