Beach House in McCall's Quick Quilts April/May 2011 Issue

I've been remiss in announcing appearances in the McCall's magazines, lately. We even made the front cover!

I'm thrilled to announce the latest, called: Beach House

Image compliments of McCall's Quick Quilts, Apr/May 2011

March Designer of the Month at AURIfil

I'm so pleased to share the March Aurifil Designer of the Month, Sarah Vedeler! Sarah does amazing things with her sewing machine and I love her 'Eclipse' project.

Here is a sneak peek...

Check out Aurifil's News page and read an interview with Sarah, as well as download the free project she designed!
 
Pat Sloan interviewed Sarah on August 16, 2010 on her show, Creative Talk Network. Pat interviews me in 10 days on March 14, 2011!

Visit this talented designer on her web page at Sarah Vedeler Designs. You can also find Sarah on her FaceBook page.

At AURIfil, we are encouraging you each month to make our featured designer's project. Post your photo at our Flickr folder and one quilter will win a prize of gorgeous Aurifil thread (it truly is like sewing with butter)!

Post a photo of your completed project anytime before Feb 1, 2012 in the AURIfil Flickr folder.

Our March Aurifil Winner is SewAndSew who won a thread kit of 12 large spools in 50 wt for her 30's inspired version of Susan Brubaker Knapp's quilt, showcased in January.

Every project in the folder is eligible each month for the drawing.

That Pat Sloan . . .

. . . she truly is an amazing woman, bringing the quilting and creative world her talent of interviewing!  I just got off of the phone with her, where we taped a show that will premier on March 14, 2011.

Please be sure to check out her radio show, called Creative Talk Network.  She interviews people in the quilting and creative industries regularly, and it's a great place to "meet" your favorite designers.

Thanks so much, Pat, for a fun 30 minutes!

The Monday After: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour Giveaways

Last week, we participated in the Quiltmaker Magazine's 100 Blocks Special Issue, Vol. 2, Blog Tour.  It was a week filled with many give-aways, not only from SuzGuz Designs, but from other designer's blogs, as well as many wonderful items given away on Quiltmaker's blog.  I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did!

I mentioned last week that I would be announcing the winners of the give-aways I hosted, and I'm thrilled to share the winners with you!  If you are a winner, please contact me privately through e-mail with your name, mailing address, and e-mail address, here: info@suzguzdesigns.com, and I will send your prize in the mail to you immediately. Thank you!

Monday, November 8th, we offered 2 SuzGuz Designs patterns: Patchwork Rendezvous and Candy Bar Road.

The winner for Monday’s patterns is:Marcia said...Congratulations on the publication of your block in QM 100 Blocks! Your patterns are lovely. Please enter me into the drawing. Thanks for the giveaway. P.S. I follow your blog publically - don't have FB or a blog of my own..November 10, 2010 9:08 PM  
CONGRATULATIONS, Marcia!  Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


The winner for Tuesday's Quiltmaker Magazine's *new* 100 Blocks is:
Martina said... Thanks so much, that was very interesting to read. And thanks for the chance to win a copy of the magazine. Love your block, so cute! November 9, 2010 3:42 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Martina!  Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


The winner for Wednesday's Red Rooster fabric samples is:Sherri said... Love your block! Thanks so much for the fun giveaway! November 10, 2010 1:29 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Sherri! Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


AND the winner for Wednesday's Quiltmaker Magazine's *new* 100 Blocks is:annmarie said... Found your page on Facebook but can't figure out how to do a Friend request - would love to be your friend. I already have your blog bookmarked & read it every day. Red Rooster fabrics are great. thanks. November 10, 2010 3:51 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Annmarie! Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


The winner for Thursday's 2 Quilt Patterns: Patchwork Rendezvous and In A Snap! is:WoolenSails said... I love all the variations, each one has it's own look. It is amazing how a change in a border or color can make all the difference in the style. Debbie November 11, 2010 10:15 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Debbie/WoolenSails! Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


AND the winner for Thursday's Quiltmaker Magazine's *new* 100 Blocks is:Melissa said... Thanks for sharing. This block is simply gorgeous! November 11, 2010 8:15 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Melissa! Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


The winner for Friday's 2 NEW Quilt Patterns by SuzGuz Designs: Across the Street, and Gables & Eaves is:Leanne~*~Harvest Moon by the Lake said... Hi Susan, Never a quiet moment with you...you always have something going. I hope you find some time to enjoy the weekend. Leanne November 12, 2010 4:22 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Leanne!  Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


Lastly, the winner of Friday's Quiltmaker Magazine's *new* 100 Blocks is:
Lee Ann said... I love giveaways. Of course, I rarely win! LOL. :-) PS I have added you to my Google reader. :-) November 12, 2010 3:57 PM
CONGRATULATIONS, Lee Ann! Please contact me through my e-mail address, listed above.


