Pattern will be in Issue 2 of Fat Quarterly.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Reading Cushions
These reading cushions are perfect for throwing on a lounge but work just as well in a child's room or reading nook.
Pattern will be in Issue 2 of Fat Quarterly.
Pattern will be in Issue 2 of Fat Quarterly.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Elephants on Parade
Issue 2 goes on sale from Tuesday 27th July!
Each day, we will be bringing you a snap shot of what you can expect in our second issue focusing on utilising scraps.
First up, Tach's beautiful 'Elephants on Parade' quilt.
Each day, we will be bringing you a snap shot of what you can expect in our second issue focusing on utilising scraps.
First up, Tach's beautiful 'Elephants on Parade' quilt.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Featured Crafter - Tallgrass Prairie Studio
Today, we are featuring the talented Jacquie from Tallgrass Prairie Studio.
FQ: Tell us a little bit about your creative journey?
Jacquie: 'I’ve always been a creative person and for many years my home and my children were my creative outlet. Most of the rooms in my house have been painted, decorated and painted again and maybe a few more times after that.
I love art and music and I’ve felt for most of my life that there was an artist in me waiting to emerge. My boys are both talented artists and musicians. They are my primary inspiration and motivators.
At the beginning of 2008 I stepped back from a very demanding job and with a little more time on my hands decided to pull out my sewing machine. At that time I didn’t know that quilting would become my thing, but after a visit to the Gee’s Bend exhibit, I was struck by the ‘feeling’ of those quilts and I sat down at the sewing machine to see what I could create. After my first couple of quilts I gave improvisation a try and I’ve now embraced improvisational quilt making for all of my quilts.'
FQ: Which part of the quilt making process is your favourite and why?
Jacquie: 'That’s a tough question, there are times when I get in the groove and it’s the actual sewing that I love, seeing things come together. What excites the artist in me is the design process. I feed off the frustrations of false starts and the exhilaration of when a design comes together. I think that’s why I have trouble repeating a design. I feel a bit like been there, done that. Time to move on and try something new.'
FQ: Do you have a favorite fabric designer?
Jacquie: 'I guess it’s easiest to say I have many. I’m constantly searching for fabric that inspires me. I’m not much for buying a whole line and using it it in a quilt. I look for individual fabrics that speak to me. I think Yoshiko Jinzenji has some amazing fabric. Heather Ross is the queen of whimsy in her fabric and I love finding indie designers who put out unique fabric like Lauren Hunt of Kansas City.'
FQ: Where do you draw inspiration for your quilts?
Jacquie: 'Inspiration seems to be everywhere for me. I’m inspired by people, stories, experiences, patterns in walls, fabric, artists, words, and shapes. I see quilts all around me.'
FQ: Do you have a favourite quilt?
Jacquie: 'My favorite quilt is probably the one I’m currently in the process of making. It’s what’s on my mind and in my head. Of the quilts I’ve made I’m pretty proud of the ‘Urban Garden’ quilt. It was a personal scrap challenge. I love the ‘Not Lost in the Woods’ quilt too. The lines and shapes that are created and simplicity and boldness are very appealing to me. The ‘Selvage quilt’ is pretty special to me as well. It’s like a memory book of all the fabric I’ve used and the quilts I’ve made over the last 2 ½ years.'
FQ: Are there any new creative skills that you would like to try in the future?
Jacquie: 'For sure! I want every new quilt to be a new creative adventure for me. I want to push myself to go more modern. My traditional side has a pretty strong influence in my work, and I want to move in a new direction. I’m excited to start teaching quilting classes in my studio this summer. Teaching has been my profession for 30 years, but this is definitely a new direction for my educational career!'
FQ: Tell us a little bit about your creative journey?
Jacquie: 'I’ve always been a creative person and for many years my home and my children were my creative outlet. Most of the rooms in my house have been painted, decorated and painted again and maybe a few more times after that.
I love art and music and I’ve felt for most of my life that there was an artist in me waiting to emerge. My boys are both talented artists and musicians. They are my primary inspiration and motivators.
At the beginning of 2008 I stepped back from a very demanding job and with a little more time on my hands decided to pull out my sewing machine. At that time I didn’t know that quilting would become my thing, but after a visit to the Gee’s Bend exhibit, I was struck by the ‘feeling’ of those quilts and I sat down at the sewing machine to see what I could create. After my first couple of quilts I gave improvisation a try and I’ve now embraced improvisational quilt making for all of my quilts.'
Jacquie: 'That’s a tough question, there are times when I get in the groove and it’s the actual sewing that I love, seeing things come together. What excites the artist in me is the design process. I feed off the frustrations of false starts and the exhilaration of when a design comes together. I think that’s why I have trouble repeating a design. I feel a bit like been there, done that. Time to move on and try something new.'
