Simplify

Quilt Market in a nutshell

 

I apologize ahead of time.  There are a lot of pictures of me in this post.  And apparently, I didn't make it out of my booth much.  So here are about a hundred pictures of all the friends who came to visit me, with links to blogs where you can go see their amazing stuff because I'm lame and didn't take pictures of it.  (Good heavens, I didn't even get a picture with Heather!?)

Deal?

Quilt Market was in Salt Lake City again this year, and as usual, it was amazing. There are a lot of things I love about this industry, but certainly at the top of that list?  The people in it.  I love that every spring I get to go see everyone and catch up with them.  All the quilts/fabric/amazingness of it all is just a bonus.  

So anyhow, here's the booth.  The right side is my half, and the left side is my mom's:

Mom's side, with all of her new patterns.  

Snickerdoodle (the one with the red border) is my favorite.  I'm trying to convince her to let me have it.  Wish me luck.

and then...

my side, including my red polka dot chair which I hauled up for the occasion.

I don't know what to do with my arms in pictures like this.  Joanna agrees.

I would just like to point out that the table and chairs, my red chair, all the quilts, props, etc plus one 7 year old on his way to see Grandpa and a Sherri fit in my minivan with room to spare. 

Thank you Volkswagen Routan.  You are growing on me.

Table and chairs from my sewing room (minus the leaf)

  

Picture of my Grandma Ruby, who the line was named for.  More on that later.  She was awesome, by the way.

   

I've never seen tulips with rough edges like this.  Thanks Costco!

Catalogs and purple carpet.  I'm thinking of changing all the carpet in my house to this color.

 

Several of my favorite family members were able to attend..

 

including my cute Grandma (my mom's mom) carrier of the quilting gene, who is responsible for all of this quilting/fabric craziness.  Thanks Grandma.  Love you!

Next up?  The Moda designers, who I am responsible for photographing each spring.  It is tricky to get 23 women agree to being in a picture.  Even when they are this gorgeous.  :-)

Me trying to get back to the camera to adjust a few settings.  Lovely, right?

Sarah (SarahJane Sudios) and Sandi (Portabellopixie) a few more of my favorite people.  

(Are you sensing a theme here?  At this point just assume the favorite.)

Super cute DIY Dish girls, Kim and Kris

Judi (Green Fairy Quilts) who has a really embarrassing picture of me on her blog

 

Tiny little Vanessa (VandCo)

 

Sherri (A Quilting Life) who can piece/quilt/bind a quilt in 37 minutes flat.

 

Super talented Lori Holt (Bee in my Bonnet) and Nanette (Freda's Hive)

The talented Kris from Pretty by Hand who is knee deep in Project Simplify made this darling bag modeled after Sugar Rush from my book.  LOVE it.  She may or may not be making a Ruby version for me as we speak.  :-)

Love it.

A whole bunch of fun girls, Heather (Olive and Ollie) Monica (Happy Zombie)  Mo (Lime Gardenias) and Traci (Hip Fabric)

 

Pam (PamKittyMorning)  and Elizabeth (Late Bloomer)

 

(You already know this girl is my favorite) Lissa (Moda genius)

 

Who happened to find this mantel for us and paint it green to boot.  

Thanks L!  You know I heart ya!

The Fat Quarter Shop ladies, Debbie and Kimberly

 

Andrea, my amazing quilter who quilted Swoon and Jellybean.  (Love her!)

 

Susanne, editor extraordinaire of Stash Books fame 

 

My favorite Material girl, Nadine, who brought me the tiniest pair of gray Toms for the littlest man of the house.  I may have cried.  I love them so.  (Thanks lady!)

  

The girls of Quiltique, my local shop

Also, one last shout out to my mother, who puts up with me every market, and at least twice a day via phone every day in between.  Sure love you mom.  

I know, I know, I have a lot of favorite people. The thing about these pictures?  This is only about half of them. (There are more photos over in my Flickr stream, if you want to take a look)  And to further embarrass myself, here is the booth tour by ModaGene, like last year, minus the baby bump but with additional nervous laughter and forgetting what my quilts are called.

Oh, I almost forgot!  Using my super scientific method, the winner of the Ruby box is...

Jessie L who said: what beautiful fabric and quilts!! I was just telling my mom that I wanted to make a string quilt and that I really wanted RUBY! :) PERFECT! It was meant to be ;) Thanks for a FUN giveaway.

Congratulations Jessie!  Email me your info and I'll get that box out to you.  

One last note, thank you to all of you who came and said hello at Quilt Market, and to all my customers and shop owners.  I so appreciate each and every one of you.  Thank you for making what I do what it is.  

Really.  

Thanks.

 

5 months

(Yes, I know I'm extra late with this post, but better late than never right?  I did take the pictures on his 5 month mark, it has just taken me 3 weeks to post them.  I blame Quilt Market.  Thankful for my One Line a Day so that I can keep up with all the baby milestones and such.)

Boy 3 is 5 months old (and then some).  Can't believe how fast he is growing. 

At his 5 month appointment, he weighed a whopping 18.5 lbs and is in the 90th percentile on his height. That's my boy.  

He loves solids so far, pears, rice cereal and green beans seem to be his favorite.  Not sweet potatoes, though.  

Other accomplishments this month?  Rolling from front to back, discovering his tongue, and the ability to grab anything I am holding in a split second.  Love those grabby, chubby little hands.  Moreso when they aren't grabbing my dinner plate.  (Okay, lets be honest, Cafe Rio tin.)

