Going to Market (Part 2)

As you know, I had the chance to go to Quilt Market in Houston this year, and so I’m sharing some of the things I saw.

Fig Tree and Co at her booth.

Fig Tree and Co at her booth.

Rennaissance ribbon ideas.

Rennaissance ribbon ideas.

Another cute idea from Rennaissance ribbons.  That's Kaffe Fassett  ribbon.  Rennaissance has a new idea book featuring his ribbon.

Another cute idea from Rennaissance ribbons. That’s Kaffe Fassett ribbon. Rennaissance has a new idea book featuring his ribbon.

Angela Walters with her new line. A real departure for her. This quilt was made with 3 half-yard panels--2 seams. The binding is made with leftovers from the panel.

Angela Walters with her new line. A real departure for her. This quilt was made with 3 half-yard panels–2 seams. The binding is made with leftovers from the panel.

Another color way from Angela Walter's line.  Really loving this pattern.

Another color way from Angela Walter’s line. Really loving this pattern.

Bonnie and Camille's booth, featuring their new line Vintage Picnic.

Bonnie and Camille’s booth, featuring their new line Vintage Picnic.

Sweet Amy Ellis with her new line.  Loving the corals and greys.

Sweet Amy Ellis with her new line. Loving the corals and greys.

Isn't this a great idea for a kid's room?  Same idea as the corded bowls we've made but just lays flat with fabric wrapped around the cording.  At the Ella Blue booth.

Isn’t this a great idea for a kid’s room? Same process as the corded bowls we’ve made but just lays flat. Wrap fabric around the cording. At the Ella Blue booth.

Kate Spain at her booth.  Another sweet, sweet lady!

Kate Spain at her booth. Another sweet, sweet lady!

Jen Kingwell's new line.

Jen Kingwell’s new line.

Jen Kingwell's fabulous booth.

Jen Kingwell’s fabulous booth.

Isn't that gorgeous?  Another angle of Jen Kingwell's booth.

Isn’t that gorgeous? Another angle of Jen Kingwell’s booth.

Your local store needs these, don't you agree?  In the hoop pin cushions from Smith Street Designs.

Your local store needs these, don’t you agree? In the hoop pin cushions from Smith Street Designs. Yum.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tour through market.  You’ll find MUCH more if you go to instagram or twitter #quiltmarket and #houstonquiltmarket.  Right now, Quilt Festival is going on in Houston, and of course, that’s open to the public.  #quiltfestival   #houstonquiltfestival #showmethemoda #fatquartershop

This Little Gal Went to Market (Part 1)

Finally.  I went to Quilt Market 2015 in Houston.  It was quite an experience as we all spent some time worrying about the remnants of the strongest hurricane in the western hemisphere, which blew through Houston over quilt market weekend. 12 inches of rain or more.  Thankfully, the day I left the sun had returned.

Weather notwithstanding, I had a great time.  I met so many designers, my head is spinning. Plenty of pictures to share with you, and you’ll get some idea of what the trends are for next spring.

 

Zen Chic Bridgette Heitland with her new line "Flow."

Zen Chic Bridgette Heitland with her new line “Flow.”

Zen Chic fabric "Flow".  don't you LOVE it?

Zen Chic fabric “Flow”. don’t you LOVE it?

Sue Sprgo has a coffee table book coming out in time for Christmas.  Glorious photos of her work.

Sue Spargo has a coffee table book coming out in time for Christmas. Glorious photos of her work.

The delightful Sue Spargo at her booth.  I want every bit of her thread.

The delightful Sue Spargo at her booth. I want every bit of her thread.

 

New line from French General. Those thread holders were cut with Sizzix, and French General will now be selling hand floss.

New line from French General. Those thread holders were cut with Sizzix, and French General will now be selling hand floss.

French General's new hand embroidery. You can purchase the design and the thread from them.  This sample was the one that was hand drawn by her husband 2 days before market and used as the prototype for the new pattern.

French General’s new hand embroidery. Stores will be able to sell the design along with the matching thread.  Perfect! This sample was the one that was hand drawn by her husband 2 days before market and used as the prototype for the new pattern.

New collection by Luke Haynes a new Moda designer.

New collection by Luke Haynes a new Moda designer.

Here's Luke's self-portrait in the gallery.  Yes, the entire background and his name are made from flying geese.  So interesting!

Here’s Luke’s self-portrait in the gallery. Yes, the entire background and his name are made from flying geese. Love it.

Designer Pat Sloan alongside and Aurifil rep who made a log cabin quilt and cut it up into her skirt!

Designer Pat Sloan alongside an Aurifil rep who made a log cabin quilt and cut it up into her skirt! She had to twirl all day to show everyone!

Vanessa fro V and Co. with her FABULOUS ombre fabric all around, including her skirt.

Vanessa from V and Co. with her FABULOUS ombre fabric all around, including her skirt.

Stay tuned for more.  As I process the photos, I’ll share what I can.

 

Going in Circles

Whipped up a little tabletop quilt with inspiration from Sylvain Bergeron, Bernina educator. One of his Software Inspirations tutorials included a couple of fun embroidery designs in circles.  It was part of a much larger presentation, but I wanted to stitch the circle designs out for my students to see.

circlesIn this overview photo, it’s hard to see the detail inside the circles, but the effect of stitching them on vibrant colors offset by simple background fabric is striking.

The background fabric is 4 or 5 variations of Modern Background Paper by Zen Chic, one of my new favorite lines.  I want to use this background fabric on everything….and I do.  It’s so versatile, it looks great everywhere.  Anyway, on this quilt, I just crazy pieced some variations together and cut them to fill the “on point” circles.
circles4

Sylvain called this one “Dragon Scales” and I guess if you think about it, that’s what it looks like.

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The green one is called “Snake skin” for obvious reasons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you work in Bernina embroidery Software at all, these are very simple.  You just digitize a circle and morph the fill.  Of course, you’ll have to play with the settings of fill spacing and morphing, but that’s basically the way these are created.  You’ll have to attend Software Sampler at your local dealer to get all the details.

I added another circle to the quilt, using the ripple fill.

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All are mesmerizing to look at when you get close enough to notice the detail.

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christmasrushUp next, the first block for a disappearing hour glass quilt for my 13 year old son, who has requested it be made entirely of junk food fabric.  Hoping to finish as a Christmas gift. Also hoping not to gain any weight while working on it.

 

How Would You Fix This?

Rummaging through my closets this week I came across an embroidery project I worked on back in high school…yes high school.  I think it was for an art class.  It’s actually pretty big, 18 x 24 I would guess, with a large wood frame.

high schoolHave to love the signature.

carolAt any rate, back in the day that I stretched and framed this thing, I obviously had no stabilizer behind it.

You can see that after moving, I don’t know, 5 or 6 times since high school, somewhere along the line I managed to poke a small hole through the muslin.

the holeThe weave on this fabric is amazingly loose.  I thought about just adding another tree.  However, now that it’s stretched on a frame, it’s very difficult to embroider–but probably not impossible.

I hate to just give up on it, as the details are interesting.

close up2stitchesI’m open to suggestions.

I think the best I can do is to finish the edges of the tear with Fray-Check, and then somehow add another tree on top of the hole.

It may not be perfect, but, hey, after 40 years (or 50 or 60), how many of us are?