Just My Type Digital Design Challenge Blog Hop

Hello Colourwerx Peeps! It’s time to meet another multi talented designer in our industry and one whose work I have admired ever since Carl and I started working with Island Batik.

Meet Tammy Silvers from Tamarinis – she is a multi talented quilt teacher, pattern designer and fabric designer for Island Batik. And today is our day on the “Just My Type” Digital Design Challenge Blog Hop – welcome everyone!

When Tammy asked us to digitally render one of our patterns from her new batik collection,“Just My Type”, we of course said yes!   Quilty pals are the best and it’s always a pleasure to help out a colleague and at the same time get to play with super gorgeous yet to be released fabrics.

Tammy’s new fabric collection, called “Just My Type” from Island Batik is oh-so-cute and filled with a delightful array of vintage typewriter keys, coffee mugs, swirls and other tone on tone designs. The colors are a gorgeous collection of jewel toned teals, turquoises, deep dark blues, sea greens and bright chartreuse (my favorite)! Here’s a sneak peek of all the fabrics in the collection.

Tammy decided to ask many of her colleagues and friends to digitally render one of their patterns in her new fabric collection. Carl and I chose one of our newest patterns called “All Stacked Up”.

“All Stacked Up” looks complicated but it’s not. Easy piecing makes this quilt go together in a flash! Twenty 1/3 yard cuts plus about 3/4 yard of a neutral background is all you need to whip up this Lap Size quilt! But the pattern give you four other size options in case you want a smaller or larger quilt!

You can purchase the All Stacked Up pattern in our Colourwerx Shop right here:

PURCHASE THE PAPER PATTERN – ALL STACKED UP

PURCHASE THE PDF PATTERN – ALL STACKED UP

Even though we are near the end of the digital challenge blog hop, a heap of other talented designers have created digital images for inspiration so I hope you’ll take a moment and hop over to Tammy of Tamarinis’ website and these other designer pages:

• Tamarinis – Tammy Silvers (she designed the fabric!)
• Sewing Room Shenanagins – Janellea Macbeth
• The Quilt Rambler – Karen Overton
• Fat Quarter Gypsy – Joanne Hillestad
• Slice of Pi Quilts – Laura Piland
• Poor House Quilt Designs – Kris Poor
• Inquiring Quilter – Jennifer Fulton
• Seams Like a Dream – Kate Colleran
• Swanamity – Swan Sheridan
• Colourwerx – Linda & Carl Sullivan (that’s us!!)

Be sure to ask your local quilt shops and online stores to order up Tammy’s new batik line “Just My Type” from Island Batik. It should hit the shops this month!

Until your next colour fix~

L&C xxoo

Waterfall – New Pattern Preview

It’s time for another pattern preview from our Fall release of new patterns that previewed at the International Quilt Market in Fall 2019.

Meet Waterfall. You can purchase the pattern in paper or PDF format right here in our Colourwerx shop!

I absolutely love this pattern that Carl designed.  The 15″ block itself is quite simple but when twelve 15″ blocks are stitched together to make the 60″ x 60″ quilt,  the secondary patterns created are magical and it’s pretty difficult to decipher where the actual block starts and stops.

Selecting fabrics for the Waterfall pattern is super simple too.   Just 2-1/2 yards of a neutral background fabric plus twelve 3/8 yard cuts of other fabrics – the twelve fabrics should be separated into four color groups with each group containing three fabrics.

Cutting and stitching each block together is a breeze and as long as your 1/4″ seam is consistent – you shouldn’t have any worries about creating this simple block and finishing off a super simple quilt for yourself or a loved one in no time. I find once I get stitching this quilt – I cannot stop – the block is fun to make and I can’t wait to see the finished quilt put together.

Our first version of this new pattern was made for Island Batik using our second signature collection,”Jewel Box” designed especially for Colourwerx by Kathy Brett Engle.

We also made a Cool and a Warm version out of Kaffe Fassett Collective Classic fabrics for our friends at Free Spirit Fabrics.

