Juicy Bits

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 

225: happy news

So, you know how I promised you I would be coming out with a few quilt patterns?  Well, they're still coming attractions, but I can now announce that I'm partnering with the amazing Shea Henderson of Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio to do so.

Shea is a good friend and she is pretty much great at everything that I'm not (organization, marketing etc.), so it's a perfect partnership.  And, well, our styles are so similar it's eerie.  

If you've never bought one before, her patterns are top quality - full color gorgeous instructions and fully tested.  You can check out her post here about me and the other licensed designers she's bringing in.  I'm in seriously good company. ;)

You can expect the patterns very soon...

JT 

213: cheers! to a winner

I finally picked a winner for the Skip the Borders giveaway and it was comment #7, Gill.  She'll be getting an e-book sent to her.  Cheers, Gill!

Since I didn't want a picture-less post, I've included this cocktail cookies that I made for a friend's birthday a while back.  The request was for cosmos in the colors of pink and black.  They came out so cute. :)  I haven't had the time to do cookies for the kids birthdays etc. and I miss making them.  Fun!

JT

212: Skip the Borders blog tour + giveaway

A treat for you today!  Julie Herman's book is out: Skip the Borders: Easy Patterns for Modern Quilts.

If you don't know, Julie blogs at Jaybird Quilts and she's pattern designer as well.  I'm lucky enough to call Julie a friend and I'm a big fan of her work.  So I guess you could say it was highly probable I was going to like this book.  But the thing is, I like her work for good reasons...

Right off the bat, I'll tell you the title gives it all away.  The patterns are modern, simple, and without borders.  Definitely what Julie excels at is designing cool quilts that are not ridiculously hard to achieve.  And if you've ever sewn one of her patterns, you know how precise and easy-to-follow her directions are.

And there is a ton more information in the book than just the patterns.  She gives a lot of pointers on designs and helps you understand what quilts do or don't work without borders.  And a whole chapter on binding!

(notice the Kingdom fabrics?!)

Julie came up with her own interview questions to us bloggers to answer.  She answers all of these at length in the book, but here are my short replies:

Q: All of the quilts in Skip the Borders are... borderless!  Do you skip the borders on most of your quilts?

My first thought was that, yes, I skip the borders on most of my quilts.  But it's not totally true.  Looking back I see a bunch with borders and even some more recent ones have them.  I think it's most recently that I've been using them less and less, though a few in my book had them.  I like that Julie discusses some of the purposes of borders and how some quilts really need them.  And she even gives you permission to use them on her patterns if you'd like.  I'd say I'm tending towards modern designs without them for the moment...

Q: In the intro to my book I give you permission to Break the Rules.  Do you break some quilting rules?  What is the number one rule you break and why?

What rules?  I always encourage others to "sew fearlessly" and part of that is doing whatever the heck you want.  I do think technique is important to learn.  Shoddy craftsmanship is a shame because who wants a quilt that turns out sloppy or falls apart?  But once I've learned and practiced techniques, then I do whatever I desire.  Quilting is fun-time and who wants to get caught up in a debate if raw edge applique is good enough or whatever?  I love to learn and challenge myself to try new things, but I'm certainly not going to answer to anyone's rule book.

Q: It's no secret that I love binding!  In Skip the Borders I included an entire chapter on binding.  So the million dollar question, is do you use bias or straight of grain most of the time?

Mostly bias cut for sure.  Once I learned to sew the continuous kind out of a square, it became second nature and it really doesn't take much longer.  It does take a little more yardage though.  I do have a beloved quilt that had straight grain binding and t has been used and washed so many times that there are gaping holes along the edges of the binding.  Would that have happened with bias?  Maybe.  But I'd rather be safe.  Plus, I feel I can get bias binding to lay perfectly flat a little better.  And my other secret (a rule Julie would never break!): I sew all my binding on completely by machine.  Quick, sturdy, and very clean looking.  Guess I should have put that down for a rule I break! 

As part of the blog tour, I get to give away a ebook of Skip the Borders for one lucky winner to enjoy.  You all probably have ipads or kindles, unlike me (not, bitter.....no...), so you know you want one. :) 

Just leave me a comment and tell me about quilting "rules" (I use the term loosely) you can't stand, break a lot, or maybe even would never dare break. :)  I will chose a winner randomly on Oct. 6th.

