WINNERS!

First I want to say that the response to my book and giveaway was amazing!  I had a lot of wonderful responses to my blog and I thank all of you who participated. I will be emailing each of you, (who left me an email address), individually to get your mailing address so I can mail you your seam guide. When I promised to send a seam guide to everyone who responded I didn't know what I got myself into! Everyone who did respond will get a seam guide along with a $5 gift certificate good for purchasing either my Kaleidostars book or the 13" or 17" templates that go with it. (The 6-1/2" set is not used in the book and the $5 will not go towards the purchase of that one.) If you responded to my blog but did not leave me an email address to contact you, you can still contact me with your address by using the Contact Form on the right side of the screen. No one sees that message but me.

The winners were chosen by a random number generator to make it fair. Here are the winners:

The first place winner is Vicki (she didn't leave her last name). She said, "I'd love to see your book! The block is amazing! I really like to make different and beautiful items. Your designs are right up my alley."

You can purchase the book here: Kaleidostar book

Second place is Kathy Stack. Since she took my Northern Lights workshop and already has my 13" template set, she wins a 17" set. She said, "Can't wait to get your book. BTW my Kaleidostar is hanging on my living room wall. I am enjoying your 1/4" gauge. I am trying to figure out how to hang it on my machine so I will always have (it). I want to get another so that I will have one with both of my machines." I hope Kathy sends me a photo of her quilt so I can share it with everyone.

The templates can be purchased here: Kaleidostar templates

Third place is Ann McNew. She wins the 13" template set. She quilted one of the quilts in my book (Northern Lights). She said, "Your quilts are always breathtaking with those perfect points! And a dream to quilt!" She is an award winning longarm quilter and teacher. If you ever get a chance you should take one of her classes. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing one of her quilting samples. She will be teaching quilting at the MQX show in New England in April.

 
Actually all of you are winners! I received some responses out of the U.S. and I would love to have sent them a seam guide but the postage is prohibitive for something free. I will email them a $5 gift certificate though.

I do have a limited time special that the first 25 people who purchase my book will also receive the seam guide. So those of you who will have already gotten one, and purchase the book, you will get a second one. If you are like me and misplace things, an extra one will come in handy!

I wanted to share some blocks that some students have made from my Kaleidostar workshop. You can see how everyone of them is so different. Everyone had such a good time playing with their fabrics and creating their own unique quilt.

 

I will be teaching my Northern Lights workshop at the AQS show in Paducah, KY at the end of April. I still have openings for it so if you would like to learn how to make this interesting (but not complicated) block, please consider signing up for it. I also travel and teach this to guilds around the country, so if you belong to a quilt quild in your area I would appreciate if you would share my information with them.

You can sign up for it here:
Northern Lights workshop  

As always; Do what you love and love what you do. Thank you for reading, Toby. 

MY BOOK AND VALENTINES GIVEAWAYS!

So much has happened since the beginning of the year! Where do I begin? (Click on any of the highlighted links to take you to the web page.)

In January I was busily prepping for my video production with iQuilt, a new online production by AQS (American Quilter's Society) and sponsored by Bernina. They have started on-line classes similar to Craftsy and Fons & Porter. I have to say it is better because I will have one with them! They already have lots of wonderful workshops to pick from. I hope you will pick mine when it is released. If you are a member of American Quilter's Society you will get a discount.

I had frequent video conferences with my producer. A very new experience for me. I felt like a dinosaur to my very young producer, Cara.  I had to quickly make my sample and get pieces ready for filming. I called it Explosive! It is a class that will demonstrate how to make the stars in my new book Kaleidostars.

Finally the day came to film. They flew me to Denver, Colorado on Sunday January 24 and I was whisked to a hotel in Littleton. This is the view out of my hotel window. It just looks surreal!

Production started Monday morning. I had terrible butterflies in my stomach that morning, but the production crew was so nice and really put me at ease. It went a lot easier than I had thought. Luckily I did not have to memorize a script (at my age I'm lucky to remember what I did yesterday)! I have taught this class many times and I was comfortable with the process. Here I am with my producer Cara. We are rehearsing for the next taping.

 

Every morning I had a make up artist work her best to make me beautiful for filming!

