Introducing.....

Well.... I bet you think I am writing from Houston right about now but I'm not this year. I kinda wish I was right about now as I am thinking of all my friends and colleagues in their grubbies setting up thier booths, living on trail mix & Monster drinks, working like dogs, not getting a lunch break, running around trying to organize last minute details, worrying about product launches....

oh wait, I am not missing any of that LOL!

 

What I am missing, is catching up with some of my closest designer friends, seeing what wonderful new collections and designs my colleagues have dreamt up, hanging out with our wonderful MODA team and getting to say hi to some of our favorite customers! I do really miss being in the midst of it all!

 

Instead this year we are at home, watching Market unfold through the blogs, tweets and facebooks of others. I have been wanting to share a bit more personally about our year for a while now and am almost ready to do it. It might explain why we are at home. I hope to share it all with you soon.

 

For now, I wanted to show you a little sneak peek of our newest fabric collection... AVALON... that will be showing tomorrow at Market. We are absolutely in love with the lighter, crisper colors and the slightly [but not too much] nautical, Americana feel of this line. We think its... well, we think its a little bit perfect right now!

 

Stay tuned for the next couple of days as we show more of the line and also share with you some of our brand new patterns that are accompanying the quilts to Houston.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talk to you soon.

 

A little Sneak & a Peek

 

You know when you see fabric that just makes your heart skip a beat?  

That is what this is doing for me right now. I know, I know... part of me feels like I can't say that about my own work and I should wait for someone else to say it. But I can't!

I also have to admit that this is not always true of every collection or design I do. Sometimes I really like them and think they are good. Sometimes I love them. Sometimes I wish I could have added something more or expressed my vision a bit differently. Sometimes its a combo of all of the above.

But sometimes, I dream about them before they get here.  This is one of those times.

I have so many more pics to show you but I think it might be best to wait just a bit. It's called TAPESTRY. Hope it adds some loveliness to your day.

 

Stay tuned for another big reveal this week. We are just full of surprises around here.

 

Another Chicken Dinner....

... You know what I mean! We have another winner or two tonite....

 

WINNERS

On 9/18 at 4:59, Loraine said:

"I love everything Fig Tree, and thank you for the chickens, they are so cute, I have been in hosp, for 10 days so missed part of the Country Fair blog hop, glad to see your projest here, thanks Lorraine Isaac"

 

And on 9/15 at 7:25  Laurel said:

"Wow there are over 1400 comments and crazy me I am still going to leave a comment! I am really into brown right now, but I do love green and blue as well. Your fabrics are delightful and I would love to be one of the lucky 4;)"

Send us an email ladies and we will get a box of Butterscotch & Rose scraps out to you both.

 

 

 

...brand new strikeoffs!

Did you even notice this little goodie hidden in the midst of all the COUNTRY FAIR goodness. It's a little bit of my new line coming up. More on that later!

And did you notice that we have a new blog header? Just in time for fall. It was my way of pretending that autumn is actually here and with us. Have I mentioned lately that fall is my absolute favorite time of the year? It is. Yes indeed.

Unfortunately it is unseasonably warm in these parts lately. Dear weather: I AM READY TO WEAR MY SWEATERS AND SCARVES PLEASE!

Okay, I'm done now. BTW, for those of you "FAIR GOERS", keep on checking out those lovely posts!

Talk to you tomorrow.

xoxo

Joanna

Almost Here

Its been one of those weeks around here, maybe its been one of those months but I am not quite ready to declare that! We have been working on so many things that we just can't share yet that I have been stumped on what to blog about. I guess that is a good problem to have!

So here are a few updates that I can share...

ALMOST HERE...

BUTTERCUP is almost here!

 
Buttercup, our newest fabric collection, is due to release to stores in February so for all those of you who have been patiently waiting for its arrival, only a few more days or weeks depending on where you live! This line has a classic fresh Spring Fig Tree palette with color names like coral rose, sugar snap, lily stone, bluebell, buttercup and primrose. Doesn't that just make you think of meadows or gardens? Okay so maybe it doesn't, but it could LOL!

