New fabric in the shop | Polar Bears!

I am so super excited to announce that I have 4 new patterns in 2 color stories listed in my Etsy store. Wahooo!!! Say a big hello to the Polar Bears :)

I've been working on these polar bear designs since late summer and finally decided they're ready to make their big debut. Every time I look at them, they make me smile so I really hope you like them too.

In terms of the colors, I got so many emails when the 'Sherbet' color story for Urban Circus was retired and it's one of my all time favorite color combos. So I'm thrilled be able to bring it back. And there is a more gender neutral color combo of aqua and red called 'Ice' that I just adore.

Everything is available in the store and I have a few yards of each ready to ship now and can print additional quantity of whatever you need. Have a great weekend everyone!

Multi Bear Dots in Sherbet

Small Bear Dots in Ice

Flowers in Sherbet

Dashed Stripe in Ice

Progress - Santa Donkey Tree Skirt!

So sorry for disappearing for a while! I was on a much needed vacation (to Santa Fe which was amazing!!) and have just returned and am diving back into my giant pile of projects.

I'm slowly but surely I'm making headway on the Santa Donkey tree skirt! I knew I wanted to do something with big pieces and white sashing so I could really show off some of my favorite holiday fabrics and be able to highlight my Santa Donkeys and Holiday Boots fabrics. I have to say, I'm really loving the simplicity of it all and it sewed together super duper quickly.




I'm very inexperienced with free motion quilting. In the past, I've either hired out that portion of my quilt projects or tried them myself (which translates as: most of my attempts to date with free motion quilting have not ended well...) But because I really, really wanted this tree skirt to turn out well and I am determined to finally get the hang of free motion quilting, I turned to the ever-so-talented blog community for help.

As always the tutorials from Elizabeth at Oh Fransson! saved me from myself. So that's how you make a quilt sandwich without giant creases, lumps and bumps! I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent on previous projects crawling around on the floor only to end up with a lumpy quilt sandwich. Which of course led to a hot mess of a back once I got started on my quilting. But not on this project!! The back is just as smooth as the front. :)

And then there was the actual pattern for the skirt. I found a fantastic tutorial for a square tree skirt from Crazy Mom Quilts and have modified it to fit my design. Her instructions for the hole in the middle are genius.

I hope to finish off the project this weekend so will post pics when I'm done. Hope everyone is doing well!

Kitty mind meld

Do you ever have those days where your to-do list just never seems to shrink? I'm having one today. But I took a break a few minutes ago and looked over to see this. Kitty mind meld (oops, I just gave away the secret that I'm a bit of a Star Trek fan, didn't I?)

Just wanted to share the cuteness. Ok, back to work!

Urban Circus Giveaway winner + PJ pants

Thanks to everyone who dropped by over the last week to leave a comment about how you have been (or would!) using Urban Circus! It's always so much fun to hear about all the creative ideas you have in store. And to those of you who shared new pictures of what you've been making with the fabric in my Flickr group, an extra special thank you. What gorgeous and inspiring creations!

And now to announce the winner of the giveaway. Chosen by random, the winner is #89 Jennie who said: I would love to make a quilt for my baby granddaughter's room and a wall hanging for her brother's room with this delightful colorful fabric.

Jennie: Fat quarters from the entire collection are headed your way. I really hope your grandkids love what you make with the fabric and that you have a great time sewing with it.



I also want to share a pair of PJ pants I made for myself from the pink Elephants fabric. But since I couldn't model them and photograph them at the same time, you'll have to imagine what they look like. Here they are in an artfully arranged pile. :) A kid at heart, I just couldn't resist a pair of adult PJ pants from the pink elephants. They have quickly become my favorites. Why should the kiddos be the only ones who get to wear animal prints?!


