Paint Box – New Pattern Preview

It’s time to once again start highlighting each of our new patterns that were just released at the Houston International Fall Quilt Market 2019.  First on the list is Paint Box.  You can purchase the pattern in paper or PDF format right here in our Colourwerx shop!

Paint Box  was designed by Carl and the first version was specially made for Island Batik using our second signature batik collection with them called ‘Jewel Box’ designed for us by Kathy Brett Engle! As we preview more new patterns in the coming weeks, you’ll see this gorgeous collection of batiks used with each of our new designs!  You can view the whole ‘Jewel Box” fabric collection by clicking here!

This little ‘Paint Box’ quilt has quickly become an all time favorite of mine to piece from beginning to end.  Let me explain why….

First off – gathering the materials is so – so – so simple – all you need is  (1) 2-1/2″ strip roll with at least 40 strips and two 1-yard cuts of coordinating fabrics – that’s it!  From those materials, you’ll be able to make the 48″ x 48″ quilt top plus your binding.  Throw in 3-1/4 yards backing materials and you are set!  (This pattern is also a great stash buster so you could choose to cut the forty strips from your stash!)  I used for my second ‘Paint Box’ version the fabulously rich jewel toned Me+You Rainbow assortment of batik strips pictured above!

You will also need the Creative Grids 90˙ Quarter Square Triangle Ruler (CGRT90).  You can purchase the ruler from your favorite quilt shop or right here in our Colourwerx shop!
Next sort the strips from your roll into groups – here’s where the fun begins 🙂  – you can sort by color, design, or just because – anything looks great!

Once you’ve cut and sorted your fabrics, its easy strip piecing and lots of it – but it goes fast!   I love this step in the process – although I still have to concentrate on my 1/4″ seam, I find strip piecing of this nature very relaxing and easy going.

Next a little pressing and some fun cutting of triangles using the Creative Grids 90˙ Quarter Square Triangle Ruler.   And voila!

Lay out the triangles according to the pattern, sew triangles units together to form blocks, sew blocks together to form rows,  sew rows together and you’re done!   It really is that simple!

To date, I have made five versions of our Paint Box pattern, including the two versions mentioned above.

Here’s another version and this one graces the pattern cover because it truly came out so #colouricious!  This version uses Christa Watson’s newest fabric collection from Bernartex Contempo Fabrics called ‘Grid Work’.  You can view  the whole collection by clicking here and purchase these fabrics in Christa’s shop by clicking here.

Christa’s new fabrics are full of pure color and fun geometric designs so the combination of her “GridWork’ fabrics and the Paint Box pattern created a dynamic and fun quilt for sure!

We also made two versions for our friends at Free Spirit Fabrics, using of course, the new Kaffe Fassett Collective also coming to your local quilt shops and available in February 2020.

So go ahead and give it a try -it’s really so much fun!
Purchase the Paper Paint Box Pattern here!  Purchase the PDF Paint Box Pattern here!

And also be sure to check back into our Colourwerx shop as we will have kits for most of these versions coming real soon!

And of course, by all means – please do send us a picture of your completed Paint Box quilts – we always love to see and share all of your beautiful creations made using our Colourwerx patterns!

Carl and I are so thankful for your support and wish you happy and bright quilting always!  Until your next colour fix~ L&C xxoo

 

 

 

 

 

ModTiki – Missouri Star Quilt Company Style!!

Last month, the Missouri Star Quilt Company and Jenny Doan celebrated their 11th year in business with an enormous Birthday Bash weekend!  It was a grand party with lots of festivities, special guest teachers, stitchin’, eatin’ and dancin’  galore and lots and lots of quilters gathering together for a weekend of fun in Hamilton, MO with Jenny and everyone at MSQC.

This year’s theme was an Hawaiian Luau theme and appropriately titled the “Aloha 11th Birthday Bash” celebration.

Although Carl and I were not there – our ModTiki pattern was.  Our  happy little fella had been selected as the weekend’s thematic pattern for members of MSQC to make their own tiki which would then be displayed in shops and on the main street during the birthday bash weekend!   What a thrill and Carl and I couldn’t have been more proud of their creations.  Each one was lovingly made by quilters and non-quilters from MSQC,  and each person who made one was asked to personalize the tiki in whatever way he/she wished.  Here’s a brief slideshow of the many tikis that were posted around town !!

 

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Barb and Mary of Me & My Sisters Designs who were guest teachers also made their own personalized version below – love the dresden petal skirts and the flip flops.

