Market Debut

Geez, it's already been a month since Spring Quilt Market and I'm finally getting around to posting. That just goes to show how crazy things become when the kids get out of school and summer break begins.

I wanted to give you a little peek into what I've been up to lately and then over the next couple weeks I'll post more in depth about each new adventure. But for now, here's a few tidbits to tease you with. 

My booth this season featured my brand new fabric collection Up and Away for Michael Miller Fabrics. I plan to do a full feature post on the collection in a few days for for now I will tell you it embodies all the fascination and wonder of childhood and flying.

There are two colorways: one for boys and another for girls. I chose a color palette what would reach beyond babies and work for older children and adults as well. 

One of the most exciting features in my booth was my new thread and embroidery floss (not pictured) collections for Aurifil. I have been a fan of Aurifil ever since I first saw their gorgeous colors and threaded it through my machine. It's just wonderful. My thread collection features 12 different colors of 50wt thread that perfectly complement my fabric collection. The embroidery floss collection contains 10 fabulous colors of 6 strand cotton embroidery floss on the most adorable wooden spools.

I also debuted my new line of hand embroidery patterns- STITCHES. I have loved hand embroidery ever since I was introduced to it nearly 12 years ago. There are 4 individual patterns with several more on the way. And each features my Aurifil embroidery floss collection.

Lastly but certainly not least I shared a sneak peek of my latest self published book- Grow With Me.

Grow With Me features my fabric and thread collections and contains "organizational and decorative projects for children's rooms". I'm super proud of this book and I can't wait to show you more. 

It ships the first week of July.

(To order for your shop email crazyoldladies@gmail.com)

As you can see, I've been quite busy. Now that we're settling into a routine (sort of) I hope to make summer as productive as spring was. 

HAPPY SEWING! 

Dresden Carnival blog tour

Hi friends! Sorry for the delay in posting. I'd scheduled this to post yesterday since I knew I was going to out of town but I just don't have good luck with that and obviously it didn't post. But it's here now, so thank you for your patience.

 Thanks for stopping by for my review of Dresden Carnival! Did you know that dresdens are one of the top trends in quilting right now? Well they are! And as you see the projects in this book you will understand why. They are awesome!

When I first heard that Marian and Yvette were teaming up to write a book I knew it was going to be fantastic and then I saw a little peek of it and I was dying to get my hands on it!

Marian of Pink Hippo Quilts is a long time quilt pattern designer and amazing quilter. She also hosts a quilt retreat in St. George, Utah, Quilt St. George, in January. I have been privileged enough to teach at this retreat and it is wonderful event. Yvette, her daughter, is the artistic genius behind all things at Vetmari.com. She is a talented designer with fabric, surface and quilt designs all under her belt. 

Together they teamed up with C&T publishing to bring you this book full of 16 original projects inspired by the classic dresden plate block.  But none of these quilts are old timey at all! They took a traditional block and put a contemporary twist on it and the quilts are fabulous. 

The first project that really caught my eye was the quilt above called "Peek-a-Boo Violets." I love how these ladies combined a rounded and a pointed dresden to create this block. Although this quilt was made beautifully in tone on tone fabrics I really think it would look amazing in almost any choices. But whatever fabric choices are picked each block need to be on a contrasting background so you can see those amazing points and curves that bring so much interest to this block.

Another quilt that caught my eye was "Lily Pad." This fun quilt was made with my Rustique fabric collection and I LOVE how it looks. One of the things that I really like is the contrast of the darker blue plaid and the angle of each of those pieces and the white plaid that looks "straight" in the star blocks that form between each dresden. The light plaid gives a sense of stillness while the dark plaid adds movement and tends to draw your eye throughout the quilt like gears in a machine. It's really cool and I find myself looking at the quilt over and over.

Each of the quilts in this books is really amazing. And if you've been following the blog hop you've seen many more. I would show you all the quilts if I could but it's more fun for you to purchase the book and see them for yourself. 

Our friends at C&T are giving away a copy of this book to one of my lucky readers. Simply leave a comment below telling me why you love dresdens and I will choose a winner on MONDAY, MAY 2!

CONGRATULATIONS! Lisa Marie, you're my WINNER!!!  Please contact me (Blogger is being weird and won't let me get your email address!- I'll keep trying)

Thank you C&T and thank you Marian and Yvette for creating such a cool book!

Happy Sewing!

Make it Yourself Magazine- Pop Up Party!

Several months ago I was asked by the people from Make it Yourself magazine to plan a "party" using my SODALICIOUS fabric collection for an upcoming publication. Make it Yourself magazine is part of the Better Homes and Gardens family = BIG DEAL! So of course I said YES!

 That magazine is finally on news stands and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

(Or order a digital issue HERE)

Used with permission from Make it Yourself magazine. ©2016 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

The idea was to replicate some of the ideas from my market booth and design a soda shop themed party. Can I just say that I had so much fun doing this!

This magazine is so cool because not only do they show you pictures of fun things but they also provide instructions and printables so you can host a party of your own! There are so many ideas that range from party decor and treat recipes to crafts for your guests to enjoy. There's even instructions for the soda jerk hat and apron!

