Block of the Month Sign Ups are Here!

Hello My Fig Tree Loving Friends-

Its that time of the year where we present our new BLOCK OF THE MONTH programs for 2018. This year we are doing 2 new ones and a redo of this year's RED & CREAM due to popular request... because who doesn't love a good red & cream quilt to add to their collection!

For those of you die hard Fig Tree fans, you know the drill... sign up as soon as you can while they are still available. For those of you new around here, here is some info about our BOM[Block-of-the-Month] programs:

• We run a few each year. Most of them are 12 month long, a few [like the Red & Cream] are 10 month. Each month you get a package of fabrics and directions for the blocks you need to make that month. If you keep up, by the end of the year, you will have an amazing sampler that you will be very, very happy with! 
• Why do a BOM you might ask? Most people do it for one of 3 reasons.. 1- Its fun to follow along with your Quilty friends via social media and work on the program together. We do a lot of posting on Instagram and now have a special Facebook group for everyone in one of the BOM programs. 2- Its a great way to make a more complicated quilt, a little bit at a time and it keeps you on pace all year, basically a way to be motivated to finish one month before the next one arrives and 3- You don't have to purchase all of the fabrics up front and get to do it a little bit at at time.
• Our programs are one of a kind and are usually not redone, unless we have a huge wait list for the original.

So here are some photos to wet your appetite... and all the info you might need is in the shop under each program.  

 

MYSTERY SAMPLER FOR 2018: AUTUMN SPLENDOR

 

WOOL BOM FOR 2018: FARMHOUSE ON CREAM

 

 

 

RED & CREAM SAMPLER 2018: REPEAT OF THIS YEAR'S WITH A WHOLE NEW ASSORTMENT OF YUMMY CREAMS AND REDS

 

If you want to shop, HERE is the link to our shop page.

Happy BOM's everyone!

 

As Promised...

Fall is in the air around here! Finally the weather seems to be turning a little bit toward my absolute favorite season of the year! Almost time for all my favorite sweaters to come out!!

Last week we released a new Halloween Kit in what has become our annual Halloween project made from a mix of blacks, oranges, greys and creams. We love creating these projects so much and look forward to them every year. The quilts are not from a certain line or Fig Tree collection but instead are a mix of different MODA fabrics, always starting with a few of our favorite Fig Tree oranges and going from there to see what we can come up with! Its one of my favorite parts of the process... the creating of a color palette!

In this year's bundle, the fabrics were just screaming to be made into one of our newest patterns, Navajo Stars. Now I love the original Navajo Stars ALOT... one of my all time favorite quilts.

 

 Navajo Stars is created entirely from SOMERSET fabrics!

Originally this pattern was inspired by this quilt below. I absolutely fell in love with those stars but had NO INTENTION of making them out of hexagons. When I squinted, I saw strips and we had a Honeybun coming with our collection so it was one of those light bulb moments!

 

 

And the moment we started working on it, it just looked and felt like the designs in a traditional Navajo blanket. Hence the name.

 

 

 

 

But I am also pretty sure that I like it just as much as this years Halloween bundle quilt... SPIDERWEB! Same pattern, different colors!

 

But ofcourse we had way too many good leftovers and so we created a second quilt with what we stil had in the bundle....

And as promised to those of you who purchased the kit [we are making up more this week for those of you still interested], here is the info on the HALLOWEEN CHECKERBOARDS quilt, the second quilt from the bundle...

CLICK HERE for the Checkerboard Instructions in a PDF. The fnished size can be up to 58" x 66"... a perfect lap throw that can be whipped up so fast you could have it done this season!

CLICK HERE for more info on the Spiderweb kits.

Talk to you soon. I am going back to pattern editing and sample making. Up this week, a little friend to join some of our other creatures :-)!

 

 

Halloween Spools

Today we wanted to show you what we are working on at the moment and for our upcoming retail show in October [coming up way too soon!].

We have used one of our brand new patterns [for release in Houston at the end of October] and transformed it into a quick and simple Halloween quilt that we think you might just love as much as we do.

The new pattern is called "Spools Quartet" and this version is "Halloween Spools" and it is made with 12 different warm blacks, soft greys and our signature butterscotch oranges. It is the kind of quilt that comes together in a weekend with simple cutting and construction. Whip one out this week just in time to display for Halloween... really and truly! These blocks are crazy simple with no triangles, using the square, sew and flip method that most of you are probably familiar with.

As you can see in the photos we haven't even had a chance to bind it yet, but we had to show it to you nevertheless! The binding will be the same butterscotch solid as you see on the back of the quilt.

If the pattern looks at all familiar, that is because it was once released as an exclusive Fig Tree Club pattern several years ago and due to its popularity we have decided to recreate it into a standard Fig Tree pattern.

We hope you enjoy the photos. Kit and pattern info will be at the bottom of the post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name:  Spools Quarter or Halloween Spools

Size: 68" x 68"

Fabric: Can be made with a jelly roll or in this case (12) 1/4 yds. oranges, blacks and greys. The collections in this kit [exactly as shown above] include Tapestry, Little Black Dress, Essential Dots, Bella Solids, Merry Medley, Avalon, Boho, French General and others! Kit includes pattern and solid butterscotch binding.

