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!

Can you guess what I'm doing?

Yep. Moving. In Texas. In August. Silly girl! Packing fun starts this weekend and move is next weekend. So, I may go a little dark for a week or two, but next time you hear from me I will have emerged on the other side of my cardboard tower :)

And now on to the much more fun part of this post!

I've been a long-time fan of Lucinda at Septemberbird. She makes the most fabulous mini quilts. With chairs on them! I am just in awe of her work and her ability to free form piece the way she does. And such lovely hand quilting. Just take a gander at her Flickr set (lucyellen06) and you'll see why I just love her work. I think her quilts are really just so charming and have coveted them from afar for the last 2 years. So you can imagine how incredibly thrilled I was when I received a surprise mailing from Lucinda!

I have my very own chair quilt! So pretty and she included some of the very early Birdies and Chairs fabrics(the vintage ones as I like to think of them...)

I can't wait to display it in my new digs. :) Thanks again Lucinda. I really just adore it.

Congrats to the giveaway winners!

Wowzee! I can hardly believe all the comments I received for this giveaway. And what a fun way to hear about what you're working on. (Although everyone already working on holiday gifts have made me feel a bit like a slacker!)

Congrats to the two winners! I hope you love the fabric!
xoxox
--laurie

Bry - #589
My last project was a baby quilt for a friend's upcoming little boy and I made a New Wave quilt with the David Walker Robots line! My next program is the color whell spectrum quilt from the awesome ladies at Purl Patchwork!

Vesuviusmama - #355
My last completed project was two new pillows for my couch and a coordinated dog bed. I am currently in the midst of tying a quilt made entirely of orphan blocks which will be my drive-in movie night quilt (I go nearly every weekend!). I am also in the midst of hand quilting a baby quilt and have numerous quilts in various stages of piecing all about my sewing room (doesn't everyone?) Something I haven't started but would love to is a Christmas Tree Skirt - in time for this Christmas even!

Giveaway goodness - Tufted Tweets and Urban Circus

Happy Monday! Thank you all so much for your blogiversary wishes. It's been a wonderful two years and I am so happy to be able to celebrate with you.

I'll keep the rules for the giveaway short and sweet:

I'll randomly draw 2 winners this Friday AM

Tell me what the last project you made was and what's next on your sewing table.

Each winner will get to choose TWO FQ packs from any of my color stories from my Robert Kaufman fabrics. That's 8 FQs for each winner! You can choose what you'd like if you win. :)

Good luck and have a great week.

Tufted Tweets: Grass

Tufted Tweets: Orchid
Tufted Tweets: Sorbet

Urban Circus: Earth
Urban Circus: Spring


[UPDATE: Thank you to all who submitted your entries and congratulations to the winners! The giveaway is complete and comments are no longer being accepted.]

Happy Blogiversary to me - and a giveaway for you coming on Monday!

Well, my 2 year blogiversary came and went and I was so busy that I missed it. I can honestly not believe that it's been 2 years! Here's link to my very, very first blog entry. Crazy, eh?

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that this is where I would be! Thank you so much for coming along on this journey with me and for all of your support and encouragement along the way. I really have made some wonderful new friends in this big old blog land! xoxo

For those of you who may have just recently joined me, here's some quick bullet points:
-Was living in Brooklyn and working at a big Ad Agency as an account person going to a bajillion meetings and practically living on an airplane
-Really wanted to make some changes
-Decided to leave my job (way scary) and simplify my life
-Wanted to figure out a way to build a business where I could let my creativity grow
and get off the corporate hamster wheel
-Moved back to Austin (after a cross country drive with the dog and the cat)
-Started designing fabric and focusing on surface design
-Started my Etsy Store
-Tufted Tweets and Urban Circus were licensed by Robert Kaufman
-And now I'm focused on more fabric design and on getting my patterns licensed by manufacturers in other industries

I'm just so happy to be where I am now and can hardly imagine what the next 2 years might bring! I don't think I succeed in simplifying my life, but still a hugely happy camper! :) Must continue to work on that simplification though!

So, in honor of my 2 year blogiversary, let's do another giveaway! Come back on Monday and I'll post all the details.

In the meantime, I've started working on some pillows for my couch. They're still work in progress but I'm really happy with the way they're turning out. (Not the greatest photo but you get the idea...)


After my first try at hexies (and I do love my little Zoe footstool!) and the discovery that I don't care for the hand piecing, I decided this time to try sewing them directly to a backing. Liked this MUCH better. Upon close inspection, you can see some small gaps between a few of the hexies but who's looking, right!? I'm thinking chocolate brown piping and simple chocolate brown envelope back...

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. And make sure you come back on Monday for the giveaway!

Urban Circus - FQ winners

Hello everyone! I hope you've had a wonderful weekend. I'm a bit late in posting the winners today, but finally getting to the good part of my day!

It's always such fun for me to read about all of the cute things you have planned for your next projects. And it's even more fun to think of you using Urban Circus to make them. Thanks so much for taking the time to share your ideas with me! There were some really creative projects planned this time around and I can't wait to see all of the fun creations you whip up. (Don't forget to show off what you make in my Flickr group...I really love to see what you're working on!)

Using the handy dandy random number generator, I've randomly selected the 2 winners. Congrats go out to:
Little Miss Shabby
whoopdedoo_5

If you didn't win, don't despair. Urban Circus will be available in local quilt shops in August.

AND...My 2 year blogiversary came and went on July 9 and I totally missed it. So I think we should do a belated celebration this coming week, no? What that means for you is MORE giveaways!! :)

Urban Circus - Giveaway!

First, thank you all so much for your very thoughtful and sweet notes on my last post. They were really wonderful companions and will be terribly missed. I'm still a pretty big weepy mess but each day will get a bit easier. All of the personal stories you shared, good thoughts and prayers you sent my way are really tremendously kind. Thank you.

Let's get to that giveaway now! As you all know, my second line with Robert Kaufman called Urban Circus is coming out soon. It will start shipping in August which is just around the corner! I can hardly believe it... I think it's a bright and cheery line and I see so many possibilities for cute projects! Quilts, pillows, pjs, bags, clothes for the kiddos, clothes for big people (I would love a skirt from the elephants...).

I whipped up a picnic quilt a few weeks ago that I just love. The quilt pattern is from Erin at House on the Hill Road and it has little pockets on the back of each corner so you can tuck a rock in each corner to keep your quilt from blowing away. It's hand tied and with the big 16x16 squares it came together in an evening. I just backed it with a simple bed sheet so I didn't have to mess with piecing the back.




Here's the details on the giveaway. Good luck!!
-I'd love to hear what projects you'd make with Urban Circus
-Two lucky winners will each get FQ packs with both Spring and Earth color ways
-I'll draw the winners this Sunday AM, 7/10

Urban Circus in Spring



Urban Circus in Earth



A quick update and another fabric giveaway! After you leave your comment here, make sure you go visit my pal Sam's blog, Mummysam. She's got a new line coming out with Robert Kaufman in the same time frame and you will LOVE her fabric!