I love this boy.  Even more than last month.  

Every single thing about him.  

Can you blame me?

 

*quilt is Little Ones, fabric is Ruby

Yep, the new stuff

I'm back!  

Wow, that was a lot of work.  I always love Quilt Market, especially the part where I get to see all my friends, but it is so wonderful to be home.  I've been dying to show you my new patterns for a month now, and today is the day.  It is always half exciting, and half just plain terrifying to put them out there.  I hope you like them!  Here goes nothin'...

First off, Jellybean

Made from, you guessed it, a Jelly Roll.  This one was made with Ruby, but you probably knew that too.  It goes together so easily, and is great to strip piece.

Sherri pieced this for me in all the market craziness, and I am so happy with it!  Andrea quilted it and did an amazing job.  Love. Those. Scallops.  Perfect.

Next, Little Ones

These little baby (or kid) quilts are just so sweet.  I made the blue and green one for Nicholas' room, and love the more modern look the  straight line quilting gives it.  

 

The blue/green uses yardage, and the scrappy one is out of charm squares.  They are really quick to put together.  No Y seams (Hallelujah!)

Just Swell

This little sewing machine cover and pincushion set was my favorite thing to make for Market.  The pattern has instructions to fit any size sewing machine, and those little chevron pincushions are so fun!  

I made them out of Bliss, as the printing was due long before Ruby came, and I can't wait to make them out of Ruby.  Maybe tonight?  After T-ball?  Here's hoping.

In a Jiffy

Two simple quilts from one Layer Cake.  I called them Zig Zag

and Ric Rac,

since you know, that's what they look like.  Pretty clever huh?  ;-)  Tammy quilted these, and did a lovely job.

And last but not least, Swoon

 

It's no secret this is my favorite quilt of the moment.  Sorry there are so many pictures, I couldn't choose.

It is really so much easier than it looks, and consists entirely of rectangles, half square triangles, and flying geese.  Any quilter could make this.  I promise.  Really.  Just pick a stack of your favorite fat quarters and you are good to go.

Maybe my favorite I've designed so far.  I love the 24" blocks, and how they look so modern and fun.  Sherri pieced this one, and Andrea quilted it.  Both did so perfectly.  It measures 80" x 80", so if you added a nice, thick border you could make it bed size.  I might do that for my bed.  Or just be lazy and use this one.  Yeah, probably that.

I made a one block version a while back, and added an 8" border for a baby quilt.  Also for Nicholas.  This poor boy has more quilts than he knows what to do with...  

Anyhow, all 5 new patterns are available in my shop as PDFs and paper patterns.  They are also on their way to quilt shops, both online and local.  And distributors, and all that.  If you are a shop, and would like to order some, email me.

I was trying to think of a Ruby giveaway to do with the new stuff and then today a giant box of Ruby scraps came from Moda.  They were the leftovers from the samples cut for the Moda sales team, and most are strips ranging from 2"-5" in width, and all different lengths.  Perfect for a scrap quilt, strip quilt, string quilt, anything.   

So, I thought I'd share!  If you'd like a big Priority Mail box stuffed full with Ruby scraps (about 5 pounds worth), just leave me a comment and tell me which new pattern is your favorite.  And also what you are eating for dinner.  I need ideas.  The cooking situation is pretty grim over here.

Next up?  Market pictures!  So, so many market pictures.  Even more pictures than this post. You've been warned.

**This giveaway is closed.  See the winner here.**

Scrap Lab

Back in September while I was super pregnant at The Creative Connection, I had the pleasure of eating several meals (and laughing, a lot of laughing) with Jennifer Keltner, the editor of American Patchwork and Quilting, Quilts and More, etc.  

One night at dinner Jennifer mentioned that she had and idea for Joanna and me.  8 months (and a baby) later we got it all figured out with Jill and the Q&M team, and it just so happened to start in the current (summer) issue.  

(Yes, I'm a little behind.  And yes, Joanna totally scooped me weeks ago.  That darn Joanna...) 

Anyhow, here's the jist of it.  In each of the next 6 issues of Quilts and More Joanna and I are going to make projects from a specific group of scraps.  For the summer issue, we invited our friend Brenda to join us (Hi Bren!) and we had one fat quarter and 1 charm pack to design something fun.  I made three baby bibs,

Joanna made a darling (and simple!) table runner,

 

and Brenda made an adorable pincushion,

all from Joanna's Buttercup line for Moda.  

I've had a few people ask, and nope, that is not my baby.  Close though!  This one is mine:

(love him!)

If you would like to make any of these projects, the instructions are in the summer 2011 issue of Quilts and More, and Joanna even whipped up a few kits to go with it.   

 

A few other little surprises when the issue came?  Q and M listed my book in their Hot Stuff section.  Seriously?  I'm pretty sure that is the one and only time my face has been/will ever be on anything that says Hot Stuff.  (Good heavens, it is 3 pm, and I'm writing this post in the school pick-up lane in my pajamas and sunglasses...  Don't judge.)  I think I'll frame it. Thank you so much for the mention, girls!

And one other thing... Moda used one of my pictures for a full page ad for Joanna's next line, Strawberry Fields, which trust me is a gorrrrgeous line.  Remember how I made a quilt from it and then I never posted about it?  Yeah, that.  I'll try to finish up that post tonight.  (Sorry I'm so lame.)  Thanks Moda!  That was a lovely surprise.

So to sum up, Scrap Lab in Quilts and More, pretty Moda ad, and I need a shower.

Happy...Monday, is it?