First of all, many thanks for our hosts along the way. We’re grateful for your support and inspired by your kind words. Please feel free to call on us as we’d be delighted to return the favor.
Bill and I were talking tonight about what we want readers to take away from our book beyond just the words and images in it. And then Alton Brown and his Sweet Potato Waffle recipe came to mind. About two years ago I had some sweet potatoes that needed to be eaten quickly. I was planning dinner and decided to switch it up and see if we could add sweet potatoes to a waffle recipe to boost the nutritional content and fiber in the waffles. I found a recipe by Alton Brown who, as usual, was a culinary step ahead of me.
He had figured out the perfect Sweet Potato waffle recipe and it sounded great. But then I thought, “What if I substituted some buckwheat flour for regular flour?” I did so and Sophie ate the first one and said, “Are these Gingerbread Waffles? If they are, you should add some ginger. That would be good.” So I did. The resulting Buckwheat Sweet Potato waffles (that really taste like gingerbread waffles) have become a family favorite. I would never have had the energy to figure out the basics and that’s why I love Alton Brown’s recipes. They are my jumping-off point.
We want you, our treasured readers, to feel the same about our patterns and books. Our hope is that you see the Double-Dutch quilt and you think, “How perfect for my collection of Liberty prints!” Will the Loft quilt help you to see how cool and modern those tone-on-tone fabrics can be? We hope so. Take our patterns, daydream a bit and make them your own.
On a regular basis people send us photos of quilts that they’ve made from our patterns that look so different from the original while others order kits from us and love getting the exact fabrics without all of the running around. Regardless of what kind of quilter you are, please let us hear from you. Visit our Facebook page, send us the occasional email (weeks@funquilts.com) and, of course, leave your comments here. Let us know what inspires you and how we can help you on your quiltmaking journey.
Now onto the prize extravaganza!
THE PRIZES
We will award the following prizes to be drawn randomly from among those who leave comments below. All you have to do to enter is to tell us which part of the blog tour you enjoyed the most.
2 people will get a Beach Glass sticky memo cube
3 people will receive a FunQuilts pattern
1 person will win a Beach Glass napping quilt kit
2 people will get a 30-minute Skype session with Bill and me (at a mutually convenient time) to answer questions about design, demonstrate quiltmaking techniques, or give you advice on how to finish that quilt that’s not quite right in your mind. On a regular basis people ask us about the business part of it too (there’s a post coming on that as well) but if that’s you also, we’d be happy to advise on that as well.
And, of course, one person will receive a copy of Quilts Made Modern, if you don’t already have one. Or perhaps you’re like the enthusiastic lady I met once who bought two of each of our books because she wanted a separate copy to keep at her weekend place. Love it!
OK now here’s the big surprise – we’re going to add one more 30-minute Skype session FOR A LUCKY GUILD. If your guild has the capacity to project us onto a screen using Skype where we can take questions from lots of different people, let us know and you’ll be part of a special drawing that gets us to your guild for free! We love guilds and they have been very good to us. But we can’t be everywhere. So tell us about your guild in the comment section and what you loved about the tour. Even if we’ve taught at your guild before, that’s A-OK! Should be lots of fun. We could Skype before, during or after your regular meeting and this offer is good for a year.
So comment away. We’ll take comments until midnight (CDT) Monday August 1 and announce the lucky winners on Tuesday August 2!
craftnectar.com 
I loved the tour. It’s always nice to hear a little more about your design process. That was really interesting!
I loved the tour because it helped refresh and invigorate the possibilities for designing quilts. Thanks for all of the insight and your great book!
I love learning about new blogs and seeing pictures from the book. Thanks!
My favorite part of the blog tour was your in-depth interview on whipup.net. I really enjoyed the insights there, and felt it set the stage for a week of Modern Quilt Workshop fun.
Thanks for the giveaway, and for all you did to make this an interesting week for many quilters.
I loved all the pictures from the book that were posted! Very inspiring! I cannot wait to get the book now!
I have to agree that the WhipUp interview was my fave part of the tour. The pics took a close 2nd place.
thx for the chance to win these great prizes.
I enjoyed your interview at whipup.net. All the photographs throughout the blog tour were so inspiring–I am so looking forward to having the book in hand. Can’t wait to make the waffles. Thanks also for all the wonderful prizes. have a great day!
I loved being exposed to all these great blogs that I had never seen before. My inspiration went up a few notches! My favorite posts: 1) The explanation of how you two design a quilt on WhipUp; and 2) Generation Q where I stuck with the challenge and designed a block.
What a great analogy of how you see this book being used, patterns evolving with fabrics. Love that. I have your book already, I bought it as soon as it was available and it sits by my bedside table for inspiration. Your work is what inspired me to start quilting, and I know it will continue.
I especially liked the interview on Generation Q and the thoughts about the development of “modern quilting.”
Funquilts is so fabulous. I admit to being envious about your designing quilts together, even talking and designing quilts in bed. It made me think about how to have something that I could share in my marriage that is as meaningful as quilts are to you two.
It was fun to go to blogs that I haven’t heard of before. Your interview was a highlight.
Since all of your books are already in my collection if I won the book I would find a recipient who would appreciate it. Your blog is my favorite because it isn’t just about selling products, it gives us a glimpse into your lives.
Thank you for sharing your many talents including quilting. I feel blessed to be in the age of modern quilting.
I liked your discussion about design. I’m generally a fly-by-the-seat-of your pants type of crafter/quilter, so it’s a good exercise for me to preplan and see how others do it.
