Laurie Wisbrun | Scarlet Fig

Barnyard Counting | Winners!

2013-05-20T20:26:00.001-05:00

As always, thank you for sharing all of your great ideas for projects using Barnyard Counting. You guys are a never ending source of inspiration and I love getting to read each and every comment. A few of you mentioned kitchen textiles and I LOVE that idea. What fun these prints would be for tea towel edging, huh? I have a friend who is moving to a new house soon and kitchen textiles would be such a fun gift! And, of course, I love all the quilty goodies you are dreaming up. Can't wait for Barnyard Counting to start arriving in shops. So soon! (begins shipping June and July)

Onto our lucky winners of the giveaway! Congrats ladies!!

Jenny at Cut.Sew.Iron.Repeat 33 said...
these fabrics would make the cutest draw string bags! i have birthday parties galore this summer to make gifts for!
thanks for a chance.

Trisha Weekes / myfourtrees 15 said...
I absolutely love this line...I have this thing for barns and barnyard animals. I would be so tickled to get to play with this new line! What would I make, gee...I liked the book idea, but would probably make a quilt! Thanks for sharing with us!

And thank you so, so much for those of you who were able to contribute to my fund raising efforts for Make A Wish. I'm getting closer to my goal but I'm not quite there yet so if you can make a contribution (even a tiny one!) we can get wishes funded for these terminally ill kids. Thank you so much for your consideration!

Barnyard Counting | Giveaway!

2013-05-15T15:18:00.003-05:00

Squeee!! Or maybe I should say oink! Or moo!

I am so excited to get to share my next collection for Robert Kaufman. Barnyard Counting starts shipping June/July 2013 so it will be in quilt shops before you know it! The collection is made up of a bunch of sweet prints that feature barnyard sounds and counting and numbers. Its a nice gender neutral collection and would be a fun choice if you have baby shower gifts on your list to make.

My favorite print in the collection is the multi-directional print that includes all of the animals from the barnyard. There are cows, sheep, pigs, goats, frogs, turkeys ducks, chickens, horses, and a little barn. I love the checked numbers that are tossed throughout.

A coordinating panel with 10 boxes perfectly sized for a cheater quilt or a super cute soft book. Blocks would be really cute from these panels too.

And moo cows in three colors: red, blue and a medium green

And chicks in light blue and a grassy green. Peep peep!

Text print in red, white and black with all the sounds from the barnyard.

My future includes some PJ bottoms from the black print.

All of the coordinates together. I know you guys are going to make some AMAZING quilts out of these prints. Cannot wait to see them!!

You know how much I love it when the team at RK surprises me with a super cute selvage.

Chicks!? I nearly fell over from excitement. SOOOO cute.

And now for the giveaway!!

I have 2 FQ sets of Barnyard Counting to giveaway to 2 lucky readers. Just leave me a comment here with ideas for what you might make with Barnyard Counting if you win. I'll choose both winners via random number generator the evening of Monday 5/20/13. Make sure I have a way to contact you and, as always, international entries are welcome!

One last thing! I'm hoping that you might be able to contribute a small donation to help me meet my fund raising goal for the Make A Wish Foundation!! I'm almost there but need some help to raise this last little bit. Make a Wish pays for amazing wish experiences for kids suffering from terminal illness.

100% of the proceeds raised will go directly towards funding wishes (often the last great experience some of these kids get to have.)

If I can meet my goal, I commit to rapell (abeseil for those of you not in the US) down the side of a 32 story building here in Austin on June 15. (And yes, I am completely terrified but also excited!) With your help we can make a huge difference in the lives of kids who are so deserving of something really special. So anything you can contribute would be amazing! Donations are being collected here. And if you can't help and know someone who can, please share the link! Thank you for your support!

New duvet cover

2013-05-02T00:05:00.000-05:00

How on earth have I not shown you my new duvet cover? My work schedule has really messed with my blogging and sewing schedule lately so I'm sorry to have been dark for a bit. Hoping to get back into a better routine soon!

So... Duvet cover!! I finally upgraded to a king sized bed (yay!) and when I did, I took on the mammoth task of making a new duvet cover for it. Wowzee is that alot of fabric! Weird... From this angle, the bed looks like a queen...

I used the gorgeous and easy to follow pattern Modern Crosses from Susan Beal's Modern Log Cabin Quilting Book (which is wonderful by the way if you don't already have a copy...)

And then of course I needed new pillow cases. :) Ashley over at Film in the Fridge has the world's best tutorial on french seams and pillow cases. Easy peasy. And I even was able to match up my stripes! Fiona approves...

As does Dexter...

Mmmmm... Bed time!

And I used my Modern Whimsy green circles (soooo soft) for the back/inside. And there's a little surprise mini quilt inside.

I loved this project and it makes me smile every time I walk into my room. :)

p.s.
Whenever I post pics of my duvets, I get some questions on how I finish them:
-I sew them with 1/4 inch seams
-No lining (so all the seams are exposed inside)
-I wash it right side out to protect the seams
-My previous duvet was well worn and washed frequently and over the course of 5 years only had a few small spots come undone and they were easily repaired.
-I use a simple button closure for the bottom

Who wants to see me rapell down the side of a 32 story building?!

2013-04-28T20:00:00.002-05:00

And no, I have not lost my mind!

I'm raising funds and awareness for Make-A-Wish Central & South Texas. And if I can be one of the first 300 people to raise a minimum of $1500, on June 15th & 16th 2013 I will be able to step up to the edge and rappel 32 stories down the One American Center in the heart of downtown Austin.

