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July 2007

"Charm"ing Jelly Winners

Well, it is still technicaly Friday here in California although I am sure that many of you have long gone to bed in your part of the world. I have finally finished design & quilt work for the day [although there is still a little bit of applique in my near future], put the kids to bed, cleaned the kitchen, folded some laundry and am now sitting and watching back-to-back "Murder She Wrote" episodes on my TIVO....

I wanted to thank all of you for your wonderful comments. It was so inspiring for me to hear about all of the things you are making or want to make with our fabrics and patterns.
I was really touched by so many of your comments. I have tried to answer many of you and I truly apologize that I was not able to answer each and every one of you. Your comments have really energized me in my work in ways you'll never know. Thank you so much!

I have decided to choose three random domestic comments and one random international comment.

Domestic Jelly Roll: Brynne, commented on July 24, 4:20
Domestic Charm Squares: Mika, commented on July 23, 4:35
Domestic Charm Squares: Peg, commented on July 24, 5:27
International Jelly Roll: Sandra, July 23 11:54

If you are one of the lucky ladies mentioned above, please email me your mailing address and we'll go from there.

Thank you again. Hope to see you soon in blogland.

Joanna

Jellies... oh those heavenly Jelly Rolls

Allspice Tapestry Jelly Rolls & charm packs are here, overflowing every nook and cranny of the studio & shipping room!
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So I'm figuring its about time that we do a little give away around here. If you leave any comment [alright all you lurkers out there, this is your chance to show yourself], you will have a chance to win a new Allspice Tapestry Jelly Roll or some Allspice Tapestry charm packs...

So don't be shy, who knows.. maybe we'll give away more than one if enough of you comment!

We will make random picks on Friday.

Talk soon.

Summertime projects

I know that this might sound a bit like whining, but it is just now, a good week after I have returned from my vacation that I feel like I have finally recovered. Now don't get me wrong... I loved my vacation. I always love my vacation. Every year right around this time, our closest friends and their 3 children along with us and our 3 children pack our whole lives into our mini vans, including our dog and whatever vacation project I have dreamed up and we drive a few hours into Sonoma County to the Russian River Valley. There we unpack those same minivans, buy a lot of good food, blow up a lot of inflatable toys and spend the next week swimming, eating, playing games, talking, canoing, sunbathing, rock skipping, eating some more, just to name a few activities. In between all of that vacation goodness, we cook, we clean, we referee a hundred little fights and arguments, we bathe a lot of dirty kids, we smear on a lot of SPF 45, and somewhere in between all of that we manage to get in a few deep conversations and we try to relax and rest...Russian_riverLarge_yellow_flowers
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On the last day we watch a homemade slide show set to cheesy music of all 534 pictures that we have taken over said week and we feel like we have really vacationed. Every one is happy... until one of the kids wants what someone else has....
Every year when we finally get home [which was another experience all together this year which included sidetracking to 2 towns, blowing a tire, a cofee shop refusing to sell me iced coffee and sampling about 25 mustards at a wonderful little winery], all I want to do is sleep and sit on my couch, watch whatever TiVO has taped while I was gone and go through all of my mail. Its like an annual ritual and my husband knows that he shouldn't expect me to move off of the couch that day. It's just what I do. You could call it my transition time :-)
Somehow this time around, my transition time has taken all week. I've made it off the couch... some days... but not others. I have accomplished alot of sorting and organizing... mostly from my couch.

But back to designing... I almost forgot that that's what I was supposed to be writing about! Before I went on vacation I actually managed to start 3 different projects and sent them off the three lovely ladies in various stages of doneness to work on while I was gone. One of them is made all out of Allspice Tapestry and the other 2 are a mix of Allspice Tapestry and colors from the next line that we will be releasing at Fall Market. If you haven't already guessed from my earlier hints... the line will be called Dandelion Girl. The swatches coming back are wonderful so far and I can't wait to see the larger prints which should be coming soon... as soon as I've made some choices I will give you a sneak peek....Dandelion_pin_wheel
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This line will have woven fabrics again and this time we have some really fun Spring specialty fabrics for you... I can't wait to share them with you all as soon as I can. I have to tell you that when I was choosing woven stripes and plaids, I had so many wonderful swatch choices that I could have made at least 3 different lines with what I had. It was really, really hard to narrow the swatches down into a small enough group to make a collection. Anyway, that was one of the things I was accomplishing from my couch this week :-)...

Back soon.
P.S. All of our leather handles have sold but we will be placing another order soon so if you didn't get a chance, please feel free to email and we will add you to the next order. We will be adding green as well.

Easiest Handbags Ever... Really!

For those of you who have been searching... your search is over. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about... read on.

What all this is about is.... leather handles! If you have been working on one of these great handbags from the pattern "Easiest Handbags Ever">Ftq606
then most likely you have been searching far and wide for those wonderful leather handles. Now I know that fabric handles are just as lovely... but I have recieved so many retail requests for these fantastic handles that I have ordered them from Korea and they are currently on their way across the ocean.
Many of them are already spoken for but I have ordered several dozen extra and I wanted to offer them to you bloggy gals first.
I will have them available [while supplies last] in both the apricot/beige color and the soft brown color, both shown on the cover of the handbag pattern. I can place a special order if enough of you want the green one. They are about 24/25" long with little tiny holes perforated along the bottom shape so that you can just hand stitch them onto your purse. They are quite lovely and will retail for $19.00. Email me if you are interested in either the handles or the pattern.

If you are a shop and reading this, please feel free to contact me via email and I will provide you all the necessary wholesale information you might need for wholesale ordering of these little goodies.

Oh and the most faq about this pattern [and the Easiest Totebag Ever one too] is "Is it really all that easy? YES. This is a handbag pattern made for the quilter. It requires no special finishing or crafting skills. It uses no interfacing or lining [unless of course you would like to add lining and then it gives you extra instructions for adding that], it has no buttons or pockets or zippers. It is just an easy simple purse in 5 different styles, that ANY quilter can make. I stand behind the claim!!
The patterns are selling like hotcakes so check with your local quilt store or stop by our website if your shop doesn't carry it yet.
Happy, happy bag making!
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Indigo sweets arriving

Happy 4th of July to all!
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Our newest fabric line went to the MODA salesforce this last week [which means that it will be in the stores at the end of this year]. It is called "Urban Indigo" and its a small sweet line full of pinks, yellows, light & dark blues & of course creams.

I have to share with you that sometimes all the stars align and a fabric line goes from concept to design sketch to swatch to strike-off to salesforce to store in a fairly short period of time- this happens especially with Market lines which have such a very precise deadline. At other times, color changes, print modifications and scheduling changes prolong the process considerably. We designed this simple little line well over a year ago & it just happened to experience many little bumps in its journey to become actual fabric that store owners can see and purchase.
If you have followed any part of my design journey, I'm sure you know that I am usually more of an ususual color combination kind of gal and I enjoy working with palettes that are based on vintage fabrics with palettes that are a bit surprising or a little different or unexpected. All that to say, this little line is a lot more traditional, soft and romantic with sweet little patterns reminiscent of a little girls bed quilt or a charming tea room. It blends beautifully with many other Fig Tree lines as well as others. I hope you enjoy the swatches. Yellowflower_2Blueflowerjpg
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