The schedule for the rest of the blog tour is below.  Check it out.  If you don't already read thses blogs you're going to want to.

Sept 10th - Generation Q magazine

Sept 12th - PS I quilt

Sept 14th - Beyond the Reef

Sept 17th - Pink Chalk Studio

Sept 19th - Fat Quarter Shop

Sept 21st - Bijou Lovely

Sept 24th - Red Pepper Quilts

Sept 26th - Swatch and Stitch

Sept. 28th - Juicy Bits (me!)

Oct 1st - V and Co

Oct 2nd - Martingale Publishling

Oct 5th - Carolina Patchworks

Oct 8th - I'm a Ginger Monkey

Oct 10th - Blue is Blue

Oct 12th - Quilting is My Therapy

Oct 15th - Quilt Dad

Oct 17th - Jaybird Quilts (Julie herself!)

Good luck!

JT 

210: backyard movie night

Nope.  I don't do anything small.  Can't help it.

I got in my head to do an outdoor movie night to celebrate the start of summer.  First I thought I'd rent the equipment, but then decided I was going to do it more than once (we've already used it 3 times) so it was best to invest in our own.  

Then I had to go for a specific look for the night.  I blame Pinterest.  Truth be told, that's the part I love and I always do details anyway. But I was inspired to do the whole thing by some pictures I found on Pinterest.

Anyway, the look was supposed to be a sort of chic retro on the farm.  Or vineyard.  Or something like that.  I got a bunch of vintage sheets from thrift stores.

This is one of my favs.

And I tried to use a lot of antique looking wood, like the crates and board we used as little tables for drinks etc.  I also put out some flowers and candles.  There were some twinkle lights up on the deck by the food for dim lighting and more ambiance.

My mom has a bunch of nap mats from her preschool days that I sewed pockets in the sheets for, so it was more comfortable.  And I borrowed chairs because in my mind the adults weren't going to be thrilled to lay on the ground.  And there were many, MANY pillows.  Also, my parents have 2 papasan chairs so basically it was like a living room outside.

As for the actual equipment, I bought a projector on Ebay and a receiver/speakers at a yard sale.  The screen I built out of PVC.  Not too difficult.  To give you an idea of scale, the screen is about 14' wide.  The actual material is blackout material meant to line curtains (because it doesn't let light through).  It has a seam down the middle but you can't tell when the movie is playing.  It's attached to the frame by velcro.  

It's somewhat weather proof. It can stay out in the rain but the wind did knock it down.  I can leave up the frame but take down the material, but I am a bit worried the homeowner's association will have a conniption.  If you want more info on how to built your own movie screen, check out backyardtheater.com.  These people are crazy hardcore and it was an awesome resource to help pull it all together.

And of course I had to do snacks.  3 types of popcorn and some classic sweets.  There were bags for the popcorn (regular brown paper bags I printed "fresh popcorn" on myself) and separate one for the GOODIES (so cute!).

Drinks were soda (in glass bottles), beer, water, and orange juice/lemonade served in mason jars.  And boy did we need ice cold drinks that night.  It was HOT!  It was the first night of summer (also the first night after school got out) and I thought we would all melt.  The kids didn't care one bit and ran around before it started.  

Thankfully, it cooled enough after the sun was down that we were reasonably comfortable.  We had a lot of people (mostly families of the kids' friends) and had a blast. Here's how we looked enjoying the show.  We watched Over the Hedge because I thought it particularly appropriate in suburbia. :)  We've also watched How to Train Your Dragon, and one of my all time favorites, Princess Bride.

I used to love going to the Drive-In as a kid so this was great throw-back.  And even though it's not HD or surround sound or anything, there's something that just feels so "real" about the big screen and being outdoors.  It gives me the warm fuzzies.

So what else should I show?  It mostly has to be family movies but maybe we'll do an adult only r-rated night.  I'm thinking classics like Goonies, ET, and of course, Harry Potter.

JT

 

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!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

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

 

142: peaches and cream party part two: the day

And now on to the events of the day.

First came set-up.  It was a total scramble since I had so little time.  It was definitely a treat to have the party on a farm, but I will hesitate to have another away from home because it took so much advance planning.