Here’s another one I can’t wait to make using Martha Negley’s rich and super saturated “Veggies” collection from again our friends at Free Spirit Fabrics.

We also made one using the Good Vibes Only collection designed by Sassafras Lane for Windham Fabrics.  This version graces the cover of our pattern!

And here are a few more virtual versions that we submitted to various fabric companies using a selection of gorgeous fabrics  from Figo fabrics, beiges and taupes from Windham Fabrics and also a Christmas themed fabric from Michael Miller Fabrics (how appropriate considering the day I am writing this post 🙂 !!

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The possibilities for this Waterfall pattern are endless!
Purchase the Paper Waterfall Pattern here! 
Purchase the PDF Waterfall 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 Waterfall 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!  And also Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays to you all!  Until your next colour fix and see you in 2020 ~ L&C xxoo

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

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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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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Blue Moon Batiks

UPDATE!!  AnneD from @batiksbythebay – you are the randomly selected winner for our Blue Moon Batik Blog Hop – please email or dm me at colourwerx@embarqmail.com with your mailing address to receive your prize!!  Thank you to everyone for playing along!! 

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Hey y’all !  Today is our day for the Blue Moon Batik Blog Hop and we couldn’t be more thrilled!

We’re one of the last stops on the hop so let’s get that very important ‘blog business’ out of the way first – there are giveaways !!!

We’re giving away a free Mini ModDog pattern  and there’s a giveaway over at Canton Village Quilt Works too!  So be sure to leave a comment below and then after you read this – hop on over to Canton Village Quilt Works and enter the giveaway there too (scroll towards the bottom of her blog post)!  Back to the hop….

Blue Moon Batiks is the new signature collection of designer extraordinaire and Colourwerx good friend, Jackie Kunkel of Canton Village Quilt Works for Island Batiks.  Kathy Engle designed this collection for Jackie and it is filled with lots of super yummy, super saturated moody blues, purples, lavenders and turquoises.

Carl and I met Jackie almost a year ago at the Spring Quilt Market.   Jackie is also the author of the best selling book “Splash of Color”  and of course, a lover of everything #colouricious – so naturally, we three hit it off!

When Jackie mentioned that the Blue Moon Batik Fabric Collection was coming out soon, I jumped at the chance to make her a few Mini ModDogs to display in her booth at the Fall Quilt Market.

Here’s the assortment of lovelies Jackie sent out to me.  This also gives you a wee bit closer look at the fabulous batik designs in this collection – can I have a “ooo” and a “ahhhh” – especially for those snowflakes and pinecones please! (thanks!)

I first set out to make (2) ModDog pillows for her booth.  One with the snowy white background and the other with that deep indigo blue.  Of course both dogs had to also have beautiful ribbon collars from Renaissance Ribbons!  ok – that was fun!

 

Once I finished those two  –  I had fabric left over and of course, and a few spare moments to make another  (well – more like a few spare hours….)  Wanting to make something ‘just for Jackie’, I decided to play up on her ‘moon’ theme and applique a huge, bright moon in the background of the next ModDog.

I used my trusty Creative Grids Circle Savy Ruler to cut out the moon and applique it to the background fabric.

 

Next – I made a beautiful indigo colored ModDog and appliquéd him over the background.  And voila!  I was just ‘over the moon’ in love with this guy!

 

Blue Moon Batiks will be in your local shops very soon so be sure to ask for them by name and tell your quilt shops you “need” some Blue Moon Batiks by Jackie Kunkel!!

 

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Ok – remember to enter our giveaways – make sure to leave a comment below to enter  for a chance to win a Mini ModDog pattern,  and then hop on over to Canton Village Quilt Works and enter Jackie’s big giveaway!!!  We’ll pick winners on Saturday, February 10th!

Thanks for hopping along with us!  Until your next colour fix~ Linda & Carl

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To Market We Go! Houston Recap & Giveaway!

