Fresh Figs

Studio Updates

Busy as a bee.... like a chicken with our head cut off... ants in our pants... like a deer in the headlights... whatever critter type idiom you choose to use, it might just fit around here these days! Although our production schedule has been well on task for the entire summer, somehow when late summer arrived we found ourselves scratching our communal heads to figure out how we all still had so much to do. Funny how whenever there is extra time, we manage to fill it with extra projects. This summer we have worked on projects for Australian Patchwork & Quilting- you saw some pictures of that here, Quiltmania [the French quilt publication], some fabulous projects in the works for American Patchwork & Quilting, a few calendar quilts, a couple new lines of fabric for our MODA mothership, and few other projects that we can't mention just yet. I have to tell you that I am not big on secrecy and the whole hinting around but not actually saying much thing... I like to share what is going on live & as soon as I am able to share anything that I am working on, I promise that I will!

Our latest Fresh Vintage Issue #5 is at press and will be ready for shipping any day now. Once again I am happy with how it turned out and here are a sneak peeks at a few of its pages.

Our Market quilts are in their finishing stages and you've already seen snapshots of them here, here and here.
And I will have a few more to show you in the upcoming days.

At this precise moment, we are prepping for a photo shoot that has us repainting certain portions of the inside and outside of our house as well as taking the opportunity to finish up all those "odds and ends" types of projects that just never manage to make it to the top of the priority list. Deadlines are great for that, for me at least. I'm not quite sure what I would actually ever finish without deadlines!

Also, soon we will be participating in a yummy little surprise organized by Holly. Don't forget to stop by and see what we have been cooking up...& I mean literally cooking which for us is quite an accomplishment... I'm telling you. My husband is the better baker around here any day of the week!

Talk soon.

Vintage Summer Throw

My latest project is off to its recipient. Its a project going to Australian Patchwork & Quilting & I'm calling it Vintage Summer Throw. The funny thing is that when I was working on the design of the quilt, I was planning on a winter quilt given the time of year that it will be published. And then the publisher reminded me... it would be summer in Australia then! Of course, how could I have forgotten that their seasons are the opposite of ours. So for the first time in years I got to work on a summer project in the summer, what a concept. I've gotten so used to working in advance, designing for seasons that are long gone or not yet here, that is was quite fun to work in the current season.

Here are a few unquilted shots of the throw.

The bird quilt is done and I'm working on a few other projects and will have more pics for you soon. Can't wait to show you this next one...

On a quick side note, we have a new shipment of handles in the studio so for those of you who missed out last time, feel free to email me.

Little Figs on the Prairie or the Aviary

Okay, I promised some more shots of the Fresh Vintage Birds quilts [I don't know it that will be its final name or not... I'm thinking of something with the word Aviary in it... today I'm thinking that at least] so here are a few more block shots that I took once I located my errant camera battery.

I'm at that stage of the quilt where I could just put the pieces together and be done with it, but instead I'm "FIDDLING" with it. Do you know what I mean? It's a very technical term, I know, and all of us quilters know exactly what it means... and yet I can't really describe it other than... I'm just FIDDLING with it!! My deadline to get it to the quilters early next week will soon put a stop to that I know but for now... well you know!

The other pictures I promised where some more shots of the quilts I've been working with where I've been mixing lines [these blocks were pieced by quilter Wilma Lawrence & she did a great job]. This is one of my new favorites, Wagon Wheels I'm calling them when I'm tired & not inspired to think up good names... Although one of my students last month came up with a name that has kind of stuck in my head.... Figs on the Prairie or Little Figs on the Prairie or something to that effect. We'll see.

Needless to say, love the job my quilter did on it. She even put in some extra thin poly on top of my regular cotton batting and when she small stippled around the wheels ,the poly filled in the wheels to create kind of a faux trapunto look. I love them. All I have to do is bind it and wash it becuase this quilt just begs to be "wrinkled & crinkled" don't you think?

Fresh Vintage Birds

This is one of those projects that has been in my imagination for over a year now but somehow never made onto the actual fabric. My friend Denise finally got tired of me talking about it over and over & said "Just make it already!"... so here are a few little shots of a few of my favorite blocks.
Now I am sure many of you have alredy heard of my technical woes, but I have to warn you that these photos are not great given that I managed to take 4 shots before my battery died and I realized that my battery pack was still in my quilters kitchen where I had last plugged it in.... I know, there's always a story :-)...

My inspiration for this quilt... my all time favorite Cavallini bird, work and egg file folders. I file everything in these folders. In fact I make up reasons to make new folders becuase I just love the folders so much... I know, I know, my husband regularly tells me that I'm a bit "off"!

Anyway, this quilt uses some of those wonderful alphabet letters from MODA American Jane fabrics along with a mix of my Allspice Tapestry, Urban Indigo, upcoming Dandelion Girl colors and some old time Japanese fabrics... and some MODA Dotties!
I'm not completely done with the quilt yet but I can tell that its surely going to be one of my all time favorites. Its got words [my favorite thing to add to quilts], vintage birds, nests, and eggs, all surrounded by my favorite tones of butter yellow.... how could you not fall in love with a quilt like this.
I can't wait to show you some better shots of it once I actually locate my battery charger...

Talk soon.

Jellies & "Pixies" & Ferries Oh My...

I have been taking a little hiatus for the last week and a half- good friend houseguests [6 of them] turned into some house cleaning projects, turned into a summer cold...

Some Serious Patchwork

In the midst of it all I have been having a lot of fun mixing my fabric lines... makes me sound like a mad scientist doesn't it?

When I am working on quilt projects, I usually need to try to stay within the latest fabric collection or mix the colors of the current line and the one I am about to debut at the next quilt Market. More often than not, I design quilt patterns that incorporate only the most recent fabric collections. But something has hit me this summer and I have started working on several patterns that mix all my favorite pieces from the last 4 or 5 lines. I'm loving the results. They feel Fresh Vintage and gypsy bohemian all at the same time. I will have some more pics tomorrow.

A Pixie Siting

On the "Pixie" subject of my title... I hope you will all go over here and see the beautiful pictures she took of a few of my fabrics. There is something so nostalgic and wonderfully charming about the way she takes pictures. I am usually re-inspired by my fabrics all over again after I've seen what she did with them.

Yummies at the Ferry

While our guests were in town we took the opportunity to do some great touristing activities around the Bay Ares. By far my favorite outing was to the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco. A couple of years ago it was refurbished and has become a gourmet center with an array of absoulutely wonderful little shops and restuaruants. It is a feast for the eys, nose and mouth. Take a look at just a few of the goodies we saw....