And here’s Jenny’s version – can you guess who this might be?  Yes – a self portrait of her and her husband, Ron!

All in all, a very fun time was had by all and we thank Jenny and everyone at MSQC for choosing to use our ModTiki pattern to celebrate their 11th birthday bash in style.  Sending kisses and a giant MAHALO to you all!

If you’d like to make your own version of our ModTiki – you can purchase the pattern right here in our Colourwerx shop!  We would love to see what you come up with!

Mahalo my friends and until your next colour fix~  L&C xxoo

 

 

Abstract Garden Blog Hop & Giveaway!

WINNER  WINNER! 

Congratulations to Allison!!  Molly (our Beagle) selected Comment #72 – Allison in Alabama –  with the Random # Generator  as the Winner of our Colourwerx/Abstract Garden giveaway!  Hurray, and congratulations to Allison.  And thank you to everyone who played along!

Hey y’all !  Today is our day on the Abstract Garden Blog Hop and we couldn’t be more thrilled that Benartex Fabrics and designer, Christa Watson asked us to join in on the fun! To find out more about the Abstract Garden Blog Hop and Christa’s inspiration behind this fab fabric collection, check out Benartex’s Sew in Love (with Fabric) blog and Christa’s blog here!

We’re one of the last stops on the hop so first let me say – there are giveaways!!! Yippee!  Christa and the nice folks at Benartex are giving away an Abstract Garden Fat Quarter Bundle and we here at Colourwerx are also throwing in a pattern pack of the three patterns we used when making the projects you see here: ModCat, Mini ModDog & Disco.

Here’s how the giveaway works: Just leave a comment below and we’ll select a winner Saturday morning.  It’s that easy!   Back to the hop….

Abstract Garden is the new signature collection of designer extraordinaire and Colourwerx good friend, Christa Watson of Christa Quilts.    The collection is super modern, fab, fun and bright – just my cup of tea!  Last year, when Christa mentioned that her Abstract Garden Fabric Collection was coming out soon, I jumped at the chance to make her a few projects to display in her booth at the Fall Quilt Market. Here’s a picture of the finished projects…

Christa is also always so generous with her fabric!  Here’s the assortment of fabulous fabrics Christa sent out to me.  Check out the #colouricious tones and those fabulous mid-mod designs (can I get a ooooo and an ahhhhhh please!), ….not only did Christa send me  fat quarters of the entire collection of Abstract Garden, but she also included some fabrics from her first 2 collections, Modern Marks and Fandangle – and yes, I do have big plans for these other fabrics soon! 🙂

Now – what projects to make for Christa??  Well that was easy – what could be better than a ModCat and Mini ModDog out of Christa’s super modern fabrics!!

I made the ModCat trio first – this is the wallhanging version of our popular ModCat pattern.  First I needed to divide the fabrics she sent me into three colorways – I decided to make a yellow/orange, blue/aqua, and purple/pink cat.  After wonky strip piecing the fabrics together, I cut out the cat shapes and then appliqued stitched around the cat eyes before fusing everything to the background fabric.   Hint – hint!: By stitching around the cat eyes first, I have more control over my stitching and it’s easier to control the zigzag around the smaller shapes.

I had a lot of scraps left over so next I made (2) Mini ModDog pillows for her booth – these are always so much fun and work up quickly – I made Christa a girl and a boy dog pillow!!.  Again first I machine quilted the background, then wonky strip pieced the the fabrics together, cut out the shapes and appliqued stitched the pups to their fabrics.  These came out super cute if I do say so myself!

Finally, I worked up for Christa my Disco pattern in her new collection. I placed this version of Disco on the back of my pattern cover!    I just love it!

Also on today’s blog hop are Tara and Stephanie – check out their links below and hop on over to their blogs!   And be sure to check out Benartex’s blog tomorrow where they’ll present a virtual trunk show of Christa’s Abstract Garden quilts.  Here’s the full list of my fellow bloggers and the quick links to their blogs ….

Monday 
Benartex Blog – Intro & inspiration about my designs

Tuesday
Sherry Shish from Powered by Quilting
Lee Monroe from May Chappell

Wednesday
Annie Unrein from Patterns by Annie
Pam and Lynn from The Stitch TV Show

Thursday

Linda Sullivan from Colourwerx (YOU ARE HERE!)

Tara Miller from The Quilt District

Stephanie Kendron from Modern Sewciety

Friday

Benartex Blog – Virtual Trunk Show of my Quilts

Finally – go ahead and leave a comment below to enter our giveaway!  Molly the Beagle – office manager in charge – will randomly select a winner on Saturday morning! 