It's a beautiful day here in Austin so I'm headed out to enjoy the rest of my afternoon outside. I hope everyone has a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

Giveaway - Urban Circus FQ set

One of my favorite parts of the day is checking my blog and my Flickr account for new comments and pictures. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to see what you guys are making with my fabric. The quilts, the bags, the clothes... SOOO cute! Lately I've noticed there haven't been as many pictures of creations made with Urban Circus though.



So I'm hoping that perhaps if I entice you with a giveaway, you'll post some more pictures!! Here's how the giveaway will work.

--Only one entry per person regardless of how many pics you post or comments you leave please. I want everyone to have a chance to win!

--The winner will receive a full FQ set of both color stories of Urban Circus. That's 8 FQS!!

--TO ENTER: Leave me a comment here (this will be your entry to win). Tell me either what you have made with Urban Circus (or any of my fabrics!) OR if you haven't made anything yet, tell me what you'd like to make! I will draw a winner after 9am CT on Saturday 10/16/10.

--Then if you have pictures to share, just head over to my Flick group and post your pics! I would really love to see what you've made!!

To get you in the mood, here are a few pictures of some recent creations from some very, very talented folks! (Thanks for sharing these!!)

Baby Kimono PJs
by dodgebutterfly.blogspot.com


Urban Circus Quilt
by xceler8one


Have a wonderful weekend!

Getting started on a holiday tree skirt

I've been trying to figure out what to make for the house at the holidays that can be festooned with cute little Santa Donkeys and Holiday Boots. And then I remembered that I don't have a tree skirt. Every year I end up taking a bed sheet and 'draping' it around the base of the tree. Which pretty much always looks like I have a wadded up sheet under my tree. So this year, I think a tree skirt is in order!

I'm just getting started on the skirt and frankly not really clear (yet) on where I'm headed but I know I want to do some squares with Santa Donkeys in the center and some other squares with some Holiday Boot hexies. This Chartreuse Kona Cotton is a perfect match and it happens to be one of my all time favorite colors.


I'll post pics as my tree skirt progresses. And the Santa Donkey and Holiday Boots fabric is posted for sale in the store. And if you've started any projects with the Santa Donkeys, I'd love to see pictures so make sure you post them in my Flickr group.

Big news! Rhymes with hook...

For the last few months, I have been keeping a big old secret. And I can finally share the news! :) I am writing a book on Designing and Printing Fabric and it will be published in Fall of next year - 2011. Rotovision is publishing the European edition and Chronicle Books is publishing the US edition.



The book is packed with information on the design process, step-by-step tutorials, interviews and loads of what I hope will be inspirational information and photos!

Here's the official description of the book from the publisher: "The Compete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric is a practical and comprehensive handbook that walks readers through the entire fabric design and printing process. Packed with clear, easy to follow step-by-step tutorials, this book provides inspiration and advice on how to design patterns, and also explores a wide variety of different printing methods such as digital printing, screen-printing, stamping and stencilling. Interviews with established fabric designers also provide valuable information on setting up and developing a fabric collection, and useful advice on how to approach manufacturers. Textile design is a highly competitive industry and the Complete Guide to Designing and Printing Fabric is an indispensable reference for all fabric designers and crafters seeing to expand their knowledge and take their skills to the next level."


Writing the book (which I'm still deep in the midst of) has been the most amazing experience. I can't wait to share updates with you! It's going to be a long year before it finally comes out (next Oct 2011) but I will keep you posted on progress as I go. I've been dying to tell you all about it and now that the cat's out of the bag I can keep you up to speed. :)

Holiday Fabric - Santa Donkeys and Boots in the shop!

I can't tell you how much fun it was to get your feedback on the holiday santa donkeys and the holiday rainboots. I read through all of your comments and really appreciate all of the great suggestions and ideas. Here's where I landed on revisions to the original design from a few weeks ago.

The donkeys who are wearing Santa Hats are no longer wearing boots. They always say to take off one accessory, right? Can't have the donkeys overdressed can we?

