Simplify

Odds and Ends

Hello again! I know what you are thinking, what's with all the blogging lately? I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but is sure is nice to be back here!

Just thought I'd stop by today for a quick post and answer a few questions that have been asked most frequently lately, and tell you about a few things I've been meaning to. Sound good? Here goes.

*One of the most common questions I am asked is what white fabric I use in my quilts? Odds are, if I've made in in the past 5 years, and it looks white, it's most likely Moda Bella in bleached white 97. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the PERFECT creamy white. More on that here.

Many of you have asked for matching Bella solids for our lines, and if you look over on the right sidebar, you can links for each of our fabric lines. Click on each one to see the fabric line and matching Bella solids. The navy solid we used with April Showers is listed there as well.

*Yes, there are solids in Miss Kate!  The navy, red, aqua, coral, green, and gray are all printed solids just like we had in Scrumptious. I used them in both of my new bigger quilts and loved them!

*Speaking of Miss Kate, it ships to stores in August, and precuts should be available in the next little while. I'll keep you posted. April Showers is in stores and online now, and for those of you who have been asking for a kit, Craftsy is offering a kit for my Raincheck quilt over in their fabric shop right now. Thanks Craftsy!

 

*Rememeber the Bernina contest I mentioned a few posts back? I'm not one to bug you to vote everyday, but it is still going on, and you can vote once a day, if you'd like. Each time you vote you are entered to win a Bernina 350SE, so you should vote!  I would love one of you to win it!  In case you missed it, this is the one I designed, so I hope you like it. ;-)

*One of my favorite quilting magazines, Love Patchwork and Quilting sent over a pretty great promotion for me to share with you, which of course I'm happy to pass on. If you live in the US you can try 3 issues for just $10 when you subscribe. Totally worth it!  Here's the link if you are interested, and just a heads up, I have a little something (and a big something) in an issue coming soon!

(photo from my Instagram)

*Last but not least, the most common question these days is how I hang my mini quilts. There are several different ways to hang them, but I use regular old clear push pins. You can find them at Target, and probably anwhere that sells office supplies. Simple as that. 

I think that's all I had on my list, was there anything I missed?

Thanks for stopping by!

Camille

 

Sewing with Miss Kate

Guess what!  My brand new patterns for Miss Kate are finally (FINALLY!) ready to go, and I am so happy to share them with you today!

(Warning: many, many photos ahead. I promise I'll try to keep the exclamation points to a minimum.)

It's been 4 weeks today since Miss Kate showed up on my doorstep, and it has been a crazy 4 weeks. 2 big quilts, 2 minis, a few sewing bags, a pincushion and 5 patterns later, here we are.

I hope you like them!

First up is my favorite this time, Red Letter Day:

This quilt is 67.5" x 67.5" big and is made up of big 22.5" blocks. It's a fat quarter quilt and is strip pieced so it comes together really easily. 

When I was designing this one a few months ago, I kept thinking it had such a Scandinavian feel to it.  Can you see it?  The red center block is my favorite, and gives it a lot of personality, I think. I was having the best time piecing it one day, and kept thinking about a really good friend of mine who always used to say "It's a red letter day!" Perfect, right?

Abby quilted it for me, and I love love love this quilting.  It's so perfect for this quilt! Thanks Abby!

Yep, it's my favorite. 

Next up is one you may have seen a few weeks back, but I couldn't leave it out of the new Miss Kate patterns, and hopefully you don't mind seeing it one more time. In case you missed it, this is Mini Round & Round:

Probably my most requested mini pattern (next to mini Swoon), especially after the Round & Round along a while back.

It was a such a delight to make! I took way too many pictures of it too.

Oops.

Next up is a quilt that was inspired by one of my favorite older patterns, Red Velvet. Except this one is easier to piece since it it simple block construction, and a whole lot more scrappy. Can't go wrong with scrappy!

 It's 60" x 72", and can be made from either a Layer Cake or a Jelly Roll. 