You can see the tent area we had.  It was really nice that it was a separate fenced area since the farm was crowded that day.

I mentioned we were so lucky to have a nice sunny day, but, man, it was windy.  Everything had to be tightly secured down.

When the guests first arrive the could feed the animals carrots or do some coloring of farm pictures.  Guess how much coloring was done?

Next it was time to go peach-picking.  While waiting for the hay ride, there was much silliness and some rousing games of ring-around-the-rosy.  Then we loaded onto the hay wagon and enjoyed a scenic ride around the farm.

There was a little instruction on which peaches were ripe and we were dropped off in the peach groves and got to roam about filling our little baskets.  With a little help from the moms and dads, the kids had a great time.

 

 

We had a little wait until the hayride came back to get us, so the kids did a little tree climbing...

 

Then we headed back to the tent for food and treats.
 
 
 
 There were a variety of sandwiches, fruit kebobs, and snacking stuff.

 

The yellow jackets turned out to be a huge problem.  They were everywhere.  We couldn't put out the food until the last second and they swarmed the sweet stuff.  I had planned on peach lemonade in a big punch bowl, but we quickly had to nix that idea because they would go crazy for it for sure.  Luckily, I had back-up juice boxes.  The idea of the bees eating the food didn't gross me out (you can see the little holes they ate in the candy below) but I was worried one of the kids would get stung because they're so aggressive.  We lucked out and no one did.  Had I thought of it ahead I would have brought sugar-water traps to put out and lure them away from us...

 

Candles were hard to keep lit...

But we pretened.

The cupcakes had little versions of cakeballs like the cake pops I made based on Bakerella's apple design.  The pops were adorable, but seriously time consuming.  Luckily my baking sister was in town to help me out.

The ice cream was another snafu.  We rented an ice cream cart and I called ahead to reserve the dry ice and they said don't worry just come by and get it that morning.  Well, I went by and they were out!  And no on else was open on Sunday.  So we had to make do by keeping the ice cream in the farm's freezer then just using regular ice.  It was pretty melty.  That was me trying to be relaxed about the details and I learned I'm just better off obsessing and forcing them to take a reservation.

After the food, the kids got to enjoy all the activities.  The farm was having it's fall festival and we bought wrist bands for all the guests.  That meant as much hayriding, tractor "train" riding, pony riding, hay pile climbing, bouncy house jumping, and corn kingdom playing as they wanted.  Theo would have ridden around on that "train" all day if we'd let him.  And Aurora loved the ponies.

 

 


 Then we just let the party peter out.  We took down the decorations and packed up, but a bunch of the families stayed as long as they wanted.

My two kids were totally exhausted but very happy by the time we got home.  (So was I, now that I think of it...)

JT

 All photos are by Christianne Ebel.
 

123: quilt market round-up part 2: windham

Back again with some more Quilt Market goodness for you.

Today it’s all about Windham.  I mean, if I don’t toot my own horn, who will?

So here’s the sad thing: I didn’t take a picture of the whole booth.  Totally snubbed the reproduction fabric lines, which Windham does so well.  Oops.  And that means you don’t see the overall theme of the one room schoolhouse that won us 2^nd prize.  But you can go see it on the Windham blog.

Here’s Laura accepting the ribbon.

 

But I did get photos of the designer’s stuff.

Here they are from left to right:

 Allison Jane Smith. 

 

Flutter is her 3^rd line with Windham.  She also has 4 books she’s published.  Wow.

 

The quilt was hard to photograph with the lighting.

 

Paige Stanley Miller

 

This sweet, timeless collection is called Juliet.  Pretty, right?

Bari J. Ackerman

 

You all know Full Bloom, right?  Well, this is her latest and greatest called Art Journal.  Her signature hand-painted look. 

 

And see that quilt?  That’s gonna make an awesome kit, right?

 

Me!  (Jessica Levitt)

 

Well, if you’re a regular reader, you already know what the collection looks like.  It was fun to see it all together like this.

 

(shown is the Buttercup Bag by Made by Rae)

I’ll try to do some posts with each project I made at a later date.

 

(shown is the Black Forest Bag by Melly and Me)

Genevieve Gail

 

She’s back with a beautiful new collection called, Gypsy Garden.  The colors are amazing, and I love the “weathered” finish to the designs.