Thanks again for everyone who took the time to read my blogs last week!  If you were not a winner, please stay tuned, as I occasionally give away my newest patterns and fabrics.  I've even given away enough fabric for a quilt top, along with a current pattern.

Hope you all enjoy your holidays, and please keep in touch!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Susan

DAY 5: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

Greetings, friends!  This has been such a fulfilling journey, meeting new quilters during Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour, this week.  I wish you all many fabulous hours of planning and designing!  If any of you have questions, I'll gladly answer them for you, if I can.  So please feel free to ask.  If I cannot answer, I can certainly start by pointing you in a direction for more information.  You can either ask in one of my posted blogs, or feel free to e-mail me.

With a new quilt to be made with a December 1st deadline, I must run.  I will be writing about it in a future blog.  For those of you who purchase magazines and are curious about the process, planning for issues typically begins 6 to 9 months before a magazine is scheduled to be published.

Don't forget to tune back in on Monday when prizes are announced!

Before I close out for the day, I have one more give-away!  Of course, as mentioned all week long, I'm giving away a 100 Blocks magazine.  In addition, I'm excited about my 2nd give away, which will be my two newest patterns, "Across the Street", and "Gables & Eaves" + bonus pattern!, for SuzGuz Designs.

Good luck to everyone!  As we've done all week, please leave a comment and either "Friend" me on Facebook, or add my blog to your "read" list!  Thanks!

Enjoy your weekend!

Susan

DAY 4: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

I hope you all are enjoying your week of blogs and give-aways, compliments of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks!  I know I am, and I look forward to picking winners of my giveaways this weekend!  It's always fun to participate in programs such as this, and I especially appreciate all of you and your kind words!  When you work in a one-girl-studio, it helps to know that people like what you're doing and it gives us, as designers, such great energy to plan new designs and projects for you to enjoy.  So I thank you, from the bottom of my heart! :)  For without your feedback and interest, it simply would not be as satisfying to continue to come up with new patterns and designs.

With today's blog, I plan to share some ideas you may like to use to set my block into a quilt.  I have a few basic tips that are easy and fun, and will enhance a simple quilt top design.

Because the block should be the focus, you'll want to stay away from large, oversize prints.  I would suggest that you find a tone-on-tone, or two-color mini or medium-sized print to sash your blocks with.  I will use my block and it's fabrics as an example, and we will create a few different, easy designs with a touch of panache!

My first example balances the dominance of the deep rose appliqued hearts with a rosy red print border from Verna Mosquera's Savon Bouquet for FreeSpirit.  Sash your blocks with the Lecien blue-on-brown dot I used as the small center square and mini circles.  Then bind the piece with the same blue-on-brown dot.

My second example shows a softer setting, where I use a light blue medallion print for the main border.  The blocks are sashed and the piece is bound using the same fabric as the appliqued hearts.

My 3rd and 4th examples will give you an idea of taking the same sashing and border prints and changing up the binding.  In these examples, I again used the same tone-on-tone deep rose print I used for the hearts to sash the blocks.  Next, I pulled in a pretty, French-inspired floral from the Savon Bouquet line that has touches of blue to marry back to the blue dot background fabric of the appliqued blocks.  Where these pieces differ is with the binding.  See how you can use the blue-on-brown dot for the binding (#3), or pull the tone-on-tone deep rose print out to the border for #4.  Both are attractive and can give you a different "feel", depending on where you will be using the piece.  For example, if you wish to use it as a wall hanging, you may consider using version #3.  You could also use this version in a room where there is a lot of dark wood.  The #4 version is very pretty and feminine and could be used on the wall or as a dresser scarf in a girl's bedroom.  Or, add it to the center of a rustic pine table.

