Monday, November 12, 2012

Daisy a Day is done, and I’m celebrating with a GIVEAWAY!!!

Call it what you will – Daisy a Day, Joseph’s Coat, Tea Leaves, Lafayette Orange Peel or Lover’s Knot - I really, REALLY love this quilt, which is just as well because I’ve spent more than 18 months piecing and quilting it entirely by hand.
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Months ago I promised you a look at the three queen sized quilts I finally finished in July. You’ve seen my Whirligig Quilt, then Ben’s and Sunny’s Wedding Quilt, and now (drumroll……..) here’s my favourite, Daisy a Day.
You can read here how some of my friends and I came to be making this quilt. Robbie’s version became a cot quilt, Jill’s is an elegant runner across the foot of her bed, and Gail is currently on the home stretch, hand quilting her QS version made from delicate Liberty fabrics.
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I love scrappy quilts, the more fabrics the better, so choosing colours for my petals was a snap. I simply dived into my humungous scrap pile(s) and chose the prettiest and happiest pieces I could find. Then I teamed them together with white-on-white polka dot filler shapes to make them “pop”.
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Ardco metal templates (the 12 inch size) made cutting the shapes easy, though getting all six petals to meet nicely at the centre of each circle, with no gaps, proved a tad challenging at times. I’m glad I didn’t let it stress me too much because looking at the finished quilt I think you’d need a search party to find those wonky joins now.
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A wise friend advised me to machine quilt this monster. After all, I do lead a busy life. But after seeing Robbie’s cot-sized version, meticulously hand-quilted and cuddly, I threw caution to the winds and decided to hand quilt mine too.
I feared my wise counselor might think I’d lost my marbles and many would agree, so I kept this a secret!
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On Easter Saturday this year I spent the afternoon crawling around on my hands and knees on my bedroom floor, sandwiching and pinning the quilt to within an inch of its life.
Why pin, and not baste, as is more usual for hand quilting? Aha, I had a cunning plan Smile
Placing a safety pin in every white space across the quilt, and counting them in as I pinned, meant I could easily keep track of my progress. By counting the pins out as I quilted each of these negative spaces I didn’t accidentally miss a space, and I marked them off on a card, one by one. 
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It was very simple to remove any pins that got in the way of my quilting hoop as I went.
I was surprised and delighted to find that the whole quilt only took me 5 weeks to quilt. I guess quilting for a couple of hours each night in front of the TV, as well as whenever I attended one of my quilting groups, added up quickly.
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The binding colour was a no-brainer! There are so many gorgeous colours in this quilt, but somehow the bright pinks called to me the loudest Smile. No surprises there.
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If this block design is making your heart go pitty-pat, then I think you’ll want to enter my GIVEAWAY to win one of three prizes generously donated by JoNell at QUILTSMITH Ltd (the business in Virginia, USA, not the shop by the same name in Sydney, Australia).
To be in the running, just pop over to the Ardco Templates by Quiltsmith website and look through all the wonderful sizes and shapes available for your piecing pleasure. Then come back here and leave me a comment telling me your favourite Ardco template shape.
That’s it. No other hoops to jump through (I don’t like them myself), though you’ll make me a very happy blogger if you choose to become a Follower, and I’ll be grinning from ear to ear if you tell your friends about my giveaway on Facebook and Twitter.
*** Please make sure I can contact you by email. I’m afraid I can’t count you in the giveaway if you’re a “No reply” blogger ‘cos I have no way of letting you know when you win!
I’ll close comments at midnight Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time on Sunday 18th November, and I’ll draw three winners soon after.
* * *
First Prize is a set of 12 inch Tea Leaves templates (TLW-12) plus a set of 6 inch Tea Leaves templates (TLW-6).
Second Prize is a set of 12 inch Tea Leaves templates (TLW-12).
Third Prize is a set of 6 inch Tea Leaves templates (TLW-6)
* * *
You’re going to love ARDCO templates!
First of all, they’re metal. Nice and strong, and accurate. Unlike perspex templates, the edges aren’t going to chip or corners break off.
You can get the tip of a mechanical pencil right into those corner slits (and if you can’t, all you need is a teensy rub with the finest grade sandpaper to widen the slits just a smidge).
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See the rough, grainy surface on the underside of the template?
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(This one’s well-worn after tracing all my Daisy a Day pieces!)
When you position this baby on your fabric ready for tracing it’s not going anywhere. Honestly, it grips and makes tracing a breeze, especially if you use a sandpaper board underneath your fabric. No skidding! Smile
Being “window” templates, too, it’s easy to position them so you can fussy cut your fabrics.
Finally, once you’ve traced along both the inside and outside edges of the template you’ll have a nice stitching line, perfect for hand-piecing!
* * *
But wait, there’s more Winking smile
JoNell is offering all my readers a discount of 10% 20% off any templates on the website for 2 weeks (up until Sunday 25th November). Simply enter the discount code JIS78 when you enter your name at the checkout. What are you waiting for?
Just added:
* There is no actual box for entering that discount code at the checkout, but if you simply type it beside your name this will identify you to JoNell as one of my readers, and worthy of special treatment (ie 20% off).
* International shipping, she says, is either at the same price quoted on the website for US shipping, or very little more. After all, these templates don’t weigh much at all.
* Finally, if you have any questions at all you can email JoNell (who is a really lovely person to deal with) at rquilt@rcn.com

