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Spring Carnival

Katy Jones of Monkey Do (and one of the editors of Fat Quarterly) has made the most spectacularly awesome quilt top using some of my Quilt Blocks collection. With only bits of fabric she had from quilt market, she has put together such an amazing design. I LOVE the falling pieces appliquéd at the bottom. I think one of the interesting things about this design is that these fabrics have a larger scale pattern that most quilters wouldn’t think of cutting into smaller pieces. I think what it does here is add randomness and abstraction to the design, giving it a very modern feel. She used the fabrics pictured below and added polka dots and some bright solids. This Spring Carnival, or ferris wheel design, works so well and you can see how it’s completely different depending on the fabrics you choose. I also love the version with Jenean Morrison’s fabrics. Katy is selling the acrylic templates that she used to simplify the process — what a great idea. And she’s also been working on this pillow with my flying geese fabric. Look at her amazing quilting here!

Over the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing things people made from my book 1, 2, 3 Sew, but it is possibly even more exciting to see people take their own creativity and use my fabric designs to bring their ideas to reality. I’m looking forward to getting the all the fabrics from the Quilt Blocks collection soon and I can’t wait to make some things — and even better, see what you make!

The Quilt Blocks collection for Moda should hit shops in the next month. If you own a quilt shop and you’ve ordered the fabric, please do let me know so I can add you to my links. I’ll also be offering a free month of advertising for all shops who carry the collection!

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Glue Batik

So it looks like I’m working on a school auction project again this year. Don’t know how this happens. Anyway, the kids in my daughter’s third grade class had already started with a glue batik project and I made some additional squares with them last week, as you can see above. We started with this tutorial. Thinking of putting these on a neutral linen background so that the colors would be appealing to most people, but not sure. I tried this glue batik technique a couple of years ago, and decided it would be better to limit the color palette. I do think that worked better and as you can see this time I went with blues and greens. I’d also suggest having the kids focus their designs and possibly even trace something. Although I love for kids to be creative and make their own work, when it’s auction time, you need to get something good from every kid and it’s not easy. It’s a time when art really is about the finished product and not the process, which kind of takes the fun out of it.

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted on this one. They have asked me to sew the kids’ designs into a quilt, so we’ll see how it comes out.

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Stitch by Betz White

Betz White recently sent me some of the beautiful fabric from her new line of organic cotton for Robert Kaufman. The fabric is GOTS certified organic quilting cotton. I was impressed by the thickness of the fabric and it has a great feel as well, which you don’t always find in organic quilting fabric. This fabric is perfect for quilting, apparel or home decor projects. And of course I love the geometric shapes and playful stitching motifs.

I decided to make another quick zipper pouch and really wanted to use the hexagons that were just begging to be cut and used as appliqué. I just cut 1/4″ around the shape and sewed them on by hand, overlapping them. I lined the pouch with the zig-zag fabric. If you find that you can’t get enough of chevrons lately, you’ve got to get some of this fabric. Next I plan to make some skirts for my girls. And I think the hexagons would make a fun pillow with reverse appliqué. Just place some fabric over the hexagons and hold it up to a window, trace around the shapes, stitch and cut out to reveal the pattern beneath. And of course you could make a cheater grandmother’s flower garden quilt with this fabric.

You can see all the designs and find out where to buy Stitch here. And be sure to check out some of Betz’s projects with the fabric, as shown below. Plus, you can share photos of your own creations in Betz’s Stitch Flickr group.

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Etsy Finds Friday

Vintage Baby Sweater, $12 from Bondplace Vintage.

Vegan Bag, $170 from Milk and Honey Handbags.

Japanese Cotton Fabric, $8 1/2 yard from Talktothesun Supplies.

Pillow Cover, $30 from Lynne’s This and That.

Doily Lace Ikebana Vase, $30 from Ken’s Garden Pottery.

Chevron Ring, $30 from Magasin.

Hand Dyed Cotton Floss, $8 from The Rainbow Girl.

Cambrian Blue Clay Soap, $6 from Rocky Top Soap Shop.

Nani Iro Fabric, $10.40 for approximately 1/2 yard from Kicoli.

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Fat Quarterly Issue 8

I recently ordered the latest issue of Fat Quarterly as I was excited to see an issue on paper piecing, so thought I’d share with you. Foundation paper piecing is simple with great results, but I’m afraid that many people are reluctant to try it simply because it’s difficult to explain. Here, you’ll find helpful instructions as well as many projects to try out your skills. You’ll also find instructions and projects for English paper piecing and freezer paper piecing, other helpful techniques for piecing quilt projects with accuracy and efficiency.

Featuring some fantastic contributors, the issue contains a variety of projects. Pictured are: Robot Softie by Jenny Novinsky, Cozy Cottage by Charise Randell, Kingdom Courtyards Quilt by John Adams, Apple Pie Pillow by Tacha Bruecher, Quilter’s Clock by Sylvie Roussel, and Teapot Fancy Block by Kerry Green (this one has instructions for both the freezer paper technique as well as foundation paper piecing).

When I have more time to sew for myself, I look forward to trying out that clock project. The issue is just $8 and you’ll find it as a downloadable .pdf, which is quick and convenient. With 125 pages featuring instructions for quilts, pillows, blocks and other projects, I think it’s a good deal. You can read more about the issue here.