Monday, December 17, 2012

WE HAVE MOVED!!!!






































Greetings, my friends! I have had my website and blog reconfigured. Please got to the new site and don't forget to bookmark it. The web store has also been spiffed up and some new items added, including the Folk Art Flag Kit and some fun fabric bundles. See you there!

http://www.janesassaman.com/weblog/

Thursday, December 6, 2012

New Year Dragon Threads Contest!





Today Dragon Threads, publisher of Patchwork Sassaman Style, has announced a new contest which is open to stitchers around the world! It begins on January 2.

For January's event you are invited to design and stitch a quilt top using a recipe from Patchwork Sassaman Style, but you can use ANY FABRIC that you like... Kaffe, Amy, Lonnie? Just stitch up your top and send us a photo. No size restrictions and no quilting required!

The particular recipe to interpret will be announced in our January blog posts. We want to prove that my patchwork recipes and design principles work with "Personality Prints"of all kinds.

So put on your designing caps and prepare to submit the photo of your quilt top by Jan. 25 to info@dragonthreads.com. We will put all entries on the Dragon Threads blog and let readers vote for their favorite. The winner will be announced on Jan. 30.

The PRIZE is eight half yard cuts of my Early Birds fabric in the plum colorway. That makes a total of 4 yards of beautiful fabric to add to your stash! Then we test a new recipe in February. All other quilt tops will be entered for the final Grand Prize to be selected by me. I will be looking for the quilts that best express the "Principles for using Personality Prints" as described in Patchwork Sassaman Style.




This week we have been making some Sassaman Style kitchen accessories for the holidays. I have decided to use the large red/pink and white Cheeky Checks (Early Birds, Strawberry) for my main table dressing. It is a contemporary interpretation of old fashioned gingham and I think it lends a clean, bright and classic Scandinavian feeling. The Early Birds collection has several fabrics that combine traditional Christmas colors but with a contemporary look. We used some of these to make a variety of fun holiday oven mitts and pot holders. The two designs above both have double pockets for extra usability.




These classic little pot holders are simply quilted and bound with colorful bias tape. They are almost too pretty to use! We used rich red terry toweling for the reverse sides.





Here are two solid colored dish towels that we spiced up with raw edged fabric strips, stitched about a quarter inch from the edge. Then we laundered them and fluffed them up in the drier, which created a nicely frayed look. 

Stay tuned for more holiday decorating ideas in the coming weeks.