Meet Quilty Box!

We're now about two and a half weeks away from the shipping deadline for the schnitzel & boo Mini Quilt Swap.  As you guys know, we have lots of awesome prizes.  Over the next few weeks (in between my sudden scramble to move across the country and everything involved in that) I'll be introducing you to our prize givers.  

The first prize to be given away is a box of awesome quilty goodies from newcomer Quilty Box.  What is Quilty Box?  Well, keep reading to see for yourself!

1. Please introduce yourself (name, location, family, creative history)

My name is Tabatha and I'm a native South Floridian.  I have red hair and freckles and an unhealthy love of the sun.  I'm a mom to three: DD-5, DS1-4 and DS2-6 months (and no, we are not done).  When people tell me I have my hands full, I say "What better way to have your hands full of than the hands of my children?" My husband is Spaniard and French and well, I'm pretty enamored.  I love creativity, games, the outdoors, and am a HUGE nerd.

Awesome hair pin by Art School Dropout

2. Where did the idea for "Quilty Box" come from?

I used to work in Corporate America, putting my MBA to use in various areas of strategy and business analysis, but left to become a stay-at-home mom, and that has been most rewarding for me.  As a busy mom, I sometimes felt I couldn't quite get the spark of creativity to sync up with my family's schedule.  My husband receives a monthly box containing "gamer" items that my family loves to receive each month.  I started thinking about how I could combine my love of quilting, and leverage this unique medium to reach out to the quilting obsessed and curious.  I didn't want to send a box with a project in it.  I wanted to send a box of inspiration.  Something appealing to all levels of quilters, with the element of surprise.  And, Quilty Boxes meet that objective.  But they are more than the contents of the box, my goal is to grow a community of creativity inspired by the monthly contents, to keep us inspired, creating, and sharing.  I want to let people know how diverse in technique and application quilting can be.

3. What kinds of things are typically found in a Box?

Each month contains items that revolve around a theme.  October's theme was Geometry and was inspired by all sorts of shapes and lines.  You can expect to find everything from fabric and notions to books and patterns, varied each month, along with a unique item each month to further inspire creativity.  Every month is different, there is no magical box formula.  And the contents of the box has a retail value far exceeding the cost.  October's box retail was about $60 and also includes exclusive discounts from some vendors.

4. What is your most favorite sewing tool?

Does my machine count?  I adore my Bernina, Big Bertha (or Bertie for short).  I love trying new tools and products, but my current favorite tool is my Gingher 45mm rotary cutter.  Just as nice to look at as my scissors, and cuts like butter.  My most used tool would be my seam ripper, and iron...I'm an obsessive presser.

5. What's the most favorite thing you've ever made?

I'm fickle.  Everything I make is my new favorite.  I made my mom a quilt with batiks in my own pattern, and I really love it.  I still haven't finished all the FMQ on it, but my mom is being patient.

6. How did you learn to sew?

Hand sew?  My Grandma Betty taught me simple stitches when I was quite young.  She wasn't a hobby sewist.  But, she could mend.  When she passed in 2005, I received her crocheting supplies, a hobby of hers.  Machine sewing has been within the past few years and the internet has been my teacher, plus trial and error!

7. What is on your sewing goal list? (Technique to master, pattern to make etc)

Geez... Finish my unfinished projects, plus a Super Tote by Noodlehead, a Swoon Quilt by ThimbleBlossoms,  Reverie Quilt by Rachel Griffith, finish my Autumn Sample from the Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery, etc. And, I want to master Foundation Paper Piecing.  I also have ideas for some monochromatic quilts.

8. If you were a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, what part of the sandwich would you be and why?

Peanut butter!  A little crunchy, makes a mess, but you always count on it to hold the other parts together.  :-)

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To get your very own subscription to Quilty Box-and there's more than one awesomely affordable option-click here and be sure to use the code "SCHNITZEL5" for a discount good through November 15.  AND!!  There are still a few October boxes (pictured throughout this post)!  To purchase one, send a request to info@quiltybox.com.

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Thank you, Tabatha!  I love meeting members of our community and we love that you have been such a generous part of our first swap!

Quilty Box has very kindly offered up TWO boxes!  One for a random participant and one for "Most Unique".  Be sure to use our hashtags #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap and #makeaquiltmakeafriend and tag @schnitzelandboo as you ship out your Mini's!  Recipients, I encourage you to post pictures of your Mini's as they come in and be sure to tag me AND your partner.  This is how we will know if you have completed your end of the swap.  Only those that have sent their quilts will be entered to win a prize.  Stay tuned for more on our other prizes!

Happy Quilting!
-Kristi-

Mini Quilt Swap Guidelines

Hello, Quilter's of Awesome (QoA's)!

Want to hear something cool?  Of course you do...

A week into our swapping and our stats look like this:

-We're the number one listing when someone Googles "Mini Quilt Swap" WHAAAT?

-Our Flickr group, as of this moment, has 67 photos and 147 members.

-The hashtag "schnitzelandboominiquiltswap" has 100 posts.

