Friday, May 23, 2025

Virtual Book Tour Wrap-Up / Beauties Pageant 295

Over the past two weeks, a phenomenal group of quilters have shared their thoughts on Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts. It was so much fun for me to hear what each of them took away from their time with the book. I’m sending out a big thank-you to each of them for their time—at the keyboard, on Instagram, at the sewing machine—helping me spread the word about this pattern collection!

And to those of you who read the reviews or saw the projects and decided to add Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts to your own quilt-book library, thank you! Your enthusiasm for my designs means more than you know. : ) 

If you missed any of the spots on the second week of the virtual book tour, here’s a recap with links to each participant’s post ...

Mary / Mary Quilts

Mary, a prolific quilter and blogger, posted her review, echoing some things I’ve heard from others. Namely, Pod Patrol might be her favorite of the 14 designs! (How are creatures that are huge and majestic in real life so dang cute when they appear on quilts?) She also called out Step Dance for one characteristic in particular: It’s the design with the least amount of background fabric, which is a plus when you’re looking to bust through stashed prints.

Read the review here!

Raylee / Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting

Raylee of Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting wears many hats: longarmer, pattern designer, teacher. In her review of the book, she talks about how I encourage quilters to be “choosy” with what they put in their jelly roll quilts. It’s true! Once we give ourselves permission to edit some fabrics out and add in some selections from our stashes, the creative possibilities grow!

Read the review here!

Megan / Megan Collins Quilt Design

My friend Megan is an accomplished quilt designer in her own right. (She does amazing work with curves!) I should not have been surprised, then, that after sewing a single block of Five-Star Experience as a baby quilt, she transformed her cut-offs into the cutest coasters.

See the projects here!


Deb / Quiltblox

Deb, of the Quiltblox blog and shop, set to work making her version of Neighborly. I love how she found my tips about sewing with jelly roll strips helpful. Plus, we are on the same wavelength about the tired jelly roll race: It’s time for something new!

Read about her project here!

Cheryl / Meadow Mist Designs

Great minds think alike! Like Megan, my friend Cheryl saw the potential in Five-Star Experience. She sewed one block, trimmed it out with a nice border, and bound it as a baby quilt. (This idea was nowhere on my radar screen, but I am thankful for it now!) As an author herself, Cheryl was an invaluable resource as I made my way through the book-writing process. To see her sew something from Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts really brings everything full circle for me. 

See more pictures here!


Anne / Said With Love

I’ve been following Anne on Instagram for at least a decade, so I was tickled when she accepted the invitation to participate in the virtual book tour. And—wow!—does she have plans for the book’s patterns. In a blog post and an accompanying YouTube video, she spells out all the plans she has for not one, not two, but three book projects!


Shannon / Shannon Fraser Designs

If you’ve met Shannon in real life as I have, you know what great energy she brings to conversations about quilting, and I felt as if she were right next to me as I read her book review. Shannon sewed a block from Meow Mates, and I couldn’t love it any more. Seeing what others create with my patterns will never get old!

Read the review here!

 

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Friday, May 16, 2025

Virtual Book Tour Update / Beauties Pageant 294

The virtual book tour for Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts is well underway, and I’d love to tell you about the participants who posted about the book so far. Be sure to check them out—many are hosting giveaways for the ebook version!

Amy Friend / During Quiet Time

Amy Friend has been blogging and designing projects under the During Quiet Time name longer than I’ve been quilting. In her latest blog post, Amy reviews Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts and, in the process, says what I think may be the best possible compliment: “My favorite thing about [the book] is that the designs are very creative and do not have the look that we think of when we hear the words ‘jelly roll quilts.’”

Read the review here!

Lilo Whitener-Fey / Trace Creek Quilting

Lilo Whitener-Fey is the face of Trace Creek Quilting. Based in St. Louis, she and her team of longarmers quilt projects for people all across the United States. When I finished my second version of Pixelated Herringbone, I knew I wanted Lilo to give it an edge-to-edge panto treatment. There’s a peek of the quilt below. (I’ll devote an entire blog post to this project once it’s bound!)

