Barnyard Counting | Giveaway!

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

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?!

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

xo