(I should probably stop chatting so much, since you are probably just scrolling down through the pictures. ;-)

Andrea Marquez over at Christmas Goose quilted it for me and did a fantastic job, as always.  Thank you Andrea!

Next up is Sundae Scallop Sewing:

A couple of weeks ago I took a little break and made myself a little bag with scallops on it to hold all of my binding supplies (clover clips, thread, embroidery scissors, etc) and posted a picture of it on Instagram. After several requests for a pattern, I had a good excuse to make a scissor pouch and scallop pincushion to go with it!  If you haven't been brave enough to tackle zippers, these fully lined bags are great practice, and you'll be able to whip them up in no time.  

Also, if you are like me, you can never have too many pincushions.

The scallop bag was inspired by our Sundae Scallop print, which we brought back from Ruby for this line (!!!). I'm so happy to have it back, especially in navy!

You probably saw this next one coming. I couldn't help myself.

Mini Rise & Shine:

After I made the big Rise & Shine (which was named after my oldest son's favorite Kindergarten song, did I forget to mention that?) I couldn't help but make a tiny version of it for my growing mini wall. 

And I know I always say that my newest patterns are my favorite, and I've said the word favorite 87 times in this post, but look at it!  How could it not be my new favorite mini?  

Okay, okay, one of two new favorites. Is that better?

So there you have it. 5 new patterns!  They are all ready to go in my shop as instant PDF downloads, and as soon as the printing comes in next week the paper patterns will be sent out too. Do you have a favorite?  Or are you as bad at picking favorites as I apparently am?  I do have 3 favorite children, so maybe it's just kind of like that?

Have a great weekend!

Camille

 

Bernina Faceplate Face-Off

A few months ago I was asked by BERNINA if I would like to participate in a pretty amazing contest. The minute I heard what it was, it was a BIG yes!  They asked 10 designers to design a faceplace for the BERNINA 350 Special Edition and it's up to you to choose the winning design. There are 10 different designs, and this one is mine:

I wanted to design something clean, simple and classic, but still fun. I chose a whole bunch of cheery colors and an orange peel/cathedral design. I hope you like it!

So here's how the contest works.  It is hosted over on Facebook, and all you have to do is head over to the BerninaUSA Facebook page and click on the Faceplate Faceoff tab to vote, or just click here. Did I mention that every time you vote you are entered to win one? Yep, every time you vote from now through April 14 you are entered to win a brand new BERNINA 350 SE. Because really, how great would that be? Pretty great, if you ask me.

Good luck, and thank you BERNINA!  

Edit: There have been a few questions over on Facebook, and you can vote from a mobile device, you just have to use your browser, not facebook app, and choose 'destop site' from very bottom the main dropdown menu.

 

Sewing up a storm

I've been sewing around the clock over here, working on my patterns for Miss Kate, and I'll have all of those to show you in the next week or two. I hope you like them!

I do have one little mini I've been meaning to make for awhile now, since the Round&Round along, and my Miss Kate scraps were just perfect for it.  

Yes, there will be a few solids in the group this time, like we had with Scrumptious. They are so pretty, and this aqua is my favorite!

So anyway, here is mini Round&Round. The whole thing is just 11" x 11", and would also make a pretty awesome quilt, if you made a whole bunch of them.  (I should do that, shoulnd't I??) I owe you an update of my mini wall in the next post. Remind me, will you?

The pattern is available as an automatic PDF download in the shop, and the paper patterns will ship next week when the printing comes in.

More than a few of you have asked where the name Miss Kate came from, and believe it or not, Miss Kate was my Grandma Ruby's little sister. It seemed so fitting for this line, since it is a "sister group" and we wanted it to have some Ruby flair.  But we'll talk more about that soon. I can't wait to share more of Miss Kate with you!

I'd like you to meet...

Miss Kate 

by Bonnie & Camille for Moda

Showing April 2014 and in stores this fall.

She's my favorite.