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Stats:
88 in x 96 in (approx)
Daisy petals - Kaffe Fassett brights, along with other bright, modern scraps.
Background fabric - White tone-on-tone spot from the Polka Party III range by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Drygoods
Warm & White Cotton batting.
Pieced and quilted by hand using Aurifil 40 weight thread in white (2024).
Red rose Di

44 comments:

  1. I think my favourite is the Colonial Flower Garden set as I'm in love with octagons at the moment! And a daisy petal quilt is on my list of quilts to make also.
    Gillian

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  2. What a truly gorgeous quilt Di and a labour of love
    Im findng it hard to chooose my favorite template at Quiltsmith but can narrow it down to two - dresden plate and tea leaves

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  3. I LOVE Ardco templates... I have a 3" fan and a 6" fan that I use to make dresden blocks FAST and EASY. The solid metal ones (the ones without the hole cut out) are my favorites.

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  4. Wow, Di!!!! Your quilt is absolutely FANTABULOUS! I would smile hugely every time I saw this. :D

    So - I'm dying to get some Tea Leaves templates, but I also really like their Colonial Garden templates.

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  5. Love your Daisy a Day quilt. Couple of my friends are using the Ardco templates and really like them. I had several that I liked but think these templates are best for making the Grandmothers flower garden. Enjoy your blog.

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  6. I love Tea Leaves but my favourite is Texas Star as I love star patterns - Isaiah 40:25+ He brings all the stars out, calling them all by name (all trillions of them). Its a beautiful quilt Di and I love the colours. I also love a scalloped edge. Well done. What next??

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  7. That is a stunning Quilt Di, well done. I looks beautiful.

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  8. Oh, my goodness, what a glorious quilt! It's simply stunning! And I will tweet about the giveaway. :)

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  9. Wow, what a quilt! and what fantastic templates! I think my favorite would have to be tea leaves - simple and beautiful

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  10. wow! what a quilt! And what fantastic templates! I think tea leaves would have to be my favourite - simple and beautiful!

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  11. That is a really scrumptious quilt, and it is very 'you'! Don't put me in for the giveaway, I have so many projects on the go now *grin* I just wanted to let you know how much I like your quilt.

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  12. Oh Di - it's absolutely beautiful and it makes me smile! I just love it. You'd better enter this into shows next year because the more people that see this, the happier the world will be!

    Congratulations on finishing it off!

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  13. It is absolutely beautiful, Di. And of course, it had to be pink!

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  14. Your quilt is gorgeous, Di. Well done. :)
    I have just browsed the templates...oh my! I love the Swirl template and the Twisted Star, but those Tea Leaves...wow! Love, love, love them. :)

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  15. Just call that quilt BEAUTIFUL!!! I like the Double Wedding Ring and the Tea Leave one you used.

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  16. I will have to go for the Tea Leaves, cause I just love the design. Well done Di, the quilt looks beautiful. Can't see an overseas shipping rates on the site though, would like to order a set.
    heather.f.watts@gmail.com

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  17. I would just have to choose the Tea Leaves template, cause I really like that design. Your quilt is beautiful Di, well done. I can't see an overseas shipping rate on the website for the templtates

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  18. Wow wow wow what an amazing quilt, well done and a great way to use up those scraps.... i like the texas star template as I have a star fetish happening at the moment. Thank you for sharing.

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  19. Stunning quilt!!!!! The templates I like the best would be the Tea Leaves, just so I can make a beautiful quilt like yours.

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  21. Periwinkle is my favorite. Gorgeous quilt. So bright and cheery.

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  22. Hi Di, your Daisy quilt is absolutely amazing. It is so cheerful and happy and as you say just looking at is makes you smile. Beautiful seems such a simple word for it, I so wish I could describe how much I like it and how much I would love to have your skills. The templates are amazing and being a simple quilter, the elongated pentagon would enable simple designs for a learner like me. Of course how amazing it would be to be able to jump in and do something like you!! Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece of work. Love it. Hoping things are going well with you, I understand this will be a difficult time coming up. Thinking of you regularly. xx

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  23. Di this is a beautiful quilt - well done. The colours to me are just stunning. Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs, Denise

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  24. This is a stunning quilt. Nothing beats white and modern colored scraps. My favourite template would have to be 60 degree diamonds as that is the quilt I'm currently making. Thanks for the opportunity to win.