The fabrics as will be seen on the final pattern in October will be shown out of our current Honeysweet collection as well as the upcoming Mirabelle line, due out in stores in Spring 2014.

Available: Kits are available now with printed patterns. Patterns themselves will be ready by the end of October.

 

Click HERE for more kit information.

Just Around

Today I am working like crazy to get these last patterns finished but thought I would share a tiny bit of what was around me as I worked....

I love fall. Just. Love. It.

... my favorite color combo right now.

 

... Love this wreath courtesy of TARGET.

 

... my favorite tree outside the studio window.

 

... a little deco on the dining room table.

 

... because I do, after all, still live in California LOL!

 

... the carpet that is my backyard right now.

Okay, back to work.

 

 

Housekeeping...

Not the actual kind unfortunately, since that really needs to be happening around here right about now, but the quilting kind. Although if anyone has any offers to help with the actual kind.... well, let's just say that I am ready and willing to make a deal :-)!!

 

Just a couple of things that many of you might want to know...

 

SOLD OUT

All of the Halloween Pops have shipped as of last week. This kit was so crazy popular that we re-ordered fabric several times and made as many kits as we could. We are still getting emails about whether or not we might be able to make more but we just can't. We are so sorry for those of you who missed out. We really did try to make as many as we possibly could!

 

[On a little side note, we are working on a new version of this quilt. Can we say a little Christmas? Stay tuned for sneak peeks...]

 

Many of you have asked about the fabrics we used for the Halloween version. We did not work with one collection on this kit, nor did we stick to just Fig Tree fabrics. Here are some suggestions for fabrics if you would like to make your own...

ORANGES

The oranges are perfect from our brand new TAPESTRY collection. Out in stores as of this week so be sure to go and get some of those yummy oranges before they dissapear. Other Fig Tree lines that have the same orange... Mill House Inn and Breakfast at Tiffany's are also great if you happen to have those in your stash.

Another great orange fabric that we used in the kit was the houndstooth from Deb Strain's GIVE THANKS collection. That was perfect for this quilt.

We have found the same tone of orange also in Sandy Gervais' GRAND FINALE group as well as pretty similiar to Sweetwater's, LUCY'S CRAB SHACK, line.

The solid that we used for both the blades and the center circles is the MODA BELLA SOLID, Golden Wheat. 

 

BLACKS

We used black fabrics from Deb Strain's GIVE THANKS [black houndstooth], Basic Grey's LITTLE BLACK DRESS, Sandy Gervais' MERRY MEDLEY, MODA ESSENTIAL DOTS and others.

 

BACKGROUNDS

We used MODA BELLA SNOW and AMERICAN JANE PINDOT for the backgrounds. We used MODA ESSENTIAL DOTS in eggshell or the MODA BELLA SOLID in parchment. We love both of those.

 

BACKINGS

 

We have a few, really just a few, backings available for those of you who purchased HALLOWEEN POPS kit. The links are here for those of you interested....

https://store.figtreeandcompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Polka_Dot_Backing_Pops

 

https://store.figtreeandcompany.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Grey_Backing_Pops

 

MILKY WAY

Many of you have emailed or expressed an interest in a kit of the Milky Way pattern, in any number of varieties. We will have Christmas versions of this pattern kitted up as a part of our 2nd Annual 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS sale. If you would like to be on a pre-order list for that kit, please contact us.

We did have several of the Milky Way kits made up of TAPESTRY, left from our retail show last month. Once the dust settles on all of the other kits going out this week, we will let you know if we still have any available.

We will also make up this pattern in the patriotic colorway in the Spring so you can always stay tuned for that if Americana is more your cup of tea.

 

PATTERN SHOWCASES

No, we are not done with these yet. In fact stay tuned for another one later today!

 

Speaking of 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS... stay tuned for upcoming information about that fun and crazy event!

 

Talk to you soon,

 

Joanna

We interrupt this program...

We are working on more PATTERN SHOWCASES for you but thought we would let you know that today....

TAPESTRY IS SHIPPING TO STORES AS WE SPEAK!

 YEAH! It is the perfect harvest collection so don't miss out!

 

So if you have the time this next week, be sure to go to your local quilt shop and check it out in person or let your fingers to do the walking and visit your favorite online shop or come and see what kits we still have AVAILABLE from this collection.

 

 

 

Halloween Pops...

We are currently at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara CA, enjoying the quilt world with so many of you! If you are local or have travelled to the show as so many of you have, we hope you will come and see us at our Fig Tree booth. We are in the usual spot in the 500's with a lot of new goodies and patterns to share! We will post booth and show pictures in the next couple of days I promise.

 

For now, we wanted to share with you one of our newest patterns and the Halloween version of this quilt that we have made especially for the show and in honor of this month....

 

Introducing, the Lollipops pattern in our Halloween Pops version. We know this is a bit different from our usual color palette and style but we are in love with this quilt and can't wait for it to come home and enjoy some time on our couch. 

