Juicy Bits

238: a booth for Cascade

I did it!  I sucessfully designed and constructed a gorgeous booth for Quilt Market.  And what do I have to say about that?  Phew!

I knew if I was going to do a booth, I was going to do it "right".  So hard walls were a given.  Figuring out how to make them = not so easy.

In the end they are hinged 4'x4' panels of thin hardboard with a frame of 1"x2"s on the back.  They were then bolted together on site.  If I had it to do again I would probably use actual 1/4" plywood because the hardboard really isn't meant to be finished and it chipped a lot.  And I'd probably use 2"x3"s for the frame. 

But they arrived in tact, so there really are miracles.

The centerpiece of my booth was the waterfall.  Yes I built it.  It had just the right simple, modern, calm feel to draw people in to the booth and to show off the quilts.  Honestly I knew from the start of designing the collection that it would be called Cascade and that if I had a booth it would have a working waterfall of some kind.

The ladder of quilts was screwed to the walls and I can't really see it standing like that at home, but it has definitely made me determined to built a few quilt ladders so I can get some of mine out storage and on display.

I'm so pleased with the overall look of the booth.  In fact, I kinda want to set it up in a corner of my house so I can step into it whenever I want.

  

I can't thank all the people that helped me make samples enough.  It was just bursting with creative goodness.  And I had such a blast being booth neighbors with Heather and her Succulents line.

 

Since I was mostly standing in my booth, I didn't really see much of market this time.  So sadly, I can give you much of a report, but I can tell you that good times were had.  :) 

Now that some time has passed and I've recovered, maybe I'll even be able to do a halloween post before Xmas gets here...

JT

237: Cascade blog tour

Today we kick of the blog tour for my fabric collection, Cascade.  It's going to be 8 days full of inspiring projects with a giveaway at every stop! If you haven't already looked, check out the Look Book to see most of the great projects.

I'm starting it here with three amazing quilts that I'm excited to share.

The first is called Zen Bubble.  I designed and made this quilt.  It's mostly hand applique, which you might know is generally not my thing.  I'm all about machine sewing.  But this design just needed to be done by hand. There is something about the softness of handwork that I felt was needed to compliment the simple design.

The design comes straight from one of the fabric prints, Bubble.  This will be the free pattern offered with the collection and will be available here around the time the fabric hits stores (February).

I quilted this on my longarm.  The background is randomly spaced straight lines with a top and bottom border.  Since the background fabric of the bubble is raindrops, I thought little rainbows was an appropriate fill. :)

Next up is Somewhere Under.  It's one of my patterns with Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio, done in Cascade fabrics.  My friend Neva from the Central Jersey MQG made and quilted this one. 

I love how pretty the colors all look together.  And I'm so happy I got to choose 4 solids to coordinate with the collection.  This light grey is going to get plenty of use in my quilting.

And look at the amazing raindrop quilting that Neva did...

And finally, my friend Robin (also from CJMQG) made a version of the Diamond Strands quilt from my book in the Glacier colorway.  The soft icy blues and greys look just as I pictured when I first imagined the collection.  And I think this pattern has a "cascade-y" feel (yes, I'm aware that's not a word) that goes perfect with the collection.

Robin did such a great job piecing it that the whole thing is crisp and pure.

I also quilted this one on my long arm.  It was fun to use the fabric as inspiration.  And in the solid diamonds I did a deco styled motif.

These three gorgeous quilts are just the tip of the iceberg.  Check out the following blogs to see what others have made and stop back here to see what else I share.

Monday October 13th - Jessica Levitt - Juicy Bits / Windham Fabrics

Tuesday October 14th - Julie Herman - Jaybird Quilts / Jenn Nevitt -knit ’n lit

Wednesday October 15th - Amanda Kattner - What the Bobbin / Andy Knowlton - a bright corner

Thursday October 16th - Marci Debataz - Marci Girl Designs / Jennifer Auh Chon - Sunny in Cal

Friday October 17th - Angela Walters - Quilting is my Therapy / Rachel Gander - Imagine Gnats

Saturday October 18th - Elizabeth Timmons - and pins / Andrea Taddicken - knitty bitties

Sunday October 19th - Erin Erickson - Dog Under my Desk / Jessica Skultety - Quilty Habit

 

Monday October 20th  - Caroline Press - Trillium Design / Karin Jordan - Leigh Laurel Studios

 

At each stop Windham has graciously agreed to give away a fat quarter bundle of Cascade fabrics, so don't miss your chance to win.

