And the winners are........

WOW! Thank you everyone who posted a comment on last weeks blog! It reminds this quiet quilter what a delightful community we fabric fondlers have. This morning the lucky Early Birds mug winners were drawn from the soup bowl and they are Rachaeldaisy and Tonya Littmann. Hooray and congratulations!!

Rachaeldaisy has been a steadfast Australian follower of this blog, so it is nice to be able to recognize her loyalty. Tonya is a graphic designer and fabulous art quilter from Denton, Texas. Check out her wonderful dragonfly quilt. Again, thanks to you all for making this drawing so exciting!

Of course, this has been another busy week in preparation for Houston Quilt Market. One of our goals was to have the apron pattern finished and ready to deput. That means the directions and patterns needed to be perfected and photographs taken for the cover sheets. So above is one of the many shots I took this week. The fabrics are from the new Early Birds collection for FreeSpirit. Don't those colors play nicely off the saffron colored walls? We will be posting the apron pattern and new mugs in the webstore directly after Market, so you can see the real cover next week.

The rest of the time has been spent stitching up a storm, designing fliers and attending to all those last minute details. Today I plan to make a market bag with the beautiful new laminated fabrics and bind three quilts. Just 4 more days to make it all happen. Several people have asked when Early Birds will actually be on the shelves... November is the answer. This is great news, as there are some fabrics that will be ideal for the holidays. The next blog will be my Market report.

Early Birds Give Away!

There has been a dramatic change in the landscape this week! After a week of sunshine and idyllic autumn days, it finally rained and brought wind and cooler temperatures. It's all good weather to me, although I've hardly had a chance to enjoy it!

This was the week for gathering, organizing, packing and shipping all the supplies and booth accessories for my booth at Houston Quilt Market. Too much driving, too many lists and shopping for those little details. This morning I loaded it in the car and shipped them out! What a relief!

You all know what it's like when your sewing machine is beckoning to you but you have to ignore it! This was my week. So in celebration of a job well done, I am going to give you a sneak peek at the new Early Bird Mugs that have just been unpacked.

In fact, I'm so happy to have this assignment completed that I'm going to give away one mug each to two random visitors who leave a comment on this post. The winners will truly be Early Birds and have the first mugs to venture into the world. The design is from the signature fabric for the new Early Birds collection for FreeSpirit.

You can see how much fun this fabric will be to quilt and create with, so I am especially excited to have so many Early Birds quilts to share in the upcoming book, Patchwork Sassaman Style with Dragon Threads publishers.

By the way, did you notice that Dragon Threads was giving away some of my greeting cards, too?

Maybe this week I will get to enjoy my surroundings a little more, but now I've got too many sewing projects to whip up for Market. But that's a much nicer assignment!

The Glorious Mess Begins!

These have been sublime autumn days. It is still warm, but we have had to turn on the heat a few times already. The vegetables are pretty much at an end except for the pumpkins and gourds. The flowers are still glowing, especially the hardy dahlias and mums. The zinnias seem determined to out shine them all!

But in the studio the GLORIOUS MESS has begun, as production for Houston Market is in full swing.
We have started cutting into the new Early Birds fabric for quilts, aprons, tea cozies, purses and pillows.
A big part of the fun is making fabric combinations for each project.

Luckily, I have some helpers to give these ideas life. Since the fabric arrived so late we are really having to hustle. We are setting up a moch booth in the corner of the studio to test out our plans. I am even sewing in my sleep, it seems! I'm not complaining, though, since this is the best part of designing fabric... seeing it come to life as fun and usable objects. But time is short!!

All thoughts of the new book have been temporarily set aside. But now is a good time to let you know it is underway and due out this spring. I am so pleased to have Dragon Threads as my publisher for this new venture. We are calling it "Patchwork Sassaman Style" and it is all about using big, bold and beautiful prints. And we will be featuring lots of pieces made with my FreeSpirit fabrics, including Early Birds. I will keep you up to date, as we have lots of ideas to share as the book comes to life. Check out editor, Linda Teufel's latest blog and she will give you some more backgound on our project, including our sunny quilting cruise!

The Early Birds Have Arrived!

 WHOOOOPEEEE! It finally came! Can you tell that I was pretty excited when my box of new FreeSpirit designs arrived on Thursday? It is called Early Birds. Some collections just feel good from the start and this is one of those. So let's open this treasure box and see what's inside.

It usually takes a while to get reacquainted with your designs because it has been months since the artwork went off to the factory. But this time they felt like old friends. Look at those COLORS!

Of course, a mother has to love her children, so I'm biased. This is one of the designs that will also be done in oilcloth (laminated fabric). I see some fabulous tablecloths in the future!

Naturally, you have to stroke and caress each one as it comes out of the box... and then do it all over again as you sort them into their proper stacks. The beautiful hand of FreeSpirit fabrics makes it a tactile feast as well as a visual one. Then you have to unfold them and fondle them some more. Heavenly!

If you would like to see the whole line, visit my website. It is still under renovation, but the fabrics are all posted for your inspection. If you like what you see, pass the word to your favorite fabric store. The fabric will be available in November and they can see it in person at Houston Market, with their Westminster representative or on the FreeSpirit website.

