Last QM Post: Sarah Fielke

I saw a lot of Sarah Fielke at Quilt Market - I went to two Schoolhouse sessions where she was presenting and I attended a book signing. I find her work to be inspiring, original, and eye-catching. Her Material Obsession books (also written by Kathy Doughty) are easily my favorite quilting books and I recently completed the quilt on the cover of the first book (post coming soon!). She is not only a prolific quilter, but she designs fabric too! Her new collection for Lecien, St. Ives, is filled with nostalgia and whimsy - I hope to get my hands on some of those dots soon!

This quilt is available as a free pattern download on the Lecien site.

I enjoyed seeing many of her quilts "in person" - so much better than just looking at a picture. This eagle quilt is definitely one of my favorites - probably because of the dresden element.

I really want to be better at doing applique - she uses the method to really add a wonderful element to many of her quilts.

This "Night Garden" quilt is another one of my favorites but it scares me because you have to use templates!

I visited her booth when she wasn't there.

We showed up to the book signing quite early so we wouldn't miss our chance to come home with a signed copy of Quilting from little things... I was able to tell her that she made my day when she commented on this post from my blog and she seemed to remember the Dotty for Dresden quilt top I had made. I gushed and told her how much I loved her work.

This book was the perfec thing to pour over on the plane rides home. So much eye candy and inspiration. My favorite part (so far) is her detailed explanation of how she chooses fabrics. This passage from the introduction is music to my ears, "My stash is large, but it's never large enough. I don't ever feel bad about how much fabric I have--the fabric is as essential to my inspiration as the actual construction of the quilts." I am the same way - I plan my quilts based on fabrics I love.

Urban Circus PJ's Take Two

Last August I made Urban Circus pajamas for my son using a pattern from the Amy Butler's Little Stitches pattern. It was the 9-12 month size and he was so big at 11 months that they didn't last long. Several months ago I made these pajamas again using the Oliver and S Bedtime Story pattern in size 3T. I put them away for future use. He just started fitting into them now and requests to wear them every night! Booya!

I just love that fabric so much - I had to make another pair after he grew out of the first pair so fast.

I can't believe what a different a year makes - he's growing so fast.

Fabric Palooza at Quilt Market

Before I show you my glutinous pictures of all of the fabric I bought at Quilt Market- I figured I would slip a photo of what I accomplished yesterday so that you know I actually use my fabric and don't spend all my time buying it. I finally added the corner triangles to all of the blocks and it really makes the quilt look much better if I do say so myself. Sample spree on Friday night was crazy. We got in line 2.5 hours before it started as a veteran QM attendee had advised us. I saved money in anticipation of the event: pre-release fabric at wholesale (or less) prices.... I literally had a good dream about the event before I even arrived in TX.

I did the most damage at the Lecien table: Flower Sugar, Folk Heart, and Woodland. I have always drooled over Flower Sugar fabrics but have never owned any before - so this was the favorite purchase of the whole spree for sure.

I have also never owned any Art Gallery fabrics - so I decided to indulge in these super soft beauties.

Riley Blake had some serious bargains: Daisy Cottage and Cherry Sew.

I literally had to push my way through and out to navigate the Moda table - that was the craziest table! I was so happy to get my hands on Aneela Hooey's: A Walk in the Woods.

I almost forgot about checking out the Robert Kaufman table but I am so glad I did. I already have the pattern planned for these FQ's of Laurie Wisbrun's Modern Whimsy.

Lotta Jansdotter's Echo line is to die for. I have a thing for mono-chromatic prints - and this bundle has a ton of them!

Traditional South African fabrics? I was so there! I love South Africa and lived there for 4 months as a college junior. I came home with very little fabric - so this was a special purchase.

Finally, I couldn't resist several Echino half yd cuts - I can now actually make a quilt out of all of these! I think I will destash a FQ set on etsy though - there wasn't an option to just buy fat quarters.