And let's not forget Anna Griffin's amazing booth.  A beautiful, sophisticated Christmas line.

We each had to do a block from our collection for the blackboard.  You’ll notice there’s one from Rosemarie Lavin’s new Feelin Groovy.  Sadly she didn’t have a quilt there…

 

Here’s a closer look at mine:

 

And I’ll leave you with our resident “Fabric Pimp”, Mickey Krueger.

 

Next up is basically "everyone else" that I managed to get photos of.

 Ciao.

JT

118: with this ring...

Thanx for all the kind words and fabric love.  For the most part I know it seems a little quieter in blogland during the summer, so it's especially nice to hear from you all.  

(You know I think I say "you all" a lot.  I should just give in an say "y'all"...I did live in North Carolina for 4 years...)

Anyway, this is just a little side project.  Some friends are getting married in a few weeks and asked me to make a ring pillow.  In all my wedding planning, it was actually something I hadn't done before.

They're going for a rustic, woodsy feel and said the colors were shades of green and deep purple.  This is what I came up with.

Now back to my regularly scheduled workload.  :)

JT

99: Quilt Market part 4: more of the same

So, at Quilt Market I was so lucky to meet some really fabulous people.  It's amazing how quickly you can instantly connect when you share one big common interest.  

On Saturday night I went out to dinner some fun ladies that I didn't know before, but now feel like I'm good friends with:  Mirynda (Fabric Hound), Renee, Kristen (Gocks's Frocks), Jamie (Maricopa Fabrics), and her mom Lori.  We went to this really nice restaurant up on hill looking out at this view:

Food was delicious and we even had a a free bottle of champagne sent over to us by the Seven Islands guys (who import Echino) because apparently Mirynda did a lot of shopping with them that day!

We rode down a incline tram thingy afterwards.  Some of them thought the giant foot long pencils were too cool and brought them back for the kids.  Things got a little funny later with the "knitting" with them...

Anyway, I've got a ton more booth pictures to share, so here we go:

Indygo Junction Patterns (the tunic Myrinda was wearing above was so in demand I couldn't even get a copy)

Vanilla House Designs.  

Check out their cute baby "activity" mat.

Lecien.  Those adorable bags are a free pattern by Melly and Me.  I'n sure I'll be making one in the near future.

Loved these pinwheels at Lakehouse.

This is Amy Hamberlin's Kati Cupcake booth.  Too cute.

And while we're looking at patterns, we can't forget Favorite Things.  I especially love the coat.

Art Gallery Fabrics had a really beautiful vibe.

And, of course, the yumminess over at the Seven Island section.

Heather Ross had a book signing, but sadly I missed it.

Oliver + S always has such a beautiful clean aesthetic. 

It was sad how few pictures I got of the Free Spirit section.  Just a couple quilts.  the first is Dena Designs new collection, Monaco, for which Scott Hansen designed/made the quilt.

And Erin McMorris's new collection, Wildwood.

OK I'm almost done with the Market stuff.  I have some shots of the beautiful quilts on display that I'll share next time.

JT

98: Quilt Market part 3: getting busy

I feel like this Quilt Market coverage is dragging on a bit.  But then again I've only been home a week.

Friday and Saturday were actually pretty busy for me.  I was peddling my fabric line wherever I went!  To share a bit about my experience doing that, since some people have already asked, it was well received.  I was VERY well prepared and met with plenty of companies, and I must say that everyone I spoke to was nothing but professional, courteous, and even encouraging.  Even if they weren't interested.  I know that's not the experience everyone has had, so I was grateful.

So, today I'm going to work on showing you more of the booths (in no particular order) that I actually got photos of:

Bari J., and her beautiful new Full Bloom line.

And Genvieve's Flower Bucket.

Lila Tuller won best new exhibitor for her booth.

The adorable Pink Fig Patterns.

Taylor Made Designs...love the robes.

A little section of the Moda Home stuff.

The soothing and elegant Sweetwater booth in the Moda section.

Serendipity patterns.  I couldn't resist the Wonderland trench coat (you can't really see it) and had to buy the pattern.  I'm sure you'll be seeing my version soon.  :)

This is Brandon Mably sewing in his and Kaffe Fasset's booth.

Well, that's it for tonight.  I'll be back with more later.  Hope you're having a great holiday weekend.