My favorite print in this line... Sugar Snap, the little vining sweet pea floral. I am just a bit nuts over this print in every single one of the colorways. I know its not nice to choose favorites and I don't mean to hurt your feelings, other prints, but this one is just a perfect combination of sweet and sassy for me! Love it.

   

 

  

  

... yes, I did put the brown in there twice. Feeling a little compulsive to set it up all nice and even. Trust me, you wouldn't want to live in my head! Plus the brown colorway is my favorite.

We made Ella's Party Dress out of this fabric. And boy has it seen its share of parties. It's been traveling around all over the world on trunk shows and in between, my daughter has somehow managed to wear it a couple of times. She is nothing if not persistent :-).

[By the way if you are a store and want to set up a trunk show of Buttercup, let us know as soon as possible. Email me at [email protected]]. 

COMING SOON...

For those of you who follow the newest releases and MODA updates, you may already know that the MODA fabric reps are currently showing a brand new line for release May, 2011. It is a fresh, retro, picnic feeling line that it a bit of a departure for me. It is called Strawberry Fields. Did I mention that I am infatuated with this collection? I absolutely ADORE it. But I wasn't always so sure about it.....

Sometimes as a designer, you are not completely sure of the what the finished product is going to feel like when it is done. You work in your little design cave, come up with something that you think is good, rework it & tweak with if for months, send it on to the company with your fingers crossed and then pray. Literally. I don't know about other designers out there, but for me its that time of waiting for the first set of strike offs that is the hardest. How will the mill interpret my work? How will the art director like it? How will the prints work together once they are on cloth? Will all the colors gel or stand out? Have I forgotten a crucial print to make it all flow and work together?  I start to second guess myself the second I send the package! At that moment it is all about the relief of being finished mixed with the insecurity of sending your latest designs out into the world. It is the moment of no return.

Well, with this line since it is a bit more in the fresh, retro, 50's feel, that feeling of no return was HUGE for me. It felt like forever before the first strike offs returned. But I had never loved a set of strikeoffs more. Did I mention that I am a bit infatuated with this collection? Oh I did already, sorry. Anyway, starting tomorrow, I will be showing you a bit more of that line and the yummy patterns that we are releasing with it.

So stay tuned and if you are not yet signed up for our newsletter, you might wanna. There is a sale email that will be going out tomorrow too. Just saying.

Talk to you soon

Houston Here We Come

I'm sitting at the airport right now waiting for a delayed flight to Houston. Quilt Market will be underway within days and then before you know it- all this waiting and working and sewing and tweeting and formatting and drawing and photoshopping and designing will all be over and we'll be home again.

I never feel quite ready when it all starts and I can never believe that its all over when it is. And this is easily the 14th or 15th time I am doing this. You'd think I would be "in the groove" of things more after all that practice. But... NO!

 

Anyway, in the coming days I will be showing you our newest goodies, one by one and also sharing a few extra special kits that we have available from our show last week at Pacific International Quilt Festival. We will only have a few of each and shipping will be free if ordered the first day, regular shipping any day after that [if there are any kits left on the second day]. So stayed tuned both for our fun sneak peeks as well as our limited kit offers..

Before I get on my flight, I thought I might share a few swatches of the new collection with you. It is called.... BUTTERCUP. It is our new Spring line that we will be showing in Houston and will be out in stores in February, 2011. 

More later.....

Talk to you soon.

The last bits of summer...& a little giveaway

....giveaway is now closed. thank you so much.

 

Its almost that time. That one day a year that I get so caught up in what they are wearing, what their hair looks like, whether their shoes are tied right, what they eat for breakfast... That day that I think about [yeah perhaps even obsess over just a bit] probably more than they do. I am both so looking forward to it and dreading it. Its tomorrow. 

