Happy Zombie

Welcome to the final day of the Ruby Star Wrap-Along! The Wrap-Along is the brainchild of Amy of Sukie - don’t you know who I am? to celebrate Melody Miller and Allison Tannery’s beautiful and craftyawesome new book, Ruby Star Wrapping - Creating Gifts to Reuse, Regive & Relove.

You can read more about the entire Wrap-Along here for info on where to buy the book and enter to win prizes. In addition, visit Sew,Mama,Sew! for the Ruby Star Wrapping Contest where you can enter to win some seriously good stuff by showing what you’ve made from the book.

The project I planned to make for the Wrap-Along was the Gift Card Truck Softie and use Winterkist to make a faux shirt to make the cute little truck softie.

I made a placket from strip of fabric joined at the center and pressed open, and then added two prairie points to make the cuffs.

And then I went away for the weekend with my friends (Yams!) for a sewing weekend (Yamcamp!) in Sisters.  And then a blizzard crashed our party and we spent more time than planned up at Sisters (poor us, snowbound with friends and fabric). And more time on my Instagram as well!  And well, in my rush to get my project done and lost time - I decided to fudge a little on the project because before I knew it - it was time to post my day on the Wrap-Along, and I still had so much to do, so I turned the truck into a shirt pillow. So I feel kinda bad that I didn’t make the cute little truck, but I also like that I’m showing an alternate option. At least that’s my hope!

I added some buttons down the placket and popped in a gift card (I used my VA card - a precious card from my Uncle Sam) and made gift card pillow. I thought about how fun it would be to make little love pillows and slip in little love notes, or make a pillow out of your kids outgrown jammies and make little tooth fairy pillows.

Below is a list of everyone who participated in the Wrap-Along, and everyone is linked directly to the beautiful project they made. Totally worth a visit to everyone!

NOV 7 – Anna of noodlehead
NOV 9 - Amanda of A Crafty Fox
NOV 12 – Elizabeth of Oh, Fransson!
NOV 14 – Brooke of Pitter Putter Stitch
NOV 16 – Erin of Two More Seconds
NOV 19 - Jen of BettyCrockerAss
NOV 21 – Rochelle of Lucky Lucille
NOV 23 – Sukie of Sukie – don’t you know who I am?
NOV 26 – Elizabeth of Don’t Call Me Betsy
NOV 28 – Gina and crew of Bolt Neighborhood
NOV 30 – Ellen of The Long Thread
DEC 3 – Katie of Swim, Bike, Quilt!
DEC 5 - Faith of Fresh Lemon Quilts
DEC 7 - Lee of Freshly Pieced
DEC 10 - Maureen of Maureen Cracknell Handmade
DEC 12 - Sara of Sew Sweetness
DEC 14 - Colleen of The Busy Bean
DEC 17 - Amy of Diary of a Quilter
DEC 19 - Monica of Happy Zombie

On a side note, had it not been for the blizzard in the Cascades and having to turn around and head back to Sisters - Violet, Elizabeth and I never would have seen these deers crossing the highway near Black Butte Ranch. Thanks to my CoPilotViolet for grabbing my iPhone in time and getting shots of this amazing winter scene!

It’s here, it’s here, it’s here… Winterkist is finally here! It’s been a long wait, and Winterkist has finally started shipping. I am so thrilled and of course I hope it’ll be well received and liked.  To kick things off, the Fat Quarter Shop is featured me and Winterkist on their Jolly Jabber blog in their “Designer Tidbits” feature. I personally think they’re pretty brave to run a Q & A on me… but I behaved (cough).

As the shipments trickle in, so far I’ve learned of the following shops that are selling Winterkist:
Brick & Mortar Shops
Bolt - Portland, Oregon
Fabricworm/Birch - Paso Robles, Calif.
Sew Modern - Los Angeles, California
Super Buzzy - Ventura, California
Voodoo Rabbit - East Brisbane, QLD

Online Shops
Crazyquiltgirl Fabric - USA
Elephant in my Handbag - UNITED KINGDOM
Fabric.com - USA
Fabricworm - USA
FatQuarterShop - USA
Mad About Patchwork - CANADA
Sew,Mama,Sew! - USA
Sew Modern - USA
SuperBuzzy.com - USA
Voodoo Rabbit - AUSTRALIA

Etsy Shops
Sew Dearly Loved - USA
Sew Fresh Fabrics - USA
The Stockroom - USA

RETAILERS: If you are a shop and are selling Winterkist (how do I love thee!), please leave me a comment with your shop name and I’ll list you on the Winterkist page.

I’m so happy with Winterkist finally getting into the loving hands of sewits, quilters and crafters - I thought I’d celebrate and give away a little happy roll of Winterkist (24 strips of 2½” wide fabric which could be fun for the Ron Swanson quilt!) + an assortment of fussycut Gnomas.  Leave a comment and I’ll draw a name Thursday morning (Sep 27, 2012). Easy as pie. Winterkist pie. Winterkist pie being delivered by Cullen Bohannon on horseback.

