Stitch - Fall 2012

Yay, I love posts when I can reveal a project! I designed these fun clothing dividers for Stitch magazine. They are easy, fun, and great for school age children.

Even in preschool, I would have daily battles with Kiddo over what outfit to wear that day. Now we decide on the clothes Sunday night and hang them by each day of the week.

Don't want to do embroidery? You could just do different colored fabrics and have fun with it.

I'm considering making this pattern an "in-the-hoop" machine embroidery project in a couple months. What do you think?

Art Quilting Studio

Thank you "Art Quilting Studio"; it truly was a dream come true to be published in this amazing magazine. This issue is so fabulous with ideas and inspiration, I hope you will pick one up!

Prepping for Quilt Market

Today I'm guest posting over at Quilting Gallery - one of my favorite quilting sites! I'm presenting how to create my business card pouches. I made these for a few special contacts at Quilt Market (and yes I'm counting the hours till I board the plane!)

Want to read more about my inspiration to go above and beyond with my cards? Check out my friend, Topsy Turvy's post on her AMAZING cake pop/business cards. Such a creative way to leave a lasting impression! 

Hope to see you at Quilt Market! May the shopping and dreaming begin..

Quiltsy Spotlight

Do you have an Etsy shop? If you do, have you joined any of the Etsy teams? I'm on a couple and even manage one; I think it is a fabulous way to have an online support system. My favorite team, is the Quiltsy Team. Everyone quilts and everyone is supportive of each other - isn't that just awesome?? I truly love that instead of being scared or upset about competitors, we embrace them as friends and truly understand that there is room on the market for everyone.

Every day on the Quiltsy forum, people talk about their shops, their families, and of course their latest work. There are monthly challenges to help raise awareness of everyone's shops; a favorite challenge is to create Etsy treasuries. So much effort to help their fellow quilter, I really can't express how wonderful I think that is. 

I don't participate on the team nearly as much as I would like to. Managing family and work is a daily struggle, so sadly I'm usually a drive by commenter on the forum. I was pleasantly surprised when I was contacted to do a Spotlight post! Jennifer of the Olive Street Studio wrote and posted the very sweet article today.

Thank you so much for the feature - I love this team more than I can express!

If you are a quilter and you're on Etsy, you absolutely need to join our team today..

Smitten With Samantha

To say I adore Samantha Walker's fabric maybe an understatement; Kiddo's nursery is completely decked out in her cowgirl design. When the opportunity arose to design for her, I jumped at the chance. Today on her blog,  I have a tutorial on how to do a fussy cut, reverse applique table runner using her Decadence line. I love this line! The colors are rich and the motif is around nature - a fabulous combination to use in your outdoor living spaces. I will have several more tutorials featuring this line later in the month on my blog, including the over sized pillow seen with the table runner.

I hope you will stop by Samantha's blog today and look around; she is one of my favorite designers and I know you will love her work!

Reading is Fundamental!

Did you know that I'm a substitute librarian? I earned my Master's in Library Science  and for a few years I was a corporate librarian. I didn't like it. I took a few years off and missed working in a public library, where I had worked while I earned my degree. However by then I had created my own business and it was not feasible for me to add another 40 hours to my hectic schedule. When I found out about the opportunity to be a substitute, I jumped at the chance. It gave me the opportunity to use my Master's degree, a break from working in the home, and be around BOOKS!

I love books. I love cracking open a brand new story and feeling swept into another world. It truly is the cheapest vacation. Though these days most of the books on my shelf are art & craft books; I love the eye candy!

When Kerrie More, the author of my feature article in Mary Jane's Farm, asked if I would be interested in creating a reader profile for her blog, I jumped at the chance. Kerrie's reader questions were so thoughtful that it took me the better part of the day to answer them. I was caught up in remembering my earliest memories of books. I loved recalling how my father would attempt to read to me at bedtime, most of the time my mother & I would giggle. My parents undoubtedly created my deep love of books at an early age. This is something I hope that I have also cultivated in my daughters. They love it when I come home from a library shift with my arms full of books for them.

Want to know what my all time favorite book is? The one that made me bawl in an airport? Well.. you have to hop on over!  And be sure to check out the other reader profiles, I bet there will be some new books you will want to read. This is an awesome series and I hope you will spend some time checking it out!

Thank you Kerrie!

No Woman Is An Island

Have you seen the latest issue of Mary Jane's Farm? I hope you will take a moment to look for it and perhaps purchase it. In addition to the article about my art quilting, there are a number of amazing things to read up on.

No woman is an island though, and that article was a collaboration with two other amazing women! Kerrie More interviewed me and authored the article. She was also at The Creative Connection last year and I'm so sad I didn't get a chance to chat with her in person. As she interviewed me, we discovered we had a fair amount in common. She's also a librarian and lives in Montana (where Hubby & I honeymooned and dream of one day living). Kerrie is also pretty crafty herself! I hope that you will take a moment to visit her blog at www.kerriemore.com I'm a subscriber and always look forward to reading her latest post. I hope this article is the beginning of something big for Kerrie!!

And those amazing photos in the magazine? Taken by one of my dear friends, Vivien Van Leeuwen. Viv is beyond fabulous! She has taken so many photos of the precious times in my life, including Julie's birth. It is truly a blessing to have a good friend that is also an extremely talented photographer. I'm so thrilled to see her work in a national magazine (and wished they had credited her..) If you're in the Salt Lake area, I truly can't recommend Viv highly enough as a photographer for your next milestone. You can see more of her work her at http://www.vivienvanleeuwenphotography.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much Kerrie & Viv, I truly could not have done this without you..