Since 1980, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® has enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. The Foundation's mission reflects the life-changing impact that a Make-A-Wish® experience has on children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities.

A wish experience is frequently a source of inspiration for children undergoing difficult medical treatments and a positive force that helps them overcome their obstacles. A wish experience is often more than a dream come true: It’s the catalyst that rekindles their belief in themselves and the promise of their future.

Only the first 300 fundraisers to raise their minimums will earn a spot to go Over the Edge, so dig deep and let's get those pledges going for Make-A-Wish. My donation link is below!

https://www.austinovertheedge.com/Laurie_Wisbrun/

Bright and Buzzy zipper pouches and a BIG bag

2013-03-31T19:42:00.001-05:00

How has it been 6 weeks since my last post?!? Geez this year has been absolutely flying by. I've been busy, busy as a bee (forgive me, sometimes I can't contain myself), but was able to make a few goodies from my new Bright and Buzzy collection. I woke up this morning and realized I had never shared them with you!

The first bag is this little zip pouch for my friend's daughter Hailey. I've really loved using the Alphabet panel from the collection to personalize things in a fun way.I used all three of the bee prints and the two honeycomb prints from Bright and Buzzy. Then threw in a few Olive the Ostrich coordinates and my favorite Modern Whimsy circles (am starting to hoard these in my stash...I will be SAD when I run out!) Ms. H loved the little pouch and it was so much fun to be able to surprise her with it.

And then there's the mother of all zipper bags. I made this big ol' bag to take to Quilt Con and its going to be the best beach bag. It measures 25 x 18". It's HUGE. I basically followed the open wide zip pouch pattern by Noodlehead but just made it giant. The zipper is a plastic one from Joann's that's made for jackets and I love how chunky it is. I added a little pull tab so I could make sure to open it without fighting wiht the bag. The leather handles came from All 4 Handmade's Etsy store and I just hand sewed them on using embroidery floss (wishing I had a thimble the whole time!) Must remember to order more straps to have on hand for future projects...

I lined the inside of the bag with the green bees from Bright and Buzzy and used some more Modern Whimsy Circles for a whole bunch of interior pockets. In retrospect I wish I had made at least one of the pockets a zip pocket but I didn't know how to make that work and I was making the bag last minute so couldn't be bothered to google it. Next time :)

And then there's also my Z for Zipper pouch which is posted about a while ago. I love this little guy. :)

Bright and Buzzy has just started arriving in quilt shops, so I hope you will find some on your sewing tables soon. I can't wait to see what you make!! I'll keep an eye on Pinterest, Instagram and Flickr!!

Shop Update!! Loads of new goodies!

2013-02-14T22:36:00.000-06:00

Super excited to announce that I have a whole bunch of NEW limited release fabric and pillows panels now available in my Etsy Store!

The designs are bright and cheery and perfect for ringing in Spring, which is already starting to make an appearance here in Austin. I hope you love the new designs and can't wait to see what you make!
I hope you'll hop over and take a peek.

And of course, the original Oh La Llamas are still available!

Giveaway winner | And a sneak peek of my new Spring Etsy goodies

2013-02-10T13:14:00.001-06:00

Thank so much for the great comments about the new embroidery patterns! Its always fun to try something new and I had such a great time playing with the embroidery. Must. Get. Embroidery. Machine. :)

The lucky winner of the thread set is Mama Spark who was number 20. Congrats!! I hope you love the goodies, courtesy of Embroidery Online!

And a quick reminder of the new designs and the pillow I made out of the embroidery motifs.

You can find the patterns over at Embroidery Online. Happy sewing!

I'm off to take some pictures of all the new goodies that I'll be adding to the Etsy store soon. I have 6 new pillow panels + and 7 new fabrics to share with you. You know I love a good pom pom trim for a pillow, so I stitched up some pillow panel samples with all sorts of pom-pomy pretiness. :) Stay tuned for the shop update!

New spring llamas
New donkeys
Foxes
Swans...oh my!

New license! Embroidery designs and a giveaway!

2013-02-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

Guess what!? Some of my designs are now available as digital embroidery patterns through OESD on Embroidery Online! There are 25 designs in our first collection, Trucks and Transport, and I think they might be just the thing for little boys who love big machines. Fire trucks, earth movers, cement mixers, and even a trash truck and traffic cones. The designs are available for use with just about any embroidery machine and can be downloaded from Embroidery Online or your can order a CD.

My current sewing arsenal doesn't include an embroidery machine in its ranks, so the team over at Embroidery Online stitched up some of the applique samples for me and I designs and sewed up these 2 cutie pie Trucks and Transport pillows. What do you think?!

And the backs!

Look at all of the fabulous little details that are worked in automatically using the embroidery patterns!

(Basic instructions for the pillows are listed at the end of this post, along with a few work in progress shots to help illustrate how I put everything together.)

Oh, and guess what else? Robert Kaufman will be releasing a coordinating line of fabric this fall. Fabric AND coordinating embroidery designs. Squee!! So excited!!

All the thread you need for the Trucks and Transport designs come in a handy 26-spool (600 yard) collection of Timeless Thread. And the team at Embroidery Online has a complete thread set (valued at $78) to share with one of you! Just leave me a comment here before the morning of 2/10/13 when I'll randomly choose a winner. I'd love to hear how many of you have an embroidery machine or if your sewing machine has embroidery capabilities. And if you don't, is a machine on your wish list like it is on mine?

Here's a preview of all 26 designs in the Trucks and Transport embroidery patterns collection!

