We have wonderful sponsors for our “Loves Me, Loves Me Not” Quilt-Along –Aurifil, Famoré Cutlery, Fat Quarter Shop, Moda Fabrics, Oliso, Quiltfolk, and String & Story – and it has been fun offering giveaways along the way. Our sponsors are just the best!

Today, I am excited to reveal our grand prizes. There will be 4 grand prize winners. The winners will be randomly chosen from those who submit a photo of a finished quilt top (either throw-sized or baby-sized) by 8 p.m. EST May 15, 2023 and meet the eligibility guidelines listed below.

One winner will receive two irons from Oliso – the Oliso ProPlus Smart Iron and the Oliso Mini Project Iron. (These prizes can only be shipped to US or Canada addresses.)

One winner will receive a $75 gift certificate to Famoré Cutlery and a one year subscription to Quiltfolk magazine! (These prizes can only be shipped to US addresses.)

Two winners will each win an Intro to Free Motion Quilting virtual workshop from String & Story and a Tula Pink thread collection (either Dragon’s Breath or Unicorn Poop) from Aurifil. (These prizes can be shipped worldwide).

Several quilters have already sent in their Loves Me, Loves Me Not finish photos and it has been so exciting to see each of these beautiful quilts. (Check out the Loves Me, Loves Me Not gallery ) You’ve still got a few weeks to get your quilt top assembled. If needed, check out tips for each of the blocks and for finishing the throw-sized quilt or the baby-sized quilt.

What’s next? On each of the next Mondays, I will pop into your inbox with some encouragement and share a photo or two of quilts already submitted. Winners will be notified by email Tuesday, May 16 and once each have accepted their prizes, there will a new blog post and a newsletter announcing the grand prize winners as well as a recap of the previous giveaway winner.

Fingers crossed that you are one of the four Grand Prize winners!

As a reminder, the winners will be randomly chosen from those who submit a photo of a finished quilt top (either throw-sized or baby-sized) by May 15, 2023 and meet the eligibility guidelines listed below.

Eligibility Guidelines

• The participant must email a photo of their finished quilt top prior to 8 p.m. ET Monday, May 15, 2023. The quilt does not need to be quilted or bound – a quilt top (also called a “flimsy”) is acceptable.
• The final quilt layout does not need to be a exact replica of the pattern layout but the quilt must contain a large Crown and Star block and at least four unique smaller blocks from the pattern.
• The participant must be a member of Story Guild (at any membership level, including free) and have downloaded a copy of the Loves Me, Loves Me Not pattern.
• Each winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Winner will have 72 hours to claim their prize by responding to our email – if we don’t hear back, we may draw another name. Once all prizes for a specific giveaway have been claimed, the first names of the winners will be announced.

Happy quilting!

Have you been listening to the Friendship Album: Forget Me Not story? Eula’s daughter-in-law Elise is about to have a baby! Eula must be so excited to have a new grandbaby to love plus she has another person to make a quilt for!

Beautiful finish by Charlene S. with some extra special embroidery added to the blocks

One of my favorite size quilts to make is baby-sized. The quilt top goes together relatively quickly and the quilt is small enough to be quilted on a domestic machine. The joyful part is making something that will be loved and used to cuddle a newborn – babies are the best!

If you’ve chosen to make a baby-sized version of the Loves Me, Loves Me Not, here are a couple of tips for finishing your baby-sized quilt top:

• The instructions for sashing and outer border (page 16 for baby-sized quilt) call for strips to be cut at two different widths. The wider (2.5″) strips are for both the border around the Crown and Star block along with the outer border. The smaller (1.5″) strips are for the sashing between blocks.
• Unlike the throw-sized quilt (tips for throw-sized), the Crown and Star block has a partial border with just a strip on the left side and the top of the block.
• The top and bottom outer border requires the joining of strips to match the dimensions of the quilt. Your strips can be joined on the diagonal – as you would join binding strips – or the ends can be sewn directly together with a 1/4″ seam. From the one long strip you will cut strips to match the actual dimensions of your quilt top. Make sure to carefully measure the height and width of the quilt center in three places, average these together and then cut the joined strips to match this dimension instead of what is listed in the pattern
• Securely pin the outer border strips to the side of the quilt before sewing using lots and lots of pins!

