February 24, 2012

Friday Hodgepodge

Do you ever have a week where you feel like this by the end of it?
that's me on The Bubble Rock Trail in Maine
You start out thinking, "How am i ever going to finish all the stuff on my to do list?" And then slowly but surely, one-by-one you cross things off and inch closer to the top of the Sisyphean hill until at last everything is done, finito, sewn up (pun intended), and accomplished. Not every week ends like that, but i'm happy to say this one did! Next fabric collection is designed! Phew, i think i'll wipe the sweat off my forehead with these Swankie Hankies (beware, more shameless promotion ahead):
Yes, you can now blow your nose right into my designs! These cute tissues are now available at JoAnn fabric stores.

I'm also thrilled to let you know that these porcelain tea mugs featuring my tart little lemon design have landed on the shelves at Crate and Barrel! They come with a metal brew basket in case you use loose tea, and a lid that keeps your tea really hot.
Of course two seconds after i took the photo above, Franny jumped into the frame!
After testing out the tea mug, i zipped to Crate to buy one for my Mom, but got there just moments after they closed. It was worth the trip though...because when i pulled up, my jaw dropped to see the mugs right there in the brightly lit window!
Close up mug-shot (get it?):
Yesterday i was on twitter briefly and someone mentioned how much they liked the reversible quilt i designed...which made me realize i had neglected to share that with you. It's called "Double the Fun" and lo' and behold, it's on the cover of the Spring issue of Quilts and More magazine!
I love this magazine because it is crammed with so many cute and (like it says) EASY projects. Easy is my favorite word when it comes to sewing. But this issue is also incredibly special to me because it's like being squished into the middle of a happy friend sandwich. Know who else's projects are featured in here? Joanna, Camille,  Aneela, Lauren + Jessi, Monica, Sherri, and Vanessa! I feel really lucky to be in such great company and am thankful to the people at Quilts and More for including my quilt in there too. It's available on newsstands now and if you'd like, you can snatch a copy at Fat Quarter Shop.

And about that quilt...it would not have come to be without Sherri's help. She pieced the whole thing and made some very helpful improvements along the way (thank you Sherri!). You can read more about it on her blog. As for the design, i have to come clean about that. I was aiming to design a simple quilt using a jelly roll and liked the idea of separating the colors into warm and cool groups to give people a sense of the possibilities for (in this instance) Terrain. So i designed both quilt tops and then couldn't decide which to feature. Warm, cool, warm cool...it was driving me nutso! I had both up on my computer screen (and i was staring away at them, still indecisive) when Pete walked by. I asked him which he preferred and he said, "Why don't you make it reversible?" Brilliant! Now why didn't i think of that?? So you see, the only name that's missing from the magazine is Pete's :)

What fun to read all of your guesses about the Mystery post from the other day! The comments are closed, but let me say that lots of you guessed correctly *wink*. Don't miss the rest of the tour:
Today – Fig Tree Quilts
Monday 2/27 – Minick & Simpson
Tuesday 2/28 – Cosmo Cricket
Wed 2/29 – Sweetwater
Thurs 3/1 – Fat Quarter Shop – Grand Prize Entry Post
Fri 3/2 – Fat Quarter Shop – Winners Post

And to answer some of your inquiries, *yes* i will, eh hem, be modeling the item just for you (at my expense).

Finally, i've been neglectful about Furry Fridays, so am making up for it by adding a little extra fur to end the week. It's amazing how quickly these two have grown! Remember when they could both stretch out in their kitty hammock side-by-side?
They still do, but it's just a liiiitle how shall i say? Cozier?
And again, an empty box proves to be the most entertaining toy and this game could have gone on all day long! (Sorry for the wobbles, it was not easy to push the box and hold my iphone at the same time!)
And two more:
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
xo,
kate

February 21, 2012

Mystery Hop Stop

Welcome hoppers! Today is my day of the
and i just wanted to take a minute to thank Kimberly Jolly and the crew at Fat Quarter Shop for all the work they do not only to keep customers happy, but also in helping us designers connect with you in new and fun ways...like this!

By now you've probably gotten the hang of how this works, so after lots of rummaging around in my closet — which i admit sent me speeding off to Target® for some closet organizer bins—here is my "Vintage Modern" item:
In case you are new to the blog hop, what you'll need to do is look long and hard at that image above and try to guess what it is. You have only 24 hours to leave one guess in the comment area of this post. Whoever guesses correctly will then be entered to win this lovely little Good Fortune layer cake compliments of Fat Quarter Shop (thank you thank you!):

To help you out a teenie bit, here is a clue...
This item is older than i am.
It was bought here:
photo by Ángel Franco/The New York Times, published December 16, 2010
In this city:
Photo by DSchwen, ©2008
When this guy was President:
PD Photo: The White House
This won the Grammy for song of the year,
and this won the Oscar for best picture:

This item will never wrinkle because of what it's made out of, and you'll never need a belt to hold it/them up. Now it's up to you...put your thinking cap on and let the guessing begin!