We taped 6 sessions: An introduction; choosing fabrics; finding designs with mirrors; cutting instructions, including how to get perfect fussy-cut pieces; piecing the blocks; and finishing the quilt, including sewing on a mitered border. Here I am piecing the blocks. The Bernina 570 QE sewing machine I worked on was a dream!

 

Now to the giveaway! Since it is Valentine's Day and I love all of the wonderful quilters that I have met along the way, I am giving away a copy of my new book to one winner. In addition to that, I will be giving away a 17" or 13" set of Kaleidostars templates to two lucky winners. For anyone who leaves a comment I will send them my newest 1/4" seam gauge used to get those perfect 1/4" seams every time. The secret to my accurate piecing! Be sure to LEAVE A COMMENT TO TELL ME WHY YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF MY NEW BOOK AND LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN. I CAN'T CONTACT YOU IF YOU DO NOT LEAVE AN EMAIL ADDRESS.

The video class is expected to be released at the end of March. Just in time for my birthday! What a wonderful birthday present it will be! I will be posting more information about it as it gets nearer. I will also be blogging along with Electric Quilt about how I designed my quilts in EQ7 and will have more giveaways then too. DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT.

As always; Do what you love and love what you do. Thanks for reading, Toby. 

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I want to thank all of my followers for helping make 2015 a wonderful year. I know that 2016 will be even better with my new book Kaleidostars coming out in February. I will be having some special drawings on my blog when it comes out so be sure to check it out in the coming months.

I have some new items on my website. Here is my 1/4" seam gauge. I have a hole at the 1/4" mark to put your machine needle in so you have "consistent" and "accurate" 1/4" seams on all of your projects. It includes instructions on how to set up your own sewing machine so you don't have to struggle with matching seams ever again.

1/4" seam gauge

 This beautiful quilt kit is available as are the fabrics to make your own project. It is called Rose Abundance and features Timeless Treasures Rose Garden collection. It is 57" square. The pattern is also available if you want to make it in your own fabrics.

Rose Abundance

 

 

 

Here are some of the wonderful rich fabrics in it. Aren't they yummy!

Large roses

Border stripe

Small Roses

I also still have some nice fabrics for sale. If you like cats, this is a great one for a background. It is only $8.00 a yard.

Cat fabric

I also have some Paula Nadelstern fabrics on sale. This Palindromes fabric is great for fussy cutting!

Palindromes

I have plenty more SALE FABRICS, some as low as $4.00 a yard, but I don't want to make this post too long! Since it is the end of the year and today happens to be my anniversary (43 years) I will be having a give-away. Please leave a message at the end of this blog to be in a drawing for my new seam gauge and a fat quarter of your choice of any of the fabrics on my website. Tell me how you think that the seam gauge will help you in your sewing. DON'T FORGET to leave your EMAIL address or I won't know where to send your prize if you win it!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the items in this blog, just click on the links to take you there. And please feel free to share this blog with all of your quilting friends.

As always; Do what you love and love what you do. Thank you for reading. Toby

Chanukah special. The winners are......!

This will be a short blog.

I have to first thank all of those people who took the time to read my blog an leave such wonderful comments. I have decided to pick 3 winners. Each winner will receive a pattern of their choice and my newest seam gauge template including instructions on how to use it for perfect and consistent 1/4" seams.

The winners are Allison CB, Lindsay, and Jagarland! Hopefully they will read today's blog. I will attempt to contact them if I have contact information. All they have to do is let me know by email at tlischko@yahoo.com which pattern they want and their addresses.

This is my newest template. In all of my workshops I teach the importance of a consistent and accurate 1/4" seam allowance. I have used other company's templates, but not all of them are as accurate as one would think. I know that my template maker, Charles Brandy makes my templates extremely precise, so I have no questions as to whether the 1/4" hole is consistent from one template to the next. It is now listed on my website and is only $3.50. I include this template now in all of my workshop kits. (Click on the caption to take you there.)

1/4" seam gauge

I did say I would tell you how my Museum challenge quilt did once I heard. It won a 5th place ribbon. It will be included in the AQS book "New Quilts from Old Favorites" New York Beauty block. I will be sure to post when this book will be available for purchase on my website. I'm thrilled that it will be on display at the National Quilt Museum until July, 2016 and then on the road at the AQS quilt shows in 2016!

I received such wonderful comments on my Facebook page when I posted the announcement. 

