EEEE!!!!!!! I am so happy right now you guys!! That is my quilt, Whirlpool, on the cover of American Quilter Magazine!! *happy dance*
Okay….breathe in and out….okay…I’m good!
This is one of the big things I have been working on in the last few months. After the book was canceled (see this post to read all about it)I started submitting designs to different magazines. The first place I contacted was American Quilter MAgazine. I have had a subscription to AQS magazine for years. I love every issue, there is always something for me in them. And the subscription comes with membership benefits, like digital content, web bonuses, and access to back issue articles and pattern files.
My shelf of American Quilter Magazine. 4 years worth plus a random Jan 2007. I am slowly filling in my back issues as I find them!
I was stunned and thrilled at the reaction to my design submissions. Michele, the Editor in Chief, was so supportive and just awesome to work with. We played around with some ideas ( I had a lot!). Then Kim@I Adore Pattern told me she had sent some fabrics to AQS to help promote her line, Tidal Lace. So I decided to mock up another quilt using her fabrics and sent it off to Michele. Everyone loved it, so off to production we went. Whirlpool was a go! Windham was totally awesome and generously provided fabric for the quilt.
One the top was done, however, I was a little stuck. How to quilt it? My usual long arm quilter was on vacation at the time. A finished quilt post in one of the modern quilting Facebook groups led me to Mandy Liens of Mandalei Quilts. She is a super talented quilter in NY state, and I loved her work. We got to talking, and she came up with this amazing quilt job for Whirlpool! She took my quilt and brought out the best in it, which is what a good quilter does. She even has some Craftsy classes you can take for quilting (super talented!)
A snowy day at the park
The day of the photo shoot it snowed. Which is very unusual for Vancouver, but it was also the only sunny day that week ( its the rainy season. I have a half dozen things that need photographs. STOP RAINING!) So off we tromped to the park!
I am so happy with how Whirlpool came together. The entire process was great! the March Issue hit newsstands today, so go out and get yourself a copy! Or better yet, become and AQS member! Because for the rest of the year, I have a web bonus series of patterns coming out with each issue! AND with a membership you can download an EQ7 design file to color your own version of Whirlpool! YES!! As well as get all the awesome content that is members only. You also get the 6 magazines a year. (Disclaimer: AQS did not ask me to promote for them, I just think it is an awesome publication and have subscribed for year and never been disappointed!)
You can order a copy of the magazine here, and if you want to make your own just like mine you can ORDER THE KIT HERE! YAY!!!!!! Thats right AQS loved the pattern and fabric so much that they decided to make it a kit! Kim and I were over the moon when we got the email, and I still cannot believe it!
I hope you all enjoy making Whirlpool as much as I did!!
Down by the Sea is finally ready and available! Just in time too, as Tidal Lace, the collection this quilt features, is shipping to stores now! Kim @ I Adore Pattern did an amazing job with this line, and I absolutely love it.
The pattern includes a size chart for four different sizes from Crib to King, as well as optional yardage cutting for a separate border and background. Down by the Sea is beginner friendly and easy to put together! I also have a free tutorial for using the triangle scraps from the quilt to make some pretty throw pillows! You can also relive the fun of the Tidal Lace blog hop from that link.
Tidal Lace Wheel, borrowed from Kim with permission
You can follow the link HERE for the pattern, which is available in my Craftsy Shop.
This is just the first of many big things to come this year, so be sure to follow along!
Welcome to my stop on the Tidal Lace blog tour! I first met Kim through the Quilt Design a Day group and we got to know each other over time. I was thrilled when Kim approached me and asked if I wanted to make something for her debut line of fabric from Windham. Of course I said yes! I had a design in mind almost immediately.
I love Tidal Lace so much. The colors, the texture, the OMBRE! Woot! Ombre. I thought a long time about all the wonderful things I could say about Tidal Lace. Kim did an outstanding job in her debut collection, and it shows. The prints are soft, delicate, and so very very versatile. The colors are a feast for the eyes, and overall Tidal lace it suited to so many different things, which you will see in the coming days as you hop from blog to blog. I absolutely adore the starlight blenders and the tidal lace border print. Oh, that border print! I have plans for that print, which may or may not include fussy cutting a whole lot of skirt panels. We will see.
Tidal Lace Wheel, borrowed from Kim with permission
When I saw Tidal Lace for the first time, I was really struck by it. I knew Kim’s inspiration-days sifting through antique lace with her grandmother, family vacations to the ocean, and how she connected the memories into the collection. The stories really stuck with me. Most of us had someone in our lives, a mother, grandmother, favorite aunt, that taught us to sew or planted the seeds of creativity that later sprout and flourish. In my family, quilts were given for any occasion-new babies, weddings, moving out on your own or just because. My own grandmother instilled an appreciation of quilting into her children and grandchildren. I have memories of visiting my grandma at the local quilt shop, where she would let me play with jars of buttons and scraps, and of sitting in her basement making our first quilt together. I still have that quilt, and I remember how happy I was to be able to spend so much time with grandma.
I also started thinking about quilting, and how as quilters we use fabric to make connections and create memories. We create to express love, friendship, joy, and also in times of hardship and sorrow. Quilting forms threads, connections, between individuals, friends, and family. The sharing of ideas and inspirations, whether its blogging, instragram, or a casual conversation at work or in the grocery store, strengthens those connections. Every handmade treasure we gift, swap, share and show add more threads, until the connections form a delicate lacework that strengthens with each pass. Many of us have formed strong bonds of friendship with people we may never meet, all centered around the craft of sewing and quilting. We are part of a community, based on sharing and inspiring. I am honored to be able to express myself in fabric and thread, and be able to share the experience with others.
