Sew to Swap Book Tour

This post was originally intended to be posted over on Heather's blog this morning, but the poor girl had to (unexpectedly) have her appendix removed. So, until she can re-post this on her blog or link back to it, I'll keep my write-up of our participation in the Sew to Swap book project live here on my blog.

Feel better, Heather!

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Hi everyone! I'm John, and I blog over at Quilt Dad. That's me in the picture above with Heather from when we first met in person at 2011 Quilt Market in Houston. We've been great bloggy buddies ever since, which is why I was so excited to join her and 15 other fantastic bloggers in a collaborative book project called Sew to Swap. Chrissie Grace was the ringleader for this wonderful project and, with the book now available for purchase, for this book tour as well.

So what's Sew to Swap all about? Well, Chrissie basically organized a bunch of fun swaps -- similar to the ones we all know and love over on Flickr -- and documented every step of the process. The result is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in swapping, participating in virtual quilting bees, organizing different types of swaps, or just enjoying beautiful photos of some really fun quilts.

And since the book is all about swaps, Heather and I decided to swap blog posts for our dates on the book tour!

Here are some of the projects that I contributed to for this book:

My Favorite Things, inspired by antique redwork embroidery quilts. My block is the owl on the top right:

The Diamond Quilt, with blocks made from some gorgeous Anna Maria Horner voile fabrics:

The Scrapbuster Quilt, featuring Corey's famous block:

Here's a quilt made from wonky star blocks. Every contributor made one and we used them as signature blocks as a way to commemorate our combined efforts on the book:

Throughout the book, all of the bloggers provide some of our favorite tips about swapping, as well as answer some fun questions. Here's an example in which I confess to my most vicious vice:

In addition to block swaps, the book includes a couple of other types of swaps. Chrissie asked me if I would be interested in swapping doll quilts. I made the Flight of the Bumblebee mini quilt (pictured below), which is one of my favorite mini quilts that I've ever made. The pattern is included in the book.

I knew the book was going to be great, but was really blown away when I saw the final product. Big thanks to Chrissie for inviting me be a part of it, and thanks to Heather for swapping blog posts with me!

If you're interested in getting your own copy of Sew to Swap, there’s a special deal for all of you participating in our fun blog hop. For a limited time, you can get Sew to Swap now for just $14.99 ($10 off the retail price!). Visit the Martha Pullen Online Store and use promo code SEW2SWAP to get your exclusive discount. (Offer expires Nov 30, 2011 at 11:59pm EST.)

Be sure to visit all of the stops on the blog tour:


November 7 Lovely Little Handmades
November 8 Stitches & Scissors
November 9 Cluck Cluck Sew
November 10 My Three Sons
November 11 Twin Fibers
November 12 Stitchy Quilt Stuff
November 13 The Creative Juices of Ariel
November 14 Texas Freckles
November 15 Quilt Dad
November 16 Artsy-Craftsy Babe
November 17 Little Miss Shabby
November 18 A Cuppa and a Catch Up
November 19 A Quilt is Nice
November 20 A Little Sweetness
November 21 House of A La Mode
November 22 I’m Just a Guy Who Quilts
November 23 Little Bit Funky
November 27 In His Grace