Joanie and Teresa were the winners of our fourth giveaway – congratulations!

Our final giveaway will have four Grand Prize winners. (Prize details will be shared next week.) The winners will be randomly chosen from those who submit a photo of a finished quilt top (either throw-sized or baby-sized) by May 15, 2023 and meet the eligibility guidelines listed below.

Eligibility Guidelines

• The participant must email a photo of their finished quilt top prior to 8 p.m. ET Monday, May 15, 2023. The quilt does not need to be quilted or bound – a quilt top (also called a “flimsy”) is acceptable.
• The final quilt layout does not need to be a exact replica of the pattern layout but the quilt must contain a large Crown and Star block and at least four unique smaller blocks from the pattern.
• The participant must be a member of Story Guild (at any membership level, including free) and have downloaded a copy of the Loves Me, Loves Me Not pattern.
• Each winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Winner will have 72 hours to claim their prize by responding to our email – if we don’t hear back, we may draw another name. Once all prizes for a specific giveaway have been claimed, the first names of the winners will be announced.

Next week I’ll share details about our Grand Prizes!

What a delightful time I’ve had chatting with everyone over email and cheering you on as you make your blocks. Having block photos pop up in my email has been the such fun. Now that we are at the quilt top assembly phase, the photos popping into my email will only get more exciting! (Check out the Loves Me, Loves Me Not gallery ).

An alternate layout to the final one!

The layout for the throw-sized quilt places our large Crown and Star block in the center, the four Wedding Ring blocks at each of the corners and then distributes the remaining blocks (Ohio Star, Milton Falls Star, Florence Star, and Rosetta Star) along each side of the quilt. The quilt pattern details a specific layout for where to place each of the blocks along the side but most definitely lay the blocks out on the floor, a bed or a design wall and decide what layout you like best. I personally played around with several – including the one pictured – before deciding on my final layout.

A couple of tips for finishing your throw-sized quilt top:

• The instructions for sashing and outer border (page 3 for throw-sized quilt) call for strips cut at two different widths. The wider (3.5″) strips are for both the border around the Crown and Star block along with the outer border. The smaller (2.5″) strips are for the sashing between blocks.
• The outer border requires the joining of multiple strips to match the dimensions of the quilt. Your strips can be joined on the diagonal – as you would join binding strips – or the ends can be sewn directly together with a 1/4″ seam
• Carefully measure the height and width of the quilt center in three places, average these together and then cut the joined strips to match this dimension instead of what is listed in the pattern
• Securely pin the outer border strips to the side of the quilt before sewing using lots and lots of pins!

Our final giveaway will have four Grand Prize winners. (Prize details will be shared later this month.) The winners will be randomly chosen from those who submit a photo of a finished quilt top (either throw-sized or baby-sized) by May 15, 2023 and meet the eligibility guidelines listed below.

Eligibility Guidelines

• The participant must email a photo of their finished quilt top prior to 8 p.m. ET Monday, May 15, 2023. The quilt does not need to be quilted or bound – a quilt top (also called a “flimsy”) is acceptable.
• The final quilt layout does not need to be a exact replica of the pattern layout but the quilt must contain a large Crown and Star block and at least four unique smaller blocks from the pattern.
• The participant must be a member of Story Guild (at any membership level, including free) and have downloaded a copy of the Loves Me, Loves Me Not pattern.
• Each winner will be chosen randomly and notified via email. Winner will have 72 hours to claim their prize by responding to our email – if we don’t hear back, we may draw another name. Once all prizes for a specific giveaway have been claimed, the first names of the winners will be announced.

Next Monday, April 17, I’ll share tips about baby-sized quilt assembly.