I have loved seeing behind the scenes but really loved hearing about the process and the thought behind every thing in the book. My guild is in Charleston SC- very far away from you. Thanks for the generous giveaway.
i really liked the way bolt neighborhood lured our creativity with a sneak peek of a transparency quilt version; it’s that type of post that makes me feel as though I could try to do it myself. And that’s really part of the point, isn’t it?! it was a great ride & I enjoyed learning more about your quilting style and committed marriage/family–thanks!
I am still a newbie when it comes to sewing, so I enjoyed looking and dreaming of all the beautiful quilts that I can look forward to sewing. I loved discovering new blogs, and more inspirations!
I have really enjoyed seeing bits and pieces of your book, and the block challenge GenQ gave you was awesome! I’m working on mine right now… I’m a member of the LAMQG, and it would be incredible to have a “chat” with you via the interwebs! Thank you for so much wonderful inspiration!
I’ve enjoyed all the stops on your blog tour. I loved how each one was unique.
The interview at WhipUp was great. Maybe your next book should be about how to write a thoughtful quilt book. :) I’ve already sent the WhipUp post to a friend from guild who is working on a quilt book. I hope she checks out your spreadsheet.
I’m sure the tech savvier amongst the Flying Geese Quilters Guild of Irvine, California, could figure out how to project a Skype session with y’all. That would be AWESOME!
i’m a newish quilter and love all of the modern quilts I am finding on the internet – it’s like quilting has moved into the new century, and there’s room for every type of style. Wonderful!
I really enjoyed reading the interview on Generation Q, although I was not able to take the challenge. Designing is not my forte, that’s yours ;-) Thanks for the amazing hop. I love this book. I actually checked it out of the library recently and would love to have my own copy.
“Bolts” comments about how she learned to master techniques from your first book resonated with me. It was the first book I bought when I started quilting and you helped me find my quilting “voice” since some traditional patterns/colors weren’t really ‘me’. You have taught, inspired, encouraged all of us in the quilt community by sharing your hard work with us. Thank you so much for being my springboard!!
I am still new to quilting, but I love following the tour to have a view of all the fabulous picture of the quilts.. And loves the color of the fabrics choosing, I am so poor in color choosing for my quilting project..
Loves the warm and lovely colour of the quilts from the book.
It’s been a fun week, following you on the blogs. One little tidbit I particularly enjoyed was the “Bolt” version of your Transparency quilt. It was fun to see it in a different colorway, and also to see a closeup of the “bubbly” quilting.
I am now involved in the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild and I’m sure we have enough tech savvy to do a group Skype with you!
My favorite part of the tour was hearing how you each modified your career paths to find a shared path … and that you are up for mutual challenges (genq). I also enjoy hearing about the design process you follow – and certainly love the photos of the quilts. If win, then this will be the first book I will own on modern quilts. Looking forward to using it to make some like your readers did in their photos above. Thanks!
I didn’t get a chance to visit all the stops on the tour but I really liked the interview where you talked about how you and Bill plan out projects for a book – fascinating! Thanks!
I enjoyed the interview of Whipup. It was fun to read about how you come up with your ideas and draft the patterns. Thanks for the giveaways!!
I enjoy seeing all the beautiful quilts!
I loved seeing the very different blocks you each created using the same partially completed sketch at Generation Q.
I most enjoyed your discussion of your design process on whipup…thanks for the very generous giveaway!
I really liked all of the steps of your tour. If I had to pick a favourite, I’d say maybe the interview on WhipUp? Crossing my fingers and hoping I’m a lucky winner!
My favorite part of any blog tour is discovering blogs I haven’t seen before. And this one was no exception. Thanks for the chance to win your lovely book!
I loved seeing all the different quilts and finding new blogs. Thanks for the tour! And the chance to win!
I enjoyed the tour and especially seeing photos from the book- very inspiring. I’d love to win the book and any of the giveaways (but I’m not set up for skype). Thanks so much!
Thank you for the blog tour and the peek into the book. What I liked best was the greater introduction to you and your work. While I had heard about your books and seen them mentioned on blogs, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know more about you personally. And though I didn’t submit a design block, I did sit down with pencil and paper and sketch out some options. That was the first time I had ever done that, so thank you.
I loved/love the photos!
Thanks for the giveaway and the great week of sneak peeks of the book contents!
I enjoyed seeing all the inspiring photos from your books! The interview in whipup.net was awesome too! Thank you for the giveaway(s)!!
I loved the tour. I looked forward to something new each day. I’m sure it was a lot of work; thank you! I can’t believe I didn’t ‘like’ you on facebook until now! I look forward to seeing more and more quilts.
Hmmm, my favorite part would have to be being able to be introduced to new blogs. Of all the ones you had on the tour, only one (Sew Mama Sew) do I follow regularly, so it was interesting to me to get to see some other great sites. I really liked Boltneighborhood and seeing the start of her Transparency quilt too. Thank you for being so generous with your time and talents! Oh, and I’m part of the Triange Modern Quilt Guild and we’d all be thrilled to have a Skype session with you both!
Of all of the quilt books I own, my FunQuilts books are my favorites. I got Modern Quilt Workshop about a month after it came out and it is what inspired me to make quilt after quilt after quilt. What I love most about your writing, be it in book form, magazine article or here on your blog, is the behind the scene discussion on color placement and fabric selection. So often, we assume people choose the best combination from the start because we aren’t there for all of the ‘that’s not going to work’ moments. Thanks for sharing and helping others learn!
I enjoyed it all, love the free pattern and wish I was talented enough to do that Bill and you pattern thing…
my favorite stop on the tour was the very first one. i loved the glimpse into your process. my guild is in portland, oregon and we’d love to skype with you!