Whew! Day 4 of "5 Days x 5 Giveaways = 25 Chances to Win!"

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed. Winners will be announced tomorrow Tuesday February 25,2014!
Good Luck Everyone!

Yeehaw Yall! I don't know about yall but yesterday had me Daydreaming about Spring. And Chocolate. And flowers. And sunshine. And bumblebees. And piles and piles of fabric! And living in a Sewing Machine Castle!

I mean, who wouldn't want to live here.  I wonder if the door opens when you turn the Hand Crank?    Anyway, I hope yall are enjoying my Blog Anniversary week as much as I am! We've had some gorgeous thread offered to us by Aurifil, a sweet FQ bundle of Mirabelle from The Fat Quarter Shop and a bright and bee-utiful bundle of Daydreams from The Intrepid Thread. And yall have done a wonderful job of letting them know how much we appreciate their support!
 So today we are going to switch things up a little bit. I wanted to share something I started learning this past year. English Paper Piecing.

Happy Go Lucky Hexies.

 Yall we were spending so much time in the hay fields this past summer, that I wanted to carry something with me to work on. Too hot to knit or crochet. And since I was already a member of the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap I started taking hexagon papers and fabric with me to the hay fields.

I made Gingham Hexies,

I made Crane Hexies,

I had them flying in Circles and V formations

I finally got these characters landed on a quilt ...

Tsuru!

I haven't got this one quilted yet. I want to learn Shashiko and hopefully quilt at least part of it using Shashiko.

Then I went back to my Happy Go Lucky Hexies

and landed them on a quilt for my niece,

Machine Quilted, here's the back...

So when I got tired of monkeying around with hexagons;

I found a gorgeous quilt called "Patchwork of the Crosses" made by Lucy Boston during the post war era probaly around the 1950's ;

I was very intrigued and started searching around the internet to find out more information. And wowzers yall, the blocks quilters are making today are just phenomenal! I am just beginning to learn fussy cutting. Check out these blocks on my Pinterest! I'll wait here. Ok.  Now, you see why I say I am just learning to fussy cut. These blocks are made using 1"honeycombs for the blocks and 1" squares for the sashings.I order all my papers from PaperPieces.com As a matter of fact, they sponsored my Bee group with a discount !

Here was my first attempt:

And the back.  

Well I was hooked. I just had to learn more about this Lucy character and her Patchwork of the Crosses. So I contacted Diana Boston, daughter-in-law of Lucy, and ordered Diana's Book The Patchworks of Lucy Boston . Oh my, yall, that was it. Hook, line and sinker. So I started an "I Love Lucy International Bee" on Flickr . These ladies are so much fun. And they are making beautiful POTC quilts. Some are using bright and modern fabrics. You can see all the blocks we've made so far on Flickr.

Well beside making blocks for my Bee mates, I have been working on TWO POTC Quilts myself.

In the first quilt I am using American Banner Rose Fabrics.

(ignore the cherry background fabric :) )
I only have 6 blocks made so far. I am going to try to make the complete quilt using only American Banner Rose Fabrics.

"Lucy visits America"! 

 I haven't decided on the sashings and the actual Crosses between the blocks yet. What do you suggest? I thought about all red stars for the sashing and then scrappy in the middle of the crosses? (Look at the picture of Lucy's quilt) And I don't know if I like the block that has the green honeycombs in it. ABR does not have green. Not sure where I got that. Since this line is out of print, I may be working myself into a corner trying to stick with all the same fabric line :O

So, for my month as Queen in the I Love Lucy International Bee I have decided to go with "floral Shabby Chic" scrappy look. Here is my first block:

The fabrics are actually showing up dark in the picture.  I have this same print of the garland roses in pink and blue. So I am going to just do a very shabby, scrappy quilt. My month to be Queen hasn't rolled around yet in the Bee but one of  my Bee mates has already sent me a block. I LOVE it!

Ana Maria of anamarpatch made this BEE-UTIFUL block. I just love the soft colors and the fussy cut flowers.  I can't wait to see what my other Bee mates come up with.