And be sure to ask your local quilt shops if they have Abstract Garden.  If not, check out Christa’s online shop to order some of these great fabrics for your stash!

Happy quilting and until your next colour fix~Linda & Carl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get Your Colour Game on with Prismatic!

I’m catching up on new pattern blog posts – so let’s talk about one of our newest patterns – Prismatic!.  Boldly go where no colour has gone before!  – It’s  a terrific pattern for batiks, prints or solids! And good news, it may look complicated, but it’s not.

Prismatic! is a fun, easy to piece quilt.   All the blocks are pieced exactly in the same fashion..the only difference is how the fabrics are combined and in what order they appear in each block.  Luckily, we gave you a handy reference chart in the pattern, and if you follow that and a few additional tips below – you’ll be on your way to creating this gorgeous quilt.  Click here to purchase the pattern in either a paper pattern or PDF download pattern.

This new pattern from Colourwerx was designed by Carl on a whim….he was playing around in EQ7 designing quilt block patterns while watching TV one night and happened to switch the channel over to CBS…the logo appeared….this was the result —- see the similarity? Kinda like a cat’s eye, right….    Sometimes it takes just a little inspiration to light a creative fire; and yes, that old saying that ‘inspiration is everywhere’ is absolutely true.

Since the quilt is entirely pieced (and not foundation or paper pieced as many think), a good 1/4″ seam is imperative,  so you’ll need to whip out that 1/4″ patchwork presser foot for your sewing machine.  Mine is the #97 for my Bernina 750QE – it comes with this handy metal guide that keeps my 1/4″ seams perfect and I love it!

Fabric selection for Prismatic! is super easy too – you just need twelve coordinating fabrics plus three neutrals for the backgrounds.  The pattern includes two sizes: a Large Lap with a 6″ finished block – and measures 72″ x 84″ – which uses just twelve half yards; and a Small Lap Size with a 4″ finished block  – and measures 48″ x 56″ – which uses just twelve fat quarters. Refer to the Material List at your right  for further information on yardage requirements.

So if you’ve been lusting after half yard bundles or fat quarter bundles this may be the perfect pattern!  I selected to use one of our personally curated bundles of gorgeous batik fabrics from Island Batiks.  This is now available for purchase in Fat Quarter or Half Yard bundles in our Colourwerx shop – click here for more information.

It of course follows colour wheel order (….and I always love a good colour wheel order quilt…), but the depth of saturation and gorgeous texture of the Island Batik Basics really call out to me.  This colour palette may also look familiar to you as I chose this exact same bundle to use for the Big Kahuna version of my ModTiki quilt – this pattern is also available on on our Colourwerx website here.  For the background fabrics, I used my favorite Island Batik neutrals in the colors of Smoke (dark gray), Tin (light gray) and White. Once your fabrics are selected, creating a fabric color key is paramount – just snip a 1″ square from each fabric, staple the fabric squares to a piece of paper and label them accordingly.  This key will aid you continually in keeping your fabrics coordinated and in the order needed to make the pattern work.

Cutting your fabrics is also pretty easy too – using the pattern templates provided and following the cutting chart provided in the pattern,  each fabric has exactly the same quantity of shapes cut – it’s just a matter of cutting the correct template shape from each fabric.   Once the fabrics are cut, the most challenging part is to separate and combine the the fabric shapes into the different block combinations, following the color coded block combination chart provided in the pattern.    There are thirty three different block combinations, so getting the right shape in right color in the correct combination is important – check and double check!.

Once my block combos were separated, I placed each of them into ziplock bag and labelled how many blocks I needed to make for that combo –  all I needed to do was select a bag and sew the units together in that bag.    Eazy peazy, right?

Once all thirty three combinations were completed, I laid out the blocks on my design  board and began to sew the blocks together. I then quilted it on my APQS Lucey longarm with an all over pantograph pattern.  Voila!!

This pattern is so versatile and as mentioned above, choosing twelve coordinating fabrics will always create beautiful results…Here are a few other versions of Prismatic!

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Prismatic! is a super fun quilt  – so dive in and step up your colour game!    Thanks for your support and happy holidays!  Until your next colour fix~Linda & Carl

 

 

 

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Tie One On Blog Hop

WE HAVE A WINNER !   Molly used the Random Generator and out of 54 comments – it randomly selected Comment #4 – which is CONNIE LINDSTRAND – come on down – you are a winner and congratulations! 

