MD in APQ:: that's me in American Patchwork and Quilting

First off, I am so enjoying all your pie comments, both the unusual pies that I've never heard of and am tempted to google and the ones that I know so well that they bring back good and sweet memories. Keep those coming because the drawing is open until June 29 when I'll announce the lucky winner.

As for today's post, well this has been out for a couple of weeks. I know because I have received numerous lovely emails about this. I haven't posted about this myself because I hadn't received my copy until yesterday. What is this? This is my feature in the August 2012 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. It has been a long time in the works, since last October in fact. Way back then, when the local temperature was below 100 degrees (the high was 113 degrees here yesterday), an editor and two photographers arrived on my doorstep to interview me, take pictures of my fabric line as well as my work, and just generally spend a lovely day with me. It was beyond terrific and pretty thrilling. I'm always stunned when folks want to know what I think. I mean, I want to know what I think and I hope that my family and friends want to know what I think, but I don't usually expect it beyond that circle.
Along with the article, I designed and wrote a pattern for a quilt specifically for this issue. You can view and access the pattern here, though I encourage you to buy the magazine and read the entire article.
Maybe through happenstance or not, I was teaching a class at Stitch Lab last Sunday that focused on making just this block. I had previously made a sample to promote the class, but was moved to make another one when I eyed Lucie Summers gorgeous Summersville prints all line up in a neat little row in the shop.

I combined those with a Moda Bella solid in a pale turquoise shade and one of the Flea Market Fancy reprints and in less than three hours I had this top cut and pieced.

I'm planning on backing this quilt with a Micheal Miller polka dot in red and white and quilting it in my, hopefully, trademark concentric spiral. I think I might even round the corners on this one just as a change of pace.
So easy, so fun, so quick and, so contemporary. What's not to love?

Sewing with a kid...

...just not my own, but maybe that makes it even more fun.
Over the past few days I've had a sweet, little treat come to my house every afternoon to do a wee bit of sewing. And, despite the fact that she's just barely out of second grade, look what she manged to make:

Hey, it's reversible too.

Also, if you think the first side featured is my cheater cloth from my a stitch in color line, you're mistaken. This little gal pieced together a slew of 2 1/2" squares to make the patchwork for the front and back of her tote. She selected the fabrics as well. Fearlessly. A girl after my own heart.

Fields:: A Skirt

When my middle daughter was little she used to mispronounce the word, remember, as mender. I loved it for all the reasons a parent finds their child's quirky takes on things endearing. I still occasionally turn to her and ask, "Mender when...?"
Well, in that spirit, mender when I said I was going to make a skirt just like these, but in my own fabrics?
You mender that? Well, I did, kinda, sorta.

As promised, I did make the skirt using the same pattern with the same modifications and the skirt is made out of my fabric. But, not in my a stitch in color fabric. Rather I used some of my hand dyed and patterned fabric in a new print, Fields. I haven't decided if I'm going to reproduce it in my usual palette or even if I want to add this pattern to my store. I was just playing and making fabric with really no endpoint in mind.

Initially, I thought I'd use the fabric to make a bag, but then I mendered my promise to make a skirt out of my own fabric and a project was born.

In the end I did include a little bit of fabric from my a stitch in color collection. I made the waistband facing in the Pebbles fabric in yellow and orange. No one will see that cute, little addition, but I'll stop every once in a while and mender it's there.

More sewing for...me

Before I get into my newest sewing project, I wanted to answer a question several folks posed about the skirts I featured in the last post. I made them from a pattern, New Look 6843, but I modified the pattern to remove most of the hip ease and shorten the length. It's a very cute skirt as is, but the smallest pattern size is a wee bit big for me, so I needed to make an alteration.

On to today's pattern. Have y'all seen this? It's a free, downloadable pattern offered by the lovely and talented Sarai Mitnick of Colette patterns. I've seen both the versions that she crafted for her pattern and another version which turns the tank into a dress(definitely trying that in the future).
Anyway, I was at Stitch Lab today to teach a class and started thinking about buying fabric to make the tank. It was pretty much constantly in the back of my mind while I was teaching. I can instruct and fantasize about my next sewing project. it's like walking and chewing gum.