FQ: Do you have a favorite fabric designer?
Jacquie: 'I guess it’s easiest to say I have many. I’m constantly searching for fabric that inspires me. I’m not much for buying a whole line and using it it in a quilt. I look for individual fabrics that speak to me. I think Yoshiko Jinzenji has some amazing fabric. Heather Ross is the queen of whimsy in her fabric and I love finding indie designers who put out unique fabric like Lauren Hunt of Kansas City.'
Jacquie: 'Inspiration seems to be everywhere for me. I’m inspired by people, stories, experiences, patterns in walls, fabric, artists, words, and shapes. I see quilts all around me.'
FQ: Do you have a favourite quilt?
Jacquie: 'My favorite quilt is probably the one I’m currently in the process of making. It’s what’s on my mind and in my head. Of the quilts I’ve made I’m pretty proud of the ‘Urban Garden’ quilt. It was a personal scrap challenge. I love the ‘Not Lost in the Woods’ quilt too. The lines and shapes that are created and simplicity and boldness are very appealing to me. The ‘Selvage quilt’ is pretty special to me as well. It’s like a memory book of all the fabric I’ve used and the quilts I’ve made over the last 2 ½ years.'
Jacquie: 'For sure! I want every new quilt to be a new creative adventure for me. I want to push myself to go more modern. My traditional side has a pretty strong influence in my work, and I want to move in a new direction. I’m excited to start teaching quilting classes in my studio this summer. Teaching has been my profession for 30 years, but this is definitely a new direction for my educational career!'
Monday, July 12, 2010
Weekend Winners!
Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! We certainly had a scorcher in Germany. We measured 40 degrees in our garden!
The two winners of our Weekends giveaway are:-
Monda who said "I envy Erin and her design skills so would love one of these bundles.
My perfect weekend: Taking that step and cutting the fabric for my first real quilt (I'm still holding back because I'm just a bit scared I'll muck it up), followed by nice food and drinks, a spot of boot fair-ing (and finding the ultimate vintage fabric or retro dinnerware set for virtually no money, and then winning the Erin bundle - yep that would just top it off nicely."
and
Meg who said "My perfect weekend would be full of brisk autumn air (this heat is KILLIN me!), going apple-picking with my hubby, maybe going to hit a museum. Good old-fashioned quality time--my hubby and I normally both work weekends, so a weekend together is a real treasure! "
Congratulations! You each win one of the fat quarter sets of Erin McMorris' fabric line Weekends. Please email your addresses to customerservice@fatquarterly.com so we can get your fabric to you!
The two winners of our Weekends giveaway are:-
Monda who said "I envy Erin and her design skills so would love one of these bundles.
My perfect weekend: Taking that step and cutting the fabric for my first real quilt (I'm still holding back because I'm just a bit scared I'll muck it up), followed by nice food and drinks, a spot of boot fair-ing (and finding the ultimate vintage fabric or retro dinnerware set for virtually no money, and then winning the Erin bundle - yep that would just top it off nicely."
and
Meg who said "My perfect weekend would be full of brisk autumn air (this heat is KILLIN me!), going apple-picking with my hubby, maybe going to hit a museum. Good old-fashioned quality time--my hubby and I normally both work weekends, so a weekend together is a real treasure! "
Congratulations! You each win one of the fat quarter sets of Erin McMorris' fabric line Weekends. Please email your addresses to customerservice@fatquarterly.com so we can get your fabric to you!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Spa from Rosemarie Lavin
Rosemarie Lavin is the designer behind the new line Spa from Windham Fabrics. Previous lines from Rosemarie include Feelin' Groovy and Rhumba amongst many others.
Her newest line Spa has a very subtle, organic feel to it. Rosemarie uses natural shapes and very soothing colours.
The new range can be found at the Fat Quarter Shop.
We caught up with Rosemarie to find out more about her and her new line.
Her newest line Spa has a very subtle, organic feel to it. Rosemarie uses natural shapes and very soothing colours.
The new range can be found at the Fat Quarter Shop.
We caught up with Rosemarie to find out more about her and her new line.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your artistic background.
I am a textile designer and work with my studio artists in NYC. I create products and designs for various customers in the home products market, home sewing market, and the apparel industry.
What 5 adjectives would you use to describe your line.
Organic,beautiful,natural, easy ,and soothing would be the 5 adjectives I would use to describe Spa.
The group is ORGANIC in its NATURAL shapes and SOOTHING in its coloration. I hope sewers will find it EASY to use and create BEAUTIFUL projects.
How do you foresee Spa being used?
I think Spa will have a broad appeal among quilters and sewers. Each pattern is an integral part of the whole collection and will make fantastic quilts. Yet each is strong enough to stand on its own and work for dresses as well as accessories.