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  25. This is one of the lovliest quilts I have seen. So satifying that you hand pieced and hand quilted it. I would love to make this quilt myself. Your colours are lovely. Thank you for the chance of winning the templates Di. Hope you are keeping well, and everything is OK with you. I made you a heart, but the glue I used showed through, so I didn't post it. I had a pin in the top of the glue needle ( roxanne) and a little bit of rust came through with the glue. I thought it would wash out but it didn't. Am I too late to make another one?
    Cheers
    Sue

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  26. Di, I cannot believe how absolutely stunning this quilt is! My goodness! It's truly spectacular! I can't believe you made it so large, and that you quilted it in just five weeks. Wonder Woman, you are! Stunning, stunning, stunning... as are the pictures you took along the waterfront. I'm in utter awe.

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  27. Di, since I now only have a pillow with this quilt design I am in awe of what you accomplished. I just last month cut my fabric to enjoy it in a simple pattern to remember the challenge and that i just needed to move on. This is absolutely gorgeous and you are truly amazing. Maybe if I would have the templates I could attempt this again. May it bring you much joy!

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  28. Di, I could probably sit and look at your quilt forever!! Wowsers, is it drop dead gorgeous!! I'm so impressed by hand piecing and hand quilting. You are amazing! I love your photography as well...great way to showcase the bright quilt. I looked at the templates and know that I'd enjoy them...the clamshell would be one I've been wanting to try. Thanks for the chance.

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  29. MMMM tough call but I think the Swallows set because it could be used for so many other blocks.
    Lovely quilt Miss Di. Well done.

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  30. Di, Your quilt has blown me away!!! All those wonderful colours and clever piecing. It's just so beautiful!! I'm so impressed you hand quilted it, and the hot pink binding is perfect. The photos are wonderful too. I really hope I get to see it hanging in a show one day. Those templates sound wonderful I popped over to QuiltSmith and saw they have a great range of all the classic blocks. The Double Wedding Ring would have to be a favourite.

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  31. Hi Di, This is a beautiful quilt. I couldn't decide between the Tea Leaves (you made it look so good) and the Double Wedding Ring. But I have decided to nominate the Double Wedding Ring because it is one of the first quilts I saw and I would love to make it one day.
    God bless
    Ruth

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  32. That's gorgeous! Well done - and sometimes a quilt just deserves hand quilting :) Lots of those traditional templates tempt me - school house, lemoyne star but I'd probably choose a tea leaves just like yours.

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  33. Your quilt is stunning and isn't it fantastic we can do as little or as much stitching as we enjoy?

    Recently, started doing paper piecing adain - Candied Hexagons. So love the Apple Core but covert the Block Sets(N-Z).

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  34. Di what a fabulous quilt. It shouts HAPPY! I really like the scalloped edges too. Can you show us how you bound it?

    I've never seen these templates before but they look wonderful. My favourite is the half hexagon I think.

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  35. Well I normally faint at Stars, but maybe lemoyne star LSW-3 1/2..........12" block...3 pieces...$13.95
    would actually be achievable.
    Di your quilt is glorious. Congratulations.

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  36. Hi Di, Such a hard thing to choose from quality templates, but I love the Feathered Star. Thanks for the link to a great website.
    Love your finished Daisy a Day quilt- so bright and cheery.

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  37. Love this quilt Di it is so colourful and happy. My favourite template is the Shooting Star. Second is the Tea leaves used to make this quilt.

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  38. Difficult to choose a favourite - Friendship Knot has some interesting possibilities. Love your Daisy quilt - beautiful colour choices and I do love your phone cover. If you misplace your phone it is probably sitting happily on your quilt! Louise wonna@internode.on.net

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  39. Hi Di,
    I love your quilt,a nd I am sure that finishing it off has helped you during a really tough time, I am sure your beloved is smiling down on you, as for the templates .....Hexagons all the way for me -
    Love
    Mary-anne

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  40. What a pretty happy quilt ! its lovely and really makes me smile when I look at it .
    Congratulations Di you should be proud of your efforts.
    Having the chance to enter your comp is great I really like the Winding Ways templates as thats my "one day" quilt.
    Again well done wish it was mine : )
    Jo
    gkajma@iinet.net.au

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  41. Di

    Love this quilt... I had thought about making this quilt years ago when "don't look now" had a quilt-a-long... I can't believe it's quilted in. 5 weeks!!!
    I'd make this quilt and eyeing off all the other templates available!!!

    Lissa

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  42. I think this is a beautiful example of this quilt - whatever name you choose to call it. I love the charm templates and always wanted to try an apple core.

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  43. I love this quilt - whatever name the block goes by - and I think yours is a fabulous example. I love charm quilts and always wanted to try the apple core.

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