playing with color.

confession: i still like to color in coloring books.
or sometimes just on a plain white piece of paper.
it may be absurb to some adults, but i think it nurtures my creative side.

while i'm always up for coloring, sometimes i just play with the crayons.
i like to mix and match different color schemes.
and sometimes i take pics of my favorite groupings to refer to later.

take this one for instance, i just love it.
i can see myself making a log cabin quilt using these colors.
in my mind, i've already planned out the entire quilt. seriously.

it's funny how inspiration strikes me sometimes.

do y'all still color in coloring books?!?!

rachel

skip the borders blog book tour.

{comments closed.} winner = jennie

welcome to the skip the borders blog book tour y'all.

i am SO excited to introduce y'all to julie's book, skip the borders.
it's a wonderfully written book giving us permission to break the rules.
quilting rules, obviously.

we've always been told to never judge a book by it's cover, but look at this cover.
just lovely, right?!?!


box of chocolates
the concept behind skip the borders is just as simple as it sounds.
julie shows us 15 borderless quilts.
although they don't have fancy smanchy borders, the quilts still speak for themselves.
and she goes into great detail explaining how to decide which quilts need borders, as well as which quilts can shine without the aid of borders.

not only will you learn the structure of borderless quilts, you will learn various bindings as well.
in real life, i call julie the binding queen, this book just gave me further proof.
it's like getting two books in one, really.

i would recommend skip the borders to beginner and advanced quilters alike.
and i look forward to piecing a few of these beauties myself.
because honestly, i really dislike the border stage.
in fact, i'm kinda jealous that julie thought of this book before i did.
well played, julie. well played.


boxed in
you can't have a blog tour without something fun, so here's some q&a:
julie: all of the quilts in skip the borders are ... borderless! do you skip borders on most of your quilts?
me: the correct answer is no. i use a lot of white/negative space when i design my quilts. i think that because of that, 9 times out of 10, i need a border. and next to basting, borders are my least favorite part of quilt making. go figure.

julie: in the intro to my book, i give you permission to break the rules. do you break some quilting rules? what is the number one rule you break and why?
me: well i'm just gonna put it out there and hope i don't get mobbed. i never pin anything. well that's not entirely true, i do pin notes onto my blocks so i know where they go once i piece the quilt top. but as far as pinning fabrics together before piecing them, that's a big, fat no. and the reason why is because i'm lazy and i don't feel like pinning. (don't judge me too harshly cause i still end up with beautifully matched seams. promise.)

julie: it’s no secret that i love binding! in skip the borders, i’ve included an entire chapter on binding. so the million-dollar question is do you use bias or straight of grain most of the time?
me: i feel like i'm not worthy to talk to the queen of binding, but to answer your question, i'm a straight of grain kind of girl. bias binding has always scared the bejesus out of me, but after seeing your step by step directions in the book, i think maybe i'm ready to tackle it. (and i wanna tackle a binding flange too!!!)


checkerboard dots
no blog tour would be complete without a giveaway:
one lucky ps i quilt reader will win their own skip the borders ebook!!!
just leave a comment telling me your two cents on borders. you likey?!?! you no likey?!?!
{winner will be announced saturday.}

and don't forget to visit all the peeps on our blog book tour:
{they'll also be having giveaways!!!}

september 10th
generation q magazine

september 12th
ps i quilt

september 14th
beyond the reef

september 17th
pink chalk studio

september 19th
fat quarter shop

september 21st
bijou lovely

september 24th
red pepper quilts

september 26th
swatch & stitch

september 28th
juicy bits

october 1st
v and co

october 2nd
martingale publishing

october 5th
carolina patchworks

october 8th
i am a ginger monkey

october 10th
blue is bleu

october 12th
quilting is my therapy

october 15th
quilt dad

october 17th
jaybird quilts

happy touring.

rachel

let me s'plain.

i've had three weeks of chaos.
some of it was good.
some of it, not so much.

here's a quick summary:
school started.
our niece brought miss natalie rae into the world.
my laptop crashed.
miss lindsey turned two years old.
and my sewing machine & i have been spending long hours together.

now that i have a replacement laptop, i can get back to blogging. :D
please note: if i'm not blogging, y'all can still keep up with me via instagram. (@rachelgriffith)
and/or the ps i quilt facebook page.

i have a big week of blogging planned.
a new pattern, a book review & then some.

in the meantime, tell me what y'all have been up to.
i missed y'all.

for those inquiring minds:
fabric = odds and ends by julie comstock for moda

rachel