Juicy Bits

183: spring 2011 quilt market recap part 1

First up, we do have a winner from the Kingdom giveaway: Janine Mahan. She works with a program called Dress a Girl Around the World that, as the name implies, sews dresses for girls around the world.  Check it out.

I also decided to pick two more names.  I'm sending each one fat quarter from their favorite and a bag of scraps.  Those winners are: Jo of Sparkly Green Knickers (from my Busy Bees online quilting bee!) and HannahJ of Angel Babies, Paint and Cookies.

Congrats ladies!

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So the start of my quilt market recap will just focus on my little section of the Windham booth.  I want to share it and some of the projects that were made for it.  

Isn't it pretty?

This Sweet Pleat bag is by my good friend Becky Cobb.  It's a smallish tote with a wide adjustable strap, magneic closure, and interior pocket.  You might be seeing a pattern for this popping up soon, but for now, check out her etsy shop, Thread and Wire.  She does lovely custom bags, pillows, bibs, aprons and more.

This quilt,titled Kingdom Courtyards, is by John Adams, aka Quilt Dad.  He's also one of the founders of Fat Quarterly.  I believe you will be seeing this in a magazine later this year?

This is the quilt I designed as the the free pattern to go with the line (available this summer). It's titled Prairie Glass Squared.  

Can I tell you how thrilled I am with how this came out? I just totally dig the Mission-style stained glass feel.  And the colors really pop. The gorgeous quilting, by the talented Angela Walters, echoes the fabric and just blows me away.  

You can see it best here on the back. Speaking of which I think I like the back nearly as much as the front. But if you look at the picture closely you'll notice it's a lesson in making sure you use solids from the same bolt. Ugh. But it was last minute and I had no choice...

This is me and Angela in front of the quilt at market. She's as fun as she is talented and I'm thrilled to have met her in person. She did all the quilts for my book, Modern Mix, and just wait til you see them. And keep your eye out because she'll have her own book out on modern machine quilting with Stash next spring!

These guys are fun little pin cushions made from candle holders.

There are a couple of other projects there, like the banners for a babies' rooms, but I hope they'll be appearing in magazines, so I'll leave them be for now.

I'll be back soon with more giveaways and picture from all the other booths at market.

JT

 

182: a Kingdom giveaway

Well, I'm back from quilt market.  What a blast!  I met so many more amazing people in the industry and reconnected with old friends.  I promise to share all the details and lots of photos soon, but I need a few days to catch my breath.

I'm in drastic need of some catch-up time.  I hate apologizing on here, but I feel terrible that I haven't even replied to all the well wishes I got on the book.  I promise I'll get to it soon...

But, meanwhile, I talked so much while I was gone that I lost my voice and when I got home I promptly got sick.  ugh.  If only I could sleep 24 hours straight.

Anyway, Kingdom was well-received at market.  I know it doesn't hit stores until August, but I'm dying to see what you all make with it. 

But, while I get my act together to show you all about market, I'm giving away one of the first fat quarter packs of the whole collection.  Be among the first to own some!

What I'd like you to do is leave a comment here with your favorite print.  You can refer to this post to see them all. I do realize it's annoying to some people to have to jump through hoops for a giveaway, so if you don't want to, fine.  Just leave any old comment. But I am curious about what your favs are...

Contest closes next Wednesday the 25th.

And check back soon. I have a bunch of other stuff from market to giveway, including books etc, so you don't want to miss out.

JT

 

181: big news

I must say, I kinda feel like this post should be titled "old news", but it is new to you.

So, here it is: I wrote a book!

Yes, past tense.  As in, I'm pretty much done.  I did the bulk of the work last spring/summer (hence, the "old news").  I do feel like I've been a bit of a tease about my news, and that might have been annoying. But, I'll admit it, I kinda liked being in that club where you have secret projects you can't talk about.  And, really, I wasn't allowed to say anything.  Because, if I was, you know I would have been blogging tons of complaints and moaning about how much work it was etc.

And, it was a TON of work.  But I think it's one of those things (like childbirth) where the memory of how hard it was fades and the excitement takes over.  And, I can hardly tell you how proud I am.  I dying to see it acutally done.

The title is:

Modern Mix

16 Sewing Projects that Combine Designer Prints & Solid Fabrics

7 Quilts + Pillows, Bags, & More

It will be published this fall by Stash Books, an imprint of C&T Publishing.  I'm so honored to be in the company of their other awesome authors. And, can I just tell you?  They are a dream to work with. Everyone is so professional and knowledgeable and just really helped me to make it the best I could.

So, yes, it is a project-based sewing book.  Each projects uses both some solid fabrics and some prints.  They're all modern and fun and there is something for every skill level.  My first love has always been quilting, so there are 7 quilts, but since I never can focus on just one thing, there are also bags, pillows, an apron, a tablecloth, and more.  I wish I could show you more than just these sneak peek photos, but for now they're all I've got.  I think the cover is almost final and I promise to show you as soon as I can.  

If you're interested, I'd be happy to share more about the process of writing a book and how this whole thing happened.  Soon... like after I get back from quilt market.

JT

 P.S. Holy cow! You can already pre-order it on amazon.  That's my name there, folks.  For real.