(Almost) Speechless

This amazingness really speaks for itself. I'm only jumping in to let you know that it was made by Tina of Seaside Stitches. She's planning on finishing it by Christmas (to send to me, right Tina?) so head over to her blog to cheer her on!

Sewing With the Underdogs

There comes a time in my designing life when i have to face the cold hard fact that some things eventually end up in the sale bin. But i learn a lot from digging around in there...like which colors didn't do as well as others, which patterns might not have resonated as i'd hoped, etc. etc. And it's really only because i try to improve what i do that i even go through the pain and agony of wanting to know about the flops and flounderers by taking a peek at what's been marked down, reduced, sniff sniff, or even slashed.

But there's a silver lining. You know how sometimes you're determined that the best things in a sale bin must be at the bottom of the pile, so you have to dig down deep to find them? That's what happened when i discovered the misfits from Fandango and made these...

Yes, i'm a little obsessed with zig zags these days. I can't help it — especially after stumbling across this clever tutorial for how to make a chevron pillow from regular ol' striped fabric. But then i thought...hmmm, why not make my own stripes first? So i did. And followed the rest of the directions as written. Well, amost...except that i made them as envelope-style pillow covers and modified the size to fit my pillow forms. As you can probably see, i made the stripes in varying widths and kinda wish i'd have made some really thick ones and really thin ones for more of a noticeable contrast — something for you to consider if you want to make any. I also pinned every zig and zag so the points lined up, which was a little time consuming but worth it in the end!

The sashing are strips from a Snow Bella Solids jelly roll (9900JR-11) that alternate with these prints:

Gold:

Castanet 27047-15

Simpatico 27050-15

Canto 27048-15

Celadon:

Seville 27052-22

Sand/Celadon:

Portico 27049-22

And here are a few online retailers that still have these prints available:

Material Lane

Be Sew Happy

Quilt Home

Hooray for the underdogs!

squares n' strips n' scraps

It's almost that time. You know...when a certain something should be shipping to certain shops at a certain time in the oh so near future (!!!!!) Really, i'm trying to contain myself. So rather than shower you with more exclamation points, here are some recent views from around the studio. What is going on here? Hmm...well, there are some piles of these...

and strips and squares of these...

and this stuff is all over the floor...
Does anyone have any clever ways to use this?
Anyway, "it" should be all sewn together (soon), and I am sooo excited to share it with you (soon).

Fandango Friday (Part 3)

This...is what was in this...

...over 70 pounds of Fandango.
That pile? That's all 40.
And it's all for you!
(p.s: this is not a giveaway...but there may be one coming up in the near future *wink, next friday, wink*)

Fandango Friday (Part 2)

It's Friday again...you know what that means *wink, wink*

Without further ado, here they are...Fandango precuts!A little background about this collection..
For many years, my aunt and uncle ran a pottery studio on the Upper East Side in New York City. I was sooo fortunate to have taken classes with them and to have made pottery for nine wonderful years. It was through their teaching that I learned about the rich history of majolica, as well as the beautiful tin glazes and decoration of this ancient art form. These are a few of the pieces I've made over the years:Fandango was inspired by the earthenware, mosaics, tile work and motifs of Barcelona. The palette mixes red jasper, turquoise, and celadon with hints of terra cotta and glints of gold. When combined, I thought the collection resembled a snappy Spanish dance...a Fandango, if you will : )
So get out your castanets and enjoy!
ps: feel free to snatch the photo of the precuts for
your blog or website!

Being Wrong Is Good

Remember how i told you that Fandango will be shipping in October? Well, i was wrong. It's actually going to ship in
A u g u s t !
You read that right. August!! I'm as surprised as you are! Annnd, even though it's only Monday, you can have another sneek peek of Fandango here.
(pssst...there are flannels in this group, too!)

Fandango Friday

i meant to post this last Friday, but when that didn't happen, i just didn't care much for the sound of "Fandango Saturday" or "Fandango Wednesday". So i waited another week until my inner Goldilocks was satisfied and now it's juuuust right. Here's another (bigger) sneak peek at Fandango — which by now you may know is my next fabric line for Moda.
But don't get too excited..because these were strikeoffs and none of these color versions actually made the final cut. Oh that's just mean (must be my inner Cruella DeVil). So how about this, each Friday for the next few weeks, i'll show you another little peek. Sound good? On that note, i'll leave you with a thought from my inner Winnie the Pooh:
"Rivers know this: there is no hurry.
We shall get there some day."