Jaybird Quilts: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sponsored Giveaway: Featuring Shelf {TWO $50 Gift Cards!}

disclosure: this is a sponsored giveaway by Shelf Hi guys, I'm writing this post for a friend of mine, Lauren (from Lauren & Jessi Jung Designs). She's working on a really cool project right now that I wanted to show off for her. A few months back, she moved out to Cali with her business partner (and significant other), to launch a website that they've been working on together... called SHELF.

I'm going to walk you through it using an example. Let's say that I'm doing Holiday shopping for my friends / family. First, I'll go to all of my "go-to" store websites to browse for gifts... at Express, I find some socks for my bro and a dress shirt for my BF... so I bookmark those two items on SHELF... Then I keep shopping. I find another dress shirt at Banana Republic for my BF as well as two sweaters that I think my mom would like. Next, I find some stuff at Gymboree and Children's place for my niece and nephew... and some funky looking pillows at Anthropologie for my sister-in-law. All of those gift ideas are now safely bookmarked on my SHELF. While I'm in "shopping-mode", there's no reason why I shouldn't look for myself too, right? So I got to DSW and find 3 pairs of boots that I like... Then I find a coat that I like from J. Crew and another one from Banana Republic. I also want a new set of dishes, so I bookmarked a couple different sets from Pottery Barn.

And that should do it. All of my browsing is done. It's time for the magic. So, this is what your Shelves will look like. The items that you like are divided up onto Store Shelves and Category Shelves. This way you can see all of the items that you are thinking about buying, right in one place. Plus, you won't lose track of all your gift ideas.

If you click on an item, a panel drops down that shows you details about that item.

From here you can see how much the savings are... the total price... at the bottom is the shipping price as well as the promo code needed to claim any deal. On the right hand side is a price tracking chart so that you can see how much the price has fluctuated. And... best of all... you can set up price alerts. This jacket is WAY too expensive. I'm only going to buy it if it drops to half price. (Which is highly possible. Clothing companies try to clear out their inventory within 6 weeks.) So I'm going to set up an alert of $150. Then, Shelf will let me know when it drops to that price! How cool is that? This price alert feature is going to save me a mint during Christmas shopping. I started my shopping early this year, so I have time to set up alerts on all of these items. There's no sense in paying full price for anything anymore. If you set up alerts now, you'll probably wind up getting all of your gifts at much better prices! Look at this pair of Express jeans. The price was tracked from July to mid-August. Look how much the price has fluctuated! Isn't that crazy!! Getting a good deal is simply a waiting game! And Shelf will do all of the work for you.

The last thing that I want to show you is the promo dashboard. This is a color-coded view of ALL running promotions from your favorite stores. On the surface that doesn't sound like much... but think about the number of emails you get every single day from retailers. (The average online shopper gets 22 retail emails every day.) Now, you can unsubscribe from all of those and come to the promo dashboard on Shelf. You can also set up filters so that you are only seeing stores that you care about.

And I think that about covers everything.

Now, for the giveaway...

This giveaway is for two $50 gift certificates. AND... you have a choice... if you're a fabric lover, it can be to Fat Quarter Shop. OR... if your friends/kids want to participate, they can get a gift certificate to whatever clothing store they like. (When the winners are notified, you can tell Lauren which store you want your gift certificate to.) So make sure to tell ALL your shopping buddies about this giveaway!

Here are the rules.

1. Go to Shelf and give it a try. Then come back here and post a comment on this blog entry with feedback. She wants to know if anything was broken... or confusing... what you liked or didn't like, etc. ...And it would also be nice if you could share this link with your friends and family.

2. If you don't like to do online shopping, then just pick out two friends/family members who are online shoppers and send them an email about Shelf. And tell them to try it out because it will really really save them lots of time and money. Then just let me know that you did option two in your comment.

3. Simple as that!!

This giveaway is open until Friday October 5, and the winners will be announced here on Sunday October 7.

Winners will be selected by True Random Number Generator.

-- And if you want to post about it on Facebook, that would be nice also. Lauren is going to be doing a giveaway like this every week or two, so keep up with her! I'll announce the next giveaway on my post about the winners. Here are other links where you can learn more: The Shelf Website A Video About Shelf Shelf's Facebook Page Lauren's Blog

Friday, September 28, 2012

Skip the Borders - Blog Book Tour, Day 9

Full Schedule Here

Today is the 9th stop on the tour! Today's post is by Jessica Levitt. I've know Jessica for a few years now and was excited to use her Kingdom fabric collection in my book!