JT

96: Quilt Market part one: the day before

Hi all.

I'm back from my amazing trip to Quilt Market.  Now, if you really don't want to hear all about, I suggest you tune out for the next week or so, because I'm pretty sure I'm going to ramble on a bit.  When I'm the one sitting at home, I want to hear all the gritty details, so now I shall aim to provide that for you!

If you don't know what Market is (I do have some family/friends readers that aren't deep into the crafty world like the rest of us), here's the low-down:  It's a giant trade show of fabrics, patterns, notions, and other stuff for quilters and sewers.  It happens twice a year, once in Houston in October and once somewhere else in the spring.  You have to be in the industry to attend (it's not hard to get credentials) and most are shop owners or exhibitors.  This was the first time I attended, and it did not disappoint.

This is a shot of less than half the floor during set-up.  (If you look closely you'll see Patty Young striking a pose.)

I do think I'll have some good news regarding my fabric designs in a short while, but you're going to have to wait on that.  Sorry!  

Anyhoo...Market runs Fri, Sat, and Sun, but on Thursday they have something called Schoolhouses.  They're little product demos or fabric presentations.  I went to get an idea what they were and check out some new stuff.

I saw Amy Butler's (no pic of her b/c they really weren't flattering and that's just mean) in which she talked about her new line of Sweet Life bags, her new software, and patterns.  

I saw several other fabric designers showcasing their lines, including the whole Michael Miller gang, Kaffe Fasset,

Valori Wells, and more.

It was an informative and enjoyable afternoon.

Later that evening was a little gathering we were calling "Faux 2.0".  Similar to the previous shows'  Fabric 2.0 parties for designers and bloggers, except not so much a planned party as a gathering in a hotel lobby.

The Omni Hotel was gorgeous with its chandeliers etc, and I spent the whole night hob nobbing with designers and fun bloggers and shop owners.  Yes, indeed, I felt like I was running with the "cool crowd".  And I have to say, EVERYONE WAS SO NICE.  It seemed like I used that phrase a million times while I was there, but it was so true.  I showed my designs around and everyone was very encouraging.  Drinks were flowing and the laughing got louder as night progressed.  

Here's a look at who was there:

Joey and Jona from Fabritopia (who I believe organized the whole thing),

Patty Young (of Michael Miller), Myrinda (of Fabric Hound), Jenean Morrison (of Free Spirit),

Genevieve Gail and Bari J. (of Windham), 

Heather Bailey (Free Spirit) and Laura Gunn (her sister-in-law debuting for Michael Miller),

Paula Prass (Michael Miller) (and her daughter Jennifer Storey, not shown), the mysterious Jenny McClean (AKA Tula Pink for Moda) and Myrinda again.

Others included: Angela Yosten (Moda Home Mom) and Camille Roskelley (Thimble Blossoms), Scott Hansen (Blue Nickel Studios), Susanne Woods (C&T Publishing), Sandi Henderson (Michael Miller), Sarah Phillips (In Town Quilters), Mary Abreu (Confessions of Craft Addict), Mary Beth Eastman (True Up), and really more people that I feel bad I'm not listing but I didn't get business cards and it's getting so late and would take me forever to get all the names together.  But you've got the idea...

It was so great to put some faces to names and blog names.  And it was so fun to realize some people actually know me from my blog as well.  Who knew?

I refrained from drinking too much, but I did stay up quite late which, of course, I paid for later.  More details for the next few days to come...

JT

82: NJ Quilt Festival

I went to a quilt show here in NJ with some of the ladies in my quilt class.  As always it was inspiring and a just a bit intimidating...

These are some of my favorites:

(Dad's Plaids by Elsie Campbell)

(Spring Break by Joanell Connolly)

(Spring Storm by Vanessa Brisson)

(Ishi-Datami by Cynthia Vogt)

(detail of Tree of Life - with Bugs by Jan Hutchison)

(Silverlight by Betty Busby)

(Lollipops and Friends by Megan Johnson and Jeanne Bancroft)

I put the artists names where I knew them.

And, of course, there was much shopping to be done.  It made me realize it's been awhile since I've been in an actual brick and mortar quilt store.  I'd better get on that.

But, here's my haul of fabrics:

I got a few other do-dads, but they're nothing exciting to look at.