Here are some guidelines for you on how I made my pillow covers.

Embroidery Motifs (each done on a single piece of white quilting weight cotton) with lots of extra space for trimming
1 - Trash truck - 4" wide
1 - Dump truck - 4" wide
2 - Cement trucks - 5" wide
2 - Flat bed trucks - 5" wide
1 - Fire engine - 5" wide
1 - School bus - 5" wide
1 - Tractor - 3" wide
1 - Earth mover - 4" wide
4 - cones group of 6 - 1 inch tall
8 - cones single - 1 inch tall
2 of each - text - 1 inch tall

Other supplies:
I used white quilting cotton for stitching the embroidery motifs and for piecing the pillow
A dark grey quilting cotton for the road strips and orange quilting cotton for the stripes on the back
White cotton embroidery floss
2 orange 20" invisible zippers
Black pipping

Finished pillow size - 19" x 19"

Use 1/4" seam allowances for piecing

1. Trim the bottom edge of the fabric for each stitched motif leaving 2" between the bottom of the motif and the bottom of the fabric

2. Layout the strips in order, stacking and folding to get a sense of how you want to compose your pillows. Once finished, your strips will be 21 or 22" wide, so as you lay everything out work with that as your width. Here's a guide I used for a rough height of each of my strips:

white (top)	5.5
grey	2.25
white	5.5
grey	2.25
white	4
grey	3

See how they're just sort of folded into place for positioning?

3. Now that you're sure of your layout, trim the bottom of the fabric for each stitched motif to leave 1/2" of white space below the motif.

4. Sew each of the white stripes (left to right with 1/4" seams) piecing the elements together to leave roughly the same spacing between elements that you laid out in 2. Remember, its an art not a science, so don't worry about making spacing between elements perfect.

5. Make sure that each row is at least 21 or 22" wide so you have some extra to trim later

6. After you sew the 3 white strips, trim them to the heights listed above

7. After you sew all the strips, start piecing the strips together. Start with the 3" grey strip at the bottom and work your way up to the top

8. For the back of the pillows, I followed the same basic idea but added an invisible zipper below the top orange panel.

9. Use an embroidery hoop and hand embroider the white road lines onto the grey strips.

10. Trim to 19" x 19"

11. When sewing the front to back, I added a basic black pipping to give the pillow a nice finish. I always, use 20" pillow down forms in 19" cases so they are nice and full and fluffy.

Spoonflower news and a giveaway!

2013-02-01T11:03:00.002-06:00

Happy Friday everyone! I am so excited to share that Spoonflower has added my Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design book to their Welcome Pack. So if you've been wanting to give digital fabric printing a try (or it makes a great gift!), here's a great way to dip your toe in the water.

Included in the pack are:

$35 in Spoondollar credit for the recipient to spend on Spoonflower
A Spoonflower swatch book with samples of all the fabrics and materials, including wallpaper and wall decals
A copy of my Mastering the Art of Fabric Printing and Design book which includes step-by-step tutorials for designing patterns (both digitally and by hand), as well as insider tips for developing a collection and bringing it to the marketplace.

I've teamed up with Spoonflower and we posted an excerpt from the book on the Spoonflower blog about how to create a seamless repeat by hand using paper, pen, tape and good old fashioned scissors. The full tutorial Paper Cutting Repeat tutorial from my book is available here.

AND, the fabulous folks over at Spoonflower are graciously giving away threee FREE welcome packs! Just hop over to register to win here before 2/5/13. They'll draw a winner on 2/6/13. Good luck!!

On a personal note, this is such a huge full circle moment for me. I started my entire fabric design journey by trying Spoonflower and just seeing what I could do. To have them including my book as part of their Welcome Pack is really, truly astounding to me. Never in my wildest dreams did I see where this all would lead. [Insert giant happy smile here] Thank you so much to Stephen, Kim, Garth and the entire Spoonflower team for making me a part of your family!

Giveaway winner and my Z for Zipper pouch

2013-01-29T08:05:00.000-06:00

I always love to hear all of your ideas for what you'd make with my fabric. And ya'll did NOT disappoint. What amazing ideas you came up with! I simply cannot wait to see what you make, so once you have some Bright and Buzzy in your hot little hands make sure you share the love and post pictures in my Flickr group? Pretty please?

I was able to carve out some sewing time this past weekend and made up a really fun zipper pouch with Bright and Buzzy. And I LOVE my little pouch. So. Very. Much. But before I show it to you, let's get to that giveaway winner, shall we?

Via random number, the lucky winner is #139, Margaret who said:
I love this fabric. I have a kids quilt pattern that I have been wanting to make forever. It requires strips of bugs in a line for part of the design. Either of the bees or the birds will be perfect. Thanks for sharing your amazing talents with me. I can't wait to get my hands on this fabric. I also think I need a kitchen redo and bees could be buzzing all around while I cook. Pot holders, towels, new curtains, chair cushions and of course a mug rug or two.

And then because her comment made me laugh so hard I actually spit out my coffee, I'm also sending a set of fabric to #44 Michelle who said:

Seriously, I'm surprised there haven't been more growth charts in non-barf inducing children's fabrics. Hopefully you've started a trend!

Thanks so much to everyone for sharing your great ideas for the fabric, and for the great laughs and I hope Bright and Buzzy will be making its way onto your sewing tables soon!

And now onto my new pouch. Ta-da! I think its first job will be to be my supplies pouch for Quilt Con (which is right around the corner!) I'm going to be speaking on a panel on fabric design AND I am going to get to take some of the great classes so I'm getting geared up for that! A girls gotta have a cute supplies pouch, right?!