If you'd like to sign up for the Block of the Month Club featuring Bonnie and Camille's beautiful Vintage Modern fabric collection, you can do so here.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. The mystery continues tomorrow over at Sandy's blog so be sure to visit her too. Good luck everyone!

****Comments are closed...Good luck everyone!****

February 14, 2012

XO

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself.  To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.  To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.
~Kahlil Gibran
Happy Valentine's Day (everyday)!

To help spread the love far and wide, Kimberly and the crew at Fat Quarter Shop have a fun treat in store for you. They are hosting the very first ever Designer Mystery Blog Hop! Twelve Moda designers (lucky me included) had the chance to work with Bonnie and Camille's new fabric line called "Vintage Modern". We each designed a block that became part of this gorgeous quilt:
You can sign up for the Block of the Month at Fat Quarter Shop.

For the blog hop, Kimberly asked us all to dig around in our closets and pull out some item that meant "Vintage Modern" to us. What would it be for you? Not so easy, but lots of fun (even though it made me aware of all the spring closet cleaning i'll need to do!). So each day for the next few weeks, you will have to be a detective. Each designer will be posting a tiny close-up image of their "vintage modern" item along with a clue. Leave one guess about what you think the item is, and you could win a layer cake from the designer's most current fabric collection...or maybe the grand prize, which is of course...a mystery!

Get out your spy glass and follow the clues:
Details and Introduction: Jolly Jabber
Wednesday 2/15 – Primitive Gatherings
Thursday 2/16 – Me and My Sister Designs
Friday 2/17 – Aneela Hoey
Monday 2/20 – Blackbird Designs
Tuesday 2/21 <--- Me!
Wednesday 2/22 – Sandy Gervais
Thursday 2/23 – Bonnie & Camille
Friday 2/24 – Fig Tree Quilts
Monday 2/27 – Minick & Simpson
Tuesday 2/28 – Cosmo Cricket
Wed 2/29 – Sweetwater
Thurs 3/1 – Fat Quarter Shop – Grand Prize Entry Post
Fri 3/2 – Fat Quarter Shop – Winners Post

In the meantime...
...from me to you!
xo,
kate

February 3, 2012

February 1, 2012

Designing In Progress

Shhh...listen carefully...what's that sound? Uh, do you hear it too? I thought so! It's been a while so i'm popping in here to break up the cricket chorus and let you in on a few things that are going on here and elsewhere. I am going to temporarily ignore the lengthy "to do" list that is pulling at my sleeve and staring back at me as i type. Look away! Let's procrastinate together for a little while :)

One morning last week, my Mom and i snuck away to J and L Orchids in Easton, CT. No matter how deep the snow or frigid the chill outdoors, beautiful orchids are grown inside this magical little greenhouse oasis in the middle of the woods. It's impossible to leave without being awed and inspired — especially at this time of year when most everything is in bloom.
Underside of leaves, not sure what plant. Amazing lines and color.

This orchid was from Hawaii and almost came home with me:
This one did come home with me:
Oops, and so did this one:
Now let's hope i can keep them alive long enough
to bloom next year!

Other than that, time is flying! These past few weeks have been a blurry kaleidoscope of creativity and color (perhaps made blurrier from a lack of sleep) that will eventually become my next line of fabric for Moda and for you, i hope! I still have a ways to go, but it's coming together...

In the meantime, while it's quiet on here, there is so much going on that you might want to know about:
Cara is hosting her second annual Basics Charity Challenge with the wonderful and worthwhile mission of helping to provide basic necessities to women's, children's or homeless shelters. I love that Cara is inspiring people to take action, and as some extra motivation to get involved, she's also offerring prizes!

Erin and Ali have put together a superfun Tangerine Tango Quilt Challenge that involves my all-time favorite color on the planet: orange. When Pantone announced Tangerine Tango as the 2012 color of the year, i was so excited because well, i seem to have a love affair with this color that has even spread to Pinterest. It might also be true that i have an incredibly hard time designing anything without using orange somewhere. Christmas designs are the hardest for me! But back to the challenge, i was absolutely thrilled and honored when Erin asked me to be a guest judge for this challenge and am already excited to see so many beautiful creations popping up on their Flickr group. This is going to be so hard! If you want to get in on the fun, Fat Quarter Shop has put together a Tango bundle to get you started. Good luck!
Fat Quarterly Issue 8 just landed in my inbox last week and it's packed with some awesome project ideas that involve a variety of paper piecing techniques — i've never tried paper piecing, but am already excited to make this clock. There are also inspiring designs for pillows, blocks, and quilts. I might be just a teenie bit biased, but John made a beautiful quilt out of Good Fortune called Double Happiness (which made me triple happy!), that is also featured in this issue. Thanks always to the team at Fat Quarterly for putting together another dazzler.

Just browsed through the latest issue of Adore Home online magazine and am adoring (couldn't resist) so many of the ideas for incorporating pops of color into your home. Eh hem, page 11 orange wingback chair?? Love it! But i'd settle for the cute yellow pendant lamp on p. 39.

And finally, i saw this on Jan's blog and could not resist sharing it too. At least someone is getting some sleep!
Time to get back to the (other) drawing board!
More soon.
xo,
kate