It’s my day on the Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design Book Tour!!! Hoootie hoo.
I have been friends with Sarah since Crimson Tate fabric store opened in Downtown Indianapolis. That’s nearly 8 years. She lives in my city! I’m super lucky to get to confer and exchange opinions about all things quilting IRL with her, which I covet. She and our friend Amanda Castor of Material Girl Quilts are my quilting emergency phone calls and texts when I don’t know WHAT TO DO!!! They are the most lovely, creative crew I could ever dream to have. And to boot, Sarah is a plant lover JUST LIKE ME!!
Sarah often lends her creative prowess ALL the time when it’s time for one of my new collections of fabric for Windham Fabrics to go live. She is a creative force, for sure and I am in awe and love her to pieces.
Plant Lady by Sarah Sharp; Quilting by Marion McClellan
When she was working on the beautiful quilts for her book Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design, she asked me if I would be willing to help make blocks for the Plant Lady Quilt. I began with the Bamboo shoots block. Look! My block made the cover of her book!!! Let me zoom in so you can see. 😉
I was, as we all often are, in the midsts of a time crunch and was only able to make that one block. But when thumbing through the designs, I super admired the electric echinacea block in the series and mentioned to Sarah that I’d be interested in making that block; my dream would be to make just that one flower as big as my queen size bed.
And bam. A dream was born and set into motion. With Sarah’s help, we blew up the electric echinacea block more than 1000 times to create a quilt block that went from 4.5″ x 9″ to 48″ x 96″.
First steps, tape this beast together! 
Next steps are to begin tracing the oversized shapes to use as a cutting guide. What I love about this book is that Sarah includes ways in which to riff within your design. Brilliant! So within each of these large pieces, I can create more texture and design, if I choose. Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design is like having Sarah talk you through the process of design. If you want to start slow or if you want to go deep, Sarah has logically, intelligently, and creatively laid out a roadmap for you to use to help you achieve your goal. She is a wonder.
I’m still in the process of tracing and haven’t started sewing yet but obs, I’ve chosen my fabrics. It’s a blend of my Night Hike collection for Windham Fabrics, JOT Basics for the background, a slug of Artisan Solids and one sneaky Alison Glass fabric because it fits so perfectly with my collection.
I’m excited to begin and hope you will follow the progress of this quilt. Because I’ve decided to make it as a personal project, I didn’t impose a crazy deadline for myself. I want to enjoy the process and go deeply when I can. Thanks for following along. I’m excited for it to take shape.
As seen in my workspace at home, my world is FULL of plants.
For a chance to win a copy of Sarah’s book and a fat quarter bundle similar to the fabrics I’ve chosen for my quilt, follow me @crimsontate (@heathergivans) and @nohatsquilts, and leave a comment below telling me about your favorite plants. I’m a big time lover of orchid cactuses and all kinds of varieties of jade. Over on Instagram, tag as many friends as you’d like for additional chances to win and let’s continue the conversation there, too! This giveaway is open internationally until January 28, a big old Monday morning. #adventuresbooktour
#adventuresbooktour
Adventures in Paper Piecing & Design
January 7 – 26, 2019
Monday January 7 – Plant Lady
Heather Givans (@crimsontate | crimsontate.com)
Featured Quilter: Marion McClellan (@myquiltdiet)
Tuesday January 8 – Graffiti FPP
Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com)
Wednesday January 9 – Design Prompt No. 1 – Learning by the Letter
Giuseppe Ribaudo (aka Giucy Giuce) (@giucy_giuce)
Thursday January 10 – Snooze
Amanda Castor (@materialgirlquilts | materialgirlquilts.com)
Featured Quilter: Karlee Porter (@karleeporterdesign)
Friday January 11 – Design Prompt No. 2 – Traditional with a Twist
Katy Cameron (@the_littlest_thistle | the-littlest-thistle.com)
Saturday January 12 – Prickly Path
Anneliese Johnson (@eyecandyquilts | eyecandyquilts.com)
Featured Quilter: Angela Walters (@angelafmq)
Featured Fabric Designer: Alison Glass (@alisonglass)
Monday January 14 – Design Prompt No. 3 – Objects
Alison Robins (@littleislandquilting)
Tuesday January 15 – Voodoo Feathers
Jennifer Sampou (@jennifersampou | jennifersampou.com)
Wednesday January 16 – Design Prompt No. 4 – Creatures
Anne Sullivan (@playcrafts | play-crafts.com)
Thursday January 17 – Folksy Friends
Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com)
Featured Quilter: Kathleen Riggins (@kathleenquilts)
Friday January 18 – Design Prompt No. 5 – Think Outside the (Square) Block
Cath Hall (@wombatquilts | wombatquilts.com)
Saturday January 19 – Fireflies
Sarah Lauzon (@cera.bee | sarahjlauzon.com)
Featured Quilter: Rachael Dorr (@rachaeldorr)
Sunday January 20 – Sunday Book Review!