Are you a sewer?
As I am not a sewer, I am amazed at the beautiful designs that quilters create with my fabrics. Lately I have been trying to cad some quilt designs using my fabric collections.
A pattern of a peace sign quilt that I designed with the Feelin' Groovy collection is available.
I am also working on a Breast Cancer awareness quilting collection and I will be designing a pattern for that group. Windham Fabrics donates a portion of the proceeds from all my collections to the Maurer Foundation. All projects are available at Windham Fabrics.com
What comes next for Rosemarie Lavin?
Two other Rosemarie Lavin for Windham collections will be released in the next few months. The Flannel Rose will be released in May. This is a beautiful floral group in plums, roses and sage greens, printed on quilters flannel. This follows Cambridge my first group for quilters flannel. Spa will be released in June, and in July Paisley Panache will be out.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Agony Aunt - Dana
Dear Fat Quarterly readers
Hi I'm Dana from http://drinkingfabric.blogspot.com.
I’ve recently embarked on my very first quilting project, an appliqué quilted pillow.
I'm having a few problems!. I'm using a walking foot but I’m still experiencing puckering. Do you know why this would be? I have spray basted my quilt and used a thick wadding. The project advised that I use this wadding to give a puffy appearance but I think it's too thick for my standard machine in retrospect.
I'm also getting inconsistent stitch lengths. Could this be because the wadding I have used is too thick?
..and whilst I’m on the subject of wadding, I cut the wadding a little larger then I needed it, as I read that it can shrink whilst sewing, but it keeps getting caught in my machine foot. Is there anything I can use instead to avoid this happening in future projects and that still gives a puffy appearance?
Finally, my lovely appliqué which I attached using iron on interfacing is fraying, what with all the tugging I need to do to get it through the machine. I have tried partially rolling it up but it’s a pain trying to get a thick rolled up quilt through the machine as im trying to quilt it. Would I have been better off applying the applique on piece by piece and quilting as I go rather then attaching the whole appliqué on first and then quilting it?
Many Thanks
Hi I'm Dana from http://drinkingfabric.blogspot.com.
I’ve recently embarked on my very first quilting project, an appliqué quilted pillow.
I'm having a few problems!. I'm using a walking foot but I’m still experiencing puckering. Do you know why this would be? I have spray basted my quilt and used a thick wadding. The project advised that I use this wadding to give a puffy appearance but I think it's too thick for my standard machine in retrospect.
I'm also getting inconsistent stitch lengths. Could this be because the wadding I have used is too thick?
..and whilst I’m on the subject of wadding, I cut the wadding a little larger then I needed it, as I read that it can shrink whilst sewing, but it keeps getting caught in my machine foot. Is there anything I can use instead to avoid this happening in future projects and that still gives a puffy appearance?
Finally, my lovely appliqué which I attached using iron on interfacing is fraying, what with all the tugging I need to do to get it through the machine. I have tried partially rolling it up but it’s a pain trying to get a thick rolled up quilt through the machine as im trying to quilt it. Would I have been better off applying the applique on piece by piece and quilting as I go rather then attaching the whole appliqué on first and then quilting it?
Many Thanks
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
City Quilts Blog Tour
We are so excited to announce that Fat Quarterly will be one of Cherri House's stops on her blog tour for her new book, City Quilts.
Surely you have heard of Cherri and the City Quilts book by now. Cherri is an amazing quilt maker and pattern designer with a specialty in using solid fabrics to great effect. City Quilts is one of the most talked-about quilting books to hit the market in a long time, mostly because of its combination of beautiful new quilt patterns and insightful tips into choosing effective fabric combinations, especially when using solids.
Every stop on the tour will feature amazing giveaways, including copies of the City Quilts book and fat quarter stacks of Kona Cotton Solids from Robert Kaufman fabrics for you to make your own version of a City Quilts design.
Here the full schedule for the tour.
July 12th - Cheryl Arkison (Naptime Quilter)
July 13th - Amy Lobsiger (Mrs. Schmenkman Quilts)
July 14th - Stefanie Roman (Little Lady Patchwork)
July 15th - Pat Sloan
July 16th - Spool Sewing
July 17th - Allie (Robert Kaufman)
July 18th - Fat Quarterly
July 19th - Emily Cier (Carolina Patchworks)
July 20th - Sarah/Josh (Sewer Sewist)
July 21st - Julie (Jaybird Quilts)
July 22nd - Vickie Eapen (Spun Sugar Quilts)
July 23rd - Jessica Levitt (Juicy Bits)
July 24th - Kim Kight (True Up)
Be sure to visit all of the stops on the tour to learn more about Cherri & City Quilts and to maximize your chance of winning. We'll see you back here on the 18th!
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