 

To enter in my giveaway please follow me on instagram (@jtlevitt) AND leave a comment here.  You can either tell me something you'd make with the prize or something you love about water (i.e. you love the sound of rolling waves, or the heavy feeling of morning mist in the air, or catching snowflakes or your tongue, or whatever...)

 

I will leave the contest open until 11:59 pm EST Oct. 22.

 

JT 

236: introducing Cascade!

Hey there!  Guess what?  I can finally reveal my latest fabric collection for Windham Fabrics, Cascade.

I'm so excited about how this line came out.  I've already been sewing with it and had lots of awesome sewists making projects and I'm thrilled with the results.  You can check out the projects in the Look Book and I'll be sharing more with you in the next week.

Cascade is inspired by the many colors and forms of water all around us.  It’s a graphic snapshot of just a few of things that water does.  It drips down a window pane or cascades down a waterfall.  It glistens as morning dew or floats flowers and leaves on it’s surface.  It splashes in a puddle or bubbles into the air.  I was influenced by Art Nouveau style and saw patterns everywhere, from an elevator door, to the weave of a sweater.  

 

The Glacier color way uses icy blues and greys with just hint of pink to create calm, pretty mood.  

 

The Pond color way has the more earthy feel of all the many green, lush layers of that environment.  

 

 

After an invigorating hike, I love breathing in the pure, crisp energy in the air from the mist at the bottom of a cascade.  I hope this collection captures at least a little of that beauty and clarity.

 

 

This is all 23 designs, including the 4 coordinating solids:

 

The whole collection can also be seen on Windham's site.

 

Stay tuned for a the Blog Hop Tour coming this Monday.  Eight days of awesome projects, complete with fabric giveaways!  AND I have my own booth at Quilt Market this month.  It's been an insane process of building and designing and I can't wait to share it with you all. 

 

JT

235: that time we had a quilt exhibit

A while back, my guild (Central Jersey Modern Quilt Guild) had an exhibit at a large quilt show called NJ Quilt Fest.  It was our chance to show off the modern quilting style to other quilters that might not be familiar with it. 

So we asked our members to submit quilts that reflected the modern aesthetic and I think we pulled together a pretty sweet little exhibit.  I apologize for the quality of the photos...

 The feedback we got was positive and I think we peaked a few quilters' interest.

 There were 21 quilts total in the exhibit. And they included our guild "banner" which is really just a large quilt.  This banner was a group effort with lots of members contributing blocks and a few piecing it together.  I sewed one block, the lettering part, and quilted the banner on my longarm and I love how it came out.  We now like to hang it at retreats etc to show our guild pride. :)

 

These are the rest of the quilts in the show:

 Trio - made and quilted by Jessica Levitt

 Set in Stone - made and quilted by Krishma Patel

 Jessica's Quilt - made and quilted by Robin Buscemi

 Modern Trees - made and quilted by Neva Asinari

 50 Central -made and quilted by Elaine Hagaman

 Sisket - made and quilted by Lori Saporito

 

 Retro Rubies - made an quilted by Neva Asinari-Post

 Arbutus Menziesii (Madrona Tree) - made and quilted by Robin Buscemi

 Windows to Madrona - made and quilted by Jessica Levitt

 Birds of a Feather - made and quilted by Jessica Skultety

 Cantilevers - made and quilted by Jessica Levitt

 URBAN - made and quilted by Tatiana Kennedy

 Slice and Dice - made and quilted by Neva Asinari-Post

 Plus 5 - made and quilted by Elain Hagaman

 Broken Logs - made and quilted by Krishma Patel

 Pumpkin Spice Latee (back) - made and quilted by Jessica Skultety

 Improv Pods - made by members of the CJMQG, quilted by Jessica Levitt

Swirling Medallion - made and quilted by Neva Asinari-Post

A Sunny Day in Portland, Oregon - made and quilted by Robin Buscemi

Pebble Road - made by Jessica Levitt, quilted by Angela Walters

 

A few of our members at the show...

And what was super-fun for me was that my sassy kiddos got to see my work hanging in a show.  

JT 

 

231: poor planning, good results

Did you notice I skipped blog post # 231?  Unintentional.  I just forgot to post it sometime at the beginning of the year.  Whoops.  Well, here it is:

I made very few gifts for Christmas again this year.  Honestly, doing so has saved my sanity the last couple of years.  I love homemade stuff and the thought and care that goes into it, but I'm not enough of a planner to get things done early and by the time the holiday season rolls around, who has time to make masterpieces?  So, I've been making small and quick gifts, and just a few.