 So, per instructions, I printed out the pattern paper and taped the pieces together.

Then I cut out the pattern pieces to my size

and selected fabric. Actually, the dotted print I purchased today at Stitch Lab and the plaid is from my a stitch in color line for Moda.
Now I'm ready to cut the pattern out from the fabric and sew myself a tank or two. I was planning on going to the movies tomorrow night, so maybe one of these will make its debut there. I'll let you know.

Sprung into Spring

With this:

and this:

The first image is obviously newly blooming poppies in my garden and the second? Newly sewn spring skirts on my line. Both the poppies and the skirts have definitely benefited from this not being their first go around in my little world.
The poppies have returned for probably the fourth year and this year, the plants are especially tall and lush and as verdant as grey leafed plants can be. They've definitely benefited from the copious amount of rain we've had this winter.
The skirts too have seen a previous season. Not these specifically, but the pattern has been on my cutting table before.

With this version I modified the pattern to take out some of the ease in the hip. I'm a little person and I don't need or frankly want over 4" of ease around my hips. I also shortened the length a bit. Again, refer to that little person comment. And I crafted an invisible waistband. I like the sleekness of that versus a waistband that is visible beyond the top edge of the skirt. Add in darts and you've got a super-cute close, fitting skirt.
I made the one on the right out of Lotta Jansdotter's Echo fabric and the one on the left(which I'm wearing as I type this) out of a line of fabric that Denyse Schmidt designs for Joann's fabric. Who knew that Denyse had a line at Joann's? Is this a really well kept secret or should I move out from under that rock I've obviously been living under? The quality of the fabric seems very nice and the prints, not surprisingly, feel simultaneously contemporary and vintagey, just like Denyse's other lines for Free Spirit.
Even with sewing in darts and an invisible zipper, this skirt comes together very quickly, so I'm thinking I have to make at least one in my own, a stitch in color, fabric.

Two Weeks, Two Giveaways

I wasn't planning on doing a giveaway so soon after the one last week, but the opportunity presented itself. And then it inspired a project...sort of. So, another giveaway it is.
Before I get to that though, I want to tell you a little about the project and how you might apply it to the giveaway item should you be the winner.

Brief digression: I took these shots at a local thrift store that I've mentioned here before, Pieces of the Past. It's on Burnet road, just a bit south of Koenig lane. The place is jam packed with treasures, but don't bump into anything because it's also a house of cards.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the pillow. The top is made from some charm squares of a stitch in color and a grey cotton. I modified my windows sewing machine cover block from my book to accommodate the larger charm squares.

 I then quilted the top using squiggly(technical term) lines along the diagonal. I didn't plan this out, but as luck would have it, the diagonal squigglies look remarkably like a miniature version of the windows pattern. Kismet.

I crafted a zippered opening using a Denyse Schmidt cotton that she apparently sells at Joann's. Who knew? Then I bound the edges as I would a quilt and, voila, fabulous pillow for my sofa.
So, are you all assuming that the giveaway item, which, by the way, is being donated by the super-lovely Tammy at Marmalade Fabric, is a charm pack of my a stitch in color collection? Well, if you've made that assumption you're...wrong. The giveaway prize is even better because the fabric pieces are bigger and bigger is always better when you're talking fabric.
Tammy is giving away this:

This, my dear readers, is a layer cake. That means the squares are 10" x 10".  If you used the same concept I used on the pillow with these squares, adjusting the size of the solid strips accordingly, you could easily make a large quilt lickety split. You don't have to, of course, but I'm planning to.
You want it don't you? Well, then you know what to do.

Also, if you're local, please come by Sew Much More on Anderson Lane this Friday from 6-8pm for my reception/book signing celebrating my fabric line as well as my book. I will be there signing and schmoozing and will return the following morning to give a seminar on utilizing color and pattern.

AND, I'm not done, if you are on the Austin Marathon/ Half Marathon route this Sunday morning, please come out and cheer for the runners. Believe it or not, we really appreciate it.

