The Splendid Sampler II: My Block Design and a Giveaway

I'm so excited that my block design is featured this week along with the blocks of 4 fellow designers: Rob Appell, Gudrun Erla, Laura Kay Houser, and Pat Sloan!

You can find my block, Metropolis, on page 32 of The Splendid Sampler II book, compiled by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson for Martingale. Be sure to also check out the Splendid Sampler website and Facebook page for much, much more!

The fabrics used in my original block (as shown in the book and the image, above) are from Moda. I always use strong, reliable Aurifil thread for all of my quilting projects; the range of colors is perfect for any of your sewing needs!

About Metropolis:

Sketching design ideas is something I enjoy doing and quilting has given me a platform to transform sketches into patterns. When I was a young girl, our family would often visit museums and historical properties in a variety of cities, such as Toronto, Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Chicago, and I believe that's where my love of design began. I always loved seeing interesting architectural elements and the beautiful paintings and fabrics we would see while touring these places. My block represents these fond memories of learning about art and design through our travels.

The center of my block represents a city park in and amongst the 8 pointed-rectangles that represent tall buildings in a metropolitan city. The strips in the  corner patches represent the highways that come into a city center.

You may know that I've been using an older collection called Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda and some other coordinating Moda fabrics for the blocks I've made so far during the Splendid Sampler II journey. Here's the version of my design I made using the fabrics I'm using for my quilt.

Remember the scrappy left-overs you had from trimming the Splendid Sampler II, Block 1 by Alex Veronelli? I used my scraps to make 4 out of the 8 rectangles. I love how the strips of off-white in these patches add interest to my "buildings".

Before sewing my block elements together, I laid out the patches to be sure I liked where they were going to live.

Then, I added my 1" C-squares to make the "building" points, and added my stitch-and-flip 2" B-squares to my corner units for my "highways".

So there you are: My second version of Metropolis.

Tune in later in the week ahead, for tips on how to use my block in new projects.

**Contest GIVEAWAY**

I'm so grateful to be a part of Splendid Sampler II and am pleased to be a part of the momentum of this project. So with that said, I'm giving away a total of 9 items. In order to be considered to win, please carefully read through the following details:

The FIRST item I'm giving away are 3 of my very popular pattern (newly written and released in Fall, 2018): Lexington Sampler. You will have the chance to win one.

The Lexington Sampler pattern is actually 2-patterns-in-one: It includes instructions to make a throw size quilt 68 1/2" x 68 1/2") and a bed size quilt (88 1/2" x 88 1/2"). It also includes a coloring page for the quilt so that you can make this design your own. This was a project that I designed especially for National Quilters Circle last summer and over 44,000 people were members of the group that made the quilt. If you are interested in purchasing the pattern, you can do so, here (please note: if you decide to buy the pattern and also enter this giveaway and become a winner, I'll gladly refund your purchase amount).

Next up, I'm thrilled to announce that I'm offering a new Block-of-the-Month (BOM) program called: Tea with Milk and Honey. My sample quilt is made using Jen Kingwell's collection called Looking Forward for Moda.

Although I haven't yet announced it publicly until now, the BOM will begin on the first Thursday of February, February 7, 2019, and new installments will occur every first Thursday of the month with the last installment scheduled for Thursday, October 3, 2019. More information will be announced through all of my social media channels and on my website this coming Monday, January 14, 2019.

So, this SECOND giveaway consists of the 9-month, monthly pattern to complete a quilt top (no fabric; monthly pattern, only) for 3 lucky winners!


Finally, for my THIRD giveaway, I'll be choosing another 3 winners to win a set of 2 full-size spools of Aurifil Thread. Two of the sets include (one, each): light cream and cream (just a tad darker than the light cream), and the third set contains 2 light gray spools.

How the giveaway contest works:

Step 1: For a chance to win, please visit my website's CONTACT page; fill out the contact form with your name, email address, and in the comments write: Splendid Sampler 2 Giveaway. Here's a link to my HOME page if you'd like to start there.

Step 2: For a second chance to win, please complete Step 1 and then leave a comment on this blog post letting me know what kind of quilting and/or sewing projects you like working on best, such as: "I love hand appliqué," "I like to make quilts that challenge me so that I can learn or improve upon my skills," "I love to make quilts using traditional blocks," "I prefer to make quick quilts," "I like making table runners," "I enjoy projects I can make in a group," "I like making modern quilts," etc., etc.

Step 3: For a third chance to win, please complete Steps 1 and 2 and then visit your choice of ONE or ALL (for extra chances to win) of my social media pages (Susan Guzman Facebook Page - "Friend" me, SuzGuz Designs Facebook Business Page - "Follow" me, or SuzGuz Designs Instagram Account - "Follow" me).

Step 4: For a bonus chance to win, please complete Steps 1-3 and then look for my post that has an image of my Splendid Sampler II Metropolis block on any of my social media pages listed under Step 3 and let me know what you've enjoyed most about the blocks you've been making. Please note: I won't be posting the image of my block on my social media pages until sometime before Noon, US Mountain Time, today; January 10, 2019. Thanks!

The contest will be open for one week. Anyone can enter (no country exclusions). Everyone who enters will have all of their chances entered for each of the drawings; chance to win (1) pattern, (1) free participation in my upcoming Block-of-the-Month, and (1) chance to win a package of 2 spools of Aurifil thread. In other words, if you complete all of the chances to win (Steps 1-4, above), you'll have a total of 6 chances to win EACH of the prizes. So if you happen to win a pattern, your entry/entries will still be viable for winning the Block-of-the-Month and thread giveaways. Prizes will be given away using MrKent.com random generator.

DEADLINE FOR COMPLETING THE STEPS TO ENTER: 11:59 pm, US Pacific Time, Wednesday, January 16, 2019.

After calculating all entries, and due to the expected large volume of entries, winners will be announced through a blog post sometime on or before Friday, January 18, 2019, US Pacific Time.

Thank you so much for participating and good luck!

**One More Giveaway!**

In addition to my giveaway, Martingale is hosting a book giveaway. All you have to do is make my block and post a photo of your finished block on the Splendid Sampler website to be entered. The giveaway is for both US residents as well as for International residents. The prize for US residents will be physical books and for International residents, you'll receive a set of digital books.

If you haven't yet purchased your copy of Splendid Sampler 2, you can do so, here.

Happy quilting!