We are so excited to announce the winners of January's Photo Contest! To learn more about what it takes to win, be sure to check out our blog on the contest details.
We set a new record for number of entries in the January 2024 Photo Contest with almost 150 entries. Thank you to everyone who submitted photos! In the first episode of Live With Annie this year, Annie announced our first-ever ByAnnie challenge: Make a project using ByAnnie's Soft and Stable that incorporates people and/or words. Throughout the month of January, our Live With Annie episodes included tips for adding people or words to a project by piecing, applique, embroidery, and more. It was a thrill to see the projects made by people who accepted the challenge, adding words, people, and tons of creativity to their projects. Annie announced a new challenge for February and March, so be sure to check out Season 4: Episode 6 of Live With Annie for more details.
If you’d like to submit to the next monthly photo contest, VISIT THIS PAGE to submit your photos.
Want to see the rules and submission guidelines? VISIT THIS PAGE.
If you want to see all photo submissions, visit our Customer Photo Gallery. You can also search through all of the Winning Submissions here.
Let’s see the winners!
ByAnnie Top Voted
WINNER: Brigette W @quiltingonpoint
PATTERN: Project Bags
THEIR STORY: “Decided to merge my love of By Annie bags with my love of all things Agatha Christie! The medium project bag is perfect for my monthly book commitment as part of the 2024 read along. Agatha Christie’s famous “Very few of us are what we seem” saying done in cut up selvage letters reminded me so much of an old fashioned newspaper ransom note. I did however resist the urge to spell seem “seam”."
WHAT WE LOVED: Annie had this to say, "Haha! I loved reading that and seeing Brigette’s creative bag. What a fun way to use selvage edges to add words to a project."
WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
Storyteller Award
WINNER: Nancy Z
PATTERN: Open Wide, Flipping Out, Ditty Bags, Sew Simple Wallet
THEIR STORY: "Dear Annie,
I have never entered a quilt challenge before, but the quilts you showed from your quilt challenges really inspired me, especially the stories behind them and what that meant to you. My grandmother patiently taught me how to hand embroidery and then sew, when I was in elementary school. I have enjoyed both greatly throughout my life, and you made me think about what makes them so special to me.
I’m now 60, so I’ve made a few things since my grandmother taught me; and I have especially enjoyed making special things for special people. Your challenge inspired me to make a sewing bag for my embroidery projects that shows what I love about making embroidery. I rarely make things for myself so this was an opportunity to focus on something beautiful and useful for me, about me. I’m currently working on a very large project for my sister, A Gardener’s Alphabet from Crabapple Hill, which should take me a good year just to finish all the embroidery. This bag will get a lot of use!
I took elements from various patterns and created an embroidery pattern that says it all: Giving Stitching Makes Me Happy. I enjoy thinking of the recipient the whole time I’m making a project, and I love hearing about how they use and enjoy it.
One of the things I love about sewing is the puzzle aspect of it: finding the pieces and patterns and then figuring out how it all goes together. I created a Word Find using the names of the people I’ve made things for over the years. I covered that with the Lazy Girl Slicker you talked about in your Clam Up video, so I can actually use a dry erase marker and write on the puzzle to find the names. I’m already having fun with people trying to find their name in the puzzle.
I also like puzzles/images with hidden surprises, so I incorporated a few of those. My main project bag is the Open Wide, and I put a hidden garden inside. I used vinyl for the inside pockets so I can put the paper patterns on one side, and keep them flat and straight, and my extra hoops on the other side. I put a short mesh pocket on the end to hold my sewing glasses case.
On my Flipping Out, there is a rabbit hidden on the bottom. I will use that as a place to put all my loose thread tails when I’m stitching. I like to take embroidery when I travel, because it is so portable, but there is often not a garbage can nearby. In making it, I lined it with PUL fabric, which you talked about in your Changing Station 2.0 pattern, so getting the thread back out will be easy.
I also made a small wallet to carry an extra pack of needles and some Band-Aids. I’ve learned not to sew on white fabric without them!
I made a small Ditty Bag to carry my sewing light and its cords, with a mesh pocket/bezel inside to keep the light and cords separate. I got to learn how to piece directional fabric to make this one.
I have plans for two Clam Ups, one for my scissors and constantly used tools, and one to carry the embroidery floss bobbins for the current project. I ran out of time for the challenge but they will be made soon.