And thank you to everyone who commented and played along!  So appreciate your support and continued kindness!  Woo hoo!

(Comments are now closed on this post….)
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Today is our day on the “Tie One On” blog hop – welcome!!

When designer Scott Hansen of Blue Nickel Studios, asked us to be part of his “Tie One On” blog hop, of course we said yes and were super excited.

First – There are giveaways so let’s get the very important ‘blog business’ on how to enter out of the way….Banyan Batiks is giving away an assortment of “Tie One On” batik bundles!  Yippee!  Also, Colourwerx will be sending our winner an assortment of our patterns, including our newest pattern called “Whirligig” which is featured here and will be debuting October 15th.

Here’s how to enter – just leave a comment below.  A winner will be randomly selected from the comment list below.  Hopefully you’ve been following along with my fellow bloggers each day since the blog hop started last Saturday.  If not,  be sure to go back and check their blogs (listed near the end of this blog post) because each stop on the blog hop is offering a giveaway, so that’s ten chances to win a prize, including on Scott’s blog!!   Now back to Scott and his debut batik fabric collection….

“Tie One On” is Scott’s new signature batik collection he designed for Banyan Batiks, a division of Northcott Fabrics.  Scott is the “mad color scientist” behind his company Blue Nickel Studios, and teaches each year at the famed Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show and Quilter’s Affaire in Sisters Oregon – a must see show each Summer for anyone who lives or is visiting the West Coast!   The motto of his company is “Urban Folk-Modern Design” – how could you not love that!  One of  my favorite patterns from Scott which is especially gorgeous in Kaffe Fassett fabrics and of course, on my bucket list,  is “Painted Forest”.  Love this!  You can purchase this pattern on his website here.

Carl and I met Scott last year near Spring Quilt Market when his new fabric collection was just debuting at Quilt Market to shop owners.  I made a few Mini Mod Dog samples for his booth that came out super cute! Here they are!   You can purchase the Mini ModDog Pattern here!     And you can read the inspiration behind Scott’s idea for designing “Tie One On” fabrics by clicking here – did you know it has nothing to do with drinking but with men’s neckties? – ha!

So it was decided – Whirligig named for the swirling offset quarter circles that look a bit unhinged, would be the perfect contemporary vehicle to showcase this color group and Scott’s new collection.  But which colors and which fabrics?? – so many good ones to choose from in his new collection. (click on the images below to see each colorway!)

Ventura

Sedona

Nashville

Manhattan

Ultimately I settled in on the Ventura color collection as it reminded of the candy “good and plenty’.  I love the fresh pearl and mint colors mixed with the bold blacks and bright magentas.  Very #colouricious indeed!!  And that black and magenta atomic starburst pattern is my absolute fave of all – it’s called ‘Stardust Hotel’. It’s a perfect match to our mid century modern Palm Springs vibe here in the desert!

Ventura

Once I received the eight fabrics from the very nice people at Northcott – I paired them into four groups and began cutting out my templates shapes.  First I needed to trace the template shapes using my trusty Frixion Iron Off Pen.   This makes tracing shapes so easy and guess what?  if you make a mistake, all you need to do is iron away your mistake – a win-win for me!

Next – the fun part – curvey quilting.  The key to sewing curves is to “hug the curve in order to love your curve!” Really!  Scant 1/4″ seams are where it’s at and hug the edge of the curve with the edge of your presser foot! And neato! – no pins needed with our pattern templates as the curve is gentle and we designed in extra seam allowance so you don’t have to be ‘Patty Perfect’.  (You’ll trim and square down after a block is assembled – yippee!)

Once all curved units were sewn, they were once again paired with their counterparts and sewn together to form blocks.  Blocks were squared and trimmed down and yes, you got it! sewn together to form half of the whirligig.  Two halves go together and with the designed offset to create that rather “unhinged” look –  you get a one big beautiful Whirligig block!   By switching the placements of the fabrics you get a totally different block…hence block “A” and block “B” !

Once you make six each of these block variations you are ready to assemble the top.  I quilted this on my APQS Lucey long arm using King Tut Variagated Thread in the Canaan color and the pantograph pattern Chinook by Urban Threads –  I think both the thread and the pantograph pattern are a perfect match to the Whirligig pattern and Scott’s “Tie One On” fabrics!  I love the way it came out.

