You have noticed that last week I was MIA... March has been just one big whirlwind in our family with two birthdays literally days apart, the release of my Lovbirds' Garden pattern, and Easter break sandwiched in between it all. Needless to say after all that I simply did not have the energy to write about it, but that's ok because all work and no play makes Jane a dull girl, right?
But now my focus has fully shifted towards the final push until Nadelwelt.... on my to-do list I "just" have to:
- finish quilting & bind Home Sweet Home applique sampler
- finish pattern/corrections for Home Sweet Home
- have my patterns printed out
- finish show presentations
- and too many other things that should be on my list, but I just don't know what they are yet
that's not so much... well, at least that what I keep telling myself.
Before any kind of show, I like to do a little mock set-up just to make sure that I've thought the layout through, and figure what needs to be tweaked. I've been busy finishing up a few felt applique samples for one of my classes.
I'm over the moon thrilled that Alison Glass made up two template pages that I will be sharing with my class participants... these are exclusives from her Applique book, and what I used for this first pillow.
Remember those washing symbols that I was working on a while back?... well, they were perfect little free-motion quilting practice and are all framed up. More on those later...
Keep your fingers crossed for me... so much to do, so little time. What's keeping you busy these days?
Almost a year ago this month, I sat in a quaint little restaurant with my husband for a birthday breakfast, soaking in all the charm of the centuries old building. The fact that we often don't take the time to treat ourselves, made the day even more special. As I sat across from my husband, my gaze kept falling on the cross stitch piece that was behind him... which ended up being the inspiration for my latest quilt pattern Lovebirds' Garden, to be released next week, March 15th!
I could not have finished the quilt as quickly had it not been for a little help from Iva. She did the amazing quilting while I have been busy working on other upcoming patterns. She actually joined us this fall for our quilting retreat, and she found this perfect little spot on the grounds for a nice background... isn't it fun how the green in the quilt is picked up by the moss covered doors in the background?
It was at the retreat that we were able to coordinate quilting plans... I just love how she framed the center medallion, really making it the focal point of the quilt. I love the simple shadowing of the leaves and orange peel accents throughout.
Does this couch look familiar? Well, it should... somehow this blue keeps following me despite not being a blue fan.
I have to admit that this had to be the hardest quilt photo shooting that I've done... remember all those weather shows that were talking about the "beast from the east" cold weather front that swept across Europe? Yep, that was our photo shooting day!?! My hands were so cold that I could barely hold the camera, and the wind gusts kept us from taking more shots.
I'll be sharing more next week with the pattern release, so be sure to check back in... just in case you happened to miss the full story about the Lovebirds' Garden quilt?... then you can find it here.
Quilt: Pattern: Lovebirds' Garden Applique Medallion Quilt from Allison Richter for Campbell Soup Diary, releases March 15th 2018
Started: March 2017
Fabrics: Alison Glass, Basic Grey Grunge, Carolyn Friedlander, 1 Canoe 2. Various Low Volume backgrounds
Finished quilt size: ca. 82" x 82" in. (208 x 208 cm)
Linking up for the 2018 Finish-A-Long!
Well, I suppose that Santa Claus is not the only one who makes a list, and checks it twice... the only difference is that I'm not concerned with finding out who has been naughty or nice. But, just like Santa, my checklist for finishing two patterns for release by May plus class preparations for Nadelwelt has keep it busy, busy here behind the scenes...
- Finish binding my Lovebirds' Garden quilt for the official release date on March 15th! ... ✔check
... Isn't Iva's quilting just amazingly fantastic?!? (boy, oh, boy... how I wish I could take credit for it!)
- Line up the photo shooting location for proper quilt finish photos... ✔check. (just needing the Northern Germany weather to co-operate with me... and that's actually asking a lot)
- Finish the pattern corrections that have come in so far... ✔check. (talk about some serious fine tuning?!? It's not easy making sure all those i's are dotted and those t's are crossed)
- Finish 5 mini patterns - 1 spin-off from Lovebirds' Garden, and 4 mini patterns from Home Sweet Home Applique Sampler... ✔check.
- Prepare materials kits for Nadelwelt ✔check (super excited that Alison Glass put together a template set that will be exclusive for class participants!)
- Work on Nadelwelt presentations for May... ✔check
- Work on samples for Nadelwelt ... ✔check
Even though I've been checking off so many boxes these days, there's still a lot on my list to finish by May... what about you? what have you been checking off your to-do list these days?
I know that I've mentioned several times over the past month, how excited I am that I will be teaching a starch applique class at the Nadelwelt in Karlsruhe, Germany in May... perhaps what I didn't mention is that I am actually teaching two classes this year!?! So, right now, I've been busy working on a few samples on how to turn favorite fabric designs into felt applique shapes.
I've always enjoyed mixing different mediums with fabric... especially paper and felt. The main thing for me is that fabric has to be included in that mix. You may remember this pillow that I started the year out with last year... well, it has been my inspiration for this second class.
There are a lot of people who might enjoy applique, but don't feel that they are "artsy" enough to draw their own motifs, and let's face it - purchasing one pattern after the next can be kind of expensive. So, my thought was why not let some of your favorite designers give you a hand?
Over the next weeks, I'll be sharing the finished versions of these, but I thought a few sneak peeks might be enough to hold you until then. You've seen this project already, but now it quilted and ready to be finished.
So, what are your favorite mixed mediums to work with?