To market, to market we go!  As always,  the Fall Quilt Market was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.   Except this market, someone came knocking early – yup – Hurricane Harvey crashed our quilty party a few months prior.  Many of us vendors and many more shop owners and attendees were concerned that either Houston would not recover or that the promoters of the Quilt Market would be forced to cancel.    Well, I’m happy to report that neither was true and Quilt Market went off without a hitch – and amazingly, there was no sight of any effect from Hurricane Harvey except for upbeat banners and artwork like this one throughout the city!  The downtown Houston area was lively and the convention center (which just completed a gorgeous 2 year revitalization) was perfect!  And added to this excitement, the Houston Astros were in the World Series!  This all made for a very exciting market to say the least!

We debuted 2 new patterns – Mini ModDog & Mini Spikey – and before you change that channel – make sure you leave a comment at the end of this blog and ask your friends to follow us and do the same to enter the giveaway!  Two lucky winners will win either a Mini Spikey fabric kit or a Mini ModDog fabric kit –  just leave your comment below and let us know which one you’d like and why.…ok – ‘nuf said…..anyway back to market……we debuted 2 new patterns – Mini ModDog and Mini Spikey – both are now available for purchase on our website!

We also attended our first ever Sample Spree selling already made Mini ModDog samples along with 6 Mini ModDog patterns – this way, shop owners have an already made sample and take it right back to their shop and start selling the patterns – nifty idea, right?!…Here’s Carl,  moments before the madness started.   Btw, the dog samples were a hit and the shop owners were thrilled to have an already made sample!  Below is a slideshow of all the Mini ModDogs samples we put together – we made 2-4 versions of all the styles you see – all in all, we estimated that we stitched up about 45 samples in the weeks prior to market – Wowwee!

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Of course, I needed to share these cute little pups with others too.  I also made a few for my friend, Jackie Kunkel at Canton Village Quilt Works to display in her booth –  using her new fabric collection, “Blue Moon” for Island Batiks.  This batik collection is super  gorgeous and so super saturated in all those blue, aqua, lavender and purple colours.  And of course, a play on the name – “Blue Moon”,  I couldn’t resist adding a moon behind one of the pups to make it extra super special for Jackie.  🙂 Jackie was so nice she even showed the Mini ModDog pillows to her schoolhouse attendees to generate more interest!

And spotted in another booth – Renaissance Ribbons had their very own Kaffe Fassett Mini ModDog too.  Renaissance Ribbons makes the most gorgeous ribbons and trims and since we embellish all of our Mini ModDogs with these trims so it only seemed quite natural that a pup pillow should be in their booth too!

And finally , we also designed and stitched up (with a lot of help from Teresa at Quilting is my Bliss and her extraordinary custom machine quilting) a grand total of 6 more quilts for Free Spirit Fabrics and 2 more quilts for Island Batiks. 

Free Spirit Fabrics always does a great job of displaying the new collections via their quilt gallery and this year they won the blue ribbon for best booth!  Yay! Super secret sewing was in full swing here at the Colourwerx Dezign Haus from early May onward – some of the fabric designers we had the honor of designing and making quilts for were:  Kaffe Fassett Collective, Tula Pink, Jenifer Paganalli,  and Corrine Haig.  Most of the quilts you’ll see here are now available as free PDF pattern downloads on Free Spirit’s website here.

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In addition to that, we also made large lap size versions of our Colourwerx patterns:  Spikey and Mix It Up! for our friends at Island Batiks in the their newest fabric collections debuting at market.  They displayed these in their booth – Take a look!

Whoo – time to rest?  Nah – we’re already planning our trip to Spring Market which will be in Portland…Yippee!

Anyway, thanks as always for following along with us!  And remember to leave a comment to enter the giveaway for a either a Mini ModDog fabric kit or Mini Spikey fabric kit! And be sure to ask a friend or two to do the same and leave a comment   Two winners will be randomly selected next Friday, November 17th!  Until your next colour fix – sew the rainbow and happy quilting!  L&C