Book Review + Giveaway: Little Bits Quilting Bee

Little Bits, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I am very happy to bring you my stop on the Little Bits Quilting Bee blog tour! Little Bits Quilting Bee: 20 Quilts Using Charm Squares, Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, and Fat Quarters is the latest by author and craft blogging wonder woman, Kathreen Ricketson, who runs one of my favorite blogs, Whip Up! If you aren't familiar with Kathreen's work, I encourage you to check out her blog as well as her other craft books including Whip Up Mini Quilts!

Little Bits Quilting Bee is all about using fabric precuts to create quilts. As a rule of thumb, I am generally not a big fan of using precuts, I usually end up feeling limited or that I can't create something unique looking. But! The quilts in this book? You'd be hard pressed to guess from the photos that they were made from precuts, love that! There are TWENTY quilt patterns in this book, organized by fabric cut. In addition there is a rather extensive section on community quilting (quilting bees!), supplies, basic quilt making, and caring for your quilts. I usually skip the first part of quilting books, now that I know how to put a basic quilt together, but I enjoyed Kathreen's thoughts on the basics as well as community quilting!

Sewing Circle Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

After receiving this book, I knew I wanted to make something from it right away. The use of color and photographs in the book inspired me to try something I wouldn't normally tackle. Curves. If you remember my Single Girl Quilt, you'll know curves and I don't get along. But, I was willing to give them another try. I settled on a block from the Sewing Circle Quilt.

Sewing Circle Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

So, here is what I made! I turned my one block into a little fall pillow! Let me tell you, compared to my last attempt at curves, this went 1000 times better. No gathers, no puckers, I only lost a a few points on the edges to the binding. And let me tell you, every seam in this block has curves! And I did it! :)

Sewing Circle Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I started with this pink Circles and Stems print from Park Slope by Erin McMorris, one of my favorite lines and then choose the coordinating Kona solid, which I believe is Papaya. Calmed down the brightness with some Quilter's Linen.

Sewing Circle Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I ended up hand quilting it (another thing I never do!), using 3 strands of DMC embroidery floss. I have been stuck on the couch this week feeling under the weather, so this was the perfect project to keep m3 company. I thought about filling the entire side pieces with quilting, but decided on leaving some blank space to give the eyes a place to rest amongst all the color!

Sewing Circle Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

Finished the pillow off with a scrappy envelope backing and another Park Slope print for the binding.

Sewing Circle Pillow, a photo by jenib320 on Flickr.

I am so proud of this pillow! The directions were really easy to follow and the templates were great. The little notched corners made it super simple to match up the edges, even for a curves dummy like me!

Hope you enjoyed this little review! Chronicle Books is kindly allowing me to give a copy of this book away to one lucky reader! Please leave one comment on this post, telling me what project you're working on right now!Open to U.S. entries only I'm afraid! Also, don't forget to include your email if it's not in your profile!
I'll draw a random winner on Sunday at 9pm CST! :)

Giveaway is now closed, thank you!
Don't forget to check out the rest of the tour!
Thursday, November 17 – In Color Order (here!) & Duo Fiberworks
Friday, November 18 – Kristin La Flamme & Camp Follower Bags & Quilts
Monday, November 21 – Quilt Dad
Tuesday, November 22 – Pat Sloan & Pleasant Home

Cheers!