Sarah Ashford (@sarahashfordstudio)
Tuesday January 22 – Design Prompt No. 6 – Repeat Designs
Allison Dutton (@allisonsews | allison-sews.blogspot.com)
Wednesday January 23 – Jungleview
Merran Fryer (@123bluejumper)
Thursday January 24 – Design Prompt No. 7 – Single Foundation Paper Piecing
Jamie Swanson (@jamiemswansonquilts)
Friday January 25 – Double Diamond Wedding Ring
Elisabeth Hardy (@elisabew | elisabewquilts.com)
Featured Quilter: Andrea Munro (@practicaldazzle)
Saturday January 26 – Recap and Photography
Sarah Sharp (@nohatsquilts | nohatsinthehouse.com)
Eric Lubrick (@ericlubrick | ericlubrick.com)
Heather Givans 
Eee! I’m super jazzed to see how your GIANT echinacea flower turns out! AMAZING.
I’m so salty that I didn’t buy a copy of this book when Sarah was standing right in front of me. I thought it was just patterns, I didn’t realize what a tremendous resource it would be. My desire to curb impulse purchases BACKFIRED, is what I’m saying. Sign me up for a chance to win one, please! This will be my one little entry since I’m not on IG .
As far as plants go, I have a gorgeous money tree in my dining room that is the only one I can be trusted with keeping alive. It will live through floods and droughts, which is exactly the level of skill I have with plants.
I’ve been eyeballing this book for quite awhile and would LOVE to win it, so thank you for your generosity! I grow & took a class in Kokadama plants. They’re an art form-look them up!
I love all kinds of plants but at this time of year I LOVE primrose. We can find them in our supermarket florist department now and I love to bring the hope of spring into the house during a dreary winter!
This time of year I am really enjoying the Hellebores in my garden. There are so many pretty varieties now.
I love growing giant sunflowers that reach up to my second story. They make me smile all summer.
Enjoy making your extra large electric echinacea quilt. It’s going to be beyond beautiful
I’m excited to see your Echinacea in progress and finished! It’s going to be pretty epic! I love most plants, my Christmas cactus when in bloom, succulents, cactus. Outside favorite is a different story! Anything that flowers!
Wonderful! I’m excited to see the big echinacea!
My absolute favs to grow are my herbs especially rosemary. My Mom always had a rosemary plant so it makes me feel close to her.
I look forward to seeing your finished quilt! The book looks outstanding. I grow orchids indoors and a variety of flowers in my garden. My favorite is the sunflower!
nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com
I love orchids and grow some herbs also! I am more of an outdoor garden type!
i love all plants that flower or turn different colors or evergreen or any kind.
You have a big beautiful bunch of plants there! My favorite plant I an outdoor one – Martha Washington geraniums. So pretty and have an awesome fragrance. Thanks!
I love to see my Christmas cactus in bloom.
I’m looking forward to finding hellebores in the store soon so I can try to grow them again this year.
I have some flowers that were my mother’s and the “information” thing in them says “Color”. I have no idea what they are but they are flowering madly while the snow is falling outside! I am really bad at keeping plant alive, but these are important to me so I am really trying not to kill them!! Three years, so far!! I can’t wait to see your giant Echinacea! That is going to be incredible! This book sounds fabulous and I love paper piecing!
Coneflowers are my fav! You can plant them anywhere and they grow, and the flower last almost forever. I found some rusty red ones 2 years ago and planted them on each side of my step on my front steps.
I love Plumerias, but right now I am looking at the orchids my husband likes to baby. We bring them in the house around December, and then they go back outside around March, after the last frost. Within a week of sitting on my kitchen table, they sprouted large flower pods on one, and flower stems with little flower nubs on two others. The baby plant from the large “mother” with the big pods, lol, hasn’t bloomed or stemmed yet this year. But she will. They usually bloom twice a year. I don’t know the actual name of the orchid, but they are the ones you get near the cash register at Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart, etc.
Giant paper piecing sounds really cool! I grew some Gerbera Daisies one summer that were so beautiful and I was very excited about them. Unfortunately lots of deer were also excited about them — as snacks! Luckily I took photos of each gorgeous bloom as soon as I saw them. Generally they would be eaten by the next day, so frustrating! So fabric flowers work for me.
I cannot find where I could ask a question so here goes. This is totally different from this post.
Do you have corrections to your Bookcase Pattern? If so, where do I find them. Some of the sizes are incorrect so wanted to be sure I do not miss any. Thanks
Ruth Ann Henderer
Heather, I love the idea of you piecing that giant Echinacea plant into a quilt top and hope that you soon find some me time to start (or continue) that process.
Following you on that journey will be so much fun!
For me one day I’d love to paper piece a Saguaro Cactus. Not a 40 footer, a bed size would be ideal. I mean those babies need barely any water and live on into eternity.
Thank you for sharing your love of paper piecing, plants, Sarah’s book and friendship.
I’m still slowwwlly piecing Succulent Shelf from your Succulents collection.
Have you started piecing the giant Echinacea plant? I have had multiple varieties of this plant in my gardens for years. We are moving to a new home in a new city and will have to start completely over. While it is exciting to have a new home, it is sad to leave the gardens that developed over many years. This might a be a great reminder! Also, are the small patterns suitable such that you could put a plant or two on one of the library shelves of the book quilt?