I went to the spree with the plan to indulge because I had saved my money beforehand and I don't think I will ever go to Quilt Market again. You only live once, right? I can't wait to cut into all of these fabrics and plan to do so soon.

Weekend Sewing

I accomplished a lot sewing-wise this weekend. I don't know where I got all of the energy from considering how exhausted I feel today. Maybe I had the motivation because most of the projects I completed had fast approaching deadlines.

First, I made a peg bear for a 2 year old's birthday party. The birthday boy loves anything car oriented, so I used one of the few car fabrics I own. I have plenty of other transportation themed fabrics - but it was kind of strange that I didn't have a ton of car options. The little boy seemed to like it - so that made me happy.
I don't know if I will ever get into making Halloween costumes, but I knew I could make a trick or treat bag. Halloween was postponed till this past Friday night due to the weekend's snow storm that brought down power lines, trees, and resulted in thousands losing their power for days.

I had some Riley Blake Halloween fat quarters that did just the trick for this easy project. I used a pattern from The New Handmade: Simple Sewing for Contemporary Style by Cassie Barden.

The only thing that about killed me was turning 1" tubes of fabric - with a layer of batting - right side out. I had to have Nick help me and it delayed me so significantly that the bag wasn't ready till about 10 minutes before we had to leave.

I finally made two blocks for the Hip to Bee Square bee. Both of these blocks were easy and I am embarrassed that I was given 2 months to complete them and I was still a week late. The Kona coal pieces I was given for the stacked books block (left) came from two different dye lots- I find it very annoying that Kona can't tweak it's process to make all of it's Kona consistently "colored."

Finally, I made binding and attached it to my Dots and Ties Quilt - now I am doing my favorite part: hand-sewing the other side. Stay tuned for a big reveal of the completed project!

Quilts at Quilt Market

(A Moda representative showing off a creative use of new Moda basics - I would totally wear that skirt!)
This post will show the quilts that I took pictures of at Quilt Market. Quilt Market is definitely not a "quilt show" but there is plenty of eye candy besides forthcoming fabric lines. My pictures originate from either the Schoolhouse classes (all day Friday classes mostly geared towards shop owners) and a few were taken on the floor of the market.



Alice and I loved this beauty made out of Flower Sugar fabrics. It's difficult to tell from this mediocre picture - but those blocks are made of dresden blocks with yo-yo's on the inner circle. Sandy Klops Mono Pez quilt showcases the basics in this line beautifully:

Cinderberry Stitches from Lecien has their first new line that is so cute and whimsical: Woodland Utopia.

Andover showcased some of its' newest children's lines- Meet the Gang

and Outfoxed:

We went to a "Schoolhouse" with Valori Wells, Tula Pink, Amy Butler, and Anna Maria Horner. Tula Pink had made a completely voile quilt out of all of their fabrics to showcase what a whole quilt of voile feels and looks like. It was gorgeous!

Anna Maria Horner showed us how to use her Loulouthi velveteen and ribbons in quilts:

Here's the ribbon quilt with a pintuck design:

The colors and saturation of the velveteen fabrics really makes me want some for myself even though I haven't been too sold on the whole velveteen thing.

Thanks for visiting!

QM Accessories Made by Me

Before I went to Quilt Market, I knew I wanted to make myself a bag. I decided to go for a "fall" theme mostly to narrow my focus because choosing fabrics from my stash is often the most time consuming task when it comes to doing a project. I chose Denyse Schmidt's County Fair posie for the handles and Heather Ross' wildflowers from FFA III for the body of the bag. I used a self-published pattern found on etsy called the Nikki bag. I used random brown prints for the lining and pockets: a Michael Miller daisy print and a "Baubles and Bits" print for the pockets. The pattern was perfect- I had no trouble following it at all.

I also decided to make a "pocket clutch" by Keykalou Designs. This project was SO fun and easy to make. I can see making many more of these and I would also like to enlarge the pattern and make bigger versions.