“Whirligig” is a super fun pattern and a contemporary take on the traditional Drunkard’s Path block.  It’s also so easy to select fabrics for – just eight 1-yard cuts is all you need….first choose 4 distinct colors and then choose 2 fabrics in each colourway!  Eazy Peazy!  🙂 The pattern will be available shortly and if you like what you see (and we hope you do) you can preorder the pattern here on our Colourwerx website and save $2.00 – it will be ship on October 15th!

As for “Tie One On” fabrics, those are coming to a shop near you in October!  So start looking for them! Yea!!!

Tomorrow’s stop is Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill at Whole Circle Studio and I can’t wait to see what she has created!    And by the way –  here’s the list of my fellow bloggers….remember even though their day on the blog hop may have passed, the giveaway is still open, so go visit them and enter! And of course, be sure to visit Scott’s site at Blue Nickel Studios for giveaways too!

Saturday 9/22 – Teri Lucas                https://terificreations.com/
Sunday 9/23 – Robin Long              http://robinruthdesign.com/blog/
Monday 9/24 – Sue O’Very              https://sueoverydesigns.com/blog/
Tuesday 9/25 – Cheryl Arkison         http://www.cherylarkison.com/diningroomempire/
Wednesday 9/26 – Linda Sullivan (Me!!)          https://colourwerx.wordpress.com/
(tomorrow….)
Thursday 9/27 – Sheri Cifaldi-Morrill  http://blog.wholecirclestudio.com/
Friday 9/28 – Debby Brown          http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/
Saturday 9/29 – Blair Stocker           https://wisecrafthandmade.com/blog/
Sunday 9/30 – Kim Niedzwiecki       http://www.gogokim.com/

As for our giveaway, be sure to leave a comment below.  We’ll leave the contest open until Monday, October 1st and Molly, our office manager, will pick a winner on Tuesday, October 2nd.

Thanks for stopping by and until your next colour fix~
Linda & Carl

 

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The ModTiki – and why not?

Does any one recall Disneyland’s Enchanted Tiki Room?  I do!   It was quite simply a most magical experience and is still a Disney classic to this day.    Located in Adventureland, it debuted in 1963, and entertains its guests with a colorful cast of animated talking toucans, birds, tropical flowers, tiki drummers and best of all, talking tiki totem poles – all singing a variety of catchy Polynesian tunes.  It is just fabulous!

So when we moved back to Southern California and decided to finally settle in Palm Springs, little did we know that we were moving into a mecca of what might be termed upscale, but rather touristy Polynesian playlands.   Around every corner in Palm Springs and the surrounding communities, you’ll find tiki themed hotels and cocktail lounges, serving exotic rum-laced cocktails from their own enchanted tiki rooms adorned with of course, Tiki statues.

Within a few months of moving here, I was quickly becoming Tiki obsessed. One morning to Carl’s chagrin, we even ventured out in triple digit temps to take photos of our Cosmos quilt draped over a favorite Tiki.  This guy greets visitors daily at the  entrance to the famed Club Trinidad and Purple Room (where Frank, Dean and Sammy used to hang out in the 60’s).    I just love the way the Tiki and the quilt  become one piece  – elevating both to new level of art.

So it was only a matter of time that I ‘needed’ to design a ModTiki – and hey, why not?  I started sketching this guy out about 12 months ago but didn’t really make him a reality until a few weeks ago when I made the samples and wrote the pattern.

Warning — These ModTikis are fun and can be quite addictive….I had a great time looking through scraps of batiks and fabrics testing out which fabric prints might look great as the tiki body  – like these two made from Island Batiks or the Kaffe Fassett Artisan Collection…

….or this one made with Banyan Batiks, which would reflect more of  traditional hand carved look to the ModTiki…

As always, my preferred method of applique stitching the shapes was on on my trusty Bernina 750QE sewing machine, using Stitch #2 and an open toe applique foot (#20 for Bernina lovers) using Aurifil 50 wt thread in the top and in the bobbin. My preferred zigzag setting is stitch length 0.5 and stitch width 3.0 – for me, this creates a nice tight stitch that resembles a satin stitch without being too tight,  and nicely outlines the shapes without overwhelming them.

What’s terrific too is that the shapes on the ModTiki provide many opportunities where you can “stitch into and out of the points”  – this is a fabulous look and really adds a “high end” look to your applique stitching.

When you approach the point of an applique shape, as you are stitching,  reduce your stitch width so the zigzag stitch becomes smaller and smaller – this is stitching ‘into the point’, if you will  – then after turning the corner, enlarge your stitch width to stitch ‘out of the point’.   It’s a little like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time and takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, it really does create a fabulous touch to your appliqués.