I changed the size of these donkeys so they are roughly a third smaller. The original donkeys are each 5" x 4". These holiday donkeys are roughly 3-1/2" x 3". So now you have MORE donkeys to sew with!

I tried and tried and tried to incorporate your suggestions on antlers and Rudolph noses. Really loved the ideas. But at the end of the day the antlers ended up looking like sticks coming out of the donkeys heads and the red nose looked like a tumor. So, needless to say, I had to step away from those additions. :)

I'm so excited to announce that both fabrics are now available in the shop!! I only have yard of each on hand but I'll be placing an order for more yardage this weekend. So for those of you anxious to get started on holiday sewing projects, place your orders and I'll start shipping fabric as soon as I receive it (should be 2-3 weeks max).

Thanks again for all your great ideas and I hope you love these little sweeties. I'm really happy with how they turned out!

A peek inside where I live

Whew...the last box is unpacked (well...except for those few boxes in that hall closet but I'm pretending like I don't see them)! Getting settled into my new space has taken some time but it's been really fun. I love nesting, don't you? :)

I promised that once I got settled I'd share some pictures. So I'm excited to show you some snapshots of where I work and live. When I decided to move from my last place, I hunted and hunted for someplace new that was flooded with bright light and I'm so lucky to have found this space. For the very first time, I have truly separate spaces for my office and for my sewing studio. And I have to tell you, I feel really, really lucky and I just love it here. So welcome to my space!

The 2nd quilt I ever made. Shirtbox Squares designed by Kaffe Fasset.



New pillows for the couch!

My desk.

The other side of my sewing room. And just in case you weren't paying very close attention...New cats! :) I went to the animal shelter for one and of course came home with two. They've quickly become best buddies and I awake each day with a pile of cats by my feet. So wish a warm welcome to Dexter (the little orange guy) and Fiona (also known as Cow Spot).

Donkeys for Christmas?

Hi everyone! I've been toying with some ideas for holiday fabrics and would love your thoughts.

Would you be interested in fabric with donkeys in boots and santa hats for the holidays?

Would you want a coordinating boots-only fabric?

If I get the fabric printed and listed in the store by October would that give you enough time to do your holiday sewing?

For those of you who have purchased my donkey and boots fabric and are familiar with the size, would you want these donkeys to be the same size? smaller? larger?


If you're so inclined I'd love to hear your thoughts. Just leave me a comment. Thanks for your help!!

Urban Circus Giveway at Sew Fresh Fabrics

Hi everyone! I got a note from Peg over at Sew Fresh Fabrics and they are having a giveaway for Urban Circus! Make sure you head over there and throw your name into the hat to win.



Visit Sew Fresh Fabric's blog to find out how to enter. But hurry! They are only accepting entries through Friday, August 27. Good luck!

Urban Circus Giveaway with Red Pepper Quilts

Well I have emerged (kinda) from under my tower of cardboard. My move is complete and I'm nearly done unpacking. My hope is that within a week or two I can post some pics and take you on a proper tour of the house and my studio. Boy, it really takes a long time to get re-organized, doesn't it?!

And in much more exciting news than my moving... Urban Circus is starting to arrive at local quilt stores!!!

A few weeks ago I packed up some fat quarters and sent them winging to Australia to the lovely Rita at Red Pepper Quilts. She whipped up this absolutely precious lap quilt for me. I just love it. And the back with the square strips is equally as cute as the front. Thank you Rita! The quilt will be treasured.


And now for what you've been waiting for! The giveaway!

Rita is giving away fat quarter bundles of Urban Circus to 3 lucky winners. To enter to win one of the bundles just head over to Red Pepper Quilts before noon (AEST) on Friday August 20 and leave a comment on Rita's blog. Good luck!!

Of the 3 fat quarter packs being given away, Lindsay and Charlie at Hawthorne Threads and Cynthia at Fabric Worm are each sponsoring a FQ. And I'm sponsoring the 3rd bundle. Thanks so much to everyone for your enthusiastic response to the Circus!