Rows of Bricks from Skip the Borders

This was one of the quilts that I made during my move across the country!! Here are the blocks on the floor at my brother's house. See my suitcase?...

A closeup of Angela's amazing quilting.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Skip the Borders - Blog Book Tour, Day 8

Full Schedule Here

Yesterday was the 8th stop on the tour! Head on over to The Swatch & Stitch to see what the quilters of Robert Kaufman Fabrics think of my book & enter to win!

White Stars from Skip the Borders

The Back of White Stars from Skip the Borders

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Here are a few of them

Dot Dot Dash

Box of Chocolates

Floating Triangles

Framed Coins

Raspberry Dessert

I also want to remind you that my Hex N More Ruler is the Notion of the Month at Fat Quarter Shop. You have one week left to get it at 20% off!

With this giveaway we are going to have two winners! One winner will get this Jelly Roll of Simply Color by V&Co.

The second winner will get this Fat Quarter Bundle of Urbanista by Belinda.

The Rules

1. Leave ONE comment to enter. Make sure your contact info is in your profile or that you leave it in the comment.

2. In your comment tell me what quilt from my book is your favorite so far. You can see some of them in the many posts I've been doing for my Blog Book Tour.

Example Comment:
Personally my favorite is Framed Coins. I love the mix of the solid green fabrics with the assorted black and white prints.

3. Simple as that!!

~~You have till 9PM PST on Thursday the 27th to enter.~~

Giveaway now closed. Winners announced soon. Winners will be selected by True Random Number Generator.

--

Monday, September 24, 2012

Skip the Borders - Blog Book Tour, Day 7

Full Schedule Here

Today is the 7th stop on the tour! Head down under to see what Rita of Red Pepper Quilts has to say!!

Have you noticed that I've been sharing a photo with you in each post? They are photos that I took of my book quilts {or my family if I'm in the photo!}

Raspberry Dessert from Skip the Borders

Raspberry Dessert was featured in Quiltmaker Magazine early last year. I received SO MANY requests for the pattern once the magazine was no longer available. Because of your requests I decided to include it in my book! Raspberry Dessert is a fabulous borderless quilt! :-)

I also thought it would be fun to see what Raspberry Dessert would look like in some other color options. With each color option I've provided you with the Kona Cotton Solids that I used in that option. Please Note: Every monitor is different so what you see is not an exact match to the colors of actual fabric.

Blueberry Pie

Ice

Citrus

Granny Smith Apple

Friday, September 21, 2012

Skip the Borders - Blog Book Tour, Day 6

Full Schedule Here

Today is the 6th stop on the tour! Head on over to Bijou Lovely to see what Holly thinks of my book & enter to win!

Rows of Bricks from Skip the Borders

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Hex N More Cutting Tutorials - Jewel

Today we continue our cutting tutorials for the Hex N More.

Full Color Directions are also included with each Hex N More Ruler.

We have already covered how to cut 60° Triangles, Half Hexagons, & Hexagons. The last shape we are doing to cut is the Jewel. The Hex N More can cut four sizes of Jewels. The measurements are based on the height of the Jewel.

Four Sizes - 3", 6", 9", 12"

With today's tutorial I'm demonstrating how to cut a 9" Finished Size Jewel.

1. Start with a 9 1/2" x width of fabric strip.

2. Place ruler as shown aligning the top of the 9 1/2" jewel shape (also happens to be the 6 1/2" hex line) with the top edge of the fabric strip.

3. Cut along right edge of ruler to trim strip.

4. Flip fabric over to the wrong side. Align top of fabric strip with the top of the 9 1/2" jewel shape & the cut edges with the solid 9 1/2" jewel line.

5. Cut along right edge of ruler to complete the jewel.

6. Rotate the fabric strip 180° to cut the next jewel. Align ruler & trim off the excess fabric.

7. Flip fabric back over to the right side. Align top of fabric strip with the top of the 9 1/2" jewel shape & the cut edges with the solid 9 1/2" jewel line.