See more pictures here!

 

Becca Fenstermaker / Sugar Sand Quilt Co.

Becca Fenstermaker is a quilter and teacher in southern New Jersey. She fell in love with Myriad, a pattern from the book that uses strip sets to make half-hexagons and incorporates them in a bold star design. If you’re local to Becca, you can make a Myriad quilt with her in the class she’s teaching at Block Party Quilts, in Medford, NJ, on June 26 and July 10!

Read the post and learn more about the class! 

Yvonne Fuchs / Quilting Jetgirl

I suspect all regular readers of From Bolt to Beauty know Yvonne Fuchs and her work. What I love about Yvonne (aside from how sweet and encouraging she is!) is how different her projects are from mine. In her latest blog post, Yvonne shares her version of Tag Sale Floral in a palette that my brain could never curate. It. Is. Amazing!

Read the blog post here! 


Lynn Woll / Create Whimsy

Lynn Woll, the artistic brain behind Create Whimsy, strives to bring creators and makers together and share their stories. I am honored to be one of those stories! Visit Create Whimsy to hear about how I started quilting, where I find inspiration, and what I hope readers take from Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts.

Read the interview here!

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

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Follow Me On ...  


 
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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Saturday, May 10, 2025

Virtual Book Tour / Beauties Pageant 293


I spent the past few days at H+H Americas, a large fiber-arts tradeshow, and it was a blast. I got to meet quilters and shop owners and talk to them about Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts. The road to publishing a book is a long one, and reaching this point is very rewarding. Seeing people’s faces light up while encountering my designs for the first time never gets old.

Over the next two weeks, bloggers, designers, and social media mavens from around the world will be opening up a copy of Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts and sharing their thoughts. Some of them will be writing a review of the book. Others will be sewing up a block or two. And others still will be interviewing me about my creative process and book-writing journey. I can’t wait to read what they all have to say!

Many participants will be hosting a giveaway for the digital version of the book, so I encourage you to hit each stop!

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Friday, May 2, 2025

1-2-3 Giraffes / Beauties Pageant 292

I’m at H+H Americas this week. The usual Friday post and linky will go live tomorrow: Saturday, May 10.

Can you believe I have something to talk about today that has nothing to do with jelly rolls? It’s true! I have a backlog of projects and finishes to share, which as a weekly blogger, seems like a luxury.

But first ... A thank-you to everyone who has purchased my book or cheered me on during its first week of release!

If you see Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts in your local quilt shop (see the cover at the bottom of the post), could you snap a picture and send it to me? I’d love to promote that store in my Instagram stories.

If you own Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts, please leave a review. You don’t need to have purchased the book at Amazon or from my publisher to leave reviews at either site, and reviews count for a lot with book sales. The Amazon listing is here. The C&T listing is here. Thank you in advance!

And now, a finish that has zero connection to jelly rolls! It’s my Giraffe Love project, made for a fellow quilter’s new baby boy.

I wrote about this project from Sew Fresh Quilts back in January and put off the quilting as long as possible. I’ve gotten out of the habit of quilting projects myself—I prefer to devote my time to designing and piecing instead—and the ones I do plan on tackling myself grow in size and scope in my mind.

In the end, quilting this small baby quilt was fast and easy. (Isn’t that how projects we put off usually turn out?) Using my walking foot, I quilted wavy organic lines across the width of the project at 3-inch intervals. Then I quilted another line in between the originals ones. At least I think that’s what I did—a hazard of writing a blog post weeks after finishing a project is remembering the details!

I had the perfect sunshiny backing in my stash and bound the quilt with a seemingly made-for-this-project mustard fabric. Project finished and gifted ... check and check!

I am close to a point where I can start a just-because project, one without a recipient or a commitment or expectations of any kind. So, I long to see what you’re working on. Bring on the inspiration!

Purchase a copy here!


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The pageant rules are simple:
  • Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
  • Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
  • Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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