Edited in: Thank you all SO MUCH for the kind words and excitement over Winterkist. I AM SO TOUCHED! The giveaway has now ended, and using random.org for comments 1-222, the winner is #24 by mean sarah jean. Yay, Sarah!

I am so excited about my newest line Winterkist being in stores any day now! And just as exciting, Katie of There & Back is having a Winterkist blog hop! I die. When Katie told me she wanted to do a hop with Winterkist I pretty much was in awe and disbelief that she wanted to use my little ole fabric. Thrilled, gobsmacked, disbelief, honored… am I dreaming??!

flickr photo credits (made with Big Huge Labs’ Mosaic Maker):
1. winterkist tree skort, 2. Hello Gnoma, 3. Pig in a Blanket Gnoma, 4. Gnoma Surprise

HOLY COW - Katie’s assembled an amazing bunch of sewists and crafters making beautiful things with Winterkist.  So not only are there great projects to be seen, I just learned the Fat Quarter Shop is generously giving some fat quarter bundles away for the hop (all the details are here)!  If you’d like to be notified when Winterkist is available at FQS you can do so here.

So here they are - three weeks of superstars!!
Week 1
Aug 6:  There & Back
Aug 7:  imagine gnats
Aug 8:  Clover & Violet
Aug 9:  mon petit lyons
Aug 10:  Sew Sweetness

Week 2
Aug 13:  Sweet Diesel Designs
Aug 14:  Pins & Bobbins
Aug 15:  Sew Festive Handmade
Aug 16:  from blank pages
Aug 17:  {sew} Allegorical

Week 3
Aug 20:  My Go-Go Life
Aug 21:  Random Thoughts…do or “di”
Aug 22:  Ellison Lane Quilts
Aug 23:  Echinops & Aster
Aug 24:  There & Back

Fresh off a giveaway, I’m doing another one! This little bundle is like the last giveaway, it’s been set aside and waiting for today’s Sew,Mama,Sew!’s epic Giveaway Day - the crafty universe’s semi-annual gift giving day!

Easy as pie: no cheezie commenting requirements (unless you want to tell what your fave pie is, or cheese) - just leave a comment by May 25, 2012 at 5 pm PST when Giveaway Day ends.

Up for grabs is a 6″ charm pack of Winterkist and a gaggle of cut-out Gnomas.

My new line is not yet out, so this is a chance to get Winterkist-bits early (it’s due out this summer, so keep your eye on the Sew,Mama,Sew! shop!).  I will ship internationally.

Edited in: The giveaway has now ended. Using random.org for comments 1-669, the winner is #515 by Pippa (in France!). My only problem now is finding an envelope large enough to fit Pippa’s prize as well as myself in it.  Stuff.  Squeeze.  Adjust.  Stuff.  Stuff.  Seal.  Ship.

I’m ready to go to Market - all my Winterkist samples sewn, all my photos taken, all my lovely email answered, all my clothes packed and all my hairs dyed.   I even managed to get my freebie pattern ready for the printer on the day of the deadline and not after.  The earth just tilted on it’s axes a little bit.  All that’s left now is to pick up Mo, and off to Kansas City we go for our Mo & Mo Go To MO adventure!

My free Peek-a-boo Gnoma pattern for Winterkist is availble here.  Whew, I got it done just in the nick of time.  The Universe was smiling on me, it even provided a sunny day for photos.

This shot is solely to brag on our sunshine - but it’s not really bragging since I live in the greyest city in the United States (fact. for real). Confession: I did not baste or pin my layers before I machine quilted this. Fact 1: I’m nuts. Fact 2: I’m lazy. Fact 3: Flattest/no lump quilt I ever made. I KNOW, how crazy is that. Fact 4: I will never, ever baste again.

There really must be gnomes in my woods - who else could have chopped this nice stack of wood. Actually, my nice neighbor across the street…

…but it’s more fun to pretend it’s Gnoma’s ancestors… Heinzelmännchen.

Some more goodies for the Lecien booth.

This is a sample for Elizabeth’s schoolhouse - for the debut of her freaking-awesome-beyond-words new book Modern Patchwork. All of the quilt patterns in Elizabeth’s book also have a mini version of each quilt, and the one I made is from her Metropolis pattern. I had so much fun making this mini-quilt, and I plan to make each mini-quilt in the book. I’m going to lazy-ass Julie-Julia my way through Modern Patchwork. I have a copy Modern Patchwork (no, I’m not giving it away - oh hell no!), and it is incredibly, jaw dropping beautiful, clever and fun, and I each projects leaves me marveling how Elizabeth thinks those designs up.

I went a little bag crazy.

Anna’s 241 Tote pattern. I FREAKING LOVE THIS PATTERN. And I love seeing all the different ones that are being made. I see many, many more of the 241’s in my future.

My Better Homes & Gardens Six Pocket Purse pattern and Ayumi’s Lunch Bag purse pattern. I can’t stop making the “Ayumi bag” either.

My newest baddiction (bag addiction) is Jeni’s Drawstring bag pattern. So cute and so fast, and also fun to see the different ones being made. LOTS more of these are going to be in my future, too.