JT

37: fairy wings and marshmallow wands

I brought these sweet treats to an enchanted fairy birthday party last weekend.  

Marshmallow fairy wands!  They come from the Fairies Cookbook.

I love marshmallows so I thought they were delicious... and so did many of the little pixies...

Who would have thought to freeze marshmallows?

The party was for Aurora's best friend and we had a lovely time.  

So much so that I didn't really take many pictures.

But I did make her one of my felt crowns.

Perhaps she'll be the Fairy Queen now.

JT

35: the monster bash part two: the day

And now for the play-by-play of the big day:

 First, of course, there was a flurry of getting ready.

It really wasn’t too bad that day, as I had stayed up late the night before (Note to self: you CANNOT put M&Ms onto a sundae until right before you serve it…they bleed).

 And Aurora had a friend to keep her occupied.

When the friends started to arrive, there was the Make-a-Monster craft and even monster coloring pages.

Of course they mostly wanted to check out Aurora’s playroom/toys.  Aurora got more into it after everyone had left and made some cool creatures.

Then we played monster hide-and-seek.  The girls covered their eyes while I went and hid our monster.

Then they ran to find him and were supposed to touch him and run screaming back to “home”. 

I had a cell phone sewn into the back so my husband could “ROAR” at them.

As suspected, most of the girls loved the screaming and running part.  The little baby that was there….not so much.

But in general it was very fun.  And prizes were collected.

The monster squeakers were the big hit.

Then it was time for lunch.  Sandwiches and fruit and veggies, etc.  I ordered some for the grown-ups at Panera, but made some simple crustless ones for the kids.  I never got to the mini-monster pizzas I had planned.

Next, since it didn’t rain after all, we headed outside.  The swings are always a fav.

I brought the other games out so everyone could try as they liked.

The prizes were available for everyone who tossed a beanbag,

Or did the monster stomp,

Or knocked over the bowling pins.

Next up…Pinata.  This was a request from Aurora, I think only because she knew there would be candy in it. 

It proved very difficult to break, and in the end the dads had to step in.

And have a little fun of their own.

And then it was time to sing!  Aurora is really much more of a fan of ice cream than cake so we had monster sundaes. 

Yummmm!

Before everyone went home, they had to get their very own monster.

They all have good homes and are quite beloved.

All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a better day.  Aurora never got really overwhelmed so she was able to enjoy the whole party.  Theo slept for pretty much all of it.  And I had “hosting” to do, but it wasn’t out of control and I got to enjoy it too.

Happy Birthday, Roar!

JT

 (Most photos by Christianne Ebel )

31: monsters on parade

I made my first softies.  A few years ago my sister had made me and Aurora some seriously cool monsters, and I'd been wanting to try it ever since.  So for her monster party I made each child a small one as a favor that I put in the little monster tins.

Each monster is about 7-8" tall.  I made four different designs, but they're each unique with different fabrics etc.  I made them entirely out of fabric that I already had on hand.

This was an ambitious project but fun.  These are most of them (there were a dozen total).

The purple one in the center is the one Aurora claimed for herself.  It's my favorite design with the little ogre ears.  I feel like he should be sitting on my shoulder all the time keeping me company.

I already have a few requests from my family for more, so I suspect there might be a few christmas monsters to be made.

JT

25: gabby girls who sew

What a fun day I had yesterday.  You'll all be jealous.

 

I spent the day over at the soon-to-be-full-but-already-fabulous Yummy Goods on Cape Cod.  Melissa and I spent the afternoon being sewing buddies and it was just what I needed.  Sometimes I feel so isolated working alone in my studio.  Our house is on a hill and my window looks down over the neighborhood.  It can feel a bit like sitting up in my ivory tower.

But not today.  The space was perfect (bright, beautiful light, the smell of incense, groovin' tunes, and a gentle late summer breeze) and the company was better.  

How yummy indeed.

Melissa is off to tape her TV segment (what a rock star) tomorrow and wanted a little moral support getting all her goods together.  Of course I was more than happy to oblige.  And guess what that meant?  I got to be one of the first people to sew with Sugar Snap!  So sweet.  (I have to say how hard it was for me resist typing "sew" there and making the obvious pun...)

She also gave me a little of her precious first yardage.  Thanx Melissa!  (I warned you all you'd be jealous...)