30-Day Challenge:: Selling Like Hot Cakes

On Monday I got an email from Leslie Bonnell, owner extraordinaire of Stitch Lab, letting me know that some of my newly arrived prints were already sold out. I assumed she was referring to the stock at her store and replied that I was very happy to hear that. A couple of hours later she sent a second email to clarify the first. The prints weren't sold out at Stitch Lab; they're sold out nationally. That's all over the freaking country, people!
Tonight, as I was teaching a class, Leslie looked up the status of my fabric line online. Then she called me over. I was blown away by how many of the prints and even a few solids are listed as out-of-stock. I don't remember what the Moda policy is on re-prints or if they hold some stock back. All I know is the fabric hasn't been in the stores for more than a week and it's going pretty darn fast.

30-Day Challenge:: isn't the thread pretty?

Whenever I unwrap an arashi pole (what that is is the makings for a different post), I'm always wowed by how pretty the thread that's been immersed with the fabric is. It almost seems a shame to throw it away and I'm sure that many of you have suggestions for what to do with the thread rather than discard it. I always welcome and enjoy y'all's creativity, but unraveling this bird's nest of thread is way more work than I want to do. That, however, doesn't stop me from enjoying the color and, in this case, finding a way to take a one-handed picture of it.

On a slightly different note, thanks so much for all your lovely comments about my new fabric line. I wish I could tell you exactly where the fabric is available both in bricks and mortar stores and online, but I'm just the designer and don't honestly know. I do know that locally, Stitch Lab, Walker Hall, and Honey Bee Fabrics are carrying some of the collection. As for online, I know that the lovely Tammy at Marmalade fabrics is also planning on carrying the fabrics and that there are several Etsy vendors selling a stitch in color. Other than that, I would recommend a google search. I hope that helps.

30-Day Challenge:: a stitch in color in the wild

Though I know for a fact that my fabric line, a stitch in color, will be available at three different local fabric stores, Walker Hall Design on 12th street sent me an email yesterday letting me know that their order had arrived. I'm surprised it took me 24 hours to get over there, but I made my way there to snap this photo. I, of course, had seen bolts of the fabric at Quilt Market, but there's something extra-special exciting about seeing it in a fabric store. It's my first sighting of a stitch in color in the wild and definitely a thrill.

Power to More Pillows

...or rather just pillow covers.

This time it's an improv version of the traditional pinwheels pattern, very similar to this mini quilt I made a few weeks back.
I had a few half-triangle squares leftover from that project and rather than find a completely different home for them, I opted to re-imagine the mini quilt as a pillow.

Add my go-to circular quilting and a little peak of selvedge from my a stitch in color fabrics and you've got one fun pillow top.

I love this typewriter fabric and have used it in several projects. It seems particularly appropriate here where the feel of this pillow is just a wee bit irreverent.
I added this little beauty to my shop yesterday, so I'm on track (so far) for regularly introducing new goodies to my store this month.

Finally, Full Views

I wish I could count how many times I've finished a project that I desperately wanted to share with you all only to realize that I can't. So much of the time what I create has to be kept under wraps until somebody, somewhere gives me the green light to share it here. Well, this week I've gotten that green light regarding two projects that thus far I've only hinted at.
The first is a mini quilt that I showed detail images of a few posts back.

 

Like I mentioned in the original blog entry, this little quilt was designed for Cathy Gaubert's book, Pretty in Patchwork: Doll Quilts: 24 Little Quilts to Piece, Stitch, and Love.  I took this shot before I sent it off to Cathy months ago and have been holding on to it anxiously waiting for an opportunity to share this image.

The other full view is of the quilt I created as a free project to promote my fabric line, a stitch in color. Here too impatience got the better of me and I posted a few close-ups to get folks excited about the fabrics and quilt. Now that it has debuted at market I can show it off in its entirety.

 By the way, for those of you who think this is a difficult-to-piece quilt with Y seams and finicky hexagons, I've got a little reveal for you: it's all triangles. The entire quilt is pieced in rows of two different triangle templates. One is an equilateral triangle and the other, meant for the edges and corners, is a right triangle. Easy peasy, people.

There you have it: the full monty, sorta....

This Little Piggy Went to Market

...and here's a bit of what it looked like.