The ModTiki pattern includes both the small wallhanging size – which is fat quarter friendly and measures 11″ x 22 (or 16″x 22″ when adding the optional flower appliqués), but also the Kon Tiki larger size – measuring 44″ x 66″ – 12 half yards is all you need for this bigger version and that includes the background fabric and all the fabrics for the 12 Tikis.

I’m finding that almost any fabric can make a great Tiki!  Solids, batiks, florals, geometrics, you name it!

So are you feeling a little ModTiki?  Then go ahead and give our happy little guy a try!  It’s guaranteed to bring a smile to your face and makes an excellent gift for that guy in your life!  You can purchase the pattern on our website here.

Mahalo and Aloha! Until your next colour fix~
Linda & Carl

 

 

 

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Let’s Talk Moody….

This week, we are so proud and excited to announce that one of our quilt designs and the pattern, “Moody” is featured in the new issue of July/August Modern Patchwork magazine. It’s always a thrill to see yourself and a quilt you’ve designed in print!  This issue is just hitting newsstands and is available for purchase here.

I also think it’s always interesting to hear about a ‘pattern’s history” – some patterns work right away and some like this one need to wait for the right fabrics to come along to make it “sing” (our term for when the design and fabrics work splendidly together – when they do, the quilt begins to “sing”…..tra-la-la-la)

This particular pattern was designed several months ago by Carl using the quilt software EQ7 (or Electric Quilt version 7).  It’s original design was in a hot, modern palette and all the blocks were intended to be appliqued over the super large 4-patch background. It’s also been a test quilt to audition other fabrics with large scale florals, etc… but the colors or combinations never quite “sang”.

At least not until Tula came along….

Last year, Tula Pink released her version of modern solids to coordinate perfectly with her other Tula Pink fabric collections, available from Free Spirit Fabrics.   I love the range and depth of her solids collection…it’s certainly not a traditional color wheel rainbow of solids, but imho, there’s just something a little more sophisticated, classy  and different with these colors….And of course, different means it’s a challenge and I like that!   These solids are now a stable at Free Spirit Fabrics and readily available at your local quilt shops and online.

So when we eyed  Tula’s solid collection, we immediately thought that our “Moody” quilt that had been waiting in the wings, had finally found a partner – yup -you guessed it – they made beautiful music and the quilt sang!


We submitted the design to Modern Patchwork magazine and they accepted it!  However, before we submitted it,  we made one major change to the construction – it’s all pieced.  We thought the pieced construction would 1) definitely be more challenging for the sewist and 2) evoked more of a modern feel to the overall quilt….

Figuring, checking and double checking the pieced dimensions and arithmetic was a bit of challenge, but after a few test blocks all was great! The quilt construction really goes together quite quickly!

Once the quilt top was complete using Aurifil 5o weight thread (of course) – our good buddy, Teresa at Quilting is my Bliss did an amazing job machine quilting with the grecian keys design.  All in all, I think the quilt came out gorgeous and definitely evokes an air of sophistication and of course ‘moodiness’ as the colored blocks seems to change  personality when they cross the dark and light backgrounds.

The pattern is indeed available in the current issue of Modern Patchwork now on sale.  And kudos to the editors as well – if you like the Tula Pink solids I used and want to duplicate it exactly color for color,  you’ll find the exact fabrics called out by color name on the materials list in the magazine – a nice added touch by the editors – :-  Thank you Modern Patchwork….

Until your next colour fix~  Linda & Carl

 

 

Stay Pawsitive Fundraiser – Sewing For Our Furry Friends

Soon after Hurricane Harvey left the city of Houston, many fundraisers popped up to raise money for the ‘human’ victims of the storm.  However truth be told, our furry friends and felines also suffered too.

Houston’s Friends for Life Animal Rescue stepped in and was able to provide vet care and services to many of the animals who were lost, suffering or hurt in the hurricane  and subsequent floods. Approximately 3,000 animals were saved.  But all of that extraordinary care and effort comes with a price and the organization is now in need of money.

 

So when Quilting Arts founder and Craft Napa owner, Pokey Bolton, announced the Stay Pawsitive Fundraiser, I knew I was in…. She asked for 6″ quilt blocks to be made and plans to auction them off to raise funds for Friends for Life .  Each 6″ piece of artwork will be offered for $30 online sometime after January 5th at the Craft Napa 2018 website where 100% of all proceeds will go to Friends for Life Animal Rescue.