The school supplies have been acquired with minimum problem. Dare I might say that it was fun. Well, maybe not quite fun but not horrible! Staples and Target with 3 kids and 4 lists of things that need to be gotten... well, it can be just a bit overwhelming!

I registered my oldest in Jr. High last week. He got a locker. And gym clothes. And there were girls flirting with him. God forbid, I think he was flirting back. Even though he doesn't quite know how.

Their clothes have been mostly taken care of. Until next week when someone decides that there is something that we have forgotten that they can't live without. At least none of my 3 know what a brand name even is yet. Or care. They are dressed from head to toe in Old Navy and Target and they couldn't be happier. At least for now. At least the boys. The girl might have a little something else sprinkled in here and there, but not much or just a bit of handmade. Its all good. Until she discovers boys or what's "in". Hoping that day comes later rather than sooner. On both accounts!  For today she is my little office helper...

When I am not answering writing questions for the "helper", I am trying to finish up some projects and work on pattern instructions. The next fabric group has gone to print and I will see advance yardage sometime in October. I know, in October!! Not sure how we are going to make the booth work this year, but we'll do what we can, right? It might be interesting to watch!

Strikeoffs you ask? Cuz you know  you're asking.... well here is a very small peak at some of the strikeoffs that made the cut. 

... more on that later.

Besides all of that, I am a bit distracted. Thinking of the summer, staring out the window, daydreaming... kind of wish we could be back at the river. On a canoe. 

 

Hope you're daydreaming too. And enjoying your last days of summer.

How about a GIVEAWAY in honor of daydreaming? Haven't done one of those in like a... a year!

Tell me what you are doing with your last days of summer or what you are daydreaming about these days and we will enter your name to win a Fresh Cottons honeybun, a pack of ALL the brand new Fig Tree patterns and a Le Fig Kit. Why? 

 

Because Fresh Cottons IS summer, the patterns are fun and the fig, well anyone can knock one of those out in a few hours and feel accomplished!

Talk to you soon.

 

 

Fabric Updates & a little waiting

 

Pictured above: When the going gets tough around here, my daughter and I go into the backyard and "make bouquets". 

Now I do have to set the stage for you just a bit... as a family we don't do a lot of work in the garden until after Quilt Market, so whatever is growing or better yet, blooming, back there is either overgrown or has self-seeded from years past. Soooo, our favorite activity includes making bouquets from our overgrown herb plants... a little parsley, mint and oregano accented by the few blooms that we were able to scare up here and there. Those are definitely our version of bouquets.

They smell great and to be honest, I actually really love the "meadowy" green feel of them much more than most traditional flower bouquets from the store. Plus, you can't beat the "picking company". Although she sure does talk a lot. 

 

On the family front: Our weekend was spent at a T-Ball game, a Baseball game, 3 1/2 play dates, 2 trips to the pool, 2 major room clean ups, a mom's craft night at my house, a neighbor's baptism party, church, a dinner out for sushi, eldest son's friend's birthday party, a little barbequing.. gee, I'm sure I am forgetting something. Oh yes, a much needed glass of my favorite white wine.

 

On the fabric front: a quilt finished and brought over by Diana my quilter [gotta love that girl], waiting for fabric to arrive, 2 quilts bound, waiting for fabric to arrive,  a photo shoot for 4 quilts and a magazine feature, waiting for fabric to arrive, the finishing of 3 patterns for Market.. yes, you guessed it, checking the tracking number for fabric to arrive. 

As of just a few minutes ago, it looks like its scheduled to arrive tomorrow! If all goes well, it will get here while I have a a studio full of sewers. If all goes well. I have learned to not get my heart set on these things until they actually happen. 

So meanwhile I am working on patterns. And waiting for fabric to arrive. :-)

 

Talk to you soon.