MaryJane's Farm Magazine - Artist Feature

It's hard for me to keep secrets.. like super hard. So when good things happen and I have to keep it under wraps, I typically let little bits slip out before I can. As you may have guessed from previous posts and/or my Facebook chatter, I am in a magazine this month.

I was interviewed for MaryJane's Farm magazine about a new line of items that I will be offering in my Etsy store. I am creating DIY paper pieced fabric card kits that are perfect for the new quilter. They are small and not intimidating to create, but for the very lucky receiver they are mini works of art to be cherished. I love quilts - the love & the time that goes in to them. How wonderful would it be to receive a mini bit of love in the mail?

For those that don't want to quilt, but want to enjoy this textile loveliness - I am offering quilted cards made by me.. Now the real question will be, do you keep it or give it away?

I have just a few in the store right now, but there are many more on the way this month..

Quilting Arts Magazine - Feature

I've officially accomplished one of my bucket list items - be published in a magazine I adore! One of my quilts is featured in this current issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.

And what sophisticated piece of art made this happen? My quilt about never having toilet paper in the bathroom...

Yes, it's true - you can make an art quilt about anything and everything! Who would have thought that this pet peeve would make it to print..

Christmas Candy Tree Skirt

My girls have this adorable table top pink Christmas tree -

it's fanciful and so them!

Come see how I decked the halls with a

Riley Blake mini tree skirt tutorial.

The Thankful Advent

Want to learn how to make my Thankful Advent?

It's all about remembering your blessings!

I'm guest posting today over at Mom Endeavors!

Moda Bake Shop

It's up, it's up! I'm so excited to be on Moda's Bakeshop. I love Moda and it's a dream come true to be working with them. I hope you'll stop and leave my little quilt some love. It was a quilt that I had rolling around in my mind all year and ended up being a birthday gift for sweet Julie.

Feature & Giveaway

I'm so excited that this Friday I've been featured by the amazing Where Women Create.

I'm sharing a tutorial on how to use the Accuquilt system to create this fun

diamond quilt using Riley Blake fabric.

Be sure to stop by because...

they are giving ANOTHER Accuquilt GO! Baby away with 3 dies.

Good luck!

Rapuzel, Rapunzel Let Down Your Hair

I'm guesting posting on The CSI Project today!

Come see Kiddo's new Rapunzel Room.

** Would you like to win a new tub of the same paint we used in our makeover?

Enter a comment below!

Giveaway goes until November 7th at midnight**

When Is A Rock Cozy, Not Just A Rock Cozy?

Want the scoop on these rocks?

I'm guest posting at the fabulous blog of Kass Hall..

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Okay, I'm so loving my latest piece of Halloween decor.

It's super duper easy.

It only has 3 materials!

And I'm guest posting it at Lolly Jane...

Come see!

Celebrate Christmas - Quilt Along

Welcome Quilters!

I'm so honored to be a part of Quilting Gallery's Quilt Along.

If you are new to my blog, let me give me a little background.

My name is Jennifer and I live in Utah with my 2 adorable little girls

and super supportive, handsome hubby.

I've been sewing on and off for two decades, and quilting in the more recent years.

Earlier this year I tried paper piece foundation quilting and fell in love.

I'm completely hooked on the technique and started creating my own patterns this summer.

I like to post free patterns & tutorials weekly - I highly recommend subscribing to my blog to keep up with latest!

For this Christmas quilt along, I created the paper pieced block "Santa's Mittens". If you have not done this technique before, I have a very simple tutorial here. If you have any trouble at all, please do not hesitate to email me!!

The block pattern is here. There are a total of 3 PDF pages to print - each one is a 6" printed square. ** With paper piecing you will use your add 1/4" ruler around the edge so it will be a 6.5" square upon completion.

I suggest printing out multiple copies - one to sew on and one to color in as a reference. Please remember that your block will be the mirror image of what you print.

How much fabric do you need?

I used 4 fat quarters and had LOTS leftover.

The wonderful thing about paper piecing is it's easy to use up your stash rather than having to buy new fabric, but I of course always want to buy new fabric.. I'm sure none of you can relate.. ;o)

How do you create the block?

You will do a single block of each mitten.

You will do two blocks of the 4 square. I alternated the colors in my triangles, but of course you can do what you like best.

For this block - you will need to cut the letter groups from each other - A,B,C,D,E, and F.

Complete each letter group and then sew together.

For example, sew A1 to A2, B1 to B2, and then the A group to the B group.

When you paper piece, you will leave a 1/4" border around the printed piece. Thus your printed 6" square will be a completed 6.5" square.

You will then sew the four blocks together and have a completed 12.5" square that will be 12" finished once you sew them to the additional Christmas blocks.

I thank you so much for your time and truly hope you love this block. I know that foundation piecing maybe new to some of you, but please give it a try. I personally find it much easier and I think you will have fun. Happy Holidays!

-Jennifer

Paper Pieced Snack Mat

I made this adorable little snack mat for Kiddo.

Sorry I don't have a picture after I bound it - she was eager to use it..

in fact it already has a sour cream stain..

Want the pattern?

Come visit Craizee Corners today - I'm guesting posting!

The Giving Tree

Do you love my little tree design? Did you know you can get the pattern for free? Did you know it's over at Quilting Gallery?

Would love to see if you make one!

Did you know I have a Flickr group for pictures of your projects using my patterns? Check it out!

Guest Posting At Mauby's Today!

Want to learn how to paper piece?? You can make this heart so quick with my tutorial. Come on over to Mauby's, where I am guest posting for the day!