If your goal with your January Challenge was to get people to think outside of the box, try new things and stretch… then you were very successful!
Thank you Annie!"
WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
Quilt Shop Highlight
WINNER: Old Town Quilt Shop
THEIR STORY: "We love the Ditty bags here at the shop, and were anxiously awaiting the 2.0 version to teach a class. Once we put it on the schedule, it filled in less than 24 hours! That's 19 students. There was a good mix of experienced ByAnnie bag makers and novices. Not everyone finished, but everyone was happy with what they made. Everyone's bags are so cute!"
WHERE IS THEIR SHOP: Orcutt California
WHAT THEY WON: $50 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
WHERE YOU CAN FIND THEM ONLINE:
Instagram: @oldtownquiltshop
Honorable Mention
WINNER: Paula G @paulajean
PATTERN: Bosom Buddy
THEIR STORY: "A while back I made three bosom buddies at one time and placed them in my finished projects stash. One went to a friend in 2022 after she had a lumpectomy and follow-up radiation. Flash forward to 2023…. Never did I think that I would gift one to a man. A dear friend had a double mastectomy in December. Surgery went well and we are praying for the best going forward. His chest is tender from the incisions. He wears his bosom buddy when driving. Most recently all the way to Florida from Indiana. Thank you ByAnnie for sharing this free pattern. I’m not looking to win a prize … just wanted to share my story."
WHAT WE LOVED: Our team member Nolan had this to say, "A great project and a very touching story. "
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
Honorable Mention
WINNER: Margaret W @whirlybuzz
PATTERN: In Control
THEIR STORY: "This is for the January challenge to use letters in a project. Although I would like my life to be In Control, it frequently is chaos! So I wrote a haiku and wove it into a band that I used to embellish an In Control caddy.
To be in control
Is an illusion in fact
We tend toward chaos"
WHAT WE LOVED: Annie had this to say, "I love how Margaret wrote and incorporated the perfect words into the perfect project."
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
Honorable Mention
WINNER: Natasha F @always.be.crafting
PATTERN: Hold Everything
THEIR STORY: “Boy am I glad that I was inspired to use this quote by Albert Einstein, because I made a lot of mistakes! First, I was inspired by the challenge Annie put forth to use people and words. I love using my Cricut Craft Machine for cutting out bonded cotton, and had already done a different project with Bob Ross.
Cutting out the small letters turned out to be more of a challenge, so I switched out my fine point blade, and used a Cricut pen to write the mirror image of the words on the back of my bonded cotton. Then I cut them out by hand.
I participated in last season's Slow Along, which was the Running With Scissors bag, and I loved the handle on that one, and decided to add it to the Hold Everything.
Well, our septic tank flooded into our basement, where my sewing space is located, and I spent the night cleaning, and sewing on my breaks, to relieve the stress.
That's when I realized that I should have attached the interior velcro before moving the handle to that location! Then I sewed the zipper strip on upside down!
Oh well! The bag is still wonderful! Oh! And I also added a mesh pockets to the backs of my pages, since they remind me of mini A Place For Everything pages. I made one last "hack"... I added D rings into my handle strap so if I want to throw a strap onto this bag, it can suddenly become a purse of sorts!"
WHAT WE LOVED: "Annie had this to say, "Natasha did such a great job designing her special bag, from her choices of fabrics to her artwork.""
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
Honorable Mention
WINNER: Sally V
PATTERN: I'll Drink to That
THEIR STORY: "This I'll Drink To That pattern was my first byannie sewing project. The written and video instructions were so great. I appreciate the integrity of her business model. I always dreamed of having a really nice sewing embroidery machine after retirement and a year and a half ago I got it. I'm really enjoying being a subscriber to Annie's YouTube channel. As of this writing, I'm working on two Courtside backpack projects. Loving this new challenge. Thank you Annie."
WHAT WE LOVED: Annie had this to say, "I loved seeing what you made, Sally, and can’t wait to see what you do next!"
WHAT THEY WON: $15 coupon to use on ByAnnie.com
A special "thank you" to everyone who submitted to this photo contest. We had a wonderful time viewing submissions and reading your stories. We look forward to sharing as many of them as possible on our social media.
Interested in submitting to our photo contest? LEARN MORE HERE.
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