The main one I did this year is these cute little ipad stands.  These are just the two I made for my kids (yes, we got them mini ipads this year, don't judge).  I made 5 others including one for me. :) Really by sewing them all at once it didn't take much longer than making a couple.  

I started with this pattern that I saw on Pinterest.  Obviously.  What didn't I get from Pinterest lately? There's also this pattern which I referred to.

The major changes I made were I filled it entirely with rice and the lip on the bottom front is a casing with a piece of wooden dowel in it.

Because I used all rice they're very plump to say the least.  And not entirely triangular shaped (especially the tip which is empty so it doesn't always stand up). The reason I did this was the theory that if it was set on a surface not totally flat, it could conform to a curve.  Haven't tested that theory yet, but they are functioning quite well on our countertops.

So, you might be wondering how this project amounts to poor planning (if you ever read the title, that is).  It doesn't.  That project was beautiful.

But I also decided to make ipad mini cases for the kids.  Adorable right?

But you won't ever be seeing a tutorial for them here because they were kind of a pain in the butt to make.  That's because I designed them for their cuteness and functionality and neglected to think about all the aspects of construction.

Here's what I wanted:

-a somewhat fitted pouch case for traveling

-to fit over them when they have their permanent "case" on as seen above

-a hard outside so that if something pokes them in a bag, the screen is protected (this was really the key, because the case they have has no screen protection)

- a hole where the power plug goes so they can be charging in the case

-a pocket for storing power cords and headphones

Here's the problem I encountered when I started sewing my brilliant design: a hard case (pressed illustration board inserted between layers) doesn't bend.  Duh.  So when I went to sew the binding around the top I realized I couldn't get it under my machine.  I was able to do most of the long edges but then I had to very slowly sew around the corners by hand and since it doesn't bend that meant poking it in and pulling out the other side.  Ugh.  Not fun.

Then once I put the ipad in I realized that my fit was so nice that I could barely get the ipad out.  That was solved by adding the little strap.  It is a piece of ribbon that actually goes under the ipad and part way up the other side.  So when you tug on it, it pulls the ipad out part way.  And it doubles as a nice little handle, so I guess necessity is indeed the mother of invention again. :)

But despite the troubles, I love how they came out in all their Japanese cuteness.  And they function well, until we decide we need different permenent cases, then I'll need to make new ones to fit.

JT

234: belated quilt market wrap-up

I'm not THAT far behind.  It's been less than 2 months since Quilt Market.

Spring Market was in Pittsburg this year.  It was a bit nostalgic for me since 5 years ago I went to Quilt Market for the first time in Pittsburg.  You can read about it here.

This time was a totally different experience.  A lot less stress and a lot more fun. :)  I didn't have many specific responsibilites this time so I got to walk the floor and socialize.

As always, it was a visual feast.  I can't possibly do it justice in my pictures mostly because I missed a lot.  

Cotton and Steel's release of their first collections was the big talk of the show.  No doubt about: those ladies have got some style.

 The radiant Carrie Bloomston and I with her new collection Paint for Windham Fabrics.

 Alison Glass and all that lucious color.

Angela Walters' new collection Athena for Art Gallery Fabrics.  Look at that insane quilting on the quilted dress.

Angela is my Market roomie and BFF.  I love her to death!

Geometric Bliss by Jeni Baker

Julie Herman who makde some goodies for Sara Lawson with her collection Urban Jungle.

Indelible by Katarina Roccella

Heather Jones sharing one of her quilts made with American Made Brand.

Carolyn Friedlander's booth won best single booth.  She is as sweet as she is talented.

I had the chance to hang out with Valori Wells this market and she is tons of fun.  And I love that she painted her booth walls freehand when she set up. I could never do that.

 Color:Full by Jennifer Sampou

 Jen Fox has a collection coming out with P&B Textiles.

 Cristy from Sew Much Like Mom and Purple Daisies.

Zen Chic's new collection: Numbers.  LOVE.

Anna Maria Horner didn't have a full booth, but still some beautiful goods on display.

I really loved Trisch Price's quilting.  It is modern with just a touch of quirky.  Really resonates with me.  I'll be picking up her book for sure, even though it's about using negative space and not quilting.

Emily Herrick matches the vibrant color of her booth.

I love how the lighting casts an ethereal glow on Violet Craft's booth.