-The hashtag "makeaquiltmakeafriend" has 32 posts.

-We have TWO more pizes to give away for a total of FIVE prizes!

-We found Lisa Nelson (who is one of our new prize givers AWESOME!)

I'm not sure who started the mosaic quilt pictures on the Flickr group, but seriously...WHOA. I am genuinely shocked at how this tiny little idea grew into this big, crazy quilty group of new and old friends.  We have people participating from all skill levels.  We have beginners, professionals, fabric designers, pattern designers, authors, stay at home moms, and even a guy or two.  We have participants in EIGHT different countries.  This is so cool!  Yeah, it was a lot of work for me, but I would do it again in a heartbeat because I am so touched by this community of crafters, sewists and creators.  In fact, I will be doing it again, but probably not until January so we can all get through the holidays. 

You've all seen the bloggy button thingy, right?  If not, check it out, stick it up on your blog, share it with the world!  The post below has the details on it.

Now, how about some guidelines?  

1. Quilts can be as small as 6"x6" and as big as 24"x24".

2. This is a secret swap, give us sneak peeks or even full views, but don't tag your partner!

3. Due dates to have your mini quilt in the mail is Friday, November 15.  This gives you about a month and a half to get through quilt market, finish up your WIP's, clear your cutting table off and stock your shelves.

4. Because the ship-by date is so far off, and this is a secret swap, please make every effort to send your swap between November 8-15 to keep the secret a surprise.  If you need more time, or you are no longer able to participate, PLEASE OH PLEASE let me know!  I won't publicly humiliate you (well shoot, I won't privately do it either!)  and I won't make you feel bad.  I get it, life is busy, things happen.  I want to know so other arrangements can be made for your person.  So pretty please with Auriful thread on top, let me know if something comes up.  Ok?

5. If you haven't already done so, come join the Flickr group to share all of your pictures, gather ideas and meet up with new and current friends.

6. Use the hashtag #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap and #makeaquiltmakeafriend to check out what everyone else is doing. 

7. Feel free to send goodies with your Quilts, if you want.  It is nice, but NOT necessary, so don't feel obligated to do so and don't feel bad if you don't. 

8.  HAVE FUN!

Happy Swapping!

-Kristi

PS Pretend this post was full of lovely, inspiring quilty pictures, k?  I couldn't figure out how to get them off our Flickr group and post here.  Heh...

Ooh, a fancy bloggy button!

Hey check it out!  ^^ a button for your blog!

Thank you to my friend and Stitch That Stash Bee mate, Kristan for helping me put that together!  I am a hopeless wreck with computer stuff, and she, obviously, is not.  At the bottom of this post is the button with all that garbledy gook stuff for you to copy and paste into that part of your blog where it belongs.  I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about, right?  Riiiiiight.

So, guess what?  When the Mini Quilt sign-ups officially ended on September 25, it closed with 161 (162 if you count me) people in it!  WOW!  I never dreamed it would be so big!  I thought maaaaybe 20-25 people would be interested enough to sign up? Boy was I wrong!  And since the close of sign-ups, I've had an additional 15 people put their name on a list!  I decided to just go ahead and add them to the mix as well!  We'll be about 180 members strong.  I am amazed and humbled by your enthusiasm and eagerness to be a part of what started out as a middle-of-the-night thought about covering my ugly walls. 



We even have prize givers!  There is a new kid in town!  Have you all met Quilty Box?  For less than a price of a jelly roll, you can be sent a monthly subscription of quilty goodies.  How cool is that?  Just for participating in (and completing) the swap, you are entered into a random drawing to win November's box!  Awesome! Keep an eye out here for an interview with Tabatha, the genius behind this idea.

One of my favorite IG peeps, Kerry Goulder (kidgiddy) just wrote the CUTEST book, Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love, and someone is going to win a copy.  I am so excited about this book, and I know you will be too.  There are so many adorable projects in it, my favorite is the lobster.  A lobster!  You have got to get this book.  More on Kerry soon, too.

And lastly, a third prize from me, not nearly as cool as Kerry and Tabatha's, but a prize nonetheless.  Someone is going to receive a mini quilt from me, yay!  No picture yet, but that's ok, it gives us just one more thing to look forward to here, right?

Now that everyone (besides my last minute sign-ups from tonight) has been assigned a SECRET partner, we need to start the mad dash of stalking each other on Flickr, Instagram, Pinterest etc.  Please feel free to leave your name here along with your social media name for your partner.  Some of you are hard to find (or so I'm hearing via email from your partner).  If we could make it easy for your person to see what you like, that would be fantastic!  There is a thread on the Flickr group for this very thing. PLEASE visit the thread and say hello!

That's about it for now.  I will be back tomorrow or the next day with that promised suggested guidelines/ideas etc post.  My butt hasn't yet made a full recovery from the four day sit-down with the computer and ALL THOSE EMAILS!  It's still numb.  Yep, pins-and-needles, that's my butt.

Happy Stalking!
-Kristi-

PS...don't forget to grab our Swap button! Let everyone know you're a participant!
 

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