The other nice thing that happened this week was that the October/ November issue of Quilter's Newsletter arrived with my article about designing fabric!  And if you go to the Quilter's Newsletter website there is another fun article by my good buddy, Nancy Arseneault. We are both Day of the Dead devotees and there you can see and read about her wonderful new Beauty Parlor de los Muertos Quilt.

So after such a quiet summer the autumn is starting with some nice energy. Let's sew!

Preserving the Green

As I still wait for the arrival of my new fabric, I have taken time to record some of the shapes and colors around me. The autumn transition has set in and all the colors are beginning to change. The soybeans and corn are turning yellow and the mums are beginning to bloom.

It is ironic that my designing time is in winter when all the inspiration is covered in snow. So these photos are my memory for the designing days ahead. As you can see,  green still rules in the garden.

On the quilting scene, I have finally taken the time to prepare some fabric for a portable project. I hate to sit idle and am always happier when I have some hand work. So I spent a day cutting 5" hexagons from freezer paper and fusing them to the backs of the Exotic colorway of the Iris and Bleeding Heart fabric from the Garden Divas collection.

Then I treated the seam allowances with Mary Ellen's Best Press starch alternative and ironed them to the back. In the following evenings, I basted the seams in place and then began to whipstitch them together.

Here are some of the kaleidoscopic results.

Pretty exciting and a bit addictive. The color contrast and the variety of scale make some interesting effects. The next step is deciding how to put them into a composition.

Cross your fingers for new fabric this week.

Sublime Summer

Ahhhhh... it has been perfect summer weather and there is anticipation in the atmosphere. I am awaiting delivery of my new line of FreeSpirit fabrics which will kick off a new burst of activities in preparation for Houston Market. It is the quiet before the storm. A bit like sitting on an egg!

Meanwhile, as I cleaned up the studio getting ready for this new phase, I got a wonderful email from Jean-Sophie Wood. She had her two salvaged wing-chairs reupholstered in the Sweet Potato Vine and Rose Hips fabric from the Prairie Gothic line.

Don't they look striking? If you visit her blog, Sophie Junction, she will tell you all about them. I love their symmetry, especially the arms which are perfectly matched with the leaves and rose hips landing in the same place on both chairs.

This just tickles me! Needless to say, I am delighted to see my designs put to such perfect use. And I am honored to contribute a little color and style to someones life. They also seem appropriate sitting among these gems from the garden.

The garden produce is ripening and the fresh vegetables are a sublime treat. This is the first watermelon that Greg has grown. It is always amazing to watch melons and gourds grow. I love the shape of the leaf on this plant.

Look at the breathtaking network of stems and vines on this zucchini! 

The peppers are very HOT and happy this year.

This is our second season to grow okra. It looks so lovely that we hate to pick it, but found that the pods dry beautifully for autumn floral arrangements.

And finally the tomatoes are coming online. What a treat it is to eat these days! This is the inspiration that carries me through the winter.

Communication Breakdown

I feel like I have just returned from the Twilight Zone. After the big power outage we have been hit with storm after storm. I love storms, but it seems that it can't just "rain" anymore. Lightning hit our Internet tower and we were without a connection for over two weeks... not amusing when you are getting ready for a teaching trip. I really felt disconnected and discombobulated. Boo hoo! This is my apology for being absence for so long. The Internet was down again yesterday, too! So I rushed to get this posted today before something else happens.

It was also 100 degrees and humid during the communication breakdown and we had to begin taking photographs for the new book (more on that later). At this point, I have at least 50 quilts made with my fabrics that need recording and more on their way. So we soldiered on and prepared the studio for a photo shoot.

Greg set up a clever rigging for the lights and I was his assistant. Technology has changed since our last big shoot, so it was a bit nerve racking, especially since I couldn't go on line to get any tips. All went well, however, and we have another batch to do this week. But the weather is cool and lovely, so the studio will be more comfortable and the routine is established.

Here is a stack of quilts awaiting their turn in the limelight. It has really been fun to dig through all these past projects and revisit some of my favorite fabric designs. The book will be a nice record of the past eleven years of designing for FreeSpirit.

I am also making some new pieces for this venture and this is the latest. I am a minimalist at heart, even though some of my quilts are over-the-top with pattern. I quite like the simplicity and starkness of this design. The quilting should be just as clean and clear as the top.

I appliqued the quarter circles to 12" whole blocks and attached then with topstitching. The Willow Wands fabric is from the current Garden Divas collection and the rest of the fabrics are from various previous lines. This is a good design for mixing and matching from your stash. In this case, I used blues, green and pinks for a comforting and cool feeling. It also has huge graphic impact but is easy to put together... perfect for a dorm or baby quilt.

Here are some pillow cases that would be welcome in the dorm room, too. School started here this week and there were scrubbed and bright little kids and their parents on almost every corner waiting for the school bus... such memories.

Next week I'll take you on a tour of the vegetable garden, beware of mosquitoes!