In my next few blogs I will let you know more about how I got involved with the fabric companies and national magazines. 

I will be having a huge website clearance sale starting December 21 and ending the 31st.  I will be selling many of my fabrics for $8.00 a yard and less (some as low as $4.00 a yard). I want to bring in new inventory and my shop is very small so I need to make room. I hope you take a look and tell all of your quilting friends so I can have a successful year end sale. (Click on "clearance" to take you there.)

Clearance

 

 

 As always; Do what you love and love what you do. Thank you for reading. Toby Lischko
 

Day 7 & 8 Chanukah special.

Sorry for missing yesterday (Day 7). I had a family emergency.  I will make up for it today. (This is a long one.)

I thought I would tell you how I got involved in quilting for a living. When I started quilting seriously (not just as a hobby) I made some goals for myself. This was after one of my quilts had been on the cover of the "Miniature Quilt Magazine". My goals included working with fabric companies, writing articles for magazines, having more quilts published, and having a quilt in the AQS show in Paducah.

Every year "Miniature Quilt Magazine" had a Miniatures of the Heart contest and in 1998 I entered one of my minis. It did not win a prize but did end up on the cover. (My quilt is the red, white, and blue quilt at the center bottom.) That was such a rush for me! I had designed a full size version of it for my son's band raffle and miniaturized it for a dinner auction. It was auctioned off for $50. After I found out it was going to be on the cover I tried to buy it back from her but she wouldn't sell it to me!

I then started entering the contest every year. This quilt won a creativity award for my quilting. I couched variegated metallic threads over a heavy black thread.

Pennsylvania Star Explosion

This quilt won a machine quilting award. It is hard to see the quilting but it was quilted very simply with a clear metallic thread. This is the quilt that inspired me to write my St. Louis Stars book.

Stars Over St. Louis

I had also started entering the Hoffman Challenge. My second entry won a second place ribbon. I'm not quite sure why it won, the fabric that year I thought was pretty ugly. (Can something be "pretty" ugly?) It was the orange floral print.

Anyway, I had been going to Paducah, KY for a few years, to the AQS show in April, admiring the quilts and thinking maybe one day I could have a quilt in the show. 

In 2005 I had entered a quilt in a contest that was sponsored by "Quilter's Newsletter". It did not win anything but I thought it was finally worthy of entering in the AQS show. That year they had a new category; First entry division. That is when I entered my "Celestial Crowns" quilt. I received a call from one of my friends on the day of the announcements and she told me that it had won a first prize ribbon! That was my crowning glory!

 
It was then I set some more goals: To write a book and get a quilt in the National Quilt Museum in Paducah. I wrote my Stars Over St. Louis in 2008. I stopped doing competition quilts at that time, thinking I would never make anything else like my Crowns quilt worthy of entering in the show and completely immersed myself in designing quilts for different fabric companies and many of the major quilt magazines.

Now in order to get a quilt in the museum your quilt had to be chosen as "Best of" in each category. Seeing how stiff the competition is, I was resigned to think that it would never happen.

However, every year the museum has a challenge called "New Quilts from Old Favorites". They pick one traditional block and you have to make a quilt using that block in some form. Well this year the block challenge is New York Beauty. If you know me, you know that this is one of my favorite blocks so.....I decided to enter a quilt.

With my passion for fussy-cutting and paper piecing I came up with a design and entered it. From the entries they pick 18 quilts to be in the exhibit. 

Guess what???? It was chosen as one of the entries!!!! I was elated. I finally got a quilt in the museum! Even if it was just for a short time. (The winning quilts from AQS become permanent property of the museum.) My husband named it "Ocean Deep".

I will find out on the 15th if it won any prize. I will certainly let you know if that happens.

So why did I tell you all of this? In honor of my winning quilts, today's special will be 20% off all of my symmetrical fabrics. That includes some of Paula Nadelstern's newer collections. (Click on the caption to go to my website.)

Magma

Wings

You will receive the 20% difference refunded to your account after you purchase it.

Okay, I rambled on long enough! Tomorrow I will tell you more of how I got into quilting. As always: Do what you love and love what you do. Please share with your quilting friends. Thank you for reading, Toby Lischko

 

Day 6 Chanukah special: St. Louis Star book 40% OFF!