Part of my display in the Moda booth

See the cheater cloth tote on the floor? That has to be the #1 thing folks asked me about other than who was getting the fabulous upholstered chairs and ottoman that Moda had crafted for the booth.

I had such a wonderful response to the fabrics and met so many amazing people that, as a first time attendee, I can wholeheartedly recommend market to others considering making the trip.
It was a little weird to discover that Amy Butler is really tall and that Ty Pennington is not nearly as good-looking in person(sorry, Ty), but I walked away impressed and inspired and ready to design more fabric, quilts, and who-knows-what else.

a stitch in color :: twinkle mini quilt

I love follow through. I'm not always able to attain it, but when I am, boy howdy, does it make me happy.
So, following through on yesterday's promise, I present these images:

The completed top sans quilting

All done!

a stitch in color overdyed

It seems to be working.

I especially like the circles discharged and overdyed from the cheater cloth as the "stitching" that's printed on the fabric remains visible.

I've got another batch of these ready and am planning to assemble and quilt the mini quilt today. Good thing too as I'm leaving for market bright and early on Friday.
I hope to be back here tomorrow to show you the finished project.
In the meantime, check out this terrific piece the Darra Williamson, writer and editor extraordinaire, put together about me and a stitch in color. Thanks so much, Darra!

It's Not All Created Equal

Those of you who've had this experience can attest to the fact that not all commercial fabrics are created equal. By that I'm not referring to their hand or base fiber or even inherent beauty. I'm talking about whether they can be manipulated through surface design techniques, especially discharging or bleaching.
You all might be familiar with my quilts that focus on a singular shibori technique to create patterning. Quilts like this and this. Well, not every commercial fabric that I use works with this technique.
In short, this technique, itajime, uses clamped pieces of plexiglass to form a resist on the fabric's surface. Wherever the plexi comes in contact with the fabric, dye or bleach don't penetrate. This method works much of the time, but I have encountered commercial fabrics where the existing color didn't budge or, despite being cotton, the dye seemed to float off the surface. Considering how much I love this technique and I hoped that this resistance to surface manipulation would not be a characteristic of my new fabric, a stitch in color.
Well, you can all breathe a sigh of relief (assuming you were that worked up about it), I can vouch for the fact that discharging is definitely doable with these fabrics.

I haven't had a chance to over dye these, but usually discharging is more of an issue than over dyeing, so I'm confident all will be well.
My plan is to make a twinkle mini quilt like the one I linked to for Quilt Market this weekend. I'm going to need a few more clamps to expedite the process, but I don't think it's too lofty a goal.
I'll keep you posted.

a stitch in color preview project #8: Sukkah Chain

I know some of you are scratching your heads and wondering what is a Sukkah and why would I make a chain for it. Rather than answer those questions directly because, hey, I'm nothing if not a little lazy, I'll direct you here.
Today I'm featuring another project using my new line of fabrics, a stitch in color, but I'm particularly proud of this project as it combines two significant things in my life and produces something semi-useful.
Every year I build a sukkah. And, by build, I mean that I get some nice, helpful guy to construct it for me. Nonetheless, it is a presence in my life every year at this time in the Jewish calender. Every year I decorate my sukkah in some way. One year I put up all the drawings my kids had made in the past year. Of course that year it rained a lot, so I didn't do that again. Some years I hang paper chains or gourds. It all depends on my mood and how much time I want to devote to it. This year I strung a lot of lights (thanks to the assortment of Christmas lights already available at Target) and made these:

Yup. Those are fabric chains made out of a huge box of leftover strips of a stitch in color that Moda sent me. I haven't even begun to make a dent in the strips(potential future giveaway?), but I did use them to craft these chains.

Aren't they pretty?
I did have some help in making and hanging the chains from my buddies, Adam and Josh, so thanks guys!
To all my fellow sukkot celebrants, I wish you a chag sameach and to everyone else, have a fabulous weekend!

a stitch in color preview project #7 or what to do with a jelly roll...

