Quick Column Quilts Blog Tour

 I'm excited to share a brand new quilt top that I just completed inspired by Nancy Zieman's new book, Quick Column Quilts, as part of her blog tour today. For those of you who are visiting as part of the tour, welcome! I'm glad you're here and I hope you poke around a bit. For my regular readers, Nancy is giving away a ton of amazing prizes as part of the tour, and nothing would make me happier than for a Quilt Dad reader to win a new sewing machine, some fun fabrics and sewing notions, or any of the other great prizes up for grabs. More on that later. But first, the book ...

For anyone who's looked through my book, Beyond Neutral, you know that I have a tendency to design and piece my quilt tops in columns rather than rows. It just seems to be the way my brain is wired. That's why I was excited to read about Nancy's approach to designing and creating column-oriented quilts.

Here's the description of the book from its Amazon page:

Modern. Streamlined. Quick. 

The benefits of quilting with columns are clear: in very little time, you can piece together a stylish, no-fuss quilt. This fresh approach to quilting from author Nancy Zieman is perfect for first-time quilters and anyone looking for a change from traditional quilt designs. Start small with the Dotted Columns Wall Hanging or go big with the Happy-Go-Lucky Chevron Column Quilt--with 13 quick and easy projects to choose from, you may just make them all!

I was inspired to create a new quilt top based on one of Nancy's quilts, the Happy-Go-Lucky Chevron Column Quilt. Rather than buying new fabric for the project, I shopped from my stash and decided to use a small collection of the Imperial Pheasant collection by Eleanor Grosch that I had in my stash. I've always loved the imagery and purple / navy / red color combination of this line. Because the pattern calls for a contrasting print for the narrow columns and borders, I used a favorite Amy Butler print that I had left over from a quilt back. I really like they way they play together.

Nancy uses solid fabrics for her quilt in the book, but I enjoyed playing with the contrasting prints. I only had a half-yard bundle of the Imperial Pheasant prints,which was not enough to make a full quilt top, so I offset the pieced section of the quilt with a wide swath of solid. It's hard to tell in the photos, but this is a purple Peppered Cotton that I absolutely adore. It's the perfect complement to tone down the busy pieced section, and its shimmery texture adds just the right amount of panache.

Can't wait to get this one off to a long-arm quilter to work some magic!

OK, are you ready for some giveaway prizes? 

First, I get to reward one reader with a free copy of Quick Column Quilts! Simply leave a comment on this post to be eligible to win.

For a chance to win something from the mother load of prizes, head over to Nancy Zieman's blog. Nancy will be hosting a grand giveaway of 15 prizes. You must comment on Nancy’s September 4 blog post to qualify for the giveaways. 

There's a chance to win a free book at every one of the Quick Column Quilts blog tour stops. Be sure to go check them all out!

09/04/14         Nancy Zieman

09/05/14         Quilt Taffy and Simple Simon & Co.

09/06/14         Diary of a Quilter  and Stitchin Jenny

09/07/14         A Woman a Day  and Craizee Corner                

09/08/14         Jina Barney Designz, Lilac Lane Patterns, and Totally Stitchin’ 

09/09/14         Esch House Quilts and The Cottage Mama

09/10/14         Designs in Machine Embroidery and Pat Sloan

09/12/14         Happy Valley Primitives, Doohikey Designs, and Quilt in a Day

09/13/14         Quilt Dad and Just Arting Around

09/14/14         Lazy Girl Designs and  Marie-Madeline Studio

09/15/14         Always Expect Moore  and Polka Dot Chair

09/16/14         Amy Lou Who Sews and Riley Blake Designs

09/17/14         Indygo Junction and Amy’s Creative Side

Good luck!