I dug deep into the Linderella archives to find some fun, whimsical patterns of dogs, cats or any other silly animals that I could easily reduce and adapt to the 6″ x 6″ block size.

Ta-da!!!  Here are the completed blocks – I think they came out pretty cute if I do say so myself. And I do hope they sell well for Pokey and the Friends for Life Animal Rescue.

Baryshnikov Birds

Hello There!

Barney Gets a Bone

Pokey will be accepting blocks up to January 5, 2018.  So if you feel the urge  to contribute or just want to find out more information about the campaign, check out the Stay Pawsitive blog post or Craft Napa for more details.  In the meantime, I’m wishing Pokey mucho success and hope that she raises lots and lots of money for the Friends for Life Animal Rescue.

And the big bonus of doing this project (especially for you guys) – I also ‘unearthed” many patterns I had designed in the Linderella ‘hey day’ that I had completely forgotten about….. I now plan on reformatting them and offering as PDF’s just for you –  so stay tuned. 🙂

Until your next colour fix~  Linda & Carl

Oh-my-Kaffe!

It’s no secret that Carl and I are huge (and I mean humongous) Kaffe Fassett Collective fabric fans….so last year when Free Spirit Fabrics asked us to design quilt patterns for some of the future Kaffe collections – we were – to say at the very least – super thrilled!

The Kaffe Fassett Collective (or also known as KFC) includes not only the master of colour and design himself, Kaffe Fassett, but also fellow designers Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs.

These three designers collaborate and create the gorgeous fabrics you see.  Kaffe’s long time friend and associate – Liza Roos Lucy – wrangles this dynamic trio and also owns/operates the KFC online shop – Glorious Colour – where you can purchase previous released and new KFC fabrics, books and patterns and specialized fabric kits.  She, Philip and Brandon also host the very popular and always inspiring Facebook group, the Kaffe Fassett Collective.  Both sites are saturated with KFC fabrics, patterns and projects to inspire you!

While Brandon and Philip have their own unique design styles (Brandon does the wild and kooky and Philip does the floral & botanicals)  – Kaffe pulls all of their designs together into cohesive collections by personally colouring each design by hand.  What makes their fabrics so uniquely beautiful and wonderfully detailed is that each master pattern is handpainted (a rare thing in this computerized age)  – this “painting” then serves as the master design for the fabric mills to follow for detail, colour, screenprints and registration when they print it on the fabric you then purchase.

This last Spring, three of our quilt designs using the KFC Spring 2017 collection were released as free downloads or kits on the Free Spirit and Craftsy websites – “All Stacked Up”, “Fan Dance” and “Waterfall”.  Links to download the free patterns are at the bottom of the post. The other, “Waterfall” – of which we made two versions – is now available for purchase as a kit on Craftsy.

“All Stacked Up” – Although the overall design  appears complicated with the overlapping and tiled patterns – the single block itself is so simple:  a half square triangle with two coordinating pairs of strips sewn on 2 sides.  Create two or three of the same block, follow the layout and you’ll have this quilt whipped up in no time.

And here’s a tip – organize and pair up your fabrics first and if you cut your strips a half inch larger – you can then trim them to the exact size after adding each one, therefore keeping the block perfectly square.

So give it a try – “All Stacked Up” remains one of the most popular patterns downloaded this year on the Free Spirit site – so kudos to you guys and thank you!  Fabric kits are also available at Hancock’s of Paducah and Waterwheel House Quilt Shop in Vermont!

“Fan Dance” is another free pattern available.  Again, a super easy pattern but this one is super dramatic when complete and allows you to use some of those huge patterned fabrics for the background.  This was a fun one to work up as Brandon’s Can Can ladies served as a constant source of amusement when cutting the fan blades – seeing which part of the lady would show up where – oh my!

Another super easy to piece quilt.  Cut the blades, sew together and appliqué to the background squares.  This is basically 1/4 of a dresden flower block.  I appliquéd my blades on with clear monfilament thread but you could also use a decorative thread to add highlights to the edges of the blades.  Two 1/4 dresden blocks make a “fan” block!

The third quilt – “Waterfall” – remains one of my all time favorites – we designed and made two versions of  this quilt – a cool colourway and a tropical colourway.  These blocks are a bit more labor intensive but well worth it and the fabrics in the kit on Craftsy are to die for!  The block is made of basic shapes – squares and  rectangles with a folded over triangle.  When all pieced together, the result creates lots of secondary patterns and its hard for the eye to see where the individual blocks start or overlap- kinda like a waterfall…. Super fast and gorgeous! (Full disclosure:  I bought the Cool kit for myself).