We chatted the time away while managing to get some actual "work" done.  Can I just say: I LOVE blogging.  If I had know that a whole other world was going to open up to me and I was going to make some cool connections and even a really good friend or two, I would have tried this a lot sooner.  It's amazing to hang with someone that I already know a lot about and just feel immediately comfortable.  Sadly, so many of you amazing people live in far off places and I'll never see your faces, but I know what I read on your blogs will impact my life.

That's a little weird too, huh?

Can you imagine trying to explain this all to someone in the past (before the internet was invented).  It would sound like such a crazy mixed-up world.  But that's the way (uh huh, uh huh) we like it.

Melissa has promised I'll get to teach some kind of crafty class in her cozy new studio space.  I'm going to pretend you'll all want to fly in from across the country just for that, like when Heather Bailey gives a workshop.  But if not, and you just happen to be visiting Cape Cod...you've got to check out the store.

I'm sure you'll feel right at home.

JT

18: i'm feeling lucky

Just a quick note to tell you all what a winner I am. :)

First I won this lovely giveaway on Green Jello's (Anne's) blog.

Isn't it stinking cute? Now I don't actually embroider at all, so either I'm going to learn, or I'm going to passs this along at some point.

Next, I won an award! Paige at Funny Magic nominated me for this "pass around" award and I can't tell you how happy this made me. It was even given to me before Melissa's post about me when many of you discovered me... it's just makes me warm and fuzzy to think someone reads this AND likes what they read.

Anyway, I know it's not a super huge elite thing since I've seen it passed around quite a bit, but I don't care. I feel all accepted into this fun club in blogland.

So here are the rules...and they're clearly meant to be broken:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated.
6. Write an acceptance speech in the style of the Academy Awards, thanking every body’s mother, father, sister, brother, aunties and uncles and the kitchen staff at your favorite restaurant!

Nominations are tough, because so many of my favorites have already been nominated. But I figure it might send a few of you to a new site, so why not.

1. So my first will be my rule breaker. I'm sending it right back to Paige. Too bad that it's not someone new. She totally would have been at the top of my list...

2. Next, I'm sure we all think of the "big name" blogs, but don't dare send them a silly little award...well, since I've officially met her and we're now BFFs, I'm nominating Melissa at Yummy Goods. I know you already read her blog, but it's too great to overlook.

3. Check out April at The Little Things. The pictures she finds (especially of party decor) are just awesome.

4. Doris at Threads of Conversation is an amazing quilter and all around artist.

5. Scott at Blue Nickel Studios is another new blogging buddy. I stole the idea of making a mini-quilt for Melissa from him.

6. Susan at My Sweet Imaginations makes the cutest dolls. Check out Isadora the Fairy... I'm dreaming of owning her.

7. Ashley at Film in the Fridge is new to the blogging world like me and I'm really enjoying her stuff. She's a little Ric Rac crazy, but in a good way.

And no acceptance speech for me...I blabbered on about how happy it made me already...

You'll note I started numbering my posts...I promise #20 will be a giveaway!

JT

connecting and reconnecting

I just got back from another trip to my visit my parents on Cape Cod. While there I got the chance to meet with two friends...one old, and one new.

First off, I met Melissa Averinos of Yummy Goods blog fame. I say fame because to me she's already a celebrity in the crafty little world I love, even though her first fabric line hasn't been released yet. I mean she did go to Quilt Market after all... and really I'm fairly certain that you've been reading her blog much longer than mine. As you would imagine, she is just as lovely in person as I knew she would be. So sweet and genuine and seriously easy to talk to. And she even brought me a birthday present!

Gorgeous fabric, no?

Thank you so much, Melissa.

We chatted for a while and then went fabric shopping at Tumbleweeds. While we were there I learned to use a fun new gadget

a yo-yo maker.

I've never made yo-yos before, nor had any real desire to do so, but after seeing how easy it was and how cute it came out, I can see they may be addicting. Can you see how teeny tiny the smallest one is?

I also got to see one of my best all time friends...we've been friends since kindergarten. And, as always, Jesslyn was charismatic and really "gets me". Since we forged our friendship (egads could it be) 28 years ago on the swings...it was cute to have our little ones doing the same.

I love you, Jess.

JT