I wanted to use the same fabrics as I had for the exterior of my Nikki bag, but I didn't have enough fabric. Instead, I used Henna Garden and a FMF print. This clutch was a perfect holder for my prescription glasses.

One of the most fun aspects of these projects was that Denyse Schmidt herself complimented me on the Nikki bag (she's the designer of the handle fabric!). I promise I didn't use her fabric to suck up to her but it was cool that she noticed it!

Quilt Market Fall 2011

If you are looking for a recap of stellar fabric collections that were displayed at Quilt Market, I am afraid I cannot provide that. Kim Kight at True Up is posting frequently about all of the new lines.

My purpose in attending Quilt Market entailed meeting and talking to lots of people from fabric and pattern designers to bloggers to fabric company marketing directors, etc. I loved being able to meet so many people and it wasn't even that intimidating. It's a cliche - but really - it was fun to meet so many nice people and realize that although I put them on a pedestal - they are all just normal people! I met so many people that I didn't get pictures of: Denyse Schmidt, Anna Maria Horner, Sandy Klop, Laura Gunn, Sarah Jane, QuiltDad, etc.

My favorite experience was getting to meet Anne Kelle - she was SO nice and sweet and she actually remembered the whale blanket I had made for Gregory a year ago. She had had a friend make a girl version for her and I told her that she should have called me and I will make her another one (since she gave it away to a friend having a baby girl!). My friends took pictures of us together - so I will post one of those when I get a copy. This pattern designer, Carolyn Friedlander, was a doll. I fell in love with her tree quilt.

Here's Lu Summers - one of Moda's newest designers - a gal from England who was so friendly. Looking forward to her new line this spring - Summersville.

I was able to take a class with Eleanor Burns on doing "sassy stars." Ms. Burns is so funny and you can really tell that she loves what she does. I had to tell her that her "Log Cabin in a Day" was one of the first quilts I ever made and it really got me started with my quilting hobby.

Alice and I were able to meet Aneela Hooey - designer of Sherbet Pips, Little Apples, and the newest: A Walk in the Woods. I told her that I love her fabrics and am making a quilt for myself.

I was nervous to meet Ty Pennington but figured, why not? His new line is very striking!

Sandi Henderson was probably the most down to earth designer I met - the kind of gal you would want to live nearby so that you could have playdates with your kids together and grab lunch now and then. She's got a lot in store for all her fans - I am excited!

Of course I had to get a picture with the Cat in the Hat. The only Robert Kaufman designer I didn't get to meet was Laurie Wisbrun - to my great disappointment!!!!

Rebecca got to meet Melody Miller and was so EXCITED! I love the typewriter print for her new line.

I really didn't take enough pictures at QM - but the whole weekend was a busy blur. The most pictures I took were of Sarah Fielke's work. I will have to do a separate post on that - and it's great timing because I just long-arm quilted the Dotty for Dresden quilt yesterday!

Thanks for visiting! I have a lot of posts in store for the blog right now - maybe a little more about QM but I also have managed to complete quite a few projects lately!

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Entry

I am dying to share pictures from Quilt Market but I came back to a long power outage and ended up camping out at my parent's home for the past few days. We finally came back last night and I am exhausted and trying to catch up around here.

Meanwhile - I didn't want to miss my chance to enter the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. I am choosing to showcase this mini quilt - a birth announcement quilt made for my son, Gregory. He was born in October - hence the foliage theme.

Most of this quilt was done by hand via English paper piecing, needle turn applique, and embroidery. I love having pieces of one of his baby shirts in the hexagonal background - it's the little white print with tiny bikes on it. This small quilt took a lot of time and it only measures about 18 x 20.5". But I love it and I am proud of my original idea to create a fresh/modern looking keepsake for my son and finally find a way to use paper pieced hexagons without committing to a HUGE project.

Thanks for visiting!