 Just like my first time in Pittsburg, I had the chance to hang out in the lobby bar of the Omni with some pretty amazing folks.  Not to name drop or anything, but that's: Violet, Deborah, Kristen, Scott, Monica, Patty, and Carolyn.  I sometimes wish Quilt Market came around more than twice a year so I could hang with people like these (and many more that were either not there or are just missing from the picture) more often.

JT

233: progressive quilts

I'm back from Quilt Market in Pittsburgh.  I'll do a recap with a giveaway soon, but first I wanted to tell you about the progressive quilts we made at MidAtlantic MOD.

This was my idea because I’ve watched some cool traveling quilts and really liked the idea, but wanted to do it in a more compressed time frame.  Basically they’re similar to a traveling quilt or round robin, except that each was put together during the weekend.  Those that signed up had some fabric sent to them with the “theme” and then had to make a block, section, or several blocks at home.  Then at the retreat it was passed around and each participant worked on adding their block and possibly more for at least an hour.  At the end of the weekend one participant would win it at random.  I worked on all three.

The first theme was Low Volume/Little Bits.  Low volume fabrics were sent (provided by Pennington Quiltworks) and the instructions were to add little pops of color in any design desired.  It was interesting to see how it transformed throughout the weekend.  

I LOVED the end quilt.  My contributions were the words and the asterisk blocks and some layout of course.  

Next we had the theme of Triangles.  For this one a color scheme was provided.  The various off-white Kona Cotton shades were sent as well as rust orange, cerise, gray, and navy fabrics. 

This one didn’t get completed but it came a long way.  There were several points it looked a total mess.  But in the end it came out rather cool.

My main contribution was the wonky triangles in the top right, but I also did quite a bit of work on the layout including seam-ripping at the 3am to move things around.

Finally, we had a theme of Stripes.  All of the fabric was Modern Solids by Alissa Haight Carlson provided by In the Beginning Fabrics.  You were only allowed to use the fabric provided and could make anything you thought was stripes.

This was my original block:

And the final quilt is gorgeous.  And I won it!  Woo hoo! Hopefully I can get it completed in time to submit it in the group category of Quilt Con.

The whole process of making them was great fun.  Discussing and changing things.  We even ripped things apart or cut each other’s blocks.  They’re so unique and I know no one could have come up with them on their own.

Check out #progressivequilts on Instagram for more pictures.

We'll definitely do it again next year, so any ideas you have for themes would be appreciated. :)

JT

232: out of order

By “out of order” I don’t mean broken, but rather not chronological.  Although I guess you could say this blog has been kinda “broken”.  Plenty has happened I could share here but for various reasons, most of which I won’t bore you with, I’ve neglected the blog.  And it just snowballs from there.  Once I haven’t posted in a while I actually get kinda scared.  That might not be the exact word for it, but basically I feel like I’m failing and then who wants to do something they’re failing at?  Not the best logic, I’m aware.  Anywho, I’m putting that aside and getting back at it.

Oh, and also, I blame Instagram.  It’s too dang easy with instant responses and no pressure to take perfect pictures and write witty text.  So if you actually care about what’s going on currently in my life, you should follow me.  Really.  Because I’d like a lot more followers. @jtlevitt

So, to start off telling you what I’ve been up to in a very “out of order” way, I have to tell you about Mid-Atlantic MOD.  Um, well, it rocked.  Seriously.

 It was indeed a ton of work for me and my co-planners, Andrew Joselyn and Katie Blakesley, but it was a huge success.  I had so much fun and was exhausted after the weekend was over.  This is me an Andrew in our matching hoodies (sadly, Katie couldn't come). 

If you didn’t already know, Mid-Atlantic MOD was (and almost definitely will be next year) a modern quilting retreat in Lancaster, PA.  We got the idea to plan a big, fun retreat in the Mid-Atlantic region so it would drivable for those of us that can’t go to Salt Lake City or Atlanta or wherever.  The 3 of us each is a part of our local MQG (Central Jersey MQG, DC MQG, and Philly MQG) and we drew members from those, as well as lots others.  These are most of the Central Jersey MQG that were in attendance.  Check out Jess's blog for another fun recap of the retreat.

Originally we didn’t want to plan activities, but mostly just have lots of social sewing time.  There was plenty of that in a huge ballroom where everyone got an entire 6ft table to themselves.

But we did add some awesome activities.  We had a cocktail mixer on friday night with food and gift certificates sponsored by some awesome shops:

Pink Chalk Fabrics

Intrepid Thread

Fat Quarter Shop

Fabricworm

Drygoods Design

Pennington Quiltworks

1 Choice for Quilting

We had a pajama party where we sewed pillowcases for charity, with fabric provided by Windham Fabrics.