A little give-away of Winterkist. It doesn’t hit the stores until this summer (you can put yourself on the Winterkist email notification at Fat Quarter Shop), so this is a chance if your not going to Sample Spree at Market (or going to Market) - to get a little sampling of your own.  I’ve got two little 6″ charm-pack bundles (each with a Gnoma of each size in the bundle).  Leave a comment and when I get back from Market I’ll draw two winners on Sunday, May 20th.  For kicks, if you want… you can tell me your favorite color at the moment. And because I love knowing what colors people are diggin’ these days. Editing in: drawing winners on Monday, May 21.

RESOURCES:
Peek-a-boo Gnoma Quilt pattern
by Monica Solorio-Snow
thehappyzombie.com/pdf/peekaboognoma.pdf

Six Pocket Purse pattern
from Better Homes & Gardens publications by Monica Solorio-Snow
allpeoplequilt.com/533

Metropolis Quilt (mini version)
from the C&T book Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
www.ohfransson.com

Lunch Bag (purse) pattern
from Pink Penguin tutorials by Ayumi Mills
ayumills.blogspot.com/2010/08/tutorial-lunch-bag.html

241 Tote pattern
from Noodlehead Patterns by Anna Graham
noodle-head.com/p/patterns.html

Lined Drawstring Bag pattern
from In Color Order tutorials by Jeni Baker
incolororder.blogspot.com

PS, if you want to see Winterkist at your favorite LQS or fabric store, gently bombard your favorite proprietors with a Winterkist wish and Winterkist kisses. Or send them a link to the Winterkist book and ask them to visit the Lecien booth 1124, 25, 26 in Kansas City this weekend!

PS2, I can’t thank everyone enough for all the kind and heartwarming emails and comments I’ve gotten recently and haven’t been able to answer. I hope maybe I can have a little in-box amnesty and please know how much I cherish your kindness and sweet words, and plan on responding soon. Ish.

Edited in: The giveaway has now ended. Using random.org for comments 1-254, the winners are #14 by Jenelle and #67 by Heather!

I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! Next month in Kansas City at the International Quilt Market my Winterkist line is going to debut! Not only is Gnoma Claus coming back (ish), he’s going to be in SIX colors!  Winterkist is not a sequel to Holiday Happy - but rather Winterkist is everything I wanted Holiday Happy to be and then some (not that I didn’t love my first baby). Winterkist is a mash-up of rain, snow, puddles, Gnoma Claus on Botox, and crazy bright colors to warm up the dark Winter months (or as we call the dark of Winter in NW Oregon: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall).

Another exciting change is that Gnoma Claus won’t come on a panel like he did on Holiday Happy - but now he’ll be on actual yardage. That means more Gnoma per yard + usable yardage! Fussy cut or not, it’s a gnoma-fiesta by the yard. You can see how it all works by having a sneak peek inside the little Winterkist Booklet I made for Lecien to hand out at Market.  Here’s a snapshot of the booklet:

There are 30 SKU’s in all, 5 prints each in Pink, Orange Sherbet, Red, Aqua (or teal), Lime and Graphite. I don’t know what I’m most excited about… the Orange Sherbet or the Graphite. Not yo momma’s holiday colors, fo sho!  Well, not my momma’s colors.  And if you are one of my kids - in that case it is yo momma’s holiday colors.  Winterkist is still being milled, so what I’m showing are my final round of strike-offs:

Pink

Orange Sherbet

Red

Aqua

Lime

Graphite

Since my sample yardage is not yet here, I’m waiting to share my freebie pattern that’ll be available at Lecien’s websites. The pattern will be available at Quilt Market time (end of May). I’ve been playing with color combos. It’s like play-dough for the quilter/sewist in me.

North Shore: Lime - Aqua - Graphite

Citron: Pink - Lime - Orange Sherbet

m3: Red - Teal - Graphite

Pink & Orange Sherbet

Aqua & Lime

Red & Aqua

Cherry Lime

Aqua & Orange Sherbet

Wint-o-ween

(I want to throw in some Lime and some purple solids!)

I’m also really excited about my selvage.

I love a great selvage, and Lecien included some tiny baby Gnomas for the color dots. Squeal!

So with a deep breath I’m about to hit the publish button on this post. I so hope Winterkist will be liked. It’s a weird feeling to put something you made out there to be used. Worry, fear and self-doubt are part of the package - and as scared S-less as I am… I’m also so very happy.  To the moon happy! I can’t thank everyone enough for the sweet, kind and excited comments I got on my teaser post (I’m so touched!!), and I hope everyone still feels the same after seeing the rest, now.  At least I know my parents will want some. Gonna be tough to hang fabric on their fridge… but I’ll find a way.

Deets:
– Wholesale orders: Lecien USA - (510) 596-3085
– Ship date/in stores: Summer 2012
– Free pattern: lecienusa.com or lecien.co.jp
– PDF sales book: Winterkist Booklet
– International Quilt Market, Spring 2012, Kansas City, MO