So I guess you can see where all this headed. Toward our sponsor for today!

Paper Pieces.com

Yay! Paper Pieces.com has done it again and come through for me. Yall, these ladies at Paper Pieces are so sweet and patient. The first time I called I had no idea what to ask for or what I needed. They explained everything to me so patiently and made sure I was getting what I needed. 

Here is what they are offering for one lucky reader!

A 100 pc pack of the 1" Honeycombs, a 150 piece pack of the 1" squares and the Honeycomb acrylic template! I LOVE their templates. It has a 3/8" seam allowance so when you cut your fabric you are ready to sew. It is great for fussy cutting! 

So , everything you need to get you started on your own Lucy journey! 

If you have ever wanted to try English Paper Piecing then here is your chance. 

Paper Pieces.com not only has everything you need for Lucy Boston Blocks but they have Apple Cores,Chrysanthemums and Dresdens,Clamshells and Diamonds and hexagons and Octogons and Pentagons and Squares and Triangles and Tumblers and Windmills! Plus books and templates and patterns!

Whew! Plus they have instruction aide if you need it. And a Special each week! I love ordering from them.

Usually Jess answers the phone if you call them or you can order online. (Tell Jess I said hello)

I just wish I had more time in a day for sewing. Every time I visit their website, I find something else I want to make!

 THANK YOU Paper Pieces.com

Now how do you enter to win this Lucy Boston starter kit?

1. Leave a comment below. I would love to know what you think I should do for the sashing on my "Lucy visits America " quilt. (1st entry)

2. Sign up for Paper Pieces.com Newsletter or like their facebook page.  (2nd optional entry)Leave me a comment letting me know which you have done.

3.Sew and Sow Farm followers New or Previous get another entry! (optional 3rd entry) Leave me a comment letting me know that you do. 

4. Help spread the word through facebook, twitter, pinterest, instagram or your blog! Leave me a comment letting me know how you shared ( Optional 4th entry!)

5. Visit one of my followers from the sidebar and let them know that Jan from Sew and Sow Farm sent you from the 5 Days x 5 Giveaways!

What? Yall, this is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. I have so many nice people that have helped me along with this blog and I want to show them some love. Over on my right sidebar you will see Google Friend Connect followers (just click on one of the icons) and Bloglovin followers(click on followers). And also Google + followers.(I can't see my email followers) Just look around and pay a visit to at least ONE of them.( Try not to all visit the same person/blog as everyone else is) You may even decide to follow them. That is up to you. But I would love for you to just pick someone NEW to you and pay them a visit. Give them some encouragement!You will find so much inspiration and be so glad you did. If you need help, let me know and I will walk you through how to visit! Leave me a comment of who you visited! ( Now this is the 5th optional entry!) Kinda like a blog hop, giftaway ,visiting party! Yeehaw! AND when someone reaches out to you and visits your blog, try to return the favor if you can! I am certain they would love it!

That is 5 possible entries! Enter now through Sunday February 23rd! Winner will be picked at Random.org and I will announce the winner on Tuesday February 25th! 

This giveaway is open to everyone! Also if you are a no-reply or anonymous commenter, please include your email in your comments. 

Note: Please read! You get 5 chances EACH day! EXAMPLE:  Even though you may have left a comment yesterday that you are a follower, leave it again today so that it will count for today etc... If you want to visit someone, visit someone different today than yesterday and leave a comment. Be sure to leave a comment regarding the sponsors EACH day. Also,be sure to leave a comment on how you spread the word but try to do this differently each day if you can or just pick up the telephone and call someone! lol! . If you have any questions please let me know.

AND MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL!  Have FUN! :)

And remember, tomorrow is Day 5 and we will have another sponsor ( bet you can't guess who) with the last giftaway! Also, you can go back and enter ALL the giveaways 1-5 until Sunday Feb 23rd. So if someone missed yesterday or the day before, they can still enter through Sunday!

Have fun yall!

xo jan