I used Tidal Lace to create a queen size quilt. I wanted something that would be simple, letting the fabrics shine and take advantage of the amazing border print. The pattern, which will have four sizes, will be coming around the same time as the collection is released is now available from my Craftsy shop. In the meantime I really wanted something to share with everyone. There were a lot of leftover half square triangles left over from the quilt, so I chose to make pillows to match the quilt. They whip up quick and we had a lot of fun at the beach taking pictures.
H helping out
After the tutorial there is a Fabric Giveaway! Windham was generous enough to provide a full fat quarter bundle of Tidal Lace for each blog to give away! When you’re done here, hop on over to Anne @Play-Crafts and check out her awesome pillow! The full hop list can be foundhere,be sure to visit everyone and enter for your chance to win a bundle. There is a whole lot of talent packed into this hop, and I can’t wait to see what everyone else has planned for Kim!
The Tide Pool Pillow Tutorial
Fabric Required:
An assortment of HST corner scraps-16 background and 16 prints. If you are cutting from scraps you want 8 squares 4″ of assorted prints and 8 of the background, cut in half to make 16 HST’s of each
4 strips of fabric 18 1/2″x 3″ for borders (I used the background print)
2 rectangles, 14 1/2″x 18 1/2″ for pillow back
1 square of batting 19″x19″
1 square of plain fabric or broadcloth 19″x 19″
*optional* a 6″x 90″ pieced strip for the ruffle (I used the narrow border print)
an 18″ square pillow form
Instructions
1. Sew the print HST’s right sides together with the background HST’s to make 16 HST squares. Press and trim the squares to 3 1/2″.
2. Arrange the squares on your design wall or cutting table so that the HST squares form chevrons. Play with the layout until you are happy with it.
HST squares arranged
3. Sew the HST squares into pairs and then into the chevrons. Double check the layout on your deisgn wall
Double Check!
4. Sew the chevrons together to make the center of the pillow. Press well, square and trim.
5. Mark the seam allowance in the corner of the pillow center. Pin the border strips right sides together to the pillow sides, matching centers. Sew the border strips to the side of the pillow the marked corner of each seam allowance. Press the strips out, pin the top and bottom and sew in the same way, stopping and starting at the corner.
6. Draw a line from the corner of the seam allowance to the edge of the strip. This will be the stitch line for the your mitred border. Do this for both sides for the top and bottom strips.
7. Fold the pillow right sides together on the diagonal so that the ends of the border strips are matched up. Push the seam allowances out of the way and sew down the line, starting at the seam allowance and stitching the edge.
8. Trim the seam to 1/4″. Repeat sewing for the remaining three corners, trim, and press all the seams open. Press the pillow top well.
9. Layer the pillow top, batting and the broadcloth square to make a small pillow sandwich. Baste and quilt as desired. Trim and square the finished quilt sandwich. * Now would be the time to make the optional ruffled edge. I use this tutorial,. If you don’t have a ruffler for your machine, a line of basting and then a gentle gather does the trick.*
10. Take a 14 1/2″x 18 1/2″ rectangle. Fold one end over 1/2″ to the wrong side, and then 1/2″ again, so that the raw edge is covered. Repeat for the other rectangle. Topstitch next to the fold. Layer the pieces right sides together on the pillow front, so that the finished edges overlap by 4″. Stitch around the pillow 3/8″ from the raw edge. Trim the corners and finish your edges either with a serger or a zigzag/overlock stitch on your domestic. Turn the pillow to right side out through the opening in the back, stuff with an 18″ pillow form, and enjoy! The pillow finished slightly under 18″ square, giving the pillow some loft when the form goes in.
Voila! I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!
On to the Giveaway!!
To enter, just leave a comment below on this post! Tell me what you would create to make a connection with someone, which is your favorite, or just how much you love the collection (because, come on, who wouldn’t love the collection!)
Tidal Lace Wheel, borrowed from Kim with permission
The winner will be drawn Sept 23 at 8pm PST. Make sure to visit the other blogs to see their awesome projects and inrease your chances of procuring this lovely bundle of joy!
Alrighty! Enough Suspense for everyone =) A few months ago I was asked to make a quilt for a new fabric line, Tidal Lace by Kim Anderson of I Adore Pattern. Kim is a member of the QDAD group, and being asked to make a quilt for her was a thrill! I Had a lot of fun designing and playing with her fabrics. They are so soft, the colors are striking and rich, and the patterns are uniquely Kim. Today Kim and Tidal Lace were featured on Oliver+S blog. There is also a giveaway involved. My quilt, Down By The Sea, was featured in one of the images. It also happens to be the image used to feature the collection on the Windham Fabrics website AND in the email the company send out to retailer. How awesome is that?!
Down by the Sea
There is going to be a blog hop in September, where I will share a tutorial for a pillow and release the Down by the Sea pattern as the first for sale pattern for my new pattern company: Stacey Day Quilts. The quilt itself will have yardage and cutting included for multiple sizes, and the pillow will be a free tutorial utilizing the scraps from the quilt.
Tidal Lace will be available in stores in January, so keep your eyes peeled!