Teresa Silva of Quilting is my Bliss – did a gorgeous job, as always, machine quilting all of these quilts – her work is always super stunning and I wish we could somehow show better pictures for you.  Many times we have to take the pictures with low exposure to show off the machine quilting but this also makes the fabric look somewhat dull.   Check out the closeups below.

All of these are perfect patterns to pull from your KFC stash or take the opportunity to,  of course,  add to your KFC stash by ordering more!  And I have it on the best authority, that future KFC collections are also equally gorgeous and stunning – look for KFC Spring and Fall 2018 collections to be released very soon!  We posted a sneek peek on our Instagram and Facebook page a few days ago….

Have fun and enjoy!  Until your next colour fix~ xxoo Linda & Carl

Links:
To download the free pattern for All Stacked Up.
To order a fabric kit/pattern for All Stacked Up.
To download the free pattern for Fan Dance.
To purchase the Waterfall – Cool (blues) Colourway fabric kit.
To purchase the Waterfall – Tropical (oranges) Colourway fabric kit.

 

 

…Just exactly what do you guys do?…

For the trade only – Quilt Market happens just twice a year and it is ‘the place’ to preview the newest fabrics, patterns and notions that will be arriving at your local quilt shop in the coming year.

Like most Quilt Markets it was exhausting but very energizing….  The ‘exhausting’ is in the designing, making and preparing all of our quilts for display, coming up with a new look for our Colourwerx booth (see below for a couple of snaps) , designing and printing handouts and brochures, and the final step – hoping that it all arrives (including us and the quilts) in one piece to the venue and on time.

The ‘energizing’ is actually just being there – being able to view and or try out the latest fabrics, notions and patterns, seeing a vast variety of quilts all made with different techniques and styles, and lastly and most importantly catching up with friends and colleagues and meeting new ones. Here were a few of our favorites:

Amy Butler’s Booth

Sew Many Creations’ Booth

Tula Pink’s Booth

We were also thrilled to see several of our ‘secret sewing’ designs hanging in the Free Spirit Fabric booth and Quilt Gallery.  ‘Secret sewing’ – meaning we were not able to reveal them to you until now because the fabric had not yet been released.

Which brings me to this important note:  We get asked alot “….just exactly what do you guys do….”  – well, aside from the obvious fact that we sell patterns for our original designs and make quilts (and we make alot of them!), we also design quilt patterns and make quilts for many well known fabric companies.  Hence, the term “secret sewing”.

For example, a new fabric collection is due to be released in the next 6-9 months but the fabric designer may be a well known painter or illustrator and know very little about quiltmaking…so that’s where we step in….we are contracted by the fabric company to take the fabric collection and design several patterns highlighting that collection…then we are asked to develop one or several of these designs further by writing a pattern and actually making the quilt for display – it is great fun but it is also ‘top secret stuff’ as we can’t reveal to you what we are up to until the collection is released.

Back to Spring Quilt Market, we designed and made five quilts that were on display at Spring Quilt Market, and these were fairly “top secret” until about 2 weeks prior to Spring Quilt Market.  Some of these designs had been in the works since January so it was mighty hard not to tell you what we were up to….

We’ll highlight these designs later but here’s a short preview of them hanging in the Free Spirit Fabric Gallery of Quilts.  And we must give credit to our dear friend Teresa at Quilting is my Bliss – she custom  quilted all of these and did just an absolutely fantastic job!  If you see a quilt you like, then jump on over to the Inspiration page on the the Free Spirit website to download the free pattern  – some of these are available now and some are coming in a few weeks or so, plus there are loads more free patterns there by other fellow designers that are super terrific, so check it out!

Mystic Gold

Hat Boxes

All Stacked Up

Easy Sunday

Racetrack

And finally –  Colourwerx (meaning Carl and I)  designed and debuted three new patterns which are now available at your local quilt shops – they are also available for purchase on our website!   PDF versions of these are in the works and should be available by the end of June!  (drum roll….) They are: ModCats, Mod TV and Mix It Up!  All are super fun patterns and incorporate the slash ‘n sew method we love!

All in all, a great time was had by all and now we’re turning our thoughts towards the Houston Quilt Market in October (yes, October already!)

Thank you to all for following along with us, and until your next colour fix~
Linda & Carl