To figure out my sizing and for instructions on the contrast bottom, I loosely followed the Noodlehead Open Wide pouch tutorial. (Thanks Anna!)

Here's the front. For the top, I used the Z for Zipper from the Alphabet panel along with 2.5" squares of the cross hatch prints from the growth chart panel. Then the contrast bottom uses the darker of the two honeycomb prints. Bright and cheery, isn't it?!

And a shot with a pencil to show scale. The pouch measures 13" x 9" so its a great size for big goodies. I used mid weight interfacing so its got some substance but isn't too stiff.

The inside is also lined with the honeycomb print. I love opening a pouch and seeing a pretty lining.

And the back is made from my Modern Whimsy circles (which are a perfect match!) along with a few more cross hatch print squares from the growth chart panel.

Thanks again for participating in my giveaway and for all of your great comments about Bright and Buzzy. I'm so tickled that you are as excited about this new line as I am! I still have all of those fun bee prints to play with still and I can't wait to start cutting into them soon!

Bright and Buzzy | Giveaway!

2013-01-24T17:04:00.000-06:00

Tick tock, tick tock. I have been watching the clock and the calendar, anxiously awaiting the day that I could do the grand unveiling of Bright and Buzzy, one of two of my new collections for Robert Kaufman. And today is finally the day!

I have so many ideas swimming in my head for things to make from the collection. And even though it's perfect for kids, I can see so many uses for it for those who are just young at heart. (See how I artfully skirted calling myself old there? Nicely done if I don't say so myself...)

There are 6 fabrics in the collection and they have all just been released by Robert Kaufman so they should be making their way to stores soon.

Buzzy bees in 3 fun colors. I was so happy to be able to do these in a more non-traditional palette than what you usually see for bees.
Honeycomb in two shades
A full yard panel with one animal or item for each letter in the alphabet.
And a full sized growth chart that goes up to 60" inches high.

On the image above, the yard panel in the corner isn't to scale, I squished it down so it would all fit together in one little graphic.

Fun honeycomb selvage shapes

Attempted to take a picture of the yard alphabet panel and Fiona came to help.

And then Dexter had to get in on the action. It totally looks like they're making out. Which is really inappropriate blog content but it was just too funny not to share.

Wait...what, is that a whale under that tail? And a raccoon peeking out from behind that foot?

I see all sorts of fussy cut opportunities for this panel.

How adorable would pennant flags be to spell out a kiddo's name?!

This weekend I'm going to be making a zipper pouch with my Z. I can't wait.

A close up of one of the owls from the growth chart panel. You can get an idea of what the whole thing looks like in the graphic at the top of the post. I think the owl on the swing is my favorite. :)

Or maybe the bunny.

Bzzzz! Bee and honeycomb goodness. I keep thinking "bee-still my beating heart".

Guess my mind is on Valentine's Day!

Thanks for wading through all of the pictures! As a reward, here's a shot of the giveaway goodies. A FQ set of all the fabrics + full alphabet panel and the growth chart.

I'd love to hear what kind of ideas you have for the fabric!
Post your comment here before the morning of Tuesday 1/29/13.
Make sure you leave me a way to contact you.
And as always, international entries are welcome!

I'll post the winner (and hopefully my little Z zipper pouch) on Tuesday morning. Good luck!

p.s. And if I wasn't already spastically excited about Bright and Buzzy, there's ANOTHER collection to share. I am beyond excited and bouncing off the walls over here with glee. (And I might have had one too many cups of coffee today perhaps...)

I'll do a full post about Holiday Sweet Tweets (and a giveaway) once I get my yardage shipment, but here's a few sneak peek shots. It's also just been released by Robert Kaufman and should be shipping to stores soon. Birds. Peppermint tufted ottomans. Sassy couches and striped chairs. (Insert big dorky happy dance here!)

Visit your local quilt shop day!

2013-01-20T10:41:00.003-06:00

This Thursday, 1/24/13 is Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day. I am a huge supporter of local shops (as well as online retailers), so when FabShopNet asked if I'd be interested in being a part of their blog tour, I was of course tickled to participate. In my lovely and creative home town of Austin, I am so very fortunate to be able to have two amazing stores where I can always count on a welcoming smile, a laugh and an immediate creative infusion.

So why do I personally love local quilt shops so much?

When I was living in NY and struggling with a decision to leave my full time job in advertising, I allowed myself, for the first time in many years, the mental space to dream about what I really, really wanted to do with my life. I loved my job but knew it was time for me to make some major changes. During my soul searching and trying to identify themes where I was really in my happy place and felt the most joy, fabric, color, texture and creating things kept coming to the forefront. It sounds corny to people who aren't part of our fabric tribe, but there are few thing so creatively nurturing and inspiring as walking into a fabric store. And I love that if you're reading this, you likely know exactly, precisely what I mean.

The moment I walk in and see all the colors and patterns together it immediately makes me start to think about what gorgeous thing I might be able to make next. It just energizes me and makes me happy. And it was that joy and excitement that has always come from seeing all of those delicious bolts of fabric together in a shop combined with a desire to build a life for myself where creativity could be infused into my work that led me to the decision to finally jump off of the corporate hamster wheel and follow my dream of becoming a textile and surface designer.

So for me, I will be forever grateful for quilt shops and their owners. So get out there and go visit your LQS this week. And if you're in Austin, make sure you pop in and say hello to two of my local favorites.

Leslie Bonnell's Stitch Lab

Jessica Sloan's Remnants:fiber [culture]

Giveaway winner!

2012-12-11T08:47:00.001-06:00

A super speedy post to wish a big congratulations to #34 Shanna, who, via random number selection, is the winner of a copy of my new book. I hope you love the book Shanna!!

Can you guys believe we are nearly half way through December? Where is the time going?! If, like me, you're looking for last minute gifts that are easy to stitch up, I still have some Llama Pillow Panels and llama fabric in stock and can ship right away :) (The completed pillows are not available, only the DIY panels...)

My new book! And a copy to share with you. Giveaway!

2012-12-02T19:00:00.000-06:00

It's been under wraps for a while now, but I can finally share the exciting news that I have a 2nd book! I can frankly hardly believe it! It has started shipping this month and I'm so excited that its finally making its way into the world. This project would not have been possible without the AMAZING collaborators that I was able to work with.

When I set out to write this book and I began to consider the huge range of skills that should be featured in a book all about fabric embellishment, I immediately knew it was an opportunity to get to collaborate with some of my most favorite artists and crafters who could really show off their chops as specialists in their own unique techniques. Without their contributions and creativity, this book wouldn't be nearly as rich and visually lovely as it is.

So you ask... What's the book actually about? Its absolutely stock, chock full of detailed step-by-step instructions on a wide range of embellishment and surface design techniques and demonstrates those techniques in a modern way. Each chapter also includes interviews with the chapter author, where they offer their own personal advice around design and embellishment. Here's a high level run down of what you'll find.

The book starts with an overview of a wide variety of the tools and supplies that you might want to consider when embellishing fabric and I touch on the different types of most commonly available fabric and suggested approaches for embellishment.

Chapter 2, Designing Patterns, was written by Heather Dutton of Hang Tight Studio who shares her techniques for creating hand rendered and computer rendered patterns. I met Heather through the Spoonflower community and just adore her designs. She shares some great tips and offers some great advice on designing digitally.

Part 1 of the Printing Patterns chapter was written by Amy Prior and Carly Schwerdt of Umbrella Prints. These two talented ladies cover a broad number of wonderful techniques for screen printing using stencils, blocks, heat transfer and more.

Also in the Printing Patterns chapter, Christina McFall showcases cyanotype printing and toning. If you're not familiar with the technique, its a photographic printing process that will set your heart racing. Plus Christina shows off a few goodies she's made using her fabric that are simply phenomenal.

Dyeing and Bleaching techniques are tackled by Sara Harper of Five O'Clock Crows. From using natural dyes, dip dyeing, over dyeing and batik, Sara has done a wonderful job of detailing the many different ways you can use dyes and bleach with your fabric projects.

Then the simply lovely and delightful Meghan Van Sipe of Lilac Saloon showcases an enormous range of inspiring and totally awesome techniques for using beads, zips, studs, ribbons, buttons, felt and more. My own personal list of must-do projects has gotten a bit longer based on what I learned from Meghan.

Needlepoint and Applique are showcased by my dear, sweet and talented friend Rachel Hobson of Average Jane Crafter. She's done an amazing job of demonstrating how to use hand work to add something extra to your designs. Rachel has long been my inspiration for ways to really use handwork to make a piece special and I was so thrilled to be able to work with her on this book.

Each chapter includes galleries of carefully curated images which feature the techniques from that chapter. When we were putting together the book, so many wonderfully talented and kind people agreed to let us showcase their work. Without their work, the book wouldn't be everything I dreamed it would be.

The final chapter features several supremely talented designers who have taken their craft to an entirely different plane. They have graciously shared their insights into developing collections, staying true to your style and and going pro with you designs. In this chapter I also share some tips on marketing your work.

There are two editions of the book. Although the book will be available from loads of book sellers (thank you booksellers!), you can also pick them up on Amazon here. The US version and the UK version are both shipping now.

One thing to note, the cover of the UK version is actually different from what Amazon UK is displaying. Some changes were made to it since I guess that was provided to the booksellers. Oh... the mysteries of publishing! But the cover of the US version is just like what is shown above and the content in both editions is identical. p.s. I had so much fun making the piece for the US cover! Now I just need to figure out what to do with it. Thinking wall hanging for my studio but still not sure :)

So... Now who wants a copy of the US edition?! Just leave me a comment here and I'll draw a winner on Monday, December 10th. I'm happy to ship worldwide so everyone is welcome to enter. I'd love to hear what section of the book you're most looking forward to reading!

So this happened...

2012-11-28T22:16:00.002-06:00

Look at what the UPS man dropped off on my doorstep this afternoon? Couldn't wait to share it with you!! More details and a free copy to giveaway before end of week. Soooo excited!

The US version and the UK version are both shipping from Amazon now.

Modern Designs for Classic Quilts Book Giveaway Winner

2012-11-16T07:00:00.000-06:00

It was such fun to hear all about the projects on your 'someday' lists. And it makes me feel so much better to know that all of you have super long lists too!! Congrats to the lucky winner Margaret, #100 (chosen by random number), who said: A quilt on my must do list is a dresden plate. I bought the templates for the cutting and have some fabrics that I am stashing but I am fairly intimidated about the process so I have not started one yet.

I hope you love the book Margaret. Make sure you drop Andie and Kelly a line and let them know you were the lucky winner. :) I know they'd love to hear from you!

And for everyone else who didn't win, make sure you pick up a copy of the book. It really is filled with some wonderful and inspiring projects.

Oh my gosh...I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is next week! I've got to go clean out my fridge and get the house ready for company. Everyone have a great weekend!

Modern Designs for Classic Quilts Book AND a Giveaway

2012-11-12T07:30:00.000-06:00

When I was in Houston at Quilt Market a few weeks ago, I was tickled to get to meet Kelly Biscopink and Andrea Johnson. These two adorably sweet and funny ladies are the amazingly talented duo behind the new book, Modern Designs for Classic Quilts.

Not only did I get to meet Kelly and Andie, I got to meet a few of the quilts from the book. :) There's a Dresden Plate quilt that I was especially excited to see since its made from my Tufted Tweets collection. And Oh. My. Goodness. Gorgeous simply doesn't do this quilt justice. Kelly's piecing is impeccable, I love the incredibly unique layout she came up with and the quilting (by the amazingly talented Angela Walters) is superb.

One of my favorite things about Kelly and Andrea's book is how they have taken traditional quilt patterns and infused a really modern sensibility to them. There's something uniquely special about the projects in the book too. I can almost always find one or two projects in any book that I'd love to make, but there's so many in their book that are now on my 'must make someday' list. The quilt on the cover is one that I think will be my next big project. And in reading through the pattern, its beautifully written, clear and easy to follow. Can't wait to start pulling fabric for it!

And how about this amazing Flying Geese lovely by Andie? I know, amazing, right? The simplicity of the pattern is just so sophisticated isn't it? (Also now on my must make list!)

And here's the best part...Kelly and Andrea were nice enough to give me an extra copy of Modern Designs for Classic Quilts to give away to one of you! To be entered to win, just leave me a comment here and I'd love to hear about a project on your 'must make someday' list! I'll draw a winner on Friday 11/16/12.

Good luck!

Giveaway winner and free quilt pattern

2012-11-07T17:16:00.003-06:00

Thank you so much! You guys shared some paper piecing tips galore! I pulled out a few of my favorites and compiled them below, so as soon as I'm ready to start my own picnic blanket with Don't be Crabby and Amy's Crabby pattern I have your great advice to guide me. :)

- take your time, be patient and don't rush

- measure the width of the part that you are going to piece, then cut strips with a some extra

- don't be afraid that you're wasting fabric

- use Easy Mask paper that you find at the paint store. It comes on a roll in widths multiple of 3" (e.g., 6", 9", 12", etc.), is very thin for your perforations, but sturdy enough for feeding through your inkjet printer. Best of all it's very inexpensive and can be cut to whatever lengths work best for your pattern, unlike regular printer paper.

- the freezer paper method which I much prefer over the method where you spend hours picking out bits of paper

- tack small pieces really well

- shorten your stitch length to 1

- backstitch at the beginning and end of each seam to secure it

- don't scrimp on the fabric so you ensure you're covering all the section

- check and double check your fabric will cover the section

- iron, iron, iron

- the add a quarter ruler makes it easy to figure out where and how much to trim.

-remember, you are working from the wrong side, so whatever you're making will be the opposite of the pattern.

And now for our giveaway winner. Congratulations to #118 Cindy who said:

LOVE your fabric! It just makes me happy when I look at it. I'm new to paper piecing too, so my advise as a 'newbie' is to use larger pieces of fabric then you think you'll need. It's a little wasteful, but until I really know what I'm doing, it is saving me from having to rip out seams. :) Thank you for the opportunity!!!

I hope you love the fabric Cindy!

Don't be Crabby starts shipping in December (which is right around the corner!) so it will be making its way to your favorite LQS store super soon. In the mean time, make sure you grab a copy of this adorable FREE pattern, Come Sail Away, from the team over at Robert Kaufman. I love the little whale in the bottom right corner. And the sailboat with the whale on the side... And.... And....

Paper pieced crabby pattern AND a giveaway!

2012-11-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Ya'll know that I get all geeked out when I see what creative and lovely things you make with my fabric. Well, you are going to get all geeky with me when you see this!

Amy over at During Quiet Time agreed to make something special from Don't be Crabby to help me show off the new collection (starts shipping in December). I love the paper pieced patterns that Amy designs, so I was just giddy with excitement when she said she was going to design a paper pieced Crabby. Eeeep! Are you ready? You should probably sit down. No, really. Sit down. Ready?

Again. Eeeeep! Is that not one of the cutest things you have ever seen? Ever? Amy designed the paper pieced pattern based on the little crabby in my fabric and made this incredibly fabulous beach bag.

And I love the way she incorporated more of the prints from the collection for the back and sides of the bag.

And look at the little wave lines she quilted between the rows of the boats. So sweet.

Today you have two (yep, two!) chances to win both a FQ set of my entire Don't be Crabby fabric collection plus a Crabby paper pieced pattern from Amy.

For chance #1, leave me a comment here (and make sure to include a way for me to contact you). I haven't tried much paper piecing, so if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it. Or if you're new to paper piecing too, just let me know what you might make with the fabric and/or the pattern if you were to win! I'll draw a random winner on Wednesday 11/7/12.

Amy also has a full FQ set and a Crabby pattern to giveaway too! So hop over there next. Two chances to win all sorts of Crabby goodness :) Amy's adorable pattern is available in her Craftsy store and over on Etsy. Here's some details about the pattern :)

--The block measures 10" x 8" finished.

--It's an intermediate paper piecing pattern but there are no Y seams or curves.

I can't wait to try my own Crabby!! I'm thinking beach blanket maybe...And good luck!

Don't be Crabby Bag (and a giveaway) by Pink Penguin

2012-10-26T11:59:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! Another quick post before I head out to Market this weekend. A few weeks ago, the wonderfully sweet and incredibly talented Ayumi over at Pink Penguin agreed to help me show off my new collection, Don't be Crabby (shipping Dec '12). I was beyond excited to see what she would make and as usual, she created something simply adorable. Look at the little bag she made? So cute, right? :)

So....who wants some Don't be Crabby fabric?! Hop over to visit Ayumi at Pink Penguin before Monday 10/29 and leave her a comment on her post. She's giving away a FQ set of the collection and I'll be shipping it out to the winner. Good luck!

Giveaway winner

2012-10-26T11:43:00.002-05:00

Thank you for playing along during Donktober and sharing all of your donkey stories! And as promised, via random number generator, we have a winner of a FQ set of Jack and Jenny!

Congrats to #71 Fran who said...

I love the story behind these fabrics. I don't have any donkey related tales of my own but they're an animal that I've always really liked. I'd love to make a quilt for my friend's little boy, he's very fond of donkeys at the moment! Thanks for the chance to win.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend. And if you're heading to Quilt Market this weekend, I hope I'll get to see you there. Please come say hello!!

Donktober | And a Jack and Jenny Giveaway

2012-10-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

Donktober. What Donktober you ask? Well, I had the same question when Erin at Missy Mac Creations emailed to invite me to participate in her Donktoberfest! And come to find out that its a celebration of all things donkey and craft related, so of course I said count me in!

When I designed Jack and Jenny, it was after a rainy vacation to Greece where there were some donkeys in a field and I really wish I had my wellies with me so I could go slog through the mud to visit them. (Who would think to pack wellies for a beach vacation to Greece!?) They looked so cute out there, but there was no way I was going to be able to slosh through that field in order to get out there for a proper hello (especially since I was a teensy bit bitter about the rain putting a damper on my supposed to be sunny beach holiday!) The memory of those cuties out there sort of stuck in my head and in my round about way, my Jack and Jenny donkeys in rainboots collection was born. I just love what sweet faces donkeys have, don't you? And those big long ears? And now they get to wear sassy rain boots.

For inspiration, here are some projects I made using Jack and Jenny. I'm still hoping to make myself a pair of PJ bottoms soon :)

Skirts and tanktops for the Tam Ky Orphanage project

Baby blocks I made for a friend.

So in celebration of Donktober, for all of you donkey lovers out there, I'd love to send you a FQ set of my Jack and Jenny fabric (in all 3 colors!). Just leave me a comment here and I'll randomly draw a winner on Friday 10/26/12. If you have any donkey tales to share, I'd love to hear them. And if not, I'd love to know what you might make from the fabric. As always, international entries welcome. :) And don't forget to include a way for me to contact you. Once you've left me your comment, head over to Erin's blog for loads of other Donkey related projects! There's a darn cute sock donkey project that's calling my name...

Good luck!

New canvas wall art at Oopsy Daisy

2012-10-19T13:21:00.001-05:00

I'm super excited to share 6 new canvas wall art pieces with my designs that are now available through Oopsy Daisy. They're each 14x14" which makes them a perfect size to pair or hang in a group.

I had a great time designing them and am just so tickled with how the turned out. Ostriches on motorcycles and donkeys in new boots. Take a peek, here and I hope they bring a smile to your face! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Success - Project Raincoat!

2012-10-17T16:10:00.004-05:00

For those of you who follow me on Instagram (@lauriewis) or Flickr, you know I've been hard at work at making myself a new raincoat. When I found out that one of the designs in my upcoming fabric collection for Robert Kaufman called Roughing It was going to be printed on slicker fabric (eeeee!), I set my sights on making myself something really special. The little campers are one my all time favorite designs and I really, really wanted a coat for myself out of the fabric.

But frankly, as soon as the statement was out of my mouth, my inner voice piped up and said..."Are you nuts? That sewing project is so far beyond your sewing capabilities! There is no way you can pull that off." But with loads of encouragement from my online pals who convinced me to ignore that negative inner voice, I bit the bullet, ordered a copy of a super cute raincoat pattern from Amy Butler and started gathering up my supplies. And I'm so glad I did it.

This post is a quick recap of the things I learned along the way:

I absolutely loved Amy's pattern. I generally have a hard time following patterns and usually find them somewhat confusing, but this is written in really clear language and has great diagrams to accompany the verbiage. Since I didn't have much extra fabric to work with and really, really didn't want to muck it up, I actually read the steps aloud to myself. And followed my oft-heard mother's advice... measure twice and cut once :)

Amy also has a link to a page with some tips for sewing with laminated fabrics and it was a great help in getting everything prepared for my project. The biggest thing I learned was that sewing with the fabric is really much, much easier if you have the right tools. The slicker fabric is a little fiddly to sew, you really can't pin it without leaving holes and it can be a bit difficult to mark. But with the right tools, all of those things are easily solved. Here's all the goodies I used and each one was really important. Most are listing in Amy's PDF, but a few are my own additions.

Covered buttons kit by Dritz - Who knew that making covered buttons was the world's easiest thing? With the little tool and template, I made all the buttons I needed in minutes. And I love the way that my buttons match the inside lining of my coat (also from the Roughing It collection!)

Teflon foot - It cost me $12 from my local sewing store and am beyond thrilled with the expenditure. I'd heard that you can cover your sewing plate and regular foot with painter's tape and have the same effect, but this just seemed easier. And then when you're sewing the lining (which is from regular quilting cotton), you don't have to keep pulling tape off of your machine. The foot just makes the fabric glide along. And with such long seams and such big pieces of fabric, I felt like the foot really made my machine work well with the fabric.

Wonder tape - Critical for keeping my pockets in place and in the same spot on both sides since it was a step that can't be pinned or clipped into place.

Smooth edge tracing wheel and wax free tracing paper - Marking the fabric to be cut using the tracing paper with the wheel was definitely time consuming at the front end. I felt like it took hours to get everything laid out and cut. But I think it was just me being nervous that I was going to mess something up before I even started and it probably didn't take as long as I thought it did at the time.

Fabric weights - After cutting the fabric, there were lots of times I needed to go back and re-check something on the pattern (where to start and end a dart etc...) and laying the pattern pieces on top of my cut pieces was made much easier since I had these little weights around. My ceiling fan kept blowing the pattern pieces all over the place and it was making me bonkers so I located the weights in the bottom of my sewing tools box and I was so glad to see them.

Washi tape and Chalk Cartridge - I used the Washi tape on this project over and over. Marking on the slicker fabric is sort of hard to do. I have a little Dritz chalk marker cartridge (the red thing with the box of chalk sticks) that worked really well though. I initially tried a few different chalk and fabric pencils and nothing really stayed visible for more than a few minutes except the marks from this little tool. But even with those marks, there were tiny and hard to find, so on some steps I used washi tape sort of like you would use post it flags on a document. You know the ones that say "sign here" or whatever? And when I came time to hem my sleeves and the length, I used washi tape along with my seam measurer to guide my cutting. Being 5'2, I had about a 5" hem that I ended up needing to take up at the bottom and the washi tape was a great marking tool.

The Clover clips. I bought a box of 50 of them through Amazon and they were FABULOUS. Since you can't pin the slicker fabric without putting holes in it, these clips are just perfect. I think they are sold in smaller quantities, but it was $16 really well spent. At one point I think I had all 50 attached to the coat and was so happy to have so many to work with. I can also see using them over and over again for quilt binding. They might just be my new favorite tool!

I broke up the actual sewing of the coat over the course of a week or two so that I wasn't trying to sew when I was exhausted at the end of the day. I really just didn't want to mess it up!

And at the end of it all, I ended up with a coat that I just love. The fabric is the perfect weight and it just feels great. The cut of the coat is modern and really cute. I love the way the hood drapes and its just fitted enough to be stylish, but its not constricting.

I was lucky enough to get a tip from someone to make the arms bigger so they wouldn't be tight and I'm soooo glad I did that. Had I not, I don't think I would have been happy with the fit. When I got the tip to make the arms bigger, I really wasn't sure how exactly to do that (remember I'm terrible with patterns), but finally figured it out. I cut all of my pattern pieces as size = L except for the sleeve pieces which I cut as size = XXL. And then in the arm hole part of the coat pattern, I cut that at XXL as well so it would match up with the sleeve. And that was perfect for me. Just 'try on' the sleeves to figure out what size you need and then cut your fabric and mark your pieces accordingly from the beginning.

The only part of the whole pattern I couldn't figure out was the final optional step of making the thread loops to hold the belt in place when its not tied. For the life of me I couldn't (and still can't) figure out all of that looping. So if anyone figures that out, let me know. I think I just need a you tube video so I can actually see it being done. Or if you happen to be planning to go to Quilt Market and want to give me a quick lesson, even better! :)

So...I hope that helps. Even for a relative sewing neophyte like me, the coat came together fairly easily and I am just tickled with the outcome. And we even had rain here in Austin yesterday so I could test it out. (Thanks to my friend Kevin for being my photographer! xo) If you want to make your own raincoat, I say GO FOR IT! And if you'd like to make one like mine, Roughing It will start shipping this December. Thanks to my online cheering section for the gentle shove :)

I even threw on my most favorite plaid wellies for my front yard photo session :)

It has a matching belt (which I'm sure I will lose if I don't figure out that whole optional step!)

And the hood actually covers my big old mop of curls without mashing them.

Yay!!

Giveaway winner!

2012-10-12T21:50:00.001-05:00

Well, as much as I wanted to pack my bag and run off to the woods and go camping this week, my plate was just too full to sneak out with my tent and sit by a campfire. Maybe soon though!! I have high hopes for a camping trip this fall.

I always love reading your comments, but this round, they were really outstanding. Thank you so much for sharing! I love that so many of you are true camping fans while others are reluctant campers. But it seems that nearly everyone had a great camping story (and some great recipes too!). Its always fun to be able to be a part of a walk down memory lane, so thanks for taking me along.

And now, onto the winner of a FQ set of Roughing It. The random number generator picked #60. So congrats to Carrie!!

My favorite camping recipe actually came from my mom. Whenever we went camping when I was a kid she always made "Pocket Stew" which was a piece of tin foil and some frozen vegetables with some cut up beef, garlic salt and some golden mushroom soup that she would then fold up into a pocket and put them in the coals of the fire. Then we would just eat out of the "pockets" so we didn't need to bring any plates. And then we always had s'mores too, but I'm sure you don't need the recipe for that! :) Ahhh good times.

I'm in the process of finishing up another project with my Roughing It fabric (using the slicker fabric of the red campers!) and I'm hoping to get pictures up before end of weekend. I'm just tickled with how its turned out and I simply cannot wait to show you! Eeeee!!

Everyone have a great weekend and thanks again for brightening my week with your great comments!