Well we are getting closer to the end of this special. Be sure to comment everyday to be eligible for the drawing on Tuesday (after day 8). On Monday, the 8th day I will announce what the prize is.

Today I want to give you a sneak peek at my new book Kaleidostars published by AQS coming out in February. Most of you who know me, know that I love fussy cutting fabric and this book is all about that and more. If you read my St. Louis Stars book you will know that I give step-by-step precise instructions that make piecing easy. This book included instructions about fussy cutting but all of the quilts in it did not use that technique. (Click on the captions under my images to go to my website.)

St. Louis Stars

In my new book, I show how to use symmetrical fabrics to create quilts that will amaze your friends. These quilts look hard but are actually not as hard as you think. The block is an 8-Point star (different than my St. Louis Star block) that has no "y" seams and is pieced in sections.

Kaleidostars

The cover quilt I called Mardi Gras. I used Paula Nadelstern's Palindromes collection to fussy-cut. Here is an image of the Kaleidostar block using a Timeless Treasures fabric. I selectively cut two sets of 4 exact repeats and alternated the cuts in the diamonds. This book shows you how to get perfectly exact repeats every time! I have been teaching this workshop for a little over a year now and everyone that has taken my workshop is amazed how great their blocks are. Some of them were beginning quilters! I will be teaching this workshop in Paducah, KY at the AQS show in April and will be doing book signings that week, so I hope some of you will sign up for one of my workshops and come to my book signings that week. I don't know the schedule yet, but will get it to you as soon as I find out.

The book will be out in February but can be pre-ordered on my website. Watch my blog for more sneak peeks of quilts in the book!

For today's special, you can purchase my St. Louis Star book for 40% off. That's only $14.97. This is for today only. This book will give you an idea of what to expect in my newest book, plus you will get a precursor to how to fussy-cut fabrics and will have you coming back in February to purchase my new book!

Be sure to leave a comment at the bottom so you can be in the drawing on Tuesday. If you have left a comment each day you will have 8 chances to win. I need your email address too or I won't be able to contact you if you win.

As always: Do what you love and love what you do. Thank you for reading. Toby Lischko

Day 5 Chanukah specials Kits 20% off

Boy, writing a blog a day is really not an easy thing! I don't know how some quilters do it. 

I was busy this morning trying to get a pattern done for Washington Street Studio fabric company. It will be a free pattern on their website and I will be sure to share it with you as soon as they post it. I don't think they will mind if I post an image of it here.

It features a beautiful fabric collection called Savannah Classics. These are just a couple samples. I'm not sure when the fabrics will be available but I will let you know that too. I don't know if I will be carrying them in my shop as my room is limited but if I find there is an interest, I will carry them. There are 10 fabrics in the quilt.

I do have a Block of the Month pattern using a Washington Street Studio fabric collection called Southern Vintage. It is a similar looking collection. If you live close to my studio I would love for you to participate. It will be held the second Tuesday of the month morning and afternoon sessions. It is a nine session pattern. The first eight have two blocks per week. The last one is putting the quilt together. If you want more information about the program just email me or leave a comment at the bottom. Here is what the pattern looks like. It is available for purchase also on my website if you just want to do a sampler quilt on your own. Click on the caption under the image to take you to the pattern.

Southern Vintage pattern

 

 

Here are a couple pieces in the collection. I'm holding off purchasing the collection until I get enough people to participate because there are 16 different fabrics in the quilt! The fabric looks so much yummier in person!

For today's special I will be selling my kits at 20% off. That includes any sale kits that I have. So you would get 20% off the sale price if applicable. That would make some quilts at more than 50% off total! It will be refunded to your account after purchase. I have two beautiful quilt kits that make my Eden pattern. They both have beautiful Timeless Treasures fabrics designed by Chong A Whang. I just LOVE the fabrics she designs.

Eden blue kit

Eden Marigold kit

I hope you find something you like. Please feel free to forward this blog to any of your quilting friends. I would also like you to consider "liking" my Gateway Quilts & Stuff Facebook page. I'm trying to get to 2,000 likes by the end of the year. Gateway Quilts & Stuff Facebook page.

That's all for now. As always: Do what you love and love what you do. Thanks for reading. Toby Lischko DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT AND EMAIL ADDRESS TO BE IN A DRAWING FOR A PRIZE ON MONDAY.