We have saved a few kits for you all just in case you are not able to come and visit us in the booth. For more info click HERE...

 

 

 

 

 

... we apologize for the convention center lighting, this is the best we could do for today. 

 

The pattern, Lollipops, has several other versions of the modified Dresden Plate block as seen here and we will show you more this weekend. Once we show you all the versions of the pattern you'll have to tell us which is your favorite [only this version has a kit for now].

Believe it or not but all of these blocks are made with 2 1/2" strips and no templates to sew! If you are familiar with our Papillon pattern or the Dresden Plate pattern in our Fresh Vintage #16, this uses the same method but even simplified. We even figured out a way to get a perfectly flat "plate" each and every time with a little hint. You gotta love that.

The kids are already fighting over who gets it in their room first. I guess its going to be another game of ro-sham-bo at our house. I have absolutely no idea how to actually spell that but I think you know what I mean!

 

Happy October and Pacific International!!

 

A Little Updo

I'm sure that I'm not the only for whom this is true but sometimes in my most overwhelming times and deadlines, I really, really need to do something else for a break. It makes everything else go faster, easier and better, it seems. So last weekend I decided I was finally going to give my very old and outdated hutch a little updo. The top of the hutch was oak and the original bottom was something I gave to a friend since I wanted something bigger with more presence and storage space.  This bottom was a white piece that I had found at the flea market this summer. It had been sitting in my dining room since then, taking up space!

A little dark grey chalk paint for most of the hutch and some creamy white for the interior and we were done. 

I can't even tell you how happy the end result is making me.

If I'm not doing what I am supposed to be at any given time... well, you might just find me with a cup of tea at my dining room admiring my "new" hutch.

 

I know, I know, I am easily pleased.

 

 

... my favorite chicken collection.

 

... my favorite new Weck Jars. Now if I just had the time to can something that would be even better!

 

 

... love that little touch of light green these days. Doesn't it look wonderful with the orange and bright yellow?

 

 

 

If there is a random little project that you have been wanting to do but haven't had the time... well, go for it. I think it will make you feel so accomplished! 

 

A Little Blossom, A Little Jam

 

A little Blossom and a little Jam. I guess I might have been a little bit hungry when I originally named this pattern! But more likely I was thinking of my last trip to London, or more precisely, the Cottswold villages right outside of London. It seems that anytime we sat down for a snack there, we were offered something “with jam”. Mostly “scones with jam” I think, but also other things with jam.

 

Oh, I would really love to be back there now. Or at least have some really good jam :-).

 

 

This little project is one of my current favorites. Its kind of funny with the way things work around here, I don’t often get to enjoy the projects during their actual season. We created this little table topper in early Spring, just in time to debut for Quilt Market in May. We finished it and photographed it for the cover and then sent it on its way to visit its share of stores. Then the patterns were actually finished up and printed and they began shipping to the quilt shops and the topper continued to travel.

 

The fabric that it was created with, TAPESTRY, however, did not start to arrive in stores until the last couple of weeks  [for all of those yummy precuts] and the yardage is still to come [later in October].  And suddenly my little topper is back at home.

 

 

And so in a little twist of timing, I get to enjoy my little Blossoms & Jam before she goes off on another adventure to another quilt shop or perhaps to a show or two in the fall. Meanwhile, here she is and more importantly…. She brings kits with her!!

Check it out HERE for more info. Or HERE for just the pattern.

PATTERN INFO:

Name: Blossoms & Jam.

Size: 16” round

Fabric: Cover sample made from TAPESTRY. Back cover samples also made from CALIFORNIA GIRL. Uses (1) charm pack or (2) of the yummy new MODA CANDY PACKS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pattern Showcase: Pineapple & Figs

One of my all-time favorite patterns made from one of my all time favorite color palettes, PINEAPPLE & FIGS uses a no ruler, no funky cutting techniques method that makes these blocks come together in such a simple way that you won't believe it. Its just rectangles and squares. Really!

If you have ever wanted to make this classic block but didn't want to deal with templates or bias, then this really is for you. I think. Sewing these blocks is remarkably similar to  making a Log Cabin block and just as simple and basic.

It's perfect in these autumn flavored colors, or in a variety of others, although I am personally biased to this one. Autumn is my favorite time of the year and this color combo just sings to me. I should have put a cream SNUGGLE on the back... but then there would be a fight over who gets to use it every single day!

We have made it in a more summer flavored version out of our California Girl fabrics as well as a darker, more striking version made with a beautiful burgundy background [seen at the end of the post].There are just so many color varieties that I can visualize this pattern in!

 

If all goes according to plan, I will be doing a blog tutorial on this method in October! More info coming soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PATTERN INFO:

NAME: Pineapple & Figs

 

 

SIZE: 71" x 71"

FABRIC: Made from our TAPESTRY collection on the front and back cover, our CALIFORNIA GIRL collection on the inside pages. More inside shots from both of the above collections as well as the original version shown from the cover of our very first edition of our Fresh Vintage™ magazine.

Click here for more info.