With a few simple changes, you can give your quilt designs a different personality.  Give thought to the myriad of possibilities you can dream up and interview fabrics into your designs that you never would have imagined.  A few questions you can ask yourself, as you pull your fabrics for this design are:

1) Does the fabric work better as a frame to the blocks or as a border?
2) What "feeling" do I want to show with my design?  Do I want it to blend into an eclectic environment, or something more traditional?  More eclectic, use a few different fabrics, if more traditional, stick to the same fabrics with smaller borders and use a different print for larger borders.
3) What decor do I wish to place this design in?  Consider the style and color tones of fabrics in order to blend well with your decor.  Before purchasing fabrics, ask your local shop for sample pieces to bring home with you if you are not sure they will work.

In addition to the table runner/wall hanging design shown here, I'd like to share an idea with you on how to place the blocks into a quilt design.  The quilt size is approximately 67 1/2" x 67 1/2".  I will be posting a pattern to make both the quilt and the runner designs next week!

Now back to the give aways for today!  As mentioned on Tuesday, I will be giving away a Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 2 magazine today.  My second give away for today is my Patchwork Rendezvous pattern, as well as my In a Snap! pattern.  Both are very easy and fun to make for any level of quilting experience.

Thanks again for all of your kind messages left this week!  Please remember to leave a comment and either "Friend" me ("Susan Guzman") on Facebook, or add me to your blog read list.  Have a lovely Thursday!

Susan

DAY 3: Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 3 of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Blog Tour!

And Welcome to SuzGuz Designs by Susan Guzman . . .

If you are just joining the blog tour, here is my block from Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks, Vol. 2:

This week, Quiltmaker Magazine continues to give away lots of great items at: QuiltyPleasures (Quiltmaker's blog) during the entire week of November 8th - 12th.  Some give aways are planned and some have been spontaneous, so you'll want to check back often!  Fabulous prizes include fabric, patterns, books, notions, and of course, copies of 100 Blocks magazine.  In addition, designer blocks will be given away to very lucky recipients!  I will also be giving away something every day this week, so please be sure to check on each day's post this week, as well.  Prizes for each day will not be chosen until after Friday, November 12th.  Everyone who signs up will have a chance to win!

The topic for today is how I go through my process of designing . . .

I have several ways I use to glean inspiration for new designs.  I've always been attentive to my surroundings, so I am constatly looking at that which is around me: the shape of a vase,

 Image from 1 Design Per Day

a pattern in an area rug,

Image from Nebraska's Best Carpet Cleaning

a painting,

Image from Nilsson Studio

or even the frame that surrounds it.

Image from Paul Mitchell Antique Frames

I also like to pay close attention to the details of fashion, with a strong emphasis on colors that are being worn.  I especially like to see what is coming out for the next few seasons, as this gives great hints on what to incorporate into the design process.

I pay attention to television programs I watch with my husband as I'm sketching, and I also like to refer to nature for color and design ideas.  Visiting popular boutique shopping areas will give you ideas for color and design, as well.  And finally, I enjoy paging through books and magazines related to the design industry.  That being said, I try not to look at current quilt magazines, as I like to try to come up with unique designs and not copy what everyone else is doing.  I have a few other secrets up my sleeve that I like to refer to, but what I've shared here is what I mostly rely upon.

For tomorrow's topic, I will be sharing some ideas you may like to use, to set my block into a quilt.  I have a few basic tips that are easy and fun, and they will show off your blocks beautifully!

In the mean time, we have yet another give-away to announce!  Because Quiltmaker is recognizing my blog on the blog tour today, I will be giving away a very special prize of fabric!  I recently received samples of new lines of fabrics coming out for Red Rooster.  When we receive samples, we typically receive a sample of each fabric in the line.  Well, I will be giving away samples of an entire line from Red Rooster.  All you have to do is comment on this post, then "Friend" me on Facebook.  It's that simple!  BONUS:  As mentioned yesterday, I will also be giving away a Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks magazine today, so please be sure to comment and find me on Facebook! (Note added 11.10.10 at 9:30 am, EST: If you do not use Facebook--or even if you do!--I'd love it if you'd add me to your blog read list, instead!  Thanks :)

Thanks again for participating in the blog tour!  We are so happy to have you as a new quilting friend!

Susan

P.S.  Don't forget to check out my previous posts this week for a chance to win the giveaways I'm offering.  And be sure to visit Quiltmaker's blog often for a chance to win their prizes, as well!