Fresh Cottons Introductions

I just realized the other day that we have been talking about these yummies for quite some time now. People have been working with them and even gushing about them a bit here and there. The precuts have come into the shops and projects have been started. Projects are being made left and right just in time for Spring Quilt Market.

And yet I haven't really formally introduced them yet, have I? I always feel like I would like to give the current collection its "day in the limelight" and since Whimsy just came into stores in February it has somehow felt like cheating if i started talking about these babies too soon. How funny is that?

But its time I think. Yardage will start arriving in April and after all I have sneak peaks to share of the next offspring... I know... how does this all come so fast sometimes?

So here are a few pics of Fresh Cottons....

 

Soft Ivory Creams.

 

Warm Milk Chocolate Browns.

 

Sunny Butter Yellows.

 

Sparkly Seafoam Blues.

 

Tangy Strawberry Reds & Salmon Pinks.

 

Crisp Apple Greens.

       

The group itself makes me think of fresh laundry drying on a summer clothesline in a garden overflowing with blossoms. Sounds seriously corny, huh? 

I know, I know but sometimes I just get this image in my head when I am designing a new collection and for the life of me, I can't get that image out of my head. Its that image that informs all of the prints that I end up choosing. That's the way it was with this one. I can almost smell that smell, you know what I mean, that fresh laundry on a line smell? 

When I was a little girl and a brand new immigrant to this country, we didn't have a lot of money and so my mom wouldn't let use us the clothes dryer except for in the dead of winter. We had several clotheslines in the backyard and it was our job to both hand and take down the washing ... all the time! My sister and I would of course have been rather doing anything else at the time but the scent of those clothes is something I will never, ever forget. It is the smell of Fresh Cottons.

After the air yardage came and I started working on patterns, there were a few that seemed to just come straight from the prints... If that makes any sense at all! Here are a couple of my current favorites.

 

Paper Roses

A few shots of Paper Roses. A really fun charm pack pattern. Made us happy to work on it.

 

Parasols

Definitely my favorite out of this grouping. Made from Layer Cakes... gotta love that.

Traditionally this block is called the Snails Trail block & not only did I not like the name of the block but wasn't crazy about all of the traditional templates I would have had to use to make it. 

Well, this time around I finally figured how to do it from standard squares & we were off. This is not a beginner quilt.... but Oh so worth it in the end I think. I'm having a hard time parting with this one for shows these days. Loving the movement and the secondary pattern that forms in the swirls. 

Gotta love that quilting!

    
   

Talk to you soon.

Love me some vintage....

As many of you are quite aware I'm sure, I love, love vintage images. Did I mention that I love them? The character of them, the saturated colors of the old advertising posters, the canning labels, the postcards. I just can't get enough of the fact that back then, not much was pastel or muted or dark. Most art or I guess advertising to be more precise, was bright and colorful and had a certain personality. I just love the imagination of it all! 

Well we try to bring those images into our work whenever possible so when it came time to do a little freshening up on our website, I started playing with vintage images. And I played for a long time. I must admit I get a bit lost when I go looking through those I have physically in my studio, those I have in electronic files and then don't even get me started on those that i go trolling for on the web.... talk about a world that I could get lost in!

I had to pick just a few favorites because, well I did want to feature some of my own stuff here and there LOL....

Just look at those colors...

And those sweet little birds....

 

And who could resist buying whatever on earth these three little girls were selling. I mean, come on!

Well after playing for much longer than i will ever admit to, I finally came up with a few new pages that will be going up on our site in the next couple of days...

 

  

And

 

They're not quite linked to anything yet.. just goodies to look at.

You'll also notice a few swatches here and there [ a couple in the new blog header, what do you think?] that you might not recognize. Not saying yet, but I am sure you can guess where those are coming from...

Talk to you soon.

Oh, and look I am starting to use categories. I know, so very novel of me. does anyone know if I can/should go back and start attaching categories to old posts or just start from here?  Any help would be appreciated as we have all established that I do all of this electronic stuff totally by the seat of my pants!!