...other than eat it. And, actually I'm not talking about that kind of jelly roll, though just the thought is making me hungry. I mean the kind that Moda fabrics creates by packaging 2 1/2" x 44" lengths of entire fabric collections into a single spiraled fabric confection. I wanted to come up with a project that utilizes a jelly roll and doesn't require a lot of extra trimming.
I cogitated about this for a while and then ended up adapting my Strips and Bricks pattern to this purpose.

 The original pattern has the pieces measuring a bit wider, but I used the 2 1/2" widths with the same lengths as the original to create my strips and bricks. I also adapted the color scheme so that it was more like this version rather than the original.

Like both previous versions I  free motion quilted the top in straight lines about 1/4" apart and bound the edges so that the binding matched the outer edge of the quilt.
There you have it, a project that utilizes the tasty jelly roll. Unlike the edible version, certainly true when I'm eating one, this incarnation includes are a few leftover jelly roll bits.

Winners and a Big, Big Bag

Thanks everyone for your fu, and fabulous comments about the place mats. The all knowing, all seeing, powers at Random.org have chosen our winners.
They are:

Josée said...

I love those magazines from Interweave. Such a great inspiration. Cute placemats!

and

mali said...

The aging hippie in me loves the flower power placemats - I can see myself making some of those for my crew.

If y'all will email me at malka@stitchindye.com and give me your address, I'll get your magazines to you faster than you can sing "This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius..."

Now onto the Big, Big Bag. Actually, I really wanted to call it the Big Ass Big (which, technically I just did), but thought I should try to keep this post as "G" rated as possible.

Anyway, here it is:

This bag is big, really big and so beautiful. I can say that without being too immodest because I didn't make it. The folks at Moda had a bunch of them made to give to their sales reps. They feature my a stitch in color cheater cloth. I got mine from a nice rep I met last week who sweetly gave me his. So, I'm sharing it with you all.

It is so generously sized. I can't wait to stuff it full of all my essentials and a bunch of other crap and carry it proudly at Quilt Market.

a stitch in color :: preview project #6.5

OK. I was wrong. The last project was actually #6. I hope I didn't confuse anyone. Today's project is not quite done as I have an appointment with a long arm machine tomorrow to do the quilting, but I'm so happy with how the top has turned out that I'm posting about it anyway.
I showed y'all sneak peeks of this large quilt last week, but now the top is entirely assembled and ready (sorta) for prime time.

This is one large quilt. It's decidedly longer than a full size bed and plenty wide. I don't know what the exact size is because I haven't measured it, but I hope that quilted and hung, it will make an impact from a distance and draw folks into the booth at Market.

As I mentioned the other day, I've done this large scale kind of block before, but the drama of these super sized tops never fails to wow me. Sometimes I think that there's probably not a traditional block around that couldn't be made more contemporary and graphic by simply radically enlarging it.

And with blocks this big, piecing is so quick and easy. Imagine a full size quilt top that can be pieced and sewn in an afternoon...sweet. Factor in a day spent long arm quilting (on a rented machine) and you've got a large, bed-sized quilt that could be made in a weekend. This could actually be a last-minute gift to give to a new couple or as a housewarming present.
As for this version...hmmm...I think I'll keep it.

a stitch in color :: preview project #5

At least I think it's #5. I'm working on a new computer and nothing automatically comes up. I was just browsing Amazon when I realized that I was being asked to sign in because the page doesn't recognize me from this computer. I feel strangely anonymous.
Thank goodness I'm not anonymous to you all. At least I hope not.
Anonymity or not, I've got another a stitch in color project to show off today.

I've made this simple pillow design numerous times with my hand dyed fabrics and thought it would be fun to recreate.

Once again, I was blown away by the intensity of color and the similarity to the original hand dyes that the folks at Moda managed to get into these commercial prints.

I also love that this line has so many prints in it. I love mixing different colors and patterns together (probably not a huge revelation there) and I feel like I've got so many options. It's definitely the way I like to work.

For those of you who've emailed me and asked about the public release of these fabrics: they will be available in stores and online in January of 2012. All the projects that I have and will show are destined for Quilt Market in Houston at the end of October. That's when the official industry-wide preview happens.
I'll fill you all in on a little secret: I'm super excited to work with these fabrics, but I'm even more excited to see what you all make with them. I know I"ll be amazed.