Used with permission from Make it Yourself magazine. ©2016 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.

I designed some fun throw pillows to toss around the seating area at your party as well as the soda stand pictured above and all of the instructions in the magazine!

I LOVE how they styled the picture below with old 45's lining the wall. You could hit up your local thrift store for some 45's and string them together as a garland or sign for your party. Or if you're really ambitious, line a wall with them like the magazine did ;) 

There's even a free party kit you can download which includes invitations, recipes and much more!

Used with permission from Make it Yourself magazine. ©2016 Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved. 

What I love the most is that a Pop-Up Party is fun for people of all ages!
My daughter's is turning 11 in a couple of weeks and I see a Pop-Up party in her future.
Wouldn't it be fun if me and the hubs hosted an evening get together with some of our grown up friends for a flash-back soda party?
The weather is getting warmer and a soda shop theme for the weekend BBQ and/or picnic would be perfect!

See what I mean? Time to get planning!  

Sew Simply Stitched RETREAT!

Do you ever feel like you need a break? A break from all the regular STUFF? I was watching a TED talk the other day (don't ask me who, I can't remember) but he was talking about the benefit of taking a sabbatical. When you take time away to regroup and relax it actually helps you to function more productively when you go back to your regularly scheduled programming. I've experienced this first hand and not just with my creative work. I've found I am a much nicer, calmer, more patient and loving Mom when I have had a nice little "time-out" from Mommy-ing for a few days.

It's time for a little YOU-time at the

This retreat is packed with some of the best teachers Utah has to offer:

Carina Gardner

Deonn Stott

Kathy Porter

Helen Butler

Heather Spurlock

Denise Nelson

and

ME!

There are tons of classes to choose from in all sorts of categories. I'm teaching 2 classes and I know you would love them!

TUACAHN- Thurs afternoon

CLAMBAKE- Friday afternoon

You can sign up for the entire retreat: classes, lodging, meals, etc and all you have to do is show up with your sewing supplies and maybe a change of clothes (optional ;) or sign up for each item individually as fits your schedule and needs. Can you think of anything better than to just sit and sew for 3 days straight?

With so many events and responsibilities coming up in the near future I'm looking forward to this little getaway. Sure I'll be teaching but I'll get to hang out with other quilters doing what we love to do- QUILT!

I hope you'll join us! 

Click HERE to get all the info you need

Ahead of the curve

Sometimes as a designer I have really great ideas....I just don't know it until later.

A few years ago (2011!) I designed a quilt pattern called Clambake. I wanted a giant clam shell quilt and I developed a way that was easy enough to do it (NO CURVED PIECING!). In fact I published a tutorial to show the way. (Sorry, I've taken it down since then)
The next year I debuted my fabric collection Shore Thing at Quilt Market and made a Clambake quilt to show off the prints. I received quite a bit of interest and decided to offer it as a paper pattern.

Last fall my friend and fellow Michael Miller Fabrics designer, Patty Sloniger, released a new fabric collection called Into the Deep. As soon as I saw this collection I knew it had to be CLAMBAKE! Those sea horses! Unfortunately I haven't had the time to actually make one but the fabric is patiently waiting for me. And since I made the digital mock up below it's been calling to me even more.

Clambake has always been one of my favorites. I've seen dozens over the years that people have made and have yet to see one that hasn't turned out stunning. You don't have to use beach or ocean themed fabric for Clambake, it looks great in any fabrics. The quilt on my pattern cover was made with Emily Taylor's Felicity fabric- not coastal at all and it looks fabulous!

The quilt below was made by the gals at SewMod. If you are thinking of making Clambake (and I think you should!) take a moment to read this blog post they wrote about Clambake. They have several tips and tricks they've discovered to help make Clambake even easier. I love it! They are ALL useful tips that I will be implementing when I make my next one. 

My favorite of their tips is to glue baste instead of pin. Glue basting is very popular right now. People use glue for all kinds of things- even to place their binding before stitching it down. I mention in the pattern to use pins on each curve, but gluing them down is GENIUS! You better believe it's going to go so much faster this way without the danger of getting poked and scratched. My favorite quilting glue is Jillily Studios Appli-Glue. It has been formulated for use on fabric with years of testing and is amazing. There's a lot of glues out there to choose from and I've tried a ton of them- Appli-Glue is the best.

You may have noticed a trend on social media this last year. Lots of Clambake style quilts have come out. Some require curved piecing while others are completely pieced. Even die cut companies are making large clam shell dies. This often happens in the quilting community, as soon as the trend hits multiple variations of a similar design come out. On occasion a variation will come out and the designer will have used the same name for her pattern even though the design is different. Although slightly frustrating, it's just part of the industry. 

Regardless of name and technique, my Clambake pattern has been around long before the others. Perhaps if I had waited a few years to design Clambake it might have been more popular. But sometimes I'm just ahead of the curve.

Purchase a Clambake Pattern HERE.

HAPPY SEWING!