We had a tote bag swap where we each made a tote with some Essex Linen provided by Robert Kaufman.  It was total pandemonium when we swapped.  Like Christmas morning, in part because we were wearing PJs.  There were lots of squeals. 

This is the Supertote I made that Sara got in the swap.

And I got this adorable tote complete with matching zipper pouches by Natalie.

There was fabric shopping in the area.  We even found some of my fabric.

And there were giveaways and swag by many amazing sponsors.

We also offered mini-workshops on various topics.  Check out the list here.  I taught 4 of them and had a lot of fun.

But my favorite activity of all was the progressive quilts.  I'm going to dedicate an entire post to those, so look for that in a few days.  I made these collapsible design walls that we used for the progressive quilts amoungst other things.  I'll do a tutorial on how to make them.  Theyre' made with the awesome Kaffe Fasset design wall fabric.

So there you have it: Mid-atlantic MOD.  Wherever you live, if lots of sewing, making new quilty friends, collaborating and just generally having a blast sounds good to you, you should come next year!  I’ll announce registration on here but keep an eye out on the blog as well.  We’ll try to make a email list you can sign up to for updates.  

JT

230: a new year and a new "toy"

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping you are starting yours with peace and joy.

And the big news I have neglected to post here is my new machine, Lucille.  Isn't she a shiny beauty?

I've been considering purchasing a long-arm for some time now.  I had planned on buying a Gammil but at Quilt Market I fell in the love with the APQS machines.  They just glide as light as air.  And the support is awesome.  So I changed my mind abruptly, which is so unlike me.  :)

But I'm not regretting it.  Not one bit.

Hopefully you'll be seeing lots of beautifully quilted quilts from me soon.  I have plenty of tops lined up so 2014 is looking be the year of finishing.

JT

229: animated characters

This year we actually had halloween.  Yay!  Last year was such a let down.

The kids both picked characters from animated films. 

Aurora wanted to be Vanellope Von Schweetz from Wreck it Ralph.  If you're not familiar, this is her: 

Super cute.  Both the character and the girl. :)  

For the most part it wasn't a ridiculously challenging costume to make, except then it kinda was.  The sweatshirt was store bought (Thank you, Target).  It's not exactly the right color, but I can live with that.  But finding leggings that were in a close color proved impossible.  So I decided to make them. Just go buy some turquoise and white knit fabrics and bust out the serger, right?  Nope. No knit fabric at all close in color.  I attempted painting some tights.  Disaster.  Finally in a last desperate search of the mall I found an XL woman's Tshirt that was close in color to cut up.  Turned out to be a slinky material that got holes kinda easily, but the leggings made it through the holiday with only one repair.

Then came the wig.  Ever made a yarn wig before? In theory it's easy.  And probably for ones that hang down, not too bad.  But this was a challenge to get it in a decent looking ponytail and stay in place.  The sewing on of the yarn was easy enough, but I definitely was a little too liberal and the pony tail ended up being like 6" in diameter.  So my advice is to start with less and add as needed.  I used the top of a pair of tights as the base (knotted and sewn up).  The elastic made a snug fit but it didn't come close to staying put.  But I found some wig clips (little combs that snap like barrettes) to sew in around the edge and they did the trick. Overall, not on my list of things I want to make again.

Theo's was a bit easier.  Of course it was the second choice.  At first we were going with Toad from Super Mario brothers, but boy that mushroom head is challenging to get right.  I have a mostly formed foam base that's all ready for a try again next year. :)

But when I suggested that he and his buddy go as minions, well, the friend aspect won him over.  If you don't know, they're from Despicable Me.

His costume was mostly about finding the right stuff.  Overalls bigger than toddler size are hard to come by.  And funny thing is if you searched for them on Amazon, yellow sweatshirts and googles come up too.   Obviously a popular costume this year.  I found the overalls at a local tracor supply store.  And the sweatshirts online.  I'm not thrilled they had writing on them, but again, yellow hoodies weren't exactly in every store. 

I made the google from the rings of mason jar lids.  They're help together with a metal epoxy and the rest is hot glued on.  I sewed the patches on the overalls and used pie cleaners for the hair.  I did agree to make 2 costumes, but still easier than Toad's hat.

 Hope you had a great Halloween and got to eat as much chocolate as I did!

JT