Perfectly Perched Top + Holiday Llama Quilt WIP

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start. I wanted to share a top that I finished that uses one of my Perfectly Perched fabrics. Was hoping to find an easy pattern that would work well with the design. So based on a tip from a post a while ago from Ashley at Film in the Fridge that I had bookmarked, I used the Simplicity 3835 pattern (with a few adjustments). I ended up with 3/4 length sleeves without elastic on the sleeve and left off the ties. It was a pretty easy pattern to follow and I'm quite pleased with the outcome. I think I only had to use my seam ripper once (which is pretty miraculous for me!).

And here's the top. I should have ironed it after wearing/before grabbing a picture of it! Funny story. Was with my friend K recently and was wearing the shirt.

Me: "Look at what I made. Pretty cute, huh?"

K: "Definitely. Its very maternity."

Me: Pause. Ummm. "Huh?"

K: "You know, maternity. What with all the birds and the nests."

Me: More pausing and thinking: I spent a long time making sure it was a relatively fitted top so that it wasn't too poofy...What is he talking about? Do I look pregnant in this shirt. Not the look I was after... "Oh... You mean the design is MATERNAL. Mama birds caring for baby birds!"

Boys. :) 

And how much fun did I have working on my Holiday Llama quilt this past weekend? Worked in some lovely Kona solids, some of my Modern Whimsy circles and a really pretty navy textured print from Jo-Ann's.

Quilting is now under way  and I'm hoping to get it finished within the coming week or two.
Loving the way the squares from the Holiday Boxes pillow panel are pairing up with the Holiday Llama prints. I just cut everything 5-7/8" square (to maximize the pillow panel prints) and it came together pretty quickly!

Holiday Llamas in the store

I love Saturdays. The weather here in Austin is a bit overcast this morning and its the perfect kind of day to get a little sewing in. So I was up early to get started on a new quilt with my Holiday Llama fabric. As soon as I have something to share I'll get it posted. I took one of my new Holiday Boxes Llook Llamas pillow panels and am using them as individual blocks. As I'm working with them, I also think I may grab another pillow panel and and make some holiday ornaments or bunting of some sort as well. We'll see what I end up with. Sew much fun :)

And last night I was able to get the store updated with the complete Holiday Llama collection. Let the Llama Llove continue. Llama love holiday style!! 

Dexter helped with my photoshoot. What a sweetie he is. When he's sleeping of course :)

My designs on canvas wall art at Oopsy daisy!!

You know how much I love surprises. And you know how hard it is for me to keep secrets. So I've simply been busting a gut waiting to share my super-duper exciting news. I have recently started working with Oopsy daisy! They are a really amazingly fun and innovative company who makes the coolest canvas wall decor and decals and other wonderful goodies for the modern kiddo (or the modern grown up with a childlike spirit!)

I have 4 designs available on their website that celebrate my love of travel to a few of my favorite and most iconic places in the whole wide world. London, New York, Paris and Rome. The London panel, of course, features the colors and a few of the motifs from my Next Stop London fabric collection for Robert Kaufman! Go take a peek at all 4 pieces!

Look! It's me!! I find myself on Oopsy daisy with some truly amazing and uber creative artists so I hope you'll take some time to peruse their site and discover something new and wonderful!!

Llama Llove...Holiday style!

I simply could not wait to show you a sneak peek of the new Holiday Llamas! I'm still processing photos and getting my Etsy store listings ready so it will be a few days until everything is available for sale, but I just couldn't wait any more. After I sewed up one of the panels into a pillow cover with pom poms, I was just too excited and had to get this quick post up to share the llama llove.

For the Holiday Llamas collection, I designed two different pillow panels (here's one of them) and then there are 3 fabrics which are similar to the current Llove Llamas yardage but have a holiday flair. Think sweaters, scarves, anklets made of holly. And of course flapdoodle hats and a few glasses. :) I'm shooting to get everything posted and up for sale before the end of the weekend. Its Christmas in July around here!!

Giveaway winners

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments about Brr! As always, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all the fun projects you've dreamed up. As the line starts to make its way onto your sewing tables, I would love to see what you make. Remember to post your pics here in my Flickr group so we can all oohh and ahhh over them!! And now, for the giveaway goodies! Via random number generator, the 2 winners of the Brr! FQ sets are:



# 57
Blue Crab Quilting who said I'd love to make some new Christmas stockings from the red and green colorway....

# 95
Jessica of Quilty Habit who said  I would love to make a nice big quilt for the family couch, to put out for the winter - and some stockings, too! :) Thanks for the chance - I love this line!

I was able to spend a bit of time today sewing, which was really wonderful. I'm working on a little girl's dress for a friend of mine from my new Olive the Ostrich line. The ruffles for the dress are giving me fits though so I've ordered a gathering foot for my machine. Can't wait for it to come this week so I can finish off the dress and the little bloomers. Every time I pulled the bottom threads to gather the stitches for the ruffle, the thread kept breaking. Any advice? The piece of fabric is 42" long so by the time I got the gather started, it would just break waaaay before I made it through the length of fabric. Any advice? Other than my current plan which was to abandon ship and wait for my gathering foot which is probably the least frustrating path. :)

So, since I had cleared some time for sewing today and had to step away from my original project, I started on a new quilt that I've been itching to try. Its the modern crosses pattern and I'm having such fun working through my stash.

I know the quilt will probably take me forever to make since I don't get to sew very frequently these days, but it's a super fun block and really easy to put together. I've been eyeing the quilt since I got a copy of the Modern Log Cabin Quilts book by Susan Beal so I was tickled to get started.  

This little stack of lovelies has been in process for a while and I was able to get 6 blocks done today. Loads more to make!

And Fiona was a big help during today's sewing session of course. How funny to catch a shot of her mid-lick!! :) 

Brr! | Round up and Giveaway!

Over the last few months, there have been some truly gorgeous and amazing projects popping up around the blogosphere that feature my holiday line, Brr! Robert Kaufman was generous enough to send out some advance cuts to a handful of people and we asked them to play with the fabric and show off their creations. I was simply astounded and tickled at the enthusiasm and excitement around the line. Thank you for all of your wonderful emails and comments about the little bears!


I know you've been waiting patiently for Brr! to make it out into the world. And now the time has finally come!! Yea!! The line has begun shipping and you should start to see it start to appear in your local quilt stores and in online stores within the coming weeks.  But to keep you tied over until then, I have 2 full FQ packs (with both the green/red and aqua/red color stories) that I'd love to share with 2 lucky winners! 

But first let's just take the opportunity to gush over the fabulous and unbelievably creative quilts and projects that were already created, shall we? Sigh. Squuee. Sigh. So very, very lovely, right? And they are all so unique and different!

1. Converging Corners Quilt by Film in the Fridge, 2. Triangles Quilt by Blue Elephant Stitches, 3. Paw Paw Quilt by Sew Take a Hike, 4. Star Quilt by One Shabby Chick, 5. Improv pieced blocks by Polka Dot Zombie, 6. Hand quilted Swoon by Cut to Pieces, 7. Chevrons Quilt by From the Blue Chair, 8. Converging Corners Mini Quilt by Film in the Fridge, 9. Rocket Ship Pillow and Quilt by Teaginny Designs, 10. Many Hands by I'm  a Ginger Monkey, 11. Timber Quilt Top by Film in the Fridge, 12. A Polar Bear Quilt by Red Pepper Quilts

And even more lovely goodies!

1. Nite Before Christmas Collection Pattern by Nite Owl Quilting (free pattern download), 2. Mini Quilt (and free embroidery pattern download) by Little Miss Shabby, 3. Tree Skirt detail by Yellow Plumblossoms, 4. Box Bags by Apple Cyder, 5. Gift Bags by Blue Elephant Stitches, 6. Brrr! Rocket Ship wall hanging by Teaginny Designs, 7. Sleepover Pajamas by Cut to Pieces, 8. Pillow by Sew Deerly Loved, 9. Jar covers by Apple Cyder 10. Quilt detail by Red Pepper Quilts

And now onto the giveaway! 

• Leave me a comment here and tell me what you plan to make with your Brr!
• Make sure I have a way to contact you (check your blogger profile and double check that your email address is listed)
• I'll choose 2 winners this Sunday evening, July 1. 

Have a wonderful rest of week and weekend everyone!!
xo
--laurie

Finally finished

The pile of 'to be finished' projects shrunk by 2 this weekend. Yea!! I've had these two little things in process for what seems like months. So it was even more fun to get them finished this weekend since the anticipation has been building. Lately, its been hard for me to carve out much time to sew, so it always feel like its really special to get to actually sit down in front of my machine and make something.

When I started my my Next Stop London pajamas a few weeks ago, I took it upon myself to make them a bit more fitted, but ended up cutting way too much out the length in the top so they were a bit snug  :) Once I realized they were going to need some surgery, into the 'to be finished another day pile' they went. But I really wanted to get some use out of them, so yesterday, out came my trusty seam ripper... I needed to add back in about an inch or so in the length in the waist, and decided to go ahead and add a contrasting waist band from some stripes I had in my stash. In addition to the elastic, I added the adorable union jack ribbon that Laura of Craftstorming was so sweet to send me. And I even got to wear my PJs last night. I did write myself a note on my pattern to NOT shorten them again. Just in case my memory fails me and I get 'smart' about my pattern again.

I also made a new cover for my ironing board. As soon as the colors for Perfectly Perched were finished and that lovely raspberry and chartreuse was delivered, I knew exactly what that fabric was destined to become. I love how it turned out and it makes my already bright and cheery studio, even more cheery.

And keep an eye on my blog this week. A Brr! giveaway is in the works... (I think I heard a few of you shriek 'oh goodie... polar bears!')

And Olive the Ostrich is back! Hello old friend!! I have a new collection with Robert Kaufman that features Olive which will release this fall. I leave you with a quick sneak peek of a few patterns from the collection which I hope make you smile. How much do I love that selvage?

Lovely goodies in my mailbox

I have been wanting to get this post up for over a week and my days just keep getting ahead of me. So I'm just stopping everything for a bit today and getting caught up. Phooey on my scheduled work for a few minutes! I received some super lovely goodies in the mail recently and just can't wait any longer to share them!

When I recently did a Next Stop London giveaway, Laura of Craftstorming was one the winners of some fabric. And lickety split she whipped up the cutest little PJs for her gorgeous son Casper. I mean how unbelievably adorable is he?

Soon after, Laura surprised me with a little mailing of London themed goodies of my own!

Squeeee!! The post it notes are in full rotation and being well loved here in Austin. And the ribbon is waiting patiently to be used in my own PJ pants. That's of course assuming I can ever, ever get them done!... There's some seam ripping to be done (as is characteristic with all of my sewing these days!) that's keeping me from adding them to the a list of finished projects. Soon I hope!! Thank you again Laura, I love everything and it was so incredibly sweet to think of me and I can't wait to show off the finished PJs.

Then there was the amazing package from the delightfully sweet and very talented Penny of Sew Take a Hike. And the package was so pretty with the Birdies and Chairs tape from my store coupled with tape from Lucie at Summersville!

Penny shipped me the most phenomenal tote as surprise! ( Penny and I have gotten to be friends via our blogs and I was just so touched when she made me this amazing tote. All of the fabrics were hand selected for me and there are even little bits of Laurie Wisbrun fabric worked throughout. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it and was just so touched. Thank you sweet Penny! Your creativity never ceases to surprise and delight me. And the straps :) You are amazing.

Jack and Jenny Giveaway winner

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm a bit delayed in announcing the winner of the Jack and Jenny FQ set. It was one of those weekends here! 

I'll be back later this week to show off some fun goodies I've been sewing (fingers crossed to get them finished!) and some great mail surprises I've received recently. 

Wishing everyone a great Monday!

Congratulations to #23 - Johanna who said: 

My whole family loves this fabric - even my husband approves it. He isn't easy to please!

Johanna - I hope you enjoy the Jack and Jenny!!

Wonky Donkey 2 Quilt...And a giveaway!

For those of you who have been following me for a while, you likely remember the wonderful Wonky Donkey quilt that Kate Conklin made last year from my original Donkeys in Wellies fabric? And who could really forget Fizzy, who was Kate's quilt model? :)

So I was tickled when Kate let me know that she was going to be re-doing her pattern using my new Jack and Jenny line. She's just revealed the new quilt on her blog along with the news that the quilt will be making its debut at Australian Quilt Market in the HQW Distributors booth in a few weeks. Congrats Kate!! Pick up a copy of the Wonky Donkey 2 quilt pattern here from Kate's store. Its a fantastic pattern and it looks like it would be really fun to sew. 

And although Kate's no longer living near Fizzy, she was able to track down Cocoa, who was her obliging quilt model for the new Wonky Donkey 2! How wonderful is this shot? And Cocoa looks really soft doesn't he?!

To kick off the weekend (TGIF!) I'm giving away a FQ set of the entire Jack and Jenny line. All you need to do to be registered is leave a comment here on this post. I'll draw a winner this Sunday evening, 5/20. 

And if you have any ideas to share when you leave me your comment, Kate's wondering if she should keep the quilt pattern named Wonky Donkey 2 or change it to something else. Hop over to her post and read through her Wonky Donkey story. It will definitely make you giggle and maybe it will inspire you with some naming ideas. 

Shop Update | Llama Journals, Packing Tape and Pillow Panels

Super excited to share that there are bunches of new goodies in the shop and they are all in stock and ready to ship.

Llama Journals in two styles. Available here.

• Canvas Covers are resilient, durable and water-resistant
• 80 pages with dot grid– partially recycled paper
• Stitched binding 

Llama dude with Flapdoodle hats on the inside cover 

Someone recently commented that he looks like Michael Kane with completely cracked me up...

Llook! Llamas with Peruvian blankets on the inside cover

Fancy Packing/Shipping Tape in 4 styles. Available here.

Tiny Birdie Dots

 Campers

Birdies and Chairs

Elephants

And finally, if you're in the mood to make a bit of a political statement with a modern